quot;Your third champion, from Durmstrang Mr. Victor Krum and Ms. Hermione Granger."

Chapter 12

"Oh Force, he actually got up and asked her right there and then? Oh Force…that is too funny! What happened next?"

Sitting atop the southern tower of the Temple, Harry felt himself smile as he watched Ahsoka laugh. The two of them were enjoying a rare moment of relaxation, free from training or studying. So, deciding to take advantage of the rare opportunity, Harry had grabbed a few bottles of butterbeer and spirited Ahsoka away to what had become "their spot", sitting on the ledge of the southern tower overlooking the ocean as the sun slowly descended towards the horizon.

But as Harry watched her laugh, he was anything but relaxed. In fact…he'd never been more terrified than he was at that moment. "Well," he said, taking a swig from the bottle in his hand. "They came in about thirty minutes later and Tracey went straight towards Daphne while Ron slowly made his way back to his seat looking like he'd just been hit by a bludger. She apparently berated him for nearly the entire time about his lack of decorum and his need to work on his tact, considering a Slytherin dating a Gryffindor would be social suicide. After her long speech he was more than ready for her to just dismiss him and have that be the end of it…but instead she actually accepted!"

"Poor Ron," Ahsoka chuckled while taking a sip from her drink. "He really has no idea what he's in for does he?"

"Nope." Harry laughed. "But despite that…I've never actually seen him so happy before. Although he did cringe when his mother sent him a letter saying that she was sending him formal dress robes. According to Ginny, there mother's sense of fashion was outdated about a hundred years ago."

Ahsoka's laughter tapered off as she began idly turning her half-full bottle in her hands. "So…who are you taking to this ball?"

Harry's good humor evaporated as he was forcefully reminded about why he'd been so unnerved for the past couple of days. "Well…that's the thing," Harry said slowly. "I haven't asked anyone yet."

Ahsoka gave him a sideways glance. "But you are one of the champions, despite the questionable method upon which you were forced into the tournament. Don't you have some obligation to attend?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Actually I have to dance the first dance with my date along with the other champions."

"So why haven't you asked anyone yet?"

Looking down into the bottle in his hands, Harry downed the last of it before levitating it with the Force for a moment before banishing it away with a flick of his hand. Ahsoka reacted immediately by drawing her wand and firing off a blasting curse which struck the bottle dead center vaporizing it in midair. It was a game they played. Whenever one finished their drink they would throw it away from them and the other had to destroy it before it hit the ground.

"Well…truthfully there is someone that I want to ask. I'm just…oh hell. I'm just afraid that she'll say no."

"I'm sure she won't Harry, whoever she is." Harry didn't miss the slight twinge of pain in her voice, despite how well she managed to hide it. "You just need to man up and ask her."

Pulling another bottle over to him, Harry stared down at it for a moment. "You're right," he nodded, setting the bottle down and turning towards her. "Ahsoka Tano…will you do me the honor of consenting to being my date for the Yule Ball at Hogwarts?"

"Well that's– wait, what?!"

Harry just barely managed to keep his laughter in check at the look on her face as she finally processed what he'd asked her. "I'm asking if you would like to come to the ball with me Ahsoka."

Ahsoka blinked dumbly. "But– but I don't even go to your school!"

"That doesn't matter." Harry countered back, as his stomach began to drop. 'Maybe…maybe she doesn't want to be with me. But if that were so…then what was the deal in the library just before the First Task?' "As long as you're magical, which you are, and there isn't too much of an age gap between us, then I can invite anyone I want. And truthfully I couldn't imagine spending the night at the ball without anyone but you. Nor do I want to."

Ahsoka didn't say anything back. She just sat there staring at him in silence. And as each second passed his nerves became more and more frazzled until he feared that he couldn't help the stray thought that entered his mind, 'I just made the biggest mistake of his young life.' That all came to a crashing halt when he finally heard Ahsoka's response.

"I'll go with you."

And with those four words, all of Harry's fears and insecurities evaporated, leaving him feeling more alive than ever before. "You will? I– I mean – oh Merlin I'm bad at this. Th– thank you."

Smiling, Ahsoka laid her hand against his arm. "It's alright Harry. It's not like I have a lot of experience at this sort of thing or any for that matter. But I'm sure that Master Nox wouldn't mind letting me use the talisman to disguise myself for the night."

At the mention of the talisman, Harry's fears once again raised their ugly heads. "That's another thing Ahsoka." He said slowly and carefully. "I'm– I'm not ashamed of the fact that you aren't human. Not in the least. And– and I don't want you to think that I am either. So…I want you to come to the ball as you are. Without the talisman. I want to be with you. With who you truly are. Not while you're wearing a mask."

Ahsoka bit her lip and lowered her eyes. "I– I can see where you're coming from Harry. But you don't have to worry about that. I know that you aren't that type of person. And I really appreciate it, but I don't want risk everything we have here just so that I can go to a ball as I am and cause people to start asking questions that don't have answers. Or rather that we don't want to answer."

"There are already magical near-human species on Earth Ahsoka." Harry replied, trying to stay calm. "The Veela, merpeople, centaurs, goblins, elves…hell the list goes on and on. It wouldn't be hard to pass off that you're a member of a magical near-human species that my mother has contact with. And if people ask why they'd never heard of you, we can just say that you're species is reclusive and this is first for them."

Harry could see that he was starting to win her over as her head started swaying from side to side. "It's…I– oh Force I'm tired of hiding. Alright Harry. If you can convince Master Nox that I can go without risking our position here, then I would gladly go with you as I am. But if she disagrees…then I'm wearing the talisman."

"Brilliant." Harry smiled, feeling like he could walk on water.

Laughing slightly, Ahsoka turned so that she was once again facing out over the ocean. "So…this ball thing. Going as a– couple…usually indicates the two are umm…" She paused as her cheeks began to color ever so slightly. "Romantically involved."

"Well– umm…yeah it usually does mean that." Harry winced, rubbing the back of his head. 'She said it like it's a bad thing.'

"So…are we then?"

"Huh? Are we what?" Harry asked.

Ahsoka continued to look out at the horizon, refusing to meet his eyes. "Involved."

Harry's heart thudded. "I- if…well…" Stopping himself, Harry took a deep breath. "Only if you want to be."

"And what do you want Harry?" Ahsoka asked, turning towards him. Her blue eyes wide and defenseless.

"I–" 'Oh for fucks sake Harry! Just man up and say it!' "I– I want us to be involved."

Ahsoka continued to stare at him for a whole minute without saying word. "Good," She said, ending the silence with a bright smile.

In that moment, Harry felt such elation that he felt as if he could walk over Voldemort with ease and bitch slap the Emperor into submission. "Brilliant." He breathed, then deciding to be daring he reached out and lightly grabbed hold of her hand.

"I'll never understand you're sayings." Ahsoka smiled, her hand tightening on his as she leaned her head against his shoulder as the two continued to watch the sun set. "But I guess…brilliant will have to work until I teach you some sayings that I understand."

The next morning, Harry found himself standing just outside his mother's quarters pacing back and forth. 'What am I supposed to say? I talked a big game to Ahsoka last night. But now that I'm here…bloody hell I don't know what to say to her!'

Finally stopping, Harry took a deep breath and pushed open the door to his mother's room. "Took you long enough to enter Harry. I thought you were going to wear a hole in the hallway with all the pacing that you were doing."

Harry found his mother sitting behind the large desk that was positioned just before a large set of windows that overlooked the temple grounds. Littered across the surface of her desk were dozens of pieces of rolled parchments along with several thick folders.

Along the front of her desk were dozens of holographic screens that she was controlling with a wave of her hand. The computer system was a new addition, purchased during their brief excursion into the greater galaxy before heading onto the trials. Harry was actually quite jealous that he didn't have one of his own. But hopefully that would change soon enough as Nox Industries was set to release the 'prototype' of this computer system to the general public in a few months time. 'Merlin knows Hermione would kill to have one.'

"Have I come at a bad time?"

"Not at all." His mother said, closing down the dozen or so screens with a wave of her hand and closing the folder that she was reading from. "In fact…I was just about to search for you."

Harry blinked. "You– you were?"

"Of course." She said, rising from her seat and making her way around the desk. "Come, let us go for a walk. It's been far too long since it was just the two of us. I think it will do us both some good."

Nodding, Harry followed along behind his mother as the two of them stepped out of her rooms and into the large hallway. "Have you heard from Remus and Aela?" He asked as the two of them started their walk.

"Yes," Nox nodded. "Apparently little Luke is already proving himself to be quite the handful. A few days ago while Remus was putting him down for a nap, he kept reaching for some plush toy that he enjoys. And much to Remus's shock, the little bugger actually managed to summon it from across the room."

Harry was stunned. Luke was still an infant. "He's…he's already that powerful?"

"Yes," his mother nodded before shooting him a sideways glance. "And he's not the only one. Galen is also starting to summon things to himself, and apparently last week he turned Maris pink while she was watching him."

Harry shook his head. "Those two are going to be something else when they're ready to begin their training."

"I believe so as well," Nox nodded. "Quite like yourself actually. According to Sirius and Remus, you were levitating things around and throwing around magic when you were their age as well."

For the next few hours, mother and son just walked around the temple talking. Sometimes their conversation turned serious, like when discussing potential plans for the future. But most of the time they kept it light, talking about things like his classmates, news from around the world or even at times magical theory. Eventually they made their way through most of the inner workings of the temple and made their way out onto the grounds.

"It's been far too long since we've done this my son." Nox said suddenly as the two of them walked along the edge of the northern landing platform overlooking the ocean. "I've missed this."

"So have I." Harry nodded. He truly did miss the times when it was just the two of them alone. "But I know that you're extremely busy and-"

"And that is no excuse Harry." His mother growled as she abruptly stopped and turned around to embrace him. "You're my son and I love you. You are my priority above all else."

Harry felt himself choke up slightly as he leaned into his mother and returned her embrace. "I love you too mum."

Feeling her pull away, Harry looked up into the smiling face of his mother. Her eyes were so clear and green that they were almost glowing. "Now…are you going to finally man up and tell me what happened between you and Ahsoka yesterday? Or am I going to have to drag it out of you?"

"W-What?" Harry stuttered as he was caught completely off-guard by his mother's question. "How do you know something happened between us?"

Nox merely stared at him, clearly amused with his reaction. "You're my apprentice. More so, you're my son. I felt your elation yesterday. You haven't quite got the hang of keeping your feelings from slipping through our bond. And if you're going to be seeing the lovely Miss Tano, then I'm going to have to teach that to you. With how strong our bond is; if I don't teach you how to subconsciously block your emotions from slipping through then I'm going to have a front row seat anytime you and Ahsoka slip away for a little 'private time'. It's hard enough blocking you out when you're taking care of yourself. I can't imagine just how hard it will be when you have a nice warm partner with you."

Harry's face felt like it was on fire by the time his mother finished. "Mother!"

"Something wrong Harry?"

"Yes…no…I mean…ugh." Running his hand through his hair, Harry started pacing back and forth while his mother laughed at his discomfort. "You're enjoying this…aren't you?"

"Of course I am." Nox said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "One of the perks of being a parent. Now…tell me what happened yesterday. No more jokes I promise."

Sighing, Harry went back to standing side by side with Nox. "I– I asked Ahsoka to be my date for the Yule Ball and– and she said yes."

His mother smiled widely. "Splendid. You were dancing around each other even more so than Ashara and I back when we first met. I must say though…you're faster on the uptake then I was. I think it took me nearly a year to admit what I felt towards Ashara. Even longer for Tonks. But that can't be the reason why you were so nervous to talk to me this morning. So what's weighing on your mind son?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry forced himself forwards before he could stop himself. "I don't want Ahsoka to come to the dance in disguise mother. I want her to come as she is."

His mother didn't respond immediately, instead she just stared at him. "Why? You're risking a lot by exposing her."

"I don't believe so mother." Harry responded. "There are dozens of magical near-human species around the world. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Ahsoka hails from somewhere…remote. The togruta, a reclusive magical near-human species a lot like the veela. We could even pass Master Ti off as a representative or such. Also…I don't want Ahsoka to think that I'm ashamed of her for not being human. I'm fine with her not being human, and I want everyone to know that as well."

His mother stared at him for a moment long before turning her attention back to the horizon. "No. There's too much at stake for something so trifle."

Harry stared at his mother completely taken aback. He hadn't expected her to outright deny his request. But before he could properly formulate a rebuttal, his mouth took over. "Forgive me mother…but I wasn't asking your permission. I was telling you."

The look his mother sent him could've frozen the blood in a man's veins. But Harry held his ground and forced himself to meet her eyes. "You dare defy me on something so trivial?"

"Yes." Harry said, sounding surer than he felt. "I do."

Mother and son stood silently staring at one another. In the back of his mind, a nagging fear began to take hold as he kept a wary eye on her hands, waiting for her to drawn either her wand or lightsaber. 'Is this…do I really need to be doing this? I mean…I can't just– no. She herself admitted that this is a trifle matter. She may not think that this means much, and that the risks far outpace what I want. But I don't think so.'

"Give me one good reason why I should let this idiocy continue."

"I've already given my reasons mother." Harry shot back. "I don't feel the need to repeat myself."

That last bit was probably a bit over the top, but for some reason Harry couldn't stop himself. 'This is important to me…damn it. Why can't she see that?!'

His mother's eyes narrowed almost dangerously and he was honestly scared that he was about to die, whether from her magic, lightsaber or through the Force, right there and then. "Have you even stopped to consider the possible ramifications if someone were to piece together that she's an alien?"

"I don't think that will be an issue mother." Harry responded quickly. "There are merpeople, goblins, Veela. Vampires. Giants. Werewolves. House elves. Centaurs. The list goes on and on. Most of them are highly reclusive of both the magical and non-magical world as well. It wouldn't take much to convince someone that togrutas exist on our planet. Especially when there are two with us at the moment."

This mother continued to stare at him. "No."

Harry felt his rage mounting as a gust of wind rustled the bottoms of his robes. "This is happening mother. Whether you agree to it or not."

His heart felt as if it were about to thump out of his chest with how scared he was. But despite his fear, he held his ground. 'This isn't that big of a deal and she's making it into one. And I guess I am too…but…but damn it this is important to me! I'm not going to back down just because my mother told me to!'

Time scratched on as green eyes met green eyes in a battle of wills. It was all Harry could do to keep on his feet as the pressure just by being in his mother's mere presence almost got to the point of being unbearable. "So you will not move on this then?" His mother asked suddenly.

"No."

He stumbled forward a step as the pressure on his body disappeared without warning. When he looked up, he was shocked to find that his mother was…smiling at him.

"Good." She simply said, all traces of anger gone from her face as she swept past him.

"Wait!" He called out, spinning around and chasing after her. "Wh– what was…I don't understand. What just happened?"

Stopping, his mother turned back and around towards him. "You've been all that I could've hoped for and more in a son Harry." She said softly, her hand reaching out and caressing his jaw. "But there is one area which you've unfortunately fallen short. And that is your almost blind loyalty to me."

"What?" Harry asked taken back. "What do you mean? You're my mother!"

"Yes, and you are my son Harry. Not my slave." She said softly. "You are a Knight of the Guardian Order now. You have to stand on your own. Make your own decisions. Challenge mine that you don't agree with. I need you as my son and heir and my Knight. I don't need a slave."

Harry was rocked by what his mother was saying. 'I…I don't always rely on mother for everything…do I?'

"That isn't to say that I want you challenging me every step of the way either." His mother continued on. "But you have to stand on your own. This…argument if you will. Was a test of your resolve to challenge me when I make a decision you don't agree on. Had you simply gone with my decision I would've been severely disappointed. But you didn't. You challenged me."

Harry took a step back. "This…this was a test?"

"Yes." Nox nodded. "But don't think that I've been planning this for a long time Harry. I simply saw this as an opportunity to test you and capitalized on it. And now you get to enjoy a pleasant evening with your lovely girlfriend. And let me tell you something son," tapering off, his mother leaned closer so that she could whisper in his ear. "Togrutas are flexible in ways that you can't even imagine. And if you treat her right…maybe Ahsoka will treat you with a show of just how flexible her species is. I seem to recall that Ashara was able to put her ankles behind her head with little trouble at all."

Harry was frozen stiff as his mother pulled away from him and started walking away. The implication was…'Damn it all mother!' Harry cursed as his mother apparated away. 'Why did you have put that image in my mind!?'

Leaning back in her chair in her office, Nox felt a smile come across her face as she thought of what had just transpired. 'He expected me to rebuke his request…and he was prepared to fight me for it. Even if he originally spoke without thinking, he made up for it quickly. That was good. We will not always see eye to eye and I can't have my son and heir afraid to go against me if need be. This was a trifle matter, but in the long run it will give him the confidence to go against me in the future if he doesn't agree with my decisions.'

"Necessary to test him like that it was?"

Closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the back of her chair, Nox let out a sigh. 'Of course…I'm already emotionally drained after that little "confrontation" with Harry. So of course the little bugger would feel now is the time to lecture me.'

Turning in her chair, she found Yoda sitting on the railing of her balcony. "I usually have an open door policy around here Yoda…but I swear you're starting to push the boundaries of that policy. What if I'd been in here with Tonks huh?"

"Cries of pleasure, I heard not." Yoda shrugged, still facing out over the ocean. "Safe to enter, I assumed it was."

Arching an eyebrow, Nox turned fully towards Yoda. "We're not that loud."

"When compared to a pack of raging banthas, the truth do you speak."

"Careful Yoda. That almost sounded like a joke." Nox smiled. "Can't let it get out that you Jedi have a sense of humor. That would be such scandal."

"Humor I have," Yoda chuckled.

"So I've heard." Nox nodded, getting up from her seat and joining the aged Jedi Master on the balcony.

It was strange to think that this little being had become one of her closest confidants and advisors. Certainly she of a dozen years ago or so would've laughed at the idea. 'Or maybe not. After all, Ashara was a Jedi. Before I 'corrupted' her that is. And oh what fun it was to corrupt her.'

"-strong in the Force, your son is. Felt his anger, the whole Temple no doubt did."

"It was necessary." Nox shrugged, waving a hand dismissing Yoda's concern. "Harry is a Knight and will soon be in charge of leading forces into battle. I need to know that he is able to stand up for what he believes in. Even if that goes against me."

"So war is inevitable." Yoda sighed, a weariness laced within his voice.

"Yes." Nox said simply. "You've sensed the growing darkness on this world. Soon Voldemort will be back and he will gather what forces he has amassed and launch his assault. And unfortunately, until we destroy his last two soul anchors we won't be able to kill him. Then there will be the revelation of the magical world, which I'm sure will cause no shortage of fear and hostilities.

"And even after all that is done…we still have the Sith Empire to deal with. So yes…war is inevitable. Whether today, tomorrow, or a dozen years from now. War will come to us. There is always war Yoda but we, as Guardians, have the responsibility to meet the challenge that is given; especially since it will be Voldemort declaring war. He won't be subtle like the Sith this time."

"True, subtle he is not. Agree I do, dangerous Voldemort is left unchecked."

Staring out over the waters, Nox shook her head and turned back around into her office. "How did our newest arrivals handle receiving their wands?"

With how busy she'd been between her own business, both the magical and non-magical governments and her son's entry into the TriWizard Tournament, Nox barely had any time to sleep let alone to spend half a day escorting the Jedi to Ollivanders in order to get fitted for their wands. So she'd delegated that task to Sirius and Yoda. She would've preferred that they'd gone sooner, but the old coot had disappeared for weeks only to reemerge briefly for the wand ceremony before disappearing again.

"React much the same as I, they did." Yoda hummed, his clawed fingers gently running over the length of his cane where he hid his wand. "Blackthron and dragon heartstring for Master Vos. Aspen and unicorn tail hair for Master Kenobi. Cypress and hippogriff feather for Master Ti. Chestnut and phoenix tail feather for young Maris. And ebony and thestral hair for Master Ventress."

'Interesting combinations.' Nox thought, thinking back on what little she knew of wand lore. Specifically the relationships and tendencies of different wand woods and cores. "And how did Nat take to the fact that she will still have to wait a year or two before receiving her own wand."

"Hmm…difficult it was, for Master Ti to explain." Yoda hummed.

"I'll talk to her then. Again" Nox sighed. "While wands are indeed powerful, they're a crutch. Use them too early and one can hamper their ability to dip into the Force at will. There are exceptions of course, but from what I've seen it's far better for the child to gain an understanding of the Force before ever grasping their wands. I'm sure we can make it worth the wait with a more practical study of magic through runes and arithmancy. One doesn't need a wand for those, nor for potion making." Nox paused in consideration, "Although we may not use it so much but there are some uses for certain potions that useful to know."

Sifting through the piles of paperwork on her desk, Nox frowned at the stack that Winky had delivered to her while she was on her walk with Harry. 'Fucking hell…I was out for an hour or two and there's already ten letters on my desk…three that are marked classified, three confidential, two from the British Ministry, one from the ICW and one from the UN.'

Breaking open the seal on the letter from the UN, Nox let a small smile grace her lips as her eyes read over the document. "Well…looks like things are proceeding as planned, despite having to speed up the timetable." Nox said out loud, not really caring at the moment if Yoda was listening or not. "The UN has agreed to my proposal about a small outpost on the moon in hopes of setting off towards Mars. And they've agreed to give Nox Industries complete control over the project with only a small oversight committee of ten representatives to keep tabs on me."

It wasn't necessarily the base that she was pleased about, although the added income to her company would indeed help some of her side projects. But this project would act as a smoke screen for her bigger goal. To set up a mining colony within the asteroid belt. 'Just one last ingredient needed…miners. The very best. And there's only one choice.' "Tell me Yoda," she said causally, folding the letter back up. "How would you like to go with me and meet some long distance cousins of your species?"

Standing in his dorm room, Harry stared at himself in the mirror while straightening his more formal looking Guardian robes for the tenth time in as many minutes. Pulling out his wand, Harry cast another Tempus charm next to him. 'Less than a half an hour to go.' He swallowed as he saw the time hanging in front of him.

"Merlin…how do people find these robes comfortable?"

Behind him, Ron was in the process of adjusting his robes as well. Ron's mother, after receiving the letter that he had a date for the ball, sent him a set of robes that were quite frankly god awful and had no reason to exist in this century. Tracey had taken one look at the robes and had immediately set them on fire. She then dragged Ron off during the next Hogsmeade weekend to the local robe shop and forced him to be fitted for a set of formal dress robes. It'd pretty much cost Ron every knut he had, even more actually considering that he had to ask Harry for a loan, but now he had a set of formal robes that his date approved of.

"You get used to it after awhile I guess," Harry shrugged.

"Easy for you to say," Ron grumbled. "You get to wear the robes you want to. And I have to wear these."

"They're formal robes Ron, not a death sentence." Harry sighed. "And besides, Tracey picked those robes out for you. Now are you seriously going to stand there and tell me that you don't want to wear something that she picked out for you on such a special occasion?"

Ron turned away from Harry so he could stare at his reflection once again. "Well…I guess they're not too bad. And Tracey did pick them out. And she said that they looked good on me. How the bloody hell are you not nervous!"

"I am." Harry chuckled, drawing a sharp look from Ron. "I'm actually terrified."

Ron's eyes narrowed. "You don't look it. And how are you terrified? You-" Pausing Ron looked around before continuing in a softer voice. "You assaulted a bloody ship! You took on a chimera and won! And you already passed your trials. What do you have to be scared about?"

"I know how to fight," Harry nodded. "But when it comes to women…I'm just as clueless as you."

Ron's head tilted to the side. "I'm not sure if you just insulted me or not, so I'm just going to let that go."

"Probably for the best," Harry laughed, clapping his friend on his shoulder. "So…let's go face the music. Literally."

The common room was full of their male house mates who were all dressed up and waiting at the base of the stairs leading up to the girl's dormitories as they waited for their respective dates to descend. Seeing as how neither of their dates were in Gryffindor, and seeing as how Hermione told the both of them not to wait for her, they bypassed all of their house mates and made their way towards the exit. Just as they were about to leave they ran into Ginny, who'd taken up residence in one of the plush armchairs near the exit.

"Well well, who knew that you two cleaned up so well?" Ginny asked rhetorically as she stood up to block their path.

"Bugger off Ginny," Ron grumbled.

Arching an eyebrow, Ginny shook her head and stepped forward and redid Ron's bowtie, which happened to have been tied backwards despite neither Ron nor Harry noticing.

"Complement Tracey on how good she looks when you first see her Ron." Ginny said with a surprising amount of softness. "But don't continuously complement her looks throughout the night. And I swear to Merlin, if I hear that you spent more time in your seat than on the dance floor with Tracey I'm personally going to shove my broom so far up your arse that you'll be able to pick your teeth with it."

Ron blinked and stared at his sister as if she'd suddenly sprouted a second head. "O– okay."

"And Harry," Ginny continued as she rounded on him. "Same advice."

"Yes ma'am," Harry responded with a mocking bow, to which Ginny promptly smacked him across the head for.

"Don't be a smart arse Harry," Ginny chuckled. "Now both of you get out of here and have some fun. I don't want to see either you of you back here until at least midnight is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry and Ron said at the same time.

Giving them one last encouraging smile, Ginny moved off to the side and allowed the two to leave. "Good Merlin Harry," Ron breathed once they were a safe distance away from the Fat Lady's portrait. "Are all girls so barmy?"

"Ron," Harry answered, shaking his head. "I honestly have no clue."

The two didn't say another word to each other as they made their way through the empty halls and down the winding staircases. As they started to descend the last flight of stairs before the hall, the sound of dozens of excited voices reached them. "Blimey mate…I don't know if I can do this." Ron swallowed as the doors to the Great Hall came into view.

Dozens of single men and women were standing outside the doors while even more started to couple together and make their way into where the ball was to be held. "Yes you can Ron," Harry encouraged him. "And besides…it's too late now. There's your date for the night."

Ron visibly straightened as he followed Harry's line of sight across the corridor towards Tracey, who upon seeing the two of them left whatever conversation that she'd been a part of and walked over towards them. Even Harry had to admit she looked good. Her hair had been pulled back into a large bun on the back of her head. And her dark red dress hugged her body in just the right places.

"You know, it's usually the man who's waiting on the woman, not the other way around." Tracey smirked as the three drew even with one another.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was completely my fault." Harry said, talking through his hat as Ron seemed to temporarily lost his ability to speak.

"I'm sure it was." Tracey smirked, not falling for his lie for even a second, before turning towards Ron. "Either way…thank you for making sure that my escort for the night didn't get cold feet."

Smiling, Harry patted Ron on the back. "Are you kidding me? Ron almost sprinted down here. It was all that I could do to keep up with him."

When Ron still didn't say anything, Harry smacked him on the back again. "Wha– oh sorry." Ron murmured, his face turning as red as his hair. "Tracey you– dear Merlin. There are no words to describe…you look amazing."

Now it was Tracy's turn to blush, nothing more than a slightly reddening of her cheeks, but still a blush nonetheless. "Thank you Ron," she said, stepping up to him and idly fingering the lapel of his dress robes. "You clean up pretty good yourself. Now come on. Daphne's already inside with her date. Some jackass from Beauxbatons that I know she's already regretting agreeing to go to the dance with. So we need to get to her fast. Harry…can't wait to see you dance tonight. It'll be quite the show I'm sure."

Grabbing Ron by the hand, Tracey turned and all but dragged his friend through the crowd and into the great hall. "Best of luck to you Ron," Harry mumbled as he leaned up against a nearby wall to watch as everyone began pairing up as their dates arrived.

"Hey there Harry! Why are you standing out here by yourself?"

Hearing Cedric's voice, Harry pushed himself off the wall as his fellow champion approached him from the direction of the Hufflepuff common room. But it was the woman on his arm that pulled Harry up short. "Susan?"

Susan, upon seeing his reaction, laughed as she idly stroked her hair, which had been braided into a single long braid and slung across one of her delicate shoulders. "What?" She asked candidly. "I told you that I was going to the dance didn't I?"

"Well…yeah." Harry stuttered, still trying to make sense of what he was seeing. "But you never told me with whom and…when did this happen?"

Sharing a look between themselves, Susan and Cedric both broke out in peals of laughter. "Oh my, this is far too good." Susan laughed. "I've managed to strike the great and mighty Harry Potter speechless. I so wish I had a camera. Or better yet, I'll definitely be saving a pensieve memory of this moment."

"But to answer your question Harry," Cedric pressed on. "'This', as you say, happened because of you. Or more specifically because you were entered into the Tournament. And now…now I can't imagine being with anyone else tonight."

Looking over the two of them, Harry very gently reached out with the Force. Their happiness was almost like a shining beacon in the dark. "I'm happy for you two then," Harry smiled as he pulled back. "But just so you know Cedric…Susan has been my friend and companion since well before Hogwarts. We're siblings in all but blood and share a bond that is probably deeper than that. So if you do anything to hurt her…well I hear that the acromantula in the Forbidden Forest are always in the mood for fresh meat."

"Alright Harry," Cedric laughed, patting him on the shoulder. "No need to go all 'big brother' on me here."

Even though Cedric thought he was joking, Susan knew that he wasn't. "So Harry, when is your date going to be here?" She asked, trying to shift the topic of discussion.

Cedric's eyes immediately lit up. "That's right, just who is your date Harry? I think that's probably one of the top topics to talk about in Hogwarts right now. 'Just who is Harry Potter bringing to the ball?' Fleur is the only other one whose date is a complete mystery. Actually, there are a couple of bets going around school at the moment that you two are going together. Susan denied it though as she apparently knows, but alas she has refuted all of my efforts to coax it out of her."

"Because had I told you, you would've headed straight for the nearest betting pool." Susan sighed dramatically. "He may put on the perfect student persona, but he's actually quite the rule breaker. And besides, it wasn't my secret to tell."

"Well it won't be a mystery for much longer." Harry shrugged. "And as for when she'll be here…she's being escorted here by my godfather Sirius…so hopefully they'll be here right before the dance is about to begin. If not…then I'm going to kill him."

Susan smiled at him, before her eyes drifted past his shoulder and up the stairs behind him. "Whoa…you're not the only one who cleans up extremely well Harry."

Following her line of sight, Harry turned around…and had to pick his jaw up off the floor. Hermione stood at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide and a sense of nervousness rolling off of her in waves. Not that she had any reason to be nervous in Harry's opinion. She looked positively divine in the pale pink almost white dress that she'd chosen to wear. "Hermione." Harry greeted, sweeping into a slight bow. "You look splendid this evening."

"Thank you Harry. You look handsome as well." Hermione beamed as she gracefully made her way down the stairs before holding out her hand so that Harry could escort her down the last few steps.

"Thanks." Harry smiled, before leaning slightly and lowering his voice so only they could hear. "You have nothing to be nervous about Hermione. You look positively radiant. Your date, whoever it is, won't know what hit him."

"Thank you Harry," Hermione nodded back. "And as for who my date is…he's standing right behind you."

Turning around with Hermione's hand still in his own, Harry found himself face to face with Viktor Krum. 'Well…this is awkward.' Harry thought, just barely managing not to wince at the jealousy that was rolling off of Viktor. 'Well…might as well have fun with this! Sirius always says that I take life far too seriously.'

"Master Krum." Harry announced loudly, holding up Hermione's hand. "It is my privilege and honor to present to you the jewel and flower of Gryffindor House, Ms. Hermione Granger!"

Both Cedric and Susan looked like they were about to fall over as they tried to contain their laughter while Hermione turned completely ashen and looked like she wanted the floor to come alive and swallow her whole. Krum looked at the four of them completely lost for a second, before he did something that surprised everyone. He proceeded to give Harry and Hermione a deep and respectful bow.

"My thanks for escorting her thus far, Master Potter. And I vow to you that I shall treat Ms. Granger with the respect and honor a jewel such as herself deserves."

Hermione's face turned an even more interesting shade of red, but this time for an entirely different reason altogether. "Thank you Viktor." Hermione mumbled, forcibly letting go of Harry's hand and all but leaping across the small distance between Harry and Krum, but not before uttering one last shot at Harry. "You are so going to pay for this later Harry."

Feeling a familiar brush against his mental barriers, Harry smirked as he saw a small horde of Beauxbatons girls walk into Hogwarts with Fleur at the head of the ensemble. Fleur had definitely gone all out, and causing more than one or two boys to be smacked upside the head by their dates as they turned to watch her as she passed them by. She was wearing a silver floor length dress that left her shoulders bare and her hair, while not braided, was slung across one shoulder much in the same fashion as Susan. In short…she was stunning.

By the time Fleur reached the rest of them, the small group she'd been a part of had all split off to find their own dates, leaving the six of them alone in the hallways next to the great hall. "So I see that we are the only two without dates yet Harry." Fleur commented after nodding in greeting to each of them. "Perhaps we shall dance the first dance together to punish our dates for their tardy no?"

Harry made to answer, but before he could he felt several familiar presences appear within the castle several floors above where they were currently standing. "Sorry Fleur," Harry smiled, "going to have to take a rain check on that dance offer. It appears that our partners for the evening have arrived."

Harry tuned out everything as he locked onto her presence and followed her as she made her way through the castle. At one point he could've actually sworn that she'd reached out to him as well, but it'd been remarkably brief encounter. If it had even happened. When they were just a short distance away, Harry turned towards the direction he knew that she would be coming from and tried to picture what she might look like so he could brace himself. But nothing that he could've done would've prepared him for the sight that greeted him.

Standing at the top of the stairs with Sirius on one side, Bill Weasley on the other and Professor McGonagall leading the way was his date for the night.

His lungs refused to work and his heart lurched up into his throat as the world faded away, leaving only Ahsoka walking down the stairs towards them. The first thing he noticed was the obvious fact that she wasn't wearing her talisman, proudly showing off her togruta heritage. The second was her choice of dress.

She was wearing a dark teal-blue dress that left her shoulders and a slight diagonal section of her midriff bare and was adorned with a few golden accents here and there. As she stepped down he also noticed that the dress had a slit up the side from floor to just above her knee that exposed part of her leg as she walked. And atop her head was a golden tiara that wove in-between her montrals. All of the girls in the school had looked beautiful that night. But to Harry…Ahsoka was in a league of her own.

"Ahsoka," Harry breathed as the she stepped off the last of the steps separating the two of them. "You– Merlin I can't– you look absolutely amazing."

Ahsoka's face lit up like a sun as she beamed at him. "You look good too Harry," she said lowly as she stepped forward so that the two of them were standing almost face to face.

A loud sniffling noise broke their moment as both of them turned their heads towards a dramatically sniffling Sirius. "Just like James…he knew he was going to marry your mother the moment he laid eyes on her. The 'Potter Family Curse', he called it. Love at first sight. And now…now my godson has fallen victim to his family's curse and-"

"Enough of that Mr. Black." McGonagall growled, slapping Sirius upside the head fairly hard. "You are here as a chaperone and guide to Ms. Tano. Not to embarrass my lions."

"Yes ma'am," Sirius sighed, rubbing the back of his head where McGonagall had slapped him. "Well Harry…have fun! And don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Is there anything you haven't or wouldn't do Sirius?" Harry called out as Sirius headed for the doors to the hall.

"Smartarse." Sirius grumbled loudly as he disappeared from sight leaving just the champions, their dates and Professor McGonagall out in the hall.

Now alone, Professor McGonagall motioned for them all to stand before her. "Now that all of you are here we can begin," she stated. "I will be announcing you and your date's one pair at a time. Mr. Diggory, as the champion of the host school you shall be entering first. Then Ms. Delacour and Mr. Weasley shall be next. Followed by Mr. Krum and Ms. Granger. And lastly Mr. Potter and Ms. Tano. Once your names are called you shall walk out onto the dance floor. Once all of you are in position the first dance shall commence opening the ball. Are there any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Now please wait here until I call for you."

The silence amongst the four pairs lasted until McGonagall disappeared through the doors. The moment she was out of sight, Cedric, Fleur and Bill all rounded on Harry and Ahsoka, although it was Bill who managed to get the first words in edgewise, although Fleur was a close second. "So Harry…who is this?"

"I can speak for myself," Ahsoka said not unkindly. "My name is Ahsoka Tano, and before you ask the obvious question, I'm not human. I'm part of a near-human species known as a togruta."

"I've never heard of the togruta." Fleur responded, her voice laced unsurprisingly laced with curiosity.

"Understandable," Ahsoka nodded before launching into the story that Harry's mother and Sirius had prepared for them. "My people are usually extremely reclusive, and given the feelings of most of the magical Ministries around the world I'm sure you can understand why. But Madam Nox knew of us and brought Harry and his friends to our lands on a pilgrimage this past summer. Harry and I met during this time and we 'hit it off' so to say. It was then decided that I would travel with Madam Nox to learn what I could. And now…here I am."

Before anyone else could ask either of them a question, the doors to the great hall opened on their own as McGonagall's voice floated to them from within. "-your Triwizard Champions. First, from Hogwarts Mr. Cedric Diggory and Ms. Susan Bones!"

Cedric straightened like he had a steel rod up his back and held out his hand for Susan, who took it without hesitation, and proceeded to head into the great hall. "Next, from Beauxbatons Mademoiselle Fleur Delacour and Mr. William Weasley." Fleur and Bill, who were already hand in hand, waited for just a second or two after being announced before walking into the hall.

There were no small amount of gasps and whispers as Hermione, a muggleborn and considered by many in the school to be an outsider, walked into the ball, arm in arm with one of the most famous wizard, and not to mention eligible bachelor, in the world. 'Merlin…if this is the reaction that Hermione's receiving…what kind of reaction will Ahsoka have? Maybe…maybe I shouldn't have pressed her to not wear the talisman.'

Feeling a slight press against his hand, Harry looked down and found Ahsoka's slim fingers weaving between his own. Looking up into her face, Harry felt his heart thud against his chest with such force that he was afraid he would break a rib. 'No. I don't regret anything. If the world can't accept her…then that's their problem not mine.'

"You ready to start some trouble?" Harry asked, attempting to keep his voice steady and coy.

Ahsoka smiled, but he could still sense the knot of nervousness that was within her. 'Stay strong…for her.' "Who do you think you're talking to Harry? Trouble is my middle name."

"Ahsoka Trouble Tano," Harry smiled, "Quite the mouthful."

"Stop being a smartass Harry," she smiled, shouldering him lightly.