Harry had been completely dreading the Halloween Ball. He had told Ginny he didn't mind if she went with Colin when he asked her. It just broke his heart to know that his life made it impossible for him to take her himself. Hermione had suggested that they go together as friends, but Harry would only agree if Ron came too. So that's how on the night of the Halloween Ball, Harry was standing in a corner drinking punch, watching Ginny dance with Colin, and Hermione dance with Ron. He strongly suspected the punch was spiked, but watching Ginny dance only made him drink it faster. She was a brilliant dancer, letting the music flow through every bone in her body. Harry became increasingly jealous every time Colin touched her, even though he knew it was inevitable when two people were dancing. He just couldn't help but feel like Colin was holding her a little to close during the slow dances; that his hands were slightly too close to her bum. Harry groaned, and took another swig of punch. "Yep, definitely spiked," he thought as the room began to spin around him. "What harm would it do if I had one dance with her? She's my friend. I've danced with Hermione tonight, once. So I'm allowed one dance with Ginny too." Harry set down his empty glass and walked over to where Ginny was starting to sway to the next slow song with Colin. "May I cut in?" Harry didn't wait for an answer. He took Ginny by the arm and pulled her close to him. He spun her around and they danced away from Colin.

Ginny could smell the alcohol on Harry's breath. "Do you really think this is wise?"

"I'm allowed once dance with my friend." Harry slipped his hand below where Colin had his earlier.

"You're sloshed. You don't know what you're doing."

"Yes I do." Harry leaned down and placed a bruising kiss on her lips.

"Harry, stop!" Ginny pulled away from him, grabbing his arm. "Come with me." She pulled him out of the Great Hall and into a deserted classroom. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Harry didn't respond. "You have no idea how many people could have seen us in there! Malfoy was there! In your drunken stupor have you changed your mind about keeping us a secret? When you're drunk, are you smarter than Dumbledore? Do you know what's better for us than he does now?"

"I didn't like the way Colin was looking at you. The way he was touching you."

"So you're going to risk everything because of my best friend, whom I feel nothing other than friendship for?"

"I don't trust him."

"Merlin, Harry! He's been my best friend for almost five years. He'd never hurt me!" Harry walked over to Ginny and grabbed her by the shoulders, immobilizing her arms. He leaned forward and kissed her, much more gently than he had done earlier in the evening. This time, she returned the kiss. They were both so wrapped up in the moment they didn't notice anyone else enter the room.

"Get your hands off her!" Colin grabbed Harry by the arm and whipped him around. He balled his hand in a fist and threw a punch into Harry's jaw.

"No! Colin, stop! It's okay!" Ginny frantically put her body in front of Harry's.

"Gin, I saw how he was holding you just now, how he kissed you in the Great Hall. He can't force himself on you just because he's Harry Potter. Funny how I used to think that meant something!"

"No, Colin, it's okay. He's sloshed. I think the punch was spiked. He doesn't know what he's doing. I could have stopped him if I really wanted to, but you know how I've always had a crush on him. I just got caught up in the moment, it's really my fault." Believing that Colin was calm, Ginny stepped away from Harry. She was wrong. Colin swung at Harry's face again, this time knocking him to the ground. "COLIN! Get out of here right now!" Ginny screamed in anger, but Colin didn't budge.

"I don't want to leave you alone with him."

"Look at him, Colin. He's passed out on the floor bleeding. He's not going to hurt anyone right now." She paused, looking her friend in the eyes. "I've never seen you this violent before. It scares me." Ginny knelt down on the floor beside Harry, examining his face.

"I was just trying to protect you," Colin said quietly.

"Just leave." Ginny tried to wake Harry up.

"What happened?" Harry struggled to come back to full awareness.

"A misunderstanding," Ginny said gently, wiping the blood off his face with the arm of her robe.

"I told you I didn't trust him."

Ginny laughed. "Only you would be saying I told you so in your condition."

"How did you get to become such good friends with such a jerk anyway?"

Normally Ginny would have yelled at anyone who called any of her friends a jerk. But not tonight. "The Harry Potter fan club."

An hour later, after Harry had been taken to and healed by Madam Pomfrey, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room in front of the fire.

"I still can't believe little Colin Creevey hit you," Ron said.

"Well thanks to your strenuous Quidditch practices I don't think he's so little anymore," Harry responded, trying to make light of the situation.

"I just can't believe he thought you were trying to take advantage of Ginny." Ron looked at his sister and smiled. "I know that if you really were, she'd have hexed you into next week. She's definitely no damsel in distress."

Ginny looked surprised to hear her brother pay her such a compliment. "Well, I almost hexed Colin when he threw the second punch. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to forgive him for that. I mean, I had completely taken the blame to try and get him to back off, and he just went after Harry again. The tone in his voice really scared me. It was like he was a different person."

"Well, I just can't believe he'd try and hurt the star of our Quidditch team right before our first game." Hermione shot Ron a look that said your friend's well being is much more important than Quidditch. "Well, teammates shouldn't be fighting; especially not over other teammates."

Harry grinned at Ron. "Don't worry Ron; we'll wipe the floor with Hufflepuff."

a/n This chapter is a little shorter than I had intended, but the next one starts after the Quidditch match. I'm not much for writing about sports, so you'll have to use your imaginations about the details of the game. Sorry! Oh, and sorry about any small typos that get passed me. Sometimes I get so excited about finishing a chapter that I forget to run spell check before I go to post. What can I say? I hate to make the readers wait. Please let me know what you think of my new chapters. I'm finally starting to get to some action!