A/Nish: Okay. I own none of it. NONE. NADA. ZIPPOOOO. Oh...and if you haven't read the fourth book? I wouldn't recommend you reading this...spoilers, that sort of thing.













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Chapter The First -
"Promises, Deals, And A Dance of A Finite Amount Of Enjoyment"


"I reconize the way you make me feel
It's hard to think that you might not be real
I sense it now
The water's getting deep
I try to wash the pain away from me
Away from me."
-Everywhere - Michelle Branch
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"Neville...please try not to step on my feet." Murmered Ginny, regretting more by the second that she had accepted Neville Longbottom's invitation to go to the ball with her. Neville was sweet, sensitive, and had just about everything you could ever want in a boyfriend. Unless you were shallow and went for looks or fame.
But Ginny wasn't shallow.
She simply didn't 'click' with Neville. End of story. Okay, actually only the beginning, but it seemed relevant at first.
"Sorry, Ginny." He led her around spontaneously, with spins, jerks, and other such sudden movements. She was going a bit green out of dizziness.
"You alright, Ginny?" He blinked, coming to a stop. Ginny thanked heaven for this.
"No, Neville..I think I've had enough dance practice for one day." He simply nodded, and exited the Common Room. She sighed and collapsed in some squishy armchair or another. What was she going to do? She hadn't the foggiest how to tell Neville that all her feelings towards him only involved the word 'friendship.'
Okay. So maybe she was slipping towards shallow..
But she didn't notice. She wouldn't have cared, because just then, her infatuation entered the Common Room, one Harry Potter. He blinked slightly when he saw her. He decided it would be best to make convorsation. But how? This was a girl that he had only talked to about three times during the course of one year, and then there was the fact that she either: Blushed, fell over, did something clumsy when he entered the room. When perticularly burning instance of this in Ginny's memory was when she had fallen over and Harry was coming over to help her up, but for once (and only for once) Neville had been quicker.
'Why do the stupidest memories always keep playing over, over, over, and over again in your head when you least need them?' She thought with an unmeasurable bitterness. Now, back to the current half-embarrassing situation:
Harry walked over to Ginny with a small smile.
"Hello, Ginny." Always a good convorsation starter.
"Hello, Harry." Silence followed.
"Er..Ginny, you don't look so well. Is something wrong?" Harry looked at her, a slightly worried expression coming to cross his face.
"No. Just been trying to teach Neville how to dance." Harry failed to hide a smile and a dance of laughter that sparked in his emerald eyes.
"Really? You teach people how to dance now?" There was something under the 'casual inquiry' that made Ginny want to laugh.
"Yeah. My dad taught me how to waltz when I was about nine."
"Oh...well...could you, er---" He paused. "Teach me how?"
She once again resisted a laugh. "It's a deal...and Harry?"
"Yes, Ginny?"
"Will you...er...could you...teach me how.." She paused. He arched a brow, waiting for her to continue.
"How to fly?" It was his turn to resist the laugh.
"Of course, Ginny. It's a deal." He repeated her own words. She nodded, gave a weak smile, and they made plans to meet.
After he had departed, it was all Ginny could do to keep from running up and down the halls screaming: "I'M GOING TO DANCE WITH HARRY POTTER!"