Twilight

Twilight

L.S. Song

Chapter Seven - The Halloween Ball

"All right, you three, get into the air! Andrew, Jack, whack bludgers at them when I give the signal," yelled Harry.

It was the Quidditch tryouts, and twelve hopeful students came to exhibit their skills. Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom were up.

Neville had greatly improved over the years, and now looked like he could fly all right, but he was still way behind the standards that Harry and Ron had expected from the tryouts. In fact, only Ginny, and Seamus had managed to put any goals past Ron so far. The rest of the people trying out were, there was no other way to put it, absolutely hopeless.

Since Colin had been released from the imperious curse, his attitude and skills had returned to normal. He no longer was the self confident, and annoying person Harry grew to hate, but the timid, now even paranoid boy that had always followed Harry around. Colin had lost all of the imperious-gained power that came from Malfoy, and when he came to try out, not surprisingly, he could barely fly in a straight line.

In Harry and Ron's opinion, Ginny, Seamus and Neville were the best three, so they teamed them up to see how well they'd fare against Ron. Ginny (riding Fred or George's Cleansweep Seven) outstripped Seamus and Neville by a considerable amount, as they were still on the old school brooms, the Shooting Stars.

Ginny, Seamus and Neville streaked towards Ron, tossing the Quaffle from one person to another, trying to bait Ron into concentrating on one person. Eventually Seamus tossed the Quaffle high into the air, which was grabbed by a speeding Ginny who spun around a bludger and threw it backhanded into the left hoop, just a split second before Ron's long arms reached out over the exact spot where the spinning Quaffle had been.

Ginny, Seamus, and Neville were doing a celebratory lap around the field.

Harry noticed despite himself how Ginny's hair flew behind her, a curtain of red whipping through the air. Her Weasley inherited flaming red hair flying behind her; blending perfectly with her black Hogwarts school robes (People trying out were not given the Gryffindor Quidditch robes until they were accepted into the team).

Harry was snapped out of his daze by a bludger that almost took his head and Ron's voice, "OI HARRY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Harry immediately turned on his Firebolt and streaked down towards Ron. Needless to say, he felt like an idiot for staring at Ginny Weasley when he should have been observing their plays more carefully.

"Well, what do you think? Who's the best so far?" asked Ron.

"Ginny, one hundred percent, no competition," replied Harry, looking at Ginny who was now flying in formation with Neville and Seamus.

"Yeah... I agree with you on that... but who should the other two be?"

"Seamus and Neville I guess... they work pretty well as a team already."

"Okay then. OI GIN! SEAMUS! NEV! COME HERE! EVERYONE ELSE, DISMISSED!" yelled Ron.

"Bit crude, don't you think Ron?"

"Congratulations, you're on the team. Practice on Saturday morning at five," said Harry with a smirk, when they had come over.

"FIVE? IN THE MORNING?" cried Neville.

"Oh don't be such a baby Nev," laughed Seamus, giving Neville a shove.

This wasn't the smartest thing to do. Neville, already in shock, was in no condition to hang on to his broomstick. He fell.

Harry and Ginny swore, and simultaneously bolted downwards towards Neville.

Harry's Firebolt outstripped Ginny's Cleansweep, and before long, he had caught up to Neville, grabbed his hand, and swung him onto his broomstick. Neville let out a cry of pain as his entire body weight was grabbed through his hand, causing a sharp pain in his wrist.

The two combined weights slowed the Firebolt down by a lot, but Harry quickly brought Neville down. Neville looked petrified, but other than that, he was unharmed.

"Dammit Seamus!" cried Neville. "You scared the magic out of me!"

Seamus was caught between laughing uproariously and apologizing profusely, and ended up just spluttering, then collapsing in a laughing fit.

Harry suddenly realized something that he hadn't noticed for six years about Ginny Weasley. He, Harry, of course came diving down right after Neville - it was his very instinct, or as Voldemort would say his 'love for playing the hero'. But what he didn't suspect was that Ginny just came streaking down right at the same time as him. Somehow, he had never thought of Ginny as the heroic type, and immediately admonished himself for it. Harry suddenly had a feeling of admiration for Ginny's character, not just for the subtle beauty on the outside, but for the very noticeable beauty on the inside.

Ron was patting Neville on the back awkwardly, Jack and Andrew were laughing with Seamus. Ginny was staring right back at him with an eyebrow raised and a mischievous smile lit on her face.

Harry snapped out of yet another trance and with a smile at Ginny, they went to go help Ron with Neville, who was still wide-eyed and pale. The new Gryffindor Quidditch team walked up to the Great Hall for dinner.

Life at Hogwarts had returned to the norm, besides for the fact that Harry was now doing satisfactory in potions, and when teamed with Hermione, they could last ten minutes in a duel against Dumbledore, before the old wizard got the better of them. Harry was glad to see that Ginny had returned to normal, besides for being slightly ashamed of herself for not noticing Colin. Unconsciously, she had severed her connection with Colin, as they no longer shared a common room, and she tended to work with other people during class. Harry was unashamedly glad that Colin had left Ginny alone.

Harry now had taken to walking around at all time's with the red and gold egg either under his arm, or in his bag, as it started to shake by itself every once in a while. Despite looking in many books, Harry could not find what he was looking for.

Harry found that Parvati had also had the same egg.

"Any idea on what it is?" he had asked a few weeks ago, at dinner in the Great Hall.

Harry was surprised that instead of getting a straight answer, he found Parvati flirting with him outrageously, asking him if he really wanted to know the answer or just wanted to talk to her?

This drew a lot of attention from Ron. At that point his face turned red, and he buried himself in one of Hermione's books, and when Parvati had finally left, Ron grabbed Harry, led him away from his steaming bowl of soup, outside the hall and cornered him.

"DO YOU LIKE MY SISTER OR NOT? IF YOU DO YOU BETTER STOP FLIRTING WITH PARVATI IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!" Ron yelled, spit flying all over the place.

"Actually Ron, if you didn't notice, it was just Parvati..."

"WELL YOU SURE LOOKED LIKE YOU ENJOYED IT! I have half a mind to go tell Ginny now!"

"Tell me what? Hi Harry... Tell me what?"

Harry was uncomfortably reminded of a situation that had arose in the summer before his fourth year at the Burrow, when Mr. Weasley had been telling Fred and George off for giving Dudley a ton-tongue toffee.

Despite himself, looking at the expression on Ginny's face caused Harry to roar with laughter, collapsing against Ron, who shook him off.

"Tell me what, Ron?" said Ginny, now starting to look dangerous.

"Nothing Ginny, just err..."

"Nothing Gin, Ron's just being an arse cause Parvati was flirting with me." Harry laughed again.

Ginny paused, then asked, "And Ron finds this a way of threatening you by saying he'll tell me... why is that?"

Harry stopped laughing immediately then. The words that came out of Ron's mouth made Harry want to disappear.

"Cause he supposedly likes YOU Ginny!"

"What?"

"You heard me, he has something for you, if you know what I mean. I caught him writing a poem about a 'beautiful red-haired girl' when we were in History... hmm... who could that have been?" Ron said, pulling a face.

"But then again, you can't blame Harry can you? Sitting through Binns' lectures awake is an accomplishment to be proud of," said Ginny with a smile. Harry was puzzled, there was no trace at all of the shy girl who was taken into the Chamber of Secrets in his second year.

"Harry has the hots for you and you have nothing to say?"

Harry had gone to a shade of deep red at this, but to his surprise Ginny was nonchalant.

"He has fine taste," she had said, and then walked off to dinner.

Nothing had been said about this topic since then, and Harry had taken to admiring Ginny from a distance, watching her help first years with difficult charms, watching her fly around the Quidditch pitch at night time, and sharing nights talking about classes, dueling, and Quidditch in the Head Boy and Girl common room. Ron and Ginny had moved in a few days after Colin Creevey had been released from the curse.

Harry observed that Colin had pulled away from everyone besides his own little brother, Dennis. Despite the fact that Harry knew that Colin was under the imperious curse, and he did not blame him one bit for it, Harry and his friends no longer felt normal in his presence. Colin had dropped out of Moody's classes, and unfortunately, no one could say they really missed him.

What bothered Harry more was his situation with Ginny. They had continued on as best friends, but Harry often wondered if Ginny took Ron seriously, and if she did, why this topic was never brought up.

But tonight was not a night to have any doubts about his situation with Ginny. Harry stood waiting nervously in his own dorm. It was one day after Dumbledore had announced a Halloween ball, and three people had already approached Ginny, probably for a date to the ball, but before any could say anything, a pained look from the Boy-who-Lived, the symbol of the wizarding world, as he watched the boys walk up to Ginny from a short distance behind her was enough to make them change their minds, make up some excuse to talk to Ginny, then walk away almost immediately. Harry realized and appreciated the fact that others were giving him a chance, and also knew that he shouldn't push his luck. He had asked Ginny to come up to his room after dinner on the Friday before the ball, so he could ask her something in private.

Harry heard voices outside the portrait hole, and a few seconds later, Ginny and Hermione came into the portrait hole, giggling madly.

"Hi Harry... guess what just happened? RON ASKED HERMIONE TO THE BALL! Oh yeah, Hermione, that's twenty Galleons you owe me now."

Harry was delighted for Hermione, remembering how she said she might have some feelings left for Ron during their one-month trip to Godric's Hollow.

"What did you say?" asked Harry unnecessarily.

"Oh Harry, you're so adorably naïve! Of course she said yes!"

Hermione beamed, like Ginny had just announced Hermione as queen of the world.

"Oh, I just remembered, did you want to ask me something?"

Hermione covered her mouth at this, but was unable to hide her giggles. "I'll leave you two alone for this, shall I?"

"No, don't bother, I'm sure Harry won't mind you overhearing whatever he has to ask..."

Hermione collapsed in a fit of giggles, now positively writhing on the couch.

"Now that's attractive," said Ron, who had just come in through the portrait hole. "What's going on?"

"Harry was going to ask a question?" replied Ginny, prodding Harry.

"Err... Hermione? Ron? Do you have to turn furiously red and cover your mouths while I do this?"

Ginny was still painfully confused, or at least acted like it.

Hermione and Ron didn't move, purposely not taking Harry's hint.

"All right, all right... Ginny, will you go to the ball with me?"

Ginny gasped. Apparently she didn't expect that.

"Damn..." stuttered Harry. "It's okay if you don't... I mean I just, you know... wondered... I mean..."

"He's been 'wondering' ever since the beginning of year," said Hermione to Ron in a very audible whisper, struggling to hold back even more giggles.

Ginny still stood wordless, making Harry feel very uncomfortable indeed.

"I'll treat you to a day at Hogsmeade? Anything you want to do, on me," said Harry in an attempt to lighten up the assumption that a refusal was about to come his way. Harry flashed Ginny a smile.

"Well, since you put it that way... sure!" Ginny pecked him on the cheek, and returned his smile.

"Our little Ginny's all grown up, and turned into a... a.... SCARLET WOMAN!" yelled Ron, and he had collapsed into a fit of laughter.

"And you, Potter, I knew you had it in you! Good going!" continued Ron once he broke out of his most recent laughing fit. He frowned. "No wait that doesn't sound right... I'm complimenting you on getting a date with my sister... On second thought, you better watch yourself Potter!"

At this, Hermione grabbed Ron, and pulled him into her room. Loud roars of laughter could be heard.

"Alas, why does the world enjoy me make a fool of myself so much?" pondered Harry.

"Because you're so much cuter when you're embarrassed," said Ginny.

"You're... you're... you're one to talk!"

"How does that make any sense?" Ginny giggled.

Harry couldn't bear it anymore; he joined in with the laughter.

Hermione and Ron heard Harry laughing, realizing it was safe again to come out. The rest of the evening was spent light-heartedly, playing chess and exploding snap, until Hermione looked at her watch and said, "Oh my god, it's four in the morning!"

The four friends went to bed, and didn't wake up until noon the following Saturday.

Two boys woke up and greeted each other unenthusiastically. Walking to the shared bathroom between them and starting to brush their teeth, both boys remembered something at the same time, with toothpaste foam in their mouths, turned around at each other, and exclaimed, "QUIDDITCH PRACTICE! OH NO!"

Obviously, this wasn't the smartest thing to do. Apart from swallowing a bit of toothpaste, Harry now had bits of foam on his hair, looking ridiculously like mousse that hasn't be applied properly, and Ron's chin had gained a small foam beard.

"UGH!" yelled both boys after spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing.

"Gin, WE FORGOT ABOUT QUIDDITCH PRACTICE!" yelled Ron and Harry.

A sleepy redhead and a bushy haired girl came out of their room, moaning.

"What are you on about?" yawned Ginny.

"QUIDDITCH PRACTICE! IT'S A SATURDAY!" moaned Ron.

"Ron, let it go, no use crying over spilt pumpkin juice..."

"They're going to tease us... they'll say we were doing stuff in our little private dorms... ugh..."

"Oh well, what will come will come. C'mon let's get dressed and go to breakfast... err... lunch. Meet you down here in five, Gin, Mione."

"You obviously don't know much about girls if you expect us to be ready in five minutes, Harry," said Hermione.

"Fine, HAG, be down here in fifteen," said Harry, smirking at Hermione.

"HAG?" questioned Ron and Ginny, looking at Harry for a second, wondering why he had just insulted Hermione.

"Don't you dare tell them, Harold James Potter!"

"Of course not, my dear Hermione Anne Granger..." Harry let out a loud fake sneeze that sounded like "HAG-CHOO". "Oh, nasty hag, I mean bug going around..."

Harry ran up to his dorm, hearing laughter below, and Hermione yell, "POTTER!!!"

Harry heard Ron exclaim, "When did McGonagall get in here?" followed by a loud, "HMPH!" and even more laughter.

When everyone was finally ready to go, which was about half an hour later, they found the Great Hall practically empty, lunch was drawing to a close.

Whilst Harry ladled what remained of the tomato soup into his bowl, and picked up a sausage roll, Luna Lovegood approached them, with Neville in tow.

"Hello, haven't seen you four for a long time. I was just wondering, do you all want to go to Hogsmeade next week, after the Ball? You know, to catch up."

"Actually," Ginny giggled. "Harry's promised me a date. We can meet up with you four later though..."

Hermione blushed. "Well seeing as you and Harry are running off... Ron has promised me something similar too..."

"Hermione! I thought you two were 'over'?" exclaimed Harry in mock surprise.

"Okay... well I guess that's just a day for us then, Nevvie. Shall we go to Madam Puddifoot's?"

Harry snorted out loud. He honestly could not imagine Luna Lovegood going into the little teashop, which was a haven for couples that needed a good long snog without getting interrupted. He had been there with Cho, Parvati, and Lavender.

Neville and Luna gave Harry a slightly peeved look, whilst he saw Ron fighting to keep a straight face.

"Sorry," Harry said, way too late, as Luna and Neville walked away.

"Next time then!" they called after them.

Harry suddenly remembered something. Last year, at the Christmas ball, he had seen many couples exchange gifts before attending, and Parvati had been quite upset when he showed up empty-handed.

Harry would not let that happen this time around with Ginny, although he knew that she wouldn't really mind if he showed up with nothing - she was far too kind a person. Plus, she had gone with Neville once, and Colin the second time, neither were particularly gentlemanly, and neither of them could dance. Nevertheless, Harry knew it was time to get his dad's invisibility cloak out again.

"Ron, come here!" Harry hissed, as they walked out of the Great Hall.

"I need to go buy Ginny a gift for the ball, would you mind covering for me?"

"I most certainly would! I haven't gotten Hermione a present though... and quite inconveniently, I haven't got a Galleon to spend."

Harry sighed. "Fine, we'll make an excuse saying we're going somewhere secret to go plan out a Quidditch strategy or something... we can both fit under the invisibility cloak to get to the witch's hump and in, right?"

"Reckon so... hang on, I'll go make the excuses."

Thankfully, Hermione and Ginny didn't suspect anything, just rolling their eyes, and saying in an exasperated voice, "Boys!"

With that, Harry and Ron sprinted to the Head Boy dorm, grabbed Harry's cloak, and slowly made their way to the witch's hump, where the passageway to Hogsmeade was.

An hour's time had passed when Harry and Ron had come out of Honeydukes and walked into the main street.

"Here Ron, take fifty Galleons... that should be enough to cover anything that you'll need."

"FIFTY GALLEONS?" said Ron, shocked at Harry's generosity. "But I couldn't, I..."

Harry didn't have time for Ron's customary Weasley trait of declining to accept money. "Fine, give it back then, all the better, I can spend more on Ginny."

Ron didn't accept that. "I didn't really..."

"Just joking Ron, take the money and go."

Harry and Ron split ways there, Harry going to the jewelry store, Ron headed into, surprisingly, a bookstore.

Harry laughed to himself. Ron was hopeless, what would he find in a bookstore for a present?

Harry was greeted by a short bored looking man, who drawled, "Sonny, you might want to go to the store next door... our stock is probably a bit beyond your price range..."

"I have one thousand Galleons at my disposal to purchase a special gift for a special girl, more if I need it. I suppose you take Gringotts' checks?"

The man snapped awake, and peered at Harry suspiciously, and said very quickly, "Bless my soul! HARRY POTTER! Harry Potter, visiting my store, oh I'm all of a dither... tell me which lucky girl is going to get a gift? Oh pardon me, I don't mean to intrude, I was just curious..."

Harry was reminded of Dobby the house elf and Hermione Granger.

"Well, I'm looking for something special... can I see your special necklaces?"

It was the day before the ball, just after dinner, and Harry still hadn't found out what Ron had bought for Hermione, only to find that he spent twenty-three Galleons on the present. Harry suddenly wondered if his own gift was too much.

"Honestly Ron, you went to a bookshop to buy a present?"

"Don't ask what it is, and I'll give your Galleons back."

"No, keep the Galleons and tell me what you got her. You owe me that," replied Harry.

"Fine... I went into the bookshop because I needed to read up some things about girl make up, things like that you know? I ended up getting her a book about make up and a box full of cosmetics..."

Harry groaned. "Oh, bad move Weasley... she's not going to like that. It's going to be suggesting that you don't like her the way she is - you want her to wear makeup."

"But, Bill and Charlie always said to get a girl something she can use for the date..."

Harry said, "Fine, give it to her then, maybe she'll find it thoughtful."

Ron smiled, and went to find Hermione. He did not return until an hour later.

"You were right... I had to explain everything... but everything turned out okay. Where's Gin?"

Harry pointed out the window, at a lone figure circling the Quidditch pitch.

"You know what? I'm going to go join her. Leave you and Hermione alone for a while..."

Without waiting for a response, Harry ran up the stairs, took out his Firebolt, opened the window, and sped out of it.

He sped towards Ginny, and scared her by suddenly popping up in front of her.

"Hey Gin, mind if I fly with you for a while?"

"Not at all..."

There wasn't anything special about the flight with Ginny, but Harry was perfectly content to just slowly circle the Quidditch field together, having a nice long conversation until it turned dark. When they couldn't see anything anymore, they flew down, and returned to the dorms, walking hand in hand.

The night of the Halloween Ball had come. Harry and Ron stood waiting in the small common room, waiting for their dates. Both stood calmly, showing no signs of the fretting that took place beforehand.

"Ron... Ginny's going to hate it, don't you think?"

"Come off it, you spent six hundred Galleons on that! There's no way she won't appreciate it."

"But..."

"Look Harry, my sister isn't one of those girls who chooses her men by how much they give her..."

"Don't even talk about it... never mind, I'm fine."

Harry and Ron had then walked down in their new dress robes; Harry in a dark green color, and Ron in royal blue. Harry had waged an hour long war against his hair, but eventually gave up. Even Sleekeazy's Hair Potion had no effect.

They stood there waiting for more than fifteen minutes, when the two girls came down the Head Girl's staircase.

Harry and Ron both let out a sigh of satisfaction.

Hermione was dressed up similarly to all the previous balls, in light blue dress robes, and her hair tied up in a knot at the top of her head.

Ginny, on the other hand, looked like an angel. Her flaming red hair, which was usually slightly longer than shoulder-length and pulled into a ponytail, was let free. Harry noticed how they looked perfect on her silver-white dress robes. Harry took out his gift.

"Here Ginny, I got this for you from Hogsmeade..."

Harry opened the box, revealing a white gold (Harry now tended to avoid silver in case he came in contact with Remus, who's reaction to silver as a werewolf was fatal) necklace, elegantly crafted, with a single jewel at the front. The necklace was just wide enough for comfort around the neck. However, Ginny could not see a way to put it on, as it was still small. She was about to ask about this, when Harry said, "It's magically put on, would you like me to put it on you?"

Ginny nodded.

With a wave of his wand, the necklace found itself around Ginny's neck.

Ginny looked at herself in the big mirror along the wall of their common room. For the first time in her own life, Ginny Weasley approved of the way she looked. Harry's necklace seemed to finish her attire.

"You look beautiful Ginny."

"Thank you, Harry. For the compliment and the necklace... it's beautiful... it must've cost you..."

"What it cost doesn't matter. All that matters is you look absolutely gorgeous tonight and I'm the luckiest bloke alive to be your date." Harry held out his hand, which Ginny took.

"To the ball then, ladies and gentlemen?" Harry asked in a false pompous tone.

"To the ball," they echoed, and made their way down to the Great Hall.

When Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had reached the Great Hall, they found it already full of people, who were happily chatting at tables that seated about six people, and some had already started ordering their dinner.

"Over here!" they heard a voice call.

It was Neville, sitting with Luna. They joined them at the table.

The six of them talked for fifteen minutes until Dumbledore stood up, and announced the beginning of the Halloween feast.

Each individual table had their own buffet like selection of foods, which Ron, and Harry had liberal amounts of.

After some pumpkin pie, Dumbledore, with a wave of his hand, cleared all the tables, and called out for the dancing to begin.

The first song was played by the famous group The Weird Sisters, a fast-paced song which the girls had immediately pulled their dates to dance to.

Harry found that attending the ball with Ginny was somewhat different to attending with Parvati, or Lavender, as he had done in the previous two balls. Harry no longer felt an absolute need to impress his date, he felt comfortable enough twirling Ginny around.

When the first song was over, Harry and Ron made movements to go sit back down, but were held captive by Ginny and Hermione.

Ron had muttered under his breath, "Slave driver..." when Hermione had pulled him by the collar of his robes. Harry could tell he didn't mind.

Harry found that he certain did not mind either, as he revolved slowly with Ginny, looking into her eyes. He didn't even notice that the song was over until Ron tapped him and said, "Come on, let's go get drinks."

Harry and Ron pushed to the bar, which was already packed with students getting butterbeers and pumpkin juice.

Finally, Ron and Harry returned to the table with six butterbeers, passing them around.

"Cheers!" said Neville.

Five voices echoed him, and they drank to a night of fun.

Harry and Ginny had left the Great Hall after the twelfth song had been played, for a walk around the lake. They walked hand in hand, but in silence, as they observed the calm beauty of Hogwarts.

Ginny shivered.

"Do you want to go back up to the castle?"

Ginny nodded, and they returned to the castle, not to the Great Hall, but back to the dorms.

"So..." started Harry.

"Thank you for tonight... it was lovely," said Ginny.

"I... sure, I mean I was the lucky one..."

Ginny moved closer looking Harry in the eyes, and whispered teasingly, "I would've gone with you even if you didn't promise a date at Hogsmeade..."

Harry had absolutely no idea what to say to that, so he kept silent.

Ginny edged in even closer. Harry could see his own reflection in her brown eyes by now.

Harry bent forwards, and pulled Ginny into a long passionate kiss.

Sensations exploded inside Harry. It wasn't like kissing Cho, kissing Parvati, or Lavender. It wasn't tinged with melancholy like Cho's kisses were, it wasn't pure, undiluted passion like Parvati, and it wasn't awkward like Lavender's kisses were. There was no way to describe Ginny's kiss besides that they were exactly on the line between passion and love. Harry let himself go completely, lost in Ginny's embrace.

Ginny was the one who finally broke apart.

"Good night Harry, thank you for a wonderful evening," she whispered, and with a final hug, she went up the stairs to the Head Girl dorms.

Harry went up to bed in a daze, lying awake, replaying the memory of the kiss again and again and again, until he had fallen asleep late in the night. He never heard Ron come up.