WAITING FOR A DATE – Ron.

It was the last day of term, but for once, Ron was not happy about it. Not only was Snape's antidotes test right before dinner, but he still didn't have a date for the ball. He wasn't as lucky as Harry – several girls had come up to him and asked him outright if he would be their partner, and some of them were quite good-looking. None of them had looked twice at Ron, who was fast running out of options. To top it all, once again, Hermione was annoyed with him. She hadn't spoken much to him since she stormed off from the common room a few nights ago, and, as usual, Ron had no idea what he had done to annoy her.

As he and Harry walked to the Great Hall for breakfast, Ron decided to bite the bullet.

'Harry – we've just go to grit our teeth and do it. When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners – agreed?'

'Er... OK,' said Harry, sounding as confident as Ron was feeling.

The day seemed to trudge by, every time Ron passed a group of girls in between lessons (why was it they all seemed to move in groups?), he felt his stomach lurch. He couldn't build up the confidence to ask one. Hermione grew progressively irritated with his constant staring at girls ('Honestly!), which only served to make Ron feel worse about the situation.

The one good thing about potions – if there could ever be anything good about a test – was that Ron managed to keep his mind off Yule Ball partners for an hour. Harry, on the other hand, seemed thoroughly distracted and missed out the bezoar stone from his potion and received bottom marks. Ron, at least, had managed to produce a passable antidote, although it was no where near as good as Hermione's, who, as usual, came top of the class. She refrained from pointing out that if he and Harry had revised they would have done better, but Ron had a feeling that this was due to the fact that she wasn't on the best of terms with him at the moment. What had he done that had annoyed her so much?

A soon as the bell signalling the end of class rang Harry grabbed his bag and dashed upstairs. 'I'll meet you at dinner,' he called.

'What's he in such a hurry for?' asked Hermione as she packed up her books into her bag.

'Not sure,' Ron answered. Harry was probably asking a girl to the Yule Ball right now, but telling Hermione about this, and the fact that they had decided to get dates by the evening did not seem such a good idea.

'Maybe he's asking someone to the ball?' Hermione wondered.

'Erm... maybe,' said Ron. Hermione eyed him suspiciously. 'Do you know something?'

Ron could feel the tips of his ears turning red.

'He is asking someone to the ball, isn't he? Ron, tell me!'

'I think so,' said Ron.

'Who is he asking?' said Hermione eagerly. Suddenly she seemed to be interested in the Yule Ball.

'No idea,' replied Ron.

'Then how do you know he's asking someone now?'

'Because...' there was no way of escaping telling Hermione about their arrangement. 'Because we kind of agreed that we... that by tonight we'd... have asked someone to the ball.' Ron looked straight ahead, not wanting to meet Hermione's eyes.

'Ok...' she began. At least she didn't seem angry. 'Have you asked any one yet?' she asked this in a quiet voice.

'Not yet.'

'Who are you asking?'

'I don't know... I thought I'd see if I saw anyone nice in the halls then I'd ask them.'

Hermione stopped walking and turned to face Ron. The anger in her eyes told him he had said the wrong thing.

'You mean you're just going to pick a girl when you see her? Ron, have you got no values?'

Ron opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out.

'I can't believe you are going to pick a complete stranger just because she looks nice!'

'Well, I...'

'Oh, just forget it Ron!' cried Hermione as she stormed off up the corridor, leaving Ron behind her, staring open mouthed.

Ron didn't understand why Hermione was so upset with his method of choosing a date. After all, it wasn't like he was looking for a girlfriend, just someone nice enough to spend an evening with. His time was running out, too. All this bloody ball seemed to do was cause problems! He still had to find a date, as well as actually ask her to the ball, and now Hermione was in a bad mood with him. Not that it was an unusual occurrence, but for some reason it felt worse this time. Stupid ball, he thought as he walked towards the Great Hall, it makes you far too stressed.

'Ron!'

He turned round, to find Neville jogging to catch up with him.

'You going to dinner?'

'Yes,' replied Ron. He wasn't sure if he wanted to sit with Neville all the way through dinner.

'So... have you asked anyone to the ball yet?'

Great, thought Ron. The one topic of discussion I wanted to avoid and he has to bring it up.

'No,' he replied shortly.

'Oh. Well, I haven't... I mean, I haven't got a partner yet.' Neville replied nervously.

This got Ron's attention. Neville had asked someone to the ball? Why was it everyone else seemed to be able to ask girls?

'So you asked someone? Who?'

Neville blushed slightly, and looked down at his feet.

'Hermione,' he answered in a small voice.

'Hermione?!' Ron asked incredulously. Neville asking Hermione? Well, at least she had turned him down.

'Well, she's always been nice to me, helping me with my work, so I just thought... you know.' Neville's voice trailed off slightly. 'But she said she was already going with someone.'

Ron had to fight back the urge to laugh. Hermione? Going with someone to the ball? She wasn't the sort to worry about partners, as her constant disapproval of Ron and Harry's conversations about the ball had shown. No, she would have said that to let Neville down gently, he reasoned.

As they reached the Entrance Hall, Ron looked up to see Cedric Diggory and... Fleur Delacour. Suddenly, he found his feet walking in her direction, leaving Neville behind.

'Fleur!' his voice sounded odd, as if it wasn't coming from him.

'Yes?' She turned round to face him.

'Would you like to go to the ball with me?'

Fleur looked at him with a disgusted expression on her face. Ron glanced to his right and saw a group of people looking in his direction. Then it hit him. He had just asked Fleur Delacour to the Yule Ball. In front of people. What was he thinking?! Feeling his face burn red, he turned on his heel and ran, not stopping until he reached the portrait.

'My goodness, you do look in a hurry!' said the fat lady.

'Fairy Lights!' Ron moaned, and climbed inside.

He saw Ginny sitting in the far corner, reading the Daily Prophet. He crossed over to her and plonked down into a chair, leaning his head in his hands. 'What's wrong?' she asked, looking up from the newspaper. Ron was half way through explaining when Harry appeared.

'What's up, Ron?'

Ron looked at Harry in despair. 'Why did I do it?' he said wildly. 'I don't know what made me do it!'

'What?' said Harry

'He – er – just asked Fleur Delacour to the ball with him,' said Ginny, patting Ron on his arm sympathetically.

'You what?' asked Harry, incredulously.

'I don't know what made me do it!' Ron gasped again. 'What was I playing at? There were people – all around – I've gone mad – everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the Entrance Hall – she was standing there talking to Diggory – and it sort of came over me – and I asked her!'

Ron moaned and put his head in his hands.

'She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then – I dunno – I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it.' He was never going to live it down, he knew it.

Harry spoke up. 'She's part Veela. You were right – her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it' He knew Harry meant well, but it wasn't helping Ron feel much better about himself at the moment.

'But she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang.'

Ron looked up, realisation hitting him.

'I asked her to go with me just now, and she told me.' Harry explained dully.

Had Ron been in a less self-pitying state, he would have noticed Ginny suddenly stopped smiling.

'This is mad,' said Ron suddenly, 'We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone – well, except Neville.' he said, suddenly remembering. 'Hey – guess who he asked? Hermione!'

'What?' asked Harry, startled at this revelation

'Yeah, I know!' Ron enthused. 'He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff – but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville... I mean, who would?'

'Don't!' said Ginny 'Don't laugh!' but it was too late, Ron and Harry had descended into a fit of laughter.

There was a creak from the portrait, and Hermione climbed in. Spotting the three of them in the corner, she walked over to them.

'Why weren't you two at dinner?' she asked. Ron couldn't answer through laughing, and besides, he didn't really want to tell Hermione why he hadn't been at dinner.

'Because – oh shut up laughing, you two – because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!' explained Ginny.

Ron and Harry stopped laughing immediately. Why were sisters so annoying sometimes?

'Thanks a bunch, Ginny' he said, bitterly.

'All the good looking ones taken, Ron?' said Hermione, scathingly. 'Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you.'

Then it dawned on him. Hermione! She wasn't going with anyone. Why hadn't he thought of it before? It would be fun going with her, at least they could have some form of conversation without her dissolving into a fit of giggles.

'Hermione, Neville's right – you are a girl...' A sensible, none giggling girl, which was the best type in his opinion.

'Oh, well spotted,' Hermione said, icily.

'Well, you can come with one of us!'

'No, I can't,' she snapped.

'Oh come on, we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got anyone, everyone else has...'

'I can't come with you,' she said, blushing and looking down at her hands, 'because I'm already going with someone.'

'No, you're not!' exclaimed Ron, 'You just said that to get rid of Neville!'

'Oh did I?' she cried. 'Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!'

'OK, OK, we know you're a girl,' did she have to be so difficult? I thought girls liked being asked to balls 'That do? Will you come now?'

'I've already told you!' Hermione looked furious. 'I'm going with someone else!' With that she span round and stormed off to the girls dormitories for the second time that week.

As he watched her disappear up the stairs, Ron felt slightly deflated. 'She's lying,' he ventured.

'She's not,' said Ginny.

Ron took a sharp intake of breath. If Ginny knew, then – then Hermione was telling the truth. She was going with someone, so he had no chance now. 'Who is it, then?' he demanded, more sharply than he had expected.

'I'm not telling you, it's her business,' Ginny answered firmly.

Ron rolled his eyes. 'Right, this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just –'

'I can't,' said Ginny. Ron felt glad she had interrupted him. He didn't know what he was 'just' going to do, if he couldn't go with Hermione.

Ginny continued, 'I'm going with – with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought... well... I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year.'

Ron couldn't believe it. Neville... and Ginny? And she had said yes?

'I think I'll go and have dinner,' Ginny said sadly.

'What's go into them?' Ron wondered out loud, as his sister walked away.

'Wait here,' said Harry, as he got up and walked over to Lavender and Parvati, who had just entered through the portrait hole.

Ron couldn't hear what Harry was saying to the girls, but from the amount of giggling that was travelling across the common room, he guessed it was to do with the ball. Perhaps Harry was asking them both, one for him and one for Ron. As he thought about the prospect of going to the ball with Lavender or Parvati, he realised that he would much rather have gone with Hermione. Who could she be going with? he wondered, as Harry came back over to the corner.

'Well?' Ron asked.

'Parvati says she'll go with me. And she said she'll ask her twin sister Padma, to go with you.'

It wasn't so bad, Ron reasoned. At least Parvati was good looking, and seeing as she was an identical twin, Padma couldn't be that bad. He imagined Hermione's furious reaction if she had heard what he had just thought. He had a date for the ball, so why was he feeling so miserable?

'Fancy a game of chess?' asked Harry, looking relieved that he had secured a date.

'No, thanks,' said Ron, absently. 'Think I'll head off to bed.'

'Already?' asked Harry, looking at Ron in a confused way. 'It's still early.'

'Yeah, well, today's been exhausting...'

'OK then,' said Harry. 'See you tomorrow.'

'Night,' muttered Ron, as climbed the boys' staircase. He felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. It must be the lack of food, he decided. In his dormitory, he raided his trunk for a few chocolate frogs, before changing into his pyjamas. He drew his curtains shut and flopped on his bed and began to eat. He lay there for a while thinking about the day's activities. It had been a strange day. He had guaranteed a life time's worth of teasing by asking Fleur Delacour to the ball – he grimaced at the thought of Malfoy finding out – Ginny was going to the ball with Neville, of all people, and he and Harry had finally got dates for the ball. Even stranger, someone had asked Hermione to the ball. Why hadn't she told him sooner? . Eventually he heard Dean and Seamus enter the dormitory. It wasn't until he was almost falling asleep that he realised his chocolate frogs had done nothing to stem the nagging feeling in his stomach.

Ah, the dawning realisation... please R/R!