Yay! Another update! You can all thank me later, or not. Anyway, here is chapter 5. Hope you like it.

~Robin

Disclaimer: The characters and Hogwarts are all JKR's, the idea for a Halloween Dance might be mine, although somebody has probably used it before, so probably not. Anyway, just to be clear, this isn't mine, it belongs to the fabulous, intelligent, and totally amazing J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 5

October 4th 1998

It was the first weekend of October when Harry saw something interesting on the notice board. He walked quickly over where the crowd was beginning to gather and read it over some of the younger students' heads.

First Hogsmeade Weekend-Saturday October 14th

Third years and up will be allowed to visit Hogsmeade Village for the day. Leave after breakfast and be home by dinner time. Enjoy the time out of the castle!

Harry was more enthusiastic than usual about the upcoming weekend. He hadn't seen Teddy for over a month and he really was supposed to take care of him and make sure that he was okay. Teddy was depending on him, and he had sort of abandoned him for a while. Harry would have felt really bad if he hadn't known that Molly was taking care of him.

In the time that Harry spent waiting for Ginny to come down so that they could go to breakfast the excitement in the room had spread throughout the house. By the time Ginny had gotten ready for the day the whole house was buzzing with the thought of their first Hogsmeade trip. Everybody except for the first years, anyway.
Harry and Ginny walked down to the great hall where Ron and Hermione had already began to eat. Ron was, as usual, stuffing himself as Hermione sipped some pumpkin juice while reading the Daily Prophet.

Harry and Ginny plopped down onto the bench just as Dean sat down across from them. Dean let out a heavy sigh.

"What's up Dean?" Ginny asked him.

"Nothing," Dean muttered.

"Doesn't sound like nothing," Ginny responded coolly.

"It's no-" he stopped, seeing Ginny's glare. "Fine, all of you are dating somebody, and I feel like I should be too."

Harry almost chuckled, but a look from Ginny stopped him. Instead he pointed out, "Neville isn't dating anyone, and neither is Seamus."

Dean snorted at that. "Yeah, but Neville and Luna are meant to be, it's obvious, and Seamus asked Lavender to Hogsmeade about ten minutes ago."

"Oh," Harry murmured, not knowing what to say.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him, and whispered conspiratorially to Dean, "Well, I might be able to tell you that Lavender told me, that Padma told her, that Parvati might like you." Dean just looked confused. Blokes just couldn't take a hint. "Parvati likes you, but don't tell her I said so."

Dean brightened up. "Alright, but I can't just, ask her. It would be strange."

"Why would it be strange? People ask other people out all the time," Harry pointed out.

"Like you would know. But anyway, we've known each other so long and-" Dean glanced over to Ron and Hermione. She was leaning on Ron's shoulder now and he was holding her to his side. "Never mind. I'll ask her later," Dean muttered. Harry rolled his eyes at Dean's original logic. He really was kind of thick sometimes. How could Ginny ever have liked him.

Ginny, however, looked quite happy with herself and filled her plate up with breakfast. She was quite satisfied with her matchmaking for the day and was rewarding herself with a hardy breakfast. Well, maybe not rewarding herself, but she was hungry, so she ate. Harry took some bacon and toast too, and started to eat, watching Ginny. She noticed he was staring at her. "What?" she asked him.

"You are just amazing," he said to her. "You can set your ex up to ask someone else out without a second thought of your previous relationship."

"Of course I can. I have you now. And, to let you in on a secret, I like you much better." she grinned at him, winking, and kissed his cheek, turning back to her breakfast.

How did I ever get her? Harry thought to himself as he watched her finish her eat.

October 11th 1998

"Neville, really, just go and ask her now. She wasn't planning on coming, but she'll be in Ravenclaw tower, and I'm sure she'd go if you just asked her." Ginny was trying to convince Neville, once again, that Luna would be very happy to go to Hogsmeade with him, but he just wasn't buying it. The confidence he had built up the year before obviously didn't stretch to girls quite yet, and he was still insistent that she would never like him.

They argued back and forth for ten more minutes before Ginny finally gave up. Harry had come down from the boys dorms and wrapped his arms around her waist. His musky scent was very distracting and well as his breath on the top of her head.

"Fine Neville. Be all morose and lonely if you want, but don't blame me if it turns out that Luna likes you and you couldn't get up the guts to ask her out just because you weren't sure if she liked you back," she threw the words over her shoulder as Harry guided her out of the common room and through the portrait hole.

He backed up as she stepped through and then followed her down the main stairway and out into the entrance hall. Filch jabbed them with his secrecy sensor, checked them off on his list, and they were finally on the road down to Hogsmeade.

Ginny pulled Harry along behind her as she started skipping down the road. He was jogging to keep up with her. "Ginny, slow down," he said. He was still breathing normally from all of his Quidditch training, but he was having trouble not tripping over his feet at the speed she was going.

"Nope, you'll just have to skip too," she said slyly to him.

"Why you little-ugh," he almost tripped again. "Fine," he gave in and skipped down with her. They were getting some strange looks, but Ginny honestly didn't care what everyone else thought. She was eager to see Teddy, and knew that Harry felt the same way. They made it into the village quickly, still skipping down the main street to the Three Broomsticks, where they were meeting Molly and Teddy. Molly was going to leave once Ginny and Harry had Teddy, but somebody had to stay with him until they arrived, so they were meeting in the crowded pub.

Harry held the door open for Ginny. They were both panting now and their faces were red from the exercise and laughter. They filed in and immediately saw Molly and Teddy across the room. Ginny walked quickly over to them, weaving her way through the already crowded pub full of students, Hogsmeade residents, and even some teachers all in town for the day as a nice break from being crowded inside the castle. Ginny groaned internally about the pile of homework she had left behind for the next day, but quickly swept that thought away. Today was a day for fun, not for worrying about schoolwork.

"Hey mum," she greeted her with a hug, taking Teddy into her arms.

"Hello Ginny, dear. Hello Harry. Thanks so much for taking him for the day. I forgot how hard raising a baby was after all these years. Take good care of him and don't spoil him too much," she said, already on her way out.

"I guess she really is tired," Harry grinned, laughter in his eyes. "She didn't go all motherly on us for more than thirty seconds."

"True. Then let's get going before she decides to come back on get all, as you say, 'motherly.' I'm sure that there must be some candy okay for babies in Honeydukes," Ginny said, carrying Teddy as they headed out the door.

They hit all the shops that day and got something for Teddy in every single one. By the end of the day he had some baby okay-ed candy, a few new stuffed animals to play with (a wolf, a stag, and a black dog), some finger-ink that would wash off of anything and would be fine for him if he accidentally ate any, and a few new story books for bedtime. Ginny was carrying his bag of stuff now and Harry was carrying Teddy.

People had been stopping them all day and asking who Teddy was and goggling at him. His hair was turquoise, so people were bound to stare. Everybody was exclaiming about how adorable he was. He was an instant hit with the people of Hogsmeade.

They had gotten some candy and supplies for themselves along with some reading material, but the trip had been mostly focused on Teddy. They wouldn't get to see him again for at least another month, so they made the best of the time that they had.

They got some ice cream before finally taking Teddy back to the Three Broomsticks to go back to the Burrow again. It was almost four, and they had to be back up at the castle by five, so they quickly gave Teddy back to Molly and after some hugs and kisses walked quietly and quickly back to the school grounds. It was just beginning to get dark so they had to hurry to not be late for dinner.

While Harry and Ginny were in Hogsmeade, Ron and Hermione had stayed back at the castle for some study time. Well, everybody knew that know studying happened at all, but they were saying it was because they had to study. Ron was behind on homework already, but Hermione was already finished with everything due the next week, so she could have only been helping Ron, and well, she never helped with homework much, so it was obvious that they just wanted some alone time.

Hermione and Ron were in her room. She had brought him up for some time alone and out of the common room. Most people were at Hogsmeade too, so nobody would really bother them. She was always so busy with school and head duties that she and Ron didn't get much time to themselves anymore.

They were sitting on her bed and arguing. It was one of their favorite past times.

"Come on, Hermione, just tell me your password," Ron was goading her.

"No it's too embarrassing," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"Please. I might need to come find you some night, and if I don't know your password I'll never be able to get to you."

She rolled her eyes at his logic but after a brief pause she mumbled something quietly.

"Erm, I couldn't hear you," Ron said to her.
She rolled her eyes again. "Fine. Ronald. Is what I said," she reiterated.
"Okay, tell me," Ron was looking eager now.

Hermione sighed. "I already did. Ronald." Now he looked confused. "Oh, goodness, gracious. My password is Ronald," she almost shouted it, but caught herself just in time.

"Why are you getting so mad?" he questioned gently, still confused why she was getting so worked up about it.

She groaned again. "The password to come into this room is Ronald. R-O-N-A-L-D. Ronald," she said, completely exasperated.

Ron just sat there looking at her. He quickly collected himself and leaned over to kiss her. It was short and sweet and said everything that needed to be said between them.

He released her lips quickly, but she sat up and retook them. Their kiss intensified as Ron pushed her backwards onto the bed. Their lips were moving in synchronization as the kiss deepened. Ron was keeping his weight carefully on his arms as their bodies pressed together on the bed. Hermione opened her mouth and her breath filled his mouth, leaving him gasping for air. He quickly brought their lips together again and their tongues danced.

Their mouths were moving more urgently now, but just then, Ron pulled back.

She almost complained, but then she heard his stomach grumbling and realized why he had pulled back. She laughed quietly to herself. Boys and their appetites.

Hermione quickly fixed her hair and clothes in the bathroom while Ron waited impatiently for her on the bed.

"Come on. Let's go," she conceded defeat, her hair was way too frizzy for her to fix on most days anyway, so she put it into a pleat down her back and grabbed Ron's hand, taking him down to the common room, and out into the castle for dinner. "We'll have to ask Harry and Ginny how their day with Teddy was."

"Right, yeah, Harry and Ginny," Ron mumbled. She rolled her eyes. He had always been more interested in food than she could possibly understand. It was a boy thing-no-it was a Weasley thing. Even Ginny ate a lot more than the average person.

"Oh, at least pretend to be interested," she scolded.

"Fine, for you, I will pretend to be interested in whatever the hell they end up talking about, unless its snogging, then I will ignore them," he corrected himself quickly.

Hermione smiled, he may be a prat sometimes, but he was her prat, and she loved him just the way he was.

October 19th 1998

Harry was eating a leisurely breakfast in the great hall when he felt someone tap his left shoulder. He turned around only to see nobody there.

"Gotcha," he heard from his other side. He turned back around to see Ginny sitting on his right side, loading her plate with eggs and putting marmalade on her toast. He scowled teasingly at her before pecking her on the lips and going back to his breakfast.

"Guess what I saw on the notice board," Ginny said, once again grabbing his attention.

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me," Harry responded.

"There's going to be a dance the day after Halloween," she said excitedly. Harry groaned in response and she pouted at him. "It'll be fun. We all wear costumes and McGonagall booked the Weird Sisters and we'll be able to dance, plus, this time you'll at least have a date that you actually like," she was just going on and on.

"Well it's bound to be better than the Yule Ball," Harry finally conceded. "That was terribly boring. But, where are we supposed to be getting costumes, and who says that I'm asking you?" he responded teasingly.

"Well, I know you're taking me, because no other girl would go with you because of the risk that asking you would mean for them. I do have a pretty good bat bogey hex. And McGonagall set up a Hogsmeade weekend so that we can all go to buy our costumes. There are a couple shops that will be selling that kind of thing for us to buy specifically that weekend."

Harry was amused. "You know I was kidding about taking anybody else," he said. "You think of what I'm going to be, though. I'm not good with that kind of thing at all."

Ginny grinned. "I'm sure you'd do fine, but since you asked, I will be happy to oblige." She kissed him again.

"Oi, knock it off! I'm trying to eat here," Ron groaned. He had arrived without either of them noticing his presence. Ginny rolled her eyes and gave him a scathing look before going back to her breakfast, scooting purposefully closer to Harry's side as she did so.

Ron was not amused, but chose to ignore it and went back to eating. Harry just chuckled at their behavior and finished his breakfast quietly, letting the rumble of the other voices in the hall wash over him. He was looking down towards the end of the table closer to the entrance when he noticed two people wrapped up in each other, literally, lips locked. He nudged Ginny with his elbow and nodded his head towards them.

"Is that Dean and..." She asked him. He just nodded again inspecting her face for any signs of emotion. She sighed, noticing what he was doing. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm over him," she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Harry gave up. "Fine, I'm convinced, alright."

"No, but I think that right now Dean has the right idea." Harry looked confusedly at her until she leaned over to kiss him intensely. His heart was beating fast by the time she pulled away. Ron was glaring at them again. They rolled their eyes at him at the same time.

"Get used to it Ron. I'm planning on keeping her around for a long time," Harry told him. Ginny snorted and muttered under her breath.

"I'll get used to it eventually. Just, just try not to get too intense around me, okay," he pleaded.

"Alright, as long as you do the same. Hermione's just as much my sister as Ginny is yours, and seeing you two snogging isn't the most pleasant thing to have to witness." Ron's ears were tinged with red, but before he exploded, Ginny took Harry's hand and dragged him away down towards where Dean and Parvati were sitting.

"I guess the date went well," she said, interrupting the kiss. Harry almost swore that he heard a suction-cup like noise as the two separated. Parvati was blushing fiercely and Dean's cheeks were tinged red, but you could barely see it because of his dark skin. He was grinning shyly at them and nodded before turning back to his food. Actual food this time, not Parvati's lips.

"That was worse than Ron and Hermione," Ginny groaned. "Now we're going to have to be watching that in the common room all the time. There really should be somewhere specifically for snogging couples, so the rest of us poor innocents don't have to be forced to watch."

Harry grinned and pulled her tighter to his side as they walked up the staircase towards Gryffindor tower. "You're a hypocrite, you know that?" he told her.

"Sure do," she retorted, before kissing him soundly on the lips once more, in the middle of the crowded stairs. "But you love me for it."

"I certainly do," Harry murmured into her hair.

October 29th 1998

"Neville, just ask her. What harm will it do if she says no," Harry was trying once again to convince Neville to ask Luna to the dance. The last week and half had been spent buying the costumes, asking dates to the dance, and watching decorations being put up in the hall. Oh, and the usual Quidditch practice and school work. Neville still looked worried though. "She'll say yes. I'm one hundred-er ninety-nine-percent sure of it," Harry continued badgering him.

"But, Harry, I'm just not," Neville ran his hand through his longish hair. It hadn't been cut in a while so it was almost to his shoulders.

"No more nonsense, just ask her already. She's been looking hopeful for days, and I won't have you screwing this up for both of you!" Harry was almost yelling at him. Neville looked scared, even though he knew that Harry wouldn't do anything to rash, he decided not to risk it.

"Fine, fine, I'll ask her at breakfast tomorrow," he finally gave in.

"Thank Merlin," Harry sighed in relief. It was the Wednesday before the Halloween and Neville still hadn't asked Luna to go with him. He had been slowly getting more and more aggravated with his friend until he finally had snapped right then. He knew that this would work out in the end. Now he had to find Ginny. She had supposedly bought their costumes for the dance, but he hadn't tried his on yet. He didn't even know what he was going as, or what Ginny was going as for that matter. His musings came to a halt when a red-haired bullet ran up to him, an excited look on her face.

"Ready to try your costume on Harry?" she asked him, a malicious look spreading across her face.

"Yes?" he said, but it sounded more like a question than an actual answer.

"Don't worry. It'll be perfect. I picked it out myself." He rolled his eyes at her logic, but allowed himself to be pulled up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. He noticed the bundle of fabric under her arm as she pulled him up behind her. She kicked the door open and luckily the room was empty. She shoved the bundle of fabric into his arms, "There, change into those."

Harry looked at the wadded mass of fabric, but decided it was better late that never. "Alright, but cover your eyes," he commanded her. She brought her hands up in front of her face as he turned around.

He pulled his sweater and t-shirt off and pulled the white one she had given him over his head. The sleeves were slightly puffed and the shirt was made of a sturdy, but comfortable material. He changed into the pants she had given him. They were very simple. He turned around and saw that her eyes were wide open. "You weren't supposed to look he muttered to her."

She ignored him and inspected the outfit. "Just needs this," she decided, and pulled a tri-cornered hat from behind her back. He put it on. "See, you're a pirate. All we need to do the night of the dance is transform your hand into a hook." Harry blanched. What if it didn't turn back. Ginny rolled her eyes. "We'll have Hermione do it." Harry calmed down immediately.

"What are you going as then?" Harry questioned her.

he rolled her eyes again. "A pirate, duh. There are female pirates too," Harry looked slightly ashamed for not connecting that as she pulled out a second bundle of clothes. "I'll change and you can see."

"Alright, but change in the bathroom. Somebody could walk in at any time," he said, pointing to a door behind him. "If your brother walked in on you changing and me in the same room he would kill me." She sighed, knowing it was the truth, and walked into the bathroom.

She quickly changed and came back out. Harry's eyes widened. She was wearing a very low-cut white blouse, similar to his own, that showed a good amount of her cleavage. It also had a large rip across the back, revealing her toned back. Her skirt went to mid-calf, but had a long slit going up to the middle of her thigh and she had white tights on underneath it, with tall black boots to complete the outfit. He gulped nervously.

"Um, you do realize I'm not going to be the only one to see you in that Ginny?" He said, his voice higher than usual.

"Of course, but I'm only wearing it for your benefit," she purred, coming up in front of him, so that he had a very good view down her shirt.

Harry sighed in defeat. "Fine, but, wear a tank top underneath that, please," he added on, almost begging. It was much too tempting.

"Alright," she complied, starting what would have been a good snog if Ron hadn't chosen that moment to come into the room.

"Gin, what are you wearing?" he yelled, aghast.

"My costume," she replied calmly.

"You are NOT wearing that in public. I don't even think you should wear that in private," he kept yelling at her.

"If it was Hermione wearing this you wouldn't be complaining," Ginny said, exasperated.

"Yeah, but that's not the point," Ron spluttered.

"Ron, you can't control what I wear, you can't control who I date, and you can't control what I do, so bugger off my life," Ginny was raising her voice now too. Ron looked taken aback and sank onto his bed as Ginny disappeared back into the bathroom.

Harry sighed. "I tried too. She promised to wear a tank top underneath the shirt," Harry was trying to make Ron feel better, but was not doing a very good job. Ginny came back out, gave Harry a lingering kiss before Harry pulled away, shaking his head that now was not the time. She sighed, but gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving again. Harry had finished all the school work for the next day and it was getting late so he changed back out of his costume and into his pajamas before turning in for the night. By the time he was asleep Ron was already snoring, and Neville was the only other one back. Deep sleep overtook him and he dreamed of Ginny and Ron hitting each other over the head with stuffed beater's bats that made loud honking noised every time they made contact.

October 31st 1998

Ginny was, once again, dragging Harry through the hallways. They had been caught up in short snogging session when Harry's stomach had reminded them of the Halloween feast awaiting them, so they were running late. Harry took the lead, pulling her through some secret passageways that she had never known existed and getting them to the great hall ten minutes before the feast was supposed to start.

The tables were already starting to fill up, but they managed to find seats near the rest of the seventh years before space ran out. They were across from Seamus and Lavender who still didn't quite look comfortable with each other. Their Hogsmeade date had gone okay, and they were going to the dance together the next day, but they weren't really together yet and each of them were slightly awkward around the other. It was interesting how two people who had known each other so long were able to act so strange just because of a change in their relationship.
The tables were soon filled and at exactly six o'clock the usual bats were released into the hall, the enchanted ceiling showing the stormy night outside. It was the perfect mood for Halloween.

McGonagall stood and tapped her fork against her glass, clearing her throat as she prepared to speak. "Good evening everyone. Our fine feast is about to begin, so please enjoy the food, enjoy the company, and enjoy the evening's entertainment after," she said in her sharp way. The food blossomed into appearance on the tables and everybody was soon distracted with filling their plates to the max.

There was all of their favorite dishes along with some Halloween specialties. Ginny had three servings before she was stuffed, but when she looked up, Ron was still eating.

"That's his fifth plate," Hermione choked. She looked disgusted at how much her boyfriend could eat.

"He's your boyfriend," Ginny pointed out to her.

"Yours isn't much better," Hermione retorted. "That's his third piece of Treacle Tart that he just finished." Harry grinned bashfully at her.

"Yes, but at least with that I can go like this," she leaned over and licked some of the remaining dessert off of his lips.

"Trynaehe!" came from Ron's mouth.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ginny asked, kissing Harry.

"I said, I'm trying to eat here," Ron reiterated after he swallowed his large mouthful of food.

"Oh, sorry," Ginny said with a sarcastic smile. "Next time try to swallow before talking." Ron was unabashed as he ate his last few bites of food.

Throughout the meal Halloween music had been playing and the ghosts and bats had been flying around the table. After the meal the ghosts told a traditional Hogwarts Halloween story and did some synchronized flying, the bats occasionally passing through them. It was all quite fun to watch, but eventually they had to leave and go to bed. Professor McGonagall stood once more to end the evening.

"I hope you have all enjoyed the festivities tonight," she started. Everybody cheered quickly before she called them to attention again. "Tomorrow night there will be the costume party. Remember, first through third years will only be allowed to stay from five to nine. Everybody else may stay until midnight. Make sure to come in costume. Now, get some rest, you have another late night waiting for you tomorrow," she finished, waving them off to bed.

Ginny stood quickly, taking Harry's hand. Ron and Hermione followed them out of the hall and up the main staircase. They all made it to Gryffindor tower quickly and went to their respective dormitories. It was almost midnight, and like McGonagall had said, they would have another late night tomorrow. They needed to rest while they could.

Ginny quickly changed out of her robes, climbed into bed, and fell into a deep sleep where for once, no dreams passed through her subconscious.

Look forward to the dance next chapter! It's dance prep, the dance, and after the dance, but it will be a normal length chapter. I hope you'll be imprssed. Tell me what you think of this one. Read and review.