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The Halloween Ball | ||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff Warnings: None Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 10 Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated since 2006 *** Hermione stared at her best friend. "I can't believe it," she said. "Harry is going to the Halloween Ball with Cho Chang, and you are helping him impress her." Ginny sighed. "I guess I owe him something, even if it happens to be killing me." H/G and R/Hr Hitcount: Story Total: 3573 |
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Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. If I was, I would be on my private plane to Costa Rica, not writing fan fiction in my room. This is my second fanfic. Please rate and read. Thanks! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Damn, damn, damn, damn. That was the only word running through Harry’s head right now. Albus Dumbledore was supposed to be smart. He was probably considered the smartest wizard alive today. The Ministry always asked him for advice --- In fact, everyone had wanted him to become the Minister of Magic. And then there was the fact that Dumbledore had beat Voldemort and his Death Eaters in battle more then once. That was why, for the life of him, Harry couldn’t figure out why Dumbledore had just announced that they would be having a Halloween Ball. "How could he do this to us again?" asked Harry, shocked. He looked at Ron, and then at Hermione and Ginny, who were sitting across from them. Both girls had an eager and excited look in their eyes, but Ron, similar to Harry, looked as though he had just lost his appetite. They were sitting in the Great Hall, eating dinner. It was twice as loud as usual, because everybody was talking excitedly about the dance. Just another slice of hell, thought Harry grimly. Oh course, he had a reason to think like this. The only other dance he had been to was the Yule Ball in his fourth year. It had been a disaster. He had completely embarrassed himself in front of Cho Chang when he asked to go with him and got rejected, and then he had to watch her dance with Cedric Diggory. That was another thing, dancing; put simply, he stunk. And then he hated how everyone went to such extreme measures to get dressed up for this one night. And you'll have to find a date, if you go at all, he reminded himself bitterly. He up from his steak and noticed that Hermione was determinely keeping her face hidden behind a large book and making a point to keep quiet. Next to her, Ginny was glaring at Ron, who looked quite helpless. She leaned over to Ron and in a harsh whisper said, "Ask her!" Knowing Ron, Harry would have thought that he would shake his head, and do something similar to that of his fourth year. To Harry's surprise, though, Ron nodded courageously and took out a piece of parchment and a quill out of his bag. Hiding the paper from Harry with his arm, he slowly wrote something down, his brow furrowed in concentration. Ginny was grinning broadly, as though they were succeeding in some brilliant plan of hers. Harry watched as Ron leaned across the table and dropped the slip of parchment in between the pages of Hermione's book. For a few seconds, Hermone kept reading like she had noticed nothing, but then the book went down and into Hermione's bag. He watched Hermione's lips as she silently read the note; "Hermione, I was wondering if you could dance with me at the Halloween Ball?" Harry grinned. Not terribly romantic, but coming from Ron, it couldn't get much better. He watched Hermione's eyes grow wide as her lips curved in a smile. She whipped a quill out of her bag and scribbled something on the back. Her face almost as red as Weasley hair (but not nearly as red as Ron's face), she gave it back to Ron. Harry leaned close and looked over just in time to see the word "Yes" before Ron hid the paper from view. Hermione stood up, concealing the wide smile on her face very poorly. "I'll be down at the library if you need me, bye!" "I'd fancy some studying, too," said Ron quickly. Looking wildly happy, he jumped up too, almost knocking over a goblet of pumpkin juice, and followed her out of the Great Hall. As soon as they were both gone, Ginny burst into uncontrollable giggling. "Oh, I am so happy for them. It sure took long enough! I'm glad Ron was brave enough to ask her." "Yeah," Harry answered absently. Of course, he was happy for his two best friends, but now they both had dates and he didn't. Ginny seemed to sense his troubles. "Do you have any idea who you'll be asking?" "Hmmm, I'm not sure. There's really no girl that I would want to go with." "Oh," said Ginny. There was a note of disappointment and anger in her voice. "Cho Chang?" she suggested casually. "Cho?" Harry contemplated the idea. DId he still like her? Hmmmmmm.... She was really pretty, and she was nice, but was still she dating Ginnys ex, Corner? Ugh. Harry hated competition. "I don't know," Harry admitted. "I guess there's no one else, huh? And Cho and I are pretty good friends, so if she's not sating Corner, she probably wouldn't mind going with me." "Uh huh." Ginny sounded unhappy now. "Well you go ask her, Harry." She stared avidly at a French fry. "Anyone you're thinking of going with?" he asked her, hoping to raise a conversation. Ginny looked up and smiled at him, almost hopefully, when he said it. "No, not at the moment," she replied. "And personally, as a girl, I'm not going to degrade myself by asking a guy." As if on cue, Colin Creevy slid into the empty seat next to Ginny. His face was bright red, but he was trying to look cool. "Hey, Ginny," he said, tying to sound casual. "Nice weather we’re having, huh? Hey, isn’t the curry great?" Ginny smiled. "Great. I’ve got to go. Snape assigned us a two foot long essay, and I’d better get started on it." Her long hair floated behind her as she whipped around and walked out of the Great Hall. Harry turned to Colin. "Were you going to ask her to the dance?" he asked. Colin sighed. "Yes, and it’s too bad she had that Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Harry suppressed a laugh. "I’m sure you can get her some time when she’s not bombarded with Snape’s essays." "Yeah," muttered Colin. "Well, later, Harry!" He seemed so depresses that he forgot to take any pictures. A loud giggle near the Gryffindor table indicated that Cho Chang was leaving dinner with her giggling friends. Harry hesitated. It would be smarter to ask her now, he supposes. Who knew how many boys would want to go with her? He jumped out of his seat and silently followed her. He noticed that her friends went down a corridor but Cho stayed right outside the doors to the Great Hall, like she was waiting for someone. "Oh, hello, Harry," said Cho brightly when he was at the door. She fluttered her eyelashes in that flirty way of hers. "Aren’t you excited about the Halloween Ball?" "Um, yeah," Harry fumed. Cho stared at him. "I have no idea who I’m going to go with, do you?" She smiled and flipped her long black hair. "No idea, yeah," said Harry, trying not to look like a total idiot. "Um, maybe, you could… Do you want to go to the Halloween Ball with me?" Cho looked like she had won the lottery. "Yes, I can go with you! I hope you’re a good dancer! I’ll talk to you later so that we can coordinate our costumes, okay?" Then she rushed off, almost skipping. Harry burst into the Gryffindor Common Room, frantic and exhausted. He jumped onto a couch and put his hands over his face. "Okay, Potter?" came Ginny’s voice. Harry looked up, surprised. He thought he was the only one in the room. But there she was, on the couch opposite him, skimpily clad in her pajamas. "Ugh." Harry leaned back and closed his eyes. "I just agreed to be Cho’s date for the dance, and she expects me to be, like Super Date or something." Ginny laughed. "Good choice for a date, Potter," she said in an amused voice. Harry looked at her, disgusted. "You’re supposed to be sympathetic." "Sympathetic? I’m sorry, but you chose the beauty monster as a date. But okay, if you want sympathy…. Oh, poor Harry, you have to go to a dance with the girl you like. Oh, I’m so sorry, Harry. Oh, this is so touching, do get me my handkerchief, I believe that I’m going to cry, this is so very sad." Harry had to laugh. He couldn’t help it. He knew Ginny had never been one to feel bad for herself, or anybody else. "Wait — Ginny, do you think you can help me?" Harry said suddenly. Ginny eyed him suspiciously. "How?" she asked. Harry hesitated. "Can you dance?" Ginny nodded. "Um, do you think you can teach me, and help me get ready for the dance?" She stared him, contemplating the idea. "I really shouldn’t be helping you, Potter," she said slowly. "But just because I am so amazingly and remarkably kind, I will do it." He laughed and hugged her. "Thanks, Ginny. You are such a great friend." He yawned. "I’d better go to bed, see you tomorrow. Good night!" "’Night!" she called. See watched him descend the stairs, and as he disappeared behind the doors she muttered under her breath, "Just friends." Hermione stared at her best friend. "I can't believe it," she said. "Harry is going to the Halloween Ball with Cho Chang, and you are helping him impress her." Ginny sighed. "I guess I owe him something, even if it happens to be killing me." Hermione stared at Ginny like she was nuts. "Don’t be silly, what do you owe him for?" Absently, Ginny picked a flower from a nearby vase and examined it. "For saving me from Riddle. It’s kinda like a bond we’ve got. I’ve just got to help him with whatever, even if I want to be hexing him to Saturn. Which, you know, I think about doing a lot." Hermione smiled. "Poor Ginny, you’re in way over your head." "What’s that supposed to mean?" Hermione sighed impatiently. "Ginny, I just mean that I feel sorry for you, because you do evrything to get Harry but he’s too thick to notice you." "Yeah." Ginny relaxed for a moment, and then in a split second grabbed the flower vase and threw it against the wall, fifty feet away, and shattered to pieces. "Wow," said Hermione quietly. "Good throw." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Wow, Harry is infuriating, isn't he? But all boys are clueless, so we'll have to forgive him. At least Ron wasn't a total moron for once! I'll update and add a new chapter as soon as I can, I promise :) |
| Reviews 10 |
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