Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.

Thanks so much for all your reviews. I managed this chapter so I thought I would give you a fast update, seeing that I made you all wait so much last time. Enjoy!!

Chapter Twelve

Damien couldn't believe it. He had only received one invitation to the Christmas ball last year but this year he had received six. Six invitations! It was unbelievable. He sat rereading all his invitations while Professor Binns went on and on with his lecture, unaware that most of his class were paying more attention to the invitations they had received that morning.

Damien had to resist the urge to laugh out loud as he recalled Harry's reaction this morning. He had literally had a storm of owls fighting each other to try and deliver their invitations first. Last year Harry had received around twenty invitations. That itself was a record breaker but this year, Harry had received so many invitations it was impossible to count! As soon as Harry had sat down, a storm of owls flew in and headed straight for Harry. He had to duck in order to save himself from being engulfed by mad owls, trying to get to him. The Great Hall watched in amazement as over sixty owls fought to get to him.

In the end Harry had yelled out to the owls and told all of them to go back and that he wasn't going to accept any of their letters. The owls had hooted in annoyance at him and took off, still fighting one another to get out of the hall first.

Damien smirked to himself. He wasn't going to let Harry live that one down any time soon. Harry was in a bad mood though because he had realised that he would be helping the Duel club for the next four weeks, since his detention was a week's worth but the Duelling club only ran once a week. Maybe it wasn't the best time to annoy him.

As soon as class had ended, Damien made his way out of class. He was still caught up in a daze as to how many invites he had gotten. He knew that he was a rather good looking boy, with his soft hazel eyes and dark locks but even then, six invites was rather a lot. He figured that he was getting more attention than usual since his training with Harry had helped develop his physique as well. He was no way as toned as Harry was but he was on his way. Still, he wasn't ignorant to the fact that many girls had only asked him out since he was Harry Potter's brother. He had become more attractive to girls since Harry came to Hogwarts. He had actually heard Emma Rose whisper to her friend as he walked by her in Herbology 'God, he's starting to look very much like Harry, isn't he? Shame he's missing is the 'Devil-may-care attitude' Still, I would give my wand holding arm to be with him if he grows up to look like Harry.' They had burst into giggles after that. Damien had hurried as far away as possible from the two giggling girls.

He walked into the Great Hall for Lunch and caught sight of Harry sitting with Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Damien wondered if Ron had plucked up the courage to finally ask Hermione out or not. He swore that if the two idiots hadn't asked each other out yet, then he would ask for them. It was starting to get really annoying now that the two hadn't confronted each other about their feelings.

Damien joined his brother at the table. As soon as he sat down he saw Lavender and Parvati get up and head towards them. Damien knew what they were going to say even before they arrived at the table. They were coming to ask Harry to the Ball. Sure enough as the two giggling girls approached the table they set their eyes on Harry and pretty much ignored the others.

"Hiya Harry!" they said in unison.

Harry as usual, ignored them. Even at that, the two girls pushed forward with their question.

"Have you decided who you're going with to the Christmas Ball yet, Harry?"

Harry looked up from his food at Lavender. His emerald gaze studied the two girls.

Next to him Ginny tried not to look too smug. 'This is it' she thought excitedly. Finally, Harry was going to tell them that he was going with her, that she was in fact his girlfriend. That would hopefully make other girls back off. It felt rather satisfying that the two girls who had laughed at the very idea of Harry dating Ginny were going to be told otherwise. Ginny waited for Harry to answer them.

"I haven't decided yet."

Ginny slowly looked around at Harry. At first she thought she had misheard. That couldn't possibly be the response Harry had given, was it?

But as Ginny watched, Harry continued to smirk at them. Lavender and Parvati both looked like they had inherited a great fortune. The flirted like crazy with Harry, making Ginny go red with suppressed anger. What was worse was Harry's reaction. He didn't respond to their flirting, not that Ginny thought he would but he didn't blow them off either. He kept giving them bored looks and answering their questions with one worded answers. That only made the two Gryffindors more excited.

They finally left, almost pleading Harry to take them to the Ball. As soon as they left Harry saw Damien, Ron and Hermione looking at him, annoyed expressions on their faces.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"What the hell, Harry? Why didn't you tell them you were going with Ginny?" Damien asked, immensely annoyed on his friend behalf.

"Because I'm not." Harry answered.

Ginny felt the iron grip on her temper weaken.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I haven't decided whether I'm going yet. It'll be hard to take Ginny if I'm not going myself." Harry answered.

Ginny relaxed. So Harry wasn't thinking about taking anyone else. He just wasn't sure about going to the Ball himself. She tried to make her hands stop shaking. He really had her going there.

Harry turned around to look at Ginny. Just by the glint in his eyes, Ginny knew he had freaked her out on purpose.

"What do you think?" he asked, faking innocence.

Ginny looked at him blankly. Two could also play this game.

"What?" she asked in a carefree voice.

"Do you think this Ball's worth's going to?" Harry asked playfully.

Ginny shrugged her shoulders.

"It depends."

"On what?" Harry asked.

"Whether you can dance or not." Ginny answered a smirk on her face.

Harry didn't ask anymore questions. He didn't mention the Ball again throughout lunch. After he left, Ginny tried to shake away the hurt she had felt. Maybe Harry was just being playful. Maybe he was just trying to annoy her but she couldn't help but feel slightly hurt. Harry had not acknowledged their relationship. This was a perfect opportunity but Harry had not taken it.

Ginny wasn't needy. She didn't ask for Harry to do anything that he wasn't comfortable with, but it was hurtful that Harry still didn't feel comfortable enough to publicly show that he was with her.

Ginny sighed as she sat down for her Charms class. She wondered how much longer she would have to wait before Harry would treat her like a proper girlfriend.

xxx

Damien sat in the common room, mentally cringing as Ron feebly tried to ask Hermione to the Ball. Ron didn't know that Damien and Ginny were listening in to their conversation. He was sitting with Hermione in their usual spot. The common room was surprisingly empty which is why, Damien had taken Ron to one corner and pep talked him into finally asking Hermione out. However, from the way things were going, Damien was starting to regret it.

"He's not doing so well, is he?" Ginny whispered as they watched discreetly from the table. They were pretending they were doing their homework, when in fact they were busy eavesdropping on the awkward pair.

"No, he's awful!" Damien commented as Ron stuttered over his words.

"Easy, Mr Smooth, You're not any better." Ginny mocked.

Damien blushed as the memory of the previous evening resurfaced.

He had been walking back from his Defence against the Dark Arts class when he was stopped by a pretty girl. Damien knew the dark haired girl as Meno Harvey, a third year Ravenclaw. She was just as pretty as her older sister, Samantha. Damien had fancied Samantha since last year but wouldn't dare ask her out. Other than the fact that she already had about a dozen boys competing for her attention, she was three years older than him. Meno had stopped Damien and shyly asked him to the Ball. Damien had just looked at her blankly for a few minutes. He had thought that Meno would no doubt get the same kind of attention her sister got. Then why was she asking him out?

Meno's dark eyes studied Damien carefully. She tucked a strand of her ebony hair behind her ear smiling shyly at him.

"You're probably going with someone else." she had said to break the awkward silence.

Damien shook his head, trying to get his numbed tongue into action so he could respond.

"I…um…that would be…I mean...yeah, cool." He had managed to stutter out.

Meno's face brightened at his acceptance and left looking very happy. Damien had turned around to spot Ginny looking at him, a smirk playing across her lips at the sight of him.

Damien had spent the rest of that afternoon, dazedly wondering why such a pretty girl had asked him out.

"It's because you're cute, silly." Hermione had told him.

Damien pulled a face in disgust.

"Cute! A puppy is cute, Hermione."

Hermione giggled at his comment.

"Okay, it's because you're a sexy hunk who every girl is dying to go out with!" she revised.

"No, that's my brother." Damien corrected.

Hermione laughed hard at that.

Damien snapped back to the present and saw that Ron had still not managed to ask her. Just as Ron started to stutter at her again, Hermione threw down her book in annoyance.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Ronald! It's not hard! Just ask me to go with you to the Christmas Ball! Go on, ask!" she shouted.

Ron looked a little blind sighted at her outburst but obeyed quickly. With a new determined look on his face he stood up and looked intently at her.

"Hermione, I want you to go to the Christmas Ball with me!" he said in a somewhat strong voice.

Hermione looked at him with a scowl.

"No" she responded.

"What?" Ron exclaimed.

"You just said to ask you to go to the Ball!" he said, looking very red.

Hermione stood up to face him.

"Exactly! Ask me! Don't tell me to go to the Ball with you." her bushy hair seemed to stand on end as she stood glaring at Ron.

Damien and Ginny both were holding their breath watching the scene unfold before them.

Ron suddenly looked at Hermione differently. He leaned over and captured her lips in a kiss. Ginny let out a small 'oh' of surprise and Damien sat motionlessly, unable to believe what Ron had just done.

Ron pulled away from the kiss and looked at Hermione's shocked but contented looking face.

"Hermione, please come to the Christmas Ball with me?" he whispered.

Hermione smiled and kissed Ron deeply.

"Okay" she whispered as she pulled back.

"I'm going to be sick." Ginny whispered to Damien, at the sight of her brother kissing.

"So why are you still looking at them?" Damien asked.

"Can't help it. It's just so romantic." Ginny said, looking both grossed out and blissfully happy.

"Both Ron and Hermione sat back down and started whispering happily to each other.

"Well, at least that's in the open now." Damien said turning back to his work.

He stopped as Ginny had a strange look on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing" she lied.

"Ginny?" Damien gave his friend a concerned look.

"Really, it's nothing. I was just thinking, when will your brother gross you out by kissing me, in the common room."

xxx

There were only three days left to the Christmas ball and everyone was in frenzy about what they were going to wear. It was like this every year. The Hogsmeade trip always came about a week before the Ball, so by that time, everyone was already panicked.

Harry fought to hide his disgust as Lily held up the dress robes she had bought from Hogsmeade for him.

"Don't you like it?" she asked as she held up dress robes which were a deep red colour.

"No" Harry said with a look of revulsion.

"But these were the nicest ones there. I got Damien the same ones."

"Another good point for me not to wear these ones then." Harry commented.

Lily threw him a disappointed look.

"What are you going to wear then?" she asked.

"Don't worry mum, I've got my own wardrobe sorted." Harry said calmly as he sat down on the sofa.

Harry had decided to spend some quality time with his mum as he had promised he would. James was busy with the Aurors catching up on what was happening at the Ministry while Damien was busy with Ron and Ginny. Harry had decided to spend this time with his mum. She would have been bored otherwise.

"So, have you decided who you are going with?" Lily said as she took the seat next to him.

Harry nodded his head. That was the only answer he was going to give. Lily smiled mischievously as she caught his eye.

"Let me guess. Ginny Weasley?"

Harry looked at her blankly.

"So you two are going out. That's nice." Lily commented.

She knew that James would never talk to Harry about this. This was another thing left on her shoulders.

"So, how are things going between you two?" She asked

Harry looked up at Lily.

"Honestly, am I going to talk to you about this?" Harry asked a smirk on his face.

"Well, I just thought…"

"It was a rhetorical question." Harry cut her off. He was finding it hard to stop smiling at his mum's lame attempt to talk to him about Ginny.

Lily smiled, embarrassed as well.

"Well, I just hope you know what you're doing." she said with a sigh.

Harry cocked his head to one side, a questioning look on his face.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Red heads are a handful." Lily said without looking at him.

"Ask your father, he'll tell you!" she added.

Harry chuckled quietly at that. If anything, the simple laugh from Harry encouraged Lily to talk to him further.

"I only hope you're better at dating than your father."

"He couldn't have been that bad" Harry said relaxing further into the sofa.

"You don't want to know! He said the most bizarre and silly things on our dates. I guess it was because he was nervous. I refused to go out with him for so long and then I gave in and told him he could have one date. Just the one. It all spiralled out of control after that." Lily said a look on her face that showed she was racing through her memories.

Harry shifted on the sofa so that he was half sitting and half lying down. His feet were still on the ground though.

"You can put your feet up if you like." Lily said.

"No, I'm fine." Harry answered.

Lily swallowed the disappointment. Harry still couldn't relax fully while in her company. It made her feel all that more distant from him. She didn't say anything though. Harry was making an effort to just come and spend some time with her. That was enough for now. Lily continued to make small talk with Harry.

"I don't know if you know or not, but your dad and I are going to the Ball as well."

"Great! That should be loads of fun." Harry remarked sarcastically.

"It won't be that much fun, we have to chaperone the dance." Lily said disdainfully.

Harry laughed at his mum's annoyed expression.

"It's probably for the best. Your dad's not the best of dancers. On our wedding, he stood on my toes so much during out first dance that I could hardly walk the next day."

Harry nearly spilled the butterbeer he was drinking as he laughed at that.

"I can only hope you and Damien didn't take after him." Lily said softly.

"It'll be okay. I don't know about Damy but I won't be going near the dance floor." Harry commented, wiping away spilt butterbeer with his hand.

Lily stared at Harry.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Lily shook her head and moved closer to Harry.

"Harry! You can't take a girl out to the Christmas Ball and then not dance with her! That's just cruel!"

Harry blinked in surprise at her.

"Why not?" he asked.

"The whole point of going to the Christmas Ball with your boyfriend is so that you can dance and enjoy yourself." Lily explained.

"She'll have a horrible time of you don't dance with her."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"It'll be okay. Ginny's not like that." he answered.

Lily moved closer to Harry so that she could face him.

"How long have you been dating her?" Lily asked seriously.

"I thought we had established the fact that I'm not discussing this with you." Harry answered with a smirk.

"Fine, I'll just have to guess." Lily retorted.

"I would say a few months, maybe since the start of the term." Lily judged that they had been dating for this long, basing it on what she had witnessed in Harry's dorm room.

Harry didn't answer her so Lily pushed on.

"I will also guess that since you have been dating, you haven't actually taken Ginny out on a proper date, am I right?"

Harry looked a little annoyed at this.

"Where am I supposed to take her? A midnight's walk on the Astronomy tower?"

"That actually sounds quite nice…" Lily said, looking like she was contemplating a romantic walk with James later on.

"Mum!" Harry snapped her back to the present.

With a sigh Lily faced him.

"Let me tell you a secret about girls" Lily started.

"Men are often right when they say that you can't understand women. It's actually true. You see we are more complex than men. Among our rather many gifts is the gift of patience. We have a lot of patience in us, but even the most patient girl will snap if you push her too far."

Harry looked confusedly at his mum. What the hell was she talking about?

"Err, mum. Any chance of explaining that in plain English?" he asked.

Lily sighed and closed her eyes.

"Ginny's a nice girl. She's doing what you want because she loves you. She doesn't push you into acknowledging the relationship because she knows that you're not comfortable with that. But seriously Harry, how long are you planning on keeping her a secret?"

"I'm not keeping her a secret! I wouldn't care if the whole school found out. It doesn't affect me." Harry said outraged.

"Really? So why is it that every time I see you in the Great Hall, you're not even looking at her. I haven't seen you act like a boyfriend towards her at all. If I hadn't walked in on you two, I wouldn't still know."

Harry opened his mouth to answer but lost his words. He sat up and looked uncomfortably at his mum. Lily softened a bit and reached out to hold Harry's hand.

"Harry, I know you. You're not a shy person. I know you can fight with men twice, maybe even three times your age. You're confident and strong minded. It's one of the things that makes me so proud of you. I just don't understand why you can't be confident and strong minded when it comes to your personal life. I see how you get irritated when your name is mentioned in front of other students. You don't like people staring at you, I can understand that. But at the same time you could stand in front of an army of Aurors and challenge them. That doesn't seem to bother you. You can fight with a student in front of the whole school, yet shy away from showing affection to one. I don't understand that."

Harry was now sitting up on the sofa. He looked away from his mum when he spoke.

"It's just… I don't like public shows of affection. It's just too personal." Harry mumbled.

"I understand that. Ginny probably does too. Look all I'm saying is don't change how you treat a person just because of those around you. Be who you are all the time. I think Ginny will appreciate that as well. It's not like she's asking for much. Every girl wants to be close to the one she loves. " Lily finished.

Harry thought about that as he left the dungeons. He had never really thought about how Ginny must feel. He was comfortable with her when they were alone but when they were in company of others, even if it was just Damien or Hermione, Harry would always act differently. He wouldn't even hold her hand. Harry had always just acted like that. He was taught to lock away his emotions. It was just the way he was brought up. He could act like he wanted when alone with Voldemort but as soon as they were in the company of others; Harry wouldn't even speak unless spoken to. It was dangerous to show your emotions. You never knew what the enemy might use against you.

Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts. This always happened. No matter what he was thinking about, his past life and Voldemort would always somehow seep into his thoughts, bringing back memories he rather wished he never had.

Harry promised to himself that he would make amends. He would deal with the gawking students like he dealt with threatening Aurors. He would tell them all to go to Hell!

xxx

The Ball was finally here. Classes were finished early so that everyone, including the Professors, could get ready for the Ball. School was finished for this term anyway. The next day everyone would prepare to leave for the holidays, except the few that remained at school for whatever reason.

Ginny walked into the common room, dressed and ready for the Ball.

"Oh, Ginny! You look beautiful!" Hermione said as she saw her friend wearing a beautiful dress. It was baby blue with silver embroidery done across the neck, sleeves and hem. Ginny's long red hair was brushed back into loose curls that fell to her back.

Ginny smiled, brushing a hand over her dress. It was the most expensive and beautiful thing she owned.

"Thanks, you look lovely too."

Hermione smiled back. Next to her Ron looked awkwardly between the two.

"Should we go?" he asked. Damien has already left to go and meet up with his date.

"Wait, what about Harry?" Ginny asked.

"He said he would meet you inside the hall" Ron said as he walked towards the portrait door.

"Romantic, isn't he!" Hermione muttered as they headed for the Great Hall. Ginny didn't respond.

She entered the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione by her side. The hall looked like it always did on Christmas, spectacular. There were twelve trees covered in snow and decorations. Every inch of the hall was glistening and every so often a sparkling star would zoom overhead.

All the Professors were dressed up for the occasion and some were already looking drunk. James and Lily were among the Professors and looked like they were enjoying themselves as well.

Ginny spotted Damien with his date. She smiled at them. They looked so cute together. Damien as wearing the red robes Lily had bought him and he actually looked really good in them. His date, Meno looked quite relaxed and relatively soon the two were making their way onto the floor to dance.

Ginny tried not to panic as she realised that nearly an hour had passed and Harry had not showed up yet. She had stayed at the table Ron and Hermione had been sitting at while they had gone onto the floor for some dancing. Ginny looked away as a few girls smirked at her. She must have looked quite ridiculous, all dressed up with no date. Ginny's eyes rested on the doors, where was Harry and why was he taking so long to come?

Damien came over to say hello to her.

"Hey, Ginny. You look great by the way."

Ginny smiled back rather weakly.

"Thanks Damy"

"Where's Harry?" Damien asked surveying the hall. He hadn't seen his brother.

Ginny shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't know. He hasn't come yet." She said as calmly as she could.

Damien stared at her, obviously not expecting that as an answer.

"Oh…he's probably just running late. He'll be here." he said, a promise disguised in his words.

"Thanks." Ginny said softly. In all honesty, Ginny was starting to doubt Harry was going to turn up tonight. He had probably changed his mind.

Soon Ron and Hermione had joined her, along with Damien and Meno. An hour and a half had passed since the Ball started and there was no sign of Harry. Ginny knew he wasn't going to come. She suppressed the urge to cry. She wasn't going cry, sixteen year olds don't cry, well, most of the time anyway.

"He's coming. He's probably run into a problem of some sort. He's not going to stand you up, Ginny." Damien said again, trying to cheer up his friend.

"He might have gotten his zipper stuck." Ron offered.

Hermione swung around to glare at her boyfriend.

"What? That can happen you know. It happened to me once." Ron admitted.

"That's because Fred and George charmed it to get stuck." Ginny told him in a defeated voice.

"Oh!" Ron said sending an apologetic look towards Damien since Meno was sitting next to him and must be wondering what kind of friends he had.

Hermione put a comforting hand on Ginny's shoulder.

"Ginny?" She said gently.

"I know, he's not coming. It's fine. I don't care anymore. Just because he didn't come doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself. This is my Christmas Ball and I'm going to have a good time, whether he comes or not!" Ginny said in a strong voice.

"That's my girl." Hermione whispered to her encouragingly.

"I'm going to have a few strong words with him!" Ron said angrily.

"Really Ron, what can you do?" Ginny said annoyed.

"Hey, you have six brothers! All six of us will come down on him if he hurts you like this!" Ron said emotionally.

"Seven" Damien added.

Ginny turned to look at him.

"If he's stood you up, I'm with Ron. I'll use all the training he's given me to thrash the hell out of him." Damien said just as angrily as Ron.

"That's really sweet you guys, but I don't think having the living daylights beaten out of you two, will make Ginny feel any better." Hermione said. Ginny nodded her head to show her agreement.

Ron and Damien looked like they had lost all the wind in them. They sat with their heads bowed.

"Come on, guys. Stop all this. We're here to have fun. Come on, get up!" Ginny got everyone out of their seats and headed to the dance floor.

Just as she got to the dance floor she noticed that a few girls dancing had stopped and were staring at the doors. Ginny looked over as well and felt all her breath leave her.

Standing at the doors, dressed in immaculate robes of deep royal blue, stood Harry. He locked his gaze with Ginny and walked gracefully into the hall. Ginny watched in a daze as Harry strode over to her. Every step he took, the robes moved along with him almost as if they were a part of him. Harry's hair was just as messy as always but today they just added to his sexy look. His messy locks were just brushing his shoulders. As Harry walked further into the hall the more people stopped to watch him.

Ginny snapped out of her daze as she realised that near enough every eye was on Harry, and Harry's emerald gaze was fixed on her! She suddenly realised why Harry was so late in coming. He had planned this. He wanted everyone to see him walk into the hall and then approach her. Her heart beat heavily in her chest as she watched Harry stop just a few steps away from her.

Without saying anything to her, Harry extended his hand and offered it to her. Ginny looked around her and saw that even some of the Professors were staring at them, but Harry's eyes never wavered away from Ginny's face. Wordlessly, Ginny took Harry's hand and moved into his arms as they started dancing.

"Merlin, you know how to make an entrance!" Ginny remarked.

Harry gave her a smile and moved gracefully to the music. The song that was playing was soft enough to just move around slowly. Most of the students had started dancing again but were still looking at Harry and Ginny. The girls were already whispering about why Harry was with Ginny, of all girls.

Ginny danced timidly with Harry while noticing the stares and whisperings. This must be torturing the hell out of her boyfriend. She knew Harry had done this for her, to show everyone that he was with her, but he didn't have to suffer these stares.

"Um, Harry. Everyone is staring at us." Ginny said.

Harry looked around himself and turned back to her.

"Well then, we should give them something to stare at." he responded.

Harry looked over at the direction of the band that was playing and suddenly the music changed to a more upbeat song. Before Ginny could brace herself, Harry had pulled her closer to him and started picking up the pace.

Harry was moving to the music like he had been made to dance to this song. He was taking Ginny with him. She was moving along with him, as if they had rehearsed this dance. Every movement of Harry's was sweeping Ginny off her feet. She gasped as Harry's hand slid across her waist and pulled her closer to him in one smooth move. Harry's eyes were shinning with happiness. He was really enjoying himself.

As the music picked up, so did Harry's dance moves. He swept Ginny off her feet a few times. His body was pressed up against hers so close that Ginny feared soon one of the Professors would stop them. But no one stopped them. Lily was watching Harry dance with Ginny and couldn't help the bright smile. She could see how happy Harry was. Harry was enjoying himself tonight and she had never seen him so confident and happy before.

The song ended leaving a breathless Ginny in Harry's arms. She cast a wary glance around her and saw that many students, mainly girls, were still staring at them wearing envious expressions. The best expressions were worn by Parvati and Lavender. Ginny smiled deeply before leaning against Harry, head resting on his chest. Harry wrapped his arms around her as they moved slowly to a gentler song.

"Thank you" Ginny whispered into Harry's chest. She knew just what it must have taken for him to do this.

Harry lightly kissed the top of Ginny's head.

"You're welcome" he said.

"You do realise that I'm not getting you anything for Christmas, right?" Harry asked getting a light punch on the arm in response.

She looked up at him, with a smile plastered over her face.

Harry took that opportunity to kiss her, making some girls actually moan out loud at the sight. Ginny was unaware though, she was completely lost in Harry.

He led her to the table where Damien, Ron and Hermione raced over to meet them.

"Where did you learn to dance like that?" Hermione asked in awe.

Harry only smiled back. He leaned over to reach a glass. He whispered to Damien when no one was looking.

"Fighting wasn't the only thing, Alex learnt!"

Damien grinned back.

The rest of the night was spent laughing around and doing more dancing. Even when the Ball was finished, the five Gryffindors lounged around in the common room, drinking butterbeer and goofing around. Harry had never had such a carefree time.

xxx

Harry awoke to Ron's voice, telling him that he would have to hurry or he would miss breakfast. Harry got up and started getting dressed. He only realised as he reached for his robes that he was wearing pyjamas. He didn't remember getting dressed out of his robes. Come to think of it, he didn't remember much of how he got to bed. The last thing he remembered was laughing around with Ron and Ginny in the common room. At the thought of last night a smile came across his face. He had enjoyed himself yesterday. He had never imagined a school dance could be so much fun.

As Harry trudged up towards the Great Hall for breakfast he let his thoughts wonder to Ginny. He had really enjoyed himself last night with her. He had never realised how coldly he treated her. Well, at least now he could have a normal relationship with her.

Just before Ron and Harry could reach the Great Hall for breakfast, a shout was heard behind them.

"Mr Potter!"

Harry and Ron turned around to see Professor McGonagall hurrying behind them. Harry spotted the look of shock and worry on her face right away.

"Mr Potter! Please come with me. Mr Weasley, please hurry along or you will miss breakfast!"

Harry turned to Ron with a bewildered look. What was all this about? Ron looked just as confused as Harry felt. Ron went into the hall while Harry followed the Transfiguration Professor.

Harry didn't bother to ask her what had happened. He knew that if she was going to tell him, she would have done so already.

Harry wasn't surprised he was led to Dumbledore's office. The gargoyle stepped aside to allow access. As Harry walked into the Headmaster's office, he found the sight before him, both strange and unnerving. James and Lily were seated in Dumbledore's office; both had distressed looks on their faces. Even Professor Dumbledore was looking uncharacteristically unnerved.

"What's going on?" Harry found himself asking without even meaning to.

In response, the Headmaster stood from his chair and walked over to him, a newspaper clutched in his hand. He stood over him, eyes searching Harry's intensely. Professor Dumbledore handed over the copy of the Daily Prophet. Harry took the newspaper, eyes still searching Dumbledore's grave looking face.

Harry looked at the front page and felt all the air around him vanish. He struggled to try and comprehend what he was seeing. His eyes scanned the newspaper, trying to make sense of the picture before him. An image of a destroyed village glared back at him. There were bodies everywhere. Houses were ablaze, the thick black smoke circling the houses was still clearly visible.

But the thing that had taken Harry's breath away was the figure standing among all the chaos. A figure dressed in black. A figure with dark locks being swept in the wind. A figure that had a silver mask covering his face. A very familiar silver mask. The emerald green eyes that were glistening behind the mask were clouded with a fierce hate.

Harry's eyes swept up to read the headline: The Dark Prince Returns!

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Okay, so there you have it. The main plot is here. You all wanted more drama, so from here it begins! LOL! Please review! Cheers.