Chapter Text
As Professor Binns dismissed the third years from History of Magic, Ginny Weasley woke from a stupor, one that was common to most students who entered the dull classroom. She was by no means a poor student. But sometimes it couldn't be helped, dozing off as Binns' monotonous voice droned on and on about goblin rebellions. Ginny usually listened. Usually. But today, she had been so caught up in her daydreams that her mind hadn't processed anything about Archibald the Aggressor. There was only one person on her mind—Harry Potter.
These daydreams of hers had been growing increasingly more prevalent in the days leading up to the Yule Ball. But they were always about the same person.
As she walked down the corridor to her next class, she struggled to suppress these daydreams. Thoughts of her dancing to cheesy Christmas music in some fancy dress while leaning on the shoulder of Harry Potter kept invading her mind. It wasn't that these daydreams were necessarily bad, but they kept her from focusing.
And they were also unrealistic.
As much as she loved to think about the possibility of Harry looking at her as anything other than Ron's little sister, she knew that it was never going to happen. She should just move on.
But it seemed that the more she tried to force her brain into accepting that reality, the more she just desperately wanted it to be real. So her brain was at an impasse, forcing her to do what she always did—push it from her mind and force herself to think about something else, anything else.
Trying to evict Harry's stupidly green eyes from her mind, she was too preoccupied to notice the boy directly in her path. Before she could stop herself, she bumped into him.
She let out a small yelp as she tumbled to the ground, spilling her books in the process. It took a few seconds for her to regain her bearing, and soon enough, a pair of hands shot to the floor in front of her and started to awkwardly organize her things into one messy pile. She looked up to see who was helping her and realized that she had accidentally run into Neville of all people.
"I'm s-so sorry, Ginny. Don't worry about these, I'll get them," he stammered.
She felt the heat rising to her face. "It's alright, Neville, I should've been watching where I was going."
Neville continued to fumble about with her books and papers until they were finally all together. Matching blushes formed on both of their faces as Ginny pulled her bag off of her shoulder and decided to shove her things inside. For a few moments, there was silence until Neville suddenly thrust his hand forward, as if he only just remembered that Ginny was indeed on the floor in the middle of the corridor.
"Thanks, Neville," she said as he helped her stand up. "Sorry about that. I guess I'll be going then."
"I-I was actually meaning to talk to you, Ginny." Neville burst out.
"Oh, really? Well now's as good a time as any I suppose."
If possible, Neville blushed even harder as he closed his eyes. It was oddly endearing.
"Will you go to the ball with me?"
Oh... Ginny froze. That is not at all what I was expecting.
A thousand scenarios swam through her mind as she tried to wrap her head around the question. Neville seemed to take her silence as a bad sign and frowned as if he was expecting rejection anyways. But it wasn't like she disliked Neville—he was a nice enough guy. It was just... going to the ball... with someone other than Harry...
An immense guilt washed over her. She wanted to slap herself for being so selfish. Despite her hardest efforts, she couldn't picture herself with anyone else. She knew it was incredibly naïve and childish, and she wished that Neville had asked someone else.
"It's alright," Neville said softly. "I didn't figure you would want to anyway. I was just checking."
"No, it's not that," she blurted before she could stop herself. Neville's eyes widened. She didn't know why she did it. It was almost involuntary, but before she could process what she was saying, the words were already spilling out of her mouth.
"I'm already going with someone," she said.
Neville stood, staring at her as her words set in. She just lied. She just lied to Neville, and if it was possible, the guilt was now even more crushing. However, it seemed that her answer, false though it may be, was enough to brighten Neville's mood just a bit.
"Oh, well I'm sorry for the bother then. I already asked Hermione, and she's going with someone else too. I'll see you around, I guess."
Before Ginny could even respond, he hurried off, leaving her standing alone in the corridor. At least he didn't ask me who I was going with, she thought. She proceeded on to her next class, her mind even more conflicted than before. If Neville were to tell anyone what she had said then she was in trouble. Curse her stupid brain and her obsession with Harry Potter.
Ginny had a hard time holding back her laughter as Ron regaled her with the tale of his epically embarrassing attempt at asking Fleur Delacour to the Yule Ball. Seeing that everyone around her was seemingly just as awkward when it came to this whole Yule Ball nonsense was somewhat encouraging. It definitely took her mind off of her whole dilemma for the time being, but it didn't erase the problem. It was definitely still there.
By the time Christmas came, if Neville noticed that she was absent from the ball, then he would know she had lied to him. The only alternative Ginny could think of was to pretend to be sick or come up with some other lame excuse. But then there was still the possibility that Neville might ask her who she had intended to go with. On top of that, it would just be adding more and more lies to this silly problem that she created for herself just because her stupid teenage mind couldn't move on.
Another option crept into her mind. Perhaps she should just go around asking people to go to the ball with her. This idea, however, was immediately shot down almost as quickly as she had thought it up. There was a strong possibility that Neville might catch wind of it if she just waltzed around begging for a date like some sort of scarlet woman in the streets. She didn't think her guilty conscience could handle that
As if fate was taunting her, she was awoken from her thoughts by the arrival of somebody else at their table in the corner of the common room. Sitting down and joining them in their conversation was none other than Harry Potter.
Ron babbled on to Harry about his foolishness, and Ginny had to explain the situation, all while fighting her hardest to keep her cool.
She was doing pretty well, that is, until Harry had mentioned that dunce of a woman, Cho Chang. Harry told them that he asked her to the ball, but she was going with Cedric. This should have given relief to Ginny, but she couldn't wipe the frown off of her face. Instead of hope, all she felt was negativity. Why would Harry want to go with me? She thought bitterly. If he's interested in pompous airheads like Cho, then I don't stand a chance.
Ron then started talking about Neville, which grabbed her attention once more. He went on about how nobody wanted to go with Neville, each word making Ginny's heart ache more with guilt. She wanted to say something—anything just to get them to change the topic. But luckily she didn't have to. Her saving grace came as Hermione walked into the room.
"Why weren't you two at dinner?" she asked Ron and Harry.
And despite Ginny's inner turmoil, the talk about the ball raged on. Nobody would shut up about it. She told Hermione that both of the boys got rejected. This only sparked a heated debate between her thick brother and Hermione, whom she now found herself envying beyond measure. When Ron refused to believe Hermione had a date to the ball, he asked Ginny if it was true. Ginny had half a mind to just up and leave the conversation altogether. She was getting sick of talking about the ball.
But then Ron had opened his big stupid mouth and said quite possibly the stupidest, yet most brilliant thing he could have ever said.
"This is getting stupid. Ginny, you go with Harry, and I'll just..."
As soon as the words reached Ginny's ears, her brain lost all functionality. She didn't even hear the rest of Ron's sentence, but she didn't care. Her face seemed to catch on fire within an instant, and the tension of Harry's eyes now focused solely on her was suffocating.
"Well, how about it, Ginny?" Ron asked.
Ginny risked a glance at Harry, whose stupid gorgeous face hadn't the slightest hint of emotion on it. He stared patiently at her as if he was sizing her up. What was Harry thinking right now? Probably something to do with how unremarkable she looked compared to Cho Chang. Or maybe something about how she was just Ron's stupid little sister and he would never go to the ball with her. Perhaps he was even thinking up a lame excuse to get out of this situation, just as she herself had done to Neville earlier today.
She thought miserably that she should have known this was coming. This was her karma, her retribution, for her blatant lie earlier. Harry was going to do the same thing to her. Should she come up with another lame excuse like she did to Neville? Maybe she should ask Ron what he said—she must have misheard him.
No, her ears definitely did not deceive her. This was actually happening. One thought emerged from the depths of her mind, a thought that she had tried so hard to get rid of. But maybe... maybe she should just go for it. Now was her chance—she should say yes and tell Harry that she would love to go to the ball with him.
"Hello? Ginny? Don't freeze up on us now."
She jolted back to reality, realizing that she must have been lost in thought for a little too long as both Ron and Harry seemed a bit concerned. They were still expecting an answer, but... as talkative as she was, she couldn't find her tongue. No words would come out of her mouth, and she didn't even know what to say if they could.
Luckily she didn't have to say anything.
"I for one think it's a brilliant idea," Harry spoke up.
Ginny lost all train of thought and stared blankly at the Boy-Who-Lived. Was she hearing things, or did that actually just come out of his mouth?
"I'm tired of this rubbish—asking girls, gossiping about who's taking who. I'll go with you, Ginny. Well, if you'd like, that is." At that, he offered a small smile, one that conveyed enough warmth and sincerity to wake her out of her stupor.
"You mean it?" she asked, not daring to believe it.
"Of course," he smiled even wider now. "Gotta have someone there with me to make sure Ron doesn't jump on Fleur Delacour first chance he gets."
Ron frowned in annoyance, but Ginny giggled.
"Alright then. I'll go with you, Harry—but only so you don't jump on Cho Chang first chance you get," she said. Immediately, she winced, half expecting to be scolded for her poor attempt at a joke.
Only Ron immediately started laughing, taking great pleasure in someone else being the butt of the joke for once. Harry was desperately fighting to suppress a smile. Ginny playfully shoved him, and he looked her in the eyes. Suddenly, he smiled brighter than she had ever seen him smile.
"Alright, that was a good one," he admitted, rolling his eyes.
As they continued to laugh and chat, Ginny knew without a doubt that this Christmas would be the best Christmas she had ever had. She determined that sometimes, dreaming was okay. The guilt within her died down, and she thanked her lucky stars that her stupid dreams had not cost Neville to be hurt. But in the end, it all turned out alright, didn't it?
Now she just needed to find a dress.