The posters were on the bulletin boards in all four common rooms, outside the Great Hall, and randomly taped to the walls throughout the main lessons corridors. In a bit of fun from the Weasley twins, there were also several rolled-up copies found inside of the boiled eggs on the breakfast table.

The Yule Ball that had been promised as a part of the festivities accompanying the Triwizard Tournament was nearing at last, and someone had created a confectionary-pastel poster with a witch and a wizard dancing to remind everyone.

"Just imagine Filch making that! With all the soft and fuzzy colors and the like?" Michael McManus was saying as he and Malcolm Pearce played at a bit of quidditch in the corridor with a balled up copy they'd plucked from the wall.

"Oh PLEASE if there are gods above with ears to hear, if it is Filch who's made 'em, let me find out!" Herbert faux-prayed, flinging himself to his knees and clasping his palms before Cedric, who nearly tripped over his mate.

"You idiot," Cedric chuckled.

"Who're you going with, Ced?"

"I dunno, mate, it's over holidays. I wanted to go home and spend the holiday with my dad," Cedric replied.

"What and not go?" Michael asked, shocked enough he missed catching the paper ball snitch as Malcolm tossed it at his head.

Cedric shook his head. "Otherwise my Dad's all alone for the holiday..."

"I'm 'fraid you'll haven't a choice, Ced," Malcolm drawled. "It's tradition the Champions do some special dance at the thing."

Cedric stopped in his tracks and turned to Malcolm. "What on Earth for?"

"Got me beat," Malcolm said, catching the balled up poster as Michael lobbed it at him. "Probably showing off you're cultured as well as brawny or something."

"And what if he's neither?" Herbert joked.

Cedric was panicked looking, "I don't dance."

"Well on December 24th you will," Malcolm said, unfurling and waving the poster in all its horrid pastelness.

Cedric stared at the poster, coming to a stop in the hall, the others walking on. Herbert realized Cedric had come to a stop and turned back, flinging his arm about Cedric's shoulders. "Ahoy, are you alright, Captain?"

"I don't dance, Herbert," Cedric said, looking up at his friend.

Herbert grinned, "Consider it a fourth task."

Cedric scowled.

Herbert's eyes twinkled, "If you'd like you can have me as your date and my dancing will be so wildly ridiculous that no one will notice your robotic step-step-slide." He grinned as Cedric raised an eyebrow. "This is the rhythm of the night oh yeah, this is the rhyyythmn of my liffffe..." Herbert shook his hips and started dancing a bit of an imagined conga as Cedric wheeled away.

"You are - absolutely - absurd," he said between laughs as Herbert did a rolling motion with his arms and pranced after Cedric as they continued on to the Great Hall.

Cho Chang tugged on the ribbon she had magicked into her hair, staring into the mirror and assessing her appearance carefully. She tilted her head as though asking a question, then shook her head and silently played as though speaking with a friend, watching how the ribbon reacted to the movements. When it stayed in place, even having bent down to lift a stack of books and root through her book bag, she nodded at herself, satisfied with the no slip charm she'd cast, and slipped her bag - shaped like a rabbit - over her shoulders. With a flick of her wand she closed the shutters on her way out the door.

The spiraling walk way up through the Tower that led to the dormitory doors was crowded as students jostled on their way to or from breakfast, depending if they were early risers or not. Half the Tower was comprised of Morning People and the other half were Night Owls. Judging by the crowdedness of the Great Hall at breakfast, Cho supposed Ravenclaw was the most varied in this aspect: Most Gryffindors were late risers, while the Slytherins trended toward earlier breakfasts. The Hufflepuffs were harder to tell as they usually stayed at the table whether they were finished eating or not, gathered and chattering, grazing on food over the full time breakfast was served, rather than treating it as an in-and-out activity.

Cho herself wasn't particular either way - but she'd been avoiding one of the sixth year boys ever since the announcement of the Yule Ball had been made.

It wasn't that Henry Wu was terrible. It's just that he was exactly the sort of boy her parents would most definitely approve of and was, therefore, the last boy at Hogwarts that Cho wished to have anything to do with.

Usually Henry took the hint and stayed away, but over the Summer, Cho's father had gone golfing with Mr. Wu and there had been some family dinners where she'd had to sit with Henry and make small talk (which really meant listening to him babble on and on about his interests and his plans for after Hogwarts). Since then, Henry had been more forward - he'd asked her to go with him to Hogsmeade, and even had referred to her as his "sort of girlfriend" to a couple of the Ravenclaw boys. She'd found out when Loony Lovegood had asked her in Divination it she thought the nameless boy in her dream analysis was Henry Wu.

What a stereotype! Cho lamented.

Then the pastel posters had gone up and ever since Henry had been eyeing her in the common room the other night, peering over his glasses frames at her with a nervous expression. She was sure he was trying to build up the nerve to ask her to the Ball with him. Thus, Cho had to avoid him at all costs. She knew if he asked and she said no she would hear about it from her parents and Cho simply didn't need that. It was bad enough they were upset because she'd asked for tickets to a muggle concert for her Christmas gift and they had listened to the music and positively refused to allow her to listen to such things anymore.

Luckily, most of her music was hidden in magically enlarged compartments in her school trunk and they had no idea it was there at all.

Any way - Henry was definitely a late riser, which meant she had to get up, get ready, scurry down to the Hall, eat her breakfast, and rush back up to the Tower before he was up in order to avoid him - and that dreaded question.

She trotted quickly down into the Great Hall, ducking past Viktor Krum as he loitered around outside the hall. A gaggle of girls stood by the hourglasses tittering about Krum's presence in the Hall as he lingered. He usually just slouched right off to the library, so they were all flippy haired and doe eyed, hoping his being there meant he might be considering asking a Hogwarts girl to the Ball. She was ashamed to see several Ravenclaws among the cluster of females waiting for him to notice them, including her room mate, Marietta Edgecombe.

She slid into her place on the bench, slinging her bunny bag onto her lap and digging out a book to read while she ate her eggs and toast.

"That is a particularly good book," came a dreamy voice from her side.

Cho looked over to see Loony Lovegood staring at her with her slightly protrudent eyes.

"It's a shame they categorize it as a fictional story," she said. "There are quite a lot of historical books that are put under false genres due to how uncomfortable it makes people to consider they might be true." She shook her head.

Cho forced a nod. She doubted very much that Luna had any idea what she was on about.

"I suppose I would be afraid of the idea of a talking lion as well, but then again we witches and wizards should be used to unusual things. The fact so many in our world are so skeptical is really quite strange. We accept such funny things as common place and yet do not believe in things which are not half as odd."

Cho said, "It is quite strange, yes," then turned to her book, hoping that might be the end of it.

But Luna continued on. "Why, just look at the muggles who don't believe in unicorns!"

Cho's eyes flitted up from the book page.

"I should think a horse with a horn would be much more believable than something like a giraffe or a platypus!" Loony laughed too loud and too hard at this thought, the sound of it made Cho - and a couple others at the table - jump and nearly tip over the orange juice. "Why just imagine believing in giraffes!!" Loony giggled.

"Luna," Cho said gently, "Giraffes do exist."

"Only ones which have been magically modified to look like that, though, of course. Everyone knows that. Some muggles think they are naturally shaped like that!" She continued laughing.

Cho smiled uncomfortably, then returned to her book again.

Loony was still going on in her melodic, sleepy tone when Cho's eyes landed on Henry Wu from across the room. He he was looking down at his tie, his books stacked at his feet as he struggled to sweep the Windsor knot properly. She had moments to spare. "Loony - I mean. Sorry. Luna. I have to go." She slammed her book closed and shoved it quickly into the bunny bag, ducking low and covering her face with one palm as she scrambled to mix in with a group of Hufflepuffs headed out the door. She had just about made it when she slammed directly into the back of one of the boys, knocking herself backwards onto the floor, the deceptively heavy bunny bag taking her down like an anchor to the bottom of the sea.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry." Of all the people in the school - it had to be Cedric Diggory she'd walked into. One of the four people in Hogwart's halls being paid the most attention to. All eyes in the cloud of Hufflepuffs she'd infiltrated turned to her and she felt her cheeks burn.

"It's alright, I'm fine, it's not your fault. It was my own fault, I wasn't watching where I was going," Cho said quickly, distracted, worried where Henry Wu was, not wanting to pull any more attention to herself than was already being directed her way.

But his strong hand grabbed hold of hers, pulling her up to her feet. As he did, her eyes caught Henry Wu's over Cedric's shoulder and she felt her face turn all the more red as Wu looked on with a horrified expression.

Cedric said, "You're sure you're alright? Those flagstones aren't soft."

The boy who was always following Cedric around - Hewbert? - snorted and muttered something that sounded like "you're one to know about hard and soft aren't you?" to which Cedric stamped on his foot without breaking the concerned expression on his face as he looked at Cho.

"Really, I am okay," Cho said, nodding.

Henry Wu was on the way over. She had to get out of there.

"Thanks for the hand up," she said quickly and she raced away, pink as a cherry blossom, and rushed up the stairs as fast as she could.

Cedric Diggory stared after Cho Chang with an expression of confusion. He looked 'round at Herbert, who shrugged.

Suddenly a short boy with thick glasses cut in front of Cedric, so close Cedric nearly walked into him, just as Cho had done. "Whoa! Sorry, Henry. Close call there," Cedric said.

"What did you say to Cho just now?" Henry demanded.

Cedric shrugged, "I - I asked her if she was alright, that's all."

"You were holding her hand, I saw you!"

Cedric looked perplexed, "I - helped her up. You alright, mate?"

Henry replied, "No! I am not alright!" He looked rather angry, actually. "Stay away from my girl! We're going together!" he said.

"You and Chang?" Herbert laughed. "But -" he looked Henry's small stature down and up, "Aren't you afraid you'll be stepped on?" he joked.

Henry narrowed his eyes, "No," he said rather seriously, and he frowned at Herbert, then up at Cedric again before hustling off.

Herbert's mouth struggled to stay serious but he couldn't hold it long before he busted out laughing, "No, he says! As if it was an actual possibility!"

"She is pretty tall," Malcolm said.

"Fleas are tall compared to Wu!" Michael laughed.

They passed out of the Great Hall and were headed for the steps when a heavy hand took hold of Cedric's wrist and he looked up to see Viktor Krum. "Hullo Viktor," he said.

"Do you know Hermyown?" Krum asked without prelude.

Cedric looked confused, "Erm - Hermyown?"

"She is my friend who does reading with me?"

"Do you mean Hermione? Hermione Granger?" Cedric guessed.

"This is what I ask - Hermyown."

Cedric decided it was easiest not to correct. "I know of her - hard not to, she's the brightest witch in her class... but I don't know her personally. She's a Gryffindor." He paused as Krum stared at him expectantly. "She, uh, should be down shortly. I didn't see a whole lot of Gryffindors in the Hall. They tend to lie in longer than the other houses... She's probably waiting for Harry Potter." He started toward the Hufflepuff steps.

"Cedric," Krum's tone was low.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning 'round.

Krum looked like he wasn't sure if he wanted to say the words on his tongue. He hesitated, then said, "You should do the swimming."

Cedric's eyes rover over the thick layers on Krum's neck and shoulders. Thick skin bundled about him as though he were on an expedition to the arctic. "The um... swimming?" Cedric asked, sure Krum had said the wring word and something was bring lost in translation.

"Yes the swimming," Viktor said. "It is good for the thinking." And before Cedric could press, he turned away, face lighting up as he spotted Hermione Granger coming down the stairs hugging an extremely old looking orange cat in her arms, half turned to talk toHarry Potter and the Weasley twins' brother.

Cedric shook his head to clear out, then hurried to catch up to Herbert, Malcolm, and Michael, who stood in the doorway that led down to the Hufflepuff common room.

"Asking Krum to the Yule Ball perhaps?" teased Herbert, eyes glowing with amusement.

"Shut it," Cedric grumbled, laughing as he followed Herbert and the others.