Thank you for the follow and the reviews!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Ginny smoothed down her dress before exiting out onto the landing. She saw someone coming from the direction of the fourth years' dormitory and gaped at the sight of Hermione. Her own dress was a simple affair, albeit more feminine that she was used to wearing, but her friend virtually looked like a princess. "Hermione, you look gorgeous!"

Hermione blushed slightly. "Thank you." She looked Ginny over. "I guess both of us scrub up nicely."

"You got dressed up like that for Ernie Macmillan?"

"I got dressed up like this for me,"Hermione corrected. "I don't have many opportunities."

Ginny nodded. "Yes, I understand that. Are Lavender and Parvati still in there?"

"Believe it or not, they left ten minutes ago. I guess they've had practice in getting ready."

The two of them headed down to the Gryffindor common room. Harry was waiting there, looking rather smart in his dress robes. He looked Ginny over before simply saying "Wow."

"I think that sums it up,"Hermione agreed. She looked around. "Are Neville and Lavender still here?"

Harry hadn't taken his eyes off Ginny. "No, they left as soon as she came down."

"Oh." Hermione looked a bit disappointed. "I was hoping we could all walk down together. Oh well, Ernie's probably waiting for me outside the portal. Don't be too long!"

Harry offered Ginny his arm. "Shall we?"

The rest of the evening proceeded as Ginny could have hoped. She'd stood at the sidelines as the champions had taken the floor. Luna was accompanying Cedric, who seemed not to mind her eccentricities. To Ginny's surprise, Parvati was accompanying Viktor Krum. Fleur had taken one of the older Ravenclaw boys whose name she didn't know.

As soon as other people began to take to the floor, Harry offered Ginny his arm. They began swaying along to the music. "I'm not really very good at dancing,"Harry admitted.

"I haven't had much practice myself,"Ginny replied.

"But I wanted to give you a good night."

Ginny smiled even more at the comment. "You have done."

Harry nodded over to their friends. "Neville and Lavender seem to be getting on well."

"Neville's a gentleman,"Ginny pointed out. "I think Lavender appreciates that."

"I'm surprise at Hermione and Ernie though. I always thought he was a bit up himself."

Ginny had had the occasional run-in with Ernie in the past, especially during her first year. Other than that, with them being in separate years, she hadn't had much to do with him. "I suppose you'd know better than me. He seems to be loyal to his friends though."

"Essential Hufflepuff trait, I suppose."

The evening carried on. Some dances they sat out but it looked like the evening was going to go well. Then Sirius came over to their table. "Ginny, could I have a word?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you like this,"Sirius noted once he and Ginny had retired to an empty classroom. "I'm sure you'd rather be with Harry."

"I suppose it's important, Professor Black,"Ginny offered.

"It might be. Has Dumbledore ever told you about the Death Eater trials?"

Ginny thought about this. "I know some of the Death Eaters are in Azkaban. But I don't think he's told me anything about the actual trials."

"They weren't the best organised trials in history,"Sirius added. "A chap called Barty Crouch was running them, the father of the Voldemort supporter you met back in the summer. He sent some people to jail on little evidence, while people like Lucius Malfoy who were part of the in crowd were accepted as imperiused without any charges being brought. And then there was Igor Karkaroff."

Ginny looked around, almost expecting the Durmstrang headmaster to be hiding behind her. "Karkaroff? He was found not guilty, I take it?"

"Not exactly. He turned evidence. Gave up the names of several secret Death Eaters…Crouch's son amongst them. Of course, Crouch Junior escaped the country before he could be arrested. Crouch Senior denied having warned him but he had to resign anyway. And Karkaroff was set free."

"Do you think he could be working for Voldemort now?"

"I don't know. There was someone else, Ludo Bagman, whose department is overseeing the Triwizard tournament. He fed ministry information to Voldemort's supporters. He claimed not to know they were Death Eaters so he was found not guilty. All I'm saying is…it might not just be the Malfoys, Crabbes and Goyles we have to worry about." He gave a sudden disarming smile. "But never mind that, you get back to Harry."