Harry nodded. Krum did seem to get all his joy from competition. In fact, the only time he saw him smile, outside of the tournament, was when he was laughing at Draco's incompetence. He didn't seem like the type to settle down for a quiet life with a girl, especially one that managed to beat him in a duel. He had far too much pride for that. "Aren't there any guys from Beauxbatons that interest you?"
"Oh, I am tired of them fawning over me for ze past six years. I am thinking a fresh start with new faces may help."
As they made their way into the castle, Harry was intent on finding Hermione immediately. Where would she be? His first thought was the library, but it turned out to be completely empty except for Madame Pince. He then went up to the Room of Requirement to see if she was there, but the wall didn't have a door on it. He finally made his way to Gryffindor Tower, but she wasn't in the common room, at least. Going up to his bed to drop the gifts off, he pulled the Marauder's Map out of his trunk and activated it. He carefully scanned the map for ten minutes looking for Hermione's name, but couldn't see it.
"Hey, Harry. You've got a new admirer or something?" Harry looked up to see that Neville had just walked in.
"What? Oh, no, these are for Hermione. Have you seen her?"
"Not for a few hours. Last I saw her she was still in the library. Looking things up for you and the Trial of Water."
"She was?" Harry felt his heart drop when he realized how much he had taken Hermione's commitment to him for granted. Wait, water? he thought to himself. He knew the next task was supposed to take place near Hogwarts- she didn't jump in there just to help him research, did she? It would explain why she wasn't on the map. "Uh, I'll be back soon, Nev. Make sure nobody touches my... um, Hermione's stuff," he said as he grabbed his broom.
"Wait, I think she was-" Neville tried to say, but Harry was already flying out the window.
The Black Lake was huge, forming the entire southern border of the Hogwarts grounds and Forbidden Forest. If she was studying something in the Black Lake, she'd probably left her bags somewhere along the shores. Harry began his search at the docks where the first-years' boats lay. He flew until he reached the edge of the forest and then turned back. On the other side of the docks was the Durmstrang ship. As he passed by, he saw Krum climbing up the side of the ship on a rope ladder. Was he swimming in the lake? In this cold weather? If it dropped another degree it might as well freeze over!
He gave the ship a wide berth, just in case the Durmstrang students were feeling territorial or if they decided to take pot shots with the cannons on the side of the ship. I wonder if they're even real, thought Harry. Or maybe they're magical cannons? If they are, I wonder if they shoot out overpowered spells or enchanted cannonballs? He let his imagination run as he skimmed over the other side of the shoreline, which again turned out to be empty. Frustrated, he headed back to the starting point of his search. He'd just wasted nearly an hour searching for Hermione and was no closer to finding her. He flew back to his room, scanning the grounds like he would search for the snitch, but looking for his brown-haired beauty instead. Almost nobody wanted to stay outside longer than they had to in the cold December air, and even that final sweep was fruitless.
He was pleasantly surprised, then, to find Hermione sitting on his bed, sniffing the flowers and twirling the small gift he had bought her in her hands, unopened. The chocolates were also untouched. She was obviously waiting for him to come back before she opened anything. So much for the surprise, Harry thought. He landed on the windowsill, as somebody had obviously felt it was a little too cold to leave a window open in this season. He tapped on the window, getting Hermione's attention.
"Harry! I didn't expect you to come in this way..." she said as she opened the window for him. She giggled. "The way you tapped on that window, I was expecting Hedwig or Kerris."
"Well, it looks like you already received my delivery, Hermione," he said as he stepped down.
"So all of this stuff is for me, then? What's going on? You do know that Valentine's day is two months away, not two days..."
Right, Valentine's! If I'm doing this much to take her to the ball, will I have to top that for Valentine's day? Harry realized with horror. "Um... I wanted this to be a surprise, but..."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hermione quickly rearranged everything the way she found it. "You can still surprise me, you know. I have no idea what all this is about." She gleefully hopped back on the bed, awaiting his answer.
"Well, you know how I told you yesterday that there were going to be another event, right?"
"Yes, but all this seems a little personal, doesn't it? I thought you said this would be an event for the Triwizard Tournament."
"It is! I was going to wait till tomorrow when everybody else would know, but I might as well ask now. Hermione, there's going to be a fancy ball on New Year's Eve. W-would you... do me the honor o-of being my date?"
"Harry! You did all this just to ask me out on a date? What's gotten into you? Of course I'd love to go to the ball with you! Why are you so nervous about it?"
"Wait, I haven't explained all of it yet. We'll be the opening act. The four champions will be the first on the dance floor, and everyone will be watching us..."
Hermione barely hesitated at all when she answered, "That doesn't matter, I'll be up there with you! I mean, I don't know how to dance, but it should still be a lot of fun!"
"Wait, you don't know how to dance? You told me you were in ballet when you were younger..."
"Harry, there's a world of difference between ballet and the waltz," Hermione told him. "And I already told you, I hated it. The only time I was on stage, I played a tree."
"But you don't mind being in the spotlight dancing with me?" Harry was a little relieved, but confused.
"Of course not! All the other girls in the ballet class made fun of me... but this time, I'll be dancing with you!" She gave him a wide smile.
"But... I don't know how to dance, either. I might end up making you look like a fool."
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