A Bit Chummy At The Dance...

"It's so great to be back," said Harry Potter, leading his friends into the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

"Place hasn't changed a bit, eh, Ginny?" Ron said, giving his sister a playful pat on the back. "You're right, Harry. It is good to be back."

"Yeah, it's pretty exciting," Ginny agreed. But not as exciting as when Harry came to stay for the rest of the summer.

"We better get seats or we won't all be able to sit together," Hermione pointed out. Now a school prefect, she was extra motherly with her friends.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried to get three chairs together. Harry was, of course, in the middle. So Ginny settled for the seat across from him, not that anybody noticed. Or so she thought.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down at their usual table in the Great Hall for the Sorting Hat Ceremony. Harry glanced across the table to look at Ginny. Ron saw Harry eyeing his little sister and said to him, "What the shell are you lookin' at her for?"

Harry replied, "Why the heck are you getting so worked up? I didn't do anything!"

"Guys, stop it!" Hermione yelled at them. "The ceremony's about to start!"

They gave each other the 'if-looks-could-kill' look, and turned their attention to Professor Dumbledore. But something caught their eye. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall were looking quite chummy.

Ron whispered to Harry, "What the devil's going on between those two?"

Harry said, "I don't know, but it's disgusting!"

"I think it's sweet," Hermione chimed in.

"A lot you know," was Ron's reply.

"Hiya, Ginny!" said a slightly squeaky voice. Ginny turned to see Colin Creevey, who was practically hyperventilating. He plopped down in the seat next to her and looked around wildly. After a moment, his eyes fell on Harry, and he nearly jumped out of his chair with joy. "Hiya, Harry!" he yelled.

Ron chuckled behind his hand, but Harry smiled politely. "Hi, Colin."

"Didn't fall in the lake this year, eh?" asked Ron.

"Ron, really!" Hermione scolded. It was the way they always acted: like an old married couple.

Colin seemed oblivious to Ron's teasing. Not even bothering to point out that it was actually his brother who fell in the lake, he turned to Ginny and began to babble nonstop. "That was some funny stuff you were reading on the train. Those poems, I mean. I didn't know you wrote poems. They were okay, I guess. Not exactly 'His eyes are green as a fresh pickled toad,' but still good."

"Colin, would you shut up!" she hissed, glancing nervously at Harry.

Luckily he was busy watching Ron and Hermione bicker with an amused look on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Colin said. "I didn't know your poems were a secret. Well, I guess I might have figured it out as you never told me about them, but..."

Ginny zoned out a bit after that. Her mind wandered back to earlier that day on the train. She had been reading over the poems she had written in her first few years at Hogwarts. Most of them centered around one subject, which was, of course, Harry. It made her cringe just remembering some of the humiliating lines she had written about him. Things matured a bit from the 'fresh pickled toad' days, but that wasn't saying much. Thankfully she had stopped writing the ridiculous poems, but her feelings for Harry remained very much unchanged.

"Ginny, we should play Exploding Snap once we get up to the common room. How about it, Ginny?" Colin was saying. Grinning evilly at her, he added, "Maybe we could ask somebody else to play too."

Ginny couldn't help but smile. "Maybe."

She didn't know how it had happened, but Colin Creevey was actually her friend. After all, they were in the same year. He had found out about her crush on Harry long ago. Since he himself was more than a little obsessed with Harry, he decided her crush was admirable and would never let her forget it.

A large male hand tousled Ginny's hair, interrupting her thoughts. She felt absolute no surprise that it was one of her brothers.

"Hey, gorgeous," said Fred. "You look tired. Is it past your bedtime?"

She swatted at his hand irritably. "No, you prat. I was just thinking, but I guess we can't expect you to be familiar with what that looks like."

Fred let out a fake cry of shock and placed a hand dramatically on his heart. "Why I never! You used to be such a sweet little girl. What ever happened to you, darlin'?"

"Bugger off, Fred," Ron butted in from across the table. "There's Angelina. Hadn't you better go say hello?"

Fred's eyes lit up mischievously as he spotted Angelina. "Not a bad idea, little brother. I've taught you well, haven't I?" And with that he scampered off to speak with Angelina, his on-again, off-again girlfriend.

After the ceremony, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed up to the Common Room. Harry made sure they stalled so that they could walk behind Ginny. Ron wondered why this was but didn't bother to ask. Just then, Malfoy and Crabbe walked in front of them and for some strange reason... THEY WERE HOLDING HANDS! This was very odd and as soon as Malfoy saw the weird looks he was getting he dropped Crabbe's hand.

"Why the hell were you two holding hands?!" Ron asked Malfoy with a look of pure disgust on his face.

"Ron, watch you're language!" scolded Hermione.

Ron blushed and said no more. Malfoy just scoffed and said to Ron, "Ha, looks to me like you've got yourself a wife!"

Ron looked like he just got slapped in the face and was so angry that he couldn't speak. With that, Malfoy and Crabbe rejoined hands and walked away.

By this time they were in the Common Room. What they just saw had deeply disturbed them, so they changed subjects.

"So there's a dance on Friday," Hermione commented, trying to get some conversation going, "Who are you going to ask?"

"Well, I plan to ask Ginny," Harry said happily.

"You will do no such thing!" Ron yelled.

"Who's gonna stop me, huh?" was Harry's marvelous comeback.

"I'll stop you that's who!"

"What do you have against me liking your sister?"

"I don't know... it's just weird is all!"

"Well who are you asking to the dance?"

"NONE OF YOUR FREAKIN' BUSINESS!!!!" Ron screamed.

This pretty much ended the conversation as Ron stormed up to his room. Only Harry and Hermione remained in the Common Room.

"I think it's sweet that you like Ginny," Hermione said quietly.

"Really?" Harry said, sounding depressed.

"Yeah, I mean, you saved her life after all. Remember, last year?"

"Of course I remember. It was my dream come true! To save Ginny was... amazing." said Harry dreamily.

The two of them sat down in armchairs, Harry still looking a bit spacey.

Hermione gazed at him in a rather concerned way. "I can see you're fully infatuated. Bizarre, really. Aren't you a little worried about that argument you just had with Ron?"

Harry's hand slammed down on the arm of his chair. "Ron can just live with it. Why are you both in my business all the time?"

"I'm just trying to help," she said defensively. "You tend to need it from time to time."

He glared at her. "I can deal with Ron myself, thanks. I'm going to bed. And don't worry, I won't be needing any help finding my room." He stomped up the stairs without a backward glance. This wasn't exactly the best Ron-avoidance plan since he was already in their dorm, but Hermione certainly wasn't going to point that out.

"Jeez!" she said. "Irritable Male Syndrome, anyone?"

"Right on, sister!" called Alicia Spinnet, who happened to be walking by.

"Aren't you getting so sick of those moody guys you hang out with?"

"Harry and Ron?" Hermione said.

"No, Neville Longbottom," said Katie Bell sarcastically, joining Alicia.

Alicia looked at her fondly. "Katie and I have just about had it with the entire male species. Who needs them anyway?"

"Not you two obviously," Hermione muttered to herself as Alicia and Katie walked away, hips bumping slightly as they went.

"Well that was odd," Hermione thought. "I wonder what they're up to."

Hermione didn't really like the way Harry was talking to her. "He's got a stick shoved up his bum!" she thought to herself. She decided that she needed to get Ron and Harry back to being friends because she couldn't handle the stress they were causing. Then she retired to her dorm.

The next day, Ron and Harry seemed like they were okay again and pretended that nothing was wrong. Of course, this didn't last long when Harry went up to Ginny and asked her if she wanted to go to the dance with him. Ron started yelling at Harry RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALLWAY!!!

"Harry, what do you think you're doing?"

"I can't help it if I like Ginny and she likes me back! I want her to be my girlfriend!" Ginny's jaw dropped, she couldn't believe it! Her dream was coming true!!!!!

"Well I don't know if I can handle the fact that my best friend wants to go out with my baby sister!"

"Wait a second. Ron, I am NOT your baby sister. I'm free to make my own decisions and I want Harry to be my boyfriend!" Ginny yelled back at Ron. Then she moved over toward Harry and took his hand.

"I can't believe this! Harry you're my best friend!" Ron started to sound really hurt.

"I'm sorry Ron... I don't want this to upset you. But don't you think that's it's better that Ginny is going out with me instead of some other guy?"

"Well, of course," Ron said without thinking. Then, realizing his mistake, he quickly added, "But she...she won't be dating anyone as long as I'm at this school."

"You're insane!" Ginny fumed. "You're ridiculous! I don't have to listen to you!" She kept hold of Harry's hand defiantly.

Ron face turned as red as his hair. "Oh, yes you do!"

Ginny sniffed dismissively. "Stop being such a monkey wanker!"

Ron looked very confused. "And what on God's green earth is a monkey wanker?"

"Figure it out," Ginny said, beginning to giggle uncontrollably.

Harry gave her hand a squeeze. "Come on, Ginny. Let's go for a walk, why don't we?" As they walked away he whispered, "What is a monkey wanker, anyway?"

"Oh, it's like a prat or a tosser," she explained. "Just another way to call him an idiot."

Meanwhile, Ron was left to brood with Hermione. She tried to comfort him, but it was really no use. All he could do was mumble, "I can't believe it, my little sister" and "What in the name of Merlin is a monkey wanker?".

Finally Hermione convinced Ron to go to the library with her, but only after suggesting that the word "wanker" might be looked up in the dictionary.

They took a seat at one of the tables and stared about blankly for a few minutes.

"So are you still going to the dance?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence.

"Heck yeah!" Ron exclaimed. "I wouldn't leave Ginny alone with that snake in the grass for a million Galleons."

Hermione let out a sign of annoyance. "For goodness sake, Ron, it's just Harry! I'm sure he will be a perfect gentlemen. And besides, Ginny is old enough to pick her own dates."

"Ah, you think Harry's such a gentlemen," muttered Ron, "but it's all an act. I'm sure he's just waiting for a moment alone in a dark corner so he can get a good snog out of her."

"Please!" Hermione said, standing up. "Harry could get a snog out of three-fourths of the girls in this school if he wanted to. You know he's not like that! Ginny's absolutely right, you are a monkey wanker!" She left the library angrily, but couldn't help looking over her shoulder once to see what he would do.

Ron threw up his hands. Then he got up and began searching the library shelves, mumbling to himself, "Now where to they keep the dictionaries?"

Hermione was very fed up with Ron. Since Ron was mostly thinking about Harry and Ginny, Hermione was having trouble finding the right time to ask Ron to go to the dance with her. It was fast approaching and she couldn't wait much longer. She thought to herself as she walked toward the Common Room, "I'll ask him tonight no matter what!"

That night, however, turned out not to be the perfect time for her question. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all alone in the Common Room. It was a good thing too.

"The dance is the day after tomorrow," Ron fumed at Ginny, "and I don't want you going with Harry!"

"Why not? Why don't you want me going with Harry?" Ginny yelled back.

"Because...it's just wrong." In a more quiet voice he said, "And I don't want to be the only one without a date. I'll end up being with Hermione."

Hermione started to cry. She couldn't believe Ron said that. Harry was coming over to comfort her but she didn't want anyone comforting her but Ron. She got up and ran to the library.

"Now you've done it," Harry commented. "You just blew any chance you had of going to the dance with her."

"I know, you half-wit!" Ron yelled over his shoulder as he ran to the library after Hermione.

He finally got there and saw Hermione sitting by herself. Ron took a minute to straighten his hair and catch his breath. Then he went over and sat across from Hermione.

"I'm so sorry," Ron said, hoping she'd forgive him.

"Why did you say that? What's so bad about being with me?" she replied, sounding quite hurt.

"Nothing. Nothing will ever be bad about you. I don't know why I reacted that way." Then he took her hand and asked her this: "Hermione, will you not only go to the dance with me, but also be my girlfriend?"

Hermione crawled up onto the table and reached over and hugged him.

"I take it that's a yes!" Ron said.

They left the library and ran back to the Common Room (holding hands) to spread the good news. But on their way they ran into Crabbe and Malfoy who were, by the way, also holding hands.

"So, Weasley and Granger are finally hooked up," Malfoy sneered.

"Yeah, well it looks like you are too," Ron replied. "You guys MUST be gay."

"Oh yes we are. Haven't you been aware of that yet? I guess we haven't publicly made that announcement yet, but we will soon...won't we dear?" Crabbe asked Malfoy.

"Right you are, honeybunch!" Malfoy replied.

Then they turned around and walked toward the Slytherin House. Ron and Hermione continued on to the Gryffindor House.

"Bloody--" Ron began to exclaim, but Hermione gave him a warning look. "Bloody Slytherins!" he said quickly. "Nutters, the whole lot of them."

"Did someone mention nutters?" said Fred, coming in the common room right behind them. "I love them. Such fun to hang about with."

Angelina came in right after him and slipped an arm around his waist. "Such fun to hang about with? Talking about me, are you?"

"Such fun to do lots of things with," Fred said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at her. "In fact..."

"Gee, Fred," interrupted Ron, sounding a lot like the kids on Leave It to Beaver, not that he would even know what that was. "Quidditch practice just ended an hour ago. I'm surprised you two aren't still in the locker rooms, you know, cleaning up."

Fred rolled his eyes. "We would be, except that Alicia and Katie are still, uh, cleaning up in there too."

Angelina's nose wrinkled in disgust, but Hermione laughed. She couldn't resist saying, "They're probably having a meeting of their anti-male support group. They told me all about how they're fed up with the male species in general."

At this Ron started to snicker too. He tugged on Hermione's hand and led her away.

The next morning everyone was a lot happier at breakfast. Harry and Ginny were free to go to the dance together now that Ron's full attention was on Hermione. And it was a good thing too! The dance was the next day.

Professor McGonagall made an announcement to the students as they finished their meals. "I hope everyone is planning to attend the dance tomorrow night. As heads of the festivities, Professor Snape and I have worked very hard to ensure that everyone has a good time." She paused to look at Snape fondly. To the revoltion of all who noticed, he smiled back coyly and gave a little wave. Finally McGonagall continued. "However, you are all expected to be on your best behavior. We haven't included any new bushes in the decorations for the dance as there was a bit of a problem with them at the Yule Ball."

"But I'm sure they included an extra big bush for the two of them when they need to take a break from supervising," Ron whispered to Hermione. She started giggling uncontrollably. Harry and Ginny, who were sitting across the table, heard his comment and started laughing too.

I can't wait for tomorrow. This is perfect, Ginny thought blissfully.

The next day started out wonderfully. Hermione and Ginny stayed in their dorm figuring out what they were going to wear for hours in the morning. Harry and Ron were stuck in the Common Room because the girls had told them not to move. Harry commented to Ron, "I wonder how many dresses they are trying on."

Ron, who was in a slightly perverted mood, replied, "I'd give anything to be a fly on the wall in that room!"

"Jeez Ron! That's no way to talk!"

"Oh come off it Harry, you know you would like that too."

The girls finally came down in their normal clothes to go with the boys to lunch in the Great Hall. They walked down the stairs and Harry said, "Man, it sure took you long enough. I hope you've figured out what you're going to wear!"

"Oh don't worry...we have..." said Ginny slyly as Hermione started laughing. The boys exchanged confused looks with each other and the four started off to lunch. The dance was to start at 6:00 and they couldn't wait.

Pretty much right after lunch, Hermione and Ginny headed back to their dorm to start getting ready. It was basically a repeat of the Yule Ball, much to Ron's dismay. He and Harry spent the afternoon playing a few pathetic games of wizard chess and glancing nervously up the stairs at regular intervals. They were relieved when it was time for them to get their dress robes on.

It only took the boys ten minutes to get ready. Then they went back to the common room to wait for their dates. They didn't have to wait long.

Harry saw the girls first. He gaped at them in amazement, whacking Ron's arm to get his attention. Soon Ron's mouth was also stuck in a wide open position.

Hermione and Ginny made their way slowly toward the boys. Then they each spun around model-style to give them the full effect of their outfits. And what an effect it was! They were both dressed entirely in black. Hermione was wearing a micromini-skirt and fishnet stockings. Her shirt was a slinky halter top with a plunging neckline. Ron's eyes lingered especially long at that little feature.

Ginny also looked ready to go clubbing, but her ensemble was, if possible, even more naughty. She was dressed in what can only be described as barely-there booty shorts. On her feet were knee-high biker boots. Her tight tank top was the equivalent of a corset laced up very loosely in the front. Harry's eyes were the size of Dudley's fat rump.

Only the girls' hair was what you would expect: classic up-dos.

"Ginny, you look...I mean, that shirt is...BLIMEY!" Harry stuttered.

"Same with you Hermione. That skirt is..." Ron, too, couldn't find words to describe his date's outfit. Then, it seemed for the first time, he glanced over and say his little sister. "What the freakin' turtle shell?!! What do you think you're bloody doing? You can't go out dressed like that!"

"Ron!" Ginny pouted slightly.

Her brother shook his head vigorously. "No! Never! I won't let you take one step out of this room with that ruddy get-up on! It's unseemly!"

"Oh, bugger!" Ginny fumed. "I know there's no arguing with you when you start talking like Mum." She turned to Hermione. "I guess I'll have to change."

"Well, I can't go out like this alone!" Hermione protested. "I guess it's on to Plan B then."

The two girls disappeared into their dorms for another ten minutes. When they came down again, Harry and Ron were equally pleased with their appearances, but in a far less perverted way. Each girl wore a beautiful, flowy dress. Hermione's was a dusty blue, while Ginny's was a deep blue.

"Much better," Ron said. So they all walked to the Great Hall together.

The Great Hall looked fabulous! It was very romantic. Beautiful flowers were floating all around. Harry snatched one out of the air and handed it to Ginny. They both blushed. Everyone felt a tad nervous and embarrassed. McGonagall and Snape stood up and stated some rules. "There will be no tasteless or vulgar movements. Anyone caught doing such things will be sent to their common room." Snape merely nodded.

The dance soon got kickin' with really cool music by The Witchy Girls and Magic Wands and many other far out songs by neato bands. Hermione and Ron started dirty dancing (surprisingly enough, Hermione started this) but luckily none of the teachers were around. Harry thought that the dirty dancing looked like fun and started to ask Ginny, "So...umm...how--" but Ginny had just pulled him close to her by his dress robes and started up the grinding. But soon they needed a break. Both couples headed outside and saw a very disturbing sight. McGONAGALL AND SNAPE WERE NECKING!!!! No wonder kids were getting away with stuff! The teachers in charge were gettin' it on!

"Holy turtle shell!" Ron said amazed and totally grossed out. But Harry saw it in a different light. "Hey, that's not a bad idea!" and whirled Ginny around to give her a very long, very hard, very meaningful, very wonderful kiss on the mouth. Ginny, of course, fell right into it and they stood kissing for minutes on end. Then Hermione (not so perfect anymore) grabbed Ron and they stood kissing for a few minutes until they noticed that Harry and Ginny had moved to a bench tucked away in a corner and were getting a tad naughty. Just a little. Ron had to pull away from his wonderful Hermione and her lips to break them up.

"Hey what are ya doin'?" Harry mumbled, his hair much more messy than usual.

"You were going a little to far with Ginny," Ron replied, quite in a daze himself.

"Well yeah I suppose," agreed Harry. Hermione and Ginny exchanged excited grins with each other! They'd been waiting for kisses from these boys for ages! And they finally got that and more!

"We should head back in to the Great Hall," suggested Hermione. So they straightened themselves up and the girls gave their guy one more quick kiss on the lips. Well maybe it wasn't that quick.

George, who was near the door, started laughing hysterically when he saw the two slightly ruffled couples reenter the Great Hall. "My little sister and brother! I'm appalled!" he cried, but nobody took him seriously.

"Where's Fred?" asked Ron. The twins were rarely seen without the other.

George shrugged. "Off somewhere with Angelina. I think they had about the same idea as you four."

Just then, Alicia and Katie walked by. "Oh, good!" Alicia said, seeing them. "You've finally left that bench in the corner. C'mon, Katie." The two pranced outside, hand in hand.

"Still no quite used to that," George commented, shaking his head.

Then a slow song came on. Harry and Ron looked longingly at the dance floor, then back at George.

"Oh, go on," grumbled George.

So Harry took Ginny's arm and led her onto the dance floor. Ron and Hermione weren't far behind.

The dance was the coolest ever and that's all that the four could talk about as they got on the Hogwarts Express at the end of the school year. They were looking for an empty compartment but couldn't find one. So they decided to find Alicia and Katie and share their compartment. Well... they found them. The two were laying on each other and getting a little carried away (if you know what I mean)! The four were seriously disturbed. Harry suggested that they should go to therapy for this. Luckily, Alicia and Katie didn't see them and so they left quietly so they wouldn't disturb the happy couple.

Soon they found George and Fred and told them about Katie and Alicia. They didn't seemed very surprised.

"Yeah, we expected ever since the dance. This just confirms it." said Fred.

"Sad, really. They were very good girlfriends. It's such a shame that they had to convert to lesbianism." George said.

"This is just great. Now we need to find new girlfriends. It's such a pain in the arse."

The six of them continued talking and playing Exploding Snap until they reached King's Cross Station and got off the train to begin another summer.