A/N I feel like I'm being incredibly foolish starting yet another multi chap but here I am! I really hope you guys enjoy :-) I'd really appreciate some feedback and all that jazz.

"Are you looking forward to the party, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"I suppose so. As much as I could right now," Ginny replied, giving her friend a half-smile.

The sadness was extremely evident. It was as if it was proudly displaying itself on the redhead, poking through her eyes to stare down whoever was around. It was also evident that Ginny was extremely tired of the negative feelings.

"I understand that you feel down and all. I mean, what Michael did was pretty bad," Hermione said, taking a few steps over to Ginny. She brought her into a comforting hug and spoke quietly. "You have to get over him at some point though."

"Is a party really the best place to get over him?" Ginny asked, releasing herself from the hug.

"Of course it is! You'll be with everyone you like, good atmosphere, you'll have a good time and by the end of the night you'll have forgotten all about this, I promise."

Ginny gave a smile to Hermione before ushering her out of the room so she could get ready herself. She hadn't given herself a lot of time to make herself look good before the party, which was starting in little under and hour. Ginny groaned and rummaged through her drawers in a feeble attempt to find something acceptable to wear.

She didn't know what sort of dress code was pertaining to this Christmas party. In fact, she hadn't been given a lot of information about what the party was. She knew that it was mostly going to be seventh years there, so she would be amongst mainly people a year older than her, and that it was a mix of all houses, although mainly Gryffindors seemed interested. Apart from that, she was being thrown into the deep end so she had to go off of instinct. A couple minutes of rummaging later, she stumbled upon her old favourite; a black laced number. She smiled and attempted to get herself ready as quickly as she could.

. . .

"No."

Blaise put one of his hands behind his neck and took a deep breath. He had been arguing with his friend for at least the past hour about the Christmas party. Draco was defiant about not going; as he put it, he'd 'rather die than spend his Friday night with Gryffs'. Blaise, on the other hand, had already promised the pair's attendance and would look a fool if he showed up alone.

"Come on, Draco. You'll have a fun time."

Draco scoffed. "Get a hold of yourself, Zabini, and get your head out of your ass. I know you're after one of those freaks but seriously, this is a new low even for you."

"Shove off, Malfoy. You're going and that's all there is to it. Maybe you'll even find yourself a lady friend to pester."

"Not in the market for one right now. Hogwarts' most eligible bachelor is not giving up that title at present," Draco replied, cocking an eyebrow upwards. A smirk plastered his face.

"You're too cocky for your own good."

Draco shrugged at this comment and stood up. "I may as well get ready then."

"For the party?"

"Yes, and then your funeral because I'm going to kill you for making me do this."

Blaise laughed. "Always the charmer, Drake."

. . .

Ginny met Hermione downstairs in the common room, along with a few others, and they made their way towards to Great Hall. It was unusual for there to be a bash such as this one. For all the years the trio had been at the school, at least, there hadn't been any sort of party, and it confused everyone why there was one that year. But nonetheless, nobody complained. In fact, a senior Christmas party was very much welcomed by the majority of students.

"Is Michael going to be there?" Ginny asked, sheepishly, to nobody in particular.

"I think I heard him mention something about heading down with someone," Harry replied, giving Ginny a small smile of sympathy.

"Great," she muttered.

"Oh, cheer up, Gin," Hermione said, wrapping an arm around the girl, "you don't need to pay him any attention."

"I guess," Ginny replied, nodding.

A few minutes later they reached the entrance to the Great Hall and saw a crowd of students flooding the room. Some were in their best festive attire, and then some, one could tell, didn't put in a lot of effort into their appearance. But everybody shared the same emotion seemingly, adding the the cheerful atmosphere. And instantly Ginny's heart lifted again.

True to Hermione's earlier word, the majority of students, Ginny noticed, were in the year above her, much to her dismay. Those who were in her year in attendance weren't anybody she would generally associate with. Due to this, Ginny found herself gravitating towards the drinks table sipping on butterbears for the first hour. People came, having quick conversations with the redhead before inevitably going back to their own group again.

It was around eleven when Ginny felt sharp eyes piercing her skin, glaring into her personal space, and it made her feel uneasy. After a couple of moments of looking around her, her eyes met the glare of her ex-boyfriend, cosied up on the other side of the room with his latest toy. Ginny felt a hitch in her throat, but also a new confidence - something she put down the amount of alcohol she'd had - and decided she wanted to get back at him. That, however, was as far as she had gotten in terms of a plan and decided to make stuff up as she went along.

Step one, she thought, find a guy.

She scanned the surrounding area, desperate to find the best victim to get under the skin of Michael Corner. And then her eyes landed on a Slytherin.

Perfect.

She got up, steadying herself at first with the back of her chair, before taking the few steps necessary over to the boy. She made eye contact with him, pleading with him through her gaze to help her.

"Not me," he said, once she had gotten close enough to him.

He spun her around to get her away from him. However, his spinning may have been a little bit too quick because she ended up falling onto a blond's lap. A blush crept up her neck, spreading across the high points of her face and cheekbones.

"What are you doing, Zabini," he muttered to himself, helping Ginny up.

He was about the push her away entirely until he met the gaze of an angry Gryffindor, who immediately stopped staring at him and instead glared into the back of Ginny Weasley's head. Blaise had promised him that tonight would be fun, and something he considered fun was messing with the lives of Gryffindors, and he was no stranger to conflict, so he saw no reason as to why he shouldn't take the opportunity to have a little fun with his night.

Ginny was helped up by him, only to be pulled down again with a tight grip, finding herself seated on Draco Malfoy's lap. His arm wrapped itself tightly around her waist. She caught a glance at him and saw that he was staring at somebody, and upon following his line of sight saw the opponent - who was no longer interested in his date, and instead was interested in staring down Ginny herself.