Ginny had decided she'd go back to the library and finish her essay after dinner. It was a warm evening and she tried to finish her cold ice-cream as quickly as she could so she could get her homework done, but as she took the last mouthful of her dessert, a couple of her friends (who also knew Luna, and were some of the few people who didn't think Luna was weird) came over to talk to her.
"Hey! We're going down to the lake, do you wanna come?" her friend asked.
Ginny was surprised; people rarely asked her if she wanted to hang out with them. And it was typical that the only time they invited her was when she had to do homework. She really wanted to go, as the only way she'd been spending her free time recently was reading in her dormitory, but the potions essay was really important and she didn't want to get in trouble with Snape.
"Erm…" Ginny started, still trying to decide, "I might-"
At that moment she was interrupted by a voice. It was Luna!
"Are we going now?" she said in a way that made Ginny's heart leap.
"Yeah!" one of the girls replied, "You coming, Ginny?"
Luna noticed Ginny and smiled at her. Ginny's heart leapt again but she assumed that Luna was just being polite. She found herself distracted and tried to reply.
"Um… er…" Ginny fumbled, still looking at Luna. But then Luna turned away to watch a fly go past her head and Ginny managed to regain the ability to speak. She still hadn't worked out if she'd be able to leave her homework any longer, but she was under pressure to answer. "No, sorry, I really need to do homework. Maybe another time."
"Okay, see you tomorrow!" her friend said, and the three other girls turned to leave the hall, jogging slightly to catch up with the others in the group.
Ginny reached for her bag under the table, stood up and stepped over the bench to leave, feeling upset that she'd missed an opportunity to talk to Luna. She tried to think about her potions homework instead. A little less heart-breaking, a little more brain-breaking.