A Moment Like This
Chapter 6 – A Moment Like This
It was the evening of the Yule ball, and havoc was spreading in the sixth year girl's dormitory of Gryffindor Tower. Shrieking and scrambling for the bathroom upset so many people that those who dared snuck into the prefect's bathroom (password courtesy of Hermione) or up the boy's staircase to use their bathrooms.
Ginny Weasley was one of the lucky ones who had snagged a bathroom when she had the chance. While everyone was fighting over who was next, she slipped under an arm and shut the door before the others realized what had happened. She snickered to herself when she heard the pounding of outwitted girls.
"Ha ha! That's what you get for fighting!" She stepped into her new robes, and gasped softly. Even though her hair clashed horribly with almost anything she tried on, Ginny had to hand it to her brothers. The color lavender they had gotten was perfect. She slipped the shoes on, and fastened the bracelet her mother had given her when she was six. A small silver heart dangled precariously from the delicate chain.
When she opened the door again to walk out, four girls fell on the floor. Apparently they had been leaning against the door, fighting to get in, in spite of the clever Locking charm Ginny had placed on it. However, she was so dazed that she didn't notice them at all, and walked over them.
"What's up with her?" a blonde named Clarisse wondered aloud.
"Oh, haven't you heard?" answered a short brunette named Fiona. "She's going to the ball with Harry Potter."
The door opened, and Hermione walked in, wearing her robes and struggling with the heels. "Enough, you two," she shot at the two gossiping girls. "Don't you have robes to get into?"
Clarisse and Fiona exchanged dark glances. "You must be Hermione. Aren't you going with Ginny's brother Ron?"
Hermione stopped, and spun around. Immediately the two began to laugh hysterically. Hermione glowered at them, then drew out her wand. The two stopped abruptly.
"What're you going to do, curse us?" Fiona asked. They burst into giggles again.
"No, but I am going to give both of you detention for not listening to me," Hermione answered calmly.
"You can't do that! You're not Head Girl!" Clarisse looked outraged.
"Actually, I am Head Girl." Hermione flashed them her badge, which was pinned on the inside of her collar. "Any other questions?" She smiled sweetly. They shook their heads. "Okay, then. Go on, go get ready for the ball."
Turning to Ginny, who was still wearing a bemused expression on her pale face, Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Gin?"
No answer.
"Ginny?" Hermione waved her hand in front of Ginny's face. Slowly, Ginny looked at her. "Are you okay?"
Ginny nodded. Then, without warning, she strangled Hermione with a hug and shrieked, "I'm going to the ball with Harry Potter!"
Hermione, still recovering from the shock, managed to pry the younger girl from her neck. "I know, Gin. I was there, sort of, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Ginny lowered her eyes.
"S'okay. C'mon, makeup!" Hermione gestured to a Rosewood bag. Ginny's smile brightened. They rummaged around in the bag until they found their respectable bottles and spread them out over Ginny's bed.
Elizabeth joined them shortly afterward and plopped herself down on the bed. Next to her, Ginny was collecting all the bottles with green caps and Hermione gathered the ones with red caps. After their makeup had been sorted, Hermione insisted on doing Elizabeth's makeup in front of the mirror above the only vanity in the dormitory, while Ginny fixed her hair.
When they were done, Elizabeth's unruly mane had been straightened and swathed with cream-colored flowers. Her eyes were illuminated by the subtle green eye shadow and black mascara.
"Wow," she said, twirling a strand of hair between two of her manicured fingers. "My hair looks great!" The three laughed- if her hair looked okay, it wouldn't matter if she was wearing Hagrid's moleskin coat.
Hermione led Ginny to the vanity next, and motioned for her to sit on the stool. Ginny closed her eyes, and let her two closest friends set to work. When they were done, Ginny heard Elizabeth squeal, a muffled voice, then Hermione saying, "Okay, you can look now."
"I can't go out there!" Neville moaned. He sunk to the floor, head in his hands. Harry looked over at Ron, who shrugged. Harry shook his head sadly. A week ago, Neville had come bouncing into the dormitory, disrupting the peace in which Harry and Ron were trying to put together a particularly nasty essay for Snape they had left a bit too long, boasting about how he was going to go to the ball with a pretty sixth year girl named Clarisse. Now, he clearly regretted opening his mouth in the first place.
"Come on, Neville. Remember how you stood up to me and Ron in our first year?" Harry certainly hoped that the memory would persuade Neville to proceed with his plans.
"Y-y-yes." Neville sniffed.
"Well, how bad can this ball be? In fourth year you went with my sister, and she's a girl, too." Ron added; Harry shot him a look. "Sorry, Harry."
"Neville, I'm sure that Clarisse is looking forward to the ball as much as you were," Harry said. "If you stand her up she'll be pretty angry with you."
This seemed to encourage Neville a bit, for he rose from the floor and settled himself on his bed. "H-H-Harry, I can't dance."
Ron snorted.
"So what?" Harry answered. "I can't dance either, and I still want to go to the ball."
Neville looked up. "Y-you do?" Harry nodded firmly. Neville wiped his face, and stood up. "Well, okay. I guess it would be mean to ask her, then not show up, eh?" He smiled weakly.
"Come on, we have to leave." Ron checked his watch. "It's almost time to go down to meet the girls." Neville made attempts to lock himself in the bathroom, but Ron and Harry took him by the shoulders and led him down the stairs.
Ron was about to start pacing a hole in the floor when he looked up and saw Hermione. He almost fainted. Harry turned around, and his eyes widened behind his glasses. Wow, thought Ron. I thought she looked good for the first Yule ball. Compared to that, this is nothing. She made her way down the stairs slowly, carefully making sure that she didn't trip. When she got nearer to the bottom, Ron held out his hand to help her down the last few steps.
"Hermione," he said shakily. "You...you look great." She beamed. "Thanks, Ron. You look pretty good yourself. I like your robes. I always thought blue fit you the best." He grinned at her. She walked over to Harry.
"Hermione..." Harry said, running his hand through his hair. "I mean, wow." She giggled, then whispered, "Wait 'till you see Ginny. She'll be down in a few minutes." Harry groaned.
"Hey, I heard that," Ron said sternly. "Now, I don't want to hear about you and my sister leaving the ball early to come back here to snog, you hear?" Harry raised his eyebrows at him.
"And I don't want to hear about you two snogging in a broom closet fifteen minutes into the bloody ball, either." Harry watched with a smile as Ron's face went pink.
There was a commotion at the top of the stairs, and Harry's head snapped up. One by one, a gaggle of girls met their dates with various comments coming from all directions. Parvati wearing robes of black with a white feather boa; Neville's date, Clarisse, in pink; a brunette named Fiona in green, and Ginny's friend Elizabeth in cream, with flowers in her hair. She walked over to them with Colin.
"Ginny's still upstairs. She'll be down in a minute." She winked, then strode off with Colin.
"That's what you said just a second ago," Harry complained. Ron was about to ask if he was going to see the Great hall while he was still in school when he glanced over Harry's shoulder.
"Harry," he stammered. "Turn around."
Harry slowly turned around, and saw Ginny standing at the bottom of the stairs. Her trademark Weasley hair didn't look so bright anymore; on the contrary, against the pale lavender of her gown it looked stunning. It was drawn into long ringlets that fell past her shoulders, and held in place with a silver tiara. Harry crossed the room in a single stride, and took her hand.
"Hi, Harry." She smiled. Don't look at the dimple, don't look at the dimple! Remember how you lost all knowledge of how to speak clearly when dealing with the dimple! Harry cleared his throat nervously.
"Ginny, look you beautiful." He blushed. "I mean, you look beautiful. That's what I meant to say."
"Thanks, Harry. You look great!" He looked down at his robes. They didn't seem so good-looking.
"Thanks." He glanced around for Ron, but he and Hermione had already left. "Er, d'you want to go down?"
"Sure. It looks like we'll be the last ones there." I could kill Hermione and Elizabeth!
When they reached the Great Hall, they found themselves amidst what looked like the whole school. Most of them were dancing already, but over near the makeshift stage where a singing group called Charmed were performing, Harry saw Ron, Hermione, Elizabeth and Colin.
"Hey, there are your friends. Want to go over and sit with them?" Harry asked Ginny. She seemed to be slightly in awe of the decorations, and didn't answer.
"Ginny?" Harry asked again. He tried waving his hand in front of her face.
"Huh?" Ginny said. Harry laughed, and after realizing what he was laughing at, Ginny joined him. They made their way through the crowd of people dancing, and saw Neville and his date Clarisse to their right. Harry could see Clarisse wincing every time Neville stepped on her toes, but she was smiling all the same.
They had almost reached the table when someone blocked their path. Ginny looked up in surprise. It was Draco Malfoy.
"What do you want?" Harry growled. Ginny held his hand tighter.
"Temper, Potter. The little Weaslette won't like you getting angry, "drawled Draco, his eyes glittering with malice. His eyes fell on Ginny. "She seems to look almost civilized for someone living in a hovel."
Ginny's face flushed with anger. Hovel?
"I'll see you later, Potter. Weaslette." He glided away, black robes billowing as he walked.
"I'm sorry about him," Harry said uncomfortably. "He's not exactly pleasant, is he?"
"Harry, don't pay attention to what that-" she said a few colorful words that Harry was sure her mother would faint if she heard her youngest child using them "-says, he's just angry that you beat him in everything and are so much more likeable than him." Harry's heart swelled with pride when she said those last words.
"Thanks. D'you want some punch?" Harry felt extremely stupid. I sound completely pathetic.
"Sure. Here, let me help you." Ginny offered. With Harry's help, they brought a small tray-full of drinks over to the table.
"Drink up," Ginny cheered. She settled herself in the chair next to Hermione, and waited for Harry to sit down. As he took his drink from a blushing Ginny, he made a mental note to ask her to dance during the next slow song.
Hermione entertained the group for the next fifteen minutes by telling them about her encounter with Pansy, who, to her delight, had not been able to get the accursed sweater off in time for the ball.
"-So then she goes, 'You...you..' and I say, 'Witch?' and then she starts jumping up and down in a fit. And, when I tell her she won't be able to get it off for a while, she goes this brilliant shade of purple."
Hermione smiled to herself as Ron says in awe, "Wow, 'Mione. Remind me never to make you angry."
At that point, Dumbledore took the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to this year's Yule ball. I think these lovely ladies deserve a round of applause-" he gestured to the group of blonde witches that made up Charmed, who giggled loudly, "-and, by request, they will be performing a little something by Kelly Clarkson." The crowd cheered, and the lights dimmed.
Bugger, thought Harry. I didn't mean the very first dance...oh, well. Now or never.
"Ginny...er, d'you want to dance?" He waited.
"Sure," she said softly. He breathed out a sigh of relief, then took her hand and led her out on the floor next to Ron and Hermione. To his surprise, Ron seemed to be quite skilled at dancing, or at least, dancing with Hermione. Her head was resting on his shoulder, and when she saw them, she waved.
"Hi Harry, Ginny. Having fun?"
"I am now," Ginny replied. Harry felt his face flush. Ginny took Hermione's lead, and rested her arms around Harry's neck. I can't believe that we're dancing with Harry Potter, the little voice in her befuddled mind screamed joyfully. I know, isn't it great? She sighed happily into Harry's shoulder. The noise startled him, and he looked down at her with a questioning smile.
"Gin? Anything you want to share?" She grinned at him, but didn't say anything. Instead they listened to the words of the song they were dancing to.
'A moment like this
Some people wait a lifetime
For a moment like this
Some people search forever
For that one special kiss
Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me
Some people wait a lifetime
For a moment like this'
Ginny thought for a couple of minutes, then looked up at Harry again. Her brown eyes shone as she said softly, "I think they already said it for me."
Oh my God, did Ginny Weasley say what I think she did? Harry thought wildly, trying to contain his joy. I think she did.
'Could this be the greatest love of all
I wanna know that you will catch me when I fall
So let me tell you this...
Some people wait a lifetime
For a moment like this
Some people spend two lifetimes
For a moment like this
Some people search forever
For that one special kiss
Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me
Some people wait a lifetime
For a moment like this'
As the lights slowly brightened, Harry's heart dropped. He hadn't exactly told Ginny, face-to-face, how he felt about her. Even I don't know. He looked down at the girl in his arms, and tried to say something to her. But the words wouldn't come. He slowly leaned down and kissed her gently. When they pulled apart, Ginny was shocked.
For a minute Harry was worried that he'd done something wrong, but when she smiled and pulled him back for another kiss he decided that he didn't have to wait a lifetime. It was a moment like this that he'd wondered about for seven years, wondering if he'd ever fall in love. He smiled to himself when he felt certain that he liked sharing it with Ginny.
A/N: By the way, these are the names of the songs and who they're sung by:
"Miss Independent" Kelly Clarkson
"A Chance" Kenney Chesney
"Cowboy Take Me Away" Dixie Chicks
"Unbelievable" Diamond Rio
"I Can Love You Like That" John Michael Montgomery
"Someday" Vince Gill
"A Moment Like This" Kelly Clarkson