A/N: Thanks a zillion for all the maaarvelous reviews. :) I haven't written H/G in quite sometime, so I'm a bit rusty...let's hope this isn't too bad.
Chapter Two: I Wish I Might...
'I'm dreaming' was the first thought that flew through Ginny's mind.
I'm dreaming, that must be it. Eloise never came in to wake me up. That was all a dream. Because, really, there's no way that this could really happen.
"Good morning," Harry greeted her happily.
"Er...hi, Harry," Ginny said awkwardly, still in shock.
She'd been wishing on stars all her life.
Never ONCE had she suspected that it would actually WORK.
Harry took her hand in his own and led her over to a crimson sofa in front of the fireplace. This, Ginny decided, was probably a worthwhile destination seeing as she was positive she was going to lose consciousness at any moment, and she didn't particularly want to go crashing onto the hard floor.
Even though she seemed to have lost all thought capability, something in the back of her mind dully registered that it would probably be quite painful.
The two of them sat next to each other on the sofa, still hand-in-hand.
This was incredibly strange. Well, to put it lightly. But strange in a good way. A really, really good way.
"Gin, there's something I have to ask you," he said softly.
Immediately Ginny felt a bit panicked and prayed to God that he wouldn't propose. Yes, she loved him, but THAT much?!
Perhaps wishing on stars wasn't the wisest thing to do when you were desperately head-over-heels in love with someone.
"Will you go to the ball with me?" he finished.
Ginny resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief, and instead enjoyed the absolute giddiness that immediately filled her. Harry was actually asking her to the ball! She'd been dreaming about this moment for, oh, ever. But she'd never ever expected that it would actually HAPPEN!
However, before she had the chance to reply, Ron and Hermione bursted into the common room, arguing as usual.
"Hermione, I still have NO idea why you dragged me into the library at seven-thirty in the bloody morning!" Ron bellowed. "My essay was DONE!"
"Oh, Ron, your essay was NOT done!" Hermione retorted angrily. "You still had two more inches left you were supposed to write, and it was SO sloppy!"
"I..."
However, her brother's voice immediately trailed off as his brown eyes fell upon them.
"Uh oh," Ginny muttered.
"What the BLOODY hell are you doing, Harry?!" Ron exploded, immediately marching around the couch so that he faced them.
"I'm sitting on the couch with Ginny, Ron," Harry replied calmly. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"With MY sister, Harry!" Ron exclaimed in fury. "AS IN, THE SISTER THAT IS MINE!"
Oooh, Ginny thought sarcastically, His brilliance rivals that of Gilderoy Lockhart.
But then again, Harry's intelligence level was climbing (or rather, dropping down) the charts right up (or down) there with Lockhart. Ron was standing there turning a frightening shade of red that actually matched the common room quite nicely, and yet Harry had yet to drop her hand. It didn't help that Ron was several inches taller than Harry, either.
Ginny, instead, let go of his hand and scooted over a bit further on the sofa.
"SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU LIKED MY SISTER?" Ron shouted. "You can't like my SISTER! NOBODY can like my sister, for God's sake! She's my SISTER!"
"Oh, Ron," Ginny said sweetly, "I'm sure one day, a guy will be able to overlook the fact that I'm related to YOU and love me for who I am rather than what kind of vulgar slime I'm related to."
"You keep out of this, Gin," Ron ordered, shaking a finger at her. "It's probably all your doing, anyhow! You were mixing love potions, weren't you? Harry, don't drink the pumpkin juice! It's not SAFE!"
"Oh, YES, Ron," Ginny said, nodding earnestly. "I mixed up love potions. Lots of them. Let's all ignore the fact that we don't even LEARN about love potions until next year, shall we?!"
"You're SMART," Ron protested.
"Obviously a gene that YOU weren't lucky enough to inherit!" Ginny retorted.
"Or Hermione helped you!" Ron accused.
"Ronald Weasley, you know I wouldn't dare!" Hermione exclaimed, sounding mortally offended. "It's against school rules!"
"Oh no, God forbid!" Ron exclaimed, then squeaked in a horribly high voice, "It's against school rules! Nooo!"
"Shut UP, Ron!" Hermione ordered, then stomped over and grabbed Ginny's arm, yanking her violently from the couch. "Come on, Ginny."
"Like I have a choice," Ginny muttered. Hermione gave her a death glare as she shoved her into the fifth year girls' dormitory and then followed her inside.
"So," she asked promptly after closing the door, "WAS it a love potion? Because you know, Ginny, they're not allowed-"
"No!" Ginny exclaimed.
"What was it then?" Hermione asked. "A spell? A charm? Some other sort of potion? A-"
"Hermione," Ginny said, a bit annoyed, "Did it ever occur to you that he could just like me for me?"
"Well..." Hermione looked as though she'd been slapped, and immediately began to say nervously, "Yes, yes, of course...I was just...er...uh...."
"Don't worry, he doesn't," Ginny cut her off. "I wished on a star."
Hermione looked at her blankly. "Come again?"
"I wished on a star," Ginny repeated. "And it worked."
Hermione looked as though she'd just been told that books were to knock people unconscious with rather than read.
"It WORKED?" she asked skeptically. "Gin, are you sure-"
"Pretty positive," Ginny cut her off. "Why else would Harry suddenly not only acknowledge my existence, but ask me to the ball?"
"There has to be some other explanation," Hermione said quickly. "Wishing on stars just doesn't work, Ginny! It's not logical!"
"Well, neither is tapping a hat with a magic wand and pulling a rabbit out of it, but that's possible, isn't it?"
"Ginny, wishing on stars doesn't WORK!"
"You've tried it?" Ginny asked slyly, a smirk dancing across her face.
Hermione immediately fell quiet.
"No," she said meekly.
Being the gracious and wonderful friend she was, Ginny decided to let her off the hook.
"Okay," Ginny said, "Well, we'd better get back out there before Ron shoves a talking chess piece down Harry's throat or something."
"All right," Hermione agreed. Ginny was about to open the door to the common room when Hermione grabbed her arm.
"What?" Ginny asked, seriously hoping that her brother wasn't performing some cruel and unusual punishment involving chess pieces and God knew what else on the love of her life.
"Ginny," Hermione said quietly, "What are you going to do?"
"What d'you mean?"
"About the ball," Hermione said. "I mean...do you really want to go with him even if he didn't ask you on his own free will?"
The words 'of course' were practically out of Ginny's mouth when something stopped her. Sure, she'd daydreamed about Harry noticing her for years, but she'd always wanted his affections to be genuine, not brought on by some star.
Biting her lip, she finally replied weakly.
"I don't know."
