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Harry slowly walked down the stairs into the Gryffindor common room.
"Lookin' good there, four-eyes!" jeered Harry's Bishop chess piece.
Harry shot the offending piece a fulminating glare and met Ron by the sofa. Ron looked much better with the new black dress robes made up into the current style. Harry also ordered a new set himself, preferring the black color over the dark green ones he had.
"Reckon they're coming down soon?" he asked, looking towards the girls' dormitory stairs.
"Ha! You know how women are! They'll be up there for another hour or so, making sure their shoes match their robes, the earrings match their necklaces...the ball will be over before we get down there!" Ron made a face as he sat back on the sofa, disgusted with the grooming habits of the opposite sex.
Harry grinned at his friend's face, despite the flutterings in his stomach, making him feel somewhere between wanting to throw up and wanting to fly...without his Firebolt. "I doubt they'll be that long, you know how Hermione hates to be late for anything."
Just that moment Hermione came down the stairs. Ron jumped up and stared at her, his mouth wide enough to swallow the castle.
"Hi!" Hermione greeted the two males. Harry's eyes roamed over his friend approvingly. She looked lovely in her shimmering silver robes, which looked as if she had charmed them to change colors in the light. Her hair was in a tight bun at the base of her neck with a white orchid tucked in the soft fold of hair.
Ron's ears flushed a deep shade of scarlet as he gaped at his girlfriend. Hermione blushed herself, seeing the emotion in his eyes.
"Simply beautiful." Ron apparently had lost the ability to speak in complete sentences. Harry tried to hide his grin.
Hermione was no less affected by Ron's appearance herself. "You too," she said blushing even more so as she realized that Ron probably wouldn't like being referred to as "beautiful." "I mean," she amended, "You look really handsome." Both of them were now well beyond blushing, their faces literally giving off steam, making them both appear as if they had swallowed a large bottle of Madam Pomfrey's Pepper-Up Potion.
This is all well and good, but where the hell is Ginny? Harry thought. Hermione must have read his mind because she quickly turned to him and said, "Ginny'll be down in a couple of minutes." Harry nodded.
Ron held out his hand to Hermione, who immediately took it, turned to Harry and said, "We'll be downstairs." They climbed through the portrait hole, both still beaming and blushing at the same time.
Harry watched as the other Gryffindors and their prospective dates left the room. Dean and Seamus were with Lavender and Parvati, Neville was with a shy fourth year girl who had a crush on him since her first, and both George and Fred were with Alicia and Angelina. The twins gave Harry knowing winks as they left through the portrait hole.
"Remember Harry," called out George, "If you aren't downstairs with Ginny in about twenty minutes, both Fred and I will be coming back up here!"
Harry felt his face grow warm. Fred and George had given him hell when they found out he was taking Ginny to the ball, most likely just to give themselves a good laugh at Harry's discomfort. Ron, on the other hand, was really relaxed about it, which was surprising since he was the most protective out of them all about his little sister. Hermione once confessed it was because he knew how Harry felt about Ginny almost from the beginning, so therefore he had time to absorb the shock.
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Ginny stared at her reflection in the mirror in her dormitory, wanting to run and hide. It wasn't that she looked awful, but she was absolutely scared to death of what Harry might think of her. This was supposed to be one of the greatest moments of her life, why in God's name did she feel like she needed to see Madame Pomfrey? She wanted to wait until she was sure everyone else had left before going downstairs. She didn't think she could make an appearance with everyone down there, including her brothers, who had been teasing her mercilessly.
She hoped Harry didn't laugh too hard when he saw her. That would be just the absolute worst thing that could happen to her...ever! She knew when she got the new gown that it was going to cause an uproar, it was so different from the other girls' dress robes. Hermione told her she looked beautiful, but still...that didn't mean a thing if Harry didn't think so as well.
Taking a deep breath, she left the safety of her dormitory.
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Harry heard footsteps coming from the direction of the girl's stairs. His heart did a funny little lurch as he knew this would be Ginny. Getting up from his spot on the sofa, Harry quickly brushed the wrinkles out of his dress robes, tried to flatten his wayward hair and stood up straight.
"Getting a bit nervous, are you four-eyes?" the Knight sneered from his position at the chessboard. Harry never heard the Knight as his eyes caught their first glimpse of Ginny.
His jaw dropped. That wasn't Ginny. It couldn't be Ginny. No one could look like that. The vision that came down the stairs could not be real. She was beautiful. Her dark blue outer dress trailed behind her as she descended the stairs one by one, revealing an ivory under dress that molded itself to her slim body with each step she took. Her flame-red hair was pulled from her face to cascaded down her back in fiery curls, dotted with dark blue flowers the exact shade of her robes. Her deep brown eyes reflected the candlelight, shining jewels set into the smooth white silk of her face. She hesitated at the base of the stairs.
Harry finally found some semblance of a voice. "You... uh…look...uh...wow!"
"What four-eyes is trying to say in his own articulate manner, my beautiful lady, is that you are perfect. Words cannot describe the beauty that sits before us all; the angels in Heaven will weep at the loss of their most precious jewel!" Ginny flushed at the knight's words, while Harry thought of what to say next.
"For once, he's right." Harry agreed. "You are perfect." He walked up to her and offered his hand to her. She shyly placed her small fingers in his warm palm. He brought it to his lips. She giggled as he pulled her to him.
"You look very handsome too," she replied, meeting his eyes for the first time that evening.
Harry prayed that he wasn't grinning like an idiot at her compliment. "Are you ready?" he murmured in her ear as he tucked a strand of hair back into place.
"Don't just stand there four-eyes! Kiss her, damnit!" called the Bishop. "Yeah, what are you waiting for, Christmas?" the Knight joined in. "It is Christmas you dolt!" cried the King. "Well, he needs to kiss her, then!" yelled the Knight. "Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" Now all Harry's chess pieces were now chanting excitedly.
There's only one thing to do when faced with a beautiful girl and jeered by contrary, lewd wizard chess pieces. Harry slowly lowered his head and kissed her. Stars danced before his eyes as he tasted her sweetness. Her lips were soft and warm as they hesitantly moved beneath his. Time was lost to them as they wrapped their arms around the other.
"Well, let the poor girl breathe a bit, Romeo!" the Queen reprimanded, making her presence known. Harry turned and pointed his wand at the offending game pieces. Each one of them stuck out their tongues and blew raspberries at him. Ginny burst out laughing.
"Damned wizard chess set!" he muttered, leading a still giggling Ginny out of the room.
"Better have her back before midnight or there'll be hell to pay!" the Queen yelled after them. "Farewell, my beauteous lady! Make sure the four-eyed fiend doesn't take advantage of you!" the Knight added. "I just hope he kisses better than he plays chess!" the Bishop sourly replied.
Later on, as Harry and Ginny strolled out in the fairy-lit rose garden, Ginny lovingly gazed up at him and said, "You do kiss better than you play chess!"
Harry had no choice but to kiss her again.