Icy Soul
Harry straightened his dress robes. Somehow Melissa, Sheila, and Ron had convinced him to go to the Yule Ball. His dress robes, which had fit perfectly last year, now fit him like Dudley�s old clothes had. He finally gave up and went down to the common room.
�Come on Harry!� Ron yelled. � I have to meet my date in five minutes!�
Harry sighed and followed Ron down to the Great Hall. Ron stopped by the door to wait for his date. Harry kept walking and entered the hall. Ignoring the people staring at him, he went straight to the nearest window and sat, staring out into the dark sky.
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Draco stood up and smoothed the wrinkles out of his dress robes. Tonight was the night. Everyone would finally know about them.
Draco walked up the stairs and then stopped. There she was, waiting for him.
�Ready?� she asked, holding out her hand.
Draco gathered his courage and nodded, taking her hand. They walked to the Great Hall, turning the heads of all the students they passed.
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�You�ll never guess who Malfoy�s here with.�
�Melissa,� Hermione said without looking up.
�How�d you know?� Ginny asked, clearly amazed.
�Remember the last Quidditch match, when Draco went to the hospital wing? Melissa and I brought him there. I saw the way she looked at him,� Hermione said.
Ginny obviously got the impression that Hermione wanted to be alone and left. Hermione sighed and looked across the hall. It was still early, so most people were out waiting for their dates. She could see Harry staring out the window, his mind obviously a million miles away.
Hermione�d seen the way Melissa looked at Draco. What she hadn�t told Ginny was how she knew. She knew because it was the same was she looked at Harry.
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Ron watched in horror as Melissa and Malfoy walked by together. He�d have to talk to her later. Right now he needed to wait for his date.
�Hey Ron.�
�Hey Ginny� Ahhh!� Ron yelled when he looked up. There was Ginny in her light blue robes, her arm wrapped around Seamus�s shoulders.
�Before you get all �big brotherly� on me,� Ginny said, �you�d better see who Icicle�s here with.� She walked away without another word, her arm still around Seamus. Ron didn�t have to wait long to see what she was talking about.
�Come on Neville! Your hair is fine, now let�s go!� Icicle walked right past Ron, dragging Neville behind her.
�Whoa, whoa, wait a minute,� Ron said, grabbing Icicle�s arm.
�What?!� Icicle whined, still gripping Neville�s arm.
�Neville�s twice your age!� Ron said. Neville looked at him thankfully.
�So? What�s your point?� Icicle asked.
�Sorry Neville, I tried,� Ron muttered, watching Icicle drag Neville through the door.
Ron watched a few more couples walk by. Dudley had come with Pansy Parkinson, who looked like she was going to be sick. They were quickly followed by Crabbe and Goyle, who both seemed to have come with Millicent Bulstrode. If possible, she looked even more like she was going to be sick than Pansy.
The last couple Ron saw was Cho Chang, Harry�s crush from last year, and Daniel Nott, a fifth year Slytherin. Daniel seemed to be very proud of his seventh year date. Cho, however, looked more depressed than Harry.
�Cho, what�s wrong?� Ron asked.
�It�s�it�s nothing,� Cho said, her voice shaking. �I�ve gotta go. Dan�s waiting for me.� She left before Ron could say another word.
�Sorry I took so long, I had to fix my hair.� Ron�s date had finally arrived.
�It�s okay,� Ron said, taking her hand. �Let�s go in. I�ve seen enough weird couples out here to last me a lifetime.�
They walked into the hall and took a seat near the door. The room was packed with students. Teachers were battling their was through the crowd of students, trying to quiet them down. When the room was finally silent, Fudge climbed up onto a chair so everyone could see him.
�Good evening,� he said, his voice echoing around the hall. �Normally, the dancing would start with the Triwizard Champions. This year, we will start with prefects. If the Head Boy, Head Girl, and prefects would kindly stand.�
No one moved. Professor McGonagall whispered something to Fudge who swore loudly, making everyone in the hall gasp.
�Hmm� yes, well�� Fudge stammered. �Get the band in here.� With that, he hurried out of the hall, looking very embarrassed. Everyone in the room burst out laughing.
�Idiot forgot to pass out prefect badges,� Ron�s date said, still laughing.
The band, who turned out to be the Weird Sisters, came out. They started with their song �Bewitching Love,� which topped the Top Ten Spellbinding Songs list for three weeks according to the Wizarding Wireless.
Ron sighed and looked around the room. A few couples had gotten up and started dancing. He spotted Professor Wilson nearby dancing with Professor Snape and, quite frankly, looking horrified by the fact. She spotted Professor McGonagall across the room and clearly mouthed the words help me.
Ron could have sworn he saw Professor McGonagall grin. She walked out of the hall and came back a few minutes later, dragging Fudge behind her. Once she got to the dance floor she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, grabbed his hand. And they quickly danced over to Professors Wilson and Snape.
Before anyone could see what had happened, Wilson and McGonagall switched dance partners. As McGonagall danced away, Wilson shot her a look clearly stating that this was not what she�d had in mind.
Ron snickered and looked away, spotting Sheila not far away. She was sitting with George and seemed to be giggling a lot.
George got up and went to a table set up with food. Sheila got up and walked over to Melissa, who seemed to be waiting for someone.
Sheila whispered something to Melissa, who nodded and went to sit in the chair Sheila�d been sitting in earlier. Sheila folded her arms, and leaned against the wall, waiting.
George came back and sat next to Melissa, oblivious to what had happened. He handed her a glass of punch and whispered something in her ear.
Melissa stood suddenly, looking horrified. She slapped poor George across the cheek and threw her punch in his face. She then spotted Ron and walked over.
�What�d he say?� Ron asked, hardly believing what he�d just seen.
�Nothing much,� Melissa said casually. �He just invited me up to the Astronomy Tower to �see the stars.��
�The Astronomy Tower? Isn�t that where people go to� you know�� Ron blushed scarlet. Melissa grinned and nodded.
�I�d better go switch back,� she said smoothing out her robes. �Draco�s in the bathroom. I don�t want Sheila there when he comes back. I�d never put poor Drakie through that.� She left not seeing Ron gag when she�d said �Drakie.�
The dancing continued as nobody stopped for long after George got slapped. Ron�s view of Melissa and Sheila was blocked so he went back to teacher spotting.
He saw Snape nearby. Professor McGonagall had obviously gotten away from him. He walked over to where Professor Felina was sitting. She was looking around, plainly disapproving of the entire situation.
Professor Snape held a hand out to Felina. She immediately stood and did a perfect imitation of Melissa. She stormed out of the hall, leaving Snape clutching his face and looking bewildered.
�Idiot finally got what he deserves,� Ron laughed, putting an arm around his date. She jerked away from him and scowled.
�What�� Ron started but was interrupted.
�Hey Ron, what�s new?� Melissa asked, sitting down. To Ron�s horror, Malfoy sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her.
�Why�d you come with him?� Ron blurted out, unable to hold back any longer.
�How could I say no?� Melissa asked, hugging Malfoy.
�Well, I�m not sure you know, but,� Ron said lowering his voice, �he�s a Slytherin!�
�Excuse me, Weasley, couldn�t help but overhear,� Malfoy cut in. �If I were you, I�d take a good look to my left before judging.�
Ron looked, but all he saw was his date. What was Malfoy getting at?
�Weasley,� Malfoy said, smirking, �meet Blaise Zabini.�
Ron�s jaw dropped.
�You�re a Slytherin?� Ron asked, though he already knew the answer.
Blaise nodded slowly. Ron got up and walked away. He felt Blaise grab his arm to stop him, but he wrenched out of her grasp.
Once in the hallway, Ron broke into a run, not stopping till he reached Gryffindor Tower. He went to the dormitory and lay down. Only many hours later did he fall into a fitful sleep.
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�Well that worked out nicely.�
�You mean you set that up?� Melissa asked, glaring at Draco in mock anger. He just smiled and looked over at Blaise.
�How much do I owe ya?� he asked, pulling a bag of money out of his pocket.
�Don�t bother,� Blaise said, standing up. �I didn�t do it for the money.� She rushed out of the hall, wiping her eyes.
�And so it begins�again,� Melissa whispered, wrapping her arms around Draco.
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Harry clutched his head. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn�t block the noise from the hall. He felt as if a hammer was being swung at his head to the beat of the music.
Finally deciding that he�d had enough, Harry stood and walked to the door. He ignored Sheila calling his name and kept walking till he was at the front doors.
He pulled the doors open and slipped through. He shivered slightly but kept walking, slipping on the icy steps. He continued across the grounds, the frost-covered grass crunching beneath his feet.
Harry stopped by the lake and knelt at the edge. The water was frozen into ice, mirroring the feeling in Harry�s heart. He placed a foot on the ice, testing its strength. It didn�t take much for the ice to shatter, revealing the icy waters within.
Harry felt something cold hit his cheek and looked up at the sky. It was snowing, just as it had that night. The night his icy heart had come so close to shattering.
He sat down and closed his eyes. It was snowing harder now, the flakes building up on his robes. Harry barely noticed the cold outside for the coldness inside. His last conscious feeling was a different kind of shiver. The kind a person feels when they�re being watched.
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Sheila watched out the window as Harry crossed the grounds. He disappeared out of her range of vision. She wanted to go after him but held herself back. He needed to be alone. Who was she to deprive him of that right?
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Sheila clapped with everyone else as the last song ended. She looked down at her watch. Harry�d been outside for hours.
�Melissa,� Sheila called across the room. Melissa whispered something to Draco who nodded and walked away.
�What�s the matter?� Melissa asked.
�Harry�s been outside a long time,� Sheila said. �We should at least go check on him.�
Melissa nodded and they went out the door. As soon as they got the hallway, Sheila gave an involuntary shudder. She saw Melissa pale slightly. They nodded to each other and broke into a run.
Sheila pulled open the door and they both kept running. They slipped on the stairs and fell. Sheila heard a loud crack. She bit her lip and looked down at her wrist, now hanging limply.
Sheila heard a stifled scream and turned to her sister. Melissa was trying to stand, wincing as she put weight on her left ankle.
�Go to Madam Pomfrey!� Sheila shouted over the howling of the wind. �I�ll find Harry!�
Cradling her broken wrist with her other hand, Sheila continued running. The flurries of snow had quickly become a blizzard. Though she couldn�t see anything more than a foot away, Sheila knew which way to go.
She stopped and looked around. Harry was here, she was sure of it. She called his name, her voice quickly swallowed by the wind. She was about to give up and move on when she spotted a bit of green a few feet away.
Sheila moved forward slowly, afraid that if she so much as blinked she might lose sight of it. She knelt down on the ground. Harry was barely visible, even close up. He was coated with a layer of snow and wasn�t moving.
�Harry,� Sheila gasped as she brushed snow off him. His face was as white as the snow, his lips tinged blue.
Sheila tried to lift him but couldn�t with her wrist as it was. She leaned over Harry, listening for something, anything. Then, by some miracle, she heard him take a slow, shallow breath.
�Sheila!� Sheila jumped, recognizing the voice immediately.
�George?� she yelled in the direction the voice had come from. Through the swirling snow, she saw George kneel next to her.
�Help me!� Sheila said. �I can�t lift him. We�ve gotta get him to Madam Pomfrey.�
�What about you?� George asked, picking Harry up easily.
�I�ll be fine,� Sheila said and stood up to prove it, wincing slightly as her broken wrist hit George�s arm. �Just get Harry inside.�
George didn�t need to be told again. He turned in the direction of the school and ran. Sheila swayed slightly, feeling drained of energy. She had to summon her last bit of strength to get back to Hogwarts and to the hospital wing.
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