Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to JK
Hey all, thanks so much for all your reviews, I really appreciate them :)
I know this one's a little short, but I'm sorry I've been so busy lately
Here's Chapter 3, this one was great fun to write, please keep reviewing and giving me your thoughts, they are a great help :)
Well, I'll shut up now and leave you to enjoy the masque...
The Masque
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, although chilly. All over London, witches and wizards were beginning to prepare themselves for the biggest society event of the year. Ginny was no exception.
She had risen early after a long and peaceful sleep, filled with dreams of handsome men and beautiful dresses, to begin her long transformation into a woman who she deemed worthy to arrive at the Ministry Masque. Luna had arrived at ten and Hermione shortly after that. Both were ready to transform Ginny from the shy caterpillar into the beautiful butterfly and they were armed with half a ton of beauty and hair essentials to do it with.
By the time she left the flat at six thirty, Ginny no longer recognised herself, she looked the equal of any society witch. Luna and Hermione had been thourough in their work, determined that Ginny would be the belle of the ball. She had endured a whole day of work on her hair, being poked and prodded with wands and eyeliner pencils and had lost count of the number of times her friends had asked her to stop fidgeting.
Now she saw that it was all worth it as her carriage, a surprise from Hermione, drew up outside
Hogwarts, the venue for the Masque. Ginny steeled herself for the evening ahead, as the door was opened for her and the purple gloved hand of a ministry footman reached inside to help her depart the carriage. She smiled and thanked the man, who blushed and mumbled that he was just doing his job, before she drew herself up to her full height and headed for the Great Hall with her head held high.
The hall looked beautiful. It was tastefully decorated in muted colours and every possible place was festooned with beautiful flowers that smelled amazing. Ginny's eyes swept around the room, taking in the buffet table where the teachers table usually stood, the band who were playing quietly in the corner and the myriad of colours that were the dancers whirling past her with effortless ease. She felt a sudden tightening in her stomach, but in true Weasley fashion she ignored it and set off to see if Harry and Hermione had arrived yet.
Suddenly he spotted her across the room, heading towards the head auror's table. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful in a figure enhancing green dress that set her hair off to an amazing advantage. The cream mask she wore covered her delicate nose, but left him free to admire her high cheekbones and rosy lips. He found himself being drawn to her, unable to stop his feet from carrying him across the dancefloor to her side. He touched her elbow lightly and watched as she spun around to face him. Again he marvelled at her beauty and stared down into her warm chocolate brown eyes.
"Can I help you?" she asked. He mentally kicked himself for not speaking sooner and panicked over what to say, surely she would know who he was.
"Yes actually," he replied, "I was wondering if you would care to dance with me?" Her eyes widened in surprise and he chuckled inwardly, this girls self esteem was far too low.
"I'd love to," Ginny replied, to Draco's complete surprise, "but I warn you, I can't dance." She had been going to say no, but had decided that she could always look for Harry and Hermione later.
He led her gently to the middle of the dancefloor, directly below the glittering mirrorball, as the band struck up a slow and beautiful ballad. He pulled her close to him, staring deep into her chocolate eyes and marvelling again at their beauty. She realised that she vaguely recognised the steely gray eyes boring into her very soul before her brain stopped functioning due to being expertly swept into the dance. She slipped her arms around his neck and they continued to stare into each others eyes while sweeping gracefully around the floor. He whispered to her,
"I knew you'd catch on quickly."
Harry caught sight of Ginny wrapped in the arms of a stranger in the middle of the dancefloor and truly didn't know what to think about it. She looked happy, for which he was eternally grateful, but he seemed to recognise the tall blond she was in the arms of and he couldn't think why. He nudged Hermione, "Sweetie, do you know who it is that Ginbug's dancing with?" Hermione spun around to look in the direction Harry had pointed out to her. She looked for a long time before turning back to him and simply shrugging before saying,
"I expect its the guy who sent her the invitation for tonight." She turned to look again before stating, "I think they look sweet together." Harry slowly nodded, they did indeed look happy and they did look good together. He stood up and took Hermione's hand, leading her to dance with him, still thinking about the tall blond and why he might recognise him.
Draco glanced down at the vivacious redhead twirling gently and beautifully in his arms. He was so unbelievably happy at this moment, yet he dreaded having to tell her his real name, as soon as she knew that he'd never get his chance. He had to make her understand that he wasn't the jerk she had known at school. As the last strains of the song faded from the instruments, Ginny took his hand and firmly led him towards one of the small round tables set for two at the side of the hall. He had always known that she would want to talk to him, but he just didn't know what to say.
"You're a wonderful dancer," she said smiling brightly at him, "you almost made me look graceful!" Draco chuckled, she was always graceful, though she evidently didn't know it.
"Thank you," he replied, "but you're also a quick learner," she beamed at him after that remark remembering countless clumsy moments she'd had over the years.
They stayed there for hours, chatting about anything and everything. They discovered they had a lot in common. Both were supporters of the Holyhead Harpies, both despised the Chudley Cannons. They talked about hobbies, favourite foods, literature, travel and they were just about exhausting the topic of music when Ginny suddenly realised that something was fundamentally wrong here. She had no idea what this mans name was! At that moment he stood mentioning that it was getting late. She glanced around the once bustling hall to see that they were the only people left in there, the clock read half past midnight. The ball had ended half an hour ago and neither of them had noticed. They had simply been too wrapped up in each other.
She stood slowly and walked with him to the door, scared to ask his name, but equally scared to leave him. They walked together across the entrance hall, and when they reached the moonlit front steps he took her hand and kissed it. As he handed her into her carriage outside the main entrance she siezed the moment and said it.
When he heard her ask for his name he froze. What to say? Not the truth or she'd hate him for eternity. After some very quick thought he replied simply with, "you can just call me Dragon."
She smiled and after a little thinking she told him, "then you can call just me Red."
She stared at him for a moment, contemplating asking whether or not she could see him again, before he drew a piece of parchment out of his pocket and waved his wand over it before handing it to her and closing the carriage door.
As the carriage drew away from the school, she opened the piece of folded parchment. All that was written on it was an email address with three words written underneath it.
Write to me.
-->