After the ceremony, they all went inside to eat, while Mr. Weasley and Charley set up the makeshift dance floor outside. Harry sat inside, watching everybody laugh and eat. He couldn't stop thinking about Ron. He was acting like nothing had happened last night. Harry couldn't believe things were turning out like they were. He had known that he loved Ron for a year now, but the thought of them together had never even crossed his mind. Ok so maybe it had, but it was never really a possibility for him. For the first time in months now, Harry felt a stab of guilt about Fred and George. He would have never touched either of them had he known he could have the same thing with Ron, even better really. But he didn't like thinking about that, or what Ron would think if he found out what Harry had done with Fred, George, or both of them. He shivered, thinking of the time last week. He couldn't believe he had done those things. He thought about what George had said, about it all being "just fun". But lately he had been thinking that maybe he wanted more than that. Feeling like he did last night, as he looked into those eyes that loved him, he was sure he wanted more. But he was slightly regretting not having done more with Ron than just kiss, by the way Ron was acting about the whole thing he had a feeling last night may have been his only chance.

Mr. Weasly walked in with Charley, smiling. "It's all ready to go!" they all walked outside to the dance floor that they had created in the yard. They played some cheesy music and Bill and Fleur started the dancing. Harry had the overwhelming urge to go over and ask Ron to dance with him, but he knew better. Instead, he approached Ginny, and led her out to the edge of the dance floor. He spun her around, so that he could gaze at Ron across the room over her shoulder. But the longer he looked into the eyes of Ron, the more he wished that everything was different, which turned out to be a pretty sucky feeling. He turned Ginny around again, so he was looking at Hermione dance with Charley, a flowing waltz that made him want to cry. And he almost did. But at the last minute, he remembered how he wasn't supposed to be unhappy. After losing Ron twice to unfortunate circumstances, sadness, and anger, during 2nd and 4th year, he wasn't willing to repeat the experience. Instead, he looked into Ginny's eyes and smiled. He no longer felt any shame in the lie all these silly smiles held.

When the dance was over, he sat down next to Ron at a table and sighed. He thought of mentioning the night before, but he didn't. Obviously Ron felt it had been a mistake, and if that was how Ron felt, then it probably had. Harry tried to express without words how sorry he was. But Ron said nothing that could lead Harry to believe he even REMEMBERED the night before. So everything went unspoken, and he was left to wait for tonight, when he knew he must say something, before he let dreams take him to those forbidden lands, those places he escaped to when faced with the impossibilities of his relationship with Ron. Nothing was going to change, and though he had always known that, he somehow felt now that it was even worse. He had made his move, and he had failed. He felt even more like crying now. He felt a lot more of a lot of things in fact.