Night Sky.
Seekers
, thought Ginny Weasly sourly, must be attracted to other seekers.She watched as Orla Quirke, Ravenclaw's brand new seeker, twirled around the room with Owen Cauldwell, the seeker for Hufflepuff. Mildly disgusted with (and envious of) their obvious display of affection, she let her eyes wander around the room till they, as always, landed on Harry, on Harry and the pale haired man on his arm.
Seekers must
really be attracted to other seekers.
Ginny absentmindedly picked at her dress robes. They were new, a gift from Fred and George, who delighted in giving dress robes to people with the almost unbelievable amount of money that Weaslys' Wizards Wheezes brought them. Harry himself had a few sets by them because, for some reason beyond Ginny, whenever the shop's revenue passed another thousand galleons mark, Fred and George bought him new dress robes.
He had the emerald ones on tonight, Ginny noted, they went nicely with his eyes, she also noted that they went nicely with Draco Malfoy's royal blue ones, but that wasn't a thought she was prepared to linger on.
She sighed, wondering once again why she was here, and not tucked up safe in her dormitory, or better yet at home with her family. Why did Hogwarts insist on having a Yule Ball this year again? "As part of the year long celebrations over the Dark Lord's defeat" Professor Dumbledor had explained, before the start of the Christmas holidays. Which meant that Harry was receiving quite a bit of attention, and true to Harry Style, wasn't enjoying a bit of it.
Ginny added another thing to her mental list of what she liked about Harry, modesty. And the fact that he was so adorably shy. She watched as a red faced Harry backed away from the crowd which had begun to form around him, rushing off outside, and as Draco, laughing, followed him.
The student's sudden cheers informed her that The Weird Sisters had returned from their break, mounting the small stage and, to Ginny's dismay, immediately struck up a slow, romantic melody. One by one she watched as couples paired off. Hermione practically had to drag Ron away from the food table, Ginny smirked, Ron never was good at social outings, but still, as she watched him place his arms around Hermione's waist, whispering something which made the girl smile, still he was able to sweep Hermione off her feet at times. Beside them, Dean Thomas had taken Seamus Finnigan into his arms, and off to the right was Parvati Patil and Terry Boot. Malcolm Baddock and Dennis Creevy stood giggling over glasses of punch along with Padma Patil and Justin Finch-Fletchly. Their faces were rather red and their giggling high pitched, confirming Ginny's suspicion that Ron and Harry had spiked the punch earlier. Lavender Brown and Ernie Mcmillian had disappeared altogether, and Ginny didn't need a crystal ball to know what they were up to.
She scowled, it had been Lavender who had dragged her to this stupid ball in the first place. Lavender and Parvati who had insisted she come, saying it wasn't healthy for her to stay up in her dormitory all night, and that they were certain that someone would ask her to dance. The scowl deepened, that "someone," had been Colin Creevy. Colin! Colin who was probably as much in love with Harry as she was, only too afraid of the scathing glares Malfoy shot him whenever he got within five feet of Harry to stick around long. So he had danced one dance with her and then, with an uneasy glance at Malfoy, had retired. Not that Ginny blamed him, Draco Malfoy had a tendency to be very possessive, and not very nice when he felt that his "possession" was being infringed upon.
Ginny rose as the Weird Sisters finished their song, making her way towards the doors as her fellow students clapped and cheered. To hell with Lavender and Parvati's concerns about her health, personally she felt it far more damaging to stay than leave.
She reached for the door handle, intending to slip out unseen, when a hand on her arm stopped her.
"Ginny?"
She turned; "Neville? I thought you weren't coming?"
Neville shrugged uneasily, "Professor Sprout and I finished early, the mandrakes are closer to puberty than we thought, so she suggested I join everyone at the ball. I-I couldn't tell her no."
Ginny laughed softly, "Neville, it was a suggestion, not an order."
Neville turned scarlet and glanced away briefly, before meeting her eyes again. "You-you weren't leaving were you?" His eyes indicated her hand, resting lightly on the door handle.
Ginny looked at her hand, "I was going to take a walk, you know, to cool off."
"Oh. Do you-do you mind if I-if I join you?" If Ginny thought he was scarlet before....
She paused and looked at him briefly, then smiled, "not at all."
* * * * *
Hermione watched from the corner of her eye as Ginny Weasly and Neville Longbottom held a short conversation before leaving the hall together. She smiled, an idea crossing her mind.
"Ron?"
"Hmm?" The red head was busy watching the quartet at the food table, who couldn't seem to get enough punch, with a smirk on his face.
"What do you think of Neville?"
"Huh?" Ron swung around to face her, "what are you talking about 'Mione?"
"Neville Longbottom," Hermione said patiently, leading Ron off the dance floor towards some chairs, "what do you think of Neville Longbottom?"
Ron shrugged as they sat, "he's a nice guy, a little forgetful, not a lot of tact, but pretty okay." He turned to her suspiciously, "Why do you ask?"
"He seems very fond of Ginny," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"You don't mean.....Neville and Ginny?" Ron burst out, "come on 'Mione! Neville and Ginny!"
"Do you see a problem with that?"
"No...except for the fact that Ginny's been in love with Harry for what? Seven years now?"
"In love? Or infatuated?" Hermione retorted. She paused, "Ron, if any opportunity for Ginny and Neville arises, I think you should encourage it."
He gave her a weird look, "Why would I do that?"
Hermione sighed, "Because Ron, Ginny's been infatuated with Harry for years now, you've said it yourself, but you and I both know that Harry will never return any feelings she has for him. Ginny needs to move on, and Neville just might be the one. Besides, Draco is getting impatient."
Ron started, "what?"
"He talked to me a few days ago. Said that the fact that Ginny won't leave Harry alone was really starting to bother him. Asked me to talk to her, or to get her to go out with someone else or something." She paused delicately;
"He said he didn't want to deal with her the way he dealt with Colin Creevy, that he had too much respect for Harry's friendship with her." She turned to look at the red head, pleadingly.
"All right, all right," Ron raised his hands, "anything Ginny and Neville is a go ahead with me." He paused, "by the way, just how did Malfoy "deal" with Creevy?"
"Nothing physical you twit!" Hermione swatted him, "he said he and Colin had a "talk," she snorted, "knowing Draco Malfoy, he probably scared the wits out of the poor boy."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night air was bitterly refreshing, it stung Ginny's cheeks as she and Neville made their way towards the lake. Beside her, Neville's cheeks had blossomed pink circles, giving him an innocent, boyish look. They walked in companionable silence for awhile, content to listen to the distance music from the castle harmonizing with the sounds of the night. Ginny raised her eyes to the distant sky, stars dotting the inky blackness like candles.
Neville followed her gaze, studying the stars.
"The great bear." he said softly.
"Pardon?"
"The great bear," Neville repeated, arm sweeping up towards the sky, "see those stars there, that slightly curvy line? That's there great bear constellation. The smaller cluster there is the Little Bear."
"I could never see constellations," Ginny said.
"You do kind of have to use your imagination," Neville said sheepishly. He paused, "the story of the great bear was always one of my favourites."
"I don't know it," Ginny said. "Will you tell me?"
Neville looked away for a moment, suddenly shy, "All-all right." He cleared his throat. "Once there was a beautiful Arcadian Princess named Callisto who was turned into a great white bear by the Queen of the gods, Hera as punishment for bearing a son to the King of the gods, Zeus. Sad and lonely, Callisto spent many years as a bear, separated from her son, Arcas. Imagine, being able to see him, but not communicate," Here Neville's voice hitched slightly, but he continued. "One day, she happened upon her son while he was hunting. In her joy at seeing him, Callisto forgot about her bear shape, and ran to embrace him. Arcas, however thought that this great white bear was attacking him and so raised his bow to shoot." Neville's voice took on a soft melodious quality. "He would have killed her had Zeus not intervened, catching up Callisto and heaving her into the night sky. He then turned Arcas into a bear as well, and placed him up with his mother, so that they might never be separated again. And so they became the great bear and little bear." Neville fell silent, eyes fixated on the ground, blinking rapidly.
"It's a beautiful story," Ginny ventured, after a moments pause.
"Yes, it is, isn't it?"
"Do you know anymore?" She questioned.
Neville flushed slightly, "yes."
Ginny abruptly sat down on the cold night grass, she tugged on Neville's hand, pulling him down beside her. "Tell me."
And he did. He told her the stories of Orion and the Scorpion. Of the wolf and of the ram. The Virgo the virgin, of Cancer and Gemini. For nearly an hour he spun her stories of the night sky. Ginny found herself listen in rapt silence, not only to the stories, but to Neville's voice as well. It had lost it's hesitancy and it uncertainty. As Neville talked his voice grew stronger and expressive as he told each star's individual tale. Ginny marvelled the change in him, this Neville and the Neville who has asked to accompany her out here seemed totally different people.
"What's that one?" Ginny asked, pointing to a cluster of stars, Neville had yet to explain.
Neville followed her point, "That one? That's the Dragon. Draco."
Ginny's arm dropped, "oh."
Neville grimaced, "If it's any consolation, that Dragon up there," he pointed, "is a female."
Ginny looked at him, "really?"
Neville nodded, "Tiamat. She was the ruler of Salt water, and one of the creators of the earth. She was often considered to be Earth's mother in some tales."
Ginny smiled, "that's nice. I can't imagine that Dragon," she jerked her thumb in the direction of the castle, "being father of anything."
Neville laughed, "neither can I." A comfortable silence fell between them. "Ginny?" Neville said hesitantly, "why did you come tonight?"
Ginny looked at him, confused. "Pardon?"
"It just that when I first saw you, you didn't look like you were having that much fun."
"I wasn't. I was only there because Lavender and Parvati dragged me there."
"Oh. I suppose you want to go back to Gryffindor tower."
"No."
Neville looked up, startled, "what?"
"I said no, Neville." Ginny said patiently.
"But you..."
"I wasn't having fun yes, but now, now I am." She smiled tentatively. He smiled back.
A slow ballad began to drift across the Hogwarts grounds towards them. Neville abruptly stood up, brushing off his robes. Grinning shyly, he extended a hand down towards her, eyes shining.
"Virginia Weasly, will you give me the honour of this dance?"
Ginny's heart began to thump faster as her breath hitched. She stared up into the brown eyes shining down on her. "Of- of course." she said breathlessly. Surely this wasn't the Neville she knew?
He gently folded her into his arms, twirling her slowly in time to the music.
"Well Mr. Longbottom," She joked. "Your dancing has certainly improved."
"Probably because I'm not so bloody nervous," He murmured. "Shhhhhh."
Ginny obediently fell silent and let herself become completely absorbed in the dance. This felt nice, she realized, being held in the arms of someone else. This felt right. Here with Neville, not Harry. Ginny allowed her mind to wander. Perhaps, she thought now, looking back, perhaps Harry had been like a sort of shelter. A feeling that Ginny, afraid of venturing into the storm called love, could hide within. And tonight, tonight Ginny had wandered away from that shelter, and had found something truly remarkable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione smiled serenely as she watched the dancing couple out on the grounds. For the first time in a long time, everything was right. She leaned on the window, a contented sigh escaping her lips.
"Don't they make a pretty picture," came a voice from her side. Hermione looked over, Draco Malfoy stood there, looking out at the two, a glass of punch held regally in one hand.
Hermione smiled, "they do. I wouldn't drink that if I were you," she said indicating the punch.
Draco snorted, "I know what Potter's done to it. Personally I would have gone for Rum instead of Vodka, but...well he is a Gryffindor. Seriously though, I'm glad Longbottom took my advice."
Hermione started, "Your advice?"
"Of course, who do you think told him to corner her? Come on Granger, you and I both know Longbottom wouldn't have decided on his own."
"I can't believe it." Hermione said, "Draco Malfoy, doing something without anything in return?"
Draco laughed, "don't be so quick to paint me noble Granger. I've course I'm getting something in return. I am a Slytherin."
Hermione arched an eyebrow, "And what, pray tell, would that be?"
Draco gestured towards the two, "That is one less member of the Harry Potter Fan Club that I have to worry about."
Hermione laughed, "Malfoy, you never cease to amaze me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Outside, Ginny continued to dance, blissfully unaware of anything but herself and Neville. She was happier than she had ever been. She had found someone who was special, someone named-
She winced as a sharp pain shot through her foot.
"Oops."
Someone named Neville Longbottom.
~fin~
*the stories Neville told are just some of the many tales surrounding the great bear and little bear, as well as the Dragon constellations. There are many more diffrent versions of how those constellations came to be, but I enjoyed these versions the most and thought they fitted the best.
^_^