Crossing All Boundaries

Crossing All Boundaries

Ginny Weasley walked through the halls of Hogwarts alone, earning her the stares of several couples and a few catcalls from the loners, at whom she glared. She wore strapless dress robes of shimmering emerald green with matching gloves that reached just above her elbows, an early Christmas gift from her twin brothers. Her hair was tied into an elegant bun at the base of her neck, a few loose curls framing her face. She smiled. She knew she looked good.

Upon reaching the entrance to the Great Hall she stopped and looked around, and seeing that her date was nowhere in sight, heaved a sigh.

"I was fashionably late," she muttered. "He's not supposed to show up after me."

She heard chuckling from behind her and whirled, forgetting that she was wearing high-heeled sandals and tumbling right into whoever was standing there. Upon seeing who it was she smiled.

"I thought I was the stalker here." She laughed as her date, Blaise Zabini, leaned in and quickly brushed her lips with his.

"I'm sorry," he grinned, "was I being insubordinate?"

"Yes, but I forgive you," she said, taking his arm as it was offered. "Shall we go?"

He nodded and they waltzed in. Ginny glanced around and waved as she saw Kendra. Her best friend wore robes of icy blue that were the exact color of her eyes, and had left her long, blonde hair down. She waved Ginny over to where she and her date, Griffin Saunders (also of Slytherin) were sitting, and Ginny obliged. Griffin winked at her and she laughed as Kendra raised her eyebrows.

"On second thought, go away, Gin." She laughed as she swatted her date's arm.

He grinned cheekily at her and then hauled her up.

"Let's go dance," he said, and Kendra waved at Ginny and Blaise as she was dragged out onto the floor.

"Shall we?" asked Ginny, but Blaise looked away.

"I'm going to go get some punch," he told her, and she looked at him quizzically. "Want some?"

"Well, I haven't exactly worked up a thirst yet, but sure." She laughed, and followed him over to the table.

"Ginny?" came an incredulous voice from behind her.

"Hello, Ron," she said, turning and smiling widely at him. "Enjoying yourself?" she asked sweetly as she put an arm around Blaise.

He gaped at her.

"Ginny, that's a Slytherin," he said finally.

"Nothing gets past you, does it," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"You have your arm around a Slytherin," he sputtered and she sighed.

"Yes, Ron, I do," she said very slowly and patiently as if talking to a five year old. "Ron, this is Blaise. Blaise, my brother Ron."

Ron glared at him.

"I know who he is."

"Oh, good," Ginny said. "And since we all know each other I'm sure we can all get along and have a lovely night, right Ron," she said, saying the last part very low and threateningly.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Blaise, who wisely stayed put to wait for her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ron hissed at her. "You turned down Harry for him!?"

"I didn't turn down Harry," she said exasperated. "He didn't even ask me! He just asked if I already had a date. And besides, if I had wanted to go with Harry I would have."

"But, your infatuated with Harry!" he spluttered and she sighed.

"No, Ron. I was infatuated with Harry back in like... fourth year. But that was a long time ago, and as much as I love Harry, as a friend, I don't think I'd be able to date him!"

"So you chose to go with him," Ron questioned, throwing a revolted glance over his shoulder.

"Yes, Ron, I chose to go with him."

"But... he's a Slytherin!"

"I know he's a Slytherin, and despite what you may think, that does not make him a bad person. It is none of your business who I date, and frankly, I don't care what you think anymore. I'm never going to please you anyways," she said, finally loosing her temper.

She looked away from him and spotted Hermione, giving her a little wave. She looked extremely nervous, and with good cause, Ginny thought. Draco Malfoy stood next to her, his arm around her waist. If her brother had been angry with her it was nothing to what he was going to say to Hermione.

Ron turned to see who she was looking at, and promptly dropped the glass of punch he was holding. Ginny backed away from him, Hermione could handle herself and she wouldn't help matters anyways.

"I think that's our cue to leave," she whispered as she reached Blaise and he nodded, tearing his eyes away from Draco and Hermione.

"I'm not seeing things, right?" he asked her uncertainly, glancing back over his shoulder.

"Not if it's Draco and Hermione you're seeing," she said. "They've been on the go ever since Christmas holidays."

Blaise looked around him.

"No one's seen them yet," he commented.

"Yeah, we'd know cause the whole Ball is going to explode," she grinned, and he looked at her questioningly.

"That's a good thing?"

"I think this is good for Hermione. It's about time someone broke the pattern, people need a wake up call, especially my brother and Harry. I mean, I love them, but they're so stuck on this 'Slytherin's are evil' speel, and it's getting really old really fast. And Hermione needs to prove that she can do things on her own. She's been hiding behind those two for way to long, and they're starting to take her for granted."

Blaise laughed.

"Well, you seem to have it all figured out," he said and she smiled at him.

"Enough about them," she said, running her hands up his chest and smiling slyly at him.

"Uh oh," he said. "Am I about to get seduced again?"

"Would that be so terrible?" she asked and he winked.

"Depends on what you're planning on doing with me."

She ran her hands up around his neck and he leaned down, but she dodged around his lips and whispered in his ear.

"I think we should go dance," she said and he groaned.

"Not this again," he complained, and she thought she saw a tinge of a blush creep up his cheeks.

"Why not?"

"I... erm... I don't dance," he said, looking away from her.

"Well you do now," she said, and pulled him towards the floor.

"No, really, I can't."

Ginny raised her brows at him.

"Trust me, I've danced with Neville, and you can not be worse then him."

Blaise sighed.

"Please," she pleaded, looking at him with big eyes.

He laughed.

"Alright, alright, you win," he said and she grinned.

"Don't I always?" she asked and he just shook his head, smiling as she lead him onto the floor.

It felt so right to her to be in his arms, leaning on his shoulder. Ron was right, he was a Slytherin, but Blaise had made her learn a valuable lesson, one that she wouldn't soon forget. It wasn't possible to lump a house, or group of people for that matter, into one category just because they have one thing in common. Blaise Zabini was of the Slytherin house, but he was about as different from Draco Malfoy as you could get. Slytherin's were supposed to be cunning, going to any means to achieve an end, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Hadn't she done just that to get what she wanted? There was good and evil in every person, and the same for every house, though it wasn't always immediately evident.

She looked around the Great Hall; looked at all the different people from different houses intermingling and laughing together and she smiled as a thought struck her. Maybe there was a little bit of each house in all of them. She was from Gryffindor, but at the sorting the hat had seriously considered putting her in Slytherin. She had been terrified at the time, what would her family have done? But now she realized that it didn't really matter. The hat had chosen Gryffindor, but that didn't mean the part of her that had almost convinced it to put her in Slytherin had disappeared. She still had that no matter where she was put, and it was as much a part of her as anything else. Gryffindor's were brave, and she liked to pride herself on that, but wasn't she cunning as well? Hadn't she been the one who had stalked Blaise Zabini and not the other way around? He was quiet and studious, both Ravenclaw characteristics, and yet he was in Slytherin, and people thought him evil for it. But choices weren't made on houses; it wasn't the houses that shaped who you are or who you will be. It didn't matter where you were put, it wouldn't change who you really were. The houses were made to suit personalities best, but no one person can be truly evil, or therefore truly good.

Not even the great Harry Potter, she smiled to herself, and then frowned thoughtfully. No doubt Harry and Ron would tell her she was nuts and try and convince her of all the evil things Slytherin's did, but it didn't matter. Because she knew she was right. Wasn't that what the sorting hat had tried to tell them in her fourth year? By sorting them into different houses they weren't changing them, they were just separating them, maybe the most dangerous thing anyone could do. They were setting people against each other who, maybe under different circumstances, could have been friends. The Gryffindor's and the Slytherin's had hated each other for as long as anyone could remember, but how many Slytherin's did she really know? How many were like Blaise, quiet and sweet? How many Hufflepuff's were like Cedric Diggory, brave and true, hiding under their bumpkin outer appearance? How many Ravenclaws were like Marietta Edgecombe, willing to betray even their best of friends? And how many Gryffindor's were like Harry Potter, trying to do the right thing but too proud and noble to look past an ancient feud and make things right?

She knew that sometime soon everyone in this school would have to make a choice. To stand and fight along side the famous Harry Potter or to go over to Voldemort. She wondered if the school was making their choices for them. She wondered how many decent, caring Slytherin's would go over to the dark side because it was what was expected of them. She wondered how many they were pushing away, how many they were destining to a fate of darkness.

She glanced up a Blaise, a troubled look on her face. She wasn't in love with him of course, but she liked him. She liked him a lot actually. She felt that she could trust him, with anything, and she didn't feel that often. She had few close friends, Kendra and Hermione were basically it unless you counted her brothers and Harry, but she couldn't tell the boys everything. She couldn't even tell Hermione everything in fear that she would let something slip to one of them. She had no secrets from Kendra, but still, it felt good to have someone else who she could confide in. She shivered. It scared her that she might be fighting against so many of the people in this room in a few years, scared her that because he was a Slytherin, she might end up fighting against Blaise. She held him tighter and he looked at her in concern.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head.

"Nothing," she said quietly. "I was just... thinking."

Blaise was looking at her with a strange expression, and she knew why he was concerned. She was Ginny Weasley, and hardly ever serious. At least not around him, or many other people in the room. She didn't usually bother herself with such dark thoughts, the present was now and the future would come, and no one could change it. That's what she had always believed. She wasn't naïve, she knew that there were horrible things taking place in the world, but she had always believed that they would come and nobody could do anything about it until they did so until then she had to live life to it's fullest. And so far she thought she had done a pretty good job. But now she wasn't so sure. She had always known what side she would be on, of course, but what of those who didn't? What of those who weren't sure yet, those impressionable few that could make all the difference? Shouldn't they be spending time trying to persuade them not to make the wrong choice instead of focusing on separating them all into little clicks? She had never been stuck on the idea that Slytherin's were evil and Gryffindors were good, especially since she had learned about Peter Pettigrew's evil deeds, but she had always believed that Dumbledore and Harry knew what they were doing. For the first time in her life she actually doubted both of them, and it was quite disconcerting. She wondered why Dumbledore wasn't heeding the sorting hats warnings, which it had delivered every year since her fourth. She wondered if he too thought that the Slytherins were all evil.

And then there was Harry. Harry Potter, the boy who lived. The hero. The one who was destined to defeat Voldemort. Harry Potter, who was terribly mistaken. He couldn't do it alone, and she wasn't sure if he realized it. He was so stuck on his views of good and evil, too proud to ever accept help from someone he didn't think was perfectly pure in their intentions. She smiled grimly. If he was waiting for someone who was, he'd be there until eternity. The thing was, Harry knew about the prophecy, which, in her opinion, was the worstthing Dumbledore could have ever done. He thought that everything was up to him, and that wasn't right. A war was coming, and though he might have to be the one to say the spell to defeat Voldemort, it was the rest of them who would have to keep him in one piece until he could. It was the rest of them who would face the army's of the dark side, for one person, or even the dream team of three, never would be able to.

Ginny sighed and buried her face in Blaise's shoulder. All this thinking was giving her a headache. Why was she even bothering herself with this, tonight of all nights, when she should be laughing and having fun with everyone else?

Because it's about time someone did something about it.

The thought had sprung to her mind unbidden, and she couldn't be sure that it was her own at all.

You've already taken the first step.

Ok. That was definitely not her own thought. She looked around quickly before leaning back into Blaise and closing her eyes thoughtfully. She had taken the first step. She and Kendra and Hermione. She wondered if it was really possible to try and unite the houses after so many years, but somehow she knew someone had to try. Someone had to look past all the prejudices and see what really mattered. That it wasn't your family or your house or even your words that defined who you were. It was your actions. It was what you did when it really counted that spoke of who you really were.

It was then that Ginny Weasley realized that it was the present that was the key to the future. That if people didn't reach out now, there would come a time when they wouldn't be able to because they wouldn't have that choice. Suddenly she understood why Dumbledore seemed to be ignoring the sorting hat. People didn't like change. In fact, it was one of the things they were most terrified of. Who knew what would happen if the houses were all united in one blow? Students as well as parents would be furious, and how many would choose to leave rather then share with a Slytherin, or a Gryffindor? He wasn't willing to take that chance. But there had to be another way. Was she really willing to doom so many good people to a life of darkness because of the misguided thoughts of the masses? She thought not. Sighing, she wracked her brain for ideas, ideas to get people to see the way she did, to understand what she had realized tonight. Nothing came to her, and suddenly she knew why. People didn't like to be told what to think. They had to figure it out for themselves, like she had done. But in a way, by showing up to the Ball with a Slytherin, she had opened the eyes of others who had been too afraid to even think such thoughts. She had planted doubt in people's minds, even if they didn't realize it right away. She understood then. Understood that it would be nearly impossible to try and change everybody's views, because it was human nature to reject change. Especially such a big change all at once. But she also knew that as long as there were a few, no matter how small their number, that could look past all boundaries, then there was hope for everyone else.

At that moment the song ended, and Blaise Zambini of Slytherin leaned down to kiss Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor while the whole hall watched. Yes, there was a war coming and nothing could change that. But maybe, just maybe, a few students who had crossed a forbidden boundary could make so many others see that the future wasn't decided. No matter where you are or who you're with, nothing is decided for you until you say it is. You make your own choices. It's ok to reach out, it's ok to speak up, and it's ok to make a stand for what you think is right, even if it defies everything that is expected of you.

~~~

Albus Dumbledore sat at the head table during the Yule Ball, watching as the hall broke out into titters as it saw Gryffindor's and Slytherin's together. A private smile curved his lips and Professor McGonagall looked at him strangely.

"I'd like to know what it is you find so amusing, Albus," she said. "There will be more then a few fights before this night is out by the looks of it," she amended, eyeing the Gryffindor/Slytherin pairs in distaste.

"My dear Minerva, there is nothing more magical in the world then a friendship that crosses all boundaries. It opens the eyes of so many others and forces them to see things that they never would have thought possible," he told her, as he looked straight at Ginny, eyes twinkling merrily. "Smart girl, Ginny Weasley," he said quietly, "very smart girl. We could all learn from these young students, Minerva. Every single one of us."

Ginny turned slowly and caught Dumbledore's eye as he stared at her.

It's going to be alright, she thought and she was almost sure that she saw a ghost of a smile flicker across his face.

Yes, my dear, I do believe it is.