A/N: Okay, I got one review for the last chapter (thanks Nightfall

A/N: Okay, I got one review for the last chapter (thanks Nightfall!), but I'm attributing that to the fact that ff.net took away AuthorAlerts. This is the second last chapter! One more, and then there will be no more! *sigh*

Important Notice to EVERYONE!!: Since there aren't any AuthorAlerts anymore, I am volunteering to send out a mini-alert to anyone who wants for my stories. Just leave your e-mail in your REVIEW and I'll 'alert' you when I post a chapter! Thanks!

Moonlight Shining

By Amanda H (aka Niffler)

Christmas sped by in a whirlwind of joyous smiles and cheerful dispositions. Christmas morning was exciting and busy, with students happily exchanging presents and singing festive carols. The Christmas feast was as delectable as ever. Christmas night everyone went to sleep with full stomachs and happy hearts.

The days that follow Christmas are usually dull, with much less excitement and little to do, however at Hogwarts everyone was busy preparing for the Yule Ball. The teachers had set-up a council of students lead by the Head Boy and Girl to help with the arrangements and preparations. The day before the ball the Great Hall was closed to students, and everyone was forced to eat in their Common Rooms. The house elves brought the food up personally to everyone's delight, except Hermione.

The day of the ball Hermione and Amy awoke with smiles already on their faces. They headed down to the Common Room for breakfast where they met Harry, Ginny and Ron. Many circular tables had been set up around the room and the comfy chairs pulled up to them.

" 'Morning!" Amy called happily from across the room. She and Hermione hurried over and sat down between Ron and Harry. Ron kissed Hermione lightly on the cheek.

"Good morning!" Ginny chirped cheerfully. Everyone set about gathering food onto his or her plates. This morning's breakfast consisted of muffins, toast and biscuits with assorted jams. Amy poured herself a cup of tea from the pot on the table, adding liberal amounts of honey. Hermione watched with an amused expression as she poured her own tea.

"Amy, you're going to use all the honey." She chided.

"So?" She asked, shrugging. "No one else here drinks tea with honey as far as I know." She replied. Hermione shrugged and returned to her own breakfast. The usual morning chatter continued through breakfast. Amy finished quickly, not eating much and proceed to drink her tea slowly. She sat a sipped the sweet liquid slowly, humming to herself.

"What're you humming?" Harry asked curiously, after listening unnoticed for several seconds, unable to identify it. Amy stopped and looked up at him.

"Oh, um," She thought for a moment. " 'In the Bleak Mid-Winter'." She replied. "It's one of my favourites." She smiled.

"Oh, I've never heard it before. Not that the Dursley's sang a lot at Christmas." He replied.

"That's to bad. The carols are one of my favourite parts to the season. I start humming them in November and usually don't stop until late January. I'll try to be quieter though, if I'm bothering you." She explained.

"No, don't bother." Harry shrugged. "I was just wondering." He turned back to Ron who was now loosing his end of a debate with Hermione. Amy smiled serenely and went back to sipping her tea.

At about 4:00 that afternoon a huge inter-house snowball fight broke out on the grounds. The five eagerly joined the fight. Amy laughed merrily as she pegged a Ravenclaw girl in the back. Almost immediately she was hit in the side by another throw. As she bent to make another ball someone ran into her and they both fell sputtering into a snowdrift. Amy wiped the snow from her eyes and looked up to see Dean sprawled on top of her.

"Hey Amy!" He laughed, rolling off her and deeper into the snow.

"You should watch where you're going!" Amy chided happily.

"Yeah well!" He laughed. "I've got to go find Lavender. Have you seen her?" He asked, standing up and brushing off the snow. Amy stood as well, though brushing the snow off didn't help much since she was immediately throttled by two more snowballs.

"I saw her a while ago. I think she might have already gone back inside." Amy said, forming another snowball in her hands and whipping it at a poor, unsuspecting boy.

"Thanks!" He called, running off towards the castle.

Amy grinned as she spotted Malfoy a few meters away from her. She carefully formed a snowball and threw it as hard as she could at the back of his head. It hit him with a 'thunk' and he turned around grabbing the back of his head.

"Hey!" He exclaimed indignantly, but Amy ducked behind two seventh years and was effectively hidden from view. She peeked around the corner as Malfoy turned back around. Then, grinning wickedly she made another snowball and threw it at his head again. This time she had to be even faster as he whipped around with lightning speed.

"Who threw that!" He yelled angrily. He scanned the crowd but could find no one paying any attention to him. As he turned back around Amy bit her lip, glancing around for witnesses and threw a third ball at her target.

As he turned around angrily Amy had to bite her glove in order to keep from being given away by her laughter. She waited a little longer this time, then carefully constructed a ball and threw it at Draco.

Unfortunately, this time he was ready. He ducked and the snowball whizzed over his head hitting a near-by tree. Amy moved to duck behind the seventh years, but they had gone and she was left standing in the open, staring at Malfoy.

"Amy!" He exclaimed. She laughed out loud. He bent down, scooping up some snow in his hands. She laughed out loud and turned to run to safety, but she was too slow and the snowball hit her in the back. It hit her with such force, and she was laughing so hard, she stumbled into a drift. She spit out snow and tried to sit up, but someone was sitting on her legs, just above her knees. She remained face down in the snow. Draco smirked.

"Caught you red handed!" He laughed.

"Alright! I give!" She cried, lifting her head out of the snow. "Let me up!"

"Why should I?" He asked mockingly.

"Because I asked nicely?" Amy pleaded.

"Alright." He conceded unhappily.

"Thank you." She said, standing and brushing the snow off her cloak. Draco smirked at her. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"You know, I would really like to push you in that snowdrift right now and sit on you!" She threatened.

"Pft! I'd like to see you try!" He scoffed.

"Fine!" She said, shoving him. Unready for the assault, Draco fell on his back into the snow.

"Ha!" She laughed, sitting down on his legs. He rolled his eyes at her.

"Ha!" He replied mockingly, sitting up and pushing her off. They wrestled momentarily for control until both were laughing so hard they could barely move. When the laughter had subsided the two stood up. Amy glanced at her watch.

"Oh! I'd better go! It almost 5:30!" She said, turning to leave. "But I'll see you by the stairs at 7:00?" She asked.

"Certainly." Draco replied.

"Great!" She called, heading off towards the castle.

"Hey!" Hermione called as Amy entered through the portrait hole.

"Hey!" Amy called back, taking off her soaked cloak and hanging it with the other's near the fire. She walked over to the table where Ron and Hermione were sitting, finishing their dinner.

"You're half an hour late!" Hermione scolded.

"Sorry, I was unaware I was on a strict time line!" Amy laughed, dishing some lasagna onto her plate and taking a large bit.

"I was. . . unconcerned." Hermione replied. Then she laughed. "I saw you shooting snowballs at Malfoy's head!" Ron opened his mouth but Hermione shot him a warning look and he quickly closed it. The three chatted for a few minutes while Amy inhaled her lasagna.

"Okay, ready to go Amy?" Hermione asked as Amy drained her glass of milk.

"Yup!" She replied happily, standing up.

"Okay, bye Ron! Meet you here at quarter to seven?" Hermione asked.

"Sure." Ron grinned. They headed for their respective dormitories.

Hermione and Amy hurried to their dorm. Joanne, Lavender and Parvati were already there getting ready.

"Hey girls!" Lavender greeted them.

"Hey!" Amy called back, heading for her own trunk. She pulled out the bag with her dress in it. Hermione ruffled through her trunk and pulled out the periwinkle gown she had worn last year.

"Oooooooh! It's lovely Hermione!" Amy smiled.

"Thanks!" Hermione replied happily, hurrying to the bathroom to change. Amy pulled the curtains on the side of her bed that faced Hermione's and stood behind them to change. The dress fit even better than it had in the store. The satin like material flowed nicely over her body and the princess-style skirt puffed out around her legs. She clasped the back and walked out. Hermione was already standing, waiting for her.

She looked absolutely stunning in the periwinkle gown. It fit just as nicely as the year before. Amy grinned broadly.

"Wow Hermione! You look gorgeous!" She breathed. Hermione smiled.

"So do you Amy." Amy smiled and grabbed the slippers from her bed, slipping them onto her feet. The two girls walked over to the large full-length mirror and looked at their reflections.

"What about your hair?" Parvati asked from across the room. They glanced at each other.

"I was just going to leave mine up." Amy shrugged, glancing at her customary bun in the mirror.

"I was going to put a non-frizzing charm on mine." Hermione replied.

"No! Come on! Let us fix your hair!" Parvati exclaimed.

"Yeah! We'll do a great job!" Lavender insisted. Hermione and Amy glanced nervously at each other.

"Alright." Amy agreed hesitantly. Hermione nodded reluctantly. The girls squealed in delight and rushed over, sitting the two on their beds.

Parvati pulled out her wand and began to work on Hermione's hair, guiding strands of it up or down to make the style. Lavender sat down behind Amy. Gently she unclipped her hair net and pulled it out. Amy's hair tumbled down, brushing the bed cover.

"Wow." Lavender breathed. It shimmered coppery gold in the light. "Now what can I do?" She wondered aloud. Suddenly she snapped her fingers. "I know!" Carefully she separated small columns of hair from the sides of Amy's head then she set about braiding them.

The topics of conversation varied in the girls' dorm as they prepared for the ball. Everyone was very excited. Soon Parvati and Lavender finished their creations and allowed the two girls to look in the mirror.

Hermione's hair had been fixed with a no-frizz charm. It was pulled neatly into a bun on the top of her head with three wispy ringlets floating down on either side of her head. She looked lovely.

Amy's hair was a looser style. Lavender explained that since no one (other than her trio of best friends) had ever seen her hair down, she wanted to leave it down. Therefore most of Amy's hair flowed elegantly down her back. The front side pieces had been twisted into long braids that were wound around her head, first crossing each other in the front then going to the back. There Lavender had tied them with an ivory ribbon. Amy smiled.

"It's perfect Lavender. Thank you." She breathed.

"No problem!" Lavender smiled, obviously pleased.

"Yes. Thank you Parvati. It looks wonderful." Hermione agreed.

"Thanks Hermione." Parvati replied, clearly stunned. "I'm glad you like it." She cocked her head to the side in curiosity and walked back to her bed. Amy smiled at Hermione.

"Ready to go?" She asked. Hermione glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 6:50.

"Oh! We were supposed to meet the boys and Ginny five minutes ago!" She replied, hurrying for the door. Amy grabbed her arm and halted her to a comfortable stroll.

"Fashionably late Hermione. Fashionably late." She grinned as the glided down the stairs.