If you're wondering why I'm uploading a new story instead of one that I'm already in the middle of (like a responsible person would do), please read my updated author profile.

As for this story itself, it's something I started a long time ago. Like, a long time ago. As I was finishing this chapter, I kind of had to paste the new stuff in with the old stuff and then sand over the rough seams. Hope it turned out all right.

Another thing I had to do goes against every instinct I have as a writer: summarizing. Lots and lots of summarizing. There are huge chunks of this story (the early chapters in particular) that don't differ from the books. I could either paraphrase all of the narration, which would have been tedious (not to mention somewhat trite), or just copy/pasted it all, which surely would have gotten the story taken down. Thus, I summarized. There are a few stretches where I couldn't, and those are indicated by bolded italics. I didn't bother if it was just a line or two, but anything longer than that will be marked as part of the original text. The lead-in to this story is from the middle of chapter 22 of Goblet of Fire, "The Unexpected Task". We join our heroes on page 348 of the British adult hardcover edition.

~O~O~O~O~

Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.

'Why weren't you two at dinner?' she said, coming over to join them.

'Because – oh, shut up laughing, you two – because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!' said Ginny.

That shut Harry and Ron up.

'Thanks a bunch, Ginny,' said Ron sourly.

'All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?' said Hermione loftily. 'Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you.'

But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light. 'Hermione, Neville's right – you are a girl…'

'Oh, well spotted,' she said acidly.

'Well – you can come with one of us!'

'No, I can't,' snapped Hermione.

'Oh, come on,' he said impatiently, 'we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has…'

'I can't come with you,' said Hermione, now blushing, 'because I'm already going with someone.'

'No, you're not!' said Ron. 'You just said that to get rid of Neville!'

'Oh, did I?' said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. 'Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!'

Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.

'OK, OK, we know you're a girl,' he said. 'That do? Will you come now?'

'I've already told you!' Hermione said, very angrily. 'I'm going with someone else!'

And she stormed off towards the girls' dormitories again.

'She's lying,' said Ron flatly, watching her go.

'She's not,' said Ginny quietly.

'Who is it, then?' said Ron sharply.

'I'm not telling you, it's her business,' said Ginny.

'Right,' said Ron, who looked extremely put out, 'this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just –'

He trailed off, but Ginny had frozen in place, her face rapidly changing to resemble a tomato. If he hadn't just been turned down himself, he probably wouldn't have picked up on it, but for once Harry saw the extremely awkward situation Ron had just put his sister in.

'I, er…' she stammered, and Harry could practically feel how mortified she was, like it was coming off her in waves. The memory of talking to Cho was still uncomfortably fresh, after all.

'Ron, don't be an idiot,' he said, trying to salvage things. 'Don't just say that. At least let me ask for myself.'

Ron looked struck, and Harry realized he'd probably been a bit harsh. 'Look, sorry mate,' he said. 'This whole thing is just getting to me, yeah?' He noticed Parvati and Lavender coming in through the portrait hole. 'Look, there's Parvati. I don't think she has a date yet, go ask her.'

'What about you?' Ron asked. 'You need a date more than I do.'

'I'll worry about that. I need to go talk to Ginny before she tries to drown herself.' She'd started sneaking away the moment Harry started speaking to Ron.

'What are you –'

'I'll tell you later, after you've asked Parvati to the ball,' Harry said, already leaving to catch Ginny before she escaped to her dormitory. Ron gaped after him, but whether he followed instructions Harry didn't know. He'd spotted Ginny heading up the staircase.

'Ginny, hold on a moment!' he called, trying not to be so loud as to draw the attention of the whole common room. She stopped, but didn't turn around. She didn't say anything either, but that wasn't new.

'Just come down, would you? I want to talk to you.'

'You don't have to take me to the ball just because Ron said so,' she said; even her voice was on the verge of tears.

'I know, that's what I told him, but the other way around is true too,' said Harry.

'The other…what does that even mean?' Ginny asked, turning around finally. She gave him a funny look, as though he were spouting nonsense. She neither looked like a radish nor about to cry at least, so he must have said something right.

'I mean you don't have to go with me just because he said so,' Harry said. 'You can go or not go with whomever you want.'

'Well, not really,' she said, coming back down the stairs so they didn't have to half-shout their entire conversation. 'I'm a third-year, remember? I can't go at all unless someone asks me.'

'Oh, right,' said Harry, having forgotten that part. Now he felt rather stupid himself. 'Well, don't worry about Ron, he's just being thick as usual. Not that I'm generally much better, mind.' Harry scratched his head nervously, not really sure where he was going with this anymore.

'I think it's universal among teenage boys,' Ginny said, smiling a bit. Harry couldn't help but laugh.

'Maybe,' he said. Then he got an idea. 'Why not?' He thought. 'It's not like I could make things any worse anyway.'

'Listen, Ginny,' he said. 'I'm really sorry about that. It was probably ten times more embarrassing for you than me.'

'It's all right,' she said. She wasn't lying very well, Harry thought.

'Well, aside from that, would you want to go with me?' he asked. She certainly hadn't been expecting him to say that, if the look on her face was any indication. She was already blushing again and looked about ready to stammer and run way again too if he didn't act fast.

'This isn't Ron's idea, it's mine!' he clarified quickly. 'And I know it probably sounds bad – and you absolutely don't have to! – but I really do have to go with somebody, and I'd rather go with someone I know than just some random girl who wants to be a champion's date, you know?'

'You're actually asking me?' she said after a moment. 'Not just because I'm here and I'm a girl and you think I'll say yes?'

Was that what he was doing? Merlin, he was pantsing this up. 'I'm actually asking you, Ginny Weasley, to go to the Yule Ball with me,' he said finally, 'knowing that you could easily say no and I'll be back where I started.' He wasn't going to overtly mention her crush on him if she wasn't – he liked to think he wasn't that thick.

He could see her thinking it over, and he wondered what he would do in her position – if Cho had been turned down by the boy she fancied but absolutely needed a date and asked him. He was pretty sure he'd say yes, but if Ginny had a bit more pride than he did, that might not mean anything.

'Okay,' she finally said. 'I'll go.'

'Brilliant,' said Harry, and actually meant it. Not only could he finally stop worrying about finding a date, but he'd found someone he didn't have to be nervous around. Not too nervouse, anyway. Of course he was conscious that his date was likely to be nervous around him, but that could be dealt with later. He had to admit he was also feeling pretty good about Ginny being able to go to the ball because of him, too. If he had to endure being a champion at a Yule Ball, at least he could do something nice for someone while he was at it.

He went back to where Ron was sitting. 'Did you ask her?' he said.

'Yeah,' said Ron, but he didn't sound very happy about it. 'I think she was hoping you would ask her, but I got her to say yes in the end. What was that about with Ginny? Is she going with you or not?'

'Yeah, we're going, but you kind of put her on the spot, you know.'

'What do you mean?' Ron asked. 'I'd have thought she'd jump at the chance to go with you.'

'I'm sure she would, if I'd actually asked her instead of her brother just deciding for us,' Harry said, giving Ron a wry look. 'I don't reckon fancying me is a good enough reason to want to be a last-resort obligation date.'

'Oh,' said Ron, looking slightly abashed. 'Guess I hadn't thought of that.'

'It's fine. She and I have established that teenage blokes are thick by nature,' Harry said, grinning.

'You know that includes you, right?' Ron jibed.

'Of course. Anyway, it's all taken care of now.'

'Wait, you said you two were going to the ball. You asked her after all?' said Ron. Harry nodded.

'I figured what's the harm? And I really did need a date. Besides, at this point I'd much rather go with her than some girl I don't even know. It's going to be hard enough having to dance in front of everybody as it is.'

'That makes sense, I guess,' Ron agreed. 'But this is on you now, Harry. I was just thinking she could go just so you'd have a date as a champion, but you actually asked her to go with you, so don't just take her and then ignore her or do something to hurt her feelings. She's still my baby sister after all and you know she's got a massive crush on you.'

'Ron, I think even first-year Slytherins know that,' said Harry. 'And you know I wouldn't do anything like that.'

'All the same, I have to be a big brother first and a best mate second,' said Ron.

'Fair enough.'

~O~

The first few days of the holidays went by quickly. Fred and George's product testing continued – generally on people who least expected it. Ron continued pestering Hermione about the identity of her date, thinking if he could catch her off-guard she'd let something slip, but she hadn't yet. One evening a letter arrived from Sirius, congratulating him for his performance in the first task and advising him to stay on his guard.

A noticeable difference over this period was Ginny. Harry was used to her being quiet and shy around him most of the time, and she'd never exactly gone out of her way to spend time around him, Ron and Hermione, but he saw almost nothing of her during the days leading up to Christmas.

'She's nervous, Harry,' Hermione told him one night when he mentioned it during a chess match with Ron. 'You know how she's always been about you.'

'It's not like he's asked her out or something,' Ron said, ordering his bishop to take out Harry's defenses.

Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Yes, she knows that, Ron, but can't you see how this would be incredibly nerve-wracking for her? A formal ball is a little bit more than a date to Hogsmeade, say, regardless of the reason for it.'

'Maybe I shouldn't have asked her,' Harry said, feeling bad about it now. 'I mean, we never talk about it because I don't want her to be embarrassed, but she obviously fancies me. Was it selfish to ask her to come with me, you think?'

'No, Harry, it wasn't,' Hermione assured him, sighing. 'She's terribly excited, really – she's just terribly nervous as well.'

'Let her be, Harry,' Ron said sagely. 'Wouldn't want to psyche her out before the actual ball. Ginny's tough. When the actual time comes, she'll be all right.'

'Yes, I think she will,' agreed Hermione, giving Ron a somewhat appraising look.

'Checkmate,' Ron said.

~O~

Christmas morning brought a visit from Dobby and a new pair of outrageous mismatched socks, among other things, and a fabulous breakfast in the Great Hall. Lunch was even better, of course, and then Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys went out onto the grounds into the beautiful and almost untouched snowfall. Ginny was dragged outside by Fred and George practically kicking and screaming, but five minutes into the massive snowball fight that erupted you would have thought the whole thing was her idea. Observing her with Ron and the twins, Harry could only conclude that whatever competitive gene the Weasley family carried got stronger with each new member.

Eventually Hermione – who had elected merely to watch – announced she was going back inside to prepare for the ball.

'What, you need three hours?' said Ron incredulously, and was rewarded for his lapse in attention by a snowball upside the head courtesy of George.

'Wait, I'll come with you!' Ginny called, and threw her last snowball at Harry, who caught it, and she jogged to catch up to Hermione.

'We'll see you there!' Hermione waved, and the two girls headed back into the castle.

'Who are you going with?' Ron yelled, but they were already disappearing through the great oaken doors.

'So, Harry,' said Fred after the girls were gone. 'What's this we hear about you taking our ickle Gin-Gin to the Yule Ball?' Harry looked to see he and George sporting matching wicked grins.

'I hope you're not taking advantage of our little sister's naiveté,' said George.

'Oh, come off it,' said Ron, tossing a snowball at them that they easily dodged. 'You know Harry wouldn't do that. Besides, Ginny isn't exactly naïve, you know.'

'True enough,' said Fred. 'Truth is, we should probably be more worried about Harry than Ginny anyway.'

'Fair point,' said George. 'Watch yourself, Harry. You're probably the only person alive who's never seen Ginny in her element, so to speak. If you can get her to start talking around you, she might never stop.'

'I'll be careful,' Harry said wryly. 'Should I be expecting any canary creams from protective big brothers?'

'No more than usual,' said Fred, shrugging. They continued their snowball fight until it was too dark to see properly, and then went inside to prepare for the ball themselves.

Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville all changed into their dress robes, and Ron once again bemoaned the state of his. Even after severing all the lace, they still looked rather frayed and old-fashioned.

'I still can't work out how you two managed to get two of the best-looking girls in the year,' muttered Dean to Ron and Seamus as they went downstairs.

'Animal magnetism,' replied Ron gloomily, pulling stray threads out of his cuffs. Seamus just grinned.

The common room was oddly colorful, with everyone wearing their fancy dress robes. Parvati was waiting for Ron at the base of the stairs, alongside Lavender waiting for Seamus. They looked very pretty indeed, Parvati in robes of shocking pink with gold in her long dark plait and at her wrists, and Lavender in robes of her namesake shade with thin strands of sliver twisted into her honey-colored hair.

Standing a little further back was Ginny, nervously twisting her hands and biting her lip. She was wearing robes of a deep green that, when combined with her cascading and vibrant red hair, made her look very Christmas-y indeed.

'You look – really nice,' Harry said, a little awkwardly.

'Thanks,' she said. 'You too.'

'Shall we go?' asked Seamus, offering his arm to Lavender. Copying him, Harry did the same and Ginny took it rather tentatively, not meeting his eyes. Parvati looked like she was waiting for Ron to offer his arm as well, but instead he looked around and said, 'Where's Hermione?' Parvati shrugged, and took his arm of her own initiative.

'I'm sure we'll see her down there,' said Lavender. 'Let's go.' They made their way to the portrait hole, where Fred winked at Harry as he passed.

Dean and Neville split off to meet their dates, who were from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff respectively. At one point Ron, who'd been looking around the crowd, turned quickly to avoid being seen by Fleur Delacour. Parvati was not amused, but Ron didn't seem to notice. 'Where is Hermione?' he repeated, craning his neck over and around the crowd once again.

A group of Slytherins came by, including Malfoy (whose high-collared robes made him look like a vicar), Pansy Parkinson (who looked like a pink candyfloss cart had exploded on her), and Crabbe and Goyle (both dateless, Harry was delighted to see).

The Durmstrang procession appeared, led by Karkaroff and Krum, who was with a pretty girl in blue robes Harry didn't know. He could see through the doors to a section of the lawn that had been turned into a sort of rose garden or grotto filled with hundreds of glittering fairies fluttering around.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, 'Champions over here, please!'

Harry could feel Ginny tense up almost as much as him. They said, 'See you in a minute' to Ron and Parvati and walked over to meet McGonagall, who was dressed in red tartan dress robes and had made the odd choice of placing a wreath of thistles at the brim of her hat. She informed them that they were to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down.

Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. Cedric and Cho were close to Harry, too; he looked away from them so he wouldn't have to talk to them. His eyes fell instead on the girl next to Krum. His jaw dropped.

It was Hermione.

But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy, but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow – or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back. She was also smiling – rather nervously, it was true – but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever. Harry couldn't understand how he hadn't spotted it before.

'Hi, Harry!' she said. 'Hi, Ginny!'

Ginny was grinning happily, and Harry realized something.

'You knew who her date was all along,' he said simply.

'Of course I did,' she said. 'I told you it wasn't my business to say anything.'

'No, you're right,' he said. 'I was never really worried about that anyway. I'm just surprised Ron never thought to try needling it out of you.'

'He knows better,' she said. 'He'd have a better chance getting it out of Hermione herself or even Snape before he'd get it out of me.'

Ron chose that moment to walk past; he didn't look at Hermione at all.

'He doesn't look happy,' Harry noted.

'Does he ever?' Ginny said, quirking her eyebrow. Harry tried not to laugh at his best friend's expense – he really did – but he couldn't help it.

After everyone else was inside, the champions and their partners got in line in pairs behind Professor McGonagall and followed her in. The Great Hall had been filled with hundreds of small, round tables, and the champions walked toward where the staff table usually sat, where there was a large round table occupied by the judges. Harry was doing his best not to trip over his own feet; he could tell Ginny was just as on edge as he was, but she impressed him by not letting it show on her face. She was smiling as he imagined they were supposed to. He tried it himself but couldn't manage it.

They passed by Ron and Parvati near the head table. He was watching Hermione and Krum with narrowed eyes and something of a scowl; she was looking rather sulky.

At the judge's table, they were greeted varyingly, ranging from polite applause from Madame Maxime to boyish exuberance from Ludo Bagman to a scowl much like Ron's from Karkaroff – also directed at Hermione and Krum. Dumbledore, or course, was delighted to see all of them, but the big surprise was that instead of Mr. Crouch, the fifth judge's seat was occupied by Percy Weasley. He stood and pulled out the seat beside him, looking pointedly at Harry, who took the hint and sat next to him, himself pulling out a chair for Ginny on his left. If she felt like arguing about sitting next to Percy, she kept it to herself. Percy, for his part, was dressed quite smartly and looked very smug – even for Percy.

'I've been promoted,' he told them before Harry had even properly sat down. One might have thought he'd been made Supreme Ruler of the Universe. 'I'm now Mr Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him.' Harry shared a quick look with Ginny; they knew what they were in for.

'Why didn't he come?' Harry asked, not looking forward to being lectured on cauldron-bottom thickness all evening. Percy's long-winded response boiled down to Mr. Crouch being stressed and overworked, largely due to the fallout from the World Cup on top of arranging the tournament, Rita Skeeter being herself, and no longer having a house elf.

'I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place,' he finished proudly.

'Do you think Crouch has stopped calling him "Weatherby" yet?' Harry muttered to Ginny, who snorted with repressed laughter that she tried to hide behind her hand. Fortunately, Percy didn't notice.

There was no food on the table, just menus. There were no waiters either, but after observing Dumbledore merely speak his order at his plate, the others got the idea and followed suit. The house elves had certainly outdone themselves. Harry glanced over at Hermione to see what her reaction to this would be, but found she wasn't paying much attention to her food or how it arrived. She and Krum were deep in conversation about something and S.P.E.W. seemed the last thing on her mind.

'Seems like something has drawn Hermione's attention from house elves for the night,' Ginny said, having followed Harry's gaze.

'Wasn't sure it was possible,' said Harry. 'Has she got you in on it too?'

'She gave me a badge, but waived my dues since I didn't have any money on me,' Ginny explained.

'That was nice of her,' Harry grinned, and Ginny nodded.

'It was, especially since I was lying,' she said. 'I still wear the badge, though.'

'You're a better friend than me,' Harry admitted. 'I gave her the money but forgot about the badge.'

'Her heart's in the right place, but she really doesn't understand house elves,' Ginny said. 'I tried to explain it to her but she says that since I grew up with it I just can't see the injustice.'

'Ron got the same,' Harry said.

'Yes, well Ron probably had the tact of a wild ape when explaining it, I'd wager.'

'Fair point.'

On the other end of the table, Krum had apparently been telling Hermione about Durmstrang, but Karkaroff interrupted jovially – though with somewhat cold eyes, Harry noted – telling Krum not to spill the school's secrets. This somehow led to Dumbledore telling a story about a mysterious room full of chamber pots that perhaps only appeared at a certain time or when the one seeking it was in desperate need of a bathroom. Ginny and Harry both laughed, Harry nearly choking on his goulash.

Fleur Delacour, meanwhile, was busy comparing Hogwarts very unfavorably to Beauxbatons for Roger Davies, who looked like he was taking in about every fifth word she was saying and kept missing his mouth with his fork due to staring at her.

'Poor Ron,' said Ginny. 'If I didn't believe you that she was part Veela before, I certainly do now. Davies looks about a half second away from outright drooling.'

'I wonder if she has a limited range,' said Harry, the idea striking him out of nowhere. 'Those veela at the World Cup affected us way up in the top box, but she's just down the table and I don't feel anything strange.'

'It would make sense, I suppose,' said Ginny. 'I mean, she's not even half veela, is she? Whatever power she has can't be as strong as a full-blooded one.'

'Her-my-oh-nee,' they heard Hermione enunciating to Krum, who was apparently having difficulty pronouncing her name.

'Herm-own-ninny,' tried Krum.

'Close enough,' she said, glancing over at Harry and Ginny and grinning.

The rest of dinner carried on like that. They would catch snippets of other people's conversations or be briefly drawn in, but it never ceased to be entertaining. Harry made a point of not looking at or speaking to Cho and Cedric unless he absolutely had to. He found it wasn't nearly as hard as he'd feared it would be, simply by virtue of having someone to talk to.

And Ginny sure could talk. Her brothers hadn't been kidding about that. Harry had never seen this side of her before, and was somewhat surprised to learn how much he enjoyed it. It was certainly preferable to the shy, quiet version he was used to. Most surprising though, was how much fun she was to talk to. She shared his sense of humor and wit, and had touches of both Ron's bluntness and Hermione's insight that made for a very interesting combination. He could make observations about people around them and unlike Hermione, who would usually chastise him for it or Ron, who could occasionally turn it rather mean or sour without even meaning to, she would laugh or come back with one of her own.

When dinner was over, Dumbledore stood and motioned for everyone to do the same. With a wave of his wand he cleared the tables from the floor and conjured a dais with instruments on it. The Weird Sisters came out to raucous applause. Ginny was among those most enthusiastic, Harry noted.

'I've never heard them before,' Harry told her, watching the band with interest.

'Really?' she asked him, in the same manner as though he'd just announced he'd never had tea before. Then she noticed something over his shoulder and tensed up, the color draining from her face a little and her smile drooping. 'Er, I think we're supposed to…' she trailed off, but Harry turned and noticed the other champions taking to the dance floor with their partners. With a surge of anxiety, Harry realized what they were supposed to be doing.

Harry offered her his hand and she took it, not meeting his eye. He understood the feeling; he was careful not to catch anyone else's eye as they walked out, though he thought he could see Seamus and Dean waving and sniggering from the corner of his vision.

'I, er, don't really know how to dance,' Harry confessed under his breath.

'Mum taught me a little,' she breathed so quietly he barely heard her, but she placed his hand on her waist and took the other one in hers. She was blushing furiously and mostly looking at the floor, and Harry realized this had to be ten times worse for her than it was for him. At least he was used to being in front of a lot of people, and he wasn't the one on a date with his crush, either.

It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Ginny did seem to have some handle on what to do, so he let her steer. They might have looked a bit clumsy, but soon enough the dance floor was so full of other couples that no one was paying them any attention anymore. Looking around, he could see a number of the teachers had joined the dance as well; Dumbledore was dancing with Madame Maxime – it looked rather like a girl play dancing with an overlarge doll – and Mad-Eye Moody came by doing a very ungainly two-step with Professor Sinistra, who was keeping one eye on his wooden leg at all times.

'Nice socks, Potter,' he growled as he passed.

'Oh – yeah, Dobby the house-elf knitted them for me,' said Harry, grinning.

'A house-elf made you socks?' Ginny asked as they spun away. Harry started. She hadn't spoken since they'd begun dancing.

'Yeah,' he chuckled, glad for the ice-breaker. 'You remember Dobby, right?'

'He's the elf who almost killed you trying to save your life?' Ginny asked.

'That's the one. Hermione found out he works in the kitchen here and he came by to see me this morning to give me a Christmas present.'

'That's so sweet!' Ginny squealed. 'He must really like you. Hopefully not enough to try and save you again, though.'

Harry laughed. 'I made him promise not to. But he grows on you, Dobby.'

'Can I see them?' Ginny asked, indicating his socks.

'Sure,' said Harry. 'Let's go sit down. I don't think I could keep up with this one anyway.'

'Me neither,' said Ginny. The Weird Sisters had started another, much faster song, which seemed to be a favorite of many. On their way to the table where Ron and Parvati were seated, they had to literally dodge out of the way of Fred and Angelina, who were dancing so exuberantly one might have thought they'd been jinxed.

'How's it going?' Harry asked Ron, opening a Butterbeer and passing one to Ginny as they sat down.

Ron didn't answer. He was glaring at Hermione and Krum, who were dancing nearby. Parvati was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, one foot jiggling in time to the music. Every now and then she threw a disgruntled look at Ron, who was completely ignoring her.

'So show me your socks,' said Ginny, taking a swig of Butterbeer.

'What about Harry's socks?' Parvati asked, clearly keen to at least have someone to talk to.

'Oh, for Merlin's sake. I may as well just put them on display at the head table and have done with it,' Harry joked good naturedly. Ginny explained to Parvati the origin of the socks while Harry lifted his robes enough to show them off.

'Brilliant!' cried Ginny, grinning madly.

'They're adorable!' Parvati cooed. 'He made them for you?'

'Dobby's big on socks,' Harry explained. 'It's how I freed him.'

They spent the next few minutes discussing Dobby and other memories from the last few years. Ron was tuning them out completely. Before long a boy from Beauxbatons came and asked Parvati to dance.

'Were you planning on asking me to dance at all?' she asked Ron, who did not respond. 'Oh, never mind,' she snapped. 'See you later Harry, Ginny.' She went off with the Beauxbatons boy, and when the song ended she did not come back.

Hermione came over and sat down in Parvati's empty chair. She was a bit pink in the face from dancing.

'Hi,' said Harry. Ron didn't say anything. Ginny smiled at Hermione and watched her brother anxiously.

'It's hot, isn't it?' said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. 'Viktor's just gone to get some drinks.'

Ron gave her a withering look.

'Viktor?' he snarled. 'Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?'

Hermione looked at him in surprise and Ginny grimaced.

'What's up with you?' she said.

'If you don't know,' said Ron scathingly, 'I'm not going to tell you.'

Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged, and Ginny, who gave a sympathetic wince. 'Ron, what – ?'

'He's from Durmstrang!' spat Ron. 'He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You – you're – 'Ron was obviously casting around for words strong enough to describe Hermione's crime, 'fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!'

Hermione's mouth fell open. What followed was a truly spectacular shouting match during which Ron accused Krum of using Hermione to spy on Harry, and when that didn't work, of using her to help solve his egg clue. Hermione, for her part, was shooting down everything he threw at her, though she inevitably ended up trying to bring Harry into it despite him silently praying she would not.

People were starting to stare at opened his mouth to tell Ron that he didn't have a problem with Hermione coming to the ball with Krum, but he felt a hand on his arm and looked over to see Ginny giving him a warning look and shaking her head almost imperceptibly. She then indicated with her eyes that they should escape while they still could. One glance at his two red-faced best friends told Harry that she probably had the right idea.

'Don't call him Vicky!' they heard Hermione shriek as they surreptitiously abandoned the shouting pair and made their way around the edge of the dance hall.

'Well that was terrifying,' Ginny said once they were far enough away. 'Are they always like that?'

'Generally not that bad,' Harry said. 'I feel kind of bad leaving, though. Ron's going to be on his own as soon as Krum gets back from wherever he went.'

'Oh please, he's been on his own all night,' said Ginny, rolling her eyes. Harry caught a glimpse of Cedric and Cho and realized he could easily have been just as bad as Ron tonight under different circumstances. Still, he didn't feel like being anywhere where he could see them.

'Feel like taking a walk?' he asked abruptly, indicating the door to the Entrance Hall. 'I could use some air after that.'

'Um…sure,' Ginny stammered, blushing. Too late, Harry realized he'd taken her hand to help her up from the table and had forgotten to let go. He quickly released it, then figured that could be construed wrongly as well.

'Er, sorry,' he said lamely. 'This isn't … I'm not very good at this sort of thing.'

'No, that's – that's okay,' she said. 'I know I'm not who you wanted to come with tonight.' She looked back down at her shoes, and Harry felt like a slug.

'It's not like that,' Harry tried to say. 'I mean – bollocks, there's not really anything I can say that will help, is there? What I mean is, I didn't ask you just because I needed a date. I could have just asked Parvati myself if I'd wanted that instead of telling Ron to do it. I asked you because if I had to be here, I figured I could at least come with someone I knew I could have a good time with.'

'You said that before,' she reminded him without looking up.

'Well, it's still true,' he said, taking both her hands and forcing her to look up at him. 'I know it's not what you wanted either, but let's make the best of what we have, yeah?' It was the closest either of them had yet come to openly discussing her feelings for him.

'All right,' she said, managing a faint smile. In her Christmasy attire, and backlit from the glow of the fairy lights outside, it made her look incredibly pretty. Best not to think about that.

They headed outside into the impromptu rose garden. There were statues and winding paths, and Harry was sure he could hear a fountain somewhere. There were a few people about on carved benches, but it seemed most everyone was still inside. They'd gone a short way when they heard a familiar and unpleasant voice.

'We have had to live with it these past thirteen years; I don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor.'

'Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!' Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. 'It's been getting clearer and clearer for months, I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it –'

'Then flee,' said Snape's voice curtly. 'Flee, I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts.'

The two men came around the corner. Snape was blasting bushes apart with his wand and looking most displeased. Squeals erupted and figures emerged from several of them.

'Ten points from Hufflepuff, Fawcett!' he yelled at a girl who ran past him. 'And ten points from Ravenclaw too, Stebbins!' at the boy who ran after her. 'Potter!' he snarled at catching sight of Harry and Ginny. 'Not your usual Weasley, I see. Need I deduct points from you two as well?'

Harry fumed at the implication, but Ginny calmly replied, 'No, professor, we were just walking.'

'Keep walking, then!' Snape snarled and brushed past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind him. Karkaroff hurried after him. Ginny smiled politely until they were past, at which point she pulled a face and stuck her tongue out at them.

'Nice,' Harry said.

'What was that about, I wonder?' said Ginny. 'Professor Karkaroff sounded really upset about something.'

'Yeah. And since when are he and Snape on first-name terms?' said Harry slowly. He was about to suggest they head back inside when he noticed two more people headed in their direction. Fleur and Davies did not notice he and Ginny – they were otherwise occupied.

'Looks like she's found at least one part of Hogwarts she doesn't mind so much,' Ginny noted wryly.

Harry chuckled. 'Shall we, er, take the long way round?' he suggested.

'Thanks,' said Ginny. 'That was a very nice dinner. I'd hate to lose it so soon.'

They laughed and started walking down the path away from Davies and Fleur. Soon they came upon a stone reindeer, beyond which was a glittering fountain and the silhouettes of two very large people seated on a bench.

'…knew you were like me … was it your mother or your father?' Hagrid was saying. Harry instinctively felt this wasn't a conversation they should be listening in on, so he quickened his step. Unfortunately, just past the reindeer was a dead end, the only ways out being back the way they came, or around the fountain and right past Hagrid and Madame Maxime and what was their private conversation.

'What do we do?' Ginny asked.

'We could just wait until they go,' Harry suggested lamely. It was generally his instinct in situations like this.

'Who knows how long that will be?' she said, 'and if they notice us it'll look like we were eavesdropping!'

'Okay okay, you're right,' Harry said. 'Let's just go back the way we came and try not to hear anything.' Ginny nodded her agreement and they set off at a brisk pace. Harry tried to keep his focus on something other than one of his dearest friends in what should most assuredly be a private moment. He cast around but there wasn't really anything to look at besides the reindeer. He noticed a beetle crawling around on its back and tried to concentrate on that until they were far enough away not to overhear, but alas it was not to be.

'Don't go!' Hagrid was saying, a bit louder now. 'I've – I've never met another one before!'

'Anuzzer what, precisely?' said Madame Maxime icily. Whatever it was, Harry mentally pleaded with Hagrid not to answer, knowing it would be a bad idea, but of course Hagrid couldn't hear him.

'Another half-giant, o'course!' said Hagrid. Ginny froze beside him and Harry was almost tripped up by their linked arms. He had no time to wonder when that had happened.

''Ow dare you!' shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice was like a foghorn in the otherwise quiet and peaceful night. Behind them, Fleur and Davies tumbled out of their bush, and Ginny pulled Harry down out of sight into the shadow of the reindeer. 'I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave – I 'ave big bones!'

She stormed off, great swarms of fairies bursting into the air like quail as she practically tossed rose bushes out of her way. Hagrid remained sitting on the bench for almost another minute, until he too got up and walked away, only toward his cabin instead of the castle.

'Did you know?' Ginny whispered once he was gone.

'Know what?' Harry asked, not really processing yet what had just transpired.

'That Hagrid is half-giant?'

'No, I didn't know,' Harry said. 'I suppose it makes sense, though. So what?'

Harry knew immediately from Ginny's expression that he was once again exhibiting his ignorance of the wizarding world. It was something that had been happening less and less frequently the more time he spent in it, but he evidently still had things to learn. Foremost among them, it would seem, was that 'so what?' was not a typical response upon learning that one's friend is half-giant.

'Let's go inside,' Ginny said. 'Ron can probably explain better than I can.' She pulled him up and they made a beeline for the front doors. Reentering the Great Hall, a quick survey revealed that Parvati was sitting at a table with her twin sister and a large group of boys from Beauxbatons, Hermione was back on the dance floor with Krum, and Ron was still seated at the same table they'd left him, still wearing the same expression he'd worn most of the night. They strode over to him, taking a pair of empty seats. They needn't worry about being overheard; no one else was sitting anywhere near them.

'Where have you two been?' Ron snapped. Harry pushed down the urge to be irritated with him.

'Went out for some air, figured we'd give you two your space,' he said.

Ron just grunted. Then he said, 'I had to endure ten minutes of Percy, I'll have you know. Only just got rid of him.'

'All right, now I actually do feel bad,' Ginny said soothingly, though Harry saw she was holding back an amused grin.

'Never mind that now, we need to tell you something,' Harry said, and he and Ginny relayed what they had overheard. At the end Ron had completely lost his surly demeanor and was merely left gaping.

'So?' Harry prompted. 'What's the problem with giants?'

'Well, they're … they're …'Ron struggled for words, 'not very nice,' he finished lamely.

Ginny rolled her eyes, 'I knew you'd be the best one to explain it,' she said sarcastically.

'Who cares?' Harry said. 'There's nothing wrong with Hagrid!'

'I know there isn't,' said Ron, 'but … blimey, no wonder he keeps it quiet.' He shook his head. 'I always thought he'd got in the way of a bad Engorgement Charm when he was a kid or something. Didn't like to mention it …'

'But what's it matter if his mother was a giantess?' Harry pressed.

'Well … no one who knows him will care, 'cos they'll know he's not dangerous,' said Ron, slowly. 'But … Harry, they're just vicious, giants. It's not their fault or anything; it's just in their natures; they're like trolls … they just like killing, everyone knows that. There aren't any left in Britain now, though.'

'What happened to them?'

'Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got themselves killed by Aurors. There're supposed to be giants abroad, though … they hide out in mountains, mostly …'

'I don't know who Maxime thinks she's kidding,' Harry said, watching the Beauxbatons headmistress sitting alone at the judges' table. 'If Hagrid's half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones … the only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur.'

The three of them stayed at the table for most of the rest of the evening, discussing giants, and what it might mean for Hagrid if anyone found out about his parentage. They all agreed that Dumbledore was almost certainly aware of it, and probably the rest of the staff, but parents would be a bigger problem – particularly ones like Lucius Malfoy. At one point, a fourth-year Ravenclaw whose name Harry thought was Michael came over and asked Ginny to dance, but she politely declined. It made Harry feel slightly guilty.

'Sorry,' he said while Ron was making a trip to the toilet. 'You're probably not having a lot of fun.'

'No, I am!' she insisted. 'I never get to scheme with you three.'

'We don't scheme …' Harry said somewhat defensively.

'Of course you don't,' Ginny said, rather patronizingly. 'But anyway, I am having fun, I promise.'

'Still, if you wanted to dance with that bloke you could have,' Harry said.

'I didn't, though,' she said simply. Harry was bad at reading people, so he wasn't sure if he picked up a touch of hurt in her last statement or not.

'We should do one more, then,' he said spur-of-the-moment. 'They're almost done, I think. The ball ends at midnight, right? Do you want to?'

Ginny blushed and looked at her shoes – but only for a moment. 'All right,' she said. They stood up and went back out to the dance floor. It was indeed the last song, and they spent most of it laughing about what horrible dancers they both were. When they came back to the table Ron greeted them with a raised eyebrow but nothing more.

Out in the Entrance Hall, Hermione was saying goodnight to Krum before he headed back out to the Durmstrang ship. She saw Ron and gave him a very cold look before striding right past him up the marble staircase without a word. Harry inwardly groaned. Ron had been nearly snapped out of his bad mood.

Halfway up the staircase themselves, Harry heard someone calling his name.

'Hey – Harry!'

It was Cedric Diggory. Harry could see Cho waiting for him at the base of the stairs. He inwardly groaned again. His own bad mood had been done away with as well until now.

'Yeah?' said Harry cooly as Cedric ran up to meet him. Cedric glanced at Ron and Ginny, as though he didn't want to say anything in front of them. Ron shrugged and continued up the stairs looking very bad-tempered. Ginny shared a quick defeated look with Harry before following.

'Listen …' Cedric lowered his voice. 'I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?'

'Yeah,' said Harry.

'Well … take a bath, OK?'

'What?'

'Take a bath, and – er – take the egg with you, and – er – just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think … trust me.'

Harry stared at him.

'Tell you what,' Cedric said, 'use the Prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's Pine-fresh. Gotta go … want to say goodnight – '

He grinned at Harry again and hurried back down the stairs to Cho.

Harry started walking up the stairs again, very confused. That had been very strange advice. At the first landing he found Ginny waiting for him.

'Where's Ron?' he asked.

'Probably stomping all the way up to Gryffindor tower,' she said, a distinct lack of patience for her brother's behavior evident in her tone. 'What did Cedric want?'

'What? Oh, he – er – he wanted to give me advice about my egg,' Harry said, not entirely sure why he was telling her. After all, he wasn't sure what Cedric had done was allowed.

'What, really?' Ginny asked as they started once again for the common room. 'Why would he do that?'

'He says he's paying me back for helping him with the first task.'

'How did you help him?' asked Ginny, clearly lost.

'I sort of told him about the dragons,' Harry said, but then hastily added, 'but only because I knew that Krum and Fleur both knew about them, and it didn't seem right for Cedric to be the only one going in blind, you know?'

Ginny stared at him for a moment with her mouth slightly agape, then smiled and shook her head. 'You really are …' she murmured under her breath. What he really was, he did not find out, because she snapped back to their earlier conversation. 'I'm not even going to ask how you found out about the dragons,' she said. 'Or how you knew that Krum and Fleur knew, or how they found out. I'm sure I'd just end up with more questions anyway.'

'I probably shouldn't have said anything at all,' Harry admitted. 'I'm pretty sure more people than me would get in trouble.'

'Don't worry, I won't tell anyone,' she said.

'I know you won't.'

She beamed at him. 'So what was Cedric's hint, if I can ask?'

'He said to take a bath with the egg,' Harry told her. 'What kind of rubbish advice is that? You reckon he's pulling my leg?'

Ginny considered it, then shook her head. 'I don't think he's the sort who would do that. Don't even say anything,' she cut him off before he could speak, for he had already been opening his mouth. 'I know you don't exactly like him right now because he went to the ball with Cho Chang, but that doesn't make him a bad person, you know.'

Harry stammered a moment, trying to protest, but he knew she was right. The smug look on her face showed she knew it, too. 'Honestly, you're as bad as Ron,' she said. 'Well, maybe not. At least you tried to have fun tonight.'

'I did have fun,' Harry said quickly, not wanting her to think he had not. As soon as he said it he was shocked to realize how true it was, especially given how much he had been dreading the whole ordeal beforehand.

'If you say so,' she said.

'Hey, don't be like that,' Harry false-whinged. 'I believed you. I really did have fun tonight. Lots more than I thought I would. You don't see me stomping all the way up to the tower, do you?'

'Fair enough,' she said as they arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait. 'And Harry?'

'Hmm?'

'Thanks for inviting me. Really. I had a great time.' There was a brief pause during which she seemed to be steeling herself for something, but before Harry had time to process what that might be she'd taken a deep breath and hugged him tightly. She let go almost before he got a chance to hug back, her face once more redder than her hair. Immediately she turned away.

'Fairy lights!' she yelled sharply, for the Fat Lady had been snoozing with her friend Vi over the portrait hole. She climbed in ahead of him, and Harry was expecting to see her halfway up the stairs to her dormitory when he followed seconds later, which is why he was surprised to see her standing stock still just inside. The reason why was immediately apparent: they'd walked in on Hermione and Ron in the middle of a blazing row. They were each scarlet in the face, bellowing at each other from ten feet apart.

'Well if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?' yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.

'Oh yeah?' Ron yelled back. 'What's that?'

'Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!'

Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Harry(Ginny had begun sidestepping out of the way and towards the staircases herself).

'Well, he spluttered, looking thunderstruck, 'well – that just proves – completely missed the point –'

Harry caught Ginny's eye at the base of the stairs but didn't say anything. He could tell she was thinking the same as him, though. He liked being back on speaking terms with Ron too much to speak his mind just then – but he somehow thought that Hermione had gotten the point much better than Ron had.

~O~O~O~O~
~O~O~O~O~

It feels good to finish something again, even if it is actally starting yet another thing. This isn't my best work, but it's something, and I'm feeling good about that. Let me know what you think. The next couple of chapters of this are mostly done already, as are a few other unrelated things.