Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related characters, names, etc. are property of J.K. Rowling, all publishers concerned and Warner Brothers. The only things owned by the author are the plot and any names not featured in the official Harry Potter books or movies. No money is being made from this, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Neville sat in a corner of the Gryffindor common room contemplating a dilemma. Valentine's Day. It was Valentine's Day and it was a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow. He had a chance to get something going, but it was his nerves that he was afraid would fail him. A piece of parchment lay on his lap with no words on it atop the Charms textbook. Neville stared at it and once again thought about asking Ginny for a date into Hogsmeade for tomorrow night. But his nerves were failing him…
He noticed her sitting across the room, quietly doing her homework. He watched as she sighed, looked up towards the ceiling, and then went back to her essay. He watched her frustration as she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. Her fiery red hair was falling down her shoulders, swinging around wildly. It was loosely curled at the bottom and Neville enjoyed watching the course of one particular curl that had settled itself right above her bust line. She was a beauty.
How the hell could he expect her to accept a date with him? He was a dumbfounded, forgetful boy. He was nothing. He wasn't Michael or Dean. It hurt though, to watch her go out with those two boys. He'd kept quiet though. It was only polite, and then there was also Ron to consider. Lord knew what Ron would do if Ginny and him ended up together, but then the odds of that happening were so less, it wasn't much to worry about.
Neville's eyes flickered back to Ginny as he noticed her get up from her corner and submit her books and parchment into her bag. She was headed for the girls dormitory when Neville gathered up his courage. He hurriedly stood up and shoved his belongings into his school bag. He walked over to Ginny and she smiled at him. He smiled back. Now, he had to ask her.
He opened his mouth to ask her for the date, but as he looked around the numerous people in the common room, what came out instead was, "Could I talk to you outside?"
"Sure," Ginny nodded and they both headed over to the portrait hole.
As they stepped through, Ginny turned to him and asked, "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing," Neville stuttered. "I was wondering, that well, tomorrow's Valentine's Day and well, it's also a Hogsmeade weekend, if you weren't doing anything if you would like to go to Hogsmeade with me." Neville felt pathetic. This was even worse then when he'd asked her to go to the Yule Ball with him. Neville waited for her to reply. He watched her jaws move around her mouth and then realization struck.
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Ginny thought about it. Neville was a sweet boy. His nervousness told her so and he had been so polite. Ginny remembered back to the day three years ago when he'd asked her to the Yule Ball. She'd taken him for granted then, but Neville deserved a chance.
Ginny broke out of her reverie, as she heard Neville stutter.
"It's alright, really. You don't have to. I wasn't really expec-"
"I'll go with you," Ginny said before he got the chance to finish.
Ginny smiled as she saw his face brighten up and a smile curl at his lips. "Thank you! I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall after breakfast then."
"Sure," Ginny replied. "Shall we go back inside?"
"Yes – yes, of course," Neville said and she could see the happiness in his eyes and she could hear the excitement in his tone.
They headed back inside the common room, ignoring the Fat Lady's remarks about students having no respect.
Ginny gave him one last smile and headed upstairs. She failed to notice her brother's scowl and therefore, she didn't realize what she was leaving Neville behind with.
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Ron's temper flared as he noticed Ginny smiling at Neville. There had better not be something going on. Ginny could do better than Neville, not that there was anything Ron Neville. If Neville thought that he hadn't noticed the first time they'd stepped out of the common room, well then, he could blame him. It was Neville, after all. But if he thought that Ron hadn't noticed those two coming back inside even through the crowd, then Neville was undoubtedly a dunderhead, as Snape liked to call it.
With Harry and Hermione as his sides, Ron approached Neville. Ron almost smiled when he saw Neville, looking so nervous and scared. "Neville, what did you say to Ginny?"
"N-n-nothing," Neville's tone was clearly saying much more than nothing.
"Come on Neville, you know you talked to her. I know you talked to her. I just don't know what you talked to her about. I realize you're in Gryffindor and you should feel lucky because if you weren't, you would be on the floor fighting for your life. Now, I can get nasty when it comes to my sister, no matter what house someone's in. Heck, I'd probably be saying the same thing to Harry if he was in your shoes right now. So, Neville, why don't you tell me what you said to her," Ron tried to be easy and it wasn't so hard with Neville.
"I-I- I didn't say any-anything," Neville sputtered.
Ron was on the edge now. He'd tried being nice. "Now Neville, this is Ginny we're talking about. I would like you to tell me when you said to her. And If you don't-"
"Ron! What are you doing? Leave him alone! Stop interrogating him! I am not a child anymore! I can take care of myself! You leave him alone!" Ginny bounded into the common room, Hermione on her heels.
Ron glowered at Hermione. What did she have to go running to Ginny for? "Fine! I just wanted to know what he said to you, that's all. I wasn't going to hurt him. I did the same thing with Dean first day of term last year, didn't I Dean?" Ron turned to Dean and Seamus.
"Yeah, but I'll have to say you were rather vicious about it," Dean admitted.
"Vicious, my foot!" Ron said and stomped off, ignoring the pair of eyes on his back. He was going to make sure Ginny was safe. Sure Neville wasn't exactly the type to hurt her, but he was accidental. And who knew what accidents he could cause. Valentine's Day was going to be with a twist and whatever Neville had said to Ginny, well, the truth was going to be uncovered soon.
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Valentine's Day was a treat. Neville dressed in his cleaned robes. Nothing fancy, but it was clean. He was determined to make this work, especially after the little incident with Ron last night. Neville looked over at Ron's bed and noticed it was empty. He must have already left. Well, it only helped him more.
Neville headed down to the Great Hall and his nerves started up again. What was he going to do on the date? Now that she'd excepted and he'd gotten over the happiness, he had to find something that they could do. He didn't know her very well, so Neville had no ideas. He barely ate two pieces of buttered toast. He looked around the table and the hall but Ginny wasn't there. Perhaps, she was already waiting for him. Neville took a deep breath and headed out into the Entrance Hall.
He noticed Ginny at once. She looked beautiful. Of course, she was wearing a robe so he couldn't see much of her dress, but he caught a glint of green. She had on light make-up, which looked good on her. Her hair looked untouched from last night, and Neville preferred it that way. She was an angel.
Neville realized he'd stood immobile for several seconds too long and he walked over to Ginny, extending his arm out to her. "Shall we go?"
"Neville, don't talk that way," Ginny laughed, twining her arm around his.
Neville managed a chuckle. Okay, so she didn't want formality. That was simple. All he had to do then, was be himself.
They talked about school on their way to Hogsmeade, and when they got there, a sudden silence hovered between them.
"So, what do you want to do first?" Neville asked.
"I dunno. I suppose we could go to Honeydukes," Ginny replied.
"Honeydukes it is!" Neville said happily. This wasn't so bad, Neville decided.
They went into Honedukes and Neville bought them candy. Half an hour later, they were both sucking on lollipops and walking hand in hand over the grounds.
They talked about their lives. It was interesting how similar their lives were. They'd always felt rejection. Ginny because she was the youngest and Neville because he was thought to be a squib. There were more similarities between them, and Neville found it easier to confide in Ginny than he ever had in anyone else. It started raining slightly and Neville decided it was time to find some shelter.
"I'm a little hungry, do you want to grab some lunch?" Neville asked, much more comfortable.
"Sure. I heard about this tea shop up on the hill. They say it's a nice place. Most shops keep food too, so we can see they've got any lunch for us. Do you want to try that place?" Ginny suggested and since Neville had no better idea, he nodded.
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Ginny smiled as they made their way up to Madam Puddifoot's. As the bells clinked softly making their presence clear, Ginny noted that it had been decorated for Valentine's Day. It didn't look pleasant at all, and judging by the look on Neville's face, it didn't appeal to his taste either.
"We could just go to the Three Broomsticks, if you'd like," Ginny said, hoping he'd say yes.
"No, no, it's all right. This is a nice place," Neville smiled and Ginny figured he was doing it for her.
They went around looked for a table and finally found one in a corner. Ginny noted how crowded it was with couples at each table.
"What would me like, dears?" The stout Madam Puddifoot came to their table.
"A coffee and a plain croissant for me, please," Ginny said.
"I'll have a coffee with a croissant au chocolat," Neville ordered, reading off of the menu. Ginny noticed he had a French accent.
"You have a French accent, how come?"
"My family. My great-aunt or something was French," Neville replied.
Their order came and they conversed, going into depth about Neville's French background. Ginny even learned a few words. The little shop was warm and cozy, despite it's decoration.
They talked on, ignoring the couple next to them who had started kissing. Ginny tried to be as normal as possible under the given circumstance, and she could see Neville was rather uncomfortable as well.
"Do you want to go someplace else?" Ginny hinted.
"This is fine, no problem," Neville clearly hadn't taken the hint.
Ginny turned her head sideways to look outside. She caught a glimpse of red hair identical to hers just before she heard a rather loud clink of bells.
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How dare he kiss her! He had no right to touch his sister! How could he? Hadn't last been warning enough for him? Did he expect Ginny to protect him every way of the step? Ron stormed through the little tea shop and went around back, to the corner.
He saw Ginny and Neville and his eyes flared. They both stood up and Ginny planted herself in front of Neville.
"Move Ginny," Ron had venom in his voice.
"No Ron. This is none of your business. Get out," Ginny's voice was firm as ever.
"He kissed you! How can you expect me to –"
"I did not kiss her! What are you talking about? I haven't touched her, okay?" Neville let out indignantly.
"Yes you did, you filthy little liar. I saw a couple snogging through the win…" Ron silenced himself as he noticed the couple next to them who were snogging. Uh-oh. He had wanted to follow Ginny to make sure she would be alright, but now he would have to worry about himself. "So sorry."
"You should be! Ron, my life is none of you business!" Ginny screeched and at long last, the couple broke apart. Neville left some money on the table for Madame Puddifoot as the three of them made their way outside, Ginny hollering herself hoarse at Ron.
"Ginny, I only care about you, you know," Ron said.
"How come you never cared enough to follow me around on my dates with Dean or Michael?" Ginny asked.
"Because Harry and Hermione were always with me so they stopped me," Ron answered as if it were obvious.
"You – I hate you! Ron, go get a life!"
"As a matter of fact, I'm supposed to meet Lavendar at the Three Broomsticks in about ten minutes, so I'll be going," Ron said. At least they won't be going out again, Ron thought hopefully.
"I think we should try this again until we get it perfect. God knows how horrible that date went," Ginny said and Ron's face hung, and at the same time, it started pouring. Great. Just what he needed. Ginny was over-exaggerating. The way she'd screamed at him, good Lord. It had been embarrassing and all for nothing. She was still going to go out on a date with Neville. Well, at least Lavendar wouldn't yell at him.
Finis