"Ron Weasley's been staring at you all day," Parvati whispers to me, a book in her hand. She slyly gestures to him. It's true. He is. It's pretty brave of him, really, with Snape teaching. His fist is under his chin. Harry is murmuring something to him, but he simply nods, still staring at me, or admiring me.
"Well?" Parvati hisses. "Are you going to tell him you like him or not?"
I've read some Muggle girl books about Muggle girls meeting Muggle boys. The girl says that she feels butterflies in her stomach when she sees him. I've never felt that way about Ron.
I know that the whole butterflies in your stomach thing is most likely a stereotype, but it still bothers me.
At the hall, Parvati, Lavender are all aflutter about Ron and me.
"So are you going to ask him out?" They chorus.
I'm silent for a moment. "I- I don't know."
"Oh don't be a wuss, Granger. If you just ignore the hair, the jumpers, the teeny-tiny-"
"Coming back for more, Lavender?" Ginny teases. She's in uniform, like all of us, but she looks especially pretty, with her hair in a long plait. She smiles at me, and sits down beside me. She lets a pile of books under her arm fall to the table.
"I HATE N.E.W.T.S.!" She exclaims. I am full aware of the seriousness of N.E.W.T.S., but I can't help laughing at her almost angry expression, along with Lavender and Parvati.
Ginny shoots a look at Parvati and Lavender, but she smiles at me, and I smile back. For a split second, there is a warm, gooey feeling between us. Ginny turns back to Lavender and Parvati. "So Lavender, still mad about Ron?"
Lavender swears she's over Ron, but she can't resist praising him.
After nearly ten minutes of Lavender's verbal adoration, Ginny asks the question: "Why don't you just go out with him?"
Lavender looks at her like Ginny's asked to perform a hex on her.
"I'm not going out with him. Hermione is."
Ginny looks at me, as if I've betrayed her.
She gathers her books, stands up, and marches out of the Great Hall.
