Author notes:

Warnings: This story is focused on lemons. So if this is not your cup of tea, do not read it. Also, there is an important change. In this story, the students are accepted to Hogwarts when they are at least 15 years old, so all characters are at least 18 years old when the story commences.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Turning a new leaf

Yule Ball was a highly anticipated event for all students eighteen years or older, and Harry Potter was no exception.

Harry was quite keen to use the opportunity to relax a little. After all, this year had been even his worst to date. And considering that his previous three years were filled with a myriad of dangers, from fifty-foot snakes with killer gazes to giant spiders, soul-sucking prison guards to dark lord wraiths, it was quite an achievement.

Inevitably, his thoughts shifted towards the beginning of the year; of his hopes for a normal year, finally free of mortal danger. However, his peculiar luck had struck again, forcing him to compete in a tournament that had been abandoned for high mortality rate. Of course, that wasn't enough to satisfy whichever deity that was controlling his life, so he had been chosen as the Fourth Champion, adding some much-needed controversy to an already deadly situation.

The response from student body had been diverse at first. For some, it was another crazy Harry Potter stunt to keep himself in the limelight. But this time, there was a significant amount of sceptics that doubted Harry was the responsible. After all, the selections were ruled by an ancient magical artifact. Seeing that, for a short time, Harry had dared to hope that rationality might prevail.

However, things went downhill when his so called best mate publicly took a stance against him, declaring him a cheat and a glory-hound. With that declaration, the doubters shifted against him pretty quickly, and Harry found himself alone. This time, even Hermione's support was missing, staying neutral between Harry and Ron. Feeling betrayed, Harry stopped interacting with people unless it was absolutely necessary. Hermione had started to hand around Ron, that was until he managed to drive her crazy with one too many insensitive comments.

With Lines drawn, the response from rest of the school went just as expected. Hating him before they even met him, Slytherins were fully in the against camp, doing the best they could to make his life difficult. Always ready to jump on the bandwagon, Hufflepuff was the next, hating him like they did in his second year. The fact that he was outshining one of their rare moments in the limelight wasn't really helping either. Ravenclaw joined the majority attitude, not caring enough to go against the grain.

Still, the response of his fellow Gryffindors managed to surprise him. Forgetting all the times Harry fought and bleed for them, bringing Quidditch and House Cups, even saving their lives, they decided to distance themselves from Harry, trying to separate themselves from the eventual humiliation he were going to suffer in the hands of students three years older than him. To make things worse, like deserting him wasn't enough, many people in the house started to bully him in small ways, 'accidental' shoulder slams, throwing his stuff to garbage by 'accident', charming the portrait door not to open for him.

These small things started to paint a familiar portrait. Small abuses, uncaring gazes… It was just like Dursleys. Apparently, when McGonagall said that the house was their family, she meant a model more familiar to Harry's case. Slowly but surely, the impression that Hogwarts had been a lovely home for him shattered.

After experiencing the Gryffindor's response, the response of the teaching staff hadn't been a surprise. Not even deigning to announce his participation was involuntary, they showed just how much they cared about his wellbeing. Some of them went even further, actually deriding him in many subtle ways, or in Snape's case, not so subtle. Flitwick settled in a professional but frosty attitude, an abrupt change from his usual cheerful mannerism. Sprout was just a step behind Snape in actual hostility. McGonagall was the one that disappointed him the most. She only interacted in the cases that Harry chose to retaliate, giving him detentions while the leading culprits went scot-free.

Only one teacher treated him decent, Moody, but Harry was a bit apprehensive about trusting him. After all, either accidental or deliberate, all three Defense Against Dark Arts teachers almost killed him.

At least, not all were negative. A few weeks into the school year, through a chance meeting, he learned Dobby was currently a Hogwarts employee. After explaining his situation to the excitable elf, Harry found both a helping hand and an ear to vent. He brought him food, helped to repair his destroyed stuff, he even diffused most of the tricks of Weasley twins. To make things even better, he showed Harry an excellent place to study and practice magic, a room with the ability to take any form the user wished. He trained there, ate there, he even slept there from time to time, when the attitudes in the dorm became unbearable.

As the days rolled on, Harry noticed an unexpected benefit from the rejection he had been suffering. He was finally free from all the distraction caused by his friends and other students, especially after he started to use Champion Exemption to skip classes. Distraction free, and motivated by the looming death and humiliation risk of the first task, he threw himself into training, causing his magical abilities to improve leaps and bounds.

Things changed radically after the first task. Unaware of his opponent until he drew a miniature dragon from the poach Bagman was carrying -apparently his opponents somehow already knew it, considering the absolute lack of surprise in their faces- panic momentary took his senses. But a few minutes later, while waiting for Fleur to finish his task, it occurred him that the Dragon was an easy opponent compared to a Basilisk, at least he would be free to use his eyes, he was still in possession of his wand, and there was no shade of Voldemort -hopefully. At least his luck held true this time, picking the Chinese Fireball as his opponents, the most dangerous looking one going to Cedric.

Second in line, his turn went much better than he estimated. When he stepped into the arena, he met with derisions and insults instead of applause, though it didn't faze him after two months of constant insults. He took a deep breath, casting a Patronus as a distraction, rapidly followed by several Falcons to fly around the Dragon, threatening its eyes. He assisted his construct with several spells to overload dragon's senses, bad smells, flashes of light and loud noises. In the following ruckus, it had been remarkably easy to sneak a dog into the Dragon's nest, stealing the egg without a scrap.

The sharp change in the attitudes of the people was enough to make him nauseous. His victory, together with Cedric's failure due to an unlucky tail swipe, had been sufficient to push him on the top of the school totem. Three houses started to act friendly once again, while Slytherin pulled back, intimidated by his clear display of skill, casting several complicated spells one after another, spells that lied outside the skill of most seventh years.

Harry hadn't been surprised to see Ron was one of the first to apologize, wanting to mooch off his success. But his half-assed apology wasn't enough for Harry, especially after he proved that just how unreliable he could be when it really matters. He was disgusted by their hypocrisy, and for a moment he seriously considered confronting them about it. But after some consideration, he decided not to go with it. However, this time, his attitude was far from altruistic. If they were not willing to show a shred of respect and loyalty towards him, he no longer had any complications about milking his popularity for all it's worth, at least until the next reputation shift.

"Anyway," Harry murmured as he tried to shape his hair to look like anything other than a bird's nest, at least not like a particularly messy one. "This night is all about fun, not to wallow in past." He started to think about the possibilities the ball promised. He took a deep breath, trying to reign in his excitement, but it was a challenging prospect as he imagined the possibilities the night carried, especially towards the later hours. A lascivious smile appeared on his lips as he thought about his date to the ball. Wanting to have a fun night, Harry preferred to invite Lavender Brown as his date. Not only she was beautiful -a pretty face, long blond hair, and curves just at the right places- but also she had a tendency to overawed by flashy things. And going to the ball with one of the champions of a prestigious tournament, who was also a national celebrity, definitely fit the bill.

Stopping his musings, he checked his black and emerald robes for the one last time before leaving his dorm, stepping inside the Common room. Wanting to pass time, he looked around, observing other students, loitering around as they waited for their dates. As usual, Neville was a trembling mess, his face pasty white. Seamus was standing together with Dean, glaring at him, but afraid to say anything. He was angry about Harry asking Lavender to the ball, but lacked the courage to say anything about it, settling to glare impotently. Ron wasn't around, Harry had heard that he had a date from Ravenclaw, so he probably was already there.

While waiting, he met up with another surprise, Hermione. She was walking down the stairs, wearing a sky-blue robe. His eyebrows raised in appreciation, she had cleaned up much better than he would have assumed possible, her hair straight, her robe tight enough to show she had a body of a woman instead of a girl, something that had been obscured by her loose school clothing. Harry was already planning to accept her silent apology after letting her stew for a little more, but he would have been quicker about it if he knew just what lay under these baggy school robes.

A minute later, Lavender appeared at the stairs, chasing all the thoughts about Hermione from his mind. She was wearing a midnight blue robe, her hair gathered as a loose bun, enhancing her slender neck and pretty face. He smiled in appreciation as he glanced at her body, examining the way her robe clung to her curves, hinting of the treasures hidden underneath. Her face was alight with excitement as she slowly walked down the stairs, the swaying of her hips enough to hypnotize an unprepared observer.

"Good evening, milady," Harry said; wearing a crooked smile as he took her hand, pressing his lip to back of her delicate hand, her fresh, delicate perfume caressing his nose. "Tonight, your beauty outshines the moonlight."

"Thanks, milord," Lavender said, trying to stand stoic, but she was unable to prevent a small giggle from escaping, destroying the stoic, distant image she was trying to present. She let her gaze fall upon Harry, examining for few seconds. "You also have cleaned nicely."

Harry let out a chuckle and raised his arm. "Shall we." Lavender gently placed her hand on his arm and they started their trek towards great hall, re-purposed as a ballroom for the night. Busy with small talk, they arrived at the small room that would house the champions until the ball starts. He was a bit surprised to see Hermione next to Krum, but his victorious smile was a good explanation about it. Apparently, he counted that as come kind of victory against him. To be fair, Harry was annoyed a bit, but he gave no outward signal, choosing to smile magnanimously, happy to note that Hermione looked a little uncomfortable. He took a mental note to make sure nothing happened between them, as he really didn't trust Krum enough to not to hurt her to somehow get revenge from Harry. Next to them stood Fleur and Cedric, accompanied by Roger Davies and Cho respectively. Both champions sent pointed looks at Harry, still a bit sore about being outperformed by someone that was three years junior, not only in overall performance, but also in sheer skill in casting.

Thankfully, Harry hadn't had to suffer their silent resentment for long, as Professor McGonagall came and led them to dance-floor for the opening dance, only a few minutes later. He somehow managed to finish the dance without embarrassing himself, partly thanks to his athletic abilities, partly due to Lavender's grace and dancing skills. As the dance floor filled with other students after the first dance, Harry felt the tension on his shoulders disperse. Apparently, dancing in the public was still more challenging for him than facing a nesting dragon. They continued dancing for a while before Harry's hands started to get a little adventurous, slipping from her back, resting on her hips, but Lavender hadn't reacted, except a small blush covering her face.

"We can rest a bit if you want," Harry said after several more songs, noticing she was getting a little tired.

"I would like to," she said, and they left the dance floor, walking towards their table, reserved for the champions. In a rare display of thoughtfulness, they have placed the table in a corner, partially hidden by several columns, probably to provide the champions with a moment of privacy between dances. They were the first to arrive, so they just sat and made some small talk while waiting for dinner the start. Other champions and their dates joined them a few minutes later, their red faces showing that they weren't the only couple that found the dances a little bit tiring.

With the arrival of them, Harry tried to pull the newcomers in the discussion, but his attempts fizzled quickly, unable to thrive under the cold attitude of his opponents. Cedric was still miffed about being the only champion to fail the first task, preferring to glare in a manner he thought to be intimidating instead of joining the conversation. Krum was already a weak candidate for a fun conversation, with his thick, choppy accent and silent demeanor. And with her haughty manner and entitled act, Fleur was scarcely better than her fellow champions when it came to light conversation. To make things even worse, their dates were not much better. Roger was captivated by the movement of Fleur's hair, drunk in her allure. Things with Hermione was still frosty, so she was reluctant to join the conversation, instead using her time to explain something transfiguration related to Krum. Cho showed some potential when she joined, but she was unwilling to join under her date's penetrating gaze, not wanting to make him even more annoying.

As a result, Harry's attention was almost entirely on his date as the night progressed. However, Harry noticed something weird. As the dinner progressed to the main course, he noticed his attention was shifting towards Fleur from time to time for no reason, watching the way she pressed the wine glass on her red lips, or the way her delicate wrists showed whenever she reached for a plate... He frowned, finding a little weird that he suddenly started to pay a little too much attention to her. While thinking about it, he was able to notice a slight pull from her, trying to pull Harry's attention on herself. For a second, Harry considered whether it was accidental, but her self-satisfied expression while looking at the table was enough to change his mind. A sweeping gaze later, he noticed the other females on the table was acutely aware of it too, if the frowns etched on their faces were any indicator.

He took a deep breath, repressing his first, biting, response at her for daring to magically manipulate him. While being magically manipulated wasn't something he would accept in a good humor, a confrontation would definitely spoil rest of the night. So he decided to leverage it a little differently, after all, there was no reason to waste the rest of the evening.

So he focused his full attention back to his date, leaving Fleur out of his view range. Lavender was giving several signals, the tightening on the corner of her eyes, the weak smile plastered on her face, clenched hands. When Harry focused his undivided attention to her, no distraction, she was a little surprised at first, quickly replaced by suspicion. But when she was sure that her date was entirely focused on her, her radiant smile returned, joining the talk with a renewed vigor.

A few minutes later, he felt the draw of the allure getting significantly heavier, the other male occupants of the table abandoning all the pretense of discretion, gazing openly at Fleur's near perfect beauty, making their dates' even angrier. For Harry, the situation was a little different, as he was finding even easier to deny this heavy-handed intrusion. Then, he noticed another interesting detail. The other females on the table were blushed, but their angry expression slowly changed, replacing with an uncomfortable one as they started to squirm in their seats a little.

Harry smiled as he realized the reason. Apparently, in the high blast, allure could also affect the females. The new Harry wasn't one to lose such an opportunity. He let one of his hands to slip under the table, gently landing on Lavender's upper thighs. Her blush was intensifying, but she made no attempt to acknowledge his hand there. Seeing the implicit approval, he started to caress her toned legs. Her blush flared even more as his hands surveyed her body, slowly climbing upwards. "So, how was your evening so far?"

"Perfect," she murmured, a bit distracted by the hand moving under the table. "I can't imagine a better night."

"Really?" Harry said, placing his hand on her rump, letting his fingers sank a little into her supple flesh. She jerked a little, her mouth opening in shock a little. "I can think of some to make it even better," he continued, his naughty smile destroying any chance of misunderstanding what he meant.

"Oh, my," Lavender said, her breathing quickening. "Really?"

This time, he just smiled, choosing to stay silent. He pulled his hand off her backside, earning a disappointed gaze; only to replaced by one of surprise when her robe had been pulled up, followed by a hand resting on her thigh once again, this time without a piece of fabric to dampen the intensity of the touch. Harry watched, satisfied, as her chest started to heave a little in excitement, her blush getting more intense as his hand climbed higher and higher. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked, smiling teasingly.

"Yes, I'm fine," she managed to say in an even voice, trying to keep up the appearances, but her demeanor shattered a second later when Harry he moved his hand even further. "Harry, what are you doing!" she hissed in protest when she felt his fingers on her underwear, dangerously close to her arousal.

"What do you mean?" Harry said, acting like he didn't know what she meant.

"Pull your fingers away from my underwear," she whispered, trying to keep others on the table from hearing her, panting a little.

"As you wish," Harry said with a mischievous expression on his face. Using one of the wandless tricks he had discovered in his training sessions, he gathered his magic on his index finger, creating a small, cutting edge, using that to snip both sides of her underwear before she could notice what was going on. With a swift motion, he pulled the underwear off, discreetly putting it to his pocket. "Done," he whispered, enjoying the delightful expression of shock on her face. He waited for a few seconds, then he placed his hand on her upper thigh, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from her womanhood without actually touching, watching her face to shift colors from faint pink to deep red. "Is this better?"

"Harry, what are you doing," she whispered, but her attempt to sound harsh ruined by the small, melodic moan that left her lips as Harry moved his fingers a little, placing a feather-light touch on her folds.

"What," he said with an overly innocent smile. "I did just as you wanted."

"I meant to keep your hands away from... there..." she whispered.

"Oh, you meant your thigh," he whispered back. His fingers slipped from his thigh and landed on her wet pussy, her eyes widening in surprise in response to his daring move. However, his thinking was disrupted by a deep gasp, this time coming across the table. Cho was looking at them, a mortified expression on her face as she gazed at them, her mouth open in disbelief. It didn't take a genius to realize that she noticed what was going under the table, at least the gist of it.

His old self from a few months ago would probably panic in such case, or, as he amended a second later, he would be sitting in a corner far away from any female in an effort to offend no one. He decided to approach the problem from a different way. He let his gaze to met with Cho, letting his smile widen a little after he managed to catch her gaze. For a moment, Cho's expression was indignant, clearly expecting Harry to blush and stammer. Finding only a self-assured satisfaction in his eyes, she slowly started to blush as she suddenly lost the control of the situation. She looked like a deer in headlights, not knowing how to react.

Suddenly feeling a lot more daring, he kept his eyes on Cho as his fingers slowly caressed the surface of Lavender's slit, making her squirm in her seat as pleasure slowly started to rear its head. He could feel Lavender's increased heartbeat on his skin. Then, plastering a small, neutral smile on his face, he turned his attention back to the table, aiming for some small-talk.

But he quickly noticed that his attempts to small talk were doomed from the start. The other males on the table were all looking at Fleur with their best impression of goldfish, Roger even drooling a little. Hermione was missing, probably bored from her date's non-existent conversational abilities. Fleur was looking at him angrily from time to time, but otherwise sitting still, her attention mostly on her food.

That left Cho, the redness of her face indicating she was aware just what was going on under the table. Harry flared a little smile towards her, letting his fingers slip inside Lavender for the first time, her hotness enveloping his skin. Lavender gasped loudly, not expecting the sudden penetration.

"Are you okay, Lavender?" he said, fake concern in his voice.

"Yeah," she managed to stammer. "It is just too good!" She stopped for a second, noticing Cho was looking at her with a shocked expression. "The food," she added, in her mind, addled with pleasure, she was unable to realize just how unconvincing she was being.

"Good to hear you enjoy... your food..." Harry said, letting his fingers quicken a little in their repetitive movements. Less than a minute later, the outside world disappeared for Lavender as she stood still, her eyes closed, trying to contain pleasure invading her whole being.

Realizing Lavender lost all comprehension of the outside world, Harry decided to follow up with a move even more daring. He pushed his leg forwards a little, slowly rubbing to Cho's calf. He saw her jerk in surprise. Then she turned towards her partner, hoping to spur him into an action. "Cedric," she said, only to get no response. She reached towards his shoulder, shaking him a little while repeating his name, only to receive a dismissive grunt.

Harry enjoyed watching as the anger getting clear on her face, shocked by the fact that her partner wasn't even deigning to look at her for a second. Harry let his leg rub on her leg once more, expecting her response to be much different this time...

Cho was seriously contemplating to murder his date. Here she was, asking for help, only to rebuffed because her date was busy ogling a French Slut. Even digging her fingers to his side failed to elicit little more than a dismissive grunt. Then she felt something touching her leg once again. She turned towards him, desiring to unleash her anger on him, but when their gazes met, she felt herself being captivated in his confident gaze, her anger suddenly shadowed by another emotion.

Her lips curled into a smile as a way to take revenge appeared in her mind. She let her foot free from the stiletto she had chosen in order to spark some action in her date, her lips curling into a sultry smile almost unconsciously, as she let her foot met with his leg, slowly climbing towards his muscular thighs. But she was unprepared to the sudden flare of excitement in her chest, eclipsing even the most heated snogging session she had with Cedric. She didn't know the reason for it. Maybe because it was Harry, or maybe because she was doing something that would spell disaster if they get caught. But as her feet climbed upward, her sole unexpectedly met with Harry's hard, throbbing manhood, and the questions in her mind lost their importance.

She could feel her ears reddening like a steam engine, as the things escalated to an unexpected level. Even with the Cedric, they limited themselves to some heavy petting while keeping the clothes on. For a moment she considered pulling her leg back, thinking that the things escalating to an uncontrollable point, but a look at her boyfriend, still looking at Fleur like a lost puppy, was enough to convince her to continue. Her foot started to glide up and down, feeling the shape of Harry's shaft under her sensitive soles. The way his cock was twitching causing unexpected small tremblings of pleasure, slowly building into a crescendo...

Harry was feeling like king of the world. Lavender was trembling and shuffling under his touch, her pleasure filled moans getting harder and harder to suppress. Meanwhile, Cho's face filled with a single-minded determination as her second foot joined the first, sandwiching his cock between, slowly rubbing. Then he felt a tugging in his mind, another lurch from Fleur's allure, this time much stronger. He felt a sudden anger flaring inside, touched by the blatant mental manipulation Fleur was trying to push. But outside, he just smiled serenely at her for a second before dismissing her completely, knowing that being dismissed would hurt her ego much more than anything else he might do.

Though, he surmised, as his fingers disappeared into Lavender completely, again and again, he needed to thank her. Without her distracting other occupants of the table, he would never be able to act as freely as he was doing, not to mention the unexpected bonus from Cho. He let out a smug smile as his thumb found Lavender's knub, slowly circling it to push Lavender over the edge before the dinner was finished, her blissful expression indicating it was pretty close.

A minute later, Lavender suddenly shuddered, a deep moan escaping from her lips. Harry locked his eyes with her eyes, smiling, as his fingers still dancing inside her warm folds as she rode the shudders from her orgasm. He let his hand fell back towards her toned thighs, giving her a moment to rest as he listened to her silent gasps and moans, Cho's feet still around his shaft, rubbing gently.

The ball was shaping much better than he imagined…