DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. The seventh book does not exist in my mind. I do not acknowledge it. Only my characters are my own, as is the plot, and no one may use my characters without my permission. Thank you.

Thank you for being my beta, Ami!

I'll keep you my dirty little secret

Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret

I hope that you can keep it

My dirty little secret

"I wonder why Ginny had to leave so suddenly," Amanda said.

"She said it was an emergency, but what could have come up so fast?" Trinity asked herself.

Harry shrugged. "Oh well. We'll see her later. For now, we should go to… to… that Vie place."

Hermione shook her head at Harry. "'La Vie Boheme.'"

"Er, right. That."

Aurora giggled at Harry. "You're so adorable sometimes."

"Harry's actually blushing! I never thought I'd see the day!" Fred managed to choke out between bouts of laughter.

Harry threw a napkin at him, only succeeding in making him snort.

"Come on, enough horsing about. We have Halloween costumes to buy," Trinity said, smiling

They left their money on the table for the butterbeers, and walked down the main road towards the store. When they finally reached it, they stood in front in awe. In the window were intricate masks and a few examples of men and women's clothing from all different centuries and countries. When they walked inside, a few of them whistled at how simply amazing these costumes were. Hermione was right; this store was definitely perfect for the masquerade.

"It's so BIG!" Aurora said, looking around.

"That's what she said," the twins snickered. They received swats and rolled eyes.

"This place is amazing!" Amanda hurried over to one of the dresses and looked at the label. It was a 1700's style gown that would have been worn by daughters from families of high status and good wealth, like a Governor. It had a pointed drop waist, like a princess, she thought, and was a pale blue with gold embroidered designs on it.

"Hey Harry!" Harry turned at his girlfriend's voice, and laughed. She had on a deep purple mask with tall feathers shooting out of it. Now purple went very well with her hair and eye color, but this mask was just… "Ridiculous, right?" she asked, laughing at his expression. He shook his head at her and took the mask off, making her laugh more.

"Pansy! What do you think of this one?" This caught their attention, especially since the voice sounded oddly familiar to them.

"Oh no, the Slytherins are here," Ron said with disgust. Aurora shot him a fierce glare, which shut him up, and she ran to where she heard the voice.

"Oh Ginny, take that thing off! It's awful! Especially with your hair!" said Pansy, laughing. Aurora stopped in her tracks, as did everyone else. They all glanced at each other, and then went around the corner to see Ginny with an obnoxiousy bright red, orange, gold, and yellow phoenix mask with feathers taller than the one Aurora had just tried on, both her and Pansy in giggles.

"GINNY!" The two girls jumped and Ginny took off the mask in a hurry, turning to a red-faced Ron and the rest of her friends. She glanced at Pansy, who looked at her with a worried expression on her face. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "I'm hanging out with my friend and her friends, who are around here somewhere. What does it look like I'm doing, Ronald?"

"You're hanging out with Slytherins!"

"Watch it, they're my family and friends," Aurora warned, but he was too angry with Ginny that he didn't pay attention. Just then, Draco, Blaise, and Zack turned the corner and walked up to them.

"I thought I heard a Weasel," Zack said, sneering.

"Shut up, Langley! I'm taking my sister and we're leaving. Come on, Ginny." But Ginny didn't move. Instead, she put an arm around Pansy's shoulders and sent Ron one of her famous death glares. It even stopped him in his tracks, but he kept at it. "Ginny."

"Oh do shut up, Ronald. So she's hanging out with Slytherins. Who cares? It's just another house, for goodness sakes!" This was very surprising coming from Hermione. Not her defense of the other house, but of the venom coming out of her mouth that was directed at Ron.

He rounded on her. "YOU should shut up! You, after all, hang out with Draco."

"RON! I am allowed to call him Draco! I LIVE with him, for Merlin's sake! What the HELL is wrong with that?!"

"Oh dear, Mione cursed. She's really maaad," Fred sang.

Trying to stop another fight, Harry stepped in. "Just let it go, Ron. We'll all find what we need here, then meet up outside. How's that, Gin?"

Ginny smiled, and nodded.

"NO! She has to come with us NOW. It's bad enough Mione has to live with one; Ginny shouldn't be willingly hanging out with them!" Fred and George hit Ron on the head pretty hard. "OW! What the hell was that for?!"

"For treating our sister like an animal." They were really angry, making Ron back down a little.

"You're such an asshole, Ron. I don't know how Harry and Hermione are friends with you. 'Scuse me, Ginny," Aurora said. Ginny didn't seem to care that her friend insulted her brother, so she continued. "Why can't you just accept the fact that not all Slytherins are evil? You're a stupid, ignorant git, and if you keep this up, I'll have no reason to like you or stay friends with you. Merlin. I can't even stay in the same room as you." She pushed past him and walked outside to wait for them. Both Harry and Draco glared at Ron at the same time.

"GINNY! COME!"

And then she exploded. "I AM NOT YOUR GODDAMN DOG! YOU CAN'T BOSS ME AROUND JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE MY OLDER BROTHER! I have a life, Ron, and you are not my keeper! As for an explanation to my friends, I really did have an emergency I had to attend to! Just because you don't know what it is doesn't mean it doesn't exist!"

"Really?" Trinity asked sarcastically. "Something too important to tell us?" She didn't care that Ginny was friends with Slytherins, but she hated when her own friends lied to her.

Ginny looked hurt, and Pansy stepped up. "Yes, really. You may have no prejudices against any other house, but you should at least believe your best friend when she tells you something. Even Slytherins have issues sometimes. You should be grateful to have her friendship. You're extremely lucky."

This evaporated Trinity's, and anyone else's anger for Ginny except Ron's.

"I think you should leave," Hermione said dangerously to him. And so he left.

"I'm sorry, Gin, I didn't realize that you were helping her," Trinity said. "I thought you were keeping something from us."

Ginny shook her head. "It's fine."

Aurora came running in then. "Thank goodness he's gone." Harry kissed her head – then stopped once he realized what he did in front of her brother, and glanced sheepishly at Draco. But the Slytherin just shrugged and his face changed to an expression that basically stated, 'If you must.' Aurora beamed.

Ginny sighed. "Anyway, I dunno about you guys, but I'm ready to go back to having fun while Ron's gone."

"I say, that's the best idea you've had all day," George said, happy that he made his sister laugh.

While they made groups and went off in different directions, as Draco walked past Aurora with Blaise and Zack, he ruffled his sister's hair and said in a low voice, "I won't say I like it. But he makes you happy. As long as he doesn't touch my spot."

She giggled and smiled at him, then watched him walk away.

"What was that about?" Harry asked. He had heard what Draco said, since he was standing next to her.

"Top of my head. You can't kiss it. It belongs to him." She laughed.

He shook his head and chuckled. "Okay."

Aurora then walked up to Pansy and hugged her. "I hope you're alright."

"I've been better, but I'll be fine, Ror. Don't you worry your pretty little head over it."

The blonde smiled and took her sister-figure's hand. "Let's go find you something stunning that'll sweep Blaise off his feet."

"Rora!"

"Oh come on, you know you want to." She dragged Pansy down an aisle, laughing all the way with Ginny following.

"She likes Blaise?"

Pansy blushed, but it was hard to see with her Hawaiian skin. "I do not."

"Hey… I just got an idea…"

"Uh-oh… whenever that phrase comes out of Aurora's mouth, it's something bad…"

"No! Pansy! This is good I promise!"

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"Well… you wanna make Ron angry, right? Pay him back for screaming at you and treating you like a dog?"

"I want to!" Fred and George said, suddenly showing up next to them making them all jump.

"YAH! How the hell do you DO that?!" Aurora yelped.

"I've given up asking them," Ginny replied dully.

"But you do it, too," the blonde said.

"Not as good as them. I only learned so I could sneak up on them to pay them back for the tricks they used to pull on me. They thought I was so good, they recruited me."

"So what's the plan, Miss Malfoy?" George asked, eyes sparkling with mischief. He had not completely gotten over his crush on her, but it had disintegrated.

Aurora grinned. "Okay so when Pansy used to go to clubs and such, she would dress punk-ish. You know, like how Ginny's been dressing but much more so. Like, baggy or tight black pants with lots of chains and metal studs, black shirt and nails – you know. I think, if you two don't mind your sister looking ravishingly sexy, we should dress her up like that. And if Pansy doesn't mind using her clothes, of course." Aurora glanced at Pansy, who nodded approvingly.

"Hey, why should we mind? We may be her brothers, but we're her partners in crime," Fred said, glancing at George and grinning.

"Yeah. And we're not Ron," George added.

"Let's plan this when we get back to the castle," said Aurora.

"I want to buy my Halloween costume."

"How the hell are we going to get through this entire store?" Ginny asked incredulously, her eyes wide.

"We're certainly gonna try," Pansy answered.

"There you are!" Trinity said, walking up to them with Amanda.

"What's going on?"

"I think we should let them in on the plan," Ginny grinned.

"Ooh, a secret plan?" Amanda asked.

"So what is this oh so secret plan that five people already know about and two more are being informed?"

"Trinity, right?" Pansy asked. The taller girl nodded, her black hair swishing over her shoulders; it had gotten longer since the beginning of the year, and now just barely brushed the nape of her neck. "Well, I have a lot of punk slash gothic clothes, and we were planning to dress Ginny up in them since some of them don't fit me anymore and I don't wear them. The plan is to get back at her brother. Ginny dresses kind of punk, anyway. We're just making it more so, and making her look sexy."

"Punk is always sexy, no matter how much of it there is on someone," came a voice. They looked up at the direction of the voice, since they were huddled together in a corner, and saw Draco, Blaise, and Zack. It was Draco who spoke, and Fred and George tensed up a little. Not because he was a Slytherin, but because even though they were Ginny's partners in crime, they were still her brothers, and therefore protective of her.

"Well then I guess you'll just have to help me pick out what looks best," Ginny said with a smirk and mischievous gleam in her eyes. "You being a guy and all."

"I'm so glad you noticed."

"I think us girls should help her, Drake, since you'll be too busy staring at her and drooling during the process."

Draco glared at Pansy while the girls laughed, and Fred and George couldn't decide whether to be slightly offended or amused.

"Okay so now ten people know about this plan… doesn't seem that secret to me anymore. Who are we not telling?" Trinity asked.

"Well we can't let Potter and Granger know about it," Pansy replied strongly. "That will ruin everything."

Ginny and Aurora started to protest, but Amanda cut them off. "She's right. No matter how great they are as friends, and boyfriend, they won't like the idea and they will tell Ron."

"I disagree," Aurora interjected. "I think Harry would actually like the idea, seeing how angry he was with Ron. He's like that; when he's mad at Ron, he won't talk to him and I'm sure he would like to get back at him."

"I think we should keep it between us," Blaise said. "He WAS pissed, but Weasley is still his best friend. And we're talking about sexifying his sister, who is like Potter's sister as well."

While the Gryffindors stared confused at Blaise, Pansy shook her head and Zack and Draco shook their heads. "Blaise likes to make words up," Pansy explained.

Ginny's eyes lit up. "I do that all the time." She giggled. "Okay so we don't have all day. Let's split up and find our costumes. This place closes at 7, and it's 5:30 now."

"Agreed," said Fred and George. And so they went their separate ways, some of them planning to meet back up at the castle for dinner.

I hope you all liked it! I will really try hard to update as soon as I can, it's just I'm in college and it's hard, especially because I'm a sophomore with a graduate level anatomy class… and two other science classes. So please be patient! This story is far from over.