The days slowly dragged on after Ginny's trip to Diagon Alley. Of course she had told her brothers everything that she saw and all about meeting the royal family. They were quite impressed. When she told them about the ball, they said it would be easier to just ask Narcissa if she could get the night off instead of sneaking out and risking getting caught.

So now, one day before the ball and Ginny still hadn't talked to her stepmother. It was a lot harder then she had originally thought. At first she walked up to Narcissa and would open her mouth, but she couldn't get the courage to actually ask the question. So instead she would ask what Wisteria had wanted for dinner, or if the attic needed to be cleaned, (hey, with seven servants it's hard to find jobs for everyone).

"Ginny." A bored voice said from behind her form that was washing the marble floor in the west wing.

Ginny assumed that it was Draco and when she turned around she was met with the handsome blonde boy leaning up against the wall.

"Mum wants to see you in her bedroom. She says it's important so maybe you should run over there." He gave her a smirk and lazily walked away.

Ginny was speechless. Was that little emphasis on 'run' him telling her that he had seen her in Diagon Alley? Or was it just Draco being Draco? He couldn't possibly know. He would have said something to her. Probably would have blackmailed her. He wouldn't wait a week to let her know that he knew. Would he?

Suddenly realizing that she was just sitting there and Narcissa was waiting, she jumped up and ran to the other side of the house.

Only a few minutes later and Ginny reached a wooden door decorated with inlaid floral designs and a tiny window towards the top. Taking a breather from the run across the manor, she knocked on the door and hesitantly opened it.

"Well it's about time you got here girl." Narcissa snapped when Ginny walked into the room.

Narcissa's room was elegantly designed in lavenders and golds. There were flowers expertly painted on the walls and the bed was large and next to the French doors that led to the balcony. There were two large wardrobes overflowing with clothes, plus a full walk-in closet. A vanity stood against one of the walls and in front of the full-length mirror was a pedestal that you could stand on when trying on outfits. To say Narcissa Malfoy was spoiled, would be an understatement.

Ginny looked around the room, hating everything in it. She knew that had her parents still been alive, this room would be hers and she might have even decorated it much the same, but now that Narcissa stayed there, Ginny avoided it as much as possible. It used to be her favorite room, but now it was only an extra room to clean.

"Was there something you needed Narcissa?" Ginny asked politely.

"Nothing I needed, exactly. I just thought we could have a little heart to heart. You know, girl talk." She said it so sweetly that Ginny immediately went on the defensive. The last time Narcissa wanted to have a 'girl talk', she got kicked out of her room, Wisteria moved into it and Ginny got sent to the basement with her brothers.

"As I'm almost positive you know, there's a ball tomorrow night at the Hogwarts castle." The woman began. Ginny perked up, this is what she wanted to talk about for a week. "Wisteria and Draco will be going and I got a letter this morning double checking the amount of guests for each house hold and I got to thinking, you're a young lady. And you have grown up nice enough; maybe you would like to attend the ball. Would you like that Ginny?"

She was in shock. Narcissa Malfoy. The same one that had cut her hair up to her ears when she was eight because everyone said that it was prettier then Wisteria's, was asking if Ginny wanted to go to the ball that she had been planning on sneaking out to. Hell must have frozen over.

"Well? Would you like to go or not? If you're just going to sit there with your mouth open like a fish then I'm going to assume your answer is a no."

That snapped Ginny back to reality.

"No! I would love to go to the ball tomorrow night." She said quickly.

Narcissa smiled. "Excellent. You can ride with Draco and Wisteria. But I should tell you, that the only way you're going to go is if you finish cleaning all the floors and the stairs, the kitchen and all the bathrooms by eight o'clock tomorrow evening. That's when you need to be ready to leave by, go it?"

Ginny nodded her head yes. Narcissa waved her off and the red head quickly walked through the door and back to where she had left the dishrag and bucket with a huge smile on her face.

"What's got you all happy and smiley?" Charlie asked when she came down to the basement when she was dismissed for the day. All seven of them were let off for the evening and were sharing some hidden away chocolate that Fred and George got from Draco's room.

"Oh, you know. Everything." Ginny said, smiling as she fell backwards into her 'bed' with a sigh. "Narcissa said I can go to the ball tomorrow." She confessed.

"She actually let you go! That's great Gin!" All of the boys gave her hugs and congratulations.

"Do you know what you're going to wear?" Ron asked, taking a bite of his chocolate.

Ginny bolted up from her lazy position. "Oh no! I forgot about a dress! I don't have anything I can wear!"

"Gin, calm down. Just wear the dress from Diagon Alley." Percy said with a voice like he solved everything.

"I can't!" She yelled. "When I was running back to the Leaky Cauldron it got dirty and ripped and I lost the shawl. Ahhh! This sucks! Now I can't go." She laid back down on her bead and rolled over, burying her head in her pillow.

"Gin, come on. Don't get sad. We'll think of something for your dress, don't worry." George said, trying to cheer her up.

All of them tried to comfort her and make her see the bright side. But, as she kept reminding them, there was no bright side. She couldn't go to the ball and she would never be able to see Harry again. Just the thought of Harry made the tears that had been threatening to come, spill over and get absorbed by her pillow.

"Oh my gosh! I just got the perfect idea!" Fred said suddenly.

Everyone looked up at him expectantly. Him and George could come up with creative ways to solve any problem that got in their way.

"You know that trunk that mum had. The dark red one?" Everyone nodded their head and Ginny leaned up a little bit to see where he was going with this. "Well, I remember one time when I was up in the attic, I saw it. I was going to bring it down here but it's really heavy and I still had to make dinner. I think it's the trunk that mum kept all of her gowns in."

"Fred that's brilliant!" George said, giving his twin a pat on the back.

"Well, I know." Fred said in a cocky voice that made him sound like Draco, which made everyone laugh.

"So, we'll just go up there tomorrow while Gin's cleaning and grab something from there."

"Or," Ginny began. "You could take down the whole trunk and let me pick which dress to wear."

"There won't be enough time. Besides, who do you think picked out all those dresses you tried on with Madam Malkin and Hermione?"

"You picked those out?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." Ron said.

"Well, most of us did. Ron and Hermione disappeared when we got there." Charlie admitted, smiling at Ron's red ears.

"We were only talking." He defended.

"Really? Cause when you came back it didn't look like you had been talking." Charlie teased.

Ginny giggled at her brothers very red ears and cheeks. "Okay, you guys go and pick a dress."

Over in the Hogwarts castle, if you went up the marble staircase and then walk towards the back, go up three more floors, go through two secret tunnels and then look very carefully behind one of the knights in that hallway, you will find Harry, huddled up, just thinking.

He was thinking about the ball that was only one day away and all the fuss that everyone was making about it. It was only a ball and Harry wouldn't even stay for the whole thing if someone hadn't promised that they would be there.

Cinderella. That was something else that he was thinking about. He just couldn't get her off his mind. And he didn't know why.

He had met lots of girls before her and all of them had been more then happy to have a conversation with the prince. But she was different. She didn't treat him different is what really got him thinking.

"You know, you are one hard kid to find." Startled out of his contemplation, Harry looked up and saw Sirius smiling down at him. "What are you doing hiding back here?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and when Sirius asked if he could join him, he just nodded silently.

"You thinking about that Cinderella?" He asked bluntly.

Harry looked at him and figured that anyone would be able to notice that when he had been sulking around the castle all week.

"Yeah."

"You'll be seeing her tomorrow night, aren't you?"

"That's what she said."

They fell into a not-too-comfortable-but-not-awkward-either silence.

"Do you think Cinderella is her real name?" Sirius asked a few minutes later.

Harry thought it over. It was an unusual name. "No, it probably isn't. Do you think she'll tell me her real name tomorrow?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"Ha. Ha. You've been hanging around your mother too much. But seriously,"

"Go ahead. Ask away."

"Do you really like this girl?"

Harry looked over at his godfather.

"Yeah, I think I might. It's not like I've actually talked to her much." He admitted.

"She's real pretty."

"I know."

"Looks a lot like Lily."

"I know." He put his face in his hands and mumbled that last part out. That was something that he thought of in the ice cream place.

"Are you mad about that?"

Harry picked his head up and looked up at the high ceiling. "It's not that I'm mad. It's just; they really do look a lot alike, except for the eyes. And me and dad look the same pretty much." Sirius looked at Harry confused until he continued. "Dad told me a story once. I was maybe, eleven, twelve, I can't remember. Anyway, he told me about when he first saw mum and how he knew he was in love. Well, what if, what if I might love with Cinderella?"

Sirius honestly didn't know what to say. He knew Harry was like his father in many ways, but to have the same taste in girls and to think they're in love around the same age. That's just creepy.

"Well, I think that before you run around the town naked yelling about your love, I would maybe get to know her a little better and maybe even take a look around at the other girls that are at the ball. You never know, it could be your hormones that are in love and not your heart." He stood up to leave, knowing that Harry needed some time to be alone.

"And Harry? Don't mention love anywhere near your mother. She'll have the wedding planned before the end of the night. Guest list and everything."

Harry laughed and waved Sirius off. He watched him walk away thinking over the advice he gave him.

Two hours later and though Harry couldn't come up with a final decision about, anything, really, he figured he should at least get some sleep so he'll be able to stay awake during the ball.

A/N: well, that's that. Next chap. won't be the ball, but it will be the day off, when everyone gets ready. Exciting, I know. I'm just giddy with giggles.

Sorry for any grammar mistakes, but I'll try my best to catch them all before I upload it. Thanks to anyone who pointed them out , it really does make me double, double check my chapters.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm so happy about them all!

(I already have more for the first 2 chapters then I do for my other fic that has 6!)

Review! Or Review again! Whatever you want!

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