((Ah yes... I finally made it to the ball chapter. I know a lot of you have sort of been confused about the whole 'Ron dying and Hermione saving him' stuff, but believe me, it will have a big purpose ^_^. Read and Review!))
"Ernie!" Hannah exclaimed as she ran towards a guy behind Ron. She threw her arms around his neck as he kissed her on the cheek. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at Durmstrang?" She asked as they broke apart, leaving Ernie with a grin that was too big for his face.
"Father got into a huge fight with the new headmaster at Durmstrang and so he sent me back here. Isn't that great! And perfect timing too. When I found out they were having a Halloween Ball tonight, I got here as quickly as I could. So here I am." Hannah looked ecstatic but she then remembered Ron and bit her lip and looked over at him.
"Welcome back Ernie," Ron said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well... I'd best be gone, I have to go find my date," and Ron said lying as he forced a smile, feeling rather uncomfortable with the whole situation.
Hannah frowned as she mouthed, "I'm sorry."
Ron just smirked at her and walked towards Harry who was sitting at a table drinking pumpkin juice and tapping his fingers on the table.
"Where's Cho?" Ron asked as he slumped back into a chair next to Harry with a grin on his face.
Harry sighed. "She's over there talking to her friends." He muttered as he pointed her out on the other side of the room. "I couldn't stand her anymore... So I just told her I had to use the bathroom, so here I am."
"Bummer," Ron replied. "Ernie came back and I knew that Hannah was still in love with him so there goes my night," Ron shrugged. "Oh well."
Harry looked over at him with a puzzled expression. "Oh well? Hannah just chucked you."
"Like I said... oh well," Ron said as Hermione walked up to them dressed as pale looking ghost with long white hair, who looked surprisingly a lot like Lara, with a rather flushed face as Damon trailed along behind her.
"Hi guys.... Where are you're dates?" She asked, wiping off a bead of sweat off her forehead.
"You and Ron were right... If I stayed around her any longer my head would probably explode," Harry exaggerated with a rather disappointed tone.
Hermione bit her lip. "Oh, I'm sorry Harry. I knew how much you liked her." She looked over at Ron.
"One word... Ernie Macmillan."
"That's two, Ron." Harry and Hermione said in unison. Hermione was about to say something else when Damon tapped her on the shoulder.
"Come on Hermione. Let's dance." Before Hermione could refuse, he took her hand and pulled her to where everyone else was dancing.
Ron sighed and Harry stood up. "I'm going to get some more punch. Do you want some?" Harry said as he re-adjusted the strap for his broomstick.
"Uh, no thanks," he replied, keeping his eyes on Hermione. Harry shrugged and walked over to a large punch bowl that was right next to a door that was slightly open that lead out to a balcony outside. He grabbed for a glass when he heard someone singing a sweet melody in half whisper. Too silent that Harry couldn't understand the words. He set the glass back onto the table and moved slowly towards the door and pushed it open slightly so he could walk through it.
The sky was dark with the only light coming from the bright moon and stars that reflected off a young girl with bright red hair that was sitting on a large brim of a fountain that was centered on the balcony. He moved towards where the girl was sitting and stopped abruptly when he saw who it was.
"Ginny?" He muttered. Ginny looked up at him with a tear rolling down her cheek. She had a long blue dress with a purple train.
"H....Harry? What are you doing out here? Where's Cho?" She asked.
Harry sat down besides her and he felt a sudden breeze blow through his hair. "Uh, we realized that we didn't have as much in common as we thought. So what's wrong?"
"Maybe I'm being sentimental, but why does love have to be so painful.... I mean, look at Ron and Hermione. They've probably fancied each other for as long as we both know, yet, they still fight incessantly. And even though I...uh...person "A" fancies person "B" and yet person "B" probably wouldn't give me, I mean person "A" the time of day so..." she was know blushing furiously. "But you probably don't want to here about that." She muttered frantically.
Harry sighed. "I know how you feel," he whispered.
She looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What? How?"
Harry gulped and breathed in deeply. "You see...even though I thought it was Cho that I fancied, but tonight I realized... that I was wrong... Maybe I'm just being naive," he sighed heavily. "I mean, how could you not find a date... I mean, you're nice... and smart and..." He gulped. "And pretty an' all," he smiled slightly as she blushed.
"Thanks Harry," she said, wiping away her tears from her face as it began to heat up.
It seemed like hours they were just sitting there, just looking around, and avoiding each other's eyes. Not wanting to talk, yet not wanting to get up and leave.
Harry tapped his fingers on the water in the fountain and looked over at her. "What were you singing?" He asked, trying to break the silence.
"Oh...uh... it was nothing. It was just a song I heard over the speakers at the train station." She muttered.
"Can I hear it?" He whispered.
She shrugged. "Everyday just seems so long... every minute that I'm here without you. Will tomorrow ever come? Will I ever get the chance to feel you? I need you so much. You're out of reach... you're out of reach but you're so close. I hear you call, I feel you fall but..."
She stopped singing the words when Harry leaned over and pressed his lips dramatically against hers. After awhile, he pulled away and smiled. "You were out of reach," he whispered.
((I know, I know, fluff fluff with a dumb song, meh! It gets better though. Keep reading on....))
Meanwhile...
Ron tapped his fingers on the table as he watched Hermione dance with Damon. "What's so special about him? He's just a stupid git and that's all he'll ever be," Ron muttered to himself under his breath. Just a few seconds later, Damon pulled Hermione in for a kiss. Ron felt his face heat up with anger. "I GIVE UP!" He yelled as he jumped up from his seat and stormed out of the room.
Damon pulled Hermione in for another kiss but she pulled him off of her. He grabbed onto her wrist for another kiss. "Let go of me," she demanded. He just pulled her tighter. She got free of his grasp and smacked him so hard on the right side of his face that you could see a red outline of a hand on his cheek.
"I thought you liked me, Hermione," he hissed at her as he rubbed his cheek.
"Yeah well, I was stupid to think you liked me," she snapped back and stormed off to a table and sat down.
"Uh, that stupid git!" She stammered as she crossed her arms. She looked around the room and someone near the entrance door stood out, oddly enough. They were walking straight towards her. She tilted her head and looked at the person. She didn't know what was so interesting about the person, it was a costume party after all, there had to be a dozen other people wearing phantom masks.
The phantom stepped closer with a long black cloak with a hood covering the person's features. She couldn't make out the face because the mask was concealing the top half of their face, only leaving eye holes, but she knew that it was a guy from their facial expression.
The phantom stepped up to her and held out his hand. "Would you like to dance?" he whispered in an odd voice. ((Obviously wanting to conceal his real voice, wink wink)) His voice trailed in Hermione's mind as she tried to pair it up with a face. It sounded oddly familiar.
Hermione lightly grabbed his hand and stood up. He lead her to the center of the room and held her ((Dancing as it's normally called)) "This may sound rude... but who are you?" she muttered.
He chuckled slightly and smiled. "I am the one who wrote the letter," he whispered in her ear.
Hermione felt his breath tingle on her neck, as a chill ran down her spine. "But...Damon wrote that letter."
He shook his head. "Damon lied."
"But...who are you?"
"I... I love you 'Mione. I always have," he stuttered, smiling even more brightly. Hermione looked into his sharp blue eyes. They were so familiar, so deep, so kind. Everything about him was so familiar to her, she just couldn't piece two and two together. Hermione took her hands off his shoulders and began to take the mask off his face, but he quickly pushed it back on.
Hesitating for awhile, Hermione put her arms back around his neck and brushed her lips with his gently. They broke away and he placed his hand on her cheek. A loud chime echoed through the room as the masked man looked up at a nearby clocked.
"12:00, oh..." the phantom yelled. Hermione had the sudden urge to yell out Ron's name out of habit for him swearing. But then she remembered, this wasn't Ron. He let go of Hermione. "I have to go."
"Will I ever know who you are?" she asked hopefully.
"'Mione, listen closely:
As darkness nears, a solemn end,
I hope to be more then just your friend.
Wait for me, as my love for you grows
Wait until the night, my one sweet rose." he leaned towards her and kissed her on the cheek and dashed quickly out of the ballroom, leaving Hermione speechless.
~*~*~*~*~
The phantom ran into the common room, panting madly with a large grin spreading across his face. He threw off the mask to reveal his messed up hair beneath the cloak. He sighed heavily of his accomplishment and threw himself onto the couch.
"Okay, you can come out now Lara." the boy said. A ghostly women glided across the room with a large smile spread across her face. "Why did I have to leave at exactly midnight?" he asked.
"I tried telling you this before," Lara said, rolling her eyes exuberantly. "You couldn't be seen by Harry and Ginny when they came back. They would have stopped you."
"Wait... why would Harry be with Ginny?"
Lara didn't say anything. She just messed up his red hair even more.
~*~*~*~*~
"Hey Hermione, where's Damon?" Harry asked as he and Ginny walked up to Hermione who was slumped in her chair, apparently in deep thought.
She looked around the room until she saw Damon snogging another girl who she recognized. "Looks like he's lip-locked with your date," she said as Harry shook his head.
"I went with the wrong person." he grinned over at Ginny who blushed wildly.
Hermione beamed at both of them. "It's about time!"
"What about you?" Harry and Ginny replied in unison.
"What about me?" Hermione asked with a puzzled expression.
"Ron!" They both screamed at the same time again.
Hermione ignored them and pretended to yawn. "Well, I'm quite exhausted. I think I'll be off to bed," she said, stretching her arms out as she yawned again as she walked up to the common room.
When she got there, it was completely empty except for a boy sitting on a couch with a book open as he flipped a page. "Back so soon?" Ron asked. "I would've thought you would be with your date.
"Well," Hermione sighed. "Let's just say we didn't quite see eye-to-eye. So what are you reading?" she asked curiously, sitting down beside him.
"Oh...uh..." he lifted the book up off of his lap to show her the cover. "Hogwarts; A History."
"I think I've read that a couple of times," she smiled as he just chuckled.
"So, how was the ball?" he asked, setting the book down.
She sighed heavily. "It was great after awhile... It just ended too soon." She suddenly found heaviness in her eyes. She began to drift off to sleep as soon as she closed them.
Ron laid his head on top of hers. "It did end to soon," he whispered as he closed his eyes. After awhile... the Grey Lady flew soundlessly towards them and laid a soft blanket over them and sighed.
"Oh I do hope this all works out..." she sighed and slowly began to move to the door. "For all of us..." she muttered softly to herself as she left.
((Hmm.... I wonder what Lara meant by that...^_^ You'll just have to keep reading! And yes, this is also a Harry/Ginny fic. too! Keep reviewing!
Reviewers-
Straycat: To the questions:
1.The red rose will begin to appear around Christmas
2.*zips mouth*
3. You'll find out later in the story
4. and remember that Harry gave Fred and George the money in the past year and told them to buy Ron some new dress robes. Thanks for reviewing!
AmericanMonkey38: Thankya!
Hermione Weasley: Well...I had to get rid of Hannah some way *shrugs*
Tsunami Wave: Yeah, I'm just learning how to post chapters without Microsoft Word, so it's screwing up the paragraphs.
Magical*Me: Me love cliffies...well...in my story, not when other people write them ^_^ Keep reviewing!
"Ernie!" Hannah exclaimed as she ran towards a guy behind Ron. She threw her arms around his neck as he kissed her on the cheek. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at Durmstrang?" She asked as they broke apart, leaving Ernie with a grin that was too big for his face.
"Father got into a huge fight with the new headmaster at Durmstrang and so he sent me back here. Isn't that great! And perfect timing too. When I found out they were having a Halloween Ball tonight, I got here as quickly as I could. So here I am." Hannah looked ecstatic but she then remembered Ron and bit her lip and looked over at him.
"Welcome back Ernie," Ron said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well... I'd best be gone, I have to go find my date," and Ron said lying as he forced a smile, feeling rather uncomfortable with the whole situation.
Hannah frowned as she mouthed, "I'm sorry."
Ron just smirked at her and walked towards Harry who was sitting at a table drinking pumpkin juice and tapping his fingers on the table.
"Where's Cho?" Ron asked as he slumped back into a chair next to Harry with a grin on his face.
Harry sighed. "She's over there talking to her friends." He muttered as he pointed her out on the other side of the room. "I couldn't stand her anymore... So I just told her I had to use the bathroom, so here I am."
"Bummer," Ron replied. "Ernie came back and I knew that Hannah was still in love with him so there goes my night," Ron shrugged. "Oh well."
Harry looked over at him with a puzzled expression. "Oh well? Hannah just chucked you."
"Like I said... oh well," Ron said as Hermione walked up to them dressed as pale looking ghost with long white hair, who looked surprisingly a lot like Lara, with a rather flushed face as Damon trailed along behind her.
"Hi guys.... Where are you're dates?" She asked, wiping off a bead of sweat off her forehead.
"You and Ron were right... If I stayed around her any longer my head would probably explode," Harry exaggerated with a rather disappointed tone.
Hermione bit her lip. "Oh, I'm sorry Harry. I knew how much you liked her." She looked over at Ron.
"One word... Ernie Macmillan."
"That's two, Ron." Harry and Hermione said in unison. Hermione was about to say something else when Damon tapped her on the shoulder.
"Come on Hermione. Let's dance." Before Hermione could refuse, he took her hand and pulled her to where everyone else was dancing.
Ron sighed and Harry stood up. "I'm going to get some more punch. Do you want some?" Harry said as he re-adjusted the strap for his broomstick.
"Uh, no thanks," he replied, keeping his eyes on Hermione. Harry shrugged and walked over to a large punch bowl that was right next to a door that was slightly open that lead out to a balcony outside. He grabbed for a glass when he heard someone singing a sweet melody in half whisper. Too silent that Harry couldn't understand the words. He set the glass back onto the table and moved slowly towards the door and pushed it open slightly so he could walk through it.
The sky was dark with the only light coming from the bright moon and stars that reflected off a young girl with bright red hair that was sitting on a large brim of a fountain that was centered on the balcony. He moved towards where the girl was sitting and stopped abruptly when he saw who it was.
"Ginny?" He muttered. Ginny looked up at him with a tear rolling down her cheek. She had a long blue dress with a purple train.
"H....Harry? What are you doing out here? Where's Cho?" She asked.
Harry sat down besides her and he felt a sudden breeze blow through his hair. "Uh, we realized that we didn't have as much in common as we thought. So what's wrong?"
"Maybe I'm being sentimental, but why does love have to be so painful.... I mean, look at Ron and Hermione. They've probably fancied each other for as long as we both know, yet, they still fight incessantly. And even though I...uh...person "A" fancies person "B" and yet person "B" probably wouldn't give me, I mean person "A" the time of day so..." she was know blushing furiously. "But you probably don't want to here about that." She muttered frantically.
Harry sighed. "I know how you feel," he whispered.
She looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What? How?"
Harry gulped and breathed in deeply. "You see...even though I thought it was Cho that I fancied, but tonight I realized... that I was wrong... Maybe I'm just being naive," he sighed heavily. "I mean, how could you not find a date... I mean, you're nice... and smart and..." He gulped. "And pretty an' all," he smiled slightly as she blushed.
"Thanks Harry," she said, wiping away her tears from her face as it began to heat up.
It seemed like hours they were just sitting there, just looking around, and avoiding each other's eyes. Not wanting to talk, yet not wanting to get up and leave.
Harry tapped his fingers on the water in the fountain and looked over at her. "What were you singing?" He asked, trying to break the silence.
"Oh...uh... it was nothing. It was just a song I heard over the speakers at the train station." She muttered.
"Can I hear it?" He whispered.
She shrugged. "Everyday just seems so long... every minute that I'm here without you. Will tomorrow ever come? Will I ever get the chance to feel you? I need you so much. You're out of reach... you're out of reach but you're so close. I hear you call, I feel you fall but..."
She stopped singing the words when Harry leaned over and pressed his lips dramatically against hers. After awhile, he pulled away and smiled. "You were out of reach," he whispered.
((I know, I know, fluff fluff with a dumb song, meh! It gets better though. Keep reading on....))
Meanwhile...
Ron tapped his fingers on the table as he watched Hermione dance with Damon. "What's so special about him? He's just a stupid git and that's all he'll ever be," Ron muttered to himself under his breath. Just a few seconds later, Damon pulled Hermione in for a kiss. Ron felt his face heat up with anger. "I GIVE UP!" He yelled as he jumped up from his seat and stormed out of the room.
Damon pulled Hermione in for another kiss but she pulled him off of her. He grabbed onto her wrist for another kiss. "Let go of me," she demanded. He just pulled her tighter. She got free of his grasp and smacked him so hard on the right side of his face that you could see a red outline of a hand on his cheek.
"I thought you liked me, Hermione," he hissed at her as he rubbed his cheek.
"Yeah well, I was stupid to think you liked me," she snapped back and stormed off to a table and sat down.
"Uh, that stupid git!" She stammered as she crossed her arms. She looked around the room and someone near the entrance door stood out, oddly enough. They were walking straight towards her. She tilted her head and looked at the person. She didn't know what was so interesting about the person, it was a costume party after all, there had to be a dozen other people wearing phantom masks.
The phantom stepped closer with a long black cloak with a hood covering the person's features. She couldn't make out the face because the mask was concealing the top half of their face, only leaving eye holes, but she knew that it was a guy from their facial expression.
The phantom stepped up to her and held out his hand. "Would you like to dance?" he whispered in an odd voice. ((Obviously wanting to conceal his real voice, wink wink)) His voice trailed in Hermione's mind as she tried to pair it up with a face. It sounded oddly familiar.
Hermione lightly grabbed his hand and stood up. He lead her to the center of the room and held her ((Dancing as it's normally called)) "This may sound rude... but who are you?" she muttered.
He chuckled slightly and smiled. "I am the one who wrote the letter," he whispered in her ear.
Hermione felt his breath tingle on her neck, as a chill ran down her spine. "But...Damon wrote that letter."
He shook his head. "Damon lied."
"But...who are you?"
"I... I love you 'Mione. I always have," he stuttered, smiling even more brightly. Hermione looked into his sharp blue eyes. They were so familiar, so deep, so kind. Everything about him was so familiar to her, she just couldn't piece two and two together. Hermione took her hands off his shoulders and began to take the mask off his face, but he quickly pushed it back on.
Hesitating for awhile, Hermione put her arms back around his neck and brushed her lips with his gently. They broke away and he placed his hand on her cheek. A loud chime echoed through the room as the masked man looked up at a nearby clocked.
"12:00, oh..." the phantom yelled. Hermione had the sudden urge to yell out Ron's name out of habit for him swearing. But then she remembered, this wasn't Ron. He let go of Hermione. "I have to go."
"Will I ever know who you are?" she asked hopefully.
"'Mione, listen closely:
As darkness nears, a solemn end,
I hope to be more then just your friend.
Wait for me, as my love for you grows
Wait until the night, my one sweet rose." he leaned towards her and kissed her on the cheek and dashed quickly out of the ballroom, leaving Hermione speechless.
~*~*~*~*~
The phantom ran into the common room, panting madly with a large grin spreading across his face. He threw off the mask to reveal his messed up hair beneath the cloak. He sighed heavily of his accomplishment and threw himself onto the couch.
"Okay, you can come out now Lara." the boy said. A ghostly women glided across the room with a large smile spread across her face. "Why did I have to leave at exactly midnight?" he asked.
"I tried telling you this before," Lara said, rolling her eyes exuberantly. "You couldn't be seen by Harry and Ginny when they came back. They would have stopped you."
"Wait... why would Harry be with Ginny?"
Lara didn't say anything. She just messed up his red hair even more.
~*~*~*~*~
"Hey Hermione, where's Damon?" Harry asked as he and Ginny walked up to Hermione who was slumped in her chair, apparently in deep thought.
She looked around the room until she saw Damon snogging another girl who she recognized. "Looks like he's lip-locked with your date," she said as Harry shook his head.
"I went with the wrong person." he grinned over at Ginny who blushed wildly.
Hermione beamed at both of them. "It's about time!"
"What about you?" Harry and Ginny replied in unison.
"What about me?" Hermione asked with a puzzled expression.
"Ron!" They both screamed at the same time again.
Hermione ignored them and pretended to yawn. "Well, I'm quite exhausted. I think I'll be off to bed," she said, stretching her arms out as she yawned again as she walked up to the common room.
When she got there, it was completely empty except for a boy sitting on a couch with a book open as he flipped a page. "Back so soon?" Ron asked. "I would've thought you would be with your date.
"Well," Hermione sighed. "Let's just say we didn't quite see eye-to-eye. So what are you reading?" she asked curiously, sitting down beside him.
"Oh...uh..." he lifted the book up off of his lap to show her the cover. "Hogwarts; A History."
"I think I've read that a couple of times," she smiled as he just chuckled.
"So, how was the ball?" he asked, setting the book down.
She sighed heavily. "It was great after awhile... It just ended too soon." She suddenly found heaviness in her eyes. She began to drift off to sleep as soon as she closed them.
Ron laid his head on top of hers. "It did end to soon," he whispered as he closed his eyes. After awhile... the Grey Lady flew soundlessly towards them and laid a soft blanket over them and sighed.
"Oh I do hope this all works out..." she sighed and slowly began to move to the door. "For all of us..." she muttered softly to herself as she left.
((Hmm.... I wonder what Lara meant by that...^_^ You'll just have to keep reading! And yes, this is also a Harry/Ginny fic. too! Keep reviewing!
Reviewers-
Straycat: To the questions:
1.The red rose will begin to appear around Christmas
2.*zips mouth*
3. You'll find out later in the story
4. and remember that Harry gave Fred and George the money in the past year and told them to buy Ron some new dress robes. Thanks for reviewing!
AmericanMonkey38: Thankya!
Hermione Weasley: Well...I had to get rid of Hannah some way *shrugs*
Tsunami Wave: Yeah, I'm just learning how to post chapters without Microsoft Word, so it's screwing up the paragraphs.
Magical*Me: Me love cliffies...well...in my story, not when other people write them ^_^ Keep reviewing!
