A/N: Thank you to all those that have been reviewing. I'm open to suggestions to the story so please R/R.

Disclaimer: I wish I could be as good as JK Rowling but I'm not. This is her stuff and not to mention the influence that this story took from various fanfics.

Chapter 19
The Ball

A week passed and the familiar site of the morning post arrived again. This time to everyone's surprise Hedwig came in with a package and instead of dropping it off for Harry dropped it off for Ginny. It was a large rectangular box. Ginny picked up the letter and read it.

Ginny,

I was so happy that you accepted to come to the ball as my date that I couldn't sleep that night. Thank you so much for making my day. I asked Harry to borrow Hedwig to send you this package because I guess it's no longer a secret that Harry knows who I am. I hope that you like the dress robe, necklace, earrings, and bracelet that are in this package. Harry helped me pick it out. I know that you will make the gown look better than it already is.

I'll meet you at the Ball in the middle of the dance floor. I'll be wearing the same colors as you but switch the colors around for my robe. I have also arranged for a way to let the entire school know that I will be at the ball with the most beautiful, smartest, independent, and kind witch in all of Hogwarts. At the dance there will be two banners hanging in the middle of the Great Hall with one bearing the Weasley family crest to represent you and the other will be white until you find out who I am.

I got that idea from what Harry did when he returned to Hogwarts. Please don't let anybody know of the contents of this letter so nobody tries to impersonate me. I won't truly be happy until I met you at the Ball.

FireFlight

Hermione helped Ginny open up her package as her friends gathered around to see what it was that she got. The large package revealed smaller boxes inside of it. The largest box had a beautiful glimmering simple white dress robe that was made of a soft silky heavy material that just flowed towards the ground. There were small faint swirls of dark blue glittery lines that ran around the robe that wouldn't usually be seen if it wasn't for the light hitting the blue glitter.

The girls just stared at it. Kayla said, "That is absolutely gorgeous. If I remember correctly, I saw that at a fashion show in New York and the designer said that he would only make one. He also said that it only has one charm on it which was to fit only the first girl that was to wear it."

Ginny asked, "So I'm not going fit it then? Can I do alterations to it so it would fit?"

Kayla responded, "You don't have to change it. Hopefully nobody wore it yet so you would be the first person to wear it. If somebody has worn it than you just have to try to get your body to fit the dress robe if you want to wear it."

"I thought you said you saw it at a fashion show. I thought models wore what they show off."

"They do in most case but for this dress robe, it was just bought onto the stage by the designer so he can display it. That's how everybody knew that only one witch could ever wear it."

"I hope that nobody has ever worn it. It's just absolutely gorgeous."

Harry said, "I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten it for you if somebody has worn it before."

Hermione said, "Harry's probably right Ginny. But from what I remember there was a matching dress robe for the wizard. That is the same but it is dark blue but with white glitter trim. It is said that the same charm is on the wizards robe also so these two dress robes will belong to only this couple forever."

Ron asked, "Hermione since when did you get into fashion?"

Hermione replied, "I read it in Witch Weekly." Before she realized that she said it out loud she covered her mouth.

Ron had a triumphant smile on his face and said, "I knew that you read it. Always saying that Ginny leaving it around your room."

"You know Ron. I do read other things besides books. After all I am a witch so what's wrong with me reading Witch Weekly?"

Harry interrupted them by saying, "Why are you giving them a hard time Ron? You read Witch Weekly also."

Ron began to blush than said, "I was doing that for research. I told you not to say anything about it."

"Sorry, it just slipped out."

Ginny seeing her opportunity turned to Ron and said, "Wait, you read Witch Weekly? Is that why I can find it sometimes in your room?"

Harry was doing is hardest not to laugh but was finding that hard to do as he was slightly shaking at holding it in. Ron said, "I was just trying to figure out how a girl thinks anyway."

Hermione and Kayla were also finding it hard to not laugh at Ron. Neville tried to help Ron by saying, "There's nothing wrong with reading Witch Weekly. I think he should have a right to know what girls find as hot and what's not."

Harry, Hermione, Kayla, and Ginny couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed uncontrollably. After Harry noticed the glare that he was getting from Ron he said, "Sorry Ron. I couldn't hold it in." While trying to help Ron out he said, "Ginny what are in the other boxes?"

The three girls recovered soon after and Ginny opened a small box which had a set of studded diamond earrings when examined closely had a small red 'G' inside of the diamond.

Luna saw it and said, "Those are beautiful. I heard that only one wizard in the entire world knows how to do that kind of engraving. From what daddy says, the last time the wizard did that was for a gift for his wife which was over fifty years ago. He only does it for a wizard that he believes is truly in love with a witch. It is said that when the earrings are worn than it's like the witch is protected by a shield made of the wizards love."

Ginny asked, "That's beautiful. I wonder how my admirer got these. How strong is the shield?"

Luna replied, "The strongest that the shield can do is reducing an average wizard's spell by fifty percent."

"I guess that I shouldn't take these off. But what happens if he doesn't love me?"

"Well, once that happens than the 'G' in your earring will disappear and become just like any other diamond earring. But from what I understand, it comes as part of a set."

Ginny opened another box which revealed a simple bracelet made of two rods of platinum that interwoven with each other. Luna said, "That is weird. Ginny, I thought that you said that you don't know your admirer."

Ginny said, "I might know him but I don't know his identity. Why do you ask?"

"You see the two rods on your bracelet. It is a sign of trust between the person that gave it to you and you. The more tightly wound the rods the more you two trust each other but the larger the gap between the two rods means the relationship will fall apart do to lack of trust."

"I wonder who it could be that I trust so much and trusts me so much."

"Well, keep in mind that it might be somebody that you don't know you trust but subconsciously trusts him."

"That doesn't help but that does narrow down the possibilities of people to those that I know."

"I'm going to guess that the last box contains a necklace."

Ginny opened the box which had three diamonds cut like a tear drop with the smallest diamond on the necklace and the largest diamond farthest from the necklace. The diamonds seemed to be suspended by magic because the middle diamond and largest diamond didn't have anything connecting it to the rest of the necklace but always remained underneath the smallest tear drop. The rest of the necklace was made of platinum.

Ginny said, "I guess that I shouldn't be surprised that this looks just as beautiful as everything else."

The rest of the girls nodded while Luna said, "That necklace has three purposes. It is an extremely weak protection charm on it which is representative of the smallest tear drop. The middle tear drop is a moderately strong healing charm which heals physical ailments. The largest tear drop is an extremely strong mental shield to help protect against mental attacks."

Hermione said, "Whoever it is that gave you these accessories really want you to be safe and wants to let you know how they feel about you."

Kayla said, "Yeah, I'm really intrigued now who this person is. How was he able to get these things?"

Ron said, "Well, I guess he would have to be extremely rich to buy one of a kind things or be really close friends to whoever created each thing."

The group was quiet for a minute as they contemplated who the possible people were. As far as members of there group is concerned, Ron was out because he was Ginny's brother, Neville was out because he and Luna seemed to be taken with each other but moving slowly in their relationship, and Harry was out because it was Harry that advised Ginny to go to the Ball with the admirer and not with him. They were interrupted by Hermione telling everybody it was time to go to class. For the next few days, the question of who Harry's date is and who is Ginny's admirer became the talk of the school. The school was more interested in Harry's date because Ginny's admirer has been around longer but Harry being the most desired wizard at school had many witches guessing.

The day of the Ball arrived and the entire castle was busy. After finding out more information about the Ball, it turned out that this will be a Hogwarts only event unlike during the Tri-wizard tournament. With the assistance from Tonks and Remus, Harry was the sole decorator of the Great Hall for that evening. The decoration started almost immediately after lunch and dinner for those who will not be attending the Ball was to be served in the House Common Rooms.

The Ball was set to start at seven in the evening and the girls were seen running off and started their preparations around three that afternoon while most of the guys went down to the pitch for a pickup game of Quidditch. Hermione and Ron will be going to the Ball together which wasn't a surprise. Neville and Luna were going to go to the Ball together but the biggest surprise to most of the school was Kayla who decided to not attend the Ball and go home to celebrate an American holiday known as Thanksgiving. She would be gone from school for three days and missing one day of school.

Harry finished his decorations and returned to his trunk by using the trick he used earlier with hiding in a broom closet but this time he had Nightlight who took him to his trunk so he could prepare and not run into anybody who was going to ask him about his date. Hermione looked absolutely beautiful with her hair worn up again and dressed in dark red dress robes. Ron was also wearing dark red dress robes that were trimmed in white with the Weasley Family Crest over his left chest.

Luna and Neville were wearing dark purple dress robes. Luna still had her bottle cap necklace and also wore her hair up and what looked like two chopsticks in her hair. Her dress robe had more of a Chinese cut to it as there were little flower imprints on her dress robe. Luna still had her usual airy appearance. Neville's robe was simple and preferred the attention on Luna than him.

Ginny on the other hand had attracted attention because she looked like an angel. The way she moved and looked in her white robes made her look like she was gliding on air and whenever there was bright light around her the blue glitter made it look like there were fireflies floating around her. She wore all three of her accessories which was subtle enough not to take away from the dress but just the right to accent her dress and Ginny's physical attributes.

Harry sent a note with Nightlight telling the group to go ahead to the Ball and I will meet them there. He said that it took him longer to decorate the Great Hall and was running late. Harry did promise Ginny that he would be there when her secret admirer show up.

The group made there way down towards the Great Hall but had to wait outside of the Great Hall with the rest of the students. Dumbledore showed up with the heads of the four houses along with Remus and Tonks. The rest of the staff was watching over the rest of the school to make sure everything was fine.

Dumbledore raised his hand for everybody to quiet down and when he had the attention of everybody gathered, he said, "Outside of Mr. Potter, nobody has been inside of the Great Hall to see what has been beyond these doors. I know that Professor Lupin and Tonks were here to help him but their job was to guard the doors so nobody will come inside of the Great Hall. Now for the first time and hopefully the start of a new tradition here at Hogwarts, I present to you the Winter Ball with this year's theme of 'An Endless Night." Dumbledore raised his hands and the doors to the Great Hall opened to what seemed like another world.

The Great Hall looked like it was a crystal cave. All of the crystals were either white, light blue, light pink, or light purple. The colored crystals only had a hint of its respective color for white dominated the cave. There were lots of crystals hanging randomly around the Great Hall with the exception of the cleared area over the dance floor which was directly in the middle of everything. The dance floor looked like it was ice but didn't have the slippery nature of ice. There were smaller round tables scattered in the area around the dance floor and the walls on three sides. The tables and chairs were also white with what looked like glittery material that lightly covered everything. Over the area where the Head Table usually sits an elevated stage took its place extending all the way to the dance floor. The ceiling over the dance floor also looked like it was made of ice but had two banners hanging from it side by side. One banner had the Weasley Family Crest on it and the other one was white.

On each place setting on the table there was a gift to each person who attended the Ball. The gift was an ice goblet that never melted and wasn't cold to the touch. On the goblet's stem were engraved the names of the couples that chose to take that seat and on the main part of the goblet, the engraving 'An Endless Night' sparkled. There were two groups on the stage. The banners 'Wizarding Quartet' and 'Weird Sisters' hung along the base of the stage. The Wizarding Quartet played the slow songs and Weird Sisters played the more upbeat songs. The two groups took half an hour alternating shifts with the Weird Sisters starting to play when the doors to the Great Hall was opened. The option of buffet style meals and table ordering was available with the House Elves acting like waiters and waitresses. A photographer was also available at the rear of the Great Hall to take pictures of couples or groups that wanted to commemorate the evening.

Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville decided to take a table near the dance floor that had three extra seats for Ginny's admirer and Harry with his date. The group had just taken their seats when they were interrupted by the familiar taunting of a platinum blond Slytherin.

Draco was standing on the dance floor next to the stable with Pansy on his arm and sneered, "Well, it looks like the little red weasel was stood up. Although, it shouldn't be a surprise because he probably ran away when he finally saw how ugly she looks."

The Gryffindors were already on their feet before Draco finished and Ron said, "Go sod yourself. From what I hear, ferrets like to do that."

Ginny and Hermione had their wands out and Hermione said, "I advise the two of you to leave or I'll have to deduct points and give each of you detentions."

Pansy turned to her and said, "Stay out of this mudblood or we will end it for you."

Hermione asked, "Is that a threat?"

Draco said, "Looks like we're going to have to teach the disgraceful weasels, the mudblood, and let's throw in Longbottom and Loony just to have more fun."

Tonks just happened to be passing by and asked, "Is there a problem?"

Draco highly annoyed said, "No," than whispered to Hermione, "We'll teach you a lesson later." He walked away with Pansy who was glaring at the group.

After the Slytherins left, Tonks turned to Ginny and said, "Well, on a different note. I think that there is somebody that wants to meet you Ginny. He's about to come in and asks to meet you in the center of the dance floor. He's going to be wearing dark blue robes with his hood up. He wants you to be the first to know who he is."

With that Tonks walked towards Remus who was standing near the doors to the Great Hall. Ginny looked around expectantly but didn't see anything unusual. Hermione said, "Go ahead Ginny. We'll be here for you." The rest of them nodded and Ginny went to the center of the dance floor just under the banners.

When Ginny made it to the center, she stared at the doors to the Great Hall expectantly but nervous to find out whom he is. There was a thick fog similar to what Dry Ice produces but was thick enough to go up to the knees. Slowly a few steps in front of Ginny a figure started to rise from the fog like he was being lift upwards. He was wearing dark blue dress robes with a hint of white glitter that trimmed the outfit. She was startled at first but took a few steps back as everybody stared at the figure rising from the white cloud.

He stood tall and seemed confident but in reality he was a bit nervous. He didn't really want to draw so much attention but wanted this to be a moment that Ginny could remember and proclaim to the school that he liked Ginny. After he finally rose to his normal height, the cloud slowly disappeared. He slowly walked towards Ginny and raised his hand out to her. Ginny took the hand and he slowly spun her around so that her back was to him but she was leaning up against him.

They slowly walked backwards until they could clearly see the banners hanging over them. He conjured a block and Ginny stood up on it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand and handed it to her. She stood up on the block with his wand as he ran his hand along her arm until his hand was over hers and pointed towards the white banner. This moment was so familiar to her. It reminded her of the night under the stars with Harry. He said, "Who do you want to be your secret admirer?"

Ginny knew that voice and was hopeful but too scared to say it and not be him. He sensed this and said, "Don't worry. You have nothing to be scared of. Just point the wand and say, 'I am here with the one I want.'

Ginny whispered the words, "I am here with the one I want," while the wand was pointed at the white banner.

The white banner fell to the floor. Sparks fell down from where the banner was just hanging and another banner slowly unrolled itself next to the banner with the Weasley Family Crest on it. The first thing recognizable about the banner was that it was red and gold. Than all of a sudden, a large bright flash of light emitted from the banner which temporarily blinded everybody and when everybody's eyes recovered. One banner was the Weasley banner while the other banner was the Potter banner.

Harry still wearing the hood said, "I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time."

Ginny turned around quickly and whispered, "Harry?" while she pushed his hood off his head.

Harry nodded and bright vibrant green eyes stared into mesmerizing brown eyes. Ginny jumped up and hugged him so tight that he found it a bit hard to breathe but didn't mind it one bit just as long as it was Ginny who was hugging him. After she released him, He said, "I take it that you're glad that it was me."

Ginny smiled at him while hitting him on the arm saying, "I can't believe that you misled me like that."

Harry who was smiling back mocked being hurt by rubbing his arm where she just hit him and said, "I wanted this night to be yours. This was all planned for some time and it was meant for you. Everybody else here are just extras to help fill the empty space." Harry looked up to the stage and nodded to the Wizarding Quartet to start playing a slow song. He looked back to Ginny and asked, "May I have this dance?"

Ginny said, "Of course you can Mr. Potter but I thought that you hated to dance."

Harry said, "I didn't like to dance before but I guess I'm fine with it now. Tonks has been giving me private lessons. Actually all of this was part of Remus and Tonks' idea. They said this would be much more memorable to you."

Ginny stood on her toes, gave him a kiss on his check, then said, "I agree and thank you for all of this Harry. I would never have thought anybody would do this for me."

Harry walked Ginny to the center of the dance floor and said, "I would do anything for you."

Ginny leaned against Harry's chest while the two of them danced to the slow song that started playing just after Harry's nod. What Ginny didn't know was that Harry had one last tick up his sleeve. Everybody in the Great Hall stared at the couple as they danced. The guys were in amazement for what Harry did for Ginny and hopeful that their dates and girlfriends did not want them to go through the same thing while the girls were in a dream state wishing that they were the one being treated like her. The two of them continued to dance and Harry subtly flick of his wrist and the two of them slowly lifted into the air as they danced. Underneath their feet a single fluffy cloud formed where they were standing on and lifted them about ten feet off the ground.

Ginny broke the comfortable silence, looked up into Harry's eyes while they were still dancing by saying, "I've wanted to do this for such a long time."

Ginny slowly leaned towards back up to him and Harry slowly tilted and lowered his head down to hers. The moment just seemed right. To the two of them there was nobody left in the Great Hall and it was just the two of them on a cloud together. Their lips were millimeters apart and slowly their lips met. They tasted the salty taste on each other's lips as all the emotion, passion, and energy from the two of them were transferred to each other. They felt each other's emotion and all the energy fused and what seemed like fireworks exploded all around them. To everybody else in the Great Hall all they saw was a passionate kiss and the two of them started glowing different colors as colored sparks flew from the cloud that they were floating on.

Somebody started to clap than all of a sudden most of the Great Hall was clapping and cheering for the two of them. There were whistles and yells of congratulations to the new couple. The two of them slowly pulled apart and didn't hear a single sound that was going on around them. Harry said, "It was well worth the wait."

Ginny nodded, gave him another quick kiss on the lips, and said, "Yes it was."

The two of them slowly became more aware of what was going on around them as they started to notice all the noise that was going on around them. The cloud slowly lowered them back down and when their feet met the ground the cloud disappeared. The Weird Sisters started to play a fast paced song and more couples headed onto the dance floor and started dancing. Harry and Ginny walked over to where the rest of their friends were at waiting for them to arrive.

When they got there Ron was the first to speak up in an accusatory tone said, "So you're the bloody coward that was afraid to come out in the open."

Hermione turned to Ron and yelled, "Language Ron. He is your best friend after all." She than came over and hug both Harry and Ginny. Soon afterwards Neville and Luna came up to offer their congratulations also with Neville hugging Ginny and giving Harry a handshake while Luna hugged both of them. Ron was the last to come up and said to Harry, "You better treat her right Harry. She's my baby sister and I will not allow her to be hurt."

Harry offered his hand to Ron who took it and shook it when he said, "Ron, I promise you that I will do everything I can to make sure that Ginny isn't hurt. But you know how things are around me so I can't promise that she will never get hurt." He turned to Ginny and said, "Ginny, what I feel right now can not be compared to anything that I've felt close to happiness before. But I don't want to put you in danger or at least no more danger than you are now. I will understand though if you don't want to turn this into anything more than it is now or want to break it off."

At first Ginny was hurt that Harry did not want her with him but realized what he was leading to. In a series tone, she said, "Harry, I've stood by and seen you go through hell and back. Not to mention the years where you didn't notice that I was even alive." Harry wanted to say something but she stopped him and continued saying, "This was what I wanted for such a long time. Now that I have you I will not give you up no matter what the dangers may be." She paused a moment than continued on saying, "I understand what the dangers are Harry. I'm just as much danger as Hermione and Ron here just for being your friend and I know that it is no secret that the two of us have been becoming very good friends over this school year. I also understand that this might actually elevate me just below you on You-Know-Who's hit list. But I am willing to go through with it and if you dare to try to stop me now than I hope you are ready to be hexed to eternity."

Harry sighed then said, "I understand Ginny. I do want to be with you and I surely don't want to face your Bat Boogey Hex." With that he smiled just a bit and said, "I will love to spend time with you and be with you." He paused, looked deeply into her eyes, held her hands, and said, "Ginny, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend and make me the happiest wizard in the world?"

Ginny tip toed up again, leaned in, and gave him another long lingering kiss.

After recovering from the daze, Harry said, "I take that as a yes than."

Ginny nodded and hit him in the shoulder again. Harry made a pouting face while rubbing his shoulder. All of them laughed at Harry was looking like a fool.

Ron was the first to recover and said, "Well, I guess I don't have to really worry about Ginny considering she's going to be the one in charge of the relationship. To think, Harry can face You-Know-Who countless times but is afraid of my sister."

This made the group burst into another fit of laughter. After the laughter died down, Harry and Ginny were holding hands and sat down to another wave of congratulations to being an official couple. Ginny touched the ice goblet in front of her and the names Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter suddenly appeared on the goblet. Harry picked up his goblet and it was already engraved sense Ginny touched her goblet first. He turned to look at Ginny who was staring at the goblet. He was thinking, 'This is just how it is supposed to be. She's a perfect angel and the most beautiful, talented, caring, and bold witch in the entire world. I wonder why is it that she chose me for being so bad to her for so long but I will not let this go. She's giving me a chance and I will not mess it up.' He asked her, "What are you thinking?"

She held the goblet up to him, pointed to their engraved names, and said, "This is how it is supposed to be. The two of us, side by side."

Harry leaned in, gave her a kiss, and then said, "I agree. This is exactly how it should be."

The two of them were pulled into the conversation that was going on around the table. Many people came by to congratulate the two of them and say hi to the entire table. That evening they danced many times. The two of them enjoyed a buffet meal because they were afraid to request anything from the house elves with Hermione sitting there staring daggers at those that were ordering the house elves. The two of them found it comical while Ron just shook his head, kept his mouth shut, because he finally learned to stay out of Hermione's way when her mind is set on something. Neville and Luna stumbled about on the dance floor a few times but enjoyed the evening. With the exception of the incident with Draco at the beginning of the Ball, they wouldn't want the evening to go any other way.

The evening ended to the groans and complaints of many of the couples left in the Great Hall. The three Gryffindor couples made there way back to their private suite where the wizards bid their respective witches goodnight and in return each received a goodnight kiss. The three girls went to their room and have a little bit of giggling. They changed into their sleeping clothes and went to sleep. The guys spent the rest of the night in silence with Neville and Ron sleeping in the room while Harry headed down to his trunk, changed into sleep clothing down there, and went to an easy sleep with a smile on his face. That same smile was on his friends' faces also especially Ginny who went to sleep with the thought, 'He's mine.'

A/N: I know that many people were right that Harry was the admirer and glad that he was. I was so tempted to turn it into Malfoy's cruel joke on Ginny but didn't want every single review to be a flame so decided to stick with Harry as the admirer. So mystery number one is complete. Believe it or not but this is not the heart of the story. The heart of the story lies in how is the one that is spying on him and who is the one that poisoned him. That will be revealed soon enough and I've been writing like crazy lately so I'll be posting at an extremely quick rate of one a day until I get stuck. Because of the quick posting that will happen I won't be responding to reviews during this time but will be reading them. If you do have a question then feel free to ask and I'll answer it if it is not going to be revealed in a posting that will happen soon.