Greetings, guys, gals, and non-binary pals. Hope you had a wonderful [whatever time it is when you see this]

Summary: Christmas Day; Harry sees Ron in his dress robes for the first time and has an "Oh no he's hot!" moment

Christmas Day finally came. Harry hadn't given the ball much thought since he and Ron got together, but as he opened his presents, all the anxiety came crashing down on him. Today, he and Ron would officially come out to not just Hogwarts, but Durmstrang and Beauxbatons and then the entire wizarding world. What would they think? Was homosexuality even accepted here? It must be or else there wouldn't be at least two other same-sex couples. Plus, McGonagall would have surely told him he had to find a girl when she had asked. That didn't stop Harry from pulling Ron aside as Seamus, Dean, and Neville went down for breakfast.

"What's up?" Ron said, seeing the worry in Harry's eyes.

Harry voiced his concerns, hoping he didn't sound like he was overreacting.

Ron's eyes widened with understanding. "It's generally accepted, believe me. Why, do Muggles not accept gay people?"

"For the most part, no. And my aunt and uncle have never liked anything out of the norm." He could see them now, hear the terrible words thrown at him, plus their usual insults.

Ron's lips pursed. He had only seen Harry's relatives a handful of times, and each time he had fought the urge to strangle them. "Since when do your aunt and uncle's opinions matter?"

Harry still wasn't fully convinced.

Ron grabbed his hands. "Look, this is different, okay? You're not the only one in this; they'll be talking about me, too. We'll just face it together like always. You and me."

Harry felt the corners of his lips twitch. "You and me."

"Great." Ron gave Harry's hands a squeeze. "Let's go. Hermione'll be waiting."

Feeling better now, Harry was able to calm down enough to continue on down to the common room. The rest of the day flew by, and by seven o'clock, the Gryffindor boys were back in their dormitory getting dressed.

Ron looked down at his dress robes. Lavender and Parvati had done a wonderful job, but would Harry agree? He put them on and waited for Harry to turn around.

For several seconds, Harry just stared. And opened and closed his mouth. And blinked. And stared some more.

"Do I look okay?" Ron asked, self-consciously rubbing the back of his neck.

Harry nodded slowly as if in a daze. "More than okay," he rasped. Why did dress robes have to have long sleeves?

"I could say the same about you," Ron said, looking back in shy admiration. "Mum was right about them bringing out your eyes."

Harry's face warmed up. "Er, thanks."

"Come on." Ron held out his arm. "Are you ready?"

Harry nodded. He reached out and linked his arm with Ron's. They walked out to the common room, which looked unusually colorful without the normal black school robes.

Neville and Hermione were already there, wearing dress robes in dark brown and periwinkle blue respectively. It was a shock to see Hermione dressed up like this, her normally bushy hair in a sleek bun. She smiled at Harry and Ron. "Hi. You both look nice."

"You, too," Ron said.

Already, before they had even left the common room, people were starting to notice. Whispers filled the room, bringing Harry back to his first year when everyone was excited he was coming to Hogwarts.

"Looking rather dashing, don't you think, Freddie?"

"I certainly agree." Fred looked Ron up and down. He turned to Angelina. "What do you think?"

"Very handsome," she said, giving Ron a smile.

"Should we head down?" Harry said, noticing Ron's discomfort.

"Yes, please," Ron said, even though he knew the attention was only going to get worse when they reached the entrance hall.

Sure enough, when students from the other houses saw them arrive, the conversation instantly changed.

Harry guided Ron over to Lavender and Parvati, looking very pretty in different shades of pink. They both gawked at Ron.

"Damn, if I were straight, I'd be into that," Lavender said, looking him up and down. She winked at Harry. "You got yourself a good one."

"Yeah," Harry said, because he could not come up with a better response. The entrance hall suddenly felt very warm; probably just because of the sheer number of people.

Ron had barely heard; he had spotted Fleur Delacour with Roger Davies and ducked behind Harry, which was futile since he was so tall.

Durmstrang entered with Karkaroff in the lead. Krum was at the front with a girl Harry vaguely recognized as one from Krum's fan club.

"Champions, over here, please!" Professor McGonagall called.

Harry tightened his grip on Ron's hand and walked forward. Fleur and Krum looked between them, surprise flickering in their eyes. Davies, on the other hand, was so stunned to be Fleur's partner he didn't even notice. Harry could have sworn he saw him drooling

Cedric looked very smug. "I knew it," he muttered. Cho rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly, but she was smiling.

The doors to the Great Hall opened, and the other students began moving in. The rest of Krum's fan club threw his partner looks of envy, but most of the students were still focused on Ron and Harry. Even Malfoy and Parkinson didn't have anything to say, although Harry would bet they would recover from their shock soon enough.

Once everyone had gone through, the champions lined up and walked in. Applause rang through the air as they headed for a large round table at the top of the Hall where the judges sat.

Dumbledore beamed down at the students, but Karkaroff had his usual unpleasant look on his face. Beside them, Harry saw Ludo Bagman and Madam Maxime, but Mr. Crouch was absent. Ron's brother, Percy, dressed in navy-blue dress robes, had taken his place. Harry thought he saw a small smile flicker on his face as he drew out the empty chair beside him.

"I've been promoted," he announced importantly. "I'm now Mr, Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."

"Why didn't he come?" Harry asked, and regretted asking when Percy went into a long monologue about how unwell Mr. Crouch was and the stress he was under.

Ron leaned over and said in a carrying whisper to Harry, "I bet he's been calling him Weatherby a lot more now."

Percy stopped speaking, shooting his brother a disgruntled look.

Harry picked up the small menu in front of him and looked around uncertainly. Then he saw Dumbledore reading his own menu. "Pork chops!" he said clearly.

"Bet Hermione won't like this," Ron remarked as food began appearing on plates.

But Hermione didn't seem to even notice; she and Neville were conversing with their dormmates, their attention as far away from the food as possible.

Fleur, who had done nothing but complain about the decorations, had a lot to say about the dining. Davies hardly heard; he only snapped out of his stupor when Fleur slapped a hand onto the table.

"It's not too bad, I suppose," Ron said to Harry. "I mean, the staring won't last forever, right?"

"Not when you're Harry Potter," Harry said.

Ron thought for a moment. "Well, as your boyfriend," he said in a superior tone, "only I should be allowed to stare at you."

Harry snickered. "I'll accept it."

Krum's date hadn't said much; she was so enraptured with Krum Harry would have thought she had fallen under the veela charm.

When everyone had eaten their fill, it was time for the dance. Dumbledore cleared the floor and conjured a raised platform. The Weird Sisters, a group of wizards with torn robes, trooped up onto the stage. They struck up a slow, mournful tune, and the champions walked out onto the dance floor.

I was going to have Hermione go with Krum like in canon, but I'm not a big fan of that pairing, so I changed it so Neville asked Hermione before Krum did