The Beginning of The End

Chapter Seven

A Muggle Halloween

            Ginny propped her chin on her hand in class one October afternoon, only half listening to Professor Sinistra’s voice and letting her mind wander. She flipped through her Muggle Studies book and looked at a picture of a rather exuberantly dressed man and woman.  The woman was wearing a long, flowing ball gown in soft shades of blue and the man was wearing an old-fashioned type outfit that looked rather royal looking.  The woman’s golden hair was piled high on her head and her feet were adorned with shoes that were crystal clear.  Ginny thought they looked to be made of pure glass. 

            She sighed softly and stared dreamily at the picture and the happy couple.  The man had dark hair and was grinning widely, every so often pulling the woman’s hand up for a kiss.  At once, Ginny was picturing another face on the man’s body and the woman’s face became her own.  She imagined Harry pulling her hand up to his lips.  She would smile shyly as the woman in the picture did and he would grin at her.   

            “Miss. Weasley, would you like to read the next passage aloud, please?” came Professor Sinistra’s voice.

            Ginny’s head snapped up and she stared in horror at Professor Sinistra.  She had no idea what the next passage was, her daydream had sent her into such a stupor, she didn’t even know what page they were on. Fortunately Colin Creevey was sitting next to her and he pointed discreetly to the correct paragraph. Ginny cleared her throat and read in a loud, clear voice:

“A Muggle Celebration of Halloween.  Hallowe'en (October 31) and its associations with witches and ghosts derives from the Celtic Old Year’s Night – the night of all witches, when spirits were said to walk the earth. To celebrate Hallowe'en, muggle children dress up in ghoulish costumes, carrying Hallowe'en lanterns – turnips hollowed out with a ghostly face cut into one side, which glows when a candle is placed inside. In recent years the custom of ‘trick or treating’ has gained in popularity. Although this practice is commonly associated with the United States, it actually originated in England as ‘Mischief Night’ when children declared one night of unpunished pranks.”

Sinistra beamed.  “Very nice reading, Miss. Weasley, take five points for Gryffindor.”

Ginny and Colin exchanged amused looks as the Professor continued.  “If you look at your books, you’ll see some photographs of people dressed in Halloween costumes.  Some children down there as witches-“  There was lots of giggling from the class at the depiction of the Halloween witch.

“Why do they have green faces?” Ginny’s friend, Sarah Murphy asked, laughing.  “Do they really think we look like that?”

Everyone, including Sinistra laughed.  “Well, actually this particular witch is from a very popular muggle film called the Wizard of Oz.  And the picture at the bottom of the page, the couple in the 17^th century outfits are costumes from the famous muggle fairy tale Cinderella.  That’s Cinderella and her prince.”

A few of the girls sighed softly, no doubt wishing they could wear the beautiful dress Cinderella wore; many of the boys snickered loudly, obviously at the prince’s flamboyant costume. 

A Ravenclaw girl spoke up.  “So every Halloween, muggles dress up as different people and . . . monsters and things?”

“That’s right,” Sinistra said.

“Off the mark, muggles,” a Slytherin boy said disdainfully.  “Dressing up like fools each year and prancing around for everyone to see.”

“It sounds like fun to me,” Ginny spoke up.

“Me, too,” several people chimed. 

Professor Sinistra smiled at their enthusiasm.  “What kind of costumes would you all wear if you were muggles?” she asked and everyone started talking and laughing at once.

“I would be the muggle version of a ghost,” said a very cute Ravenclaw boy loudly over the noise and holding up his book to a new page which depicted a young child covered in a white bed sheet with round holes for eyes.  “Get a look at this! Some ghost, eh?”

Everyone roared with laughter at the costume and Ginny spoke up suddenly.

“Professor, weren’t you muggle-born?  What kind of costumes did you used to dress up in?”

Professor Sinistra smiled.  “Well, let me think.  One year I was a black cat, another year I was a rock star-“ everyone chuckled- “and yes, of course, one year I was a green-faced, black-toothed witch.”

Ginny laughed along with the rest of the class.

“We should have a muggle Halloween at Hogwarts,” Sarah Murphy spoke up.  “We could all dress in costumes-“

“And go around the school trick or treating-“

“Listen to this, listen to this!” an excited Hufflepuff girl spoke up and began reading from her textbook.  “ ‘Muggle Hallowe'en parties include games such as apple bobbing, where apples are either floated in water or hung by a string. The object of the game is for the players to put their hands behind their back and try to grab an apple with only their teeth!’ I say we make all the professors do this ‘apple bobbing’.”

Everyone howled with laughter, including Sinistra.  Ginny couldn’t catch her breath for a moment, picturing Dumbledore with his arms tied behind his back trying to bite a suspended apple which was swinging back and forth in front of him.  Colin must have had a similar mental picture because he turned to Ginny and they grinned at each other.    

Professor Sinistra sobered and she looked all around the classroom with interest on her face.  “You know,” she said thoughtfully.  “Some of your ideas- some, not all- may not be that bad.  If we made this a class project, would you all be interested in putting together something along the lines of a muggle Halloween?  I could talk to Professor Dumbledore and present the idea to him.”

There was a loud chorus of excited talking and in the end, Professor Sinistra gave them a homework assignment that included coming up with ideas for a Muggle Halloween. 

            ~*~

Later on at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Ginny sat across from Hermione and told her all about the class’s ideas for a Muggle Halloween.  Hermione was beside herself with excitement and together they came up with fabulous ideas for Ginny’s homework.

“In my school, we had a costume contest every year,” Hermione said excitedly.  “There was one winner and two runner’s-up for best costume.  We could have a contest and whoever wins, could get points for their house!”

“Hermione, that’s brilliant!” Ginny exclaimed, writing furiously. 

“Eh, Ginny, don’t encourage her,” Ron said, suddenly appearing with Harry.  The two of them took seats, Ron next to Hermione, Harry next to him.  Ron reach out to toy with Hermione’s hair.  “Her head is already too big to begin with,” he joked and Hermione swatted his hand away impatiently.

“Let me think of what else . . .” Hermione mused, buttering her bread.

Ginny checked her list. “So far I have the whole costume thing but that goes without saying.  That “trick or treat” idea was great, and the contest is wonderful.”

“What are you two up to?” Ron asked them. 

Ginny told them about her Muggle Studies class and all the ideas she and Hermione came up with.  Both girls looked expectantly at Harry and Ron to see what they thought of the idea.  However, Harry and Ron rolled their eyes at each other, said “that’s stupid,” in unison and started piling their plates with food.

Ginny made a disgusted noise and muttered, “boys.” 

“And what is wrong with the idea?” Hermione asked them, peering down her nose at them as Professor McGonagall would.

“Hermione, Halloween’s for kids,” Harry said, heaping potatoes onto his plate. “When’s the last time you dressed up and went trick or treating?”

Hermione looked outraged.  “If I still lived in the muggle world during the school year, I would go trick or treating.”

Harry laughed at her.

“What’s ‘trick and treating’?” Ron asked.

But Hermione was making her point to Harry.  “It’s not for kids, everyone does it! You’ll see, this Halloween will be the best Halloween the school has ever seen-“

“I don’t know if it’s for sure yet,” Ginny put in, completely distracted by Harry shaking with laughter across the table from her.  She couldn’t help the grin that kept tugging on her mouth at the sight of him.  “I mean Professor Sinistra has to run it by Dumbledore and everything-“

“Hey, Ginny, guess what?”

They all looked up to see Colin Creevey sitting down in the chair next to Ginny. Right on cue in accordance to their conversation, Collin said with a grin, “I just saw Professor Sinistra and she told me that Dumbledore loved the idea of our Muggle Halloween!”

Ginny settled back in her chair and immediately began thinking about what her costume could look like; Hermione looked completely triumphant as if the entire thing had been her idea; Ron and Harry rolled their eyes again and muttered, “I’m not dressing up.”

~*~

The Muggle Halloween Feast quickly became the excitement of the entire school.  Ginny’s class began putting together a spectacular event which included Apple Bobbing but with a magical twist, (the apples were bewitched to bite back) Trick Or Treating Hogwarts Style, (each classroom would offer candy themed to their respective subject—everyone agreed to stay away from Snape’s dungeon, he may poison them) and the Costume Contest (Dumbledore himself volunteered to provide the prizes).  There were waiting lists in the library for Muggle Costume books, but Hermione had her own way of researching her costume.

“It’s quite obvious, really,” she told Ginny as they met by the Fat Lady after their last class.  They’d planned to go to the library to research their costumes.  “Muggle history books have just as many visuals for famous Muggles than those silly costumes books.”

But Ginny sighed.  She was actually quite perturbed by a conversation she had just witnessed.  Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil had been talking about the great costumes they had bought in Hogsmeade last weekend and when Lavender told Parvati how much her costume had cost, Ginny had almost gasped out loud.  There would be no way she could pay anything for a costume, much less even come close to the sum Lavender had paid.

When she voiced her thoughts to Hermione as they sat down at an empty table in the library, Hermione looked up at Ginny, shocked.  “What kind of fun would it be to buy our costumes?  Mum and I used to make my costumes, or rather Mum would make them and I would just watch or hand her the thread, things like that. It was some of the most fun I’ve ever had! Oooh! Ginny look,” Hermione said, showing Ginny a picture of a woman in a long green dress with loose sleeves.

“Who is that?” Ginny asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Guinevere,” Hermione told her and launched into a story about a knight called Lancelot, a King and Lady Guinevere.  They browsed the muggle history books, stopping every so often to admired a particular dress.

When Ginny turned a page in a French storybook, her mouth dropped open.  “Oooh.  Hermione, look.” 

Hermione peered over her shoulder.  “Esmerelda.  She was a gypsy.”

“A gypsy?  What’s a gypsy?”

“Um, like a dancer, in those times.  Actually gypsy’s have a few different meanings.  Some gypsy’s are said to be able to read the stars, some are good luck, some are thieves.”

Ginny choked on a laugh, staring at the picture.  The kind of beauty this woman had was exotic and carefree, the kind of beauty Ginny herself most certainly did not possess.  Ginny knew she wasn’t completely ugly, but her freckles and shocking red hair were quite annoying at times.  Her looks were common, yet different and not in a good way.

“Why don’t you be a gypsy, Ginny?” Hermione asked, glancing at her.

Ginny shook her head.  “I couldn’t.  I mean, I couldn’t possibly look that beautiful-“

Now she had Hermione’s full attention.  “Nonsense!  Ginny Weasley you are a very, very beautiful girl.  All you would need is some bright red lipstick and some black kohl around your eyes.  We can curl your hair just like Esmerelda’s, look, you and she have about the same length, and then we can-“

“We can stop dreaming,” Ginny laughed.  “Because I will never be able to afford a dress like that.”

Hermione tutted.  “Ginny, are we witches or aren’t we?”

A very womanly smile dawned on Ginny’s face as she lifted her eyes to meet Hermione’s.  They both let out excited giggles and Ginny grabbed another book.  “Okay, what about your costume?”

~*~

Halloween arrived with an air of enthusiasm.  After classes, everyone scrambled back to their dorms to start preparing their costumes for the feast.  Ginny had already arranged her costume, with much help from Hermione.  The two girls had made their own costumes from scratch and Ginny had to admit that it worked out wonderfully.  Professor Sinistra had gotten a hold of some beautiful fabrics and made them available to all students who wanted to make their own costumes.  Ginny and Hermione picked out the ones that suited their costumes and got started a week before Halloween. 

Ginny had used the picture of Esmerelda from the storybook and tried to follow it as best as she could.  She made a few allowances however when considering the neckline and hem of the dress.  Esmerelda left much of her body bare and Ginny was in no desire to do any such thing.  Hermione had transfigured some ordinary buttons into shimmery beads and used a witty stringing charm to make long chains from the beads, which Ginny was going to hang around her neck and on her wrists.  She wore her hair down, but Hermione had used her wand to turn the wavy tresses into tight curls that hung past her shoulders.  Ginny applied her own makeup, using a deep, deep red lipstick she had borrowed from a girl in her dorm, and lots of black kohl on her eyes as Hermione had suggested. 

When Ginny stood back and looked at herself in the mirror, she gasped.  Gone was the plain girl with lots of freckles and simple hairstyle.  Looking back was a woman who was quite beautiful and… a little sexy.  Ginny blushed just thinking about it, but she did, in fact, look very mature in the deep turquoise dress, her hair unruly, her face vibrant and dramatic.  It felt rather… thrilling. 

Ginny’s mind, as it so often did, traveled to Harry and little shivers raced down her spine.  Perhaps he might notice her tonight, while looking different than usual, more pretty than usual?  Ugh!  Force of habit shoved the thought quite severely to the back of her mind.  Harry wouldn’t notice her tonight-- just like all the times she thought he might look her way and never did. 

Put it out of your mind, Virginia Weasley, she scolded herself, and keep it out. 

Thinking only of herself and not of Harry, Ginny went to join her friends.

~*~

Harry and Ron rolled their eyes at each other from their beds and tried not to let out  identical snorts of laughter.  Harry was lying on his four-poster, his arms under his head, having a rest before the Halloween Feast; Ron, across the room, was doing the same.  The other Gryffindor seventh year boys, however, were not relaxing.  They were acting like girls, in Harry’s opinion, running around getting their costumes together, laughing hysterically. 

Harry couldn’t believe they were getting into this.  Seamus was looking like a complete dunderhead in an old fashioned costume with puffed sleeves and short pants.  Neville was wrapped up in some sort of gauze from head to toe (a poor version of a mummy) and one of the long strips was hanging loose on the bottom of his foot causing him to trip every two seconds.  Dean looked like a puppet version of Count Dracula. 

But nevertheless, all three of them seemed happy and excited about the Feast.

“You two coming down, then?” Dean asked them as the three boys headed for the door.

Ron stretched lazily.  “We’ll be down in a few.”

Harry stared up at his curtains, wishing he could stay where he was… doing nothing all night or maybe having a game of chess.

“I guess we ought to go down,” Ron said after a few minutes, in a tone that suggested they were attending a funeral and  Harry could tell that chess would be more appealing to Ron as well. 

“I guess. You know we’re going to look the fools now.  Everyone has costumes and we don’t.”

Ron sighed.  “You’re right, you know.  I wonder what’s gotten into everybody, it’s not like it’s fun to dress up as some stupid thing you’d never even want to look at.”

Harry agreed and they stayed where they were for a few minutes more.

Then Ron said hesitantly, “You know… perhaps we could throw something together before we go down.  You know, just so we don’t look like the only prats who didn’t dress up.”

Harry frowned.  “What, though?” Then, as Ron sat up and jammed his Chudley Cannon’s hat on his head, Harry had an idea.  “I could be a Chudley Cannon’s Quidditch player.  Can I borrow your hat?”

Ron took off his hat and looked at it.  “You have your own hat, remember?”  Then he looked up at Harry, his eyes rather surprised at himself.  “I’ve got an idea.  You’ll be me and I’ll be you!”

“Huh?” Harry blurted out.

“Here,” Ron tossed him the hat and rummaged through his trunk, pulling out a maroon sweater that had a big letter ‘R’ on in.  He hurled that to Harry as well.  “You’ll be me, I’ll be you. Give me your glasses.”

Harry raised a brow.  “Not a bad idea.  Okay, but I have to warn you, they may blind you.” He walked over to Ron, handed him the glasses and tripped over Neville’s shoe with the absence of his perfect vision. 

“Whoa,” Ron said after he put the glasses on and he looked around the room.  “This is cool.”

Harry tugged the sweater over his head and watched Ron draw a careful lightning bolt over his eye with a quill.  He turned to Harry and raised a brow.  “You think?”

Harry peered at the drawn scar. “It’s kind of big.  It looks twice the size of mine.”

“Eh, so what?  Find your ‘H’ sweater for me. Oh, and I’ll wear my pointed hat so that my hair is covered up.  The orange look will throw people off.”

They casually pulled together their costumes and fifteen minutes later were heading down to the feast, Ron lifting the glasses off his nose to be able to see, and Harry almost smashing into Fat Lady’s portrait after it had swung open.

Harry and Ron found their way to the Great Hall with no real injury.  When they entered the bright room, it was hard not to admire what they saw.  The Halloween decorations were vast and bright, even more so than usual. Everything seemed to be made of orange and black with round Jack-O-Lanterns hanging from the ceiling, sparkling spider webs suspended over the entire room, countless black candles in all sizes and shapes floating over all the tables.  Rather than sitting down at the tables, people were milling about, looking at everyone’s costumes and mingling as if it were a Ball instead of a banquet.

Ron nudged Harry.  He turned to see Hermione rushing over to them and they both stared at her, trying to figure out what exactly she was.  She had on a very exuberant gown with a skirt puffing out very widely and huge ruffled sleeves; her hair was covered with some sort of lace veil that hung all the way down to her feet. 

“Harry,” Ron said in a sudden panic, peering over Harry’s glasses.  “Who is she supposed to be?”

Harry shook his head, unable to see clearly enough to even guess.  He imagined that even with his glasses on, he wouldn’t have more luck.

Hermione, at last, reached them.  And stopped dead in her tracks.

Harry and Ron suddenly grinned at her.  “Guess who we are.”

It appeared to be Hermione’s turn to roll her eyes, because she did and then gaped at them for a whole minute.  “You couldn’t have come up with something better than that?” she demanded.

“Hermione,” Ron choked.  “What are you supposed to be?”

“Me?  Isn’t it obvious?” She made a little turn and Harry grabbed his glasses off of Ron’s nose to look at her.  He’d been right, no such luck.  He handed the glasses back to Ron.

“Um… a nun?” Ron asked, sliding the glasses up his nose.

“No,” she sighed furiously.  “Fine, I’ll tell you, but I’ll have you know, you both are pathetic!  I’m Anne Boleyn!”

“Who?” Harry and Ron asked.

“Anne Boleyn!  The second wife of Henry the VIII.”  They still looked totally blank, so Hermione continued.  “Oh, honestly, her story is such a fascinating one, she was beheaded for-“

“Can’t we sit down, already?” Ron said loudly, making her frown. 

But Harry was staring across the room, not hearing a word Hermione and Ron were saying.  There was a girl over there, and even though he could barely see her, he knew she was the most attractive girl Harry had ever seen. He felt a dull flush rise on his cheeks.  He watched her flip long red curls over her shoulder and a hot ball lodged itself in his stomach.  He didn’t know of any student who had long red hair like that.  And as if in slow motion, Harry saw the girl turn his way.  He squinted, but still couldn’t make out her face. 

Then she waved.  

The hot ball in the pit of his stomach dissolved into a hundred tiny worms that writhed inside him.  He knew that wave.  How many times had he seen that wave? Never, he thought fiercely to himself, never had he seen that wave coming from a girl who looked like that.  Only from Ginny.  Just Ginny, little Ginny.  That was not Ginny; it couldn’t be Ginny.  As the girl started to walk towards them, something very heavy fell from his chest into his stomach.  It was Ginny.

“Hey, everybody, what are you two supposed to…oh, my . . .“ Ginny trailed off, staring at Ron and Harry with an incredulous expression on her radiant face.  “Well. Didn’t put too much effort into it, now did you?” she asked, making a face.

Harry became aware that his mouth was hanging open and he closed it immediately.  He tried to look casual, but it was very difficult owing to the fact that warning bells were screaming in his head.

“Ginny!” Ron’s harsh voice brought Harry slightly out of his stupor. Obviously, Harry wasn’t the only one who thought that Ginny was dressed rather…differently.

She looked surprised.  “What?”

Harry saw her chin go up and her stubborn eyes flicker nervously.  That little glimpse of her underneath all the make-up, the simple, soft-spoken girl who was sometimes unsure of herself should have stopped the pounding of Harry’s heart against his ribs, but it didn’t. 

Ron must have seen her hesitate as well, something Ginny rarely did anymore.  So Ron forced a grin and told Ginny that she looked very pretty.

Ginny smiled and Harry suddenly had the crazy urge to run far away from her.

When it was time for the feast, everyone sat down and began helping themselves to the delicious foods and desserts.  Harry found that this meal was one of the most uncomfortable meals in his entire life and the worst part was, he had no idea why.  Ginny had sat directly across the table from him many times and never once had his eyes suffered magnetic forces as they did now.  He had to constrain them not to watch Ginny laugh and talk with her friends, but focus on Ron’s and Hermione’s conversation. 

Hermione was bent on telling everyone all about Anne Boleyn since five people, including Professor McGonagall, had inquired what her costume was.  However, nobody seemed quite interested to hear about Anne Boleyn’s decapitation, so Hermione talked only to Ron.  “Anne Boleyn had six fingers!” she announced to him very loudly, obviously hoping for others to hear her and become fascinated.

Several people turned to look at Hermione before rolling their eyes and returning to their conversations.  Ron, however, couldn’t go back to any conversation; Hermione was his conversation.  “What?” he said sourly, piling his plate with drumsticks.

“She had six fingers,” Hermione said as if having six fingers would make most people go, “Hmm. Six fingers, interesting.”

“What happened to the other four?” Harry asked, afraid to know the answer.

“She had eleven total!”

Ron looked up, suddenly bad-tempered.  “Are you trying to confuse us, Hermione?”

“She had an extra finger?” Harry said, looking appalled.

“Uh-huh,” Hermione said brightly, helping herself to bread pudding.  “Isn’t that interesting?”

Harry thought that was a matter of opinion, but chose not to voice this.  Ron however, didn’t have as much tact as Harry.

“It’s disgusting that’s what it is!  How did she get an extra finger?”

Hermione smiled and took a bite of ham.  “She was a witch.  None of the muggles knew this of course, but dear old Henry suspected it.  There is actually quite more to her beheading than what they say in those muggle history books, that’s for sure.”

“Ginny, who are you supposed to be?” Ron asked loudly, hoping to change the subject.

But Ginny was listening carefully to something Colin Creevey was telling her.  After a few seconds, both she and Colin erupted into laughter.  Harry kept his eyes on his blurry plate, but it was difficult.  Ginny’s laughter seemed to be the only thing he could hear over the hundreds of voices in the Great Hall.  Harry suddenly pushed back from the table.  He needed to think about this and he needed to do it alone.

“Harry, where are you going?” Hermione demanded at once. 

“I’m tired, I’m going to go back to the dorm,” he muttered and a dull flush rose on his face as he saw from the corner of his eye Ginny look away from Colin and focus her luminous eyes on Harry. 

Hermione was having none of it.  “Oh, no you don’t, they still have to announce the contest winners, and don’t you want to see who wins?”

“Naw, not really,” he began, but turned as Dumbledore stood at the head table and everyone fell silent, Harry sat resignedly in his seat.  He knew Ginny would win, hands down.  Even without his glasses, Harry could tell her costume was probably the best in the hall.

Dumbledore, or rather Father Christmas, smiled merrily at all of them.  “I trust everyone is enjoying our Muggle Halloween Feast?”  He was met by tumultuous applause.  “It’s thankful to Professor Sinistra’s sixth year Muggles Studies course that the idea came about.”  Ginny and Colin, along with the other sixth years in their class, applauded loudly for themselves.  “It is now the moment you have all been waiting for, time to announce the winners for the most inventive costumes!  The entire staff has polled their votes and the choices are as follows…  In third place, we have a tie.  Miss Lavender Brown for her portrayal of William Shakespeare’s Juliet Capulet and Mr. Seamus Finnigan for his depiction of Romeo Montague!”  The applause was thunderous at the Gryffindor table.  “Ten points to Gryffindor for each of you and a small bag of tricks and treats will be delivered to your dorms later on. Very well done!  In second place, Mr. Justin Finch-Fletchley for his amazing replica of our very own Fat Friar! Twenty-five points to Hufflepuff and a much larger bag of tricks for you Mr. Finch-Fletchley!”

Harry glanced at Justin and had to shake his head with laughter.  He looked exactly like the Fat Friar; Harry wondered if he’d used an engorgement charm on his belly.  

“And now, the first place winner shall receive thirty points for their house and one pass to be used in place of one homework assignment!”  The Great Hall cheered at this prize and everyone leaned towards Dumbledore. Harry glanced at his watch and then at the doors.  He wondered if he could make a go for it right after the name was called.

“And it appears we have another tie!  The winners for first place are… Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley in their representations of each other!”

“What?!” Hermione and Ginny shrieked in horror.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, thunderstruck.

Hermione was beside herself.  “I don’t believe it!  We spent hours on our costumes, didn’t we, Ginny?  How long did you two spend, ten minutes?”

Ron looked outraged.  “How dare you! We spent hours and hours and hours-“

Harry rolled his eyes and pushed his chair back for the second time that evening.  “I have some homework to finish, I’ll see you later,” he muttered to Ron, who handed Harry his glasses.  He could still hear Hermione’s tutting as he walked the length of the table.  When he reached the doors that lead to the entrance hall, Harry felt that pull again on his eyes and this time he gave into it and turned to look at the Gryffindor table. 

Ginny was looking right at him, her eyes worried.  For the first time that night, Harry looked at her with proper vision and it did nothing to curb the feelings that were racing through him.  He saw a blush creep into her cheeks when he caught her watching him but she sent him a smile before returning to Colin. 

He needed to think about this and fast.

When he stepped into his dorm, Harry yanked Ron’s hat off his head and flopped down on his bed.  He tried very hard to get his mind around the cause of these sudden feelings and he came to the conclusion that he didn’t know what these feelings were.  Did he… like Ginny?  Just the thought of it made him shudder as if something were terribly wrong with the prospect.  It couldn’t be… she just looked different tonight.  Harry had never noticed how pretty she was… no, she wasn’t pretty, not like that.  That had been an illusion; girls could make themselves look different by painting on their faces.  He thought of Parvati and Lavender… when they attended school balls, their faces always looked painted up and brighter.  Harry had always secretly thought they looked quite foolish.

Ginny never did that to herself…or did she?  Harry realized that he didn’t know.  He’d never spent much time looking at her, really.  His mind fell back to his summer at the Burrow.  During his time at the Burrow, Harry had noticed how mature she’d gotten. She wasn’t shy and clumsy around him anymore, wasn’t fascinated with him.  But it hadn’t bothered him in the least, not like it was now.

Harry shook his head fiercely.  It was just Ginny, just Ron’s little sister, growing up.  He was bound to have mixed feelings on the matter, wasn’t he?  He’d known Ginny for years now, and seeing her grow up was bound to come as a shock to anyone.  Even Ron had been surprised by the way she looked tonight.  It was normal for Harry to feel these things about someone who was like his little sister.

But she was never like your little sister, a voice in his head told him.  That was silly, Harry thought. All the Weasley’s were like family to him, Ginny included… right?  Harry stared at the curtains of his bed and forced himself to believe it.  Right.  It was just the costume, just her painted face that had made him feel this way.  Ginny was Ginny.  And he didn’t …like her.

To Be Continued…

The Hidden Tower

http://hiddentower.50megs.com