Okay, as promised... or threatened... here it is. Part One of:

Of Ginny, Draco, and the Dress of Many Colors.

Just to refresh everyone's memory (or in case anyone hasn't seen it), here is the Dress of Doom. I'm not EVEN going to say anything else about that. Except that it's insane. I've seen a lot of optical illusions, but never anything like that. I'm still an eentsy bit convinced that everyone who says it's white and gold is part of a plot to drive the rest of us insane. O.o.

"I don't want to go to this thing one little bit," announced Ginny, staring at herself in the full-length mirror.

"Does that mean you won't go at all?" asked Luna from somewhere behind her, in the bedroom of the flat they shared.

"I didn't say that." Ginny started unbuttoning the mustard yellow dress she'd just finished trying on. It was a gift from her mother's cousin Edna Egglesbury, and it made her look like some kind of horrid overcooked vegetable, in her opinion. Family loyalty could only go so far.

"It's only that it would be dreadfully disappointing to all of our friends," Luna went on a wispy-sounding way. "And our enemies. And those people who don't particularly care about us one or the other."

"You know I'm going!" snapped Ginny, opening the closet and staring inside. Her wardrobe was not extensive, and something told her that jeans and a Chudley Cannons sweatshirt that Ron had left in the flat a few weeks ago would not be acceptable at a cocktail party honoring Harry Potter's latest accomplishments.

"I'm just saying that I don't want to," she added. And it was true; she certainly didn't. She didn't want to field questions about her current romantic status with Harry, and she didn't want to be mingle with any of the upper-crust purebloods who would feel obligated to make an appearance in the interests of keeping their noses clean in the post-war world. And there would be quite a few of those.

"I don't have a thing to wear," muttered Ginny, flipping through sweatpants and t-shirts at random. "Not one thing. Not unless I'm going to show up in a garbage sack with a hole cut for my head."

"Oh, that won't be necessary," said Luna. "I've got the most lovely dress you can borrow." She handed Ginny a padded hanger.

Ginny let her eyes roam over the dress, a tight, sleeveless sheath in silk shantung which would end well above her knees. She had to admit that she loved it at first sight. The material was a beautiful rich color, with narrow lace bands encircling the bodice and waist.

"Try it on," said Luna.

Ginny slipped it up over her hips, and Luna pulled up the zipper from behind. She studied herself in the mirror critically. The tight shape and bands of lace emphasized her curvy figure, and the color was very flattering. Speaking of which, what exactly *was* the color? The room was fairly well lit, but she turned from side to side, looking into the mirror, and she still couldn't quite tell, for some strange reason.

"Luna... er... what color is this dress?" she asked, fully aware of how silly she must sound.

"It's the color of the dress," said Luna in her vaguest tones. "I've been working on this pattern all week long; I brought it directly from Madame Mysteria's."

Ginny nodded absently, still hypnotized by the way that the light caught the silky material and brought out the colors. She just couldn't quite decide exactly what they were.

"I should think that dress will succeed in attracting Harry's notice," Luna said in a thoughtful way.

One corner of Ginny's mouth quirked up. She understood what Luna meant without being told. A part of her did want to attract Harry's notice, but only to remind him of what he had lost. "I should've brought a date to this thing," she said.

"You won't need one," said Luna, fastening a sapphire necklace around Ginny's neck. "I think you'll find that this dress attracts quite enough attention on its own."

There was something about the look on Luna's face that was just a little odd, Ginny thought, a little too amused. But it really was a lovely dress.

When they stepped out of the front door and the streetlights hit the shiny material, Ginny clearly saw that it was blue, with black lace trim. She frowned. She couldn't understand why she hadn't seen it clearly before. Not that it mattered.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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