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Harry was walking with Ron and Hermione to their Transfiguration class as they talked about the Yule ball, Ron asked Harry “So do you have a partner for the ball yet?” Harry’s head hung low “I would have told you if I did, so no” Ron patted Harry back “I don’t have a date either so we’re in the same lonely boat unless...” Ron looked up at Hermione “...A certain someone would be my partner?” Hermione rolled her eyes “I told you, I already have a partner” Ron pouted trying to give Hermione his best puppy eyes, she didn’t concede to his charms “I said no, and I mean there is a bunch of beautiful girls you guys could be partners with like-“
she was Interrupted midway by Cedric “ oh hello, Hermione, was it? I’m sorry for interrupting but I just wanted to talk to Harry and you all” Harry stepped forward “ what is it?” Cedric chuckled “I actually would like to invite you to a Triwizard sleepover” Harry tilted his head in confusion “a Triwizard sleepover?” Cedric explained “ well so, I want to invite you all the Triwizard contestants to a sleepover in the Hufflepuff common room for good sportsmanship. You can invite anyone you want, even your dates to the Yule Ball.” Harry nodded and thanked Cedric for the invite, Before Cedric left he handed Harry a note with the details of the sleepover then he left. Hermione took the note from Harry’s hand to read it, she murmured as she read it then gave it back to Harry “it’s your choice, Ron and I will come with you if you do go” Ron jumped “b-but I didn’t agree yet!” Hermione looked at him pointedly “you’re going” Harry agreed “ I think we should go it might just be fun, Hermione you should bring your Yule date” Hermione walked faster “absolutely not” as she walked, the boys ran to catch up to her.
The night of the sleepover came, the golden trio snuck down the stairs to the basement where the Hufflepuff Dorms were placed. Cedric was waiting at the front of the Hufflepuff door, He quickly tapped the barrels to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff and the door opened. The common room amazed Harry, it was so different from the Gryffindor common room. It was warm, cozy and snacks were served everywhere and not to mention how many plants they had. Viktor and Fleur sat on the floor with their friends, Fleur rolled her eyes when she saw The golden trio. Viktor waved to Hermione which made her blush, Harry stared in confusion. He looked to Cedric who was already flirting with Cho, he wanted to gag at the sight but he was distracted when Cedric started speaking “Hello everybody, welcome to the Triwizard sleepover. Courtesy of our dear friends here in the Hufflepuff dorm we have a bunch of snacks for tonight” when Cedric said that Ron immediately grabbed a few snacks from the plate as he watched a few fifth-year Hufflepuff girls wave from behind a plant, giggling when they saw Cedric, Harry and Ron. Cedric looked at them and they scurried away, giggling even more. Cedric spoke again
“ we will be playing some games that I found that muggles play at these types of parties, starting with the first one. Truth or dare'' Everyone whispered, Cedric, got them to settle down as he explained the rules to the game “...and Essentially you expose yourself through this game to your friends'' Viktor whispered to his friend that he brought “Muggles are so odd” Cedric clapped his hands “let's start! I’ll go first, Harry truth or dare?” Harry hesitated before deciding “umm truth” Cedric chuckled “ is it true that you still don’t have a date to the Yule Ball?” Harry went silent, then spoke “...that’s true” Fleur laughed, her haughty French accent coming out when she talked “That’s so sad” her friends mocked Harry, Ron defended Harry “Hey! Don’t make fun of my friend, it’s fine if he doesn’t have a date. He’ll get one soon!” She scoffed “do you hear broke talking? I mean look at those hand-me-down robes'' their high pitched giggles filled the room, Ron’s face was bright red in anger. Hermione walked up to Fleur, silent. Fleur mocked her “are you going to defend your little boyfrie-” before she could finish, Hermione had hit her face “NO one makes fun of my friends and gets away with it” The air became thick in tension. Fleur shocked and angry flicked her wand out, Hermione followed in suit unlike Fleur who was posh and rude but still the top of her class, Hermione had done much worse than a fight with another pompous prick. Cedric dragged them away from each other “Calm down you two, we don’t need to be fighting” Both slowly put their wands down, exchanging deathly glares. Cedric sighed “alright, that didn’t go as planned but it’s fine. I have an idea!” He whispered something to Cho, Cho nodded and left the room towards the kitchen. They were left in awkward silence except for Viktor Krum who was talking to his friend about quidditch, and the quiet angry chewing of Ron as he listened to Viktor and his friend.
A few minutes passed when Cho came back with a bottle, Cedric smiled as she gave the bottle to him. He thanked her and gave her a peck on her cheek which made Harry roll his eyes. Cedric spoke “since that last game didn’t go so well” Hermione glared at Fleur when the last game was mentioned, Fleur did the same “we can move on to the next game, which is my version of two muggle games! The game is called Spin to 7 minutes in heaven” He explained the game “How the game works is that you spin a bottle, then when it lands on someone, you have to kiss them but the twist is that if you refuse, you have to go in the other room with the person the bottle chose.” this was obviously just something Cedric had planned for Cho and him but they all quietly agreed, but before they could even start playing someone crashed through the Hufflepuff door. “Pottah! Where are you?!” Ron looked at Hermione and Harry wondering if they were thinking the same thing, they nodded. Harry sighed “I’m in here, Malfoy.” Draco drudged to the front of the common room with a frustrated look on his face. “Pottah, I need to talk to you!” his cheeks were red, and his voice was shaky and loud, Cedric noticed this and smiled “Harry’s a bit busy with our game, so why not join then you can talk to him after?” Draco grumbled “fine, I’ll play your stupid game” Draco sat opposite to Harry sitting near Fleur and her friends who tried to flirt with him but got ignored.
Cedric spun the bottle first, And it landed on one of Fleur's friends. She was, of course, very happy but also not surprisingly Cho was not happy about this. Cedric knew the rules of the game and he had a plan so he gave her a quick peck on the cheek and passed the turn to Harry. Harry swallowed he was hoping that he wouldn’t land on someone that he didn’t like. for example, Fleur. He spun the bottle hard as could. The bottle spun and spun, it almost felt like forever but then it started to slow down, he watched it eagerly as it slowed down and stopped. He never expected it to be who it landed on, as the person looked up at him in shock, their silver eyes staring back at him and their blond hair a-wry. Harry finally spoke quietly “it landed on Draco”.
” I refuse '' Draco paced himself farther from Harry, Harry tried to persuade him ”come on Draco, it’s just a kiss” Like a fussy child, Draco turned around to not see Harry. He whispered to himself “I bloody hate it here” Cedric smiled coyly “Remember you two if you refuse to kiss you’ll have to stay in there for seven minutes.” He pointed at the room that the Hufflepuffs used for storage. It was relatively clean but it was dark, Draco turned more annoyed than he already was. “absolutely not” Cedric nodded “fine” Cedric used a spell to throw both of them in the room “have fun you two!”
The door was shut behind them, Harry tried to use alohomora but it didn’t work. It was pitch black compared to the rest of the warm-colored Hufflepuff common room. Harry could barely see in front of him, he lit up his wand with Lumos. The dim light shining onto the boxes and walls of the room. He looked around, the room seemed larger than when he originally saw it. It was full but neat everything from decorations from Christmas to Hufflepuff merchandise was stored in the room. Harry whispered for Draco ”Malfoy, where are you?”. No response, Harry whispered again to see if he would answer. Nothing, Harry walked around the neat room looking for Draco, He stopped in his tracks when he started to hear someone’s soft humming, almost like a lullaby. Harry knew that voice as Draco and marveled at his voice, trembling softly with each note. Harry slowly walked towards Draco who was behind some boxes, He saw the blond boy on the floor, shivering. His voice trembled, refusing to look up. Harry sat beside Draco and for some reason of sympathy for him, Harry stood beside him awkwardly trying to comfort him by patting his hair as he listened to Draco's song. They sat in comforting silence for over a minute until Draco came back to his panicked senses. “Pottah! Ermmm… What are you doing?” ”I'm comforting you...i think i am at least” Draco’s face was redder than ever before, it made Harry laugh. In hand made Draco hiss at him “Don't laugh at me!” He turned away from Harry but his hand remained in Harry's hand until he noticed and pulled away in embarrassment.
Harry spoke “You alright, Malfoy? you seemed a bit scared for a second there” He watched as the tip’s of Malfoy's ears turned red, Harry sighed “I know we're “rivals” according to you but you know Malfoy, You can trust me you know so... what's with all of this?” Draco whispered reluctantly, “Pottah, you better not tell anyone about this” Harry raised his hands I won't, I promise” Draco sighed “fine, I'm scared of the dark. I know, absolutely absurd right? Me! A pureblood, seeker of the Slytherin house, rival of the chosen one, is scared of the dark” Harry leaned his head onto the cool stone of the walls and spoke “Honestly, I get it. I was stuck in the dark figuratively and literally most of my life, and I know it can be pretty scary.” Malfoy’s eyes softened when hearing that “yeah, It is pretty scary” the silence rang through the air till Draco spoke again “There is something I wanted to ask you…” Harry nodded “sure, go ahead” Draco gulped nervously, gripping all his courage. “Would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me? Of course you don't have to say yes but it would be nice if you did and-” Before Harry could answer, the door swung open. They scrambled apart from each other, Malfoy cleared his throat “well…” He quickly ran to leave but Harry stopped Draco standing a few feet away from him “wait.. I didn't answer your question” Draco turned to him “I’ll go with you, to the yule ball of course.” Draco turned red in surprise, a genuine smile creeping onto his face. He rushed to Harry clasping both his hands. “Wait?! Really?” Harry smiled back “yes, of course,” Draco let go of Harry's hands, internally screaming with happiness as he whispered to himself “well now pansy owns me 10 galleons”. Draco cleared his throat once again “well, then. I’ll be leaving.” he rushed out of the common rooms, flustered but happy. Harry sat down with Hermione and Ron again, Hermione asked, “wait, what happened?” Harry just smiled “nothing, don't worry”