Harry Potter and the Power the Dark Lord Knows Not

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CHAPTER SEVEN

THE MASQUERADE BALL

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Harry was released from the hospital on Sunday morning. His face still looked terrible since his forehead and eyes were only partially healed, but he had been more than ready to get away from the hospital wing. While Harry had been gone, a special notice had appeared in all the House common rooms. Harry's friends had been too worried about him to really pay much attention to the school bulletins, and it wasn't until after Harry had been released that anyone noticed it.

Harry was currently working in the Gryffindor common room under an absolute mountain of homework. He'd been out of class for a full week and hadn't been well enough while in hospital to get very far with his schoolwork. As Harry was finishing a ridiculously long essay for Snape on restorative draughts, a group of fourth year girls giggled loudly and a little nervously at something posted on the Notice Board. Harry frowned at them, slightly put out by the amount of noise they were making.

Hermione spotted Harry's irritated expression and glimpsed up at the girls who had begun to leave the common room excitedly. As she went to the Notice Board to see what they had been giggling about, Hermione's face froze in a somewhat arrested look as she quickly read what was on it.

"Have you seen this?" she asked Harry and Ron.

Ginny, now being in her O.W.L. year, was working on her own mountain of work nearby, just behind Harry. Harry noticed that Dean was seated across the room playing chess with Seamus, instead of sitting next to her.

"I haven't had a chance to see anything but homework," Harry replied gloomily.

"Me neither," Ginny said as she glanced at Harry, sighing empathetically.

"Well, what does it say, then?" Ron asked, impatiently.

"Attention all students fourth year and above: this year on Halloween night the proprietors of Honeyduke's Sweet Shop, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, and Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes are happy to announce that they will be hosting a Masquerade Ball here at Hogwarts in the Great Hall," Hermione read aloud. "Well, that could be fun, it might be a good way to keep our minds off... well, things," Hermione broke off, gazing carefully at Harry.

Harry, however, never saw Hermione's anxious look. His green eyes

were focused specifically behind him upon Ginny, who was beginning to dip

her quill into a small inkpot. "Er..." he began, rather clumsily, "I guess you and Dean will... you know..."

"Dean?" Ginny repeated briskly. "Oh no, Harry, we stopped going out a couple of weeks ago. He always seemed to want to spend more time with his mates than with me, so I told him that I wasn't interested anymore."

"Oh, Ginny, I didn't realize," said Hermione, apologetically.

"I'm fine, really. We weren't that serious anyway," said Ginny, completely unperturbed, as she went back to her homework.

Harry and his friends were sitting in and around the squashy armchairs by the fire. There were a few groups of students scattered about, but most had gone to bed. Harry looked away from everyone and stared into the crackling flames for a moment, gathering courage. Ron and Hermione were listening in a would-be nonchalant way as Harry swallowed nervously and then spoke in a halting voice.

"Say Ginny, if you don't already have plans, then," Harry said, a bit awkwardly, as he felt the part of his face that wasn't bruised turn almost the same shade of purple. "I mean, if you'd like, you and I could go to the ball together.... if you want to." Harry suddenly wondered why it was so much harder to ask a question when he genuinely cared about the answer.

"Oh," said Ginny, smiling shyly and blushing crimson herself. "I'd love to, Harry." They glanced at each other and smiled sweetly before looking away again self-consciously.

A couple of seats away Hermione was smiling, too. "Well, time for bed," she said quickly, as she began to pack her many thick schoolbooks away.

Ron followed suit, but instead of smiling like Hermione had, Ron was looking nervous. He was looking just as nervous, in fact, as Harry just had. As Hermione reached the stairway leading up to her dormitory, Ron caught up to her and reached out an arm to stop her. Hermione turned, gazing at him inquisitively as Ron then took a very deep breath.

"Hermione, er... how about, er... do you want to, er..." Ron trailed off, his face growing pale. Hermione stared at him for a moment, then finally took pity on him.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Ron... I would be perfectly delighted to attend the Masquerade Ball with you," she said firmly, but then turned a delicate shade of pink despite herself.

"You would, really?" Ron said, sounding extremely relieved as the colored rushed into his face, too.

"Well, of course," Hermione said, in a slightly exasperated tone, but she was smiling quite broadly at him all the same. As Hermione turned and disappeared up her staircase, Ron then faced Harry and Ginny, appearing a little

dazed.

"Wow," he whispered blankly, as if doubting the validity of what had

just happened. After a moment, though, he grinned widely at them and then drifted off towards the boy's dormitories.

Harry and Ginny watched him go happily. Harry had known that there had been a bit more than friendship brewing between the two of them for a long time, and he was glad to see that Ron had gotten brave enough to act on it at last. Harry then turned, looking at Ginny. She and her family had been in his life for all these years, yet it was almost like he had never actually seen Ginny until now. As he watched her petite form loading her schoolwork into her bag, he wondered how he had never noticed how lovely her red hair shown in the firelight or how her fair delicate hands wrapped gracefully around her quill. As Ginny got up, she glanced back at Harry and saw him watching her. Harry looked away again, slightly embarrassed at being caught, but Ginny then reached for his arm and he gazed up into her face once more.

"I'm really glad you asked me, Harry," she said softly, smiling gently at him.

Ginny then lifted her bag and headed upstairs. It was a moment or two before Harry decided to go to bed himself. After Ginny had agreed to go to the ball with him, Harry had first been filled with relief, then with great joy. Harry smiled; he felt nearly as light as a feather himself as he - like Hermione, Ron, and Ginny before him - floated dreamily off to bed as well.

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As Halloween approached there was a flurry of excitement surrounding the older students. Harry could see that there seemed to be a lot of pairing off occurring throughout Hogwarts. It was almost as if there was a tremendous spark of powerful electricity igniting between the boy and girl students, especially those in sixth and seventh year. Perhaps it had always been that way, but Harry had never noticed it until recently.

Harry was currently finding excuses to be wherever Ginny was. Seeing her come down from her dormitory, meeting up with her at lunch, or even walking with her from the greenhouses to the front doors simply made Harry's heart feel light and always brought a rather goofy grin to his face. This relationship was already so different from the one Harry had had with Cho last year. Harry had always been extremely anxious and on edge around Cho; and while Ginny made him get nervous butterflies in his stomach when she smiled at him, the butterflies were always accompanied by a feeling of immense

happiness. He hadn't really had the chance to get to know Cho all that well, Harry was beginning to realize; maybe that had been part of the problem.

Ginny Weasley, however, had been a part of his life since Harry had first

seen her standing at platform nine and three-quarters with her mother when he was eleven years old. He simply felt more comfortable around Ginny, and now that he thought about it, Harry realized that they had actually been through a lot together. It had been Ginny Harry had gone to save in the Chamber of Secrets in his second year. Ginny, along with Ron and Hermione, had also been present with Harry onboard the Hogwart's Express when a dementor entered their compartment the next year. When Arthur Weasley had been attacked last year by Voldemort's snake, Harry remembered keeping an anxious vigil with her, Sirius, Ron, Fred and George until they received news that Mr. Weasley was going to be okay. Ginny had even been possessed by Voldemort before, just as Harry had last June.

Ginny had shown herself to be forthright, tenacious, and strong, and like the rest of the Weasley's, downright stubborn on occasion. Even though she was the smallest player on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, Ginny was also one of its fiercest competitors. She and Harry both loved Quidditch, and they were both unafraid of a challenge, even if considerable danger was involved. They quite simply had a great deal in common, and Harry was beginning to realize that going through what they had together had created a uniquely strong bond of respect, friendship, and trust between them.

It was nearly the end of October now, and Harry's Quidditch wounds had finally healed. He, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were spending a lot of time discussing the upcoming Masquerade Ball. Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, which were usually shops located exclusively on Diagon Alley, had recently and temporarily rented some space in the village of Hogsmeade. Two weeks previous, there had been a Hogsmeade weekend which had given everyone attending the ball a chance to find a costume and look at the wears in Fred and George's joke shop.

Madam Malkin had robes in almost every fabric and in every color imaginable, and she also created elaborate masks that were made to match whatever color robes one might want for a costume. While Hermione and Ginny went costume shopping, Harry and Ron spent some time with Fred and George in Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. As he and Ron entered the little rustic building, Harry was stunned at the odd blend of fireworks, gag gifts, and joke foods that were displayed all over the drafty walls of the rather dilapidated and ramshackle shop.

"Hey, look who it is," Fred said to George when they walked in.

"Blimey," gasped Ron, in awe of their surroundings. "You've come up with loads of new stuff, haven't you."

Besides the usual assortment of Skiving Snackboxes, Canary Creams, Ton-Tongue Toffees, and Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-Bang fireworks that Harry had already seen, there were also brand new products such as a Skiving Snackbox that caused sneezing fits so severe that they came out more like mini-explosions than small bursts of air, a chocolate bar that turned the eater's face a bright

fluorescent orange, and a scarf that would tickle the wearer whenever they least expected it.

"When did you come up with these?" Harry asked, picking up a scarf.

"Oh," answered George, grinning from ear to ear. "These were in development when we were still in school. We've just perfected them a bit more and now they're ready for our adoring public."

Harry and Ron continued to look about in amazement. The twins seemed extremely pleased with themselves. Fred walked over and began to lean towards them conspiratorially.

"Well, you know Mum wasn't too keen on the whole joke shop idea at first," Fred explained, "but since it's become a real success, she actually seems proud."

"Yeah," George chimed in, somewhat sarcastically, "Mum's proud of us, who'd have thought."

After Fred had put the box of candy he had been holding up on a shelf, he

lowered his voice and added, "Her and Dad are too busy with the Order to really be miffed at what we're doing anyway."

"Are you not in the Order yourselves, then?" Harry asked. "We didn't see you at headquarters this summer, but I'd have thought you'd be anxious to join now that you're out of school and everything."

"Hey, who says we're not in the Order? Can't actually talk about it much, though. Besides, creating all of this takes loads of time, you know," George said, indicating their colorful multitude of joke merchandise. Harry was continuing to watch the twins carefully, wondering what exactly it was that they were doing for the Order when Fred rather overtly changed the subject.

"Anyway, what's this we've heard about you dating our little sister, eh?" he asked without warning, as he narrowed his eyes at Harry in an almost Percy-like way.

"Huh?" croaked Harry nervously, his voice coming out a bit higher than usual.

"Yeah," said George dangerously. "You'd do well to watch your step when it comes to her -- or we'll be sure to watch it for you." George had begun to lean towards Harry as well as he jutted out his chin threateningly.

"You'd better not break her heart, or we promise to return the favor,"

Fred added, menacingly.

"Only it won't be your heart that we'll be breaking," George concluded fiercely, cracking his knuckles for good measure.

Harry goggled at the twins, his insides squirming alarmingly - they seemed absolutely serious. Harry hadn't expected this friendly little visit to turn into an open interrogation, and he was completely taken aback by the abrupt change in the topic from joke paraphernalia to his own very personal life.

Blushing furiously, Harry took a step backwards and then opened his mouth to answer them, but nothing came out. Fred and George were peering at Harry

with their arms crossed over their chests looking quite intimidating when Ron spoke up at last. Ron set the Sneezing Snackbox he had been inspecting back down as he walked over to where Harry, Fred, and George were standing by the counter.

"Oy, lay off him, guys," Ron began, as he saw Harry's reaction and tried to stand up for him. Just then, however, Fred and George favored one another with a quick glance. Each of their faces then began to twitch as the corners of their mouths turned upwards. Eventually, dropping all pretense, both twins burst out laughing uproariously - even clapping each other on the back in raucous amusement.

"Oh Harry, that was priceless!" George said, half-chortling.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Fred chuckled to George comically, as they each released another loud peal of laughter. Ron turned to Harry rolling his eyes, but Harry was still crimson and was staring resolutely away from the lot of them.

"Sorry, but we couldn't help ourselves," George said, continuing to snigger.

"Oh, go on, Harry," Fred said with a grin, stepping up to Harry and clapping him on the back. "We were only joking - really - we're totally chuffed about you and Ginny going out."

"So, when did this happen anyway?" George then asked conversationally, apparently deciding that they had teased Harry enough.

Slowly, Harry looked back at them again, though he felt only slightly less mortified. "Not long ago," he answered, somewhat vaguely.

"Yeah," commented Ron, a bit of a smirk on his face, "Harry only got the guts to ask her out after getting hit by that Bludger."

"ME?" Harry exclaimed, rounding on Ron rather heatedly. "You've fancied Hermione for years, and you asked her the same day I asked Ginny!" It was Ron's turn to blush, now. He had stepped right into that one.

Fred and George were grinning maliciously at each other. "Maybe that Bludger finally knocked some sense into you, Harry. Maybe Ron could use a knock on the head, too. We could take care of that for you, you know," Fred said, looking mischievously at his youngest brother.

"But honestly, though," George continued, "we always wanted to make sure that Ginny found, well... you know, the right person."

"That's right, Harry. She is our baby sister after all. We've always felt more protective towards her," Fred agreed.

"Not that she's ever needed it, mind. I feel sorry for anyone who gets on the wrong side of Ginny - she's a bit like Mum that way, really," George added, thoughtfully.

Harry was still blushing, but he was also impressed by the twins' sudden

sincerity. Fred and George weren't often to be taken seriously, but like the rest

of their family, they could be quite formidable when they were. Harry stopped

feeling chagrined and gave them a genuine smile, and the twins then turned their attention to Ron. Unfortunately, by the time they had finished tormenting him for dating Hermione, Ron's whole head was glowing so red that it might have ignited kindling. Ron grabbed Harry's arm rather harder than he intended as they quickly made their way away from the twins' cackling voices and back outside again.

"Gits," Ron said, crossly.

Harry remained silent as they walked up the windy street. Fred and George were not truly malicious in their banter, but Harry knew that they sometimes went too far. Harry glanced sideways at Ron - he was continuing to look angry and sullen. Harry hesitated, then put out an arm to stop his progress up the street.

"Listen, Ron," Harry began, "Fred and George are obnoxious, okay. But I wanted you to know that I think you and Hermione going out is great."

"You do?" Ron asked.

"Absolutely," Harry answered, earnestly.

"Did you really know that I... well, that I've fancied Hermione for a while?" Ron asked, focusing determinedly down at his shoes.

"Well, yeah," Harry said grinning. "It's kind of obvious. I mean, I'm with you and Hermione all the time. I'd have to be blind not to notice."

"Well, I've always wanted you and Ginny to go out," Ron said, his mood changing. "She's always kind of had a crush on you, you know."

"I dunno," Harry said, humbly. "I'm just glad to have the chance to be with her. It seems important, somehow."

Ron looked over at Harry questioningly, but Harry didn't elaborate. Harry choose not to mention that he knew deep down that very dark and difficult times were on the horizon, especially for him and those close to him. As they continued to stroll down the shop-lined street, however, Harry pushed those dreary thoughts out of his mind. Right now, Harry just wanted to be a normal teenage wizard and find what happiness he could in his life while he was still able to do so.

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Halloween night at Hogwarts was always a special occasion. This year, however, was especially so. The mood in the castle was upbeat, excited. As the time came for the ball to actually begin, Harry and Ron started to get into their costumes. Since the Masquerade Ball included dancing, their costumes were made up of dress robes and uniquely made masks that covered their faces, but didn't restrict their movement. Harry had chosen to wear a costume that

resembled a great stag, it seemed fitting. Harry put on his new dress robes

which were a cool shade of blue. The mask that finished the ensemble was made of a matching blue felt, it looked very much like actual deerskin. The top of the mask had intricately carved horns made of a dark mahogany wood. It hid most of Harry's face from view.

Ron was able to use the dress robes that Fred and George had purchased for him last year as they were a rich dark brown like his mask. Ron's mask was made of soft fur-like cotton which resembled a wolf's head. Harry and Ron glanced at each other, feeling slightly odd and out of place, but then Harry reasoned, everyone else was going to be in costume, too. The other boys in Harry's dormitory had found dates to the ball, as well. Dean had chosen to go in golden robes that sported a lion's mask, Seamus was wearing a burnt sienna costume with a fox mask, while Neville had chosen green robes with a frog-like mask. The boys all headed down to the common room together.

The Gryffindor girls were also beginning to make their appearances in the common room. Parvati, dressed in black robes and an extravagantly beaded cat mask, joined Dean on the stairs. Harry had at first worried that he might offend Dean by going out with Ginny so soon after they had broken up, but since Dean seemed positively elated to be going with the very attractive Parvati Patil, Harry decided to forget it. Seamus' date, Lavender Brown, then came down in powder pink robes with an almost ridiculously fluffy pink rabbit mask perched on her head. Seamus didn't seem to mind, however, as with a certain nervous jumpiness, he offered her his arm. Harry and Ron were standing together next to the fireplace - they were too tense to be comfortable sitting down. Ron was tapping his foot anxiously, and Harry was finding that for some reason his heart was beating entirely too fast for what the occasion warranted. A few moments later, neither Hermione nor Ginny had made it down yet.

"What's taking so long?" Ron complained impatiently, nearly beside

himself. "What are they doing up there, dying their hair to match their robes or something?"

After a few moments, however, the girls finally made their entrance at the head of the stairs. Hermione came down first in incredibly beautiful red silk dress robes that swished gently when she walked. Hermione's hair was up in a lovely coif, and her mask was made of gold and red glittering feathers in an intricate pattern that resembled a phoenix. Ron pulled his mask off to watch her descend. Right behind her, Ginny appeared. Harry pulled his mask off, too, and his jaw dropped dramatically as he gazed at her, completely awestruck. Ginny was wearing iridescent white robes that seemed to shimmer as she moved and her mask was made of gleaming silvery white feathers that looked like that of an elegant white snowy owl. Both Ginny and Hermione's masks stopped just below their noses, so that Harry and Ron were able to see their radiant smiles underneath. Ginny's red hair was up in a similar style to Hermione's; they had obviously helped each other get ready.

Both Harry and Ron watched as though entranced as Ginny and Hermione slowly floated towards them. Harry couldn't seem to take his eyes off Ginny, and if he'd thought that his heart had been beating fast before, that was nothing compared to what it was doing now. Ron appeared to feel the same way about Hermione, and as the four of them adjusted their masks and headed towards the Great Hall together, they gave the impression that the whole world could have fallen away from them and they would never have noticed.

Upon arriving in the dining hall, Harry glanced away from Ginny just long enough to realize that the Hall had been transformed into an amazing concoction of black and orange. Black spider webs hung from the wall brackets, and Hagrid's humongous pumpkins were set up in every corner and by the small wooden stage that had been put up near the front. Candles were glowing everywhere, including inside of the vast carved pumpkins, and legions of bats flew in formation around the enchanted ceiling which was presently filled with twinkling stars as the occasional cloud floated past the full harvest moon. Honeyduke's chocolates and various other brightly wrapped candies were arranged around the Great Hall like small glittering jewels, making the atmosphere even more festive than it had been. As the students settled into the smaller round tables that had replaced the usual four large rectangular House tables, Dumbledore went center-stage.

The headmaster was wearing silver robes with a tiger-shaped mask as he viewed the colorful crowd of students. "Welcome," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling vibrantly behind his mask. "Tonight was designed for the enjoyment of all participants, so please be sure to enjoy yourselves. I would like to personally thank the proprietors of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Honeyduke's Sweet Shop, and Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes for providing the opportunity for this celebration tonight. The Brothers Weasley themselves have also kindly offered their services to display their newest inventions as a special treat to Hogwarts students and to supply the fireworks later on," Dumbledore raised a hand to indicate the smiling faces of Fred and George to the costumed and already applauding throng. "Dinner shall be served, momentarily," Dumbledore concluded airily as he took a seat by Professor McGonagall, who was wearing robes of a rich plum-colored velvet along with a rather elegant looking panther mask made of the same material. Harry couldn't help noticing that several of the teachers had apparently chosen not to come tonight, but he was quite glad to see Hagrid make an appearance a short while later, wearing - not a costume - but his very ugly shaggy brown suit. Both Harry and Ginny slid their masks off for a moment and waved enthusiastically at him as Hagrid made his way towards Professor Dumbledore's table; Ron and Hermione were evidently too busy sneaking sideways glances at one another to really pay attention to anything else that was going on.

As the gleaming golden plates with menus appeared on the tables just as they had the year of the Yule Ball, each person spoke what they wanted and it

appeared perfectly prepared on their individual plate. Maybe it was just

because he was older now, but things felt very different to Harry than they had the evening of the Yule Ball, two years before. Harry felt a bit nervous, just as he had done then, but he also felt a lot more affection for his date than he had on that occasion. Another difference was that everyone's attention was not focused on him for once, for which Harry was especially grateful. Everyone appeared to be wrapped up in their own partners tonight, and as the entire assembly was masked, it was actually fairly difficult to determine who was who anyway. Harry looked across the table at Ron and Hermione. Curiously, they seemed happier than Harry had ever seen them, while somehow still appearing strangely awkward around each other at the very same time.

After dinner, an all-witch band Harry had never heard of before called the Daring Divas took the stage. Each of the four women had multiple facial piercings along with a few tattoos, and their hairstyles ranged wildly from short, spiky and blue to long, smooth, and blond. They were also wearing tight-fitting and extremely faded blue jeans that looked like they'd been dragged for miles, along with clingy t-shirts in an assortment of violently clashing colors. Harry was reminded a bit of Tonks as he watched them assemble their equipment with a quick wave of their wands and turn to face the waiting crowd. The band started the night with a rather haunting song and as their melodious voices filled the open expanse of the Great Hall, Harry saw many couples stir and start to stand up. Harry felt himself growing slightly more anxious as couples began to fill the dance floor - Ginny was sitting next to him quietly, smiling through her feathered mask at her brother and Hermione across the table. Harry took a

deep breath and turned to her.

"I'm really not much of a dancer, Ginny, but would you like to dance, anyway?" Harry asked.

"Of course, Harry," Ginny replied, and then whispered in his ear. "Last time I was with Neville, and he stepped on my toes so many times I was afraid they would fall off."

Harry chuckled quietly as he spotted Neville across the room. Apparently he had asked Luna Lovegood to the ball, and they were dancing to a rather odd beat of their own. Luna appeared to be wearing a squid costume. It reminded Harry of the Famous Witches and Wizards Card of Uric the Oddball. As he leaned over to Ginny to tell her, Ginny's gentle laugh filled his ears, and they continued to smile at each other as Harry then led her to the dance floor. He noticed that Ron and Hermione were getting up to dance as well.

Harry and Ginny, while excellent at Quidditch, had had little experience with dancing, and they spent the first part of the evening trying to figure out how to dance to both the fast and the slow tunes. After laughing at themselves

over and over again every time they accidentally bumped into each other, they began to gain a certain level of trust and confidence together. Harry knew

peripherally that the Great Hall was full of many costumed people, but it

somehow felt as though he and Ginny were in a separate wonderful world of their very own making.

Off to the side Fred and George were doing a roaring trade not only in the merchandise Harry had seen just a couple of weeks ago, but also in what looked to be standard black Hogwarts robes. As Harry and Ginny took a break from dancing to investigate, Fred and George demonstrated their "robe's" abilities. While everyone watched, Fred threw one of them over himself and disappeared completely from sight causing many of the bystanders - including Luna and Neville - to gasp in surprise.

"You turned them into Invisibility Cloaks?" Neville sputtered, aghast.

"Of course not, you stupid prat," Malfoy put in rudely from beneath his pale gray cobra mask - he and Pansy had joined the group just behind where Luna was standing.

"Any fool could put a Vanishing Charm on an old worn out excuse for a robe like that!" Pansy squealed, making herself sound more like a pig than the bat she had come as.

"It is absurdly easy," Malfoy agreed. "I guess you Weasley's will do almost anything to get a couple of galleons. What are you going to do next - pull a rabbit out of your hat like those pathetic Muggle magicians do?" At these comments, several people had suddenly taken on noticeably stiff and angry stances - Harry among them. George had already taken a couple of quick steps towards Malfoy, and next to Harry, Ginny was balling her small hands into fists. Luckily, before something unfortunate could happen, someone distracted them.

"How marvelous!" exclaimed a squeaky voice from directly behind Neville, and Harry turned and glanced down to find Professor Flitwick at his elbow. The professor had dressed himself as a hedgehog or a knarl (depending on how you looked at it) and funny-looking little spikes were poking out from his light brown mask in all directions. "I've never seen a charm applied in quite this way before, boys. It's extremely complicated indeed - may I?" Flitwick then asked as he reached out towards a stack of the black robes piled high on a nearby table. The Charms teacher's presence produced a calming influence on those assembled there, and as Fred abruptly reappeared, George forgot his anger and instead began his usual sales pitch.

"We always give special discounts to our former instructors, Professor. Care to try one out? They're only five galleons a piece," George was saying.

"We've also got these, sir," Fred joined in, indicating the other products Harry had recognized from before. Harry then glanced around at the others standing close by. Draco and Pansy were soon stalking off towards another mass of darkly clad Slytherins, and the rest of the party was either examining the twins' "enhanced" robes and other merchandise or heading back towards the

dance floor. Harry leaned towards Ginny.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

"I'm fine, Harry," Ginny answered, though she sounded a bit annoyed -

she was still watching Malfoy as he stood over on the other side of the room. "Leave it to Malfoy to cause trouble when everyone else is here to have fun."

"I know," Harry responded. "Fred and George don't seem too bothered, though. They've already gone back to work, looks like." Flitwick was now taking a couple of robes from Fred as George pocketed the professor's money. Harry then heard Ginny snigger behind her mask.

"Those two," she sighed. "Nothing will ever stop them from pursuing their dream - even Mum, and that's saying something."

"D'you want to dance some more?" Harry asked her, smiling a bit wickedly beneath his mask. "We could kick Malfoy in the shins and make it look like an accident."

Ginny giggled as she took his arm and followed Harry back out to the middle of the dance floor - Ron and Hermione were dancing at the opposite end of the Hall, they had fortunately managed to miss Malfoy's earlier antics. The Daring Divas had just struck up a lively tune and many were currently dancing to the rather fast-paced melody; the atmosphere had become slightly more boisterous as everybody eagerly tried to keep up with the rapid pulse of the music. After another hour, Harry and Ginny retreated back to their table for a cooling drink of pumpkin juice, then made their way through the other bouncing and swaying couples to dance together once more - Harry was pleased to see that Malfoy and Pansy appeared to have left the ball. As time passed and things began to wind down, the songs became slower and Harry found that he very much enjoyed the feeling of having Ginny in his arms.

As the last song of the evening began to play, Harry suddenly realized that this wonderful night was almost over. He didn't want it to end - it had somehow gone by incredibly quickly. The playing of the last song was evidently the cue for Fred and George to begin setting off their fireworks, and everyone removed their masks as they looked up mesmerized by the bright and colorful explosions that were now filling the sky of the enchanted ceiling (though Harry noted wryly that no swear words had been added to the mix this time). As the spectacular patterns of sparks continued to soar gracefully overhead, Harry glanced over at Ron and Hermione. They were dancing quite close together nearby, apparently oblivious to everything else, even the amazing pyrotechnic display above them. Harry looked at Ginny and nodded towards them. She smiled up at him and then rested her head on his shoulder as they continued to dance slowly till the last soft beat of that final song.