~Ch. 4-Millennium Ball~

The next three days passed quickly for all the students of Hogwarts, who were excited about the ball, which would be open to the whole school, students of every year level.

Most of them realized the real reason for the dance, (rather than the celebration of Hogwarts' thousandth anniversary,) was an attempt to boost moral, to help the children forget for a while the Voldemort was back in power, and that their world was a very dark and dangerous place at the moment.

And boost moral, it did. Spirits were high Friday morning, giggling and laughter abounded throughout the corridors, and some of the teachers could be seen to smile behind their hands, even after they admonished their students to stop gossiping and flirting, and start paying attention.

The juiciest bit of gossip, of course, was McGonagall's pairing of Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were just as astonished as the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Draco made a point of avoiding Ginny, which only fueled the gossips more. Half the school believed they had a secret sort of affair going on, the other half believed they were still- as a Weasley and a Malfoy- sworn enemies. And a small percentage of students claimed it was exactly like Romeo and Juliet, which caused the girls to swoon at the romance of it while the boys made bets on who would die first.

Ron, although he said he believed Ginny's story, was still suspicious, however. He watched his sister while they were at lunch at the Gryffindor table, and he couldn't help but notice just how many looks she kept throwing at Draco, and vice-versa. And it seemed to him the looks weren't exactly as unfriendly, full of mutual loathing and malice, as they should have been.

"Ginny, you're not really going with Malfoy, are you?" He asked her for the twelfth time that week. Hermione stifled a laugh behind her hand at the baffled look on Ron's face.

Ginny Weasley just grinned at her brother's question, laughing a bit. "Ron, you sound as if I'm dating Draco. It's just the ball, and besides, it's punishment for a reason. You don't really think a Malfoy would want to hang around a Weasley unless he had to, do you?" She smiled a bit.

"Besides, I'll still save you a dance, Ron, if that's what you're worried about. Draco won't dance with me all night." She continued to grin. "And look at it this way... at least I have some sort of date to the dance..." She winked at her brother.

"So who did Harry ask?" She looked over at Hermione for a moment. "Did he ask you? I do hope you're going, Hermione... I need someone to help me get ready." She couldn't help but feel excited. "I'm going to wear the dress I got while at Beauxbatons... they had so many balls I forgot how many I attended."

To Ginny's surprise, Hermione actually blushed a bit. "Well, um, your brother asked me," she said with a glance to Ron, who turned a bit red as well. Hermione quickly turned the subject from the two of them. "I think Harry's landed with Parvati Patil again, he always waits to last minute on these things."

Hermione leapt up, seizing Ginny's arm. "C'mon, you've got time to show me your dress before class starts, I'm dying to see it, all the other girls can't stop raving..." The older girl trailed off into more happy chatter, leading Ginny away.

Ron just dug back into his food, muttering something about 'women'.

*

Ginny's day went incredibly slow from there. Classes were almost impossibly long, but at least Potions was fun. Since Ginny already knew how to make the potion, it was easy, so she kept stealing glances over at Draco when she thought Snape wasn't looking. Finally the day was over and Ginny practically raced up to the Gryffindor girls' dorm room to get ready.

Despite the fact the dance was at least four hours away, Ginny wasn't sure she'd have enough time to get ready. Yet, somehow she managed. Slipping into her dress, she sat down, applying makeup and putting on her jewelry, piling her hair up onto her head, fixing things to perfection. Once she was done, she took a breath, and moved, staring into the mirror, glancing herself over from head to toe.

The dress she had gotten from Beauxbatons was a deep emerald green gown, with tiny silver designs along the hem of the bottom. The straps were thin, also with embroidery, and the neckline was rounded, perfect with the silver necklace she wore, a tiny runic design upon it. Her arms were bare, save for the gauzy green shawl that she wore that matched the gown. The bracelet that she had found while she was in Beauxbatons was on her wrist. On her feet she wore a pair of matching dancing shoes, covered by the long skirt of the dress. Her fiery red hair was piled up on her head, a tiny wisp trailing down on each side of her face. With the touches of makeup that she had, she looked perfect, elegant.

Turning to leave, she burst into a grin as she saw Hermione standing behind her. "Hey! I was wondering when you'd be in here. Are you ready?"

Hermione had the biggest grin on her face as she looked at Ginny. "Wow! Ginny, the dress was great just hanging up in your closet, but it looks even better on you. And you'll have to show me how you got your hair like that." Her smile turned mischievous, however. "You've put in an awful lot of effort for just Draco Malfoy, don't you think?…"

Hermione was trying one last time to get Ginny to admit to something about him, as she had tried throughout the week without previous success.

Ginny couldn't help but smile at that. "Hermione, you should know better than anyone that I'm not dressed up for Draco Malfoy. I'm only going with him because Professor McGonagall was trying to use it as punishment. I'm just trying to make the most of it. And besides, Harry is going to be there." She peered over at Hermione, grinning at her.

"I'm surprised it took Ron so long to ask you, is all." She tried to ask her next question as nonchalantly as possible. "Do you think Harry would have asked me if I weren't already going with Draco?"

Hermione smiled understandingly, moving closer to adjust a bit of Ginny's hair. "I dunno, Gin. You know Harry." She smoothed the curl down, nudging it back into place. "But I certainly think seeing you looking like this, especially on the arm of Draco Malfoy- that'll make Harry look twice." She gave the younger girl a conspirator's wink.

Hooking arms with her, Hermione started to walk them to the Great Hall, their dresses swishing together with the sound of satin-against-satin.

"All I know is," Hermione told her, "If Malfoy ends up looking half as gorgeous as you, you'll be the best looking couple at the dance." She paused significantly. "Even thought you're not technically a couple."

Ginny nodded a bit, glancing to Hermione once more as they walked, feeling butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah, that would be rather funny, don't you think? I'm so excited though, about all of this."

She paused to look over at Hermione and her dress, and then she smiled. "You need to dress up more, Hermi. You look beautiful. I'm sure Ron won't be able to talk for at least ten minutes after you find him."

She did feel that way, but her mind was on Draco, and slightly on Harry. She honestly did wonder if Harry would even look her way that evening.

*

Draco made his final adjustments in his mirror, turning from side to side to observe himself. He stared at his face, more and more dismayed with how much he resembled his father, Lucius Malfoy. The same platinum blond hair, except Draco kept his deliberately longer. The same cheekbones, and pale skin. The same nose.

Draco shivered. And the same eyes. Draco forced his gaze away from the mirror, taking deep breaths. He tugged at the cuffs of his coat. He wasn't wearing dress robes to this ball, he had decided. He had actually favored a Muggle-style of clothing, getting himself a sharp black tuxedo. Because Lucius Malfoy wouldn't be caught dead wearing Muggle-clothes.

The slacks fit well over his long legs, the shoes were shiny and spotless, and the white linen of the shirt contrasted well with the lightness of his hair. He wore no tie, foregoing the traditional style to leave the shirt unbuttoned at the throat. He had gone to don his Slytherin tie earlier and had found himself feeling like he was wearing a noose. So he left it off. The jacket was the best part about it, though, the coattails were long, reaching almost to his knees.

Finally ready, Draco left his rooms, one of the last to go. His thoughts turned to Ginny. In spite of himself, a small grin touched his face, but he quickly forced it away. But he couldn't stop himself from walking a little bit faster.

Stepping into the hall where the dance was being held, Ginny couldn't help but gasp. It was beautifully decorated. Instead of stepping into the hall, she felt as if she were walking into some sort of fairy tale. The room looked more like she was stepping outdoors. There was soft grass on the ground, trees looming over with the beautiful night sky directly overhead. Ahead of the grass was a marble floor for the dancing area, with small little glades of trees for more private conversations, as well as slow dancing.

Ginny clutched her friend's arm. "Hermione... This is so perfect! I wonder how Harry looks." But as she said Harry, she was thinking more along the lines of Draco. Blushing faintly, she let Hermione pull her out of the way of the doorway to let the other students who were arriving file in.

Her gaze scanned over those who were arriving, looking for Harry... but more so for Draco.

Harry was actually the one to arrive first, with Parvati Patil on his arm. His normally messy hair looked as if he'd combed it successfully, for once, and his black and gold dress robes looked very striking on him. Parvati didn't look at all displeased with her partner. Hermione waved to them cheerfully, bringing them over. "Hey Harry, hey Parvati. You guys look great! Seen Ron?" She questioned eagerly.

Harry didn't answer. He was blinking at Ginny, looking as if someone had slapped him over the head with a board. Parvati glanced at her date in annoyance, then looked to Hermione. "Yes, He's coming down right now." No sooner had she said so, then Ron waltzed in, spotted Hermione, and dragged her away from the group for a quiet interlude.

Parvati excused herself to go meet her twin, and Harry and Ginny were left alone for a moment. The Boy Who Lived looked almost awkward, alternating between staring at Ginny and looking around. Finally he told her. "That's a really wicked dress, Gin. You got it in France?"

Ginny stared after Ron and Hermione as they hurried off, smiling a bit at them before looking over at Harry. "Yeah, I needed something nice since they had so many balls in France…"

She blushed a bit, looking to him. "You like it?" She suddenly found herself getting nervous around him. Normally, she felt alright, but now, she felt as if her stomach was churning.

She liked to joke about making an impression on Harry, but she had never really thought it would ever come to anything.

Harry Potter was starting to look a bit flushed himself. He tugged a bit on his sleeve. "Yeah. You look… you look good." He cleared his throat. The music was playing now, soft, instrumental music that matched the ambiance of the forest glade decorations.

Parvati came back, hooked her arm with Harry's, gave him a significant look before turning her eyes on Ginny. "So, Ginny dear," she asked sweetly. "Where's Draco? He is your date, isn't he?"

Harry jumped about a foot. "Ginny, you're dating Malfoy?" He yelped in astonishment, drawing the attention of most of the people near them. "That prat, that slime ball, that scum of the earth? That Malfoy?"

Parvati looked to her date innocently. "Harry, where have you been? That's all anyone's been talking about all week!"

Harry flushed a little more. "I had Quidditch tryouts," He mumbled defensively. "I am the Captain, after all…" He looked back to Ginny, peering at her. "You haven't been tricked into this, have you Ginny? Not like, y'know, Tom Riddle all over again…"

Ginny smiled at Harry again before Parvati came back. Upon Harry's reaction to the mention of Draco being her date, she couldn't help but burst out laughing. However, his mention of Tom Riddle sobered her up a bit, and a frown crossed her features for a moment.

"Actually, Professor McGonagall set it up. If you want to blame someone, blame her. It's my supposed 'punishment' for following Draco after noticing he was cutting classes. So I'm stuck with him as my date for the evening. It's certain to be," she wrinkled her nose "a very interesting evening. But I'm saving you and Ron a dance this evening, Harry, so do feel free to interrupt if it looks like I'm completely miserable."

She chuckled again, trying to forget the mention of Tom Riddle. "Ron can't get over the fact that I'm stuck with Draco tonight, while Hermione... Well, she seems to think I'm attracted to him or something. She kept bugging me about it all week."

Glancing back around, Ginny continued to look. "Speaking of my 'date', have you even seen him yet, Harry? I sure hope he didn't stand me up..." She chuckled at that. "Who knows what McGonagall would make me do if he didn't show.."

Harry only frowned. "No, I'm not his keeper. Gosh, Gin, this seems pretty rotten of McGonagall, usually she's pretty fair… maybe I should go talk to her…" he glanced towards where the chaperones were massing.

Parvati tugged on his arm. "Oh, don't worry about Ginny, Harry, I'm sure she'll be fine." She threw a glance at the youngest Weasley. "Right, Ginny? Besides, Harry, you owe me a dance.."

Harry still resisted her pulling. "Maybe I should stay with Ginny, Malfoy can be a real bastard sometimes…" He looked to Ginny protectively.

"…Speaking for the bastard, let me reassure you Potter, I'm not going to murder the girl." Came the sarcastic drawl from behind him and Parvati. The two moved aside, and Draco came into view.

Draco wasn't any taller than Harry, but the way he carried himself in that moment seemed to make himself a towering figure, staring down his nose at everyone from a great distance. He walked over to Ginny, looking down into her eyes. He moved his hand from behind his back and held it out to her. He finished his statement with a half-smile. "Take her off to the gardens and ravish her, maybe- but not murder."

There was dead silence all around them. Draco glanced around, one pale eyebrow arching coolly. "That was a joke." He informed the group wryly.

Ginny looked surprised as Draco chose that moment to show up, and she found herself blushing in spite of herself, especially at his choice of words. Still, she pushed the blush away and turned back to Harry and Parvati.

"Don't worry Harry, I'll be fine. Nothing's going to happen to me. Besides, you should have fun with your evening. McGonagall placed me with Draco in an attempt punish us, so you probably shouldn't interfere anyways."

She smiled. "I'm sure Draco will be a perfect gentleman. And if he isn't, well, we can always both agree to just be completely silent and wait for the evening to be over, right?"

She moved, leaning in and kissing Harry lightly on the cheek. The same sort of kiss she might give Ron. She was almost thankful that Parvati was there, as she was certain the situation would be much more tense if it were simply her, Draco, and Harry.

"Go have fun, Harry Potter." She ordered, crossing her arms. It was best not to mess with a redhead when they had that determined look on their face, either.

Despite her reassurances, Harry still stood for a moment, glaring at Draco. He held up a warning finger. "Harm so much as one hair on her head…" The warning trailed off into a growl. Finally, Parvati succeeded in pulling her date away, leaving Draco and Ginny alone together. Well, alone was a relative term in a hall full of people.

But the way Draco turned and looked at Ginny, made it seem as if it were just the two of them. "'Agree to be completely silent', huh?" he chuckled quietly at her. His silvery blue eyes roamed up and down her figure for a moment, drinking in the sight of her. "Ginny, you look… amazing." He whispered to her, the comment meant for her ears only.

But then, aware that other people were watching the two of them intently, he nodded his head stiffly, told her in a curt tone, "You look presentable enough, I suppose. At least you shan't embarrass me." His mouth twitched as he held back a grin.

"Presentable?" Ginny couldn't hide her grin as she laughed a bit. "Well, Draco Malfoy, it certainly takes a lot to please you, doesn't it?" Her words were said in an attempt to keep the stares off her and Draco. They were acting normal.

The next part, was said half to him, half to those watching. "Harry thought I looked good." She almost said it as a challenge. Then her voice lowered so she could speak just to him.

"You look handsome, Draco Malfoy. Did you dress up just for me, or were you hoping to make Pansy Parkinson mad with jealousy?" Her voice was low, but it still had a teasing tone.

Somehow, Ginny Weasley had a feeling that tonight she would be having a very good evening.

Draco lowered his voice as well, to answer her. "Ah, Ginny, you're on to my plan. See Pansy anywhere around?"

Then in normal conversational tone, "Well, we should have a go on the dance floor, I suppose. Wouldn't want McGonagall to think I'm not doing my proper dately duty, or some such thing. I don't think I could stand having to help Filch polish his collection of chains and manacles, again."

However, too impatient to wait for her to answer, Draco swept Ginny up in his arms almost immediately, twirling her out on the marble dance floor, her skirts belling softly around her ankles. He marveled at how well she fit into his arms. And how well they moved together. Of course, after all the childhood dance lessons he'd had, Draco reckoned he was capable of dancing with a garden gnome, if he had to… but Ginny was no gnome. She had… grace.

"And Harry may have said you looked good… but we all know he can't dance like I can." Draco teased Ginny after they had been dancing for a minute.

Ginny couldn't help but smile, moving with Draco carefully as they danced, almost forgetting that there was a whole room about them. Right now, she could have cared less if her brother and Harry Potter were in the room.

"If you had asked me to dance a year ago, I wouldn't have nearly been as good as I am now. You could say I became more 'cultured' during my stay at Beauxbatons. Some of the classes I took were ballroom dancing and singing, among others." She grinned. "You could call me a real party goer. I could be the entertainment all on my own."

She looked up to him, her smile spreading. "I can't help but enjoy this, though. You are a wonderful dancer, Draco Malfoy. Too bad I'll have to miss two dances with you. I promised Harry and Ron."

Draco answer was to hold her a little bit closer as they danced, and as they spun around, their bodies touched briefly. He gazed down at her, but for some reason, he had stopped smiling. He just looked at her with a quietly thoughtful expression on his features. "Ginny?" He asked her softly.

"Do you love Potter?"

Ginny looked shocked at the question. "Do... do I love Harry Potter?" She couldn't help but laugh at the question. "Are you jealous, Draco Malfoy? It almost sounds as if you are!"

And then, she really thought about what she was saying. He was jealous! "In all honesty, Draco, all Harry has really been is more of a schoolgirl crush ever since I first saw him." She shook her head. "I want him for a good friend, a close friend at least, but no... I do not love Harry Potter."

She paused to look at him. "Now that we've got that settled, can we dance, or are you convinced that I'm madly in love with him and you have to go kill him before we can continue?"

Draco grinned broadly, feeling relieved, although he told himself he had absolutely no reason to feel relief at her words. But he caught himself, and his grin vanished, the traces of it only remaining in the flashing of his eyes.

"I'm not jealous," he told her. He glanced over her shoulder, watching in amusement as Potter stepped on Parvati's foot for the second time, too busy watching Draco and Ginny in return to look at his own feet. "But I think Potter is." He whirled her around gracefully, so she could see for herself.

Ginny's mouth opened in a bit of shock at his words, but as she peeked carefully over Draco's shoulder as they turned, she indeed noticed how badly Harry was dancing. More so than usual.

"I... I can't believe the famous Harry Potter is jealous!"

But suddenly, Ginny was finding this very fun. "You know... It took him all this time to realize that I was something good enough to be jealous over." She looked to Draco. "What do you say we see how jealous we can make him?"

Draco eyed her carefully, with a degree of uncertainty. "As interesting as that would be, Ginny… we're supposed to hate each other, remember? McGonagall is forcing us into this date, remember?"

Ginny pouted a bit at him, nodding. "You're right. I forgot." Her amusement sank a bit and she looked back up at him again. "We hate each other, don't we?" She was finding it increasingly hard to hate him at this point.

"It would be so much easier if things weren't so complicated. It's so hard to lie to everyone..."

Draco considered for a moment, wanting to put the pretty smile back on her face. "I may have an idea." Winking privately at her, he stopped their movement, left her in the middle of the dance floor, and walked swiftly over to the band, murmuring something to them. He turned and gave her a sly salute as the band wrapped up the song they were playing.

In the break, Draco walked back towards her slowly, his black coattails flapping around his legs. He held his hands out to her once more, waiting for her to move into his arms. "I have a bet going, Weasley," he told her, and by the tone of his voice it was clear he meant his words to be for everyone else, not for her. "That I can dance the flamenco even with an untrained amateur like yourself."

The band struck up the melody, quickly moving into the fast-paced beat. Draco cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to take up the challenge. His look clearly said, this will make them all jealous.

Ginny's eyes widened at the speedy tempo of the song. "Well then, Malfoy, I guess we'd better not disappoint them." Her lips curved up into a smile, and she looked at him.

This promised to be good. She could not wait to see the look on Harry's face.

Now Ginny was very glad she had taken so many dance and music classes while she could in Beauxbatons. She would show everyone there, and Draco himself, just how good a Weasley could dance.

The instant their hands touched, Draco gripped hers firmly, pulling her into a tight and graceful twirl, swiftly moving from that into a deep dip that left him bent over her. "You ready for this?" He whispered mischievously. The other students had formed a large ring around the dance floor, none of them willing to miss what looked to be a very interesting performance.

Draco's hand went to the small of her back. He didn't wait for her answer.

In time to the music, he brought her back up, and led them into the first series of fast and intricate moves that very soon had them both panting for breath. The flamenco was a dance that involved a lot of spins, twirls, and footwork, all to a rapid beat. It became clear after just a few moves, that the dance lessons hadn't been wasted on either of them.

Ginny especially danced it beautifully, her hair starting to come down from its pins from the swiftness of their motions, falling in wisps around her face and into her eyes, that were flashing her excitement at Draco with every movement that brought them together.

Draco himself thought he was concentrating intently, he didn't realize he was actually grinning quite so recklessly. He couldn't remember having this much fun dancing with his tutors. But then again, none of his tutors had been Ginny Weasley. She didn't shy away from clutching his shoulders when she had to, didn't pull back when his palms encircled her waist.

At last, the dance ended, on one decisive and clear bass strum of the violins. Ginny ended up dipped over his arm even lower than she had been originally, and they were left staring into each other's faces, both breathing rapidly. At first Draco didn't notice the cheers and whistles and catcalls from the audience. He'd forgotten there was anyone else in the room.

Breathing hard, her face flushed, Ginny felt herself trying not to blush under the intensity of Draco's gaze. She struggled to catch her breath, slowly becoming aware of the people around her.

Some were cheering, others were making catcalls, but for the most part, it all sounded very positive, and Ginny was very glad they'd had the chance to do something like that. She had never in her life imagined that she would be doing this with Draco Malfoy, but she was getting very used to the idea.

Her eyes scanned the room quickly, and she found herself searching for the three people she most wanted to see reactions from: Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

Draco, too, searched for reactions from the trio, but for his own personal reasons. He straightened up, set Ginny on her feet, as his eyes moved over Hermione Granger first.

Hermione only looked surprised, and amazed, and maybe even a bit knowing- but that was hardly something new, Hermione always looked knowing. It was her date's reaction, however, that made Draco almost want to laugh out loud. Ronald Weasley was red to the roots of his equally red hair. He looked thoroughly scandalized, and as if he'd like to rearrange Draco's face with a few punches, or at least curse him with large boils.

Draco's eyes moved to Potter, and discovered the expression that he'd pretty much expected- confusion, jealously, shock. In spite of the amazing adrenaline rush he still had from the dance, Draco felt his spirits sink a little. It would seem as if Ginny had succeeded in making Harry Potter utterly jealous. The problem was, he didn't know what she'd do about it.

________________________________________

Author: Hope everyone enjoyed this little chapter. It was no small amount of fun to write, let me tell you! ;)

Oh, and it's come to our attention that a part of our story parallels a bit of another HP fanfic, "Draco Sinister" by Cassie Claire. She sent Ginny off to Beauxbatons for a summer, too. A positively eerie coincidence! But coincidence it is. And, considering that, we decided to leave the story alone. Too much hassle to think of another place we liked as much. And it's just a small part of Cassie's fic. (Which I totally recommend btw, she's an amazing writer.)

As for the flamenco bit… I've actually never seen the dance performed, I left it vague to that end. So if you find my description laughably incorrect, please don't point it out, I have fragile feelings.

Anyway, on to the next chapter! Luv yas!

~Phasera