The red-headed girl smiled, looking dreamily down the table. Her eyes passed her brother, his heaping plate of food, and his bookish friend, landing on the guy opposite them. He was eating while listening to whatever her brother was saying. Even while shoveling food into his mouth, he was positively brilliant.

His dark hair lay flat on his head, no flyaways in sight. His glasses sat perfectly straight on his face. He looked like a wizarding god, sitting tall, his robes without a wrinkle on them.

She sighed. What would it take for her to end up with such a perfect piece of work? A fancy love potion? She could always ask her brothers to whip one up for her. A life-or-death situation? She certainly could hex a few people if needed.

But would that cause lasting love? Sure, it'd make him notice her for a while, but what she wanted was a real, true, pure relationship with him. Not one that would fade with the change of the seasons. What more could she ask for than a perfect love with the boy of her dreams?

She sighed, and reality struck. No longer was she looking at the embodiment of wizard greatness. She was staring at a boy with a head of perpetually messy hair, with creased and frayed robes, with sleepy eyes behind glasses that had seen many years go by. He wasn't all that great, but she still stared at him, as if he was that god of her dreams.

As she rose to go talk to him, someone shouted at her to get her attention. "Hey! Ginny!" She slowly turned her head and saw Neville waving frantically. "You've got a Quidditch practice to go to, don't you?"

"Not that I know of..."

He pointed at his forehead. Attached to it was a sign that simply read, "Griffindor Quidditch Players, practice today after breakfast."

"How'd that happen?" Ginny, stifling giggles, said.

"Your captain ordered---"

"Not the practice! The sign!"

Neville shrugged. "Someone stuck it to me while you were ogling over Harry."

She felt her cheeks turning the color of her hair. She finished getting up, and she ran past her brother and his friends, headed to the common room to let out her laughter, while trying to keep her cool.

"Listen, Harry, does Ginny seem to be acting funny to you?" Ron, her brother, asked.

"I dunno. But we need to go get ready for practice. Maybe you can ask her while we're there?"

The two boys laughed. "Yeah, and then we'll hear about her massive crush on some boy...."

Harry regained his composure quickly. "Hermione, do you have an opinion on this? After all, you've been quiet this whole meal."

The bookish girl said nothing more than, "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I know what others are feeling."

There was a loud guffaw from Ron. Hermione shot him a dirty look, right as Neville walked by, sign still attached to his head. The two boys got up quickly and followed him.

Hermione shook her head. Ginny went straight by him, and he didn't think to ask her what was up, she thought. Maybe heading straight towards the goal isn't the best way to get there?

A/N: Written as a possible entry for The Domain's July/August challenge.

Length: 595 words here. (Word isn't working anymore.)

Quote: "Straight ahead, one cannot go very far."

My variation: Going straight ahead (towards the goal) isn't the best way to get there.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and fandom-specific words. :)

Title uncapitilized for aesthetic reasons.

Please review! Your reviews will help me decide which fic I enter!~