Chapter Text
Ben
Ben felt like puking, even though he barely ate. What if Susan does not like my robes? Are they too Ravenclaw? Mum had taken him and Hermione dress shopping in the summer, giving them both enthusiastic and knowing looks that should have told him everything. Dress robes are not bought for the fun of it, unless you are ridiculously rich. They had bought slick navy blue robes with yellow ochre threading for Ben, and a lovely periwinkle dress for Hermione. And mum was hell-bent on taking a ridiculous amount of photos of them in their costumes as soon as they got home, which had meant that they were going to be used this semester, from hindsight.
Interrupting his thoughts, Anthony put a hand over Ben’s shoulder. “You look good mate! No doubt that Bones will think the same.”
“You think?” Ben hesitated. “She was not particularly enthusiastic when I asked her last week.”
“I think she was surprised. You’ve never really talked to her before.” He paused. “You now have the most romantic night of the year to charm her, though.” Anthony teased and winked at him. “Reckon I can charm Lisa tonight?”
“Depends.” Ben tried to keep a straight face as Anthony stared worriedly back at him.
“Depends on what?!” Anthony exclaimed.
“Whether you have Amortentia hidden in your robes tonight.” Ben joked.
“You asshole!” Anthony laughed. “She has been afraid to look at you the past few days, and when she does she turns beet red. You’ll be fine.” Ben hurriedly reassured him. Anthony looked relieved, and smiled.
“Cmon, let’s go down and woo some witches tonight.”
Hogwarts was even more magical tonight. The lights were dim but plentiful, and the soft snow outside made Ben feel slightly less nervous. As he looked outside, Ben spotted fairy lights ornamenting the lawn to the great hall, giving soft romantic lights to the castle and the bushes. Before leaving Ravenclaw tower, Anthony offered his hand to a furiously blushing Lisa Turpin, who giggled softly. There were barely any girls in the Ravenclaw common room, however. No doubt helping our champion’s date with her hair. Ben hoped that nobody was thinking of sabotaging her, as a few girls were very disappointed that Diggory was her date to the ball. Terry and Michael had to wait for their dates then. Terry looked almost as nervous as Ben was. Michael, however, was looking bored. Poor Mandy.
The trip down to the Hufflepuff dorms was longer than Ben remembered, and yet he reached the kitchens more quickly than he’d like. After he waited for what felt like another hour, the door opened.
Susan looked gorgeous, wearing a single strap burgundy red dress that looked lovely with her red hair. Ben felt his throat go dry. Don’t fuck this up!
“You look lovely tonight.” Ben hesitated. “Well, especially tonight.” He nervously laughed. Fuck.
“Thanks.” Susan softly smiled.
Ben took her arm and guided her to the Great Hall. The conversation did not go as smoothly as he hoped, which meant not at all. He tried something else. He asked: “Do you by any chance know who Hermione is taking to the ball? She refused to tell me. Nobody in Ravenclaw, and seemingly nobody in Gryffindor either. She seemed very giddy about it too.”
“She’s not taking Weasley or Potter then?” Susan looked surprised.
Ben sighed. “No, she had a row with Ron. Apparently he asked her out, but he started by telling her that she’s a girl.”
“Charming.”
Ben laughed. “So nobody in Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor. Probably no Slytherin either, so a Durmstrang or Beauxbatons fellow then?” Who?
“No idea.”
And their conversation returned to silence yet again.
Frankly, Ben was happy that she was not taking Ron. He would have ruined her night within the hour. The exclusion after the so-called rat faked his death, as well as the firebolt affair, both made Hermione a frequent guest at the Ravenclaw table last year. Ron had sunk in his estimation because of it.
As Susan and Ben arrived at the great hall, however, he could not spot Hermione, but the other Gryffindors were already there. The Slytherins were there too, with a large gap between the groups, and thankfully Ben could not find Hermione amongst them either. He did find one of the frequent sneers Malfoy reserved for him and his sister. He looked like a vampire with his pale skin and cheekbones, in contrast to his dark velvet robes. His date, Parkinson apparently and naturally, wore girlish frilly pink robes that did absolutely nothing for her.
In the distance, Ben heard McGonagall exclaim “Champions over here please!”, and after a short minute, they finally entered the hall too. Harry was with Padma’s sister, and Delacour with Roger, his captain. Well done Roger. On second thought, Roger looked stunned and near-drooling, which was hardly attractive. Cho was with Diggory, and Ben heard a soft sigh on his side. He would have looked annoyed at Susan, but then he could see the girl holding Krum’s hand.
Ben blinked.
Hermione Granger.
His twin sister.
Holy shit. No wonder you kept this secret. She had managed to tame her wild curls, and her teeth looked smaller, which brightened her smile, thanks to Madam Pomfrey. Maybe I should let myself be jinxed like that too. Gleefully, Ben looked around to gauge reactions from the crowd. Ron was the epitome of jealousy, having the gall to look betrayed. Harry looked shocked but happy for her, and the Slytherins looked grim. Malfoy looked sourly at his sister, and Parkinson had her jaw on the floor.
As soon as Hermione caught his eye, she gave him a broad smile. Ben smiled back and winked.
After the third dance, Ben realised Susan barely bothered to look at him. Every time the champions passed, her head turned like a compass needle toward Diggory. He tried to be romantic and gallant, and all she seemed to care about was to position herself so that she could look at the Hufflepuff champion. This has become a waste of my time. In an attempt to get some space, he excused himself, telling Susan that he wanted to talk to his twin. She hardly seemed to care. Ben approached Hermione from behind, and tapped her shoulder.
“’Mione, care to introduce me to your date?” Hermione jumped up.
“Ben!” she exclaimed. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“Herm-own-ninny, vho is this?” Krum asked in a heavy accent. Huh, I never heard him speak before. Wait- “Hermoninny?” Ben smirked.
Hermione rolled her eyes and gave Ben a vengeful look. “Viktor, this is my brother, Benedick.”
“-Please call me Ben-” You evil witch, not in front of Viktor Krum! Hermione smiled victoriously. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m one of your many fans” Ben quickly interrupted. Krum looked amused between Hermione and Ben. He probably noticed similar brown curls and eyes.
“I can see de resemblance now. You may call me Viktor,” He smiled and took Ben’s hand. “You have a very charming sister, Ben-e-dick.” Hermione sniggered. God dammit.
“Really? I had no idea she was charming.” Ben teased. Hermione stuck out her tongue. “Your headmaster does not look pleased with you, Viktor.”
Viktor sighed. “He does not approve of your sister’s heritage, most likely. Durmstrang is not very tolerant. But he does not dare say anything.”
Ben nodded and looked at the group of Slytherins, noticing Parkinson gulping from a flask, already looking flushed, with Zabini egging her on. Malfoy still glared venomously at Hermione. “We have bigots like that here too, unfortunately.”
Viktor changed subjects. “Herm-own-ninny told me you play quidditch too. Vat position?”
“Chaser,” Ben replied, “I joined the team last year. We have a friendly with Slytherin soon, are you coming to watch?”
“Vhy not. I vill get you and your brother a drink, Herm-own-ninny.” Viktor touched her shoulder and Hermione blushed pink.
“How is your evening with Susan going, Ben?” His sister inquired after Viktor left. She looked at him sympathetically.
“Badly.” He sighed. “She seems preoccupied with a certain champion from her house. I might as well be invisible.” Ben added.
“I’m sorry, Ben.”
“Not your fault. I’m glad your date is going well, though” Ben said. Hermione smiled and looked around, spotting Harry and Ron sitting on the side of the ballroom. She took Ben’s arm. “Cmon, let’s join them for a minute.”
This is going to be a disaster.
Hermione came over and sat down in an empty chair.
"Hi," said Harry. Ron didn't say anything.
"It's hot, isn't it?" said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. "Viktor’ss just gone to get some drinks."
Ron gave her a withering look. "Viktor?" he said. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?"
Ben gave Ron a murderous look. Here we fucking go. Ron and Hermione did not notice, and started bickering.
Hermione looked at him in surprise. "What's up with you?" she said.
"If you don't know," said Ron scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."
Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged. Ben felt his jaw tighten.
"Ron, what - ?"
Ron’s voice kept rising, sharp and ugly. "He's from Durmstrang!" He spat. "He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You - you're -" Ron was sputtering like an imbecile, "fraternising with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"
Hermione's mouth fell open.
"Don't be so stupid!" she said after a moment. "The enemy! Honestly - who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?"
Ron chose to ignore this. "I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?"
"Yes, he did," said Hermione, the pink patches on her cheeks glowing more brightly. "So what?"
"What happened - trying to get him to join spew, were you?"
"No, I wasn't! If you really want to know, he - he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!"
Hermione said this very quickly, and grew red in the face.
"Yeah, well - that's his story," said Ron nastily.
That’s enough. “Please, Weasley, this is not about Viktor Krum.” Ben always called Ron by his first name, but he felt this was more appropriate. Ron started and glared back at him.
“Yes it is, Granger, he’s the enemy. He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who Hermione hangs around with. He's just trying to get closer to Harry - get inside information on him - or get near enough to jinx him -"
Hermione looked hurt and angry. When she spoke, her voice quivered.
"For your information, he hasn't asked me one single thing about Harry, not one -"
Ron interrupted fast. "Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cozy little library sessions -"
"I'd never help him work out that egg!" said Hermione, looking outraged. "Never. How could you say something like that - I want Harry to win the tournament. Harry knows that, don't you, Harry?"
"You've got a funny way of showing it," sneered Ron.
"This whole tournament's supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!" said Hermione hotly.
"No it isn't!" shouted Ron. "It's about winning!"
“I thought Harry was the champion, not you.” Ben acidly stated. “Why are you the one preoccupied with winning?”
Ron grew red, but ignored Ben.
"Ron," said Harry quietly, "I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum -"
But Ron ignored Harry too.
"Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are," said Ron.
"Don't call him Vicky!"
Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Ron watched her go with a mixture of anger and satisfaction on his face. Ben could punch him at that moment. He was purposely trying to get her distraught.
“You are such a good friend, making Hermione feel happy on such a magical night.” Ben tried to put as much venom in his voice as possible. “Truly a gift, the privilege of your friendship.” Ron glared at him, but there was a bit of guilt in his eyes. Ben looked to Ron’s side, noticing a very uncomfortable Padma Patil. “Want to dance with me, Padma?”
“Sure.” Padma said with a relieved look. The guilt melted away from Ron’s face, making place for anger again. Ben did not care.
Padma danced with him for a while, and together they found Lisa and Anthony. Their date was going very well, it would seem. He saw Hermione back again with Krum, discarding the drama by dancing. As The Weird Sisters finished their last song at midnight, Ben went outside to find a moment to himself.
Peace and quiet ruled in the fairy lights of the Hogwarts lawn. It only lasted for a minute, as Ben heard puking when he walked past some bushes.
Ben called out. “Can I help you?”
“Y-you have some water?” A female voice slurred back. Ben approached and walked around the bushes, finding a puddle of pink fringes with black hair and high cheekbones.
“Parkinson?” Ben paused. I don’t think I should be here. I can’t just leave her here though. “Do you need some help?”
She gave him a puzzled look with unclear eyes. “Who are you ag - again? You look familiar.”
She did not recognize him. Probably for the best. But if he gave his full name, there would be no doubt she would not accept his help. She hated his sister as much as Malfoy hated Harry. “I’m Ben,” he said eventually. “Do you want me to escort you to the Slytherin dorms?”
Parkinson sighed and grabbed her flask. As Ben tried to interrupt, she reassured him. “I filled – I filled it with water, don’t worry.” She took a large gulp. “I don’t want to leave just yet.” She paused and gave him an appraising look. “Can you sit with me?”
Ben felt nerves crawl up his neck and wanted to get away as quickly as possible, but he saw no one else able to help. “Sure, if Malfoy does not mind.”
“I came here to get away from Malfoy.” Parkinson snarled. “He was in a foul mood all night. He would not mind, I’m sure.” Ben sat down next to her, making sure there was no puke where he sat.
“What about your date? Surely you brought someone?” Parkinson inquired.
Silently, Ben prayed Parkinson would forget this conversation tomorrow. “Susan Bones,” he admitted. “But she was preoccupied with staring at Diggory for the majority of the evening. She would be a hypocrite if she cared.”
Parkinson giggled. “Can’t really blame her, Diggory is very handsome.” Ben groaned. She leaned in to him for a second, then leaned back. Suddenly, she sat straight and looked at him, looking more alert.
“You’re not a mudblood, are you?”
Ben flinched. If I say yes, she’d not let me help her get back to her dorms. “Not that it matters, but no.”
He had a sinking feeling as he lied. I’m not ashamed of who I am. But I am not going to abandon a drunk girl, bigot or not. His lie seemed to calm Parkinson, however. She quizzed him further, on a softer note.
“Ravenclaw? You look like a Ravenclaw.”
“Ye – what do you mean I look like a Ravenclaw?”
Parkinson giggled. “You look soft-spoken and clever and swotty, which rules out a stupid Hufflepuff or reckless Gryffindor.” She paused. “Besides, I think I recognize you from class.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, you have the haughty aristocratic look of a Slytherin.” Ben replied.
Parkinson puffed her chest. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Ben paused and smiled. After a short while, he broke the silence again. “The sorting hat briefly considered Slytherin when sorting me.”
“Really?” Parkinson turned to look at him, appraising him once more. “Why did it put you in Ravenclaw then?”
“Apparently I’m not cutthroat enough. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, really.”
“A bad thing.” Parkinson said decidedly. “If you do not pursue your chances and desires ruthlessly, you have more chance of losing them.”
“Maybe. I’m happy to be in Ravenclaw, though.”
They sat there for another minute, Parkinson softly swaying and drinking more water. The silence felt… peaceful, strangely.
“Time to get back.” Ben helped her up by grabbing her wrists softly but firmly. Thankfully, Hermione had told him where the Slytherin dungeons were, so ever so slowly, he found the way. Parkinson leaned heavily while walking, nearly falling twice. Ben had to hold her more strongly, especially when walking down the stairs. Ben could smell her perfume, lavender and rosemary. Every time she swayed, she giggled. Ben felt a warm feeling crawl up to his neck. What would Hermione do in his stead? Push her down the stairs? No, he decided. Hermione would help any and everyone. But she would have left Parkinson puking outside.
“How do you know where to go? Have you been to the Slytherin dungeons before?” Parkinson interrupted his thoughts.
“Uhh…” Ben could not come up with an excuse. Shit.
“Ohh, you have sneaked here with another Slytherin girl, have you? Who was it, Davis? I bet it was Davis.” Parkinson pouted at him.
“No, I walked back with Nott once, we worked together on an Arithmancy project in October.” Ben improvised. He did work with Nott on that project, so he did not lie about that.
“That makes sense.” Parkinson sounded relieved. Ben, for the life of him, could not figure out why she would be relieved about that.
When they reached the wall that led to the common rooms, Ben spotted Zabini making out with a blonde - probably Greengrass - pushing her up the opposite wall. Time to make myself scarce before someone recognizes me. “This is it, good night Parkinson.”
“Good night Ben.” She paused. Zabini turned his head. “What is your last name again?” Parkinson asked as Ben quickly turned to hide his face.
Ben pretended not to hear her. Fuck, Zabini saw me. Shit. Oh well. It’s not as if they liked me anyway.
Pansy
She woke up with a headache. A punishing, ruthless pounding to her head that told her she drank nowhere near enough water last night. She did not remember getting in bed either. Sweet Salazar, how did I get back here last night? A kind face illuminated by fairy lights flashed before her then. A face decorated with brown curls, brown eyes with flecks of gold. Ben, that was his name. Ben… Pansy came up empty.
At the very least, last night ended better than it started. Draco had been frowning the entire evening, not acknowledging anyone and simply sipping drinks in the corner and sneering with Crabbe and Goyle. It’s not as if she expected romance. Draco and her were not interested in each other like that. A bit more effort and friendliness, however, would have come a long way.
So, Pansy started drinking from a flask she received from Blaise. A poor decision in the end. She might have gotten a snog from this Ben late last night if she hadn’t been puking. His name is Ben and he is in Ravenclaw, Pansy remembered. She had Charms and Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws, and he also took Ancient Runes, she remembered. He was usually sitting next to Goldstein, and did not really speak up. I never really noticed him before. Why not? In spite of her head, Pansy felt giddy and elated.
Daphne approached her bed and sat on it. She had a hickey in her neck, but her face looked concerned. “You had interesting company last night.” She whispered, careful not to alert the others in her dorm.
“Just a boy who found me outside and escorted me down the dungeons. He was very gallant about it.” Pansy giggled. Daphne only looked more concerned in response, and cast a silencing charm around them.
“You know he is one of the Granger twins, right? Benedict Granger, I believe he is called.” Daphne said carefully.
“Granger?”
For a moment Pansy hesitated. The boy with the soft voice and steady hands. Then the name sank in.
“WHAT?!” Pansy shot up, fury overwhelming her. “He’s a filthy mudblood?” Pansy remembered asking him whether he was one. He lied. Not cutthroat enough, right. “Oh sweet Salazar, who else saw me with him? Just you?”
“Blaise saw him bring you to the dungeons and told me.” Daphne admitted. “I asked him not to tell anyone else, so if you do him a favour you can keep it quiet.”
He was a mudblood. He touched her. He put his arms around her while she was drunk just to get a feel for a proper pureblood girl. He was a near-muggle and he took advantage of her drunk state. Pansy was shaking.
Daphne hesitated. “Did something happen between the two of you?” Her eyes were compassionate but serious.
“No, I don’t think so. He was very eager to put his arms around me, that’s bad enough already.” Pansy groaned. “I’m going to make that Muggle scum regret ever looking in my direction in the first place!”
Daphne sighed. “Maybe he just escorted you back and did not want to make a fuss about things. If he is anything like his sister, he’s a goody two-shoes, just a bit more quiet and-”
“Please, he probably dreamt of touching a pretty pureblood for half his life and seized the first opportunity he got. I was drunk and let my guard down.”
“Okay, have it your way.” Daphne yielded and held her hands up. “You wanted to get payback for this? What are you planning on doing?”
“Let me think about it. You’ll be the first to know.” Pansy answered, shrouded in cold fury.