Chapter 16- The Ball

A/N: Here it is, everybody! The last chapter of the fanfic! I'm really sorry about the upload problem, when all you guys saw was the first lines of this chapter- thanx to the people who told me in the reviews, or else I never would've found out! J I hope you all enjoyed my fanfic, and I didn't write it for nothing. Thank you soooo much for reviewing, and it was so cool to write and have lotsa people say they like my writing! Enjoy J

"Hey Dad,"

Mr. Weasley looked up to see his red-haired son, grinning at him on the train platform.

"Ron!" he said, smiling, "Your hair! It's red again."

Ron blushed. "Yeah, Hermione wanted me to stop dyeing it."

"Smart girl," said Mr. Weasley. "Can you help me with my stuff?"

"Sure," Ron hurried forward, and grabbing two duffel bags. "How was the trip?"

"Great," said Mr. Weasley. "I slept most of the way."

Ron grinned. "Keep up your energy, huh?"

"Yeah," agreed Mr. Weasley. "I hope those house elves prepared a good meal tonight. I'm famished."

"Alright, Dad," said Ron. "Then we better get there as fast as we can."

***

"Ron, what's Dad doing here?" said Ginny suspiciously, as she spotted her father's flaming red hair among the teachers.

Ron took a bite of his mashed potatoes. "'ee's ere fur da minstry."

"What?"

He swallowed. "He's here for the Ministry."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure," said Ron, taking another bite and swallowing. "School inspection or something. Head of the Magical Education department couldn't make it, so Dad took over."

"How long is he going to be here?" asked Ginny.

Ron shrugged. "There's only two more weeks of school left. I suppose he'll stay until school lets out."

"Oh," Ginny wondered if her Dad did come for that, or if it was for something else. Like checking up on her. But Ginny wasn't with Malfoy anymore, so Mr. Weasley wouldn't have anything to check on. Ginny's thoughts wandered to Malfoy. She wanted to go try and talk to him again this weekend, see if he really loved her, and tell him she missed him. She sighed. It was going to be hard.

***

Draco was in the common room, glad that he finally had an afternoon without Pansy. He had convinced her to go to Hogsmeade without him. It wasn't that he hated her, just that sometimes she can get really annoying, chattering on endlessly about her makeup and her newest outfit. Draco had told her to go buy herself a dress for the upcoming Ball in two days, and said that he didn't want to see the dress beforehand. Half convinced, she left him in peace.

He turned a page in his History of Magic textbook, and sighed. He was bored to death. There was still Sunday to finish his homework, and if he did it all today, he wouldn't have any to do the next day. Then he'd have to help Pansy decide out of her 200 outfits which one to wear the following week. He started to write his essay.

Suddenly, the wall opened. He turned around. Everyone in Slytherin had gone to Hogsmeade, since it was the last one of the year. It was Ginny. He quickly hid his look of surprise. "Hey Weasley," he said nonchalantly, turning back to his work. "I see you didn't go to Hogsmeade either."

Ginny crossed her arms. "Aren't you going to ask how I got in?"

"Let me think about that," said Draco mockingly. "No."

Ginny tried to calm herself down, and decided to say was she planned to say. "I just wanted to tell you," she said, taking a deep breath, "that I miss you. And I'm sorry."

"Really," Draco turned around, and looked at her.

"Yes," she continued. "And I want the truth: did you ever love me? 'Cause if you didn't, I should leave and mourn by myself."

Draco stared at her, an amusing smile dancing on his face.

"Goddammit, Draco!" said Ginny, stamping her feet, not realizing she called him 'Draco'. "Why are you making this so hard for me?"

"I'm not trying to. Go on, continue with your speech, I won't bother you."

Ginny remained silent.

"What? I didn't even say anything!"

Ginny had an urge to stick out her tongue at him, but she didn't. "I already said I was sorry, okay? I should've--listened to you."

Draco raised his eyebrows.

Ginny grew frustrated. This wasn't going at all what she planned. She felt a burning in the back of her eyes. "What more do you want?" Suddenly a tear rolled down her cheek involuntarily.

"God, Ginny, don't cry," said Draco, standing up.

She bit her lip, trying to keep the tears from flowing. It didn't work. Sighing, Draco fetched a tissue and handed it to her. Ginny took deep breaths, wiping her eyes. He settled back into his chair, his gaze never leaving her.

"Look, Malfoy," said Ginny, her voice still shaky, mixed with anger. "Do you love or not?"

He didn't say anything.

Without a word, Ginny turned around and started to leave. Then a hand gripped her wrist, pulling her back.

"Hey," said Draco. He sighed, pausing. "If you don't have anything to do, keep me company. I'm bored as hell."

"O-okay," Ginny sat down in a couch facing him, sniffling.

They didn't talk. Draco went back to his work, wondering if he should have held her back. And Ginny sat there, tissue in hand, studying him. Since she had nothing to do, she thought about Draco. And all the times he had been with her, what he was like, what made him special. "Draco," she whispered softly, absentmindedly.

He heard it. "What?" he said, turning around.

She startled. "Nothing."

"You said my name." Said Draco.

"I-I didn't mean anything…I just said it."

He raised his eyebrows at her as he turned back. She gave deep sigh. "Now what?" said Draco irritably, looking at her again.

"Nothing," she said quickly, then surprised herself by starting to cry again.

"What's the matter?" said Draco, moving to sit beside her.

"I don't know," admitted Ginny. "It's you, I guess."

"Me?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, more sure of herself now. "It's you…you're so…" she studied his face, so familiar, yet so distant.

"I'm what?"

Without thinking she touched his hair, silvery and soft, running through her fingers.

"God, Ginny," said Draco softly, not knowing what he meant by it. And he leaned forward and kissed her roughly.

Surprised, Ginny let him push her back until her back was jammed into the armrest, and still he didn't stop, it was more brutal than just a nice kiss. She was sure she'd have bruises on her lips, and on her arms too, the way he was gripping them. But he was kissing her, he really was, even if it hurt.

Draco pulled away suddenly. "God, Ginny," he said again. "I kissed you. You happy now?" His grip loosened and she could clearly see the blue-black marks on her arms.

Ginny was shaking, half with fear and half with anxiety. "Do it again." She said, trying to catch her breath, her voice shaking.

"What?"

"Do it again." She repeated.

"Why do you want me to do that again? That hurt, didn't it?" he caught sight of the bruise. "Oh, shit, Ginny. I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you." He ran the pad of his thumb over it, trying to soothe her.

"Do it again," Ginny said. "Kiss me."

He looked at her for a moment, then lowered his mouth to hers.

"Draco…" she murmured against his mouth.

He had one hand by her ear, his fingers playing with her hair. His other hand was touching her neck, sliding down to her waist then up again. Ginny had her arms around him tightly, not bothering to hide her eagerness. She felt like she was letting out everything; her fury and anger for him, the fury and anger for Pansy, how Pansy stole him from her, how much Draco annoyed her. But everything was all right now, she had the comfort of his lips on hers, what she had been waiting for, dreaming for, all these weeks.

His lips and his touch were warm, not like that day in the library when he whispered into her ear. She felt so happy, so at peace, his body pressing against hers tightly, soothing her, and everything felt so right…

"Draco Malfoy! You make me sick!"

And suddenly he was gone, the feeling of warmth and comfort gone. Ginny's mind swirled into the present, making out the image of a brown-haired, a very pretty someone. She pressed her head. Kissing Draco had never felt like this, felt so good, and wonderful, like a warm Butterbeer, only a hundred times better. It was like getting warm after freezing to death, but then suddenly the warmth was gone.

She realized that Draco was arguing with someone. And that someone was Pansy.

"Shut UP, Draco! I saw it, don't you deny it, you bastard!" Pansy shrieked.

"I'm not denying it," said Draco.

"Are you telling me you actually like that stupid ugly Gryffindor? We're Slytherins, Draco, we don't need that trash."

"Who're you calling trash?" said Ginny, her strength regaining.

"Ginny," said Draco, silencing her.

"Do you like her? God, Draco, how can you choose her when you've got me?"

"Easy," Draco snapped. "Don't you ever talk about anything other than makeup or clothes or guys?"

"What else am I supposed to talk about?" she yelled.

Draco was getting impatient. "There are plenty of subjects in this world, and I'm tired of all that shit that has no use to me whatsoever."

"So is this what you're doing? Trying to get me back for something I didn't even know I did?" She was crying now, tears flowing from her eyes.

"No! Dammit, Pansy, I don't like you anymore, okay? I never did!"

"Then why did you pretend you did?" Pansy shouted, her eyes furious.

"I never did! You were the one running up to me all the time! You were the one who liked me first! I never liked you!"

Pansy was silent. "You're a fucking bastard." She spat, then ran out of the room.

Draco sighed, then sank into the couch. "It seems to me that a lot of people are calling me bastards these days."

"Oh, come on," said Ginny. "You know I didn't mean it."

He raised an eyebrow. "You sure act like you do. And I know you did. I know I can be real annoying sometimes. But I don't give a damn about it."

"Were you taking her to the Ball?" asked Ginny cautiously.

He glanced at her. "Yeah. Are you going?"

She shook her head. "No. I didn't have a date. I didn't want to look stupid when everyone else had one."

"You can go with me," said Draco, surprising her. "You have something to wear?"

Ginny thought for a moment. "I can borrow something from Hermione." There was another silence. "I better go." She cast a look at the direction in which Pansy fled.

He caught her glance. "Don't worry, she'll be alright. She'll just go find another guy who's stupid enough to have her."

"Okay," Ginny got up and was almost at the exit when he stopped her.

"By the way, how did you get in?"

Ginny grinned. "I demanded it from a first-year."

Draco cracked a smile. "That's what I thought. Like I said before, you're becoming more and more like me, Weasley. You better watch it. Soon your whole family's going to move out and leave you by yourself."

"Shut up," Ginny grinned and started to leave again.

"Hey, Gin," Draco called again.

"What?"

He threw her something, and she caught it, cupped in her hands. Later, when she was in the hall, she opened her hands. It was her locket.

***

"Hermione!" Ginny wailed, walking into her dorm.

She looked up from her book. "What?"

"I need something to wear for the Ball." She said.

"The Ball? You're going? With who?" said Hermione, her eyes widening.

Ginny grinned. "I'm going."

"I thought you didn't have a date."

"I do now,"

"Who is it? Oh, no, is it--?"

Ginny cut it. "Yep. It's him."

"You made up?"

She nodded happily, then threw open Hermione's closet. "C'mon Herm, help me!"

Hermione joined her, and looked through her clothes. "I don't know, Gin, I really don't have any dressy clothes."

"Then what's that?" said Ginny, pointing to a bunch of shimmering dresses at the end of the closet.

"That? Those are my roommate's, Crystal's stuff."

"Wow," said Ginny, looking at the expensive dresses.

"She might lend you one," said Hermione, picking through them and pulling out a deep red dress. "Try this one on."

Ginny admired the dress as Hermione zipped it up. It was sleeveless, and backless, with a deep V cut in the front, the bottom of the V nearly touching her bellybutton. The dress clung to her very nicely, showing off her curves that have developed over the years. There was a long slit up one leg, so her bare leg peeked out from under the dress.

"Wow," said Ginny. She studied herself. "It's a bit long."

"You can wear high shoes," said Hermione, shuffling through the closet. She returned with a pair of strap-on heels that were a sparkly red. "Put these on." The heels were almost 4 inches high, and when she stepped into them, the dress fit perfectly.

"That looks good, huh?" grinned Hermione. "I'm sure Crystal'll let you wear them. Although your neck looks bare. Do you have a fancy necklace?"

Suddenly Ginny remembered the locket. She fished it out of her pocket and put it on.

"Perfect," she said.

***

It was the night of the ball. Ginny walked in with Hermione, Ron, and Harry. Hermione had on a beautiful deep blue dress, with a low neckline. It was also sleeveless and was a tieback. Her dress was shorter than Ginny's, and she wore similar heels, except they were blue. Harry and Ron had on suits.

Ginny scanned the room for Draco. They hadn't really talked since that time he broke up with Pansy, and they didn't agree on a meeting place. There were lots of people in the ballroom, and some had already danced.

"I'm going to go look for Draco," she told Hermione, then left.

***

When Draco spotted Ginny coming towards him, he stared at her. "Damn," he said softly, eyeing her tight-fitting dress.

She approached him. "Hey, you look good."

"So do you." Said Draco, looking her up and down.

Ginny grinned as a slow song came on. "You want to dance?"

"Alright," said Draco, putting his hands on her waist. She put her hands on his chest, and they swayed to the music.

"They did a great job of decorating," Ginny admired.

Draco looked around him, taking in the brilliant colors of crepe paper and streamers. "Yeah."

"So…how's Pansy?" Ginny asked conversationally.

Draco smirked. "Not that great. She found a date at the last minute, a Ravenclaw who doesn't know any better."

"You sound so cruel. Was she that horrible?"

"Of course she is. All Slytherins are horrible, Pansy's just more horrible than the rest."

"That's not true," Ginny protested. "You're not horrible."

He gave her a smug look. "You just haven't seen the horrible side of me yet."

"I think I have," she argued.

Draco smirked again, not saying anything. Then, suddenly, he grabbed her and kissed her, pressing so hard that Ginny was afraid she might fall over. As sudden as it came, it ended, and Draco was looking at her with a big grin.

"That," said Ginny, glaring at him, and blushing, "was horrible. There was so many people who could've seen us!" she looked around. No one was staring at them.

"Are you ashamed of being kissed by me?" said Draco breezily.

"No," she said, stuttering, "I-I like privacy."

He smiled coyly. "Privacy, huh?"

"Yeah,"

"You want to get out of here?"

"Where to?" Ginny asked.

"Outside," Draco replied, looking out the door leading to the lake. "By the lake."

"Alright," said Ginny. And, grabbing her hand, Draco led them out.

***

"Hey, Dad. Enjoying the party?" said Ron, approaching his dad, with Hermione in hand.

"You know I am," his father took a sip of his apple cider as he spotted Hermione. "Hello, Hermione. Haven't see you in a while."

"It's good to see you, Mr. Weasley," Hermione smiled warmly.

"So, uh, Ron," said Mr. Weasley hesitantly. "Where's your sister. She all right?"

"Yeah," said Ron, also looking uncomfortable. "She's good."

"She got a date?"

Now Ron looked really uncomfortable. "Yes, Mr. Weasley," Hermione put it. "She and Draco Malfoy made up."

Mr. Weasley raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything about it. "So, uh, where is she?"

Ron searched the room, then spotted her and Draco heading out the door. Mr. Weasley followed his glance. "You want to check up on her?"

"Dad…" Ron protested, but his father had already grabbed his hand and pulled him in that direction.

***

Ginny and Draco sat under a big tree, looking at the full moon and its reflection on the large dark lake.

"When I was little," Ginny was saying, gazing up at the moon surrounded by twinkling stars, "I used to think the moon was my mom's plate, and try to grab it out of the sky to return to her."

Draco grinned. "Did you succeed, or did you only succeed in humiliating yourself?"

She gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder. "Be quiet."

"I used to think my dad was the man on the moon," said Draco.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Draco continued. "Because he was so greedy. Was the man on the moon greedy? I don't remember." He looked down at his hands. "I don't remember much of my childhood."

"Sure you do," said Ginny. "I remember what you were like. Mean, selfish…"

"I still am," Draco smirked.

"Not when you kiss you're not," Ginny argued.

"How can I be selfish when I'm kissing?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Want everything your way?"

He gave her an amusing smile. "Want me to try that?"

She moved closer. "If you want to."

He did.

***

"There they are," whispered Ron, pointing at the two shadowy figures under the giant tree. "Now can we go back?"

"Wait," said Mr. Weasley, watching them. "That Draco Malfoy?"

Ron squinted. "Yeah. They seem to be talking."

Suddenly, one of the figures moved closer to the other, turning the two figures into one blob.

"They're kissing," said Ron. "Dad, I don't think…"

"Yeah," said Mr. Weasley. "We should go back." But he didn't look away from them. There was an awkward moment of silence, then Mr. Weasley said, "You think he loves her, Ron? You think they have genuine love? They're still young…"

"That's what it looks like," said Ron.

"It's hard, you know? To find someone to really love you," Mr. Weasley smiled weakly. "You and Hermione? I hope that's true love. It's such a great thing, love." He looked out to the lake. "I had five girlfriends before I found your mother. And when I did, I just…knew. You'll know too, Ron, when it's the right girl," he looked down at his son. "I'm just hoping Ginny knows."

"Yeah," Ron replied. "I think I really love Hermione. And I think Ginny really loves him."

Mr. Weasley nodded. "Your mother will take some time getting used to it. But she's had the same experience before. My family was poor, but she still loved me."

"I hope Mom gets it," said Ron. "I think she will understand sooner or later."

"I think she will," said Mr. Weasley. He looked back towards the Ball, where the party was still going on. "C'mon, Ron, let's go back. Hermione will be waiting."

Ron grinned as his father put an arm around him, and led them back.

***

"Draco!" Ginny gasped. He was kissing her neck, and she grabbed him so hard her knuckles were turning white.

He looked up at her, leaving her neck. "Am I being selfish enough?"

"No," Ginny replied, and leaning in, met his mouth with hers. His mouth felt so good on hers, warm and nice, making her feel so good. She pressed against him until there was no daylight between them. His hands ran along her arms, giving her goosebumps, but at the same time warming her, because it was pretty chilly outside.

She suddenly remembered something, and broke the kiss. "Draco," she said, breathless. "Draco, I love you." She looked at him for a while. "You say it."

"Ginny, I know that, you don't have to say it," said Draco, running his hand through her hair.

"No," Ginny insisted. "Say it."

"I love you too," he said easily, kissing her forehead.

Ginny was a bit confused. "How come you never said it before?"

"You never did," he pointed out. "Besides, I don't need you to say it. I already know, like I said. And I suppose you know, too."

Ginny looked at him for a while.

Draco suddenly understood, partly. "Is this why you were so mad? Because I never said it and I said I never lie?"

Now feeling a bit stupid, she nodded.

Draco laughed, and wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay. I'm just not very good at showing my feelings, that's all. You learn to hide them after awhile. I learned at an early age that showing feelings didn't really do anything. So never did."

"You don't have to hide them from me," said Ginny indignantly.

"I'll try," he promised. "But I am good at kissing."

Ginny grinned. "I'll have to judge that for myself."

"All right," he said, and sealed her lips with his again.

-The End-

A/N: And there it is! The last chapter. Longest chapter yet. Again, thanks to all my faithful readers and reviewers. Thanks for all the praise I got from this story. I hope more will come soon! Here's just a little poem my friend forwarded to me, thought it might be interesting to read:

'He's simply so strict and sarcastic,

And some might think he's quite strange.

For instead of seeing a barber,

Snape hits the garage for a quick oil-change.'

Okay, hope I'll see all of you in my reviews for my next stories, if there are any, soon! You guys are great! J And if you're writing something and love to write, like me, don't stop!