Note: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is the official writer of the books, as you all know.

Here's the 9th chapter of my fic! It's quite long.but I hope you like it! (Please review!)

----------------------------------------------------- Chapter 9: The Yule Ball Part 1

It was exactly 6:30 pm when the Gryffindor common room got filled with students all dressed up for the most-awaited Yule ball. Harry, Ron, Dean and Neville were sitting, as usual, at the couch near the fireplace. They were waiting for Parvati who has been dressing up for an hour and a half now. There was still no sight of Hermione, Lavender and Ginny who had obviously gone to the Great Hall for the Yule Ball preparations an hour ago and they still haven't come back ever since. Seamus kept walking back and forth, waiting for his girlfriend to come down.

"I don't understand why girls take a long time dressing up especially in events like this!" Seamus said impatiently. He was right. Honestly speaking, most of the students in the Gryffindor common room now were boys, waiting for their dates to come down from the girls' dormitories.

"Neither do I!" Dean said in agreement.

"Souldn't you be meeting Sally in the Great Hall entrance by now, Ron?" Neville asked Ron as he straightened up his red tie.

"Er...Y-yeah.I know." Ron said unworriedly. But the truth is, he didn't feel like meeting up with Sally at all. He wanted to wait for Lavender instead.

Soon enough, Hermione, Lavender and Ginny came hurriedly inside the portrait hole. They were still in their casual clothes. They rapidly ran towards the spiral staircase and just as Hermione's foot landed on the first step, Harry called for her.

"Hermione , what took you so long?" Harry stood up and walked towards her.

Hermione remained speechless. Harry looked so handsome, she thought. Harry wore a black suit covering a white long-sleeved polo and hanging around his neck was a dark red tie. His hair was no longer messy which made Harry look even more charming. Hermione got so mesmerized that she didn't realize that Harry was already standing in front of her.

"Hermione are you alright?" Harry asked.

"Oh.ah.yeah.I.am.." Hermione said awkwardly as she finally got back to her senses.

"What took you three so long? The Yule Ball will start in 30 minutes." Harry said as he looked as his watch.

"I'm sorry Harry.you guys go on ahead. That huge Christmas tree in the Great Hall was so huge that it required all of us to decorate it. Prof. Flitwick couldn't do it alone. Anyway, you guys go ahead. The three of us will catch up on you later. Just save me a seat, Harry. Sorry again!" Hermione said hurriedly and as quick as a cat she climbed up the spiral staircase then out of sight. Ginny gave the others a quick smile before she, like Hermione, climbed the spiral staircase in great haste. Lavender was about to sprint her way up the spiral staircase when she remembered something. She stood on the foot of the staircase for what it seems like a minute in silence then surprisingly he called for Ron.

"Ah.Ron!" Lavender said with great difficulty. Ron, who found it rather unexpected, looked at Lavender in surprise. Lavender continued.

"Um.Sally.is waiting for you at the Great hall entrance. She has been there for like.20 minutes or so.you wouldn't want to keep her waiting."

Then just like Hermione and Ginny, Lavender sped up the spiral staircase then out of sight. Ron stood there in silence, still staring at the foot of the spiral staircase where Lavender stood. At that moment he wanted to jump in glee for that was the only time, in several days, that Lavender had spoken to him again.

"I'd better be going." Ron said in a wide grin, his face entirely pink. "I'll just save us a table.see you there!" Ron said as he happily went out of the portrait hole.

"I'll go too.I don't want to keep my Padma waiting." Dean left the common room as well.

"Argh! What the bloody hell is keeping Parvati so ----"

But before Seamus could finish his angry statement, someone called.

"Hey."

It was Parvati. Seamus turned his back to face her. She was wearing a light pink, fitted, turtle neck, silk dress with a light pink shawl hanging from her arms. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she was wearing silver dangling earrings. She smiled gorgeously at Harry, Seamus and Neville.

"Well.what do you think?" Parvati said as she did a model-like turn.

"You look beautiful, Parvati." Harry said honestly.

"Thanks, Harry! Shall we go now then, Seamus?"

Seamus walked to her and offered his arm, which Parvati held gracefully. The both of them walked out of the common room in silence.

"Come on, Harry! We better get going." Neville said, as he started walking towards the portrait hole. "Ah.you go on ahead, Neville.I'll stay and wait for Hermione." Harry said.

"Are you sure? It will probably take her an hour and a half dressing up!"

"Yeah.you go on. Luna is probably waiting for you."

"Oh Ok.see ya later, Harry."

Then for a split second, Neville was no longer there. Harry was alone in the common room now. He sat on the couch and stared at the sputtering fire thinking about how his night with Hermione would be.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- THE GREAT HALL

The Great Hall was wonderfully decorated for the ball. A huge Christmas tree was placed at the area where the Staff table was usually positioned in normal days. Instead of the four, long house tables, the Hall was filled with about a hundred and fifty round tables covered with a dark blue tablecloth decorated with tiny, glittery, silver stars. Each table had 12 velvety dinner chairs also in dark blue. Just above the huge Christmas tree, a large banner hang from the ceiling wherein the words YULE BALL '96 glittered in silvery-blue, script letterings. At the center of the hall was the dance floor. The enchanted ceiling, as always, was enchanted to look like the sky outside wherein the sky was filled with stars shimmering happily towards them and a crescent moon shining its silvery light across the sky.

Outside, a palace-like garden was created. There was a huge 5-layer fountain where in at the topmost layer, a beautiful fairy wearing pale blue knee-length dress was dancing, waving her wand endlessly emitting a silvery- blue light as water kept flowing at the remaining 4 layers. There were also several wooden park benches in the garden and a lot of couples were already strolling around the garden as they were waiting for the Ball opening ceremony to start.

Back in the Great Hall, there were a lot of graduates who attended the ball: Oliver Wood was with Katie Bell, Fred was with Angelina and George was with Alicia. It was like a Gryffindor Quidditch team reunion excluding the absence of Harry. Roger Davies and other familiar faces were there too. Meanwhile, Ron, Dean and Seamus found a table for their group and together with their dates they settled on the table near the dance floor. Parvati kept on raising an eyebrow every time she caught sight of Sally. Sally wore a dark green-haltered gown. Her black hair was tied up in a bun and she was wearing diamond-dangling earrings. She looked extremely attractive, Ron thought but he was still looking forward to seeing how beautiful Lavender would look like. Soon Neville approached the table accompanied by a girl Ron and the others have met a year ago.

"Hi Neville! Hi Luna!" Dean greeted nicely.

Luna Lovegood, probably one of the weirdest and most nerdy-looking people they have met didn't look weird or nerdy at all this time. Luna was wearing an orange spaghetti-strapped dress. Her long, waist-length, dirty blonde hair was hang loose with a pair of golden clips each one clipping hair above Luna's right and left ear. She looked pretty much normal.

"Hello Thomas.." Luna greeted back. She turned to look at Ron who smiled friendly at her.

"Hi Ronald." Luna greeted. She now had her eyes on Sally who was staring at her with eyebrows raised. "I can see that you're with Sally-Anne Perks. I thought you'd ask Lavender Brown since everyone seems to think that you fancy each other."

Sally stared at Luna irritably and said, "Well he actually didn't Luna! Now if you please---"

Parvati interrupted Sally.

"Luna! Come on here and have a seat beside me! We'll be talking about loads of stuff!" Parvati said in a blissful tone as Luna sat beside her quickly followed by Neville. Parvati clearly wouldn't want to hear any more of Sally's rants and raves. Sally fell silent as she stared menacingly at Parvati.

It was already 10 minutes past 7 and soon Ginny came walking towards them. She was wearing a maroon, silk dress, her hair tied up in bun just like Sally's. Colin Creevy, her date, excitedly walked behind her knowing that he would actually be in the same table as Harry's.

"Hi guys!" Ginny greeted.

"Ginny! You look amazing!" Seamus bellowed.

"Thanks! You guys know Colin I suppose."

"Hello!" Colin greeted. "Where's Harry?"

But before anyone could answer a familiar voice called.

"Ginny! Ron!"

It was Mr. Weasley. He was wearing a black-striped, brown suit and dark brown pants. Beside him was Mrs. Weasley wearing a gray dress and a shawl.

Ginny and Ron walked towards their happy-looking parents.

"You two look astounding!" Mrs. Weasley said beaming at them.

"Have you bought it, dad?" Ron asked his father.

"Of course! Here." Mr. Weasley handed Ron a box with three holes on each side. "Those fancy little creatures are absolutely adorable!"

"What's that?" Ginny asked trying to grab the box from Ron. "Noth---"

Before Ron could finish, his father already spoke.

"Rabbits! Haha! Finally got their names right! Yep.rabbits! Ron told me to buy him 2 white ones.boy and girl." Mr. Weasley said in an excited tone. "Hang on, why did you want those rabbits for anyway?"

"Er.well."

"Oh I get it!" Ginny exclaimed. "He's going to give that to ----"

Ron suddenly shut his sister up by covering her mouth with his box-free right hand.

"What's the matter, Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked apprehensively.

To Ron's relief, Ludo Bagman came to them and invited Mr. And Mrs. Weasley over to their table near the huge Christmas tree and soon after saying goodbye to their children, the couple walked towards the table Ludo was talking about. Ron soon let go of her sister the moment their parents were out of earshot.

"I swear Ginny if you told anyone---"

"I won't! I won't! Don't act stupid, Ron!"

"Just make sure or else----"

Ron suddenly fell silent. He found himself staring at Draco Malfoy with Lavender as they entered the Great Hall. All heads were turned to look at them as if they were the most popular couple in school. Draco stood out the most for he was the only one who wore a white suit. Lavender on the other hand looked really pretty with her purple dress. Her hair was loose and she wore a silver clip to add up to her sweet look. She carried a silver pouch bag glittered with purple beads. Ron got back to his seat a bit disappointed. He stared at Draco and Lavender as they occupied the table 3 tables away from them. Ron watched as Draco pulled a chair for Lavender to sit on, scowling a bit for Draco's pretense.

"Poor Lavender." Seamus said as he shook his head in disbelief.

Soon after Draco and Lavender's dramatic entrance, the huge oak doors of the Great hall once again opened, revealing Professor Dumbledore and the rest of the staff members. They all walked gracefully and when they reached the dance floor, Professor Dumbledore stopped, took a step forward and glared excitedly at his students, his eyes shining with delight. All eyes were on him; anxious about what he has to say. As Prof. Dumbledore noticed the looks on his students' faces he let out a huge smile and said: "Merry Christmas and Welcome to this year's Yule Ball!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM It was already half past 7 and Hermione hasn't come back from the dormitory. Harry was now walking back and forth with the same expression as Seamus' hours ago when they were waiting for Parvati. 'What's taking her so long?' Harry told himself. He was getting impatient but at the same time excited of how Hermione would look like. He felt his stomach turn again at the thought of this and to make his stomach turn even more, his eyes fell on Hermione who was standing on the foot of the staircase looking worriedly at him. Harry's stomach did several summersaults as he stood there staring at his best friend. Hermione wore a light blue tube dress. Her hair was a lot straighter and half of it was tied on a bun and half was loose.

"Harry, why did you stay? I thought I told you to go on ahead?" Hermione said restlessly.

"Er.I thought.I should wait for you." Harry answered awkwardly. "I mean.I don't want you to.go alone."

"Thanks." Hermione said and both of them fell silent.

"Er.you look.great." Harry said with great difficulty.

"Thanks." Hermione said uneasily. "Um.I.think we should go."

"Right." Harry said as he took Hermione's hand and both of them headed for the Great Hall.

------------------------------------------------------------------

THE GREAT HALL

Back at the Great Hall, Dumbledore was still giving his opening speech before the Yule Ball officially starts.

"As I was saying earlier, I invited several alumni students of different batches to attend this wonderful Christmas event taking place here in our school to let them relive and experience once again the excitement and anticipation during the seven years of their stay in this school." Dumbledore straightened up his spectacles and continued, "Now I wouldn't make you all wait any further. I know you have been waiting for this event in a very long time."

Just then Harry and Hermione carefully entered the Great Hall closing the oak door behind them gently.

"My beloved students, teachers, non-teaching personnel, loyal and dependable ghosts and graduates of this school, I welcome you all to this year's Christmas Yule Ball!"

Everyone applauded.

"Now to add more to Prof. Flitwick's fabulous decorations---" Professor Dumbledore bent down and taped the floor with his wand and soon the flooring of the hall turned into a magnificent night sky complete with stars and other heavenly bodies. It's as if they were all floating on outer space. Everyone applauded once more and Dumbledore and the rest of the staff proceeded to their table in front of the huge Christmas tree.

Lee Jordan, Fred and George's good friend, served as the DJ of the night and played the first song (Valeria's Rhythm of the Night) through an enlarged Magical Record Player. Several students, including Seamus, Dean, Padma and Parvati, went to the dance floor and danced the night away.

Harry and Hermione now sat down with Ron and the others. Colin excitedly shook hands with Harry the moment he arrived.

"What took you two so long?" Ron asked. "You missed half of Dumbledore's speech!"

"He said the ball would last until 1 in the morning! Great isn't it?" Ginny said approvingly.

"Oh no!" Neville said covering his face. He was indeed a sleepyhead and he doesn't know if he could stay awake until 1 am.

"Oh don't be a killjoy, Neville! Come on, let's dance." Luna said as he pulled Neville from his seat and dragged him towards the dance floor.

"Where's Lavender?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"Over there." Harry said as he pointed at the table where Lavender is. She and Draco were the only ones there and it seems that Draco has probably been telling Lavender again about his father's oh-so-wonderful achievements.

"Oh right! I totally forgot about that one!" Hermione said looking annoyingly at Draco.

"Come on guys, let's dance!" Ginny said excitedly as she pulled Colin from his seat. Sally did the same with Ron.

"Er.do you want to dance, Harry?" Hermione said awkwardly.

"Er."

Before Harry could answer, he found himself being dragged by Hermione towards the crowded dance floor. Everyone was dancing enjoyably (Sugababes' Round Round playing) including some of the teachers, Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout to be exact. Nearly Headless Nick and The Grey Lady were also dancing, although their feet weren't touching the ground or in other words floating, they showed a good deal of moves to everyone.

"Nice moves you've got there, Nick!" Ludo Bagman shouted, as he too was getting jiggy on the dance floor.

"Why thank you Mr. Bagman! I've been practicing for a long time!" Nearly Headless Nick beamed at him and showed them cooler moves.

After what it seemed like 15 minutes of dancing the music died down and after watching the students dance on the dance floor, Professor Dumbledore stood up and everyone fell silent.

"I believe that some of you are already tired of all the dancing so I believe it's time for dinner!" and with a clap on Dumbledore's hands every table was filled with lots of good food and dishes. "Happy eating!" he smiled at everyone as he sat down and started filling his plate with vegetable lasagna.

Everyone got their plates stuffed with lots of food. Neville helped himself with fried chicken while Ron and Harry ate grilled steak as much as they could. Parvati, who was very concerned with her weight and figure, only ate a piece of blueberry pie and 3 pieces of chocolate muffin. Lee Jordan played another song (Bic Runga's Sway) to keep the place alive and busy.

Meanwhile in Draco's table, Draco was talking endlessly about his father's future projects, obviously trying to impress Lavender.

"Next summer, I believe, my father will be buying Cornelius Fudge's mansion in Ireland. My father's greatest collection! Mansions!" Draco said with his chin up.

"How about your dad's position in the ministry, Draco?" Blaise asked.

"I reckon sooner or later he'll be head of the Ministry of Magic. My dad has a lot of good influences and he can fire and kick out unwanted people from the Ministry! And I believe the first one he'll be booting out is Weasley!"

Everyone laughed except for Lavender.

"That old bloke's not getting anywhere!" Pansy said reassuringly as she swallowed a piece of grilled steak. "I mean with THAT fortune.they can't even afford to buy each other new robes!"

Again everyone laughed except for Lavender. She knows about the Weasleys' misfortune and she feels sorry for that. At that very moment she wanted to slap everyone in that table.

"And their house! If only all of you could see it! It's as small as an owl's cage!" Draco made an annoying gesture that surely pleased everyone in that table with the exception, again, of Lavender.

"Oh did you see Ron's mother?" Millicent Bulstrode said amusingly as she wiped her mouth with a table napkin. "She's as plump as 3 Hagrid's combined!" They laughed once again as Lavender remained silent, trying her best not to lose her temper. It was the meanest thing she has ever heard. She definitely wouldn't allow anyone insult her mother like that.

"Oh I wonder how she can move inside that small house now that she's really, really fleshy. Probably knocks over things every now and then!" Goyle said doing an awful impression of a fat woman to Lavender's disgust.

Everyone laughed louder even more that made other students from other tables stare at them. Lavender couldn't take it anymore and in just a split second she spoke angrily to them, exploding like a balloon filled with great amount of heat.

"Just because they're poor.it doesn't give all of you the right to insult them like that!" Lavender snapped as her eyes narrowed in anger.

Everyone in the table stared at her. Soon Pansy broke off the silence.

"Oops.I forgot! There's a Gryffindor sitting with us here! My apologies!" Pansy said sarcastically.

"You're right, Pansy! How foolish could we be? And she happens to be a friend of Ronald and Virginia!" Blaise added with more obvious sarcasm on her tone.

"Cut it out you two" Draco said flatly to Pansy and Blaise.

After dinner, the tables were cleared up magically and everyone went back to the dance floor and danced again. (Britney's Crazy Remix playing)

To Lavender's relief, Pansy and the others went to the dance floor leaving her and Draco alone again. Draco offered Lavender to dance but she refused. She was still annoyed about what he and his friends did during dinner and instead she excused herself and told him that she's going to the girl's bathroom. When she was on her way out of the Great Hall, Ginny called for her.

"Lavender!"

"Ginny! What's up?"

"Come with me!" Ginny dragged her friend all the way towards the Weasley family's table near the large Christmas tree. Mr. Weasley examined Lavender closely as if checking her for jinxes.

"Mum, dad this is Lavender Brown. She's the girl I was telling you about."

Lavender gave Ginny a sort of what's-going-on look. Ginny smiled at her.

"Oh so you're Lavender! I'm Ron and Ginny's father." Mr. Weasley gave out a hand to Lavender, which she politely accepted. "And this is my wife Molly."

Mrs. Weasley beamed at Lavender and offered her a hand. Lavender accepted it politely as well.

"I've been hearing a lot about you. How are you doing?" Mrs. Weasley asked kindly.

"Um.definitely fine ma'am." Lavender answered still having no clue of what was going on. "Hmm.Ron's got good taste! I'm impressed!" a voice behind Ginny said. It was Bill. Lavender blushed a bit upon seeing the eldest Weasley brother.

"I'm Bill Weasley!" he offered Lavender a handshake, which she quickly accepted. "I'm the eldest among 7 siblings. I work at Gringotts. Still single." he said as he gave Lavender a friendly smile. Lavender blushed even more. She found Bill really good-looking. Bill was wearing a black long sleeved polo, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His wrists wore 2 thick, leather rock star-like wristbands. The fang earring was still on Bill's ear. Beside Bill was a lady with red spiky hair. Lavender stared at this lady who affably smiled and offered her a handshake.

"Nope I'm not one of them!" the lady said pointing at the Weasleys "The name's Tonks!" she smiled and shook hands with Lavender.

"That's her surname. You wouldn't wanna know what her first name is." Bill said jokingly.

Tonks wore a black satin knee-length dress. She wore the same wristbands Bill wore. She had a black and red striped necktie hanging around her neck. She and Bill looked as if they were in a rock n' roll band.

"I'm Charlie." Charlie shook hands with Lavender and continued, "The second oldest. I study dragons in Romania."

"Hi Lav!" Fred and George said in unison. "We don't need to introduce ourselves further. She already knows who we are!" Fred said as he and George went back to the dance floor with Angelina and Alicia.

Lavender still had no idea of what was going on. Why was she being introduced to what it seems like the entire Weasley family? The odd feeling subsided as she realized how nice the Weasleys were. The thought of Draco and his friends made her want to curse them for being so selfish and mean.

"Here comes Ron!" Tonks said in excitement.

Ron, accompanied by Harry and Hermione, came walking towards them. He was carrying the box Mr. Weasley gave him hours ago.

"Hello there!" Hermione greeted. "Merry Christmas to you all!"

"Hi Hermione, dear!" Mrs. Weasley greeted as she kissed Hermione on the forehead. "Harry!" she approached Harry and gave him a hug.

"Ron!" Mr. Weasley called. Ron walked to his father but suddenly stopped at the sight of Lavender. He quickly hid the box he was holding and continued as he awkwardly walked towards his father.

"There you are, Ron!" Mrs. Weasley approached his son excitedly then whispered, "Lavender is a really nice girl." Ron didn't know what his mom meant. Mrs. Weasley gave Ron a tight hug that almost squeezed the breath out of him. To Ron's relief, Mrs. Weasley finally let go of him.

"Why are you all crowded here? Is there a problem?" Harry asked.

"No, no definitely not!" Mr. Weasley said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin after taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. "We just met Lavender and fortunately we had the chance to introduce ourselves graciously to her"

Ron's jaw dropped in disbelief. Then at a split second he thought of someone who probably had told his whole family about Lavender. Ginny. He stared angrily at Ginny who smiled uneasily at him and walked nervously away without turning her back again.

"Well.I guess our presence is no longer needed here." Bill said teasingly as his red-faced brother prayed for them not to go. "We might as well go to the dance floor and dance the night away. Shall we, Nymphadora? Bill stood up and offered Tonks his hand.

"Good idea, Bill!" Mr. Weasley said in delight. "I believe Ron wants to spend a little bit of quality time with Lavender." Mr. Weasley winked at Ron. Ron blushed even more and so did Lavender.

The Weasleys, except Ron, walked towards the dance floor and danced with the others. Harry patted Ron on the shoulder before he and Hermione went back to their table.

Ron was now standing face to face with Lavender. They stood there in silence (DJ Sammy's Heaven playing in the background). Ron wasn't quite sure if Lavender has forgotten about their argument. Lavender, on the other hand was a bit worried that Ron might just fume at her once again about Draco if she spoke first so she chose to remain silent. Finally after building enough guts, Ron spoke.

"Er.sorry about that. My family I mean." Ron said awkwardly.

"Oh.that.it's nothing! You're family is wonderful." Lavender said forcing a faint smile trying to hide her uneasiness.

Suddenly a cold familiar voice called.

"Lavender!" Malfoy said walking towards them. He raised an eyebrow at Ron before he continued, "I thought you were at the girls' bathroom? Come on now." Malfoy held Lavender's right arm ready to escort her to their table but unfortunately Lavender refused.

"Ah.Draco.perhaps I'll join you maybe.later on." Lavender said gently removing Malfoy's hold at her arm.

"Why? Don't tell me you'd rather spend time with this---" Malfoy gave Ron a loathing stare. "---with this moronic, underprivileged, son of a horrible muggle worshipper!"

Ron felt the anger rising up to his face. He was about to give Malfoy a punch on the nose when Lavender held her back.

"Go ahead, Weasel! Attack me! Unless you're too chicken to do it!" Malfoy said with a provoking grin on his face.

"Malfoy, just stop it!" Lavender said irritably. "Can't you live a day without infuriating anyone?" Lavender got quite surprised of what she just did. Malfoy stared blankly at Lavender, trying to absorb the things she just said.

"Now if you excuse us.we're going for a walk. And please don't expect I'd go back to your table 'cause I won't! In fact this is the last time you'd be seeing me for tonight!" Lavender said pulling Ron tightly in the arm, dragging him outside towards the garden. Lavender was so angry that she didn't realize how tight her grip was on Ron's now aching arm.

"You can let go of me now!" Ron said. Lavender, who didn't realize what she was doing, quickly let go of Ron's arm.

"Sorry." Lavender said in an embarrassed tone.

"Why were you so angry with him?" Ron asked. "I thought you were good friends." Ron added in a bit of annoyance in his tone.

"We're not good friends!" Lavender argued. "Why are you always looking for something to argue about?"

"I'm not!" Ron said crossly. Some strolling couples were now looking at them, even the dancing fairy on the fountain stopped moving to see what's going on below her.

"This is all your fault!" Lavender whispered to Ron as she walked away from him. Ron followed her.

"Where are you going?" Ron said, mellowing down a bit. Lavender remained silent acting as if she hasn't heard anyone speak.

"Hello? I'm speaking to you just so you know." Ron said, trying his best to catch up with Lavender who was walking hurriedly. "You're going back to him aren't you? Can't stand a few a minutes away from him, eh?

Lavender was so irritated at the way Ron makes up things. She was so aggravated that she was forced to argue back at him.

"Why do you always make up things?" Lavender said facing him.

"I'm not!" Ron answered.

"Then why does it take so long for the fact that I don't like Draco to sink in your tiny brain?" The both of them fell silent. Ron was lost for words. Lavender spoke once again. "Why don't you just.go back to Sally.she's probably looking for you by now." Lavender said disappointedly.

"Well.I don't want to." Ron said in a gentler tone. "I haven't given you my present."

Ron handed Lavender the box he has been carrying all the time that night. Lavender stared at the box, wondering why there were 3 holes on each side of it.

"Well? What are you waiting for, open it!" Ron said after seeing the look on Lavender's face.

Lavender lightly opened the box and suddenly the look of hesitation on her face was changed into a happier and excited one.

"Oh my god, Ron! They're so adorable!" Lavender said excitedly, glaring at the two, white, chubby rabbits inside the box. The first one had a pink ribbon tied on its ear and the second wore a bowtie. Mr. Weasley probably put those to distinguish which one were the boy and the girl.

"You might want to sit down?" Ron said pointing at a bench in front of them. The both of them sat down.

"My dad bought it for me. He gave it to me when they arrived here." Ron explained. "I thought you might want to have another since you lost one back in third year."

Lavender was so amazed about Ron's thoughtfulness. She blushed a bit and so did Ron.

"Thanks." Lavender said shyly. "I.do have something for you too."

Lavender got something out of her silver pouch bag and handed it to Ron. It was an action figure of one of the Chudley Cannons' chasers. It swooped up and down from Ron's palm, showing off different Quidditch stunts.

"Cool!" Ron said. "How did you know I liked the Cannons?"

"Well.Dean mentioned it once. And I sort of asked Ginny about what to give you." Lavender said shyly once again to Ron. They both fell silent again. The only thing heard was the water flowing in the fountain and the soft whispers of the couples walking by.

"I'm sorry." Ron suddenly said which made Lavender jump a bit from her seat. "For always acting stupid."

"I'm sorry too." Lavender said. "For not taking your word for it. I mean Draco is a complete loser!"

"You finally realized!" Ron said in a bit of sarcasm in his tone. Lavender gave him a don't-start-another-fight look. Upon seeing the look on Lavender's face, Ron smiled apologetically.

"Sorry." Ron said again. "It's alright." Lavender said nicely. The both of them smiled.

"So.you've met my family." Ron said a bit embarrassed.

"Yes. They're really nice." Lavender said sincerely. "And Malfoy had the nerve to insult your parents!" she added scowling at the thought of Malfoy.

"He just can't do anything right with his life! Stupid, git!" Ron said irritably.

"But honestly, you're family is really wonderful." Lavender said.

"Thanks."

"Say, that brother of yours.Bill right?" Lavender said smiling from ear to ear.

"Yeah. What about him?" Ron asked feeling weird about Lavender's huge smile.

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"I dunno. He never tells us." Ron answered. "But obviously, that French girl Fleur Delacour fancies him! She works at Gringotts too."

"Oh." Lavender said frowning.

"Why did you ask?"

"Nothing." Lavender said smiling suspiciously at Ron. Ron stared at Lavender trying to figure out the weird look on her face.

"Do you have a crush on him?" Ron snapped.

"Well.he's cute." Lavender said grinning.

"No he's not!" Ron said irritably.

"Why are you so angry?" Lavender said still grinning. Ron did not answer.

The moonlight was shining brightly down at the school grounds. The snow was thick and you can see the footprints left marked on the snow by the sweet couples walking around. Ron and Lavender sat beside each other in silence. Ron noticed Lavender shiver a bit so he lent her his suit.

"Wear this so that you won't feel cold." Ron said as he removed his suit and placed it over Lavender's back.

"Thanks." Lavender said nicely. Again both of them fell silent. Ron watched as a few couples passed by; holding each other's hands to keep themselves warm. Ron stared at Lavender's silky-smooth hand, wanting to hold it too; and soon enough without thinking, he held her hand gently. Lavender stared at Ron in surprise; both of them pink in the face. Then almost immediately, Ron broke the silence.

"Ah.maybe we should go back." Ron said awkwardly. He still had Lavender's hand in his.

"Yeah." Lavender said with the same awkwardness Ron felt.

But before Ron could stand up, he felt something warm touch his cheek. Lavender, who could not believe what she has done, gave Ron a kiss. Ron blushed extremely. He felt as if he was in a dream, not wanting anyone to wake him up. But surely it wasn't a dream. The girl he admired the most was sitting beside him, holding his hand and just gave him a kiss. It was the best night ever, Ron told himself. Lavender on the other hand, has never given any guy a kiss, aside from his father. Clearly she realized that she does like Ron too. The both of them again held each other's hand as they headed towards the Great Hall savoring the best moment of their lives

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Hope you liked it.I'll be starting the 10th chapter soon.

P.S. I do not own Bic Runga, Sugababes, DJ Sammy, Britney, and Valeria.