AN: So, this chapter took a little longer than planned, but it is out now, so I hope you will like it :D It is after all the chapter with the Yule Ball and who doesn't like balls? xD Anyways, before I let you read this chapter, I would Like to thank my new beta reader, Sawnah. She came as an angel sent from above and helped me with the few typos I did. Thank you so much for your help and I want you to know that I appreciate it a lot! And now, on to the chapter! ^w^
Chapter 7
Putting the Hogsmeade visit behind her, Ginny soon found herself finishing the last of her school assignments and at the beginning of the Christmas holidays.
As she was staying at school for the Yule Ball, she did not return back to the Burrow. Instead, she, like most of the remaining pupils at Hogwarts, was eagerly finishing the last of the preparations for the ball.
Soon, Christmas came and with it, presents. Just like every other year, the red-head had gotten a package from her mother, containing yet another one of Mrs Weasley's knitted sweaters.
Every year, Ginny felt extremely lucky to be a girl, so that she could wear purple and didn't have to get a maroon-coloured one like Ron always did. That colour didn't suit her brother well and would definitely not suit her!
Ransacking through the little pile at the end of her bed, Ginny opened present after present before finding a little box at the bottom of her pile. Curious at finding out what it was, she ripped of the paper, revealing a tiny snowflake-shaped necklace with matching earrings.
Not being able to realise who would send her this rather expensive-looking piece of jewellery, Ginny began to search for a note. Finding it, everything soon fell into place.
Weasley, since we forgot to buy matching jewellery, I sacrificed a bit of precious time to fix this. Be grateful and wear them, or I shall make your life a living hell.
Even though the note was unsigned, the red-head had no trouble figuring out who it was from. She could clearly hear his voice in her head and even see a matching smug look on his face as he spoke them.
After putting the necklace and earrings together with her dress, Ginny proceeded to walk down to the Common Room. There, she found her brother and Hermione sitting on one of the couches. Ron was holding a bag filled with sweets in his hands, most likely a gift from the twins.
If he was lucky, the sweets wouldn't do anything to him. If she was lucky, they would.
"Why does mum insist on sending me sweaters that are maroon-coloured?" the boy asked his Ginny. "She knows I hate that colour!"
"Oh, but Ron, you look so cute in that colour!" his sister replied teasingly.
Sending his younger sister a harsh look, Ron turned his back towards her, determined to ignore her at any cost.
It appeared as if Ginny had irritated him.
"What's taking Harry so long?" Hermione wondered, looking up from her paper. "He isn't one to sleep late."
"Oh, Harry got up ages ago," Ron replied casually, still snacking on his candy. "He went out to spend some time with Cho."
Oh, this was just what Ginny needed to hear this early in the morning...
Ignoring Hermione's eyes, Ginny stole a few pieces of candy from her brother, before asking him what he had gotten for Christmas.
She soon cheered up as she realised she had gotten more, and better, presents than Ron and she was not too late to point that out. It made the boy rather grumpy and Ginny very happy.
There was nothing better than knowing that you were better loved than your elder brother.
Trying to maintain this cheerfulness, Ginny made sure to always be up to something. Most of the day was spent outside, having snowball fights with her fellow Gryffindors, before having the yearly Christmas Dinner in the Great Hall.
Just like every other year, Dumbledore held a short speech regarding the importance of holidays and that it should be spent in good company, such as this.
Her mood, along with rest of the school, was on top.
Joyfully, she engaged in conversations and enjoyed the food that was being served. Everyone was having a good time and even the professors were seen laughing and making jokes. And Ginny, along with the rest of the Gryffindor table, got herself a great, though very quiet, laughter, as Dumbledore shared a cracker with Snape and the potions master ended up with a shock pink witch hat which Dumbledore insisted that he should wear.
Snape fled the hall shortly after this.
Overall, it was a marvellous Christmas and it was very reluctantly that Ginny left the Great Hall to return back to the Common Room.
The following morning, Ginny dragged herself out of bed, most unwilling to leave it. She was beat, having stayed up long after mid-night and played wizard games together with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dean. It wasn't the greatest way to prepare oneself for a ball the following evening, but as she had been able to spend time with Harry, she had no complaints at all.
Or at least almost none at all.
Slowly, the girl threw on some clothes and went down the stairs.
Heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast, she tried to rub away the drowsiness from her eyes, but failed. It appeared that she would have to be in zombie mode until she had gotten something into her stomach.
Once at the hall, Ginny treated herself to all sugary, and energy-filled, treats she could find and the food on her plate grew.
If it would have been a normal day, Ginny might have stopped to wonder if she really should digest this much sugar, but as it was Christmas, she felt that she could spoil herself a little. She had after all been a very good girl this year, especially if you considered the fact that she had spent an awfully lot of time in Malfoy's company without hexing the boy once!
To tell the truth, the Gryffindor was quite proud over this and convinced that not everyone could have performed such an act! But she had to admit that she had been very close to casting a nasty spell or two on the boy when he had behaved his worst.
Having devouring everything on the plate, Ginny came to the conclusion that eating too much food wasn't particularly good for you. Sure, she was no longer in zombie mode á la sleep, but as she now was in zombie mode á la I-think-I'll-puke-if-I-make-any-sudden-movements, she simply couldn't rejoice about this change.
Note to self: Do not over-eat. Makes you feel bad.
After a rather interesting trip back to the Gryffindor Tower, Ginny carefully sat down in an armchair and tried to stop feeling ill. If she would have had the energy, she might have climbed the stairs to the dormitory, but she didn't nor did she dare.
All she could do was sit in the armchair and hope that no one would disturb her.
As usual, her wish wasn't granted and her brother, who was still bitter from the previous night when he had lost to her time after time, came to brighten up her day.
"You look like you're about to throw up", the genius said, earning himself a malicious glare from Ginny.
Hoping that he would go away, she turned her back towards him. It didn't work however and he had soon walked around to the other side of the armchair.
"You know, you should try to watch how much you eat, what if you eat so much that you won't fit in to your dress robe?" the boy said and Ginny felt his hidden satisfaction over this reply.
It appeared that he was trying his best at provoking her, but being used to Malfoy's vicious remarks, the girl only felt a faint resentment towards her brother.
Not giving him a reaction, the boy soon got bored and went to another part of the room, where Hermione was currently residing.
Remaining in her armchair, Ginny began to feel drowsier by the minute, until she no longer could keep her eyes open and she fell asleep.
She did not wake up until someone gently shook her. Opening her heavy eyes, Ginny found herself looking up at Hermione, unable to understand how the girl had gotten there so quickly. The brunette had after all been on the other side of the room only moments ago.
Or that was at least what Ginny thought.
"If you don't want to miss the ball, you better wake up", the elder girl softly said. "And if you need some help with your preparations, I would be glad to help you."
Still slumberous,the girl nodded and attempted to stand up, only to fall back into the armchair. It appeared that her legs were just as tired as she was
Knowing what to expect this time, Ginny slowly stood up and made sure to hold on to something. Trying to shake her legs back to life, she took a firmer hold on the armchair and soon felt the uncomfortable bubbles run though them.
Deciding that the legs were awake enough to carry her, she slowly moved towards the dormitory. Finding it completely deserted, the red-head came to the conclusion that the other girls were off somewhere and preparing their outfits for the ball.
Which Ginny also should be doing, the Gryffindor realized, as she saw that the time was 4 p.m. This sudden realization made horror spread through the red-head's body.
How could she have been sleeping for almost three hours before such an important evening!
Stupid tasty food for making her drowsy!
Four hours filled with stress, panic and hair products later, Ginny at last was ready to attend the Yule Ball. But she wouldn't have been unless Hermione had stepped in, helping her with almost everything and calming her down every time the younger girl appeared to be having a panic attack.
Together with a bunch of other Gryffindor girls and their dates, she made her way to the Great Hall.
Neville was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs outside the Hall and gaped when he was her.
The girl couldn't help letting a smile play on her lips.
"You… you look great!" the boy said with some difficulty, before his face turned bright red.
Smiling a wide smile, she said her greetings before taking the boy's arm and together, the pair entered the room.
It had been redecorated since the Christmas feast, but was looking equally astonishing. Lanterns made out of ice were floating around high above them, dimly lit, and the whole room was decorated in ice/silver theme. Also, the usual tables had been replaced by smaller, snowflakes-shaped ones.
And if the scenery wasn't enough to content Ginny, the approving glances from several fellow students of the male gender was.
The girl couldn't help to make her smile wider and felt giggly inside; she was after all not used to having this much attention from a boy that wasn't related to her!
Continuing on in the room, they found a good place to stand and then awaited Dumbledore's speech.
"Students of Hogwarts, it pleases me greatly to see so many of you here tonight", the Headmaster began. "Furthermore, I hope that this will prove to be an enchanted night to you all. Now, let the festivities begin!"
Clapping his hands twice, the old wizard made a stage appear out of nowhere and on it, the Weird Sisters stood.
Followed by the cheers from the Hogwarts students, the band began to play and Dumbledore had the first dance together with McGonagall. Soon, several others followed.
Ginny found herself happily surprised when it turned out that Neville was an exceptional dancer. However, she became less happy when she realized she was the klutz of the pair and stepped on the boy's toes every now and then. Fortunately for her, Neville never mentioned it.
Spinning around the dance floor for three dances, Ginny enjoyed herself and all the attention she got. One might say she was having a ball.
After having twirled around far too much, she decided it was time for some refreshments and left Neville to find some.
Pouring herself a glass of Honey Beer, she noticed that someone was approaching her and as she glanced up, she saw Jeremy standing in front of her.
"Ginny, right?" The boy asked while pouring a drink to himself. "I must say that you are looking very fine tonight."
She gave him a smile as a reply, which encouraged the boy to keep on talking. It appeared that he was more interested in her than his third-year date and the red-head couldn't help to feel a bit spiteful.
Even though socializing with the Ravenclaw was fun, Ginny felt obliged to tend to Neville and therefore went back to him, leaving a disappointed Jeremy behind.
Thrilled to see her again, Neville happily accepted the drink she offered him. He drank it and then, it was off to the dance floor again.
While moving to the rhythm of The Weird Sisters, Ginny caught the sight of Hermione and Ron. It seemed that they were a bit uncertain how to act towards one another and therefore appeared a bit awkward.
It made Ginny titter.
Turning her eyes from the elder students, she also caught the sight of Jeremy looking at her and not being able to stop herself, she winked at him.
But she didn't stop there, as Ginny realized that the Ravenclaw wasn't the only one giving her attention and the red-head was soon found trying to appear as alluring as possible to all the boys.
As she was greatly enjoying herself, the girl became disappointed when Neville wanted to take a break from the dancing. She was having the greatest ego boost ever and didn't want to let it end. However, as she saw that the boy was slightly out of breath, she obliged and they were soon seated at one of the snowflake-shaped tables.
Deciding that they needed nibbles, Neville headed off to get some. Shortly afterwards, Luna came from nowhere and took the boy's seat.
"Having fun?" Ginny asked the girl and got a slight nod in reply.
"The decorations are very pretty", the blonde girl replied. Then she continued, "perfect for hiding Snogglewarts."
As Ginny often had done before when the Ravenclaw talked about something that the red-head had no clue about, she nodded. Then, she waited for the explanation of what these strange, unknown-to-the-rest-of-the-world creatures were.
"You know, Snogglewarts look like a combination of spiders and fairies and they like to plant their seed in silver-coloured decorations. Apparently silver calms them down and makes them feel safe."
Before Ginny could come up with a response, Neville return with their snacks and took the red-head's place in the conversation. This left Ginny free to scan the surrounding.
Even though she was no longer dancing, the girl still got glances from boys that passed by her and it made her realize that she loved being in the centre of attention.
Soon, one of her admirers, a tall sixth-year Ravenclaw, plucked up the courage to approach her.
"Care for a dance?" the boy asked, giving her a crooked smile.
Casting a glance on her date, Ginny found Neville to be completely engaged in his conversation with Luna and seeing no danger in leaving him in the blonde girl's presence, Ginny accepted the Ravenclaw's offer.
The crooked-smiled boy didn't talk that much, nor did he dance well and when the song had ended, Ginny hurried off with three aching toes accompanying her.
She did not remain alone for long, as she soon was asked by another boy and from there on, she continued the evening with sharing a dance or two with a boy, before moving on to the next one.
The Yule Ball could have been a complete success if only she wouldn't have spotted Harry.
Standing a bit away from the crowd, the boy had his arms wrapped around Cho, looking utterly satisfied. They were obviously sharing a moment and if that wasn't bad enough, the two of them looked great together.
Clearly, they were a perfect match.
Excusing herself to her current dance partner, a muscular Hufflepuff, Ginny fled from the Great Hall.
Instead of walking back to the dormitory, the red-head pulled out her wand and called on her cape, before making her way to the school grounds.
Even on the outside, there were levitating ice lanterns as well as several ice statues, portraying different magical creatures. It was like a scene taking from a fairytale, but the beautiful scenario couldn't keep the chill away and Ginny was glad to have her cape. Especially after she discovered that the cape had had a heating charm cast on it.
Although she was warm, the Gryffindor was not alone, as the beautifully decorated school grounds had attracted every hormonal teenager Hogwarts had that was looking for a good snogging.
The search of a teenager-free spot lead Ginny to a stone bench located far from the main entrance. At least here, she wouldn't be disturbed and could calm herself down.
It was then that Ginny realized that she hadn't run because she had been hurt of seeing Harry with Cho. She had run more because it had become a reflex to her.
She supposed it was because the boy had spent so much time with the Asian these last few weeks.
That made matters SO much better!
Seeing that she had come all this way, she could just as well enjoy the view.
The girl was not allowed to enjoy the view for long, as someone came towards her from behind.
Turning around, Ginny found Draco standing there, wearing an emerald-coloured dress robe as well as a disgusted expression.
"Weasley!" the blonde cried out. "I have just witnessed the most horrifying moment in my entire life!" The look upon his face was both appalled and disgusted.
Realizing that this could be something fun, seeing as it made the Slytherin this way, the red-head happily engaged in the conversation. "Oh, really? What?"
"Filtwick was flirting with PINCE!"
Ginny was neither impressed nor amused. "So?" The girl replied and put on a mocking smile. "You do realize that even teachers have feelings? And I daresay that after a fire whiskey or two, they might do all sorts of things."
"Hah, I strongly doubt that!" The boy said before continuing his story. "But that's not even the disturbing part. He was using the pick-up line 'Hagrid is not the only giant on campus'!"
Ginny felt her smile fade and be replaced it by an equally horrified look as the blonde's.
"Em… ew…" the girl said when the shock had decreased a little, unable to find any other word to describe the situation.
"My thoughts exactly!" Draco said, approving her statement. "He could at least have used a good one like 'Do you want to tame my dragon'!"
"That still isn't a good one!" the red-head said to deaf ears.
The boy was either too caught up in being upset over the bad pick-up line or pretending not to hear her.
Both alternatives were very plausible.
Still not answering her, he sat down next to Ginny. Turning towards her, Ginny spotted him wearing on of his sinister smiles.
"So Weasley, spill it! How does it feel being the object of the male students' wet dreams?"
Ginny shoved the blonde slightly while trying to appear offended by his statement. But the girl couldn't play the role of angry Gryffindor very long and soon, she was smiling.
"I knew that this night would be a success!" the Slytherin went on. "How could it not be when I helped you?" The boy was looking rather smug.
"Oh, you're so full of yourself", the red-head replied in what she meant to be a harsh tone. However, she couldn't manage to be spiteful towards Draco and only ended up laughing.
"So why have you fled from the ballroom?" Ginny asked when she was able to keep a straight face again.
"Pansy was being too clingy", Draco replied with an annoyed tone. "She likes to grope people after she has had a drink or two."
"What, she had been drinking!" The Gryffindor exclaimed. "But she could get expelled for that!"
Immediately after finishing her sentence, Ginny wished she wouldn't have said anything. Why? Because she sounded just like Hermione and she didn't like it one bit.
"Afraid someone might find out?" The blonde replied, wearing an amused look.
"As if I care what happens to a Slytherin."
"Of course you don't, unless it was me", he said conceitedly. "For without me, we both know that you wouldn't survive."
The Gryffindor rolled her eyes. It was such a typical thing for Malfoy to say.
"But you need to fill me in on this on Ginny, why is someone as popular as you hanging around out here?" the boy asked.
"I saw Harry with Cho", she merely replied.
"Oh yeah, I saw them as well. Seemed like they were hitting it off."
It was great that the boy knew how to comfort someone.
"Huh, so that's what brought you here", the boy said after a while. "Otherwise I would have thought that Longbottom scared you of with his dancing."
"I'll have you know that Neville is quite an excellent dancer!" the girl quickly replied. "He's by far the best one I have had the pleasure to dance with tonight!"
"Oh, so that Ravenclaw boy that stomped your feet at least half a dozen times wasn't any good?" The blonde was wearing a wicked grin.
Ginny let out a slight giggle. "Well, I'm sure that he is better at dancing than you."
The boy snorted. "Silence silly little Gryffindor, since it is obvious that you don't know what you're talking about. I happen to be a superb dancer and honestly, would you expect anything less from a Malfoy?"
"That's something I believe when I see it!" she retorted.
"Then believe it, for I'm about to show you!" the boy stood up and offered his hand to the girl.
Ginny looked from the hand to the blonde and back again. "You serious? What if someone sees us?"
"Everybody is off snogging someone in a corner, so they won't come here. You see, if there would have been any chance of someone detecting us, I never would have shown up. Imagine the scandal it would lead to: a Slytherin, dancing with a Gryffindor, and a blood-traitor to top it off!"
"And here I thought that every Malfoy had a scandal or two during their life."
Draco flashed a wicked smile. "Of course we do, but I'm saving mine for when I come of age. Who knows what I might do? Or rather, what I WON'T do."
"Please, spare me the details."
Unable to resist any longer, Ginny took his hand and was soon engaged in a complicated system of spins.
It was a smooth and elegant dance, as expected from a Malfoy. But Ginny would never admit to that and remained silent as Draco led her through a series of twirls.
The twirling made her feel giggly, and soon enough, the girl was laughing. The blonde took this as an acknowledgement of his superior skill and soon wore another one of his smug grins.
"Told you I was a great dancer", he whispered into her ear before letting go of her.
The girl felt a little disappointed that the dance had ended, but it was just as good, as Ginny had started to feel a bit light-headed. Furthermore, her knees didn't seem to want to carry her weight at that moment.
Blaming it on dehydration, the girl excused herself from the blonde and headed back to the Great Hall to get something to drink.
On her way back, the red-head found herself wondering if she really was dehydrated. She had almost never been dehydrated and when she had, it hadn't felt quite like this. But having danced the majority of the evening might have left a mark on her and honestly, what other reason could there be?
