Disclaimer: I'm not J. K. Rowling, though we are about the same age, and we're both blond. Big differences: I'm not wealthy beyond my wildest dreams, and I'm not quite the writer she is. Pity.

A/N: Thank you for all the nice reviews! I know this if fluff, but hey, a little fluff is necessary to life now and then.

Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione joined the mass of students streaming into the Great Hall from the entrance hall. Hermione couldn't help noticing that some of the girls were looking at Ron differently. She stole a glance at him. He did look different tonight. He had brushed his hair more neatly than usual, and of course, he was wearing new clothes which better suited his height. None of this really mattered to Hermione, though; he was Ron, and that was good enough for her.

Ron had noticed that some of the boys were looking at Hermione with interest. "Bloody idiots! Don't they see how beautiful she is everyday?", he wondered. "Of course," he thought, "she's more than beautiful tonight; she's stunning." Come to think of it, he was glad the other boys hadn't noticed her before!

They entered the Great Hall, which had been decorated for Christmas. Lining the walls were giant Christmas trees, covered with sparkling decorations including live doves, dancing candy canes, and ornaments that seemed to be suffused with a living light. Upon closer inspection, one saw that a tiny, glowing fairy was happily flying about inside the ornament. The front lawn once again had hundreds of fairies sitting in rosebushes (Ron blushed when he remembered Harry's comment about not taking Hermione into the rosebushes). This year, an addition had been made to the Great Hall: a large balcony had been magicked onto one side with french doors opening onto it, so that the students could go and enjoy the evening (possibly an attempt by the staff to keep the students out of the rosebushes).

The long House tables were gone. Smaller tables had been set along the walls, in front of the Christmas trees, leaving the center of the floor open for dancing. There was to be one big difference this year with the Ball: last year, because they had been hosting students from Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, dinner had been served. This year, the students had eaten an early dinner before hurrying to get themselves ready. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione finally found a table that still had four empty seats, and they settled down just as Dumbledore stood up to make a small speech.

He addressed the group of students, his eyes twinkling over the top of his glasses. "Welcome to your Yule Ball! We are pleased to have a ball again this year, due to numerous requests from some of our students". He smiled mischievously as several of the boys groaned loudly. "The other teachers and I hope you will all have a memorable time. And now, our band...", he finished, gesturing to the small stage, where the band, The Peculiar Pleiades, began playing. (The Weird Sisters had broken up earlier in the year when one of the sisters had decided she wanted a solo career).

"Well, at least I don't have to open the Ball this year", Harry thought. He looked at Ginny, who was watching him expectantly (and blushing, of course). "Er...would you like to dance, Ginny?", he asked, with a quick glance at Ron to see how he would react to Harry dancing with his little sister. But Ron apparently hadn't even noticed; he looked like he was having an internal struggle with himself and losing badly. Ginny nodded quickly, smiling, and the two of them went to find a spot on the dance floor.

Ron and Hermione sat, looking at anything and anyone besides the other. "This is nuts!", Ron told himself. "This is Hermione, one of my best friends! I shouldn't be scared to dance with her!"

"Ah, but you should be!", Ron's insides replied. "This is Hermione, the girl you've been crazy about for who-knows-how-long! You were crazy about her before you even realized it! You should be plenty scared!"

"Oh, shut up!", Ron said, not realizing he had spoken out loud.

"What?", Hermione asked. "Did you say something, Ron?"

"Umm, yeah", Ron said, blushing furiously. "Would you...maybe...like to dance?" There, he'd asked her! That would show his insides!

Hermione nodded, and they stood. "This is ridiculous!", Hermione thought to herself as she followed Ron to the dance floor. "This is Ron! Why am I so nervous? I danced with Viktor last year, and I was fine!" She knew why, though. She had been falling for Ron since second year. She knew a lot of people would be surprised that she had not fallen for Harry (or for Viktor) instead. Viktor was more of a casual friend, someone to write to. And she did love Harry, but like a brother. Her feelings for Ron had surpassed that a long time ago.

They found a spot, and Ron turned to her. She saw that he was flushing furiously, and this made her feel a little better. He hesitantly put his arm around her waist and took her hand in his. They danced, standing at least a foot apart, afraid to meet each other's eyes. A couple of minutes later, the first dance ended, and they applauded politely with the rest of the crowd.

The second song started, another slow one, and they began to dance again. Hermione looked around and noticed that some of the older couples were dancing close, both of the girl's arms around the boy's neck, her head on his shoulder, the boy's arms around the girl's waist. "I would love to dance with Ron like that", she thought. She snuck a glance at him and saw that he was patently terrified. "You'd think I was a huge spider", she thought, almost giggling out loud. The thought made her feel more confident. Taking a deep breath, she took her hand from his and put both her arms around his neck. She stepped closer and put her head on his shoulder, hoping she was doing the right thing.

Ron completely stopped moving for a full 10 seconds. Then he slowly put his free hand around her waist to join the hand that was already there. He was surprised; he had watched Hermione dance with Krum the year before, and she sure hadn't danced with him this way. Ron supposed he would have killed Krum if he had seen him holding Hermione like this, and the thought made him subconsciously pull Hermione closer. He could smell her hair and the light perfume she had put on, though he wasn't sure how he could smell anything; he surely hadn't drawn breath since she had put her arms around him.

The fates were with him, and the band played several slow songs in a row. Each time, Hermione put her arms back around his neck, and he was able to pull her close again. On about the third song, he finally remembered how to breathe.

The band struck up a fast song, and they left the floor to get something to drink. And, of course, they had to run into Malfoy.

"Well, if it isn't Granger and Weasel", he drawled, looking smug despite wearing bright red dress robes that made him look like a devil. All he needed were the horns and the tail. "Had to come with each other because you couldn't find proper dates?"

"Where's your pitchfork, Malfoy?", Ron countered. "Dropped it in the River Styx, did you?" Behind Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle snickered, obviously not understanding the joke enough to realize it was a putdown. Malfoy shut them up with a glare.

"I'd talk if I were you, Weasel", Malfoy sneered. "It's a disgrace! Even as low as your family is, you're still a pure-blood! And you're out with this Mudblood!", he spat, looking comtemptuously at Hermione.

Ron slammed his cup down on the table, sloshing punch everywhere. "Why, you slimy git! I'll make you pay for that!", he started, lunging at Malfoy.

Hermione quickly grabbed Ron's arms, trying to restrain him. "Hey, who invited Professor Moody to the Ball?", she said loudly, looking behind Malfoy. Malfoy jumped and looked around nervously; it would be a long time before he forgot how Moody (albeit not the "real" Moody) had turned him into the Amazing Bouncing Ferret.

"Let's just go," he muttered to Crabbe and Goyle. He gave Hermione and Ron one last sneer, then he hurried away with his two toadies.

"Hermione!", Ron said loudly, turning to her. "Why didn't you let me hurt him?! He deserves it! I'm so sick of him, calling you names, when you're 10 times better than he is at everything!"

Hermione released Ron's arms, hoping he wouldn't take off after Malfoy. "I'm sorry, Ron. But, in case you haven't noticed, there are teachers everywhere. And you're more than a match for Malfoy, but frankly, Crabbe and Goyle would kill you!"

Ron took a deep breath and blew it out forcefully. He ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah, OK...." Why did Malfoy have to ruin everything?

"Look, you need to calm down. Everything's fine--we just need to forget about that...'slimy git', did you call him?", Hermione asked, starting to giggle.

Ron watched her giggling and started to laugh himself. "Yeah...and that was great, the way you announced that Professor Moody was here."

"Did you see his face?", Hermione asked, laughing harder. "He looked like he was about to soil himself!"

"I'd pay money to see that!", Ron snickered. Then he thought about it. "On second thought, no, I wouldn't", he howled, doubling over with laughter.

They stood there laughing, tears streaming down their faces, while people looked at them strangely. This only made them laugh harder.

Hermione got herself under control first. "I need some fresh air--let's go outside", she suggested.

This sobered Ron up very quickly. "The rosebushes?", he said under his breath, starting to blush.

"What?", Hermione asked, genuinely not hearing him; she wouldn't have gotten the implication anyway, seeing as how she hadn't gone out to the front lawn with Viktor. "Let's go out onto the balcony. We can still hear the music from out there. OK?"

"OK", Ron said, following her to the french doors opening onto the balcony. He was surprised at himself. He was relieved she hadn't wanted to go to the front lawn, but to be truthful, he was a little disappointed. He passed Harry and Ginny on the dance floor, both of them looking very happy. They were dancing, but not the way he and Hermione had been dancing. That was good; he'd hate to have to kill his best friend tonight.