And really, so what if Ginny liked both Harry and Hermione? Really, so what? She only really had a chance with one of them, so it couldn't do any harm dreaming about the other. Dreaming about her bushy brown hair, chocolate eyes, and um, nice skin. Hermione was…adorable.
Hermione was out of the picture.
And Harry wasn't hideous, either. Ginny didn't mind admitting that. In fact, she'd spent some quality time thinking about him, too.
Hermione, though. Well. The girl was something different altogether.
Something different, it seemed, and also something straight. Straight as a ruler. Or, in Hermione's words, she was "One hundred percent heterosexual." Not that she minded the way Ginny was.
How was that, though? Ginny didn't know what to call herself. It was too much to ponder, especially when Ginny had other things to think about.
First and foremost, what a fool she'd been to ask Hermione to the Yule Ball. Yup. She was just that foolish. For God's sake, Ginny wasn't even allowed to go if an older student didn't take her.
And what kind of a fool was she, to think that Hermione might actually like her, even if she'd liked girls? Ginny was at an awkward age, tall, clumsy, and acne-faced. There were much better prospects.
Like the extremely pretty Cho Chang, who was walking right Ginny's way. Ginny quickly ran a hand through her hair, straightened her robes, and tried to look casual.
Cho Chang, however, was not alone. She was on the arm of the equally gorgeous Cedric Diggory. God. Were they together? That might amount to so much cuteness that Ginny would explode. That might be convenient, actually, since they seemed headed straight for her.
Once they got close enough for Ginny to reasonably assume that they wanted to talk to her, she called out, "Hey! Cedric and Cho! What's up?"
"Nothing much," said Cho. Cedric just nodded, and they slipped into the empty classroom that she was standing to one side of. From the sounds she heard coming from the classroom, well… She could tell that they hadn't come over to chat with her.
Well. That had been embarrassing.
And also: ew! Disgusting. Ginny might have had crushes, but still.
Ginny shook her head absentmindedly, and started back to the common room. As she was sitting down, a nervous voice greeted her.
"Hi, Neville." Ginny didn't try to keep the tiredness out of her voice, but Neville wasn't deterred.
"So, um, I was wondering if you might like to go to the Yule ball with me?" Neville's voice came in a rush, and he seemed adorably nervous.
Maybe that was why she said yes. She felt bad for him. Or maybe she was grateful that someone was taking interest in her, after a sore disappointment.
Or maybe she liked him. Who could tell, these days?
* * *
That night, Ginny began to regret saying yes, and she regretted it still more when she heard that Harry didn't have a date. But Neville was safe, and in the picture. That had to count for something.
Didn't it?