"Another ball!" Ron Weasley ran his hand through his now auburn hair. "Wasn't the first one bad enough?"

" I think the idea behind having another was that most people very much enjoyed the first one, Ron." Hermione responded amusedly, without looking up from her papers.

"Are you joking?" Ron's eyes widened. "First I had to find a date, and then she ended up hating me."

"Just because you were rude to Padma doesn't mean other people didn't have a good time with their dates Ron."

"Shut it, 'Mione. She was just too high maintenance, that's all. I couldn't pay attention to her all the time, could I?"

Hermione sighed and put down her quill. "Whatever puts your mind at ease Ron. I have to find Malfoy and convince him to agree to this."

"Are you and our head boy getting along then?"

"Yes, I suppose we are. We have to, or nothing would get done."

"Who would have thought…" Ron pondered aloud.

" Yes…Well, things change." Hermione gathered her things together and stood up. "I'll see you later, alright?"

"Sure. Harry and I can plot our plan of action on how to survive the ball, eh mate?" Ron turned to his friend at the other end of the couch.

"Your time would be better spent on the potions assignment." Hermione chastised as she made her way towards the portrait hole. "Bye!"

"Bye" Ron echoed, before elbowing Harry in the ribs. "Oy! Wake up!"

Harry turned towards him dazedly. "Sorry, I missed that."

"You were obviously too busy staring off into space to pay attention to me." Ron shook his head in mock sadness before his face broke into a grin and he lowered his voice to a loud whisper. "So. Here's my thinking. We have two weeks until Hallowe'en. That gives us about three days until all non-ugly girls are gone. I think we should draw up a list of the girls who might actually say yes. What's your opinion?"

"Er…actually…" Harry paused, embarrassed. "I already have someone in mind."

Ron looked surprised. "Really? Who?"

"Erm…I actually wanted to ask you…." Harry's cheeks started turning slightly pink. "Um…Would…Would-you-mind-if-I-asked-Ginny." He asked very quickly.

Nervousness settled into the pit of Harry's stomach as he watched Ron's face turn first pink, then red, and finally…purple. "Ginny!" his best friend exploded.

Harry tried to look nonchalant as every face in the common room turned their way.

"What?" Ginny asked from her position by the fireplace.

"Oh…" The redness faded from Ron's face as fast as it had come. "Nothing…" he finished lamely.

She raised an eyebrow at him and, shaking her head, returned to her book.

"I guess that's a "no", then." Harry looked at his hands to avoid looking his friend in the eye.

Ron grinned. "Of course you can, mate. You just surprised me is all."

Harry smiled lopsidedly at him. "Thanks."

"So what am I going to do now you have a date?" Ron grumbled good-naturedly.

"Well, she still has to say yes, you know." Harry reminded him.

"Obviously she'll say yes." Ron rolled his eyes. "So what about me?"

Harry thought for a minute. "Why not ask Luna?" He asked. Ron turned pink.

"She might say no." he mumbled.

"But she likes you too!" Harry argued. He knew Ron had found out that Hermione didn't like him the hard way, but Luna obviously felt the same way about him as he did about her. "Go on, ask her!"

Ron sighed. "Alright, I will."

Finally. Harry thought to himself. To Ron, on the other hand, he said "Good for you."