Yes, I've finally written chapter seven! Enjoy!
'For goodness sakes Harry, would you come away from the window?' Anya pleaded. Harry turned from the window in the Gryffindor common room.
'I just wanted to see who she was waiting for.' He left his window-side vigil and sat beside Anya near the fire.
'Who who's waiting for?' Ron asked, looking up from his keeper tactics.
'No one special. Harry's just a sticky beak.' Anya said quickly, giving Harry a look. Ron looked at them both curiously, but returned to his sheets.
'Good one Potter. Now you've got Ron interested.' Anya muttered under her breath, poking Harry in the side.
'Ouch!' he rubbed his side 'So sue me, I'm curious.' Harry yawned loudly and checked his watch.
'I might head off to bed,' he announced 'Coming Ron?'
'Yeah, I'll go over this stuff later on.' He left his pile of parchment sitting on the table and followed Harry up to the dormitory.
'Night everyone.' They called out before disappearing up the staircase.
'Okay, now you can tell me who you and Harry were talking about,' Hermione scooted over and plonked herself next to Anya.
'Well, Harry and I were walking around the lake,' Hermione grinned devilishly at her 'Just walking and chatting, Hermione. Anyway, we hear someone walking towards us, and its Ginny. She heads for that little clearing at the edge of the forest and checks her watch. Of course, Harry wanted to stay and see who she was waiting for, but she obviously doesn't want anyone to know if she's meeting them in secret.' Hermione thoughtfully tapped her chin.
'I can't think who she was meeting. No one was missing from here tonight except for you and Harry. Unless she was meeting Firenze.'
'Who's Firenze?' Anya asked curiously.
'He's a centaur that lives in the forest. Ginny made friends with him a year or two back when she got lost in the forest. She meets him every now and again to talk.'
'But at night? Surely she'd meet him during the day?'
'I don't know. Any way, that's one explanation. Maybe she's seeing someone in one of the other houses and doesn't want Ron to know. He does have a tendency to play the overprotective brother.' Hermione and Anya snickered slightly. Ron watched his sister carefully, especially if she was around boys. Hermione got up and stretched.
'I'm going to bed. Coming? Or are you going to wait here for Ginny to pump her for information?' Hermione asked slyly.
'I'm simply going to sit here by the fire for a while. I'll be up later on.' Anya replied with a grin.
Harry lay awake for quite some time, trying to think of who Ginny could have been meeting. The other occupants of the dormitory were fast asleep. Harry decided to go down to the common room and sit in front of the fire for a while. He hoisted himself out of bed and walked down the twisting staircase, but he paused when he reached the bottom of the stairs upon hearing voices.
'It's really none of your business.' Harry recognised Ginny's voice, and she didn't seem that pleased.
'Ginny, I know you don't know me that well, but we're friends aren't we?' Anya's voice answered her. Harry groaned. Anya had obviously decided to wait up for Ginny and ask her who she was waiting for.
'Of course we're friends. And as my friend you'll respect that it's my business and no one else's.' Uh oh, thought Harry. He'd heard that tone in Ginny's voice many times. She wasn't far from unleashing her famous temper. Leave it Anya, Harry chanted in his head.
'OK Ginny. But I'm here if you want to talk to someone. I know that it must be difficult talking to Hermione with Ron hanging around.' Ginny laughed.
'Ron's like a bad smell that won't go away when you want to talk to Hermione. But thanks, I appreciate it.' Harry sighed. Ginny seemed to have cooled off a bit. Harry peeked around the corner to see Ginny disappearing up to her dormitory.
'You can come down now Harry,' Anya called out softly.
'How did you know I was there?' he asked, walking over to the fire.
'Just can. Thanks for the hint about leaving it.' She smiled at him.
'You needed it. Ginny was just about to lose it. She gets questioned enough from Ron.' Harry lowered himself onto the floor and crossed his legs.
'She must have been meeting someone she thought you'd all really disapprove of. Otherwise I'm sure she'd have told Hermione by now. Even only knowing her this long I get the idea she tells Hermione most things.'
Harry agreed 'Yes, the youngest child in her family with no sisters. She and Hermione have a tendency to gossip together a fair bit. I am surprised she hasn't talked to Hermione about this though. She told her about the other boys she's gone out with.' Anya raised an eyebrow.
'Did Ron know?'
'Of course not. If he did there would be a few boys walking around Hogwarts missing vital parts of their anatomy.'
Later that week, a notice was posted outside the Great Hall. A costume ball would be held on Halloween for all students to attend. Harry made up his mind immediately to ask Anya.
'Morning Harry.' She smiled at him at breakfast. He smiled back and cleared his throat to ask her.
'I was thinking Harry, we should go to the costume ball together.' Anya said calmly as she spread her toast. Harry choked on his orange juice.
'I was just about to ask you!' he exclaimed.
'I know. I just like getting there first. So that's obviously a yes?' Harry nodded in reply. Next to Anya, Hermione began to complain loudly.
'I wish Viktor were here. Who am I going to go with.' She stared at Ron, who was busily stirring his porridge.
'Were you saying something Hermione?' Ron asked, looking up. She groaned softly. Anya patted her hand under the table.
'Hey Ron, how about you take Hermione so we can all go together?' Anya smiled sweetly at Ron.
'Uh, yeah, sure. If you'd like to Hermione.' Ron blushed as red as his hair.
'Of course I'd like to.' Hermione beamed. She nudged Anya 'I owe you one.' She muttered.
Ginny climbed into the empty seat next to Harry. After a quick 'good morning' to everyone she grabbed some toast and started eating quickly.
'Who are you going to the Halloween ball with Ginny?' Anya asked politely. Harry swore he saw miniature daggers in Ginny's eyes as she looked up.
'I'm not sure if I'll be going.' Ginny replied stiffly 'I've never been one for costume parties.' Ginny continued to eat her toast, oblivious to the looks Hermione and Anya were sharing.
'Why don't you go with Neville?' Ron asked his sister 'You've gone with him before.'
'I don't think so Ron. I still have crushed toes from the last time. If I go, I go. If I don't, I don't. End of story.' Ginny grabbed her remaining piece of toast and leapt up from the table 'I'd better get going. I wanted to go to the library before my first class.' Ginny practically sprinted from the hall in a whirl of flame coloured hair.
'I wonder…' Anya contemplated, drumming her fingers on the table.
'Wonder what?' Ron mumbled through a mouthful of toast.
'Oh, nothing.' Anya smiled brightly at Ron, who looked at her curiously 'Just eat your breakfast, Ron.'
As Harry and Anya walked to Charms, Harry asked her more about her mind reading ability.
'Couldn't you use it to find out who Ginny's been meeting?'
'Ah, so that's what all these questions have been about. To answer your question, no I can't use it on Ginny. It only works with certain people and I'm afraid Ginny's not one of them.' Anya swept into the Charms classroom, leaving Harry to follow in her wake.
'Besides,' Anya flicked a strand of her hair from her eyes 'What do you care? So Ginny's got a secret boyfriend. If Ron was my brother I'd do the same.' Anya peered closely at Harry.
'Are you jealous?' she asked. Harry was taken aback.
'No, why on earth would I be jealous?' he asked, avoiding Anya's eyes.
'From what I hear from Hermione, Ginny was rather taken with you until a year or two ago. Are you missing the attention? Or are you afraid of who Ginny's dating. We both know it's not a Gryffindor. Perhaps she's dating your old enemy Draco Malfoy. Wouldn't that be a turn for the books!' Anya amused herself with this thought for a moment. Harry laughed.
'Malfoy and Ginny? Don't be stupid. Malfoy's a prat, Ginny knows that.'
'He's not that bad Harry. Most of the Malfoy we see is not him, but his father. Underneath that sneering façade he's a totally different person.' Anya said as she pulled her books from her bag.
Harry would have liked to argued differently, but Professor Flitwick walked in, signaling the start of class.
The first Hogsmeade trip fell the week before the Halloween Ball. Anya and Hermione chattered excitedly about different costume ideas. The four of them had decided to try and get group costumes of a similar theme. Ron suggested going as four Chudley Cannons players, but the idea was immediately thrown out by Hermione who refused to have a Quidditch related costume.
As soon as the four of them reached Hogsmeade, Hermione dragged them towards the Shrieking Shack.
'Where on earth are we going?' Harry asked.
'To the costume shop of course.' Hermione replied, in a tone that implied he should have known better. Sure enough, she stopped in front of a tiny store that Harry hadn't noticed before. The sign on the window proudly proclaimed 'Madame George's Costumes for All Occasions'. The shop was already filled up with other Hogwarts students.
'Oh, I hope all the good costumes aren't gone.' Anya said anxiously. They walked into the shop and were pounced on by Madame George herself.
'Costumes for the Halloween Ball?' Hermione nodded. Madame George clapped her hands and four dummies jumped over to her. She tapped each with her wand and transfigured them into replicas of Harry, Anya, Ron and Hermione.
'Individual or group costumes?' Madame George asked, looking at the group over her round spectacles.
'Group.' Anya answered. The costume mistress waved her wand over the dummies and at once they wore white costumes.
'ABBA, perhaps?' All four wore identical looks of horror.
'No way!' Ron exclaimed. Hermione gave him a quizzical look.
'How do you know about ABBA? They were a muggle group.'
Ron shook his head 'Nope. Witches and wizards who made muggle music as well.'
Madame George tapped her chin, thinking of other ideas.
'How about going as the heroes of Camelot. I'm afraid our King Arthur costume is out, but we have four other costumes that would be suitable.' She waved her wand again and the ABBA costumes were replaced with four new ones.
Anya and Hermione exclaimed over the fine material that made the costumes their dummies wore. Anya's double was resplendent in a flowing gown of blues, greens and silvers. She was the Lady of the Lake. The Hermione replica wore a gown of rich red velvet; a golden crown proclaimed her Queen Guinevere. Ron and Harry were costumed as Sir Lancelot and a young Merlin respectively.
'I think we'll definitely take these four.' Anya fingered the soft, shimmering material of her costume. Hermione nodded, agreeing. Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged.
'Fine with us.' Harry piped up. Madame George smiled and transferred the costumes into four boxes. They each paid two galleons for the costume hire, ten sickles of which they would get back upon the delivery of the costumes back to the shop.
Hermione and Anya talked of hair and jewelry on the way back to the castle. Harry looked at Anya's hair with interest. She usually wore it plaited and pinned up on her head. He wondered how long it would be if she wore it out.
The night of the Costume Ball approached quickly. Harry and Ron, looking every bit the part as residents of Camelot, waited down in the Common Room for their dates. Ron looked around for Ginny.
'Have you seen her yet Harry?' Harry shook his head. Neville, who had been standing near by, turned around.
'She went out earlier.'
'Did you see her costume or who she was going with?' Ron asked curiously. Ginny had not revealed her date to anyone, or what costume she would be wearing. Neville shook his head.
'Nope, sorry. She was wearing a long cloak, and she left here by herself. She must have been meeting them somewhere else.' Ron opened his mouth to answer, but Hermione and Anya had chosen that moment to appear from their dorm. Harry and Ron looked at them in shock.
The red velvet dress suited Hermione perfectly. The bodice fit perfectly, the skirt flared out fully. The edges were trimmed in gold to match the golden crown that rested upon Hermione's chestnut tresses. She smile warmly at Ron, who took her hand as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Harry, meanwhile, was staring at Anya, mesmerised. The floating gown she wore changed colour as she walked, showing deep blues and other softer shades of blue and green. An extra piece of the extraordinary material hung from her shoulders, secured by two silver clips. Her hair settled in waves down her back, ending in curls past her waist. In the light, her hair appeared to be blue-black, and a small silver coronet rested on her head. She and Hermione laughed at the stunned expressions on their faces.
'Shall we go down?' Anya asked Harry, linking her arm with his. He nodded, swallowing.
The Great Hall had been magnificently decorated. On other years, giant pumpkins and bats had been strategically placed, but this year, autumn flowers graced the halls and tiny fairies provided extra light. Harry and Ron led their dates proudly to their table, knowing full well that every male attending was staring at them. Ron peered around the hall for any signs of his sister. He spotted her flaming red hair across the room. She turned around, revealing her costume and date, an act which made Ron turn as red as his hair.
'What- what has she got on?!' he spluttered, pointing at her. Harry couldn't help but hide a smile. No wonder Ginny had left the common room before her brother could see her. She wore a silky outfit similar to the one wore by Barbara Eden on 'I Dream of Jeannie', except her costume was a deep green. Her midriff was completely exposed, Harry noted. He wouldn't be surprised if Ron burst a blood vessel then and there. The worst of it was her date. He looked exceptionally handsome, dressed as a male genie with his chest bare. The problem was that it was Draco Malfoy.
'She's with him!' Ron's face grew redder by the minute.
'Calm down, Ron.' Hermione patted him on the arm 'She looks fabulous, and Draco's hardly going to try anything while you're here.'
'But it's Draco Malfoy.' Harry pointed out.
'I've told you before Harry, he's not all bad.' Anya piped up, ignoring the look of horror Ron gave her 'I can sense things about people and he's not what he appears.'
Ron looked ready to throw himself across the hall and attack Malfoy, but luckily, the orchestra struck up a waltz. Hermione grabbed Ron and pulled him onto the floor. Anya did the same to Harry.
'But I can't dance!' he protested.
'So? Neither can I. But we'll manage.' Anya grinned and picked up the edge of her skirts so Harry wouldn't tread on them. The orchestra consisted of instruments that had no doubt been transfigured by Professor McGonagall so they would play by themselves. Harry could see Ron trying to lead Hermione towards Ginny and Draco, but she skillfully led him back the other way.
'My, my. I do believe Ginny will hear of this later.' Giggled Anya. Harry laughed.
'She sure will. She'll make him wish he hadn't brought it up though. She has a temper worse than Ron's.'
I know it's evil of me to leave it here, but this was threatening to be an extremely long chapter (by my standards, anyway). More soon, I promise.