I had a few people ask for another chapter, so I have obliged. This is the last chapter though. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, JKR does...
Ginny waved at a Hufflepuff girl in her Charms class as she made her way out of the Great Hall. She'd just finished eating and was headed to the library. She'd seen Neville leave much earlier, after barely picking at his food and knew he'd be waiting for her already.
As she walked to the library, waving to people she knew, Ginny thought about their earlier conversation. Had he been about to ask her to the ball? If he had, what would her answer be? After thinking about it for only a few seconds, she decided that, yes, she would have accepted. After all, she was a third year and wouldn't be able to go to the ball unless a 4th year or older asked her to go. She, of course, would rather go with a certain dark haired, green eyed, quidditch player, but Neville wasn't on the bottom of her list.
Ginny stopped as she reached the library door. Her hand closed on the door handle, but she paused. If he asked her now, would she say yes? Or would she decide to wait for Harry? She laughed at that thought. Wait for Harry? Hadn't she been waiting for him? Wasn't she sick of waiting for him and hadn't she decided that she was done? Done pining over him. Done waiting for him to notice her. Done hoping he didn't fall for someone else. Done listening in on the gossip for any truth behind who everyone thought he was interested in.
Done.
With new resolve, Ginny opened the library door and stepped inside. She immediately saw Neville sitting in a seat in full view of the door. He was reading. Ginny started over to him, determined to be funny and charming enough to make him want to ask her to the dance even if he didn't already.
She faltered as she got close enough to read the cover of the book he had.
"Guide to Witches for the Unsuccessful Wizard"
Ginny stopped and raised her eyebrow, curious. She watched him for a moment and noted that his eyes seemed to be re-reading the same line over and over and then glazing over like he wasn't really reading at all. With a smirk, she decided that Neville probably didn't even realize what he was reading. This was confirmed when Neville suddenly looked confused and turned the book over to look at the cover. His eyes got wide, he let out a small squeak and quickly fumbled to put the book in his bag.
Ginny decided that now was as good a time as ever to approach him, so she sidled up to him while he was focused on his bag. She leaned in a bit and was about to make a comment about the book, when he turned to her and promptly fell backwards in his chair. The loud clanging noise the chair made as it hit the hard stone floor attracted the scolding of Madam Pince. Ginny tried not to laugh as Neville struggled to his feet, bright red from embarrassment. She was trying to be supportive because the entire library was watching him with either amusement or disgust.
So, Ginny stifled a giggle for Neville's sake and helped him after his third attempt at putting the chair back on all four feet resulted in it falling on top of him. When he got flustered he just messed stuff up more and made things worse for himself. However, she was quickly finding this quite cute.
With the help of Ginny, Neville finally had his seat back on all four legs and was once again sitting in it and most of the eyes had returned to their respective books.
"So, what were you reading?" Ginny decided that she couldn't help teasing him just a bit. She did grow up with the twins after all.
"Wha- Nothing!" Madam Pince glared over at them and Ginny rolled her eyes. Neville mumbled an apology to the cranky librarian and lowered his head. Ginny noticed that most of the students in the library had resumed staring at Neville and she couldn't help but giggle.
"So, Neville, was there actually a reason you wanted me to go to the library with you?" Ginny smiled at Neville, hoping she wasn't goading him too much, but maybe he really did just want help with some homework or something…
"Er –" Neville's head sunk lower and he started fumbling with a string on his book bag.
"No worries! I need some help with the Herbology assignment I was just given." Ginny got the desired effect when Neville's head popped up.
"Herbology!" Neville said excitedly. He quickly cast a nervous glance over toward Madam Pince, but luckily she was too busy scolding a first year for bringing chocolate into the library to notice his outburst. Neville then reached into his bag and started piling his Herbology books on the table. "What kind of help do you need? I have books on recently discovered plants, plants with more than 26 uses, water plants –"
"Hang on, Neville," Ginny grabbed his wrist before he could pull another book out of his bag. "Wasn't there something else you were saying earlier in the hallway?"
Neville somehow looked like a deer caught in headlights and at the same time looked like he was about to faint. His eyes darted down to Ginny's hand on his wrist. He gulped nervously.
"Wasn't there something…" Ginny trailed off, hoping that Neville would ask her. She noticed the effect of her hand on his arm and fleetingly thought that letting go of him might make it easier for him to think but she quickly decided that he was much cuter when flustered anyway.
"Charms!" Neville choked out.
Ginny looked at him in confusion. What was that supposed to mean?
Neville obviously noticed Ginny's confusion because he decided to elaborate. "I need help with something in Charms… It's – er – from last year."
Ginny let go of his arm and asked slowly, "So, you asked me to go to the library with you, so I could help you with something from Charms that you learned last year?"
Neville blushed and looked down.
Ginny sighed in frustration. That was the most pathetic story she'd ever heard. "Fine. I'll take matters into my own hands," Neville looked up at her confused as she continued, "Neville, would you like to take me to the ball?" Ginny closed her eyes but smiled hopefully in Neville's direction.
After a few moments of no response, she peeked out of one eye to see Neville staring dreamily at her, nodding his head.
She started laughing, "Neville, I had my eyes closed. I couldn't hear you nodding your head!"
"I know," said Neville sheepishly.
Just then, Madam Pince seemed to appear out of nowhere, attracted by Ginny's laughing no doubt. "If you two can't keep quiet, then I'll have to ask you to leave the library."
Neville didn't even acknowledge the librarian so Ginny took it upon herself to tell her that they were just leaving.
As Madam Pince walked away, Ginny poked Neville, "Come on, pack up your stuff. We can work on this stuff some other time." Neville started putting stuff away, apparently still in a daze and Ginny helped while continuing, "Let's go for a walk around the lake. The sky looked beautiful at dinner today."
"Yes." Neville looked expectantly at Ginny.
Ginny smiled. He hadn't heard a word she'd said again. She'd need to work on that later, but for now it was cute. "Is that a yes to taking me to the ball or a yes to going on a walk?"
"Who said anything about a walk?" Neville looked very confused.
Ginny grabbed his bag and slung it over her shoulder and then grabbed onto his wrist again, pulling him out of the library, "Come on, Neville, let's get some fresh air."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Neville sat nervously staring at the pages of a book he'd pulled out of his bag. He couldn't think, let alone read, so he had no idea what book it was. He just assumed it was one of the many Herbology books he carried around with him.
He peeked over the book toward the entrance to the library every few seconds. Maybe she just wouldn't show up and Neville could go on pretending he'd never even attempted asking her to the ball. If she did show up though, he planned on asking her again. However, this time, he hadn't pre-planned any words. He never actually said what he planned anyway so he figured why bother?
After only a few moments of waiting, his mind tried to disobey his decision not to plan anything this time. He'd started running a possible conversation between him and Ginny in his head. He got all his words out without stuttering and thought he sounded quite intelligent. He had many great
conversations with people in his head. The problem was that when he actually tried to have the same conversation out loud, he always messed it up one way or another.
To pass the time, he started reading… Well, his eyes moved over the words at least. He'd gotten through almost an entire page before he realized he hadn't actually comprehended a single word. He started back at the beginning and tried a second time.
His eyes darted up to the library door as someone came in. He sighed. It was just some older Ravenclaw; 7th year he guessed. His eyes returned to the page, still not actually reading though.
The door opened again but he made himself keep his eyes on his book.
"…a bit hostile. But never show them that you know that. When dealing with them always…"
His mind couldn't help but wonder if that had been Ginny coming into the library. At least he was starting to actually pick up on some of the words in his book.
"…must be treated with the utmost respect, no matter the situation. If this isn't done, you can expect to be put in the dog house for a very long time."
Neville stopped reading. Something wasn't right. He wasn't reading about any plant he'd heard of before, and he'd read all of his herbology books all the way through multiple times. He flipped the book over to read the cover.
"Guide to Witches for Unsuccessful Wizards"
Neville's eyes went wide after reading the title. This whole time he'd thought he was reading a Herbology book! He glared at the book in his hands. He would never forgive Seamus for giving it to him for his birthday. Well, Seamus was about three and a half months off, but he'd said it was for Neville's birthday.
Neville quickly shoved the book back into his bag and sat up, only to tip his chair backwards when he noticed Ginny's face right in front of him. He rolled out of his chair as it hit the floor, making a very loud clanging noise. Madam Pince scolded him from her desk and he glanced up to notice everyone's eyes on him. He once again turned crimson and struggled to get up and right his chair. Ginny ended up helping him with the chair as he kept dropping it.
"So, what were you reading?" asked Ginny cheerily, as they both sat back down.
"Wha- Nothing!" Neville almost shouted, receiving another glare from the strict librarian. "Sorry," he mouthed to her, before turning back to Ginny, ducking his head down, as several people resumed staring at him.
Ginny let out a small chuckle and asked, "So, Neville, was there actually a reason you wanted me to go to the library with you?"
"Er –" Neville wondered if he should ask her now. He'd probably regret it if he didn't. He tried to think of the words he wanted to say. As his brain fumbled around so did his fingers. He began picking at a loose thread on his book bag and before he'd even managed to put much thought into whether he'd ask or not she started talking again.
"No worries! I need some help with the Herbology assignment I was just given."
Neville's attention went back to Ginny. He could actually help her with Herbology! Maybe that would impress her and she'd be more likely to say yes!
"Herbology!" He practically yelled. He looked nervously over at Madam Pince. He'd annoyed the touchy librarian enough already today. He needn't have worried, he realized, because some poor first year was being terrorized by her at the moment. It was nothing he could help so he started pulling out Herbology books, excited about his mess up earlier working out.
"What kind of help do you need? I have books on recently discovered plants, plants with more than 26 uses, water plants –" Ginny cut him off before he could finish describing what his other books included.
"Hang on Neville," Neville looked nervously down at her hand holding his wrist and preventing him from pulling out his next Herbology book. She continued though and his attention was brought back to her face, "Wasn't there something else you were saying earlier in the hallway?"
Neville's heart stopped. Or at least that's what it felt like. He looked nervously back at her hand touching his wrist. Was she forcing him to ask her to the ball? Surely she must think he had something more important to talk to her about than the ball. She couldn't actually want to go to the ball with blundering, accident-prone, Neville Longbottom. Could she?
"Wasn't there something…"Ginny trailed off and he noticed her eyes move to her hand on his wrist but she didn't release him. In fact, he could have sworn she smirked a little and held on tighter… He was probably just imagining things and he didn't have time for that. He had to come up with something and quick!
"Charms!" he blurted out. It was the first word that had come to mind for some reason. He looked up to see how his pathetic excuse worked only to see that it hadn't worked at all. Ginny was quite confused. He decided he'd have to elaborate somehow. Let's see, he thought to himself, I invited her to the library, and then said Charms… I've got it!
"I need help with something in Charms…" Neville trailed off. He'd just realized that she was a year below him and wouldn't be able to help him with something he was currently working on in Charms because she wouldn't even be introduced to it until next year! She seemed older than him though. "It's – er – from last year."
Neville relaxed a little as she let go of his wrist finally. His relief was short lived though. Ginny asked in a disbelieving tone, "So, you asked me to go to the library with you, so I could help you with something from Charms that you learned last year?"
Neville couldn't believe how terrible that sounded out loud. He sounded like an idiot. He decided then that he might as well give up on asking her to the ball now. Even all the help in Herbology in the world wouldn't save him from Ginny thinking he was an idiot. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. If only he'd asked her right off the bat, he wouldn't have had to deal with any of this.
Ginny sighed and said, "Fine. I'll take matters into my own hands." Neville looked up at her in confusion. What was that supposed to mean? His unspoken question was answered when she continued with a question of her own, "Neville, would you like to take me to the ball?"
Neville was shocked. He couldn't feel his feet. In fact, he didn't think he had any feet anymore. He didn't need them though, he decided, because he could float right now if he wanted to. He figured he should answer her question but he couldn't seem to get his vocal chords to agree. He ended up nodding blissfully for a few moments before Ginny said something. He wasn't sure what she'd said but he figured, "I know," was a decent response.
The more he thought about it, the more this seemed strange. Why would Ginny ask him to the ball? She couldn't possibly like him. Maybe she was doing him a favor. That was probably it.
He was vaguely aware that Madam Pince had approached them and said something but he really wasn't sure what.
Ginny poked him which brought him out of his trance long enough for him to hear her say, "…pack up your stuff…" He figured he should listen to the girl that was doing him such a huge favor. So, he started putting his books in his bag, still wondering what would make Ginny do something as selfless as ask him out, even if it was just to a dance. Should he even take advantage of her kindness like this? He should probably just tell her that she doesn't have to go with him if she doesn't want to. Whatever he decided, he'd have to decide quickly. He really did want to go to the ball with Ginny and even if she didn't want to go with him, she'd at least get to go. Then, if she wanted to she could ditch him and run off with whoever she really wanted to be there with after a dance or two. Was he okay with that? Did he want to go to the dance with her then?
"Yes," he decided finally, out loud looking at Ginny to see if she would be happy with his acceptance.
She was smiling at him which was a good sign, but then she asked, ""Is that a yes to taking me to the ball or a yes to going on a walk?" This confused Neville.
"Who said anything about a walk?"
Neville just watched as Ginny took his bag right out of his hands, slung it on her own back, and proceeded to drag him out of the library saying, "Come on, Neville, let's get some fresh air."
Neville's brain was torn as he tried not to think of her hand once again touching his wrist and instead tried to focus on why Ginny was carrying his bag. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?
I'm sorry if anyone thinks that I made Neville too hard on himself. I think that's the only reason why he's not successful in classes and whatnot. It's simply because he has low self esteem.
I hope everyone liked it and I would really appreciate it if you left me a review. It doesn't have to be a nice review, though I would like your honest opinion on this short story. So, please review. :D Thanks for reading.
