A/N- This is an AU one-shot, but I've got a lot of good ideas for it so, I'll continue writing based on reviews. And no, I'm not going to change major story lines just because Harry and Ginny are together. It's too late in the story for that, it would only work if they got together before Hogwarts. REVIEW!!!!

Gryffindor Common Room.

"This is ridicules, Ginny you can go with Harry and I'll just go alone. It can't be that bad."

Ginny's face immediately went as red as her hair, over the last two years, they had hardly had any contact at all, so Harry had nearly forgotten that Ron's little sister had a hopeless crush on him, and it seemed to be manifesting itself once again. The young redhead was blushing furiously, unable to look anywhere but at the floor, but she hadn't said "No".

"Yeah, how about it Ginny? Please? I'll look like a complete idiot if I have to go alone, not that I wouldn't want to go with you anyway."

Harry rushed out the last bit, not wanting to hurt the girl's feelings by telling her she was a last, desperate resort. He wouldn't mind going with her anyway, as long as she acted normally, and didn't stick her elbow in anything. It took Ginny nearly a full minute to be able to even nod her head, then run up to the girl's dormitory. Harry looked pleadingly at Hermione, who seemed to understand his silent request, and followed the younger girl.

"You know Ron; you could always ask Moaning Myrtle."

"Watch it Harry, your taking my sister to the Yule Ball and that makes you fair game for any of my brothers to prank or hex."

"Yeah I can just see Bill and Charlie's faces when they find out your pimping your little sister to your friends."

Harry ducked to avoid the pillows that Ron was haphazardly throwing at him, his face flushed with embarrassment. After the animosity surrounding his entrance in the Tournament, it was nice to be able to joke and hang out with his best friend, almost like nothing had happened. The pillow throwing didn't last long, and Harry sank into thought while Ron finished up his fake Divination homework. It wouldn't be so bad going with Ginny, at least he wouldn't be blushing the whole time and stumbling over his own words, it had been bad enough trying to ask Cho to the ball, spending the whole night with her would be all too embarrassing.

Third Year Girl's Dormitory.

Ginny was laying on her bed, trying, and failing, to hide the enormous grin on her face, and the famous Weasley blush, rich rivaled her hair in color. She just couldn't believe she was going to The Ball with Harry Potter, it was just like the muggle fairy tale her father had told her when she was young. Now if only he would fall in love with her and they could live happily ever after. Not that Harry was going to fall in love with her, he had said himself that he was only going with her because he had no one else, and couldn't very well go alone. But she would take that for now, it was a whole lot better then nothing. And it was a good place to start a relationship, they could be friends after this, and then maybe, somehow start dating…

Ginny was interrupted from her daydreams by a bushy-haired brunette coming into her room, looking nearly excited as Ginny did. Ginny and Hermione talked more often then most people thought, and Hermione had known for a long time that the younger girl had a crush on Harry, she had tried to talk her out of it, told the redhead to act more like herself around him, because Harry would respond a lot better to that then obsession. Hermione had instantly known what Harry meant with the look, and had gone after the redhead; she would need a lot of work before she was ready to attend a ball with her knight in –not-so-shining-armor.

"Ginny, are you sure you can handle this? I mean the last time you were in Harry's company for more then five minutes in a non-life-threatening situation you stuck your elbow in a butter dish."

Ginny's face flushed again, she was certainly getting a lot of practice at blushing tonight,

"They told you about that? I was kind of hoping it would stay in the family."

"Yes well, butter dishes aside, you do know that you have to open the dancing with Harry? All eyes will be on you, so if there was ever a time not to do something horribly embarrassing, this is it. Plus you never know Harry might have a really good time and want to do it again sometime."

Hermione had meant the last bit to try to lighten the mood, and maybe cheer Ginny up a little, but it only seemed to further her embarrassment, as she blushed yet again, and began begging the older girl for help.

The Great Hall

Harry was speechless; he'd never been to any kind of dance before, let alone a wizards ball, so he hadn't really known what to expect, but even his wildest imaginings had not come close to depicting the situation he now found himself in. The Great Hall was at its best, the House Tables had been replaced by a few hundred smaller table, they looked to hold three couples each, and there was a stage against one wall for the band, rumor had it the Dumbledore had booked The Weird Sisters. The candles floating above the hall had been replaced with what looked like thousands of twinkling stars, giving the Hall a brighter look then usual, and the enchanted ceiling mirrored the perfect star-lit sky outside. All of this paled in comparison, in Harry's opinion, as well as many other boys, to Ginny Weasley.

This was, Harry was ashamed to say, the first time that Harry had given Ginny much notice since the end of second year. And he was now regretting that very much, as she was captivating the attention of almost every guy in the school, and the annoyed glares from a lot of girls. To say that she was beautiful was the wrong word, she didn't have the mature features of beauty, Ginny was something else all together. Cute might be a better word, but it was beyond that, she was something else all together, and whatever it was, Harry liked it, he liked it a lot. She had her hair in a loose ponytail, it was just loosely tied behind her neck, and she had brushed it to a high sheen, with a little glitter. She didn't really have make up on, just a hint of blush to brighten her face, that ended up accenting her eyes, which Harry was having difficulty not staring into. The light green dress robes, that just happened to match Harry's eyes, contrasted her bright red hair perfectly.

Harry had been completely dumbfounded when she walked down the stairs to meet him, it had actually taken a nudge from Ron to get him back to reality. He had been staring at her for the entire time that they had been together, only occasionally taking a break to glare at someone who was being a little too obvious.

Ginny was having the time of her life, not only was she going to a ball with the boy of her dreams, but he seemed completely enthralled with her, never mind that half the school was too. Harry had already impolitely told a few boys to take a hike. Ginny loved the fact that Harry was becoming protective of her, it was better then she could have hoped for, they had only been together for a half an hour and it seemed like he was beginning to care about her. Maybe her dreams could finally come true. She was beaming from ear to ear as Harry led her through the receiving line and up the extended Teachers Table, where the Champions, Judges, and their respective dates would be eating.

To everyone's surprise Hermione was at the table as well, with Viktor Krum of all people, and Harry suspected that Ron would not be happy about that. Even more to his surprise, and to Ginny's as well, was the tall redheaded man in horn-rimmed glasses sitting in Mr. Crouch's seat.

"Percy! What are you doing here?" asked Ginny after hugging her brother, who greeted Harry as well before responding.

"I've been promoted! I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him. Taken a bit ill I'm afraid, taking a well deserved quite holiday." Percy was looking as smug as anyone Harry had ever seen, and although Harry was genially happy for him, he felt he would rather not spend dinner listening to Percy rant about work, Ginny was in silent agreement.