Harry sighed as he looked himself over in the mirror. After trying on about three different outfits he'd finally chosen khaki trousers and a forest green jumper. His reasoning was that because it was Christmas he should wear something festive. Now he was regretting his decision. The trousers, while they did hug his bum nicely, were a little too dark for his jumper. Harry thought about changing them, but decided he'd just better change his jumper. He started to take it off when Ron interrupted him.

"You can't change again! We're going to be late, Harry." Ron said, exasperated, from his bed. Harry turned to face his best friend and scowled. That was easy for him to say. Ron looked great in navy blue trousers and a gray jumper. He wore the navy robe Hermione had gotten him for Christmas last year open over the ensemble. As if reading Harry's thoughts Ron got up and looked himself over in the mirror with a grin.

"I look stupid." Harry commented miserably.

"No you don't mate," Ron looked him up and down appraisingly. "You look polished. Green is a really good color for you."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Polished?"

"Yeah, polished. You know, professional, refined-"

"I know what polished means, Ron." Harry shook his head. "I just can't believe you called me that."

Ron looked slightly hard done by. "What? You want me to lie and say you look like crap? I can do that, too."

Harry laughed. "No thanks. Polished will do just fine." He looked at Ron again in the mirror. "You don't look half bad yourself."

Ron grinned and smoothed down his hair. "Thanks, mate."

That was one thing Harry wished he could do, smooth down his unruly hair. No matter what he did it just stuck out in every direction. He even went so far as to ask Hermione if she knew any hair flattening charms. Hermione had smiled and ruffled his hair.

"It's what makes you unique, Harry." She'd said.

"Really," He'd replied. "I always thought it was the scar."

Now he stood in front of the mirror in his room all decked out and ready to escort Ginny Weasley to the Christmas Ball. Harry sighed. Not for the first time that day he wondered what Ginny would be wearing. He still couldn't believe he'd asked her to the Ball. In all honesty Harry hadn't paid that much attention to his best friend's sister. He supposed he sort of took Ginny for granted. She was always just there; following her brother, sitting with them in the Great Hall, listening to their conversations. In the past Harry hadn't taken the time to talk with the youngest Weasley. He did save her in his second year, but he would have done that for anyone in trouble. Well, he did care about her. She was Ron's sister, after all.

Recently, though, Harry had begun to notice the redhead as she moved about the corridors. She was tall so she stood out just like her brother. But there were other things about Ginny that Harry had only begun to notice. For example, the way those sweater vests she always wore hugged her slender figure just right. How, when Ginny smiled, she smiled with her whole face. And she always smelled so good. Like vanilla and honey. He supposed it was the shampoo she used because she smelled like that all the time. Just little things like that Harry had begun to notice. He dared not say anything to Ron, though. His plan was to live past his sixth year, Voldemort permitting, not be hexed to death by his best friend because he fancied said best friend's only sister.

Do you fancy her, Harry asked himself. Maybe he did. Harry sighed again. How was he supposed to know? He didn't really have much experience with girls. Unless, of course, you counted his "Cho thing," as Hermione was fond of calling his only date with Cho Chang two years previous. That had been a complete disaster. Perhaps he could ask Ron about girls. He was, after all, dating Hermione. Could Harry do that without Ron asking him too many questions?

Harry's thoughts were painfully brought back to reality as Ron punched him in the arm. Harry turned an offended look on his best friend.

Ron shrugged. "You were spacing out." He said by way of an explanation.

"So you couldn't call my name or tap me on the shoulder like a normal person?" Harry demanded, rubbing his arm.

Again, Ron shrugged.

Harry rolled his eyes. "C'mon, the girls are probably waiting for us downstairs."

The two friends descended the staircase and walked out into the common room. It was bustling with Gryffindors in fancy robes. Here and there clusters of boys and girls were chatting and generally looking excited. Harry looked around for Ginny and Hermione and spotted Hermione over by the fireplace sitting on the couch. There was someone sitting next to her, but Harry couldn't see who it was because Dean, Seamus, Neville, and a third year boy Harry had met before, but couldn't remember his name, were blocking his view.

Harry and Ron approached the couch. Hermione was in an animated discussion with Neville. Dean, Seamus, and the other boy were looking keenly at Hermione and the other person on the couch. Ron cleared his throat.

"Hey guys, back off. That's my girlfriend you're drooling over." Ron stepped forward and bent to kiss Hermione on the cheek.

She blushed slightly and swatted Ron's arm playfully. "Don't get all possessive, Ronald. We're just talking."

Ron helped Hermione to her feet and Harry took the opportunity to beam at her. She looked lovely in dark bronze satin dress robes, her hair twisted up off her neck and held in place by a dark brown and green jeweled clip. "You look very beautiful, Hermione." Harry said, gently. Hermione beamed back. She was about to say something to him when Ginny stood up next to her.

Harry gulped.

Ginny was wearing dark green silk dress robes which plunged at the neck, and her hair was down in loose fiery curls. The color of her robes accented her complexion and seemed to make her honey-coloured eyes sparkle. A tiny heart shaped emerald around her neck drew Harry's attention to parts of Ginny he would have been embarrassed to be caught staring at.

"Oh look, you two match. How cute," Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

Ginny smiled at him. "You look very handsome, Harry." She commented sweetly, looking at him, then at the floor.

Harry just gaped at her. In an effort to pull himself together, he swallowed loudly. "Ginny you look….stunning." He managed to get out finally. Ginny smiled beautifully at him and came over to stand by his side.

"Shall we?" Harry held out his arm and Ginny took it. Looking back over her shoulder Ginny saw that Hermione and Ron were ready to go as well. She let Harry lead the way to the portrait hole and the four of them left Gryffindor tower for the Great Hall.

Christmas music and hundreds of strands of fairy lights greeted them as the four friends walked into the Great Hall. There was a huge Christmas tree where the staff table usually was, decorated in House colored ornaments. The enchanted ceiling reflected the snow that was falling outside and along the left side of the wall, under the windows, was enchanted snow. Some students were building snowmen using food items from the enormous refreshment table as body parts. Opaque baubles of all different colors were floating around the Great Hall like bubbles. Ginny clapped her hands to her mouth when she saw the many ice sculptures off in one corner of the room. She could make out reindeer, a snowman, and some creature that looked very much like Hagrid's baby dragon, Norbert, whom she'd heard tale about from Harry.

"This is so beautiful." Hermione exclaimed lightly from behind Ginny.

"The staff has really outdone themselves this time, if you ask me. I'm impressed." This was from Ron, who had bent over to pick up some enchanted snow. "It's not cold, but it feels like real snow. Wicked."

Harry smiled at his best friend's delight. He turned to smile at Ginny, who returned his look, though somewhat shyly. Harry heard a familiar voice behind him and turned to see Professor Dumbledore, who was dressed in red and green robes, making his way over to them.

"Happy Christmas, Professor." Harry greeted when Dumbledore stopped in front on him. Ginny, Ron and Hermione greeted him as well.

"Happy Christmas to you all. I hope you enjoy this Ball. It was an effort to decorate, let me tell you." The old wizard smiled, his eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles. Dumbledore looked past them. "If you'll excuse me, there's a certain professor that I would like to ask for a dance." With that, the Headmaster moved off. Harry and Ginny followed him with their eyes to see who it was Dumbledore wanted a dance with. Ginny giggled, placing her hand on Harry's arm when she saw Dumbledore sweep Professor McGonagall off onto the dance floor. Their Transfigurations teacher was laughing merrily.

"Hey you two 'Mione and I are gonna head over to the food table. You want anything?" Ron inquired, nudging Harry in the arm.

Harry looked at Ginny, his eyebrows raised. Ginny shook her head. "No thanks, Ron, we're fine." Harry answered for himself and his date. Harry turned back to Ginny, who was staring at him. When she caught his gaze her face went red and she quickly looked away.

Harry held out his hand to Ginny. "Dance with me?" He asked.

Ginny smiled and placed her hand in Harry's. The live band broke into a fast paced version of "Carol of the Bells," and Harry led them over to the dance floor where there was already a large number of students, and a few teachers, waltzing. It was a fast paced waltz, with improvised movements here and there. The band was really good. There were no lyrics in this version, and the instruments used included the violin, drums, piano, and guitar. It was extremely interesting, Harry thought. He grabbed hold of Ginny and twirled her around and around. They waltzed for a bit when the music was slow, then as the music became faster, Harry dipped Ginny and spun her around. Ginny was laughing and smiling like a little kid. She and Harry waltzed in and out of other couples, some even trying to imitate their moves, sweeping across the length of the space reserved for dancing. In a particularly interesting move, Harry twirled Ginny out from his body, then with a tug curled her back into him, so that her back was to his chest. He moved with her like that for a few seconds until the song started to build up in tempo. They faced one another again and waltzed some more moving back across the dance floor. As the song ended Harry spun Ginny away from him and she came to a stop, her robes billowing out, then coming to a rest. She smiled breathlessly at Harry, unable to speak straight away. Around them a few people clapped (Dumbledore and McGonagall the hardest) then went back to dancing as the next song started up.

"I thought…you couldn't…dance." Ginny gasped as Harry led her over to the refreshment table.

"I've been taking lessons." Harry shot her a sideways glance, his lips curled up at the corners. Ginny gawked at her date, then broke into laughter.

"What?" Harry inquired, feeling suddenly self conscious. Truthfully, he didn't know what had gotten into him. Seeing Ginny dressed the way she was and in this room surrounded by Christmas decorations and friends seemed to have gone to Harry's head. Dancing like that had seemed the only natural course of action. Harry suddenly felt light headed and giddy and extraordinarily content.

"Harry, that was so much fun. I've never danced like that before." Ginny blushed ferociously. "You were amazing."

Harry, who had been about to bring a Butterbeer bottle to his mouth paused and blushed just a badly. He took a swig, then offered some to Ginny. She nodded and took a sip from Harry's bottle. It was turning out to be a perfect evening so far. Ginny looked fantastic and he felt wonderful. Nothing, Harry thought, could make this night bad.

No sooner had those thoughts left his mind than a familiar drawling voice spoke up from behind Harry.

"What was that all about, Potter? Are you planning on leaving Hogwarts to pursue a career as a professional dancer?" Harry saw Ginny's eyes widen as she looked past him at the owner of the voice.

Harry set his shoulders and turned slowly to face Draco. The tall blond was dressed in a pair of gray trousers and a high necked navy jumper.

To Harry's amazement Draco was alone. His cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, weren't flanking him. In fact, Draco appeared to be at the Ball by himself.

"Do you really think it wise, Malfoy, to insult me without backup?" Harry asked the Slytherin, his head slightly cocked to one side. He set his Butterbeer on the table.

Draco simply looked at him for a moment, his expression unreadable, then turned his attention to Ginny. She had come to stand next to Harry and was staring nastily at Draco. "I need to have a word with you, Virginia."

Ginny squared her shoulders and held her head high. "Sod off you pretentious bastard." Ginny answered harshly.

Harry turned to stare at her in surprise. He'd never heard anyone, much less Ginny, talk to Draco that way. Hell, he'd never heard Ginny talk that way to anyone.

Draco, however, simply moved toward Ginny and reached out to grasp her arm. "We need to talk." Draco said through clenched teeth. Ginny stood rooted to the spot and was trying to disengage her arm from Draco's grasp. He wasn't letting go.

"And you need to let go of Ginny right now." Harry spoke in a voice that was calm and deadly. He reached over and flung Draco's hand away from Ginny's arm. Draco whirled to face the Boy Who Lived and reached into his back pocket. But Harry was too quick for Draco. He had his wand out in a flash and was pointing it directly at the other boy's face. "Go ahead, Malfoy. Make my night."

Draco slowly removed his hand from his back pocket and eyed Harry's wand warily. Before he could say anything, though, Professor McGonagall was at his side.

"What is going on here, Mister Potter?" McGonagall inquired her face taut, lips pursed.

"Malfoy was bothering Ginny, Professor. She asked him to leave her alone, but he grabbed her arm."

"So you pulled your wand on him?"

Harry had the grace to look embarrassed. He lowered his wand and stowed it inside his robes. "I wasn't thinking, Professor. It was reflexive."

McGonagall said nothing to that. Instead she turned to Ginny and asked, "Is this true, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny nodded. McGonagall turned then to Draco who looked defiantly back at her. "I suggest you move along, Mister Malfoy." she said firmly not making it a suggestion at all. When Draco didn't move off, she looked more pointedly at him. "Now, please."

With a last sneer at Harry, Draco turned and stalked off. McGonagall faced Harry and Ginny once more. "I'm taking five points from Gryffindor, Mister Potter." Harry gawked at her and Ginny began to protest, but McGonagall silenced her with a look. "This is a Christmas Ball, Mr. Potter, not a knightly court. You shall take better care to resolve your issues without the 'reflexive' use of your wand. Miss Weasley does not appear to be in immediate danger from Mister Malfoy. If I see your wand again tonight it shall be a detention." With a nod McGonagall moved off.

Ginny immediately faced Harry and placed her hand on his arm. "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to get in trouble."

"It's not your fault, Gin." Harry waved off her apology.

"Thank you though. That was very...chivalric of you." Ginny smiled affectionately at him and squeezed his arm.

"Yes well, this isn't a knightly court, Miss Weasley." Harry replied in an astonishingly convincing impersonation of Professor McGonagall. Ginny laughed. "But you are welcome, my lady." Harry bowed deeply and offered Ginny his arm. She laughed again and hooked arms with The Boy Who Lived.

"Want to go outside for a walk? I need some fresh air to clear my head." Harry suggested. Ginny nodded and he led them out of the Great Hall and down the stone steps of the front entrance. An arcade had been set up in the snow just beyond the steps leading out of the front door. It was lined with tall poinsettia bushes and appeared to lead off around the corner of the castle. Harry steered himself and Ginny under the arcade and they took up to following the path. The walkway under the arcade was made of enchanted pebbles that lit up when you stepped on them. The air under the arcade was enchanted to be warmer than the outside air, but Ginny still shivered slightly.

"Here," Harry said and took off his jumper, revealing a black t-shirt underneath. He handed it to Ginny and she took it, though hesitantly.

"You're sure?" She asked "It's awfully chilly out here."

"I'll be fine. Now put it on before you catch cold."

Ginny smiled and slipped the warm jumper over hear head. It smelled of Harry, like fresh air and soap. Ginny reached down and surreptitiously slid her hand into Harry's. He stiffened somewhat, but didn't drop her hand.

"So," Harry queried, his voice an octave higher than normal. "What was that all about with Malfoy?"

"Oh," Ginny said, her voice strained. "Nothing,"

"Nothing?"

"I don't want to talk about Draco, Harry. Please let's just enjoy this walk." Ginny pleaded. Though Harry was extremely curious (and the fact that Ginny had refereed to Malfoy by his first name was not lost on him) he decided to let it go for now. It was turning out to be a wonderful night for both of them, Harry suspected, and he didn't want to be the one to spoil it.

"Sure, Ginny. I'm sorry; it's none of my business." He smiled sidelong at the red head walking next to him and squeezed her hand for emphasis.

"Thank you." Ginny replied in almost a whisper. They had reached the end of the arcade and found that it turned into gazebo. It was decorated with about two hundred fairy lights and one other thing. Hanging from the center of the gazebo was a single sprig of mistletoe. Harry looked up at it just as Ginny did. Their eyes met and they smiled at one another. Amazingly, Harry didn't feel uncomfortable. In fact, he felt utterly at ease. By the look on Ginny's face he could tell that she was feeling the same way.

Thus, it was with great confidence that Harry Potter drew Virginia Weasley to him and kissed her, quite fervently, under the mistletoe.

******

Since the day after the Ball was a Saturday Ginny decided to sleep in. She finally woke up a little after eleven. Stretching, Ginny looked out her dorm room window. It was a beautiful day, though it was overcast and snowing. Ginny loved the snow and she loved walking it in even more.

That's what I'll do after breakfast. I'll go for a walk.

Ginny dressed quickly and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast or, at this point, an early lunch. The Great Hall was almost empty. Each table had no more than five people at it. There were a few leftover decorations from the night before, but other than that there was no sign that a Ball had taken place. As Ginny passed the Slytherin table she noticed a head of silver blond peek up from behind a copy of the Daily Prophet. Ginny studiously ignored Draco and took a seat next to Seamus Finnegan at Gryffindor table.

"Afternoon," Seamus greeted merrily. He was switching between eating forkfuls of baked beans and reading the sports section of the Prophet.

"Afternoon, Seamus. Where is everyone?" Ginny inquired as she reached for an egg and watercress sandwich from the plate in front of her.

"Having a snowball fight outside."

Ginny turned a curious expression on her house mate. "Really? Why aren't you out there?"

"Oh I was," Seamus began and turned to face Ginny. She gasped when she saw he was sporting a nasty looking black eye. "Neville threw a ball of ice at me so I decided to call it a day. I've got loads of homework to finish before Monday anyway."

Ginny smiled apologetically. "You want I should go out there and kick his arse for you?" She offered kindly between bites of her egg and watercress sandwich.

Seamus smiled, then winced. "If you feel you must. Harry's team is most likely in dire need of assistance right about now. Neville's got a bloody good arm on 'im."

Ginny laughed. She finished her sandwich, stood up, and slipped on her hunter green wool cloak. As she fastened it, she said, "I'll go see what I can do."

As she walked away, Seamus called out to her. "Neville's pretty sneaky about his snowball fighting so keep a good eye out. You won't even know he's aiming at you until he's hit you."

Ginny walked out into the brisk December air. Snow was still falling, but only lightly. She smiled as two Ravenclaw acquaintances walked past her and back into the castle. Ginny put up her hood and walked across the grounds toward the iced over lake. Despite her offer, Ginny didn't want to get involved in a snowball fight. She wanted to be alone for a little bit so she could reflect on the night before and her first kiss with Harry Potter. Just thinking about what had transpired the night before made Ginny blush. It had been so perfect, the kiss. Harry had pulled her to him and kissed her under the mistletoe in a beautifully lit gazebo. It was so romantic. And just after they'd pulled apart it'd begun to snow quite heavily. Harry had caressed her cheek with his thumb, then taken her hand and led her out of the gazebo into the snow. They'd walked back to the castle together letting the snow fall on them. They didn't talk much when they'd gotten back to the Ball. Nor did they mention the kiss for the rest of the night.

Ginny wondered if this meant that Harry was embarrassed that he'd kissed her. Ginny hoped that wasn't the case. She had enjoyed it quite thoroughly. Harry's lips had been soft and sweet, tasting of Butterbeer and chocolate. She hoped it wouldn't be their last kiss. Did this mean they were going out? Ginny remembered Hermione telling her that she and Ron had started dating because of a kiss.

"When we kissed we just knew." Hermione had said. "We didn't even have to make it official by asking. We just knew it was the next logical course of action."

Ginny was unsure of her next logical course of action with Harry. Should she go and seek him out? Or should she wait for him to come find her? What if he didn't mention the kiss? Would it be weird if she brought it up? Ginny's train of thought was broken by the sound of feet crunching snow behind her.

Ginny stiffened.

Did Harry hear me thinking about him? Ginny thought wildly. What should I say?

She stood up, having not realized she had sat down on the ground, and turned to meet the man she was sure the feet belonged to. When she saw who it was Ginny took in a sharp breath and physically stepped back a pace.

Draco Malfoy was looking curiously at her from under the hood of his black velvet cloak. "I thought that was you." He drawled. His tone was civil and he walked up to Ginny and a bit past her. He stared out at the frozen lake.

"What do you want?" Ginny asked, bitterly. She settled her gaze on the side of Draco's black hood.

Draco turned to look at Ginny and pushed his hood back. His baby fine blond hair stood up slightly with static. Ginny was startled to see a contrite look on the Slytherin's face.

"Your forgiveness," Draco said sincerely. Ginny simply stared at him her voice gone from shock. Draco continued. "I never should have said those things to you. I was upset and I apologize."

Suddenly Ginny had her voice back. "Upset?"

Draco looked confused. "You didn't ask me to the Christmas Ball." He said simply, as if that was all the explanation he thought Ginny needed. "And because you've been largely ignoring me since we got back to school."

"Draco, we discussed this." Ginny began edgily. She pushed back her own hood. "We both agreed that it would be too weird to act like best pals while at school."

"Well, I've changed my mind." Draco replied sulkily.

"What about your reputation?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms and glaring at the boy in front of her. "It was your idea not to act like friends to begin with and all because you didn't want your house mates to hassle you. As for the Christmas Ball, it works both ways, Draco. You didn't ask me either."

Draco had the decency to look repentant. "Okay, fair enough." Ginny shook her head and scoffed. Draco ignored this and continued. "I still want to see you though, to talk to you. You're acting as if I don't even exist and then I hear from Pansy that you're going to the Ball with Dean-"

He broke off at Ginny's look. "You bastard! I knew it was you!"

"What did you expect? I thought we were…I don't know…you know…" Draco trailed off apparently at a loss for words. Which was very, very rare for him.

"No Draco," Ginny half yelled. "I don't know. Why don't you explain it to me? The last I checked I was just a silly little girl to you. What did you expect me to think?" Ginny demanded austerely advancing on Draco. He looked a bit anxious at her tone, but held his ground.

"I'm sorry if I took you telling me that I meant nothing to you as a sign that you didn't care about me anymore. Perhaps I was a bit thrown off when you said snogging me was only something you did when bored."

"I never said that." Draco protested.

"Oh fuck you, you did so." Ginny growled through clenched teeth. "Maybe not in so many words, but that's what you meant."

"Ginny I-"

"You what?" Ginny challenged moving closer to Draco and forcing him to retreat a few steps back. "You're sorry? You want my forgiveness after what you said to me? You're even less intelligent that I thought if you think I'm going to forgive you after what you said and after you threatened Dean and Collin. You're fucking pathetic, Draco. And a little late."

At that Draco looked confused. "What?"

"I went to the Ball with Harry, in case you hadn't noticed-"

"I did notice and that's why I wanted to talk to you last night."

Ginny placed her hands on her hips. "But I didn't want to talk to you."

Draco grimaced. "Because you were too busy fraternizing with Potter. What do you see in him anyway, Ginny?"

"Oh I don't know, Draco," Ginny began, her voice as cold as the air around them. "He isn't you for starters." Even though Ginny was mad at him, the expression that passed over Draco's face made her regret her words.

"I see." Draco swallowed and looked at the snow covered ground. Ginny willed herself not to say anything, not to apologize. Draco looked up after a moment and the expression on his face almost brought tears to Ginny's eyes.

"Well, then. I guess there's no point in telling you I think I'm falling in love with you is there?" Without waiting for Ginny's reply Draco turned and walked away.