After the dragon comes dancing

As ever, I do not own HP. Sorry for the delay but I am always still working on this story, I just have a lot else going on at the moment. I always eventually return to all my stories though, so I will finish it! Reviews are always welcome and definitely help the motivation.

Tears welling in her eyes and inhibiting her view, Hermione was running back towards the castle when she heard her named called.

"Hey, what's the rush – wait, are you ok?"

Jonathon Parker was on his way to the medical tent to check on Cedric when he saw a head of curly hair dashing past. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of the Gryffindor fourth year who always seemed to be in a hurry every time he saw her. This smile soon dropped though when he saw the tears. Instead of answering him, Hermione just flapped her hand at him and ran off. Jonathon hesitated for a moment, torn between following her and seeing to his friend. Cedric won in the end, hoping that she would find a friend to help the boy continued into the medical tent. Harry Potter and one of the Weasleys were just about to leave as he entered, Potter prodding his arm gingerly and the Weasley seemingly giving him a rundown of the first task. Neither noticed Jonathon as they ducked under the tent flap.

"Ced?" Jonathon called, looking around the entrance of the tent. It was partitioned internally with more fabric, creating private spaces.

"Here, Jonny," his friend called from the second partition; Jonathon followed the sound to find Cedric sat on the edge of a bed with a thick paste slathered on one side of his face. At seeing his friend's expression, Cedric scowled. "Madam Pomfrey says I have to wear this for twelve hours to prevent scarring."

Jonathon gasped mockingly. "No! Not the pretty face!"

He then had to duck quickly out of the way as Cedric threw a damp washcloth at him. He reached out to catch it and missed completely, causing Cedric to laugh. "And that is why you've never made the quidditch team!"

Jonathon scowled "No need to rub it in, just because I have the coordination of a dying fish. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've fought against a dragon." Cedric replied in a deadpan voice, then grinned at his friend. "Seriously though, I'm ok. The burn doesn't even hurt, just looks awful because of this paste. How did everyone else get on?"

"Mostly as you'd expect: Fleur tried to deceive it and Krum went for the brute force approach. Neither got injured, but Krum's score was lower as some of the dragon eggs were crushed."

"And Potter?"

Jonathon blew into his cheeks while he was thinking. "He was the one that surprised. He didn't try to engage the dragon, instead he tried to outmanoeuvre it."

"Outmanoeuvre? How?" Cedric leant forward, listening intently.

"He summoned a broom into the arena and outflow it, Ced. It was pretty spectacular – though he did get caught by the tail of the dragon at one point." Cedric winced, remembering the vicious spikes the Horntail carried.

"At least everyone made it out ok. That was pretty intense."

Jon hummed his agreement. At that moment a younger Hufflepuff came into the tent. "Professor Dumbledore has requested that all Champions come into the stadium."

With a raised brow at Jonathon, Cedric duly followed the young student, leaving Jon to his own devices. He decided to head back to the castle - watching his close friend go head to head with a dragon had rattled his nerves. Besides, there was a party in the Hufflepuff common room that needed to be organised and who better to do it than him?

Hermione woke the next day feeling better than she had for ages. Harry had taken on the first task of the tournament and had survived. Admittedly there were still two tasks to go and she had a sinking feeling that it didn't get better from here, but at least there was a reprieve. In addition, finally Harry and Ron had made up, which took a lot of pressure off her as a go between. Last night at dinner there had been a notable shift in attitude toward Harry. Yes, some of the Slytherins and an odd Hufflepuff were still openly hostile but the rest of the school and the international students were showing Harry a grudging respect. This was probably helped by the sight of Cedric Diggory coming over to the Gryffindor table and loudly congratulating Harry on a great performance, with visible disappointment that due to his injuries he had been unable to see it firsthand and had to rely on reports. Given half of his face was still covered in luminous orange burn paste at the time this had a considerable impact and she had smiled happily at him when she caught his eye as he turned to return to the Hufflepuff table.

Hermione scratched Crookshanks as he purred contentedly on her bed, stretched out alongside her with his tummy turned to her. She knew better than to touch his stomach though, it was a quick way to lose your fingers. Instead she found his favourite spot on his head and spent some time just bonding with him, relieved that there was a minor reprieve in tournament preparations. Although the next task would take some thought just to find out what it was – Harry had come back from a meeting with the organisers stating that the golden egg was the clue, but when they had opened it during the party last night it just screeched horribly. Hermione had begun to think about what to research in the library, but the task was a long way away and there was a lot of school work to get through beforehand.

Life almost returned to normal. Only almost, because there was a particularly annoying reporter who seemed to turn up inappropriately wherever Harry seemed to be, followed a couple of days later by salacious gossip in the paper. There was also the tournament looming over them, and despite Harry's assurances she was pretty sure that he hadn't solved the egg puzzle yet as she thought he would come to her for advice on the subsequent task. Additionally, she seemed to keep bumping into Victor Krum. Hermione didn't have anything against Krum himself, but the group of girls that dogged his footsteps were incredibly irritating and she had taken to ducking into different corridors or even some secret passages – thank you marauders… - every time she saw him coming.

The other major difference to any other year was the approaching Yule ball. The anticipation ramped as the school moved into December, and one day Hermione found herself stood with the rest of the Gryffindors from fourth year up being lectured by Professor McGonagall regarding the importance of being able to dance so as to not show up Hogwarts in front of the other schools. Of course, dance was a loose interpretation of the shuffle that was happening around the transfiguration classroom in Hermione's opinion.

After the session Professor McGonagall had held Harry back, which led to a panic stricken Harry ten minutes later when he found out that not only did he have to dance, he had to do it to open the ball! This also meant he would – shock horror – need to find a girl to ask.

Hermione wasn't really expecting to get a date to the ball, and really thought she would probably end up going with Neville maybe, or Harry or Ron when they asked her as a last resort – if they did remember her at all. Failing that, she would go alone, as she didn't need to be taken by a boy to have fun. Still, she wanted to be ready to dance, so that she could enjoy herself regardless of whether she had a date or was dateless. This led to her spending on Saturday afternoon in an empty classroom with a wizarding radio that Professor Flitwick had promised was magicked to play similar music to that likely to be played during the ball.

She had her notes from the dance class – yes she had taken notes in the dance class, there was nothing wrong with that – and was practicing some of the simpler steps. Dancing did not come naturally to her, she had all the grace of a startled kangaroo, but she was determined to at least learn the basics so that she could take a few turns on the dance floor.

With the music playing loudly and her notes in hand, Hermione was completely unaware that someone else had entered the room until there was a loud bang behind her. She spun around towards the door, to find Cedric Diggory sheepishly righting a desk he had just knocked over.

"Sorry," The Hufflepuff raised his hands placatingly. "I didn't realise you were in here. I normally come in here during free periods to revise practical work."

Embarrassed, Hermione just ducked her head and went to gather the radio. Cedric's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Were you practicing dance?"

"Yes, I didn't want to be shown up at the ball. But I'll get out of your way now. Just…could you please not tell anyone about this?" Hermione went to move again but Cedric's hand still restrained her. He was looking at her with a contemplative expression. After a pause he spoke again.

"Well, you aren't going to learn very well alone." Cedric had obviously made his mind up, as he steered Hermione back into the centre of the room.

"What?" She squeaked, taken by surprise.

"Besides," the boy continued as though he hadn't heard her. "I'm meant to be opening the ball and I dare say I need the practice too, it's been a very long time since I last danced properly. And before you ask, the shambles that was our lesson with Professor Sprout does not count." Cedric shuddered in remembered horror. Hermione thought of the Gryffindor lesson and then imposed the more disorganised Professor Sprout onto it – it did not bear thinking about.

With a wave of his wand the radio started playing again, a waltz this time. Cedric gently positioned her hands correctly. "Remember, a waltz is three steps, and swap feet each time. Otherwise, just follow my lead."

He started to rotate around the room, guiding Hermione along with him. Trying to remember the steps and the position, she was almost impossibly rigid and despite Cedric's best efforts was stumbling and stepping on his feet. Very soon Cedric called a stop to it.

"I think you're trying too hard to memorise the steps." He stated, gingerly rubbing a foot.

"Well of course I am," Hermione replied, confused. "How else am I supposed to learn it?"

"You need to let me lead," the older boy told her, letting go of her and rummaging in his bag. "It almost doesn't matter what type of dance you are meant to be doing, if you listen carefully to the music and let your partner lead you will be fine. It's one of the benefits of being female," he added ruefully. "Males can't get away with it as we are the ones meant to be leading. Of course, you could still have absolutely no sense of timing or rhythm and then no amount of leading will help."

"What if I have no rhythm?" Hermione panicked.

"You'll be fine," Cedric said reassuring, straightening up from his bag with something in his hand. "When I came in I saw enough to know you can sense the best of the music. Now we just have to get you to relax and trust your partner. Here." He held out the item he had collected from his bag, and Hermione could see it was his Hufflepuff house scarf. "Tie this around your eyes. It will force you to follow my lead."

Hesitating, Hermione slowly held out her hand and took the scarf from Cedric. She loosely tied it around her head, hating how vulnerable she felt doing so. She felt surrounded by Cedric, from the smell of grass that must come from the quidditch pitch to the musk of the light aftershave he worse. Hands gently steered her shoulders into position and then placed her hands once more in the dancing pose.

"Let me lead this time."

He sounded so much closer than before. Hermione wanted to jerk back and rip the covering from her eyes but forced herself to relax, taking deep breaths. The music started again, and she was gently guided around the room in time to the music. Initially she was as stiff as before, but then she slowly relaxed and focussed on the music and the gentle pressure from Cedric's hands. Almost instantly their dancing became smoother, and they moved in synchronisation along to the soft music in the room. Cedric began to get a bit daring and included twirls and dips, amazed by how trusting the younger girl was. Hermione was enjoying the effortless feeling that came with dancing properly in tune with a partner – yes her technique wouldn't win her any awards but she was enjoying herself. It was nice to just relax and let somebody else take control for once.

Both students were so caught up that they lost track of time. When the music came to an end, Hermione removed the scarf from her eyes and looked up at Cedric, who cleared his throat and awkwardly moved backwards to put some distance back between them. "Feel better?" He asked gruffly.

"Much, thank you!" Hermione beamed. Cedric smiled and then looked at his watch. "Goodness, I need to go. See you around, Granger."

The Hufflepuff shot away, leaving a slightly bewildered Hermione behind him still holding on to his scarf. She went into the corridor and tried to call after him but he was gone before she could get his attention.

A polite cough informed her that she wasn't alone. Turning, she realised Victor Krum stood behind her, hooded eyes drawn close in a frown as he studied the scarf in her hand. Eyes darting, she tried to find an escape route before she realised the corridor was deserted. This meant she didn't have any excuse not to talk to Victor, but also meant that his fan club wasn't here to irritate her.

"You are…how do you say…datting Mr Diggory?" The Bulgarian queried, looking at the item she held. Hermione coloured as she realised how it must look, running out of a deserted classroom after Cedric clutching his house scarf. She hastily shoved it into her bag.

"Oh no, he was just helping me with something and forgot his scarf." Seeing Victor's disbelieving face and not wanting any rumours to spread – it was bad enough after that article in the Daily Prophet - Hermione came clean. "He was helping me to dance, I haven't done it very much and I want to be able to dance at the ball."

"You haff a partner?" The intensity in his gaze was a bit disconcerting to Hermione, she shuffled whilst awkwardly looking at her feet.

"Well no…but I may still get the opportunity to dance even if I go alone."

"Would you go to ball wif me?"

Hermione started at him in disbelief. "Did someone set you up to do this? A dare?"

"Dare? Where you haff to do silly things for pride? No, I ask because I want to take as partner." His gaze was so earnest that Hermione thought he may just be telling the truth.

"But, why? I'm just a swotty fourth year and I don't even like quidditch much."

"Yes!" Victor nodded eagerly. "You are not fan! You are pretty and smart and talk more than 'Oh Victor, I luff that amaaazing move you do in World Cup. Maybe we can go ride your broomstick and you can show me.' ". The quidditch star looked horrified at the though.

"Well, ok then," and now Hermione smiled prettily at the Bulgarian. "In that case, Victor, I would love to accompany you to the Yule Ball."

The answering smile lit up the corridor, transforming the surly face into one that, if not quite handsome, was certainly very striking. "Thank you Hermy-own. I look forward to it now."

With that he was gone, hurrying away down the corridor to try to leave before his fan club found him. Hermione stood there in a minor state of shock. "I have a date to the ball." She murmured to herself, beginning to walk towards Gryffindor tower. "Victor Krum is my date to the Yule ball." She pinched herself just to check. "Cedric Diggory was teaching me how to dance and Victor Krum is my date. Could today get any stranger?"