OWL Party

OWL PARTY

Harry was overjoyed at the contents of the letters he was holding. After being stuck at the Dursley's for a month, he had been desperate for some contact with the Wizarding World. Now, a double dose of good news; not only had he passed all his OWL's, including Divination, but he had been invited to the party of the year.

Harry read Ron's letter as Pig zoomed excitedly around the room.

The OWL party is supposed to be a tradition that has been going for almost a hundred years. Actually, Fred and George tried to convince me that this year was the hundredth but I'm not sure if I believe them. Apparently even Percy went to his. The best part is you can only receive an invitation if you've got at least one OWL. So, of course you know what that means: no Crabbe or Goyle! Those dunderheads are finally gone from our lives. Its too bad Malfoy passed his OWL's; I guess you can't have everything. So, where was I? Oh, right. Only Hogwarts students with at least one OWL are invited. It started as a party just for the years' OWL graduates, but now most of the fifth years and above turn up. From what I've heard, it's too good to miss. You were supposed to come stay with us from the day after the party anyway, so just tell the Muggles that you are leaving a day earlier. The party starts at five pm at Gringotts in Diagon Alley. The party is being held in one of their basement halls.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Ron

Harry was really looking forward to seeing Ron and Hermione again. Happily, he traipsed downstairs to where the Dursley's were watching TV.

"What're you looking so pleased about?" snarled Uncle Vernon.

Harry wiped some of his smile off his face; it was never good for him to appear happy when he was around them.

"I've been invited to go to the Weasley's on Sunday," said Harry.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia exchanged glances. As much as they hated to allow Harry to be happy, they enjoyed their house an awful lot more when he wasn't in it.

"Fine," grunted Uncle Vernon. "What time will you be leaving?"

Harry thought fast, "Around midday."

Uncle Vernon gave no sign that he'd heard Harry speak, he merely focused his attention back to the TV set.

Harry turned and went back to his room. There was one problem: where was he going to stay Sunday night? After a moment's panic, the logical answer came to him: The Leaky Cauldron.

He wrote a short note to them, asking them to reserve a room for him for Sunday night, and attached it to Hedwig's leg. He then scribbled a hasty note to Ron, telling him that he'd be in The Leaky Cauldron after two pm on Sunday, then tied Ron's letter to Pig's leg. After watching the two owls depart, he lay back on his bed in excitement. Only two full days until he could leave.

*******

Those two days didn't pass fast enough for Harry. Still, Sunday arrived on schedule and Harry eagerly packed his trunk. Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon had refused to drive Harry any further than the local train station, which meant Harry had to catch a train into London and then wrestle his trunk, broomstick and owl cage through the Underground until he reached the Leaky Cauldron. Thankfully, he didn't have to take Hedwig with him; he had explained to her that he needed her to meet him there. After nipping his finger to show she didn't approve of this sort of treatment, she hooted goodbye and flew out the window.

It was a difficult journey, but Harry eventually stumbled gratefully into the Leaky Cauldron, and dumped his belongings in the room that Tom the innkeeper showed him to. Sitting in a corner of the main bar, Harry sipped on a butterbeer and watched as people came and went. A few minutes before two, he heard a loud squeal and before he could react, Hermione launched herself onto him and smothered him in the mother of all hugs. From somewhere outside of Harry's current vision of bushy brown hair, he could hear loud laughter. He managed to detach himself from Hermione, and saw Ron, Fred and George buckled over with laughter.

"So, mate, are you looking forward to tonight?" Ron asked as sat down next to Harry.

Fred, George and Hermione followed suit, and Hermione grabbed Harry's butterbeer bottle and took a swig. They'd all taken Harry's idea and book rooms in The Leaky Cauldron for themselves too.

*******

The five of them spent the afternoon happily wandering around Diagon Alley, browsing in it's many stores. Harry and the twins had to forcibly drag Ron away from the display of Chudley Cannons robes. At around three, Hermione left them, saying that it was time for her to start getting ready for the party. Ron shook his head, still unable to comprehend that it could take someone two hours to get ready, but was wise enough to not say anything. Harry, Ron, Fred and George went back to their rooms at about half past four, so they could get changed. However, as five came and went, they found themselves waiting for Hermione outside her door.

"Hermione," Fred called. "If you don't come out in two minutes, I will be breaking this door down and dragging you out. Trust me, you don't want to miss a second of this party."

There was a muffled word that none of them could quite catch, then Hermione opened the door, protesting. "But I'm really not ready yet."

George's jaw dropped open, "But Hermione, you look hot!" he said.

Fred slapped the back of George's head. The twins glared at each other until Ron said, "Hermione, you look great. Can we please go now?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, closing her door behind her.

*******

As they traipsed down Diagon Alley towards Gringotts, Fred and George were muttering something quietly and furiously, just out of hearing from the others. They stopped whispering as they all reached the main steps to Gringotts.

"This way," said George, pointing to a small alleyway to the side of the building. They stopped at the end of a small queue of people. "To get in, you have to state you name after drinking a small, short lasting shot of Veritaserum, so the security wizard can check that you have at least one OWL. See," he said, pointing to the tall security wizard at the door, "he's got a list of the names of all Hogwart's students."

When they reached the front of the queue, they took it in turns to take a sip of the Veritaserum, say their name, and see their name flash green on the parchment, before being allowed to step past.

After they'd all gone through the door, they walked down what seemed like fifty flights of stairs.

"It's a bugger getting back up at the end of the night," Fred told them as they walked.

Finally they found themselves in a massive rectangular hall with a stage at the opposite end to where they were standing, and a band already playing on the stage. Next to where they were standing were long tables, so heavily laden with food and drinks that it looked as though they would break at any moment. The long sides of the halls had small, regularly spaced window seats (minus the windows) with thick red curtains tied back at each side, drape style. From the looks of it, at least half the fifth-years were already there. Fred and George spotted their friend Lee Jordan, who was talking to Angelina Johnson, and left to go join him.

"Fancy a butterbeer?" asked Ron.

"Sure," said Harry, while Hermione nodded.

Ron made his way over to the refreshment table, picked up three butterbeers and threaded his way back. Harry and Hermione had already found Dean Thomas, and were chatting as Ron came back and passed out the butterbeers with a nod hello to Dean.

*******

The party was getting into full swing, it seemed. Within an hour of Harry arriving the hall was so crowded with students that it was hard to move. The drinks table had already been completely replenished twice. Harry had already had five butterbeers and was feeling very relaxed as he and Ron wandered the through the crowd. Hermione had disappeared a while ago to freshen up and they hadn't seen her since. Having finished his last drink a while ago, Harry found himself wandering back to the refreshments table. Ron followed him, then, for the first time so far, took a proper look at the table and exclaimed, "Cool!"

He pointed to the table for Harry's benefit. There were bottles and bottles of Odegons Old Firewhisky there.

As Ron was staring at the table in awe, Harry felt someone tap his shoulder. He spun around to see who it was. "Oh, hi, Cho," he said.

She smiled. "Hi, Harry." She jerked her head towards the center of the hall, "Do you want to dance?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Harry just stood there, unsure of what to do, until he was pushed forward so hard that he nearly knocked Cho over. With a scathing look over his shoulder at Ron, who grinned and took a swig of Firewhisky, Harry turned and started to push his way through the crowd, Cho trailing along behind him. When they were in the thick of the students, Harry stopped and turned to face Cho. He started dancing to the fast beat of the song, hoping that, somehow, his dancing had improved since fourth year. Cho, however, had other plans. She took hold of his hands and dragged him closer to her as they began moving slowly together, in spite of the fast beat of the song.

*******

Meanwhile, Ron was talking to Neville, trying to get him to try some Firewhisky. Neville, however, seemed to have nearly the same capacity as a house-elf for absorbing alcohol; he'd had only half a dozen or so butterbeers and yet he was tipsier than Ron, who'd managed to drink half his bottle in this short time. Giggling stupidly at Neville's attempt to stand upright without help, Ron noticed that a lot of the drapes over the window seats were now closed. He stumbled forwards heavily, barely managing to walk and support Neville at the same time. Ron staggered to the nearest curtain and yanked it open, only to find, to his horror and shock, Fred and Angelina sprawled on the curvy sofa, quite absorbed in each other, and both only wearing half the usual amount of clothing. Ron gasped while Neville stared openly. Ron flung the curtains closed just as Fred had started spurting abuse at him.

In a fit of drunken stupor, Ron and Neville stagger a few steps to the next curtained area and opened it wide enough so that they could both see in. This time, it wasn't only Neville who was staring; Ron was too, for they had opened the curtains to a truly shocking sight: Hermione sitting straddled on someone's lap, facing them and kissing passionately.

Ron let out an enraged "WHAT?" which made Hermione fall onto the floor in surprise, allowing for a clear view of the person she had been sitting on. It was none other than Draco Malfoy. Drunk as he was, Neville immediately realised how precarious the situation was, and pulled Ron back as they watched Hermione run blindly away. It was only after Draco had got up, straightened his clothes and ambled past that it seemed to sink into Ron's head. Furious, he tried to hit Draco, but, due to the combination of being drunk and being restrained by a fellow drunk, he missed by a few feet and tripped, sprawling out onto the floor. Violently pushing Neville aside, Ron tried to see where Draco had gone, but couldn't. In frustration he turned and grabbed a butterbeer bottle out of someone's hand and threw it hard into the vacated niche. The sound of the bottle smashing made people in the near vicinity turn and stare, which only riled Ron up even more. He stormed forward, into the thick of the crowd, people darting out of his way. He continued storming through the crowd until he spotted Harry, which stopped him dead in his tracks, for Harry was doing the sort of dancing with Cho that could be considered illegal in some countries. Ron overcame his shock and stood next to Harry until he detached himself from Cho.

"What's up, Ron?" he asked.

The alcohol and the situation suddenly caught up with Ron, and he stuttered, "Her... Hermione... Kiss... Draco... Chair."

It was enough for Harry to get the message. He turned to Cho, who spoke before he had the chance to, "Go on, Harry."

He smiled thankfully, and gently led Ron off to the side of the hall. Ron started to look queasy, then turned and threw up. Harry grimaced and started dragging Ron into the male bathroom, down to the end stall, where Ron made excellent use of the toilet bowl.

Harry slumped down against the wall outside of the toilet stall, and waited for Ron to stop throwing up. An odd groan came from the stall next to Ron's, but Harry chose to ignore it, assuming it was another drunk student. After a good ten minutes, Ron groaned and collapsed back against the stall wall. He looked at Harry unhappily.

"So," said Harry. "What made you go so - er - completely off your rocker? And what happened with Hermione?"

Ron looked really upset, "Neville and I were opening curtains, for, well, I don't know what for, and we found Hermione sitting on Malfoy, snogging the little bastard."

Harry looked stunned. "I - wow. Malfoy?" he said incredulously. "Look, Ron, I know this is something we've never talked about, but I know how you feel about Hermione, and, well, are you sure she wasn't just drunk, like you?"

Ron grimaced, "Well, I-" he was cut off by sounds coming from the next stall.

"Ooh, that's great," groaned a familiar voice.

"Shh, don't be so loud," hissed an equally familiar voice.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, wide-eyed.

"Who's that?" called Harry.

There was a loud thump, and the stall door swung open outwards, and out toppled...

"Seamus?" said Harry.

... followed by...

"Dean?" Harry nearly shrieked.

They landed on top of each other, a tangle of arms, legs, and lips.

"Wha-what. I - what?" said Harry, unable to comprehend this sudden incident.

Seamus got up, his face bright red. "Look, we were just - uh..."

"Drunk?" supplied Ron, who was starting to giggle.

Dean glared at him. "We were just experimenting," he said nervously.

Harry nodded, still unable to put together a sentence.

"Umm, we're going to go now," said Seamus.

They both left quickly.

"Wow," Harry said, "did you ever expect anything like that would happen?"

Ron shook his head, then winced at the pain it caused him. "Nope."

"Anyway," Harry said, clearly trying to bring himself back to the matter at hand, "back to your problem: Hermione and Malfoy. Ron, I don't like that idea and more than you do. Just go find her and talk to her."

He helped Ron stand, and they walked out to the party, stopping at the drinks table. Harry scanned it quickly. "Ah, here it is," he said, holding up a bottle of Sober Shots. He poured a shot, and passed the glass to Ron, who glared at Harry for a moment, then swallowed it.

"You sober now?" Harry asked.

"Well, more than I was before," Ron replied.

"Then go find Hermione, and sort things out," Harry ordered.

Ron didn't look particularly enthused at the idea, but he trudged off in search of Hermione. Harry grabbed a butterbeer off the table and sat in the nearest empty window seat, surveying the party.

He'd only been there for a few minutes when he heard a familiar voice. "Hi, Harry."

Harry choked on his mouthful of butterbeer. "Ginny!" he said, "What - how did you get in?"

She smiled, "It's amazing the effect a simple Confundus Charm can have," she said, sitting down next to him. "Ron wasn't looking too happy when I saw him before, he seemed to be having an argument with Hermione, although I guess that worked well for me, I slipped past him without him noticing."

Harry winced at this news, "I had a feeling that wasn't going to go as well as I'd hoped."

Ginny looked confused, so Harry briefly related to her the story of Ron's evening so far.

Ginny just shook her head, "He should have done something about her years ago, he can hardly be surprised she has an interest in guys other than him." Ginny paused and looked at Harry. "Speaking of which, there's something I should have done years ago."

With that, she lent over and placed a kiss on Harry's lips.

*******

"WHAT were you doing in there with Malfoy? Of all people, you had to snog Malfoy! Why, Hermione?" yelled Ron the instant he'd glimpsed Hermione. "Are you insane or just drunk?"

"Not as drunk as you," Hermione replied calmly. "I will talk to you, Ron, I won't, however, get into an argument with you."

Ron stood there for a moment, fuming. He was frustrated and angry, and wanted to yell at someone. However, what he wanted more was to talk to Hermione, so, with difficulty, he swallowed his temper and conceded with a nod. Hermione led him away from the crowd that had gathered around them and they sat down in a window seat, curtains closed to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.

Ron looked grumpy, "This isn't the place where you-"

Hermione cut him off, "Oh for goodness sakes, Ron, I don't know, and I don't care," she said sharply, impatience seeping into her voice.

"Sorry," Ron said meekly, realising he'd gone one step too far.

Hermione smiled, briefly. "That's ok," she looked expectantly at him. "Now, what was it that you want to ask me?"

Ron gave her a look. "You know what! Why did you snog Malfoy? Come on, Hermione. He's spent the last five years making our lives hell - you even slapped him once. You hate him. Anyone who's not in Slytherin hates him. I just don't see why you would do that."

"We just go chatting about OWLs, comparing our results and talking about how challenging the tests were, and the next thing I know, he's kissing me," Hermione explained.

"You didn't have to sit on him and kiss him back!" exclaimed Ron. "Don't you see how he got you? The slimy git must have planned this to hurt us. Malfoy, of all people, wants to talk to you about school! Don't you see where I'm going with this? He used school to try and get into your pants!"

Hermione glared at Ron. "First of all, Ron, no one gets into my pants without my permission, no matter how much I've had to drink, and secondly, this is none of your business whatsoever, it is entirely up to me who I chose to snog."

"No its no - but I..." Ron stuttered, his voice trailing off as he saw Hermione's face go white with fury.

"How DARE you?" she shrieked.

Ron looked confused, "How dare I what?"

"You were about to tell me that it is part of your business! Go on then, tell me!"

"No, its not part of my business, you're not part of my business, but I want you to be," Ron stopped suddenly, having realised what he'd just said.

Hermione's eyes widened. "You what?"

"N-nothing, I just got carried away." Ron looked away quickly.

"No. You just said you want me to be a part of you business," said Hermione. "You - you want what? I..." she trailed off, in shock.

Ron looked back at Hermione, their eyes meeting. Ron leaned over slightly, as did Hermione. Their lips met halfway.

When Hermione drew back, she was trembling. "Wow," she said, her voice full of emotion.

Ron looked just as unsettled by the passion they'd both felt in their kiss as Hermione looked. "I agree," he said quietly, as they lent in again.

*******

"Ginny?" Harry asked, as they broke apart.

"What?" she replied.

"I - I don't think we should do this," he said.

"What?" she repeated. "I only came here tonight - against my parents wishes, if you must know - to see you, Harry."

"Ginny, I want to, but I can't. You're Ron's baby sister - I just couldn't."

"Oh," she said, her voice rising in pitch. "So now you need Ron's permission to kiss someone. I knew you two were close friends, I just didn't realise you were that close," she got up to leave, but Harry caught her arm. "Let me GO!" she yelled, trying to twist her arm out of his grip.

"Ginny, if you were anyone else I..." Harry's voice trailed off as Ginny wrenched her arm free and stalked off into the crowd.

"I don't think she's that happy at the moment," said a familiar, dreamy voice.

"What? Luna? What are you doing here?"

"I came with Ginny. Butterbeer?" she asked, holding out a bottle.

"Yeah, thanks, I just finished mine." Harry took the bottle from her.

The sat there for a while, drinking and taking in the party scene, with each other for company.

"Well," Luna said after a while. "I think we've sat for long enough. Let's dance."

Harry was surprised by this, but put down his bottle and willingly followed Luna out onto the dance floor. They danced together for some time, Luna only laughing at Harry's dancing once, when he first started. Just as Harry was starting to feel a bit less self-conscious about his dancing, he heard loud laughter from behind him.

Luna waved, "Hi, Ron," she said. "Hi, Hermione."

Harry turned to greet them, but his words got stuck in his throat as he saw that they were holding hands. Ron had a massive grin on his face.

"H-hi," Harry stuttered, and with an effort pulled his eyes away from their joined hands and looked at their faces. Hermione was positively glowing, and Ron just looked like he wanted to shout for joy. He stifled a spurt of laughter; he couldn't believe Ron had actually managed to sort things out.

Showing an amazing amount of insight for someone normally so batty, Luna asked, "Shall we go freshen up, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, kissed Ron on the cheek, and the two girls left.

Harry just looked at Ron. "Well, it seems you've had an interesting night," he said, a grin spreading across his face.

Ron's grin grew even wider, if that was possible. "Oh I would agree with that!" he said happily.

"So are you two going to be an item now?" asked Harry.

"I hope so," replied Ron.

"Well, I'm really happy for the both of you," Harry said sincerely.

"Thanks, mate."

Harry looked at Ron hesitatingly. "Er - Ron, I guess there's something I should tell you. Ginny snuck into the party and-"

"Oh, is that who Luna's here with?" Interrupted Ron, "Well, I guess Ginny is old enough to come to a party."

"Yeah, well, er - we were talking earlier, while you were off with Hermione, and she - er - kissed me."

"Oh," said Ron slowly. "I guess that's something I've seen coming ever since I met you, Harry," he paused, and saw Harry's uncertain face. "Look, I can't, and I won't, tell you what you can and can't do, but keep one thing in mind: she is my, Fred, George, Percy, Bill and Charlie's baby sister. She has a lot of protective people looking out for her."

"I know," said Harry.

Hermione wandered back over, "Luna met some other people and got talking," she said, explaining Luna's absence.

Harry looked from Hermione to Ron. "Look, I'd better go find Ginny, she was a little upset earlier," he paused. "Er - I'm really happy for you two."

Hermione's eyes became glassy, and she threw her arms around Harry and hugged him. "Hey, Hermione, what are you doing with your arms around me when Ron's waiting for you?" he asked in her ear.

She laughed and punched him lightly on the arm before turning away and focusing all her attention on Ron. Harry stood there for a moment, watching his two best friends dance closely with each other, then turned and went in search of Ginny. He'd had a hunch that the 'other people' Hermione had mentioned meant that Luna was with Ginny. He threaded his way through the crowd towards the bathrooms and was not surprised to find Ginny and Luna standing near the drinks table, talking quietly to each other.

He walked up to them. "Hi, Ginny," he said quietly.

She bit her lip and nodded at him. "Can we talk?" he asked.

Luna grabbed a butterbeer. "I'm going to go dance," she said.

"Do you want to go sit down?" asked Harry.

"Sure," she replied.

Harry led her over to the closest vacant window seat. They sat facing each other. Harry reached over and pulled the drapes closed.

"Harry, before you say anything, I want to apologise for my behavior earlier. I was being really immature."

"No, Ginny. It's my fault. You know me, Ginny. I shouldn't have put myself in that position with you before I'd talked to Ron. He cares about you a lot, and so do all your brothers."

"Let me guess," she said. "You don't want to have six angry brothers after you."

Harry laughed. "Got it in one. But, other than that, the right thing to do was to clear it with Ron; not only is he your brother, but also he's my best friend. More than that, he was my first ever friend."

Ginny reached out and took hold of Harry's hand. "In other words, Ron will come first."

"Ginny, I-" Harry started.

"No, it's ok. That's the way it should be. I understand completely."

"Do you?" asked Harry worriedly.

"Yes, I honestly do, Harry."

Harry nodded, then stood. Ginny followed suit. "Well," he said. "I guess we should go out there and get some partying in," he made a move to open the curtains, but was stopped by Ginny.

She smiled up at him. "Harry Potter, you are hopeless," she said, reaching up to put her hands behind his neck, tilting his head down towards hers.

As they kissed she relished in the fact that his was finally happening. After so many years she was now kissing Harry, running her hands through his untidy black hair, rumpling it even more.

They broke apart, smiling at each other. "Come on then," said Ginny. "Let's go party."

"Lead the way."

They walked through the crowd until they found a spot so crowded that they assured anonymity. They began dancing close together, ignoring the beat of the music, preferring to dance in whatever way they chose to, pausing every now and again to kiss passionately.

"What? Harry!" Harry and Ginny turned to see who was yelling at them. Cho, looking outraged, was standing a few feet from them. "What are you doing with - with that little girl? I thought you were going to come back and find me once you'd sorted out your friend." With that, she burst into tears, and, unable to continue, ran off.

Harry turned to Ginny. "I am so, so sorry about that."

She just shrugged. "That's Cho for you, thinking that any guy who looks at her is in love with her. You don't still like her, do you?" she asked suddenly.

"What? No, no, of course not. I got over that a long time ago."

She smiled radiantly. "Good. Let's dance."

"Hey, you two," called a familiar voice. Harry looked up from Ginny to see Ron and Hermione coming towards them.

"Hey there yourself, big bro," replied Ginny, with a smile.

"What do you say we all go grab a bite to eat?" asked Hermione, pointing to the masses of food that had just been laid out.

Harry hadn't realised how hungry he was up until this point. "Sounds good to me," he said.

They all walked over to the table. "Wow," said Ron. "Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to get all this food looking so good."

Hermione glowered a bit. "Yeah, house-elves. They still-"

"Shut up," said Ron. "Please, Hermione, this is a party."

Hermione looked like she was going to start protesting, so Ron took more direct action and placed his mouth over hers, preventing and distraction her from talking.

"Oh yuck," groaned Ginny. "I don't want to see that."

Ron broke off his kiss. "Sorry, Ginny," he said, grinning slightly. "I'll be off to the little boys room." He gave Hermione's hand a squeeze, and left. She stood gazing after him.

"Ooh, look," said Ginny, "Bertie Botts Beans, the new jumbo sized ones."

"Here," Harry scooped up a few in his hand. "Want to share?" he asked, placing half of one in his mouth, then lowering his face so Ginny could eat the other half.

Meanwhile, George had come up to Hermione and waved his hand in front of her face to get her to stop staring after Ron.

"Oh, sorry, George," she said.

"So, you and Ron?" he asked.

Hermione smiled proudly. "Yep, me and Ron."

George smiled too. "Hope you know what you're getting yourself in for. Ron's not always the sanest bloke."

Hermione giggled. "Oh, and you are?" she teased.

"I can be," George said seriously, making Hermione stare at him due to the sudden change in his tone. "Look," he continued, "I meant what I said earlier: you do look hot tonight, but," he said firmly, as Hermione opened her mouth to speak, "I respect your choices, and, for some insane reason, you chose Ron."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you for respecting that," she said seriously.

He shrugged. "Well, it wasn't entirely up to me; Fred said I'd better leave you to Ron or else he'd kick my ass - that's what he was whispering to me as we walked here."

The small crowd around the food table thinned slightly, giving George his first view of Harry and Ginny, who were still feeding each other Bertie Botts Beans.

"What! When did that happen?" he asked Hermione. "And why is Ginny here?"

"She snuck in with Luna," said Ron, coming up behind his brother. "And I sort of gave them permission to be doing that," he added. "Besides, Harry knows how many older brothers Ginny has."

"That's true," said George. "Oh well, see you later." With that, he departed, heading back into the crowd.

For Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny the rest of the party was a wondrous whirl of friends, food, drink and dancing. All too soon, the band announced the last song.

Harry pulled Ginny close to him, and they stayed that way, hardly even moving, just being close to each other. As the final chords of the song struck, Harry lowered his head towards Ginny, and they enjoyed the last few moments of the party together.

It was only after the last note had long since died that Harry looked up. Nearby were Ron and Hermione, busily gazing at each other.

Unwilling as he was to leave, Harry knew they had to. He gently took Ginny's hand as they walked over to Ron and Hermione.

"Hey," he said softly. They looked up. "It's time to go."

They all made their way over to the stairs.

"This night wasn't half bad was it?" Ron asked Harry quietly.

"It was perfect," Harry replied.

They set off up the stairs, and out of the building, where they slowly walked together towards The Leaky Cauldron, under the velvety black sky.