A/N: I was reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire again, and when I got to the part at the Yule Ball, I couldn't help but feel badly for Ginny. It was her first dance, and she was stuck with a horrible partner . . ugh! This story just kind of wrote itself, and I tried to stay as close to the characters real personalities as I could while writing a story like this. This story is completed, and unless I have another strange bout of insomnia, it probably won't have any sequels. Enjoy!
Ginny Weasley had had enough! Yes, Neville Longbottom was an nice - if awkward - boy, and yes, she had been the one to agree to go with him, but honestly! If you can't dance, you really shouldn't be asking your partner to endure the torture with every song!
She winced as yet again her partner managed to stomp on her foot. She was sure her toes were swollen by now.
"Uh, Neville?" She asked softly, and he looked at her anxiously. He looked so pitiful that she couldn't help but forgive him again. "Uh, that is . . I think I need a little break."
His face fell and she almost regretted her statement. "You're not enjoying the dance?"
"No, I am!" She quickly reassured him. "I just need to get some air."
"Oh!" He brightened considerably. "I'll come with you."
"No!" She almost shouted, and a couple of the surrounding couples gave them weird looks. She groaned, Neville looked depressed again. "That is, I wouldn't want to drag you away from the dance, . . especially," she hurried to continue when it looked like he was about to interrupt. "Especially since that girl over there looks like she's been dying to dance with you."
Ginny cringed, she knew it sounded bad. Neville looked over at the unfamiliar girl, then back at her. "Are you sure, Ginny?" He asked skeptically.
"Definitely." She nodded emphatically. "So you go dance with her, and I'll be back in a couple of minutes."
Thankfully Neville finally agreed, and Ginny slipped off towards the front doors. She turned for a minute at the door, feeling a slight bought of guilt as the unsuspecting girl agreed to dance with Neville, then hurried out to the rose garden.
It was a beautiful night, and it was so peaceful among the roses. Ginny noticed Harry and Ron hurrying back to the dance with anxious looks on their faces, but feeling the need to be alone she let them go. Finding an unoccupied bench took a little time, but she finally found one and sank down to it gratefully.
Sliding off her shoes she winced just looking at her feet. Sure enough, a few of her toes looked red and swollen. She wiggled them for a minute, then sat back and closed her eyes. The night air was cool and refreshing, and though she could still hear the music playing from inside the school, she was far enough away that it wasn't overwhelming.
She thought back to the moments in the Griffindor tower before the dance. She had descended into the common room gracefully, and judging by the look on Neville's face, she supposed she hadn't looked too horrible. Her dress robes were a dark blood red color that accented her hair. (Ginny was just glad that her mother had found a better selection of dress robes for her than she had for Ron!) Her hair was pulled up into an elegant knot with a few curly tendrils perfectly hanging down around her face. After he had tole her she looked 'nice,' they had proceeded to the dance.
Her thought turned to Harry. She could have strangled her brother for telling her to go to the dance with Harry, and yet she couldn't help feeling sharply disappointed that she couldn't go with him. He had looked wonderful in his dress robes tonight, though she couldn't help but notice how awkward he looked while dancing. She wondered what it would feel like to dance with him. Would he enjoy it more if she were with him . .
'Stop it.' She instantly berated herself. 'He probably didn't even notice you!' She was right to accept Neville's invitation to the dance, he had asked her. Besides, she hadn't known that she would have been placed in that situation, and since she was only a 3rd year, it might have been her only chance to go to the ball.
"Well, well, what have we here?" A familiar voice drawled. "The littlest weasel's all alone? . . how pitiful."
Ginny, startled from her thought, jumped angrily to her feet, ignoring the fact that her shoes lie on the other side of the bench. "Get the hell away from me, Malfoy!"
Draco Malfoy watched her with that insufferable smirk. "Tsk, tsk, weasel. Your mother teach you to have a mouth like that?"
"No, actually." Ginny straightened as tall as she could. "It was my father."
The corner of his mouth twitched as he watched her determinedly stand up to him. He took a moment to look over her appearance. Her hair looked good, and though her robes were obviously second hand, they certainly looked better than her brothers' had. His eyes finally fell to her bare feet and, knowing who her dance partner was, he had no trouble guessing why she was out there. He watched her for a moment longer, then held out his hand. "May I have this dance?"
If she was startled before, now she was going into complete shock. Unable to hide her surprise she gaped at him, her mouth moving slowly though no words came out of it. Finally she managed to spit something out. "You . . You're evil!"
He raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Yes."
"And you hate me!" She yelled.
He nodded again. "Yes."
"Then, why . ." She trailed off, completely confused.
"Because every girl deserves a dance." He couldn't believe he was actually doing this.
Ginny couldn't believe it either. "I - I've danced."
"A real dance, Ginny." He suddenly felt like an idiot. There had to have been something in the punch that was making him do this. "If you'd rather not-" He turned away, not caring to hear her answer.
"Wait!" Ginny surprised herself further by stopping him. "I'll dance with you."
He turned back and saw her nervously bitting her lower lip. He could hear The Weird Sisters start up a slow song and stepped closer to her.
Ginny could have slapped herself. 'Now you've done it Ginny Weasley! All you'd've had to do was keep your mouth shut, but nooo . . you had to go and do the dumbest thing you could have. Now he's going to start laughing at you and by tomorrow this will be all over school . .' So intent in her thoughts, Ginny didn't notice him step forward until he put a hand on her waist. She gasped as he pulled her close to him and reached for her right hand.
Slowly, without saying a word, he began to glide, and she hesitantly followed, grateful she didn't have to lead. He actually was a fairly good dancer, she admitted then stifled a groan.
Draco Malfoy was in shock. Not only had he been the one to ask her to dance, but instead of taunting her like he knew he should have, he actually found himself wanting to dance with her. So now here he was in the Rose Garden, dancing with a girl he had spent all his time making fun of. The worst part of it all was that he was enjoying himself. Pull her away from her horrible partner, and Ginny Weasley could actually dance.
They danced slowly in the moonlight, each lost in their thoughts until something occurred to her. "Won't Pansy be missing you?"
Draco stiffened slightly. "She has so many people lined up for dances she probably won't even notice I've gone." He answered truthfully.
"Oh." Ginny whispered softly. "Ron'll kill you if he sees us."
He snorted. "Weasley's too busy trying to ignore his date to miss you." He pulled back slightly so that he could see her face. "Ignoring your date seems to be common in your family."
Ginny had the decency to blush at his comment, but felt it safer not to respond. "I suppose this . . thing . . is a one time happening, right?"
"What do you mean?" He asked, guiding her around a statue next to the path.
"I mean that tomorrow you'll go back to your taunting, and making fun of me and my friends."
"Most likely." He noticed that the song was ending and wished it would go on for a few more minutes.
The song ended, and Ginny awkwardly pulled away from him. They silently watched each other for a moment, then Draco took her hand and led her back to the bench. He was just going to leave her there and walk back to the castle, but once again her voice stopped him.
"Thank you . . for the dance I mean."
He nodded slightly.
"Now I know what a real dance is like." She said softly.
"Don't mention it Weasley." He muttered. "I mean that." Then, he turned and stalked back towards the castle.
Ginny watched him go then sank back down to the bench. Pulling on her shoes she whispered, "What just happened?"
She got her shoes back on, though her feet still screamed in protest, and walked back to the castle to find Neville waiting for her by the door.
"Ginny!" He called out loudly when he saw her. "You missed the last dance."
He looked disappointed again. "Oh, I'm sorry Neville. I must have taken longer than I thought. Will you forgive me?"
"Oh," he shrugged. "I could never stay mad at you."
He grabbed her hand to lead her up the stairs, but a bright flash of pink caught her eye, and she turned to see Pansy dragging Draco down towards the dungeons, going on and on about insensitive dates who missed the last dance. Draco caught her eye, and for a moment they held the gaze before Pansy dragged him off and Neville began pulling her up the stairs.
The night hadn't started well, she admitted to herself, but it had certainly turned out interestingly enough. What exactly had happened, she wasn't quite sure, but she knew she would never be able to look at Malfoy the same way again. After all, he had given her her first real dance.
End A/N: Well, there it is. I'm not exactly satisfied with the ending . . it seems a little cheesy to me, . . but it's finished. It's not that hard to review, so please take a minute and let me know what you thought. Comments, criticism, heck I'll even take flames if that's what it takes to get you to review! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!