Getting Ready

Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom

Ginny studied herself in the mirror and stepped out of the bathroom stall.

"Well, Pansy? How do I look?" she asked her best friend nervously, turning around for her.

"Perfect," Pansy gushed. "You look absolutely beautiful in that dress! It fits you perfectly!"

Ginny had to admit she did look pretty good. Pansy knew her size and what she liked. She couldn't wait until tonight when she would wear it tonight at the Yule Ball with Draco. She would have never imagined going with him. She wasn't sure why, but he acted so... so calm and nice. He actually smiled when he asked her, he didn't smirk. Maybe he's changed, Ginny kept thinking to herself after he had asked her the night before. She couldn't help but feel smug about having been asked to the Ball by the Slytherin heartthrob. No one knew she was his date, but word spread out like wildfire that Draco was taken for the dance. Hearts were broken all over the girls' dormitories, a little crying in the boys' as well.

"I have arrived..." floated a familiar dream-like voice. Luna Lovegood, the third of Ginny's trio had glided mystically into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. With that voice and that walk, Ginny swore that Luna was related to Professor Trelawney. The three girls had decided to try on their dresses together to get a look at each other.

"Come on," Ginny said, after showing each other their dresses. "Let's go to Hogsmeade before the carriages leave us."

And with that, they changed out of their dresses and left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hogsmeade Carriages

"Pleathe, Draco? Come on, you know you want to go to the ball with me, I'm theckthy, you can't rethitht me!" begged Varonika, the new exchange student with a lisp. Draco tried not to laugh as she begged him because, in all honesty, she wasn't "theckthy" at all.

"I'm th- I mean, I'm sorry, but I'm taken."

"Turn her down! She'th not worth it, she ith jutht thome little huthy! O pleathe, Draco, pleathe!" she begged, not letting him close the carriage door to Hogsmeade. Draco looked coldly upon her face. Her face was set in a most unattractive sulk, she had obviously no idea how to put on make-up; she put way too much on. It looked like she smeared red blush all over her face, blue eye shadow all over her eyelids, some even on her cheeks, she put on bright red lipstick, and she seemed to have put too much mascara so that whenever she blinked her eyelashes stuck together. And her blonde hair, it was huge and puffed out everywhere. She looked like a clown.

"She most certainly isn't some little huthy." Draco said coldly, mocking her. "No means no, so get out of my sight." He abruptly closed the door, leaving her sobbing in the snow, her mascara running down her cheeks, making her look like a raccoon.

Draco had had to deal with loads of girls throwing themselves on him to beg him to turn down his mystery date. No one knew it was Ginny. Some girl even had the nerve to spread the rumor that it was she who was Draco's date. Draco had quickly put an end to that, humiliating the poor girl, because he didn't want to be known as Millicent Bulstrode's date. He leaned back in the carriage and let out a sigh.

"Uhh... are you okay?" asked Crabbe.

"Yes," replied Draco. "Now leave me be."

He drifted off to sleep; his head was lolling off to one side. Crabbe and Goyle just stared at him.

"So, uh, Greg, uh, how's it going?" asked Crabbe.

"Mmm? I'm uh, I'm okay," he replied gruffly.

"So who you going with to the ball?" Crabbe asked awkwardly.

"Eh?" Goyle obviously hadn't heard him.

"I said, who you going with to the ball?"

"No one," he said. At that response, Crabbe scooted a bit closer to Goyle.

" Me either," Crabbe said happily. Goyle scooted closer to Crabbe. Everyone knew that Crabbe and Goyle's sexual preferences had swung the other way. No one really cared; none of the girls were interested anyway.

Crabbe cleared his throat. "You uh, wanna, I mean, you don't have to, but if you want to you--"

"YES! YES! Yes, Vincie, I'll go with you to the ball!" squealed Goyle.

"You will?"

"Yes!" Suddenly, Crabbe leaned over and planted his lips on Goyle's. The other boy put his arms around the other's neck and deepened the kiss. After they had almost rolled off the carriage seat, they heard Draco murmur something and they quickly separated themselves.

Draco slowly walked down the dark empty corridor, having his wand out in front of him, just in case.

"Draco..." whispered a female voice. Draco didn't take notice. "Draco..." it whispered again. Still, Draco kept walking on. "DRACO!" it whispered harshly, sounding like it wanted to yell.

"What?! Who was that?" He rapidly spun around. He saw nothing.

"I'm here," it said from behind him. It was a lady, a ghost-lady; she was nearly translucent. She had long hair, which was blowing back and wore a long, pale, billowing dress. Which was odd, there was no wind in the corridors. It was coming from nowhere.

"Who are you?" repeated Draco.

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that you are given a choice, a choice between two women, of which you must choose." She reminded him greatly of Professor Trelawney.

"Britney or Christina?" puzzled Draco, remembering those Muggle magazines in his father's cabinet.

"NO! Ginny or Pansy!" The ghost-lady was getting frustrated, but retained her calm. "You must chose, I shall present you with two golden keys," they magically appeared in her hand, one with a ruby on it and one with an emerald on it. "Now there is one door, you will get through regardless of what key you use, but which key will help most? The one your father wants or the one you want?" She gave the keys to him.

"I don't understand..." said Draco. But the lady disappeared. Draco kept walking down the dark corridor. It wasn't so dark, as in, pitch-black darkness, but there were Draco's dark memories from the past. When his father told him that he was to marry Pansy... When he learned that Potter was blessed with Parseltongue and he wasn't... When Uncle Morty took him into the closet and touched him... hey! How did they know? Draco thought. Finally he reached the door. It was a big, black, steel door. Draco looked at his keys. He looked at the emerald one, then the ruby one. He thought for a moment. The emerald one is what my father would want and would make the Malfoys more powerful. My father would be so proud and so happy and so blissful and so joyous... WELL SCREW YOU, DAD! And Draco took out the ruby key and pushed in into the lock and turned it. The door slowly opened and light flooded the corridor.

Draco stepped inside the room, expecting Ginny to run to him, arms open. What he found was an irritated Pansy.

"DRACO! I can't believe you didn't pick me! I'm going to tell your father!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Draco woke up with a start. Crabbe and Goyle stared shocked at him.

"Draco? You okay?" asked Goyle.

"What?" he asked. He was breathing heavily. "Oh, it was just a dream..."

"What was it about?" asked Crabbe, but before Draco could reply, the carriage came to a halt. Everyone got out of their carriages and ran out about Hogsmeade.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hogsmeade: Harry and Ron

"Did you ask my sister to the ball yet, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, she said no." he replied. Immediately, Ron stopped walking.

"WHAT?!"

"She said she... she said she had a date." Harry said regrettably.

"Wh-what? Who?" Harry shrugged. The sad truth was, Harry always loved Ginny. But was he so oblivious, he didn't even realize she liked him. If he knew that she did and if she wasn't Ronald Joseph Weasley's little sister, he would have asked her out in a heartbeat. But instead, he tried to push it away with Cho's beauty and popularity. But he couldn't forget Ginny.

Ron scoffed. "She's just lying, no one asked her," he said. Ron obviously underestimated his little sister.

"But why would she turn me down?" Harry inquired.

"Well, maybe she felt cranky last night," guessed Hermione. "Try asking her today."

"Yeah," Harry's face lit up. "I'll ask her today!"

"There she is!" Hermione pointed to Ginny leaning against a building.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hogsmeade: Ginny and Pansy

"Pansy?" Ginny asked through the bathroom door. "Are you done in there?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a sec! Damn Muggle tampons..." At that moment, Ginny spotted the trio.

"Wait! Don't come out yet!" she hissed. "What do you want?"

"Gin," started Ron "We just wanted to make sure that you weren't taken for the ball."

"Yes," Hermione joined in. "Harry tells us that you are!" she said, as if it were impossible for a person of the opposite sex to be the slightest bit attracted to Ginny.

Ginny stared at them defiantly. "As a matter of fact, I am." At that, she didn't give them another look and she turned her heel and left. The trio was so shocked they just stood there gaping after her. Harry came to his senses.

"Ginny, who are you going with?" he asked her, after he ran after her and grabbed her arm.

"Someone who lives, breathes, and is of your gender!" She struggled, but his grip was strong.

"Well whoever he is, your brother won't like it so you should probably come with me." He gave her arm a little shake at that last word.

Ginny put her face close to his and hissed, "I don't care if my brother likes him or not, I'm going with him to the ball! So let go now!" His grip was tightening.

"Ginny..."

"RICTUSEMPRA!" yelled a voice behind Ginny. It was Draco Malfoy. Harry flew back, letting go of Ginny's arm. "Come on, let's run!" He grabbed hold of Ginny's wrist, leading her somewhere. Ginny freely ran with him and slid her hand in his.

"Where are we going, Malfoy?" Ginny asked breathlessly.

"No time to talk, Weasel, they're catching up," he replied briskly, looking down at their hands but said nothing.

"MALFOY YOU BASTARD! LET GO OF MY SISTER BEFORE I MAGICALLY CASTRATE YOU! AND THEN I'LL... UH... KILL YOU!" Ron boomed. Draco snorted. Ginny giggled. He led her to a small, closed shack. One of the stores that had recently went out of business.

"We don't have much time, don't move," Draco said to her, pulling out his wand. He smacked his wand on her head.

"Ouch!" Ginny squirmed. Slowly, she began to disappear with a cold, chilly feeling.

Draco smiled triumphantly. "Perfect. Disillusionment Charm, Weasel, you probably don't know what it is." He was rewarded with a kick in the shin from Ginny after that smug remark. Draco limped. There was a rapping on the door.

"MALFOY! LET US IN NOW!" roared Ron.

"Does your idiot brother know that there's no lock?" Draco asked. Ginny shrugged, ignoring the fact that Draco just called her brother an idiot.

"MALFOY! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" Ron roared again.

"We're not here! Nobody is!" Draco yelled.

"O... okay never mind!" Ron said stupidly through the unlocked door. Inside, Draco and Ginny could hear Hermione yelling at Ron for being so brainless. They broke out into silent giggles.

"Malfoy!" It was Hermione's turn to yell. "Open up the door!"

"Open it yourself!" Draco drawled, getting his smirk-face ready. Frustrated, Hermione kicked the door. It opened.

"O..." she said softly, blushing. Ron and Harry burst in valiantly afterward with their wands out.

"Where is Ginny?" Ron boomed. Draco didn't answer. "I said, where the fuck is my sister?"

"Tsk, Tsk, such language, Weasel," Draco replied calmly.

"WHERE IS SHE?" snarled Ron. He grabbed Draco's collar and pinned him against the wall.

"Get your filthy hands off of me," Draco said menacingly, pulling out his wand and pointing it hard into Ron's chest. Ron let him go.

"Where... is... she...?" he breathed out each word, trying to keep his calm.

"Having such a stupid, careless, negligent brother like you, she probably jumped off a cliff." Draco said in an icy tone. Ron's face softened. He knew every word Draco had said about him was right. He had just realized it now. Draco gave him another cold stare and swiftly walked past Ron, who was speechless. Invisible Ginny stuck out her tongue at the Trio. Outside, Draco took his wand and rapped it on Ginny's head. She slowly became visible again. They looked at each other silently.

"Thank you for saving me," Ginny started nonchalantly. Draco nodded.

"Weasel, you know that, if we are going with each other to the ball, we have to work out something," Draco said.

"Like?"

"Well, we can't call each other by our surnames," Draco said like it was obvious.

"Agreed," Ginny said.

"And we have to act like we, well, you know, actually wanted to go together..." Draco said with hesitation. Ginny pondered a little.

"O...kay," Ginny said slowly.

"Okay," Draco repeated. "I'll see you tonight."

"Bye," Ginny called to him.

"Hey Ginny!" Ginny turned around. It was Pansy. She forgot she had left her in the bathroom.

"Hey Pans, I'm sorry, the Trio had to talk to me. Ron couldn't believe I had a date to the ball." Ginny rolled her eyes. Pansy laughed.

"Wait... you have a date? Whom are you going with?" Ginny smiled.

"You'll see... Whom are you going with?" Pansy smiled.

"You'll see..." she said slyly. Pansy looked at her Wolex watch. "Ooh, it's five o'clock, let's get ready for the ball."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Slytherin Dorms

"Okay, how does this look?" Draco asked Crabbe after straightening his collar. Draco knew Crabbe was gay, so he took advantage of this to help him stay with the 'in' style.

"Perfect!" he replied, after adjusting his bowtie.

"So Vince, who are you going with?" Malfoy asked.

"I'm going with Greg!" he squealed happily. Draco smiled. He was completely supportive of his gay friends. At Hogwarts, there was this whole controversial issue about gay relationships. In the rulebook, it originally said that they weren't allowed, and people liked it that way. Until the gay population increased, and Dumbledore came to power and changed the rules. People say he broke the rules; others say it's a good change. Personally, Draco thought people should mind their own sexual preferences and their own business.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gryffindor Dorms

"Ginny...?" Hermione asked meekly. "Are you still mad at me? Because I'm sorry, I really am, I hadn't realized how much we ignore you."

Ginny stopped what she was doing and looked at her. "It's okay, I'm sorry I snapped at you." She smiled weakly.

"It's okay, so will you do my make-up now?" Hermione asked. Unbelievable, Ginny thought and scoffed. Without a word, she turned around and left their dormitory.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom to Ball Entrance

"I can't believe her!" Ginny told Pansy. "First she apologizes then she asks me to put on her make-up. Her apology probably didn't mean a thing! They'll still ignore me!"

"Poor baby... this is why we're here!" Pansy said, pointing to herself and Luna. "The Three Musketettes!" Ginny smiled.

"Okay, what color eye shadow do you want, Pans?" Ginny was usually the one who put their make-up on. Pansy and Luna put too much on themselves. In the end, they didn't look so bad. They went downstairs to meet each other's dates. Luna went down first. She was going with someone named George Glass and that he was going to meet her elsewhere, so they wouldn't see him yet. Ginny and Pansy thought that she was making him up at first, then they believed her, Luna wouldn't do that. She had no chest, huge hips, and an ass that would put J-Lo out of business if she ever met her. Her long black dress just seemed to slink over her. She put on her own make-up, she put on thick black eye liner and dark, dark, burgundy lipstick on. She didn't comb her dirty blonde hair and put a charm on it so that it always looked like it was wet. It ran down to her waist. She looked like a girl who ran away from home naked, jumped into a lake, and stole clothes from Satan-worshipper altar boy.

Pansy, on the other hand, was flat all the way. But her dress made it seem otherwise. It was a soft pink, and extremely frilly and puffy at the skirt part. At the top, where her breasts were supposed to be, was a thick, pink, puffy band going to her back. There were big, plastic butterflies all over her dress. Ginny had no idea where she got a dress so hideously ugly. Pansy had said it was custom-made for her. Her dark hair spun up to the top of her head, it wasn't tight, and it was just a huge swirl. Ginny was greatly reminded of Johnny Neutron, (Ginny wasn't sure what his name was, in case the reader was wondering) that Muggle cartoon she watched on the television her dad snuck in. There was also a big plastic butterfly on her hair, too. She wore huge, pink butterfly earrings and a pink necklace with a huge, pink butterfly pendant. Butterflies and the color pink were now at the bottom of the fashion chain. Her make-up of course, was pink, but it made up for her face. Ginny had put light pink eye shadow on her, and light brown eyeliner. She put a light pink on her cheeks. Pansy put bright pink lipstick on. Ginny looked at her date.

Pansy was going with Harry Potter.

Pansy had hoped to make Ginny jealous, obviously not knowing who her date was and Ginny's long-forgotten feelings for Harry. Pansy always wanted to beat Ginny at something, hoping the Yule Ball would bring in the gold. Harry looked... okay. He wore black cotton robes lined with red. And his hair was as messy as ever.

"Surprised, Gin?" Pansy asked, with a gigantic grin on her neon lips.

"Yeah," she said, returning the smile, but not so big. "I had no idea you two were an item!" She sounded cheery and congratulatory, not the reaction Pansy had hoped or expected.

With perfect timing and grace, Draco entered the corridor. Let the game begin, Draco thought.

"Are you ready, Virginia?" he said smoothly, slipping his arm around Ginny's waist. "O, why, hello Pansifer, Harry." Pansy's jaw dropped. Draco called her and Ginny by their full names, which he only did if he was in a really good mood.

"Yes Draco, I'm ready," Ginny replied, smiling tenderly at him. He brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, gazing at her affectionately. Pansy's and Harry's, watching this, jaws fell to the floor. Ginny hated to admit it, but Draco looked devastatingly handsome in his black velvet dress robes. He brushed his hair back, so that some of his silvery blonde hair fell into his face, his eyes. His eyes, his most distinguishing feature, were silver and stood out through the hair that was covering it.

"My Ginny, you look absolutely beautiful," Draco said, cupping her chin. Ginny giggled cutely. MY Ginny? Harry thought.

"I concur," agreed Harry, who didn't even make a comment about Pansy; he didn't want to insult her.

Surprisingly, they both agreed on something: Ginny looked stunning. Her dark, crimson dress hadn't clashed with her hair at all, as Pansy also hoped. It wasn't tight, but it still complimented Ginny's lush, hourglass figure. Her sleeves were long, but halfway down her arm they split, connected by a rhinestone clasp, baring some of the skin on her arm. Ribbons criss-crossed their way down the bodice below the low, satin square neckline. Her hair was tied back freely with a red ribbon, so that her wavy, reddish-golden hair showered halfway down her back and was dusted in diamonds. Her make-up was light; she had light brown eyeliner and lighter brown eye shadow. Her lips were neutral; she had on a light bronze-reddish lip-gloss on.

Draco ran his hand through her smooth hair and kissed her on her lips. It wasn't a rushed kiss that was filled with lust, but a soft kiss that felt like a feather being brushed across your lips. It was... gentle. Ginny was surprised herself. Pansy and Harry gaped at them in shock. Ginny and Draco left them standing there and walked to the Great Hall close together, arm in arm.

"You think they bought it, Weasel?" Draco asked once they were out of earshot.

"I think they did, Malfoy," Ginny replied.

"This is going to be fun," Draco said deviously. Ginny agreed and moved closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder and looked back at Pansy and Harry to make sure that they saw that.

They did.

Author Notes: Hey Reviewers and Readers, sorry for the excessive physical descriptions at the Yule Ball. Guess I got carried away... But its fun! Wait, I can use I references in the author notes, right? Speaking of which, thank you for all of your wonderful reviews and comments... I really appreciate them... *Tearful Moment* Sorry if it sucked, I kind of was retarded when I wrote this...O just review! You know you want to!