(A/N – This chapter shows parts of what's happening before the ball. It uses several POVs. I tell you whose POV it is before each section.)

Chapter7 – Fragments – Everyone's POV

Ginny's POV-

I was lying on the couch in Draco and Blaise's common room, waiting for Draco to get out of the shower.

It was Saturday afternoon, the day of the ball.

He had been in the bathroom for forty-five bloody minutes.

Finally the door opened, and Draco emerged wearing only his black silk boxers, and with absolutely no hair gel. I almost drooled.

I was just about to get up and pounce on him when the entrance to the common room opened and Blaise climbed in.

He sneered at me. "What are you doing here?" he asked nastily.

"What do you think I'm doing?" I sneered back.

I had told Draco about what Ron had told me, and Draco filled me in on Ron and Blaise's…er…relationship.

"You need to apologize to him," Blaise said, pulling off his robes and laying them over the back of an arm chair, leaving him in black pants and a grey shirt. "You don't know how hard it was for him to tell you, and then you act like a bitch and yell shit at him. How would you feel?"

"I wouldn't know, I'm not gay," I replied.

"Yeah, no kidding." He walked into his bedroom and slammed the door.

"Gin…what do you have against gays?" Draco asked softly.

"It's just not natural…"

Harry's POV-

I pulled my new, red dress robes over my black pants and shirt, grabbed the never-wilting rose from my bedside table, and went down to the common room to wait for Hermione.

About ten minutes later, Hermione descended the stairs from the girls' dormitories. She looked beautiful.

Her robes were a dark blue, and underneath she wore a short, tight, black dress. On her feet she wore high-heeled black sandals that laced up her ankles.

I stood and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her deeply. I handed her the rose.

She smiled and kissed me again. "I'm going to go put it in my room, ok? I'll be back in a minute." She disappeared back up the stairs.

Ron's POV-

I arrived at Blaise's room about an hour before the ball. We had decided to walk around and talk some more before we went. I knocked on the door and Draco opened it.

Ginny was sitting on the couch in the common room. I didn't make eye contact with her.

"He's in his room, you can go in there if you want," said Draco.

"Thanks," I said. I crossed the room and knocked on Blaise's bedroom door. He opened it and cracked a smile.

"Hey." He pulled me into his room.

"Figured you probably don't want to hang around out there," he said.

"Yeah, thanks."

He dug around in his closet for a minute and pulled out olive green dress robes. He put them on over his black pants and dark grey, silk dress shirt. He looked really hot.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked.

He stepped up to me and kissed me lightly. I kissed him back a little harder, resting one hand on his hip and one behind his neck.

I felt his arms slide around my waist. His body felt so good pressed against mine. I broke away breathing heavily.

He pulled back and took my hand, leading me out of his room. We walked right past Ginny and Draco, and I didn't even notice they were there.

Draco's POV-

When Blaise's door opened, Ginny turned away and came over to me, sitting next to me with her legs across my lap. I ran my hand up her smooth, shaved leg. Her eyes fluttered closed as she enjoyed the feeling of my hand on her skin.

I heard the door click shut.

"So, I was thinking…" I started.

"Oh, yeah? Did it hurt?" she replied.

"Oh, ha ha," I said, pinching her leg.

"So…you were thinking," she said, laughing.

"Yeah, I was thinking since were not actually going to the ball, maybe we could just stay up here instead. You know, since it might be a little cold outside."

She wiggled her eyebrows. "Oh, were you now? That sounds interesting. And what would we do up here, all alone for hours?" she asked suggestively.

"I don't know…that's a hard one. I think we can come up with something, don't you?" I replied.

She ended the playing around by grabbing my head and pulling it down to hers in a searing kiss.

Blaise's POV-

We wondered the halls, hand in hand, not really caring where we were going.

"She'll get over it eventually," I said.

"Who, Gin? I don't know…she holds things against you sometimes. I hope so…"

He sounded as if the topic of his sister made him really sad. "Well at least she hasn't outed you," I said.

"Yeah…she still might, though," he replied.

"She doesn't really have much time if we're going to the ball tonight…" I said.

He laughed. "Good point."

I looked at my watch. "We have about twenty minutes," I said. "Do you want to start heading down there?"

"Sure. Um…are you going to come and sit with me?" He asked.

"Of course." I replied. Then I laughed. "About three years ago, sitting with the Gryffindors would have been my worst nightmare."

He laughed. "Yeah, the entire world has been turned upside down in the last few years. I mean…a Weasley and a Malfoy? That's just not right."

I laughed. "Yeah, if someone told me Draco would go out with a Weasley in first year I would have laughed my ass off at them."

He didn't look quite so sad any more.

We were just about to walk into the great hall when we heard Ginny's voice from behind us.

"Ron!" she called.

We stopped and turned around. "Yeah?" he asked.

"I'm…sorry. I over reacted about this. You accepted my relationship and I should do the same. I can accept it, and I'm sorry."

He hugged her. "Thanks, Gin." They were both smiling. "I appreciate it."

She turned and went back down the hall.

I took him in my arms and hugged him. He seemed so relieved and happy.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked.

"Yeah. Let's go fling ourselves out of the closet," he replied, and we walked into the great hall, hand in hand.