A/n:
Hello everyone! I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but I'm honestly glad it did. Because I took my time a bit longer than usual, I'm really 100% proud of this one. It's definitely my favourite, and longest so far and I really hope you guys love it as much as I do!
And I also just wanted to make extra sure that this chapter led up to the plot of the next few after this correctly. The story so far has been a little still...
So, for those who like a little drama, you'll be thanking me for the next few chapters ;)
Anyways, I love you guys and make sure to enjoy with the chapter with this music in mind! ⬆️😌
Okay byeee xxx
Y/n's POV:
The night was cool, the moon painting everything with a beautiful silvery glow, like a fine layer of snow. The air had a certain coolness to it, the fresh smell of rain lingering in slow breeze the wafted through the garden. The snow that had only begun to appear a few days ago had already melted away, and it felt like a shame to spend the new year without it. But in a way- it had given the earth a blank slate.
A fresh start; a beginning for the new year that was about to commence.
Given, it technically wouldn't be for a few more hours, but it was almost as if you could feel it in the air - breathe it all in.
"Watch out!" The Twins yelled, speeding past to chance after something flying through the air.
I had just managed to jump out of the way split seconds before they sped past, cursing at the pair. "Be more careful next time you biggots!" I yelled back, blowing a strand of hair out from the front of my face.
Okay, well- maybe not everything was suddenly going to change just because it was almost the new year. And frankly, I was getting a bit ahead of myself. It was always times like these that made me begin to get a little overly sentimental.
"We will!" They called back, still chasing after their newly invented 'flying chocolate snitches'. Definitely the lesser of two evils compared to some of they other stuff they'd been creating, but not one of the easiest to taste test.
I rolled my eyes at their response. Yeah right.
"I must admit, I was sad to miss out on the preparations..." Arthur said, "but none the matter! I'm just glad I can be here today." His spirits soon lifted, voice tingling with new found hope.
"Yeah." Bill smiled and noted cheerfully. "We're all so glad you could be here, Dad."
Because of Arthur's high focused job at the minestry, his holidays and the days that he got off where always pretty scarce. We where never quite sure if he could make it sometimes. But when it came to important times and events like these, he somehow always managed to pull through.
And it was clear everyone was happy to hear this, even Percy. Even though he'd tried his best to hide it - you could still tell that he still cared alot for his family, especially his Dad.
But, if things weren't already going bad enough as they where before, a crash soon followed - interrupting the tender moment the father and son had shared.
"Honestly Fred, George! How many times have I told you not to play around with the plates?" Molly lectured, slapping each one of them around the ear as they sped off, laughing.
"I bet you didn't miss that." I laughed, Arthur chuckling a little with a knowing twinkle in his eye.
"Good! Now that all plates are all out, I can finally-" Charlie began, coming back inside, then glaring at the sight of the now shattered plates. "Oh come on!" He threw his hand in their air, storming back inside.
"Might want to grab the paper plates!" Callum laughed, grabbing a broom to sweep up the shattered pieces. Molly thanked him, now turning to help her husband set up the chairs around the tables.
I shook my head, chuckling as I turned back to my task of setting up the radio by a nearby corner table.
Charlie was still grumpily stomping through the kitchen, trying to find the 'stupid paper plates' while Oliver was over by Callum, helping him sweep the last of the broken pieces. Ron, Harry and Ginny where still found getting ready inside whilst everyone else kept themselves busy with the tables and chairs that head still needed to be set up.
Surprisingly, even after a few weeks of patient waiting, none of us had received any new news about Hermione or Aria's conditions.
I wasn't quite sure why the lack of updates was beginning to worry me, seeing as it was probably a good thing that nothing bad had happened to them yet, but I was nevertheless still a little worried for them. Not only for Aria, but for Hermione to. I had no idea what they could possibly be going through at that very moment, and when they would wake up. So I was just stuck sitting, waiting, and desperately hoping. But I had faith that they'd be in the good hands of Madame Pomfrey.
Percy had been a bigger help with the situation than you might expect.
I had opened up to him about it all, and he was easily able to reassure me about it to - just as he had done with Liam. I had grown to be more open around him and let him in on everything that I was feeling. I'd always found it hard to find people that I knew I could trust, so I was glad that he had slowly grown to be one of them.
I'd always felt comfortable around him - sorta safe. It was always nice to know he was there for me whenever I needed him. And vice versa.
But it was also nice to know that Aria's parents where willing to hex whoever, whenever if anything happened to their daughter. And weirdly enough, that to was a kind of promise I knew I could trust.
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A few minutes later a few guests had begun to pile in, most of which I was thankfully able to avoid as I was still facing a bit of trouble with the radio. But unfortunately for me, that didn't last much longer after Arthur had come to help me fix it.
"Oh, Y/n dear! It's good you're here. I've got someone I'd like you to meet," Molly began, dragging me away from the food stand to be net face to face a much older, raven haired woman, "this is my friend, Gertie."
I waved politely at the woman, hoping that my lack of interaction would get me away from this stranger. But I could tell that she was at least nice. "Ahh you must be Y/n, I've heard so much about you." She smiled.
"And I've heard so much about you." I lied through gritted teeth, hoping to get out of this situation as quickly and as soon as possible. She'd seemed rather genuine, and definitely friendly, but there was only so many new people I could handle. And so far, Molly had gotten me to meet almost everyone there.
She laughed, patting my shoulder. "Oh well aren't you a dear, so polite." She smiled. And I must admit, I felt my heart swell at the compliment.
"You know, my Grandson's around your age. He's a little older, but a very handsome young man. He's almost finished his last year at Durmstrang."
That nice feeling was quickly lost.
"Oh, well thank you but I-"
She laughed again, and I almost jumped back in surprise. Her laugh was obnoxiously loud. "I'm just kidding sweetie, I know you've got a thing going with one of Molly's boys. I wouldn't want to disrupt that."
I did my best attempt at a fake laugh. "Yeah, well..."
Thankfully, by then Arthur had come to his wife's side, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulder. "Hello, Sweetie." He said, pecking her lips. "Hello Gertie, nice to see you again." He noted, nodding politely in her direction. She smiled back at him, nodding as well.
He quickly turned to notice me standing infront of the two women, looking rather tired and frankly - desperate. "Y/n dear, why don't you get a glass of water? You look flushed."
I stared back at him greatfully, mouthing a quick thank you as I turned to walk away. Arthur might as well have shown up wearing silver armour.
I couldn't describe the bliss I felt going back to the empty table. Practically snatching a cup from the pile, filling it with water and taking a greatful gulp might have been the best thing I'd done all night.
"Dear God, what's wrong with you?" Callum asked me oh so sweetly, walking over to my side as he came hand in hand with Oliver.
"Can't handle so many new people," I explained, chugging down the rest of my water, "hey Oli."
"Hi, Y/n."
Ever since Oliver and Callum had been made official, we'd both been making an effort to get to know eachother a bit better. Obviously we'd seen eachother around school and things, as well as sharing a few classes together, but that about as far as our relationship went. Though now that he was going to become more entangled in my life, (and because Callum just couldn't keep it in his pants) we'd been spending more time together. We definitely weren't besties by any means, especially because I was still mad at him for game night, but he has some funny stories to tell about Percy. And that pretty much kept me hooked.
And naturally, because there just weren't enough people talking to me, another person had found their way towards the table. Though I doubt I could ever be angry at them for it.
"Y/nnn, will you come dance with me?" Ginny asked me, eagerly hopping up and down as she awaited for my answer. Another song was about to play, and she needed someone new to dance seeing as Arthur almost broke his back after a particularly upbeat dancing song.
She was wearing a sweet pink dress that I had gifted her for Christmas almost over a week ago. It had a beautiful white ribbon tied around the waist with a pink, knee length tool skirt, ruffled short sleeves and small pink and white flowers sewn at the ends of the seams.
It was a bit much for a simple new year's eve party, one must admit, but Ginny didn't mind being a tad overdressed. She was so exited about wearing it infact that she'd refused to take it off even to sleep in, for an entire day. And who could possibly say no to her?
I smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Only because you asked so nicely."
Gently taking her hand, I ran after her to the dance floor as a fun and upbeat song had finally began to play. I held onto her hand as I playfully spun her around a couple times, her trying to do the same - but it being a bit difficult with the substantial height difference.
She then took a hold of both my hands, jumping up and down as we went around around in a circle. I wasn't sure why she always did this when she danced, but it was one of her signature moves. We hopped around a few more times, doing so many crazy dances we where beginning to look like we where having a stroke. But we both where laughing the entire time.
Dancing like this for the rest of the song, we turned it up a notch with the next one. Jumping up and down, bobbing our heads to the beat and once even pretending that we where underwater (a little trick I taught her from the Muggle world).
And so needless to say, we killed it. We killed it so much we might have broken the dance floor.
"You guys need to please stop dancing!" Callum yelled from across the room, Oliver laughing hysterically by his side, head buried into the crook of his neck. "You're going to give us all a severe case of second hand embarrassment!"
I ignored his comment, rolling my eyes and yelling back, "To hell we are!" They could be embarrassed of us all they wanted, but I didn't care how we looked when we danced like this, we where having way to much fun to think twice about it.
Ginny nodded in agreement, doing a head bobbing motion to the beat of the song and laughed as she almost accidentally bumped into me. And I could help but laugh back.
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Taking a quick break from all the crazy dancing, mostly because my shoes where beginning to pinch the backs of my feet, I walked over to the drink stand, making sure to avoid the pumpkin juice this time. I instead helped myself to some more water, taking a few chugs as I took a look across the garden.
Ginny had now in the hands of Fred and George as they took their turns with spinning her around in the air while the squealed in pure joy. Ron was over by the food stand as per usual, taking a bite of another chicken wing as he began to blab on to poor Harry about something. Yet Harry wouldn't take his eyes off Ginny.
Ginny and I had been having out usual girl talks since Harry got here, and it seemed she's been making progress. It had helped alot with him being around her more often than usual. So thanks to my excellent advice, she'd managed to become more herself around him. And pretty much everyone could tell that he was now falling for her to. I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if Molly had started planning their wedding by now.
Ron wasn't so happy with this adjustment, but he had his own love life to worry about.
Bill and Charlie where found mingling amongst the crowd, practically charming people's pants off with their combined politeness and witt. They had been making people laugh all night long.
Molly and Arthur where seen slow dancing at the other end of the tent, staring into eachother's eyes with so much love it made me want to tear up. Callum and Oliver where also seen on the dance floor, probably for the first and last time that night. They where all so noticeably comfortable in eachother's company, wrapping their arms around oneanother without even the slightest hesitation. Watching them had made me begin to grow a longing feeling inside my chest.
I bit the inside of my cheek, quietly sighing. When was I going to get that?
"Feeling a little lonely to, huh?" I heard a gentle voice ask, pulling me straight out of my thoughts.
I jumped back a little in shock, placing a hand on my heart as I breathed a sigh of relief. "Merlin Perce, you nearly scared me to death."
"Sorry." He mumbled apologetically, running a hand along the back of his neck. I found myself anxiously playing with my rings as our eyes met.
"It's ok." I let out a laugh. "The Twins have scared me alot harder - and with alot worse." I added. "I still sometimes feel like I have spiders in my hair."
He laughed shortly, smiling almost faintly as his eyes filled with something unrecognisable. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked, placing a reassuring hand on his arm.
He gulped, his Adams apple bobbing in this throat. "Yeah, just wish I had that kinda thing for myself - you know?" He said almost soleomly, glancing back at the couples happily dancing away.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." I sighed, following his gaze. I tried my best to be sympathetic, running my hand up and down his arm.
And then, I was struck by a rather brilliant idea.
"Actually, I know something that might help cheer us both up." I said.
"You do?" Percy asked curiously, having absolutely no clue where my plan was headed.
I stopped leaning against the table and stood up, placing my hand out towards him. "You wanted to ask me to slow dance with you at the Winter Ball, didn't you?" I said, hand still outstretched and hoping for him to finally take it, "Sooo... now's your chance."
His eyes widened in surprise, complete and utter shock overtaking him. "What- how'd... how'd you know that?" He asked, a blush quickly spreading to the tip of his ears.
"Well, I'm not completely clueless." I shrugged slightly, laughing. "And besides, if you really want your family to believe that we're 'together' by the time we get back to Hogwarts, we might need to drop a few hints here and there." I pointed out, reasoning with him might being the only thing that would convince him to do this.
His expression shifted as he paused, his smile brightening as he met my eyes. "Good point." He hummed, taking my hand as he pulled me away to the part of the dance floor where the couples where beginning to pair up again.
"Mind if I lead? I've been meaning to practice." Percy asked, slowly intertwining his fingers with mine as another slow song began to play on the nearby radio. It's almost as if it knew.
"Well, that would actually help alot." I laughed. "I've forgotten how dance, let alone lead."
"It's a deal then." Percy smiled again, a big, lovesick grin. "But I promise to let you lead next time."
"Next time?" I smirked. "Thinking a bit ahead, aren't you Weasley?"
He paused, a second blush already spreading across his freckled neck. "Pfff, no."
I let out a small breathy, chuckle in response. "No need to deny it, I hope we do." He movements slowed at my words.
"You do?" He replied sheepishly.
I let out a laugh. "Of course I do, you're fun to hang out with- and a great dancer." I added.
"Well... in that case."
His left arm had suddenly found its way to my waist, wrapping around it and gently holding me into position with the front of his palm resting on the small of my back.
Staring down at his shoes to make sure he didn't step onto mine as he got into position, he then tuned back up. His eyes leaping towards mine, my heart riding up my throat. I felt it skipping beats, my body so tightly pressed against his that if he suddenly let go, I might have fallen. The smell of his perfume, the feeling of his body flush against mine sent a swarm of butterflies straight to my stomach.
Our breaths where in sync, deep and heavy, faces so close our noses just a hair's away from touching - lips only a few centimetres away from closing the gap between us. His breath fanned against my skin, goosebumps forming as I ran my fingers along the back of his neck.
I tried so hard to say something, anything, but with no such luck. No words came out. It was as if they had just vanished from my throat. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't speak. He had completely, and utterly compelled me.
Percy's eyes were locked in with mine, slowly using his right hand - that was still resting on my lower back - to pull me even closer towards him, completely loosing the gap between our two bodies. He leaned down so that his lips were right beside my ear as he spoke, and so that I could feel his hot breath brush against my cheek as he did.
"You might want to relax a little, Love." He hummed. He pulled back a little so that he was facing me again, sending me a quick but reassuring smile. He must have picked up on the tenseness of my shoulders.
I almost choked at his words, but managed to compose myself, taking slow, deep breaths to stop myself from hyperventilating.
"I'm perfectly relaxed." I huffed, giving my hardest attempt at easing up my shoulders as I resisted the urge to turn away from his gaze out of embarrassment.
"Sure you are." He teased, eyebrow raised.
Merlin, he's so hot. Stop.
"You're such an idiot." I laughed, rolling my eyes playfully, but not being able to hide the small smile that etched onto my face as I did.
"Only for you, Darling."
And, of course, this was the exact moment the song had decided to end. The seemingly perfect moment we had dispersed as we begrudgingly stepped away from oneanother, looking at everything but eachother.
I gulped and turned to him, forcing myself to look into his eyes. "Thank you for sticking with me through that dance." I joked, seeing his comfortably familiar grin dance back onto his face.
"Let me tell you, it was difficult." He teased.
I chuckled, finding myself twisting the rings around my fingers once again. "See you later, Weasley."
"See you then, Y/l/n."
A/n: Ahh okay don't hate me for the ending of this, please!
I'm low-key scared to keep writing this book because I know that it'll will be finished so soon!! (At chapter 50 btw) and tbh I don't want it to end- but I guess it's inevitable.
I hope you guys enjoyed this one and I'll see you all in the next chapter xx
Wish you all have a well deserved week/weekend <33