When the boys came back into the common room there was no sign of the girls so they called out their names. They could hear giggling from somewhere but they couldn't see them. Harry went to check Hermione's room but she wasn't there. Nor were they in Harry's room or the bathroom.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted.

The giggling stopped. Then the boys heard a muffled swear word. Then someone clapped their hands and the girls were suddenly in the room. They leant against the wall and tried to suppress their giggles.

"Where were you?"

"Preparing for the ball."

"You need sixteen hours? Come on, girls, we all know you're beautiful anyway but you shouldn't need that much time to get ready."

"Aw, how sweet, Ronnie!" Hermione said sarcastically.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Ginny said in a sing song voice.

"I am not!"

As one the left eyebrow of each girl rose sceptically.

"Ginny, do you want to do the honours? He is your brother."

"My pleasure."

Ginny picked up her wand from the mantelpiece. The boys' eyes widened and they turned and ducked, covering their heads and sticking their backsides in the air. You didn't mess with Ginny Weasley. A small flame appeared on Ron's raised bottom.

He yelped and hopped up and started dancing around. Harry and Draco leapt up as well and tried to catch him to put the flame out. Ginny and the other girls cracked up laughing.

Hermione caught Pansy checking out Ginny's ass when Ginny wasn't looking.

"Pansy! What are you doing?"

"Just checking if quidditch did her butt as much good as it did the ones attached to our boyfriends." Hermione cracked up again.

"They do have good butts don't they?"

Ginny removed the spell and Ron sank into a seat far from the fire. He wasn't going to risk getting close to flames again.

Harry and Draco meanwhile, now that they knew their backsides were not in danger had reappeared and Harry sank onto his chair, pulling Hermione down with him. Draco perched on the sofa watching them cuddle. A small amused smile played about his face. Pansy saw him and sat on the sofa next to him.

"Sweet aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are. I didn't know the great Harry Potter could be like this."

"Well, for six years you only saw the pro-Gryffindor Harry. You, being pro-Slytherin, obviously didn't agree with him. All your fights were so amusing because they were all staged, weren't they?"

"Pansy! Of course they were!"

"And we both know why that was."

"I don't think I like what you're implying."

"I didn't expect you to, Draco."

Pause.

"By the way, what were you implying?"

Pansy burst out laughing and everyone looked at them. Draco hurriedly clamped his hand over her mouth.

"I have an idea." Ginny said suddenly.

"I don't think we want to hear this."

"Trust me Harry, you really do." Ron said from the corner where he and Ginny were whispering quietly.

"Since it's too late to go to bed, I suggest we go for a scavenger hunt."

"Keep talking."

"Girls vs. boys. We make a list of the things to collect around the school. First one into the great hall with all the things is the winner. What do you say?"

Everyone agreed that it would be interesting.

"Alright. Let's make a list."

Five minutes later there were two lists of identical and impossible tasks.

The boys rushed off to complete the first one: A Branch Of The Whomping Willow.

"How are we going to do this?" Pansy asked the other girls.

Hermione disappeared into Harry's room and came back with three brooms, including Harry's firebolt.

"Harry keeps these in his room just in case. While they are trying to get round the willow we will sneak up on the brooms and get the branch while the tree is distracted. Ginny, while Pansy and I do that, can you and get the next on the list?"

"What: A Pair Of The Opposite Sex's Underpants, Not Including The Head Boy And Girl's?"

"Yup. And make sure they're embarrassing ones."

"You got it."