Ginny excused herself from her last dance partner and walked over to the food table when she saw a reporter approach Neville Longbottom. She absently poured herself some punch and watched intently for any sign that she was needed. So soon after the war, anyone even remotely connected to Harry Potter was swarmed by reporters, and recent revelations made poor Neville a popular victim.
She did not have long to wait. The sign came in the form of Neville shifting his weight and averting his eyes – a telltale reaction meaning he was trying not to react. She set down her drink and crossed the floor.
"Excuse me," she said to the reporter, faking a smile before she turned to Neville with a more genuine one, "The third dance of the night is starting. We made a promise, didn't we?" He eagerly took her outstretched hand.
Ginny was rewarded with such an honest look of gratitude that she had to fight a smile when she faced him on the dance floor. "Are you alright?" she asked seriously.
"I'm fine," he mumbled, looking down. She waited a few moments for him to continue. "She asked if I felt indebted to Harry Potter for making sure my parents' condition was no longer for nothing," he finally said. Ginny found her mind suddenly filled with a mix of things to comfort Neville and hexes she would like to try on the reporter.
She was not sure how long she had had this role of standing up for Neville; it seemed to have always been. As far as she could remember, Ginny had been the only one to see how fragile this boy-now-man really was while even his friends took him for granted.
"Neville - "
"I said - " he swallowed as Ginny blinked in surprise at his interruption, "I told her that Harry hated to be seen as the one that ended the war, because everyone played a part…And I said their sacrifice had never been for nothing…" His voice trailed off at the end, and he looked at her meekly.
Ginny found a sudden, odd panic gripping her, and she forced a grin and her highest approval. The panic dulled as Neville's smile grew and they moved into an actual dance rather than a façade for speaking, but an insistent voice remained.
What will you do when he doesn't need you anymore?