The ride to Hogwarts had dragged out into a long, horribly embarassing affair. She had fallen asleep on Seamus, and careful not to wake her, he had carried her into the carriage. Michael, was of course, in quite a state over this, insisting that he could've carried her and it was only right that she be in his carriage, so he could look after her. When she finally woke up they had arrived at the school's gates, but all she really wanted to do was go back to sleep. She'd buried her head in Seamus' arm, and shifted uncomfortably. She felt very hot. He ruffled her hair gently, and told her to wake up.
At his voice, she was automatically awake, horrified. She found herself in Seamus' cloak, her head on his shoulder... she couldn't help but think that they must look how Hermione and Ron looked...NO! Hermione and Ron were dating. She and Seamus were not. 'Remember Michael...'
As Seamus began to cooly explain what happened, she turned from horrified to mortified. Though embarassed for herself, after she'd heard about how Michael was acting, she couldn't help but replace the embarassment for herself with, well, a kind of disgusted feeling for Michael. He was acting like a chicken with his head cut off! She had only fallen asleep, for christ's sake! For worrying about her, she couldn't help but compare him to her mother, weird as she thought that was.
Her thoughts cut off, they pulled into Hogwarts, and trying to look sophisticated so Seamus would possibly forget her earlier actions, she had almost tripped herself over the carriage steps. She took on a dignified walk towards the stairs leading to Hogwarts' door to cover for her new embarassment. This was difficult, as Seamus was practically choking with laughter behind her.
"Will you just shut up, already? It's not that funny."
Seamus didn't answer her, as he was too busy laughing. It was interesting, it almost looked as if he was blushing under her glare. But, she contributed it to the fact he was breathless laughing, and without oxygen, his face turned about, well, the color of her face at the moment. So, to save what was left of her dignity, she turned abruptly on her heel, and flipping her hair in what she hoped was an angry fashion, she stormed off towards the door. The effect was startling. Seamus stopped laughing and ran after her, shouting.
"No! Wait, Gin! Come back! I was kidding! Ugh, Ginny! Come on, don't be like that... I'm sorry!"
She laughed at his attempts, and had ran into Hogwarts with Luna for the feast. Seeing her laughing, Seamus had stopped chasing her, to her shocked dissapointment. Once seated, she had droned out the housing ceremony, and absent-mindedly stared at Seamus. She could've sworn he looked her way a couple of times. Stirred out of her staring-spell, she attempted a smile from across the table, and he raised his eyebrows questioningly. She followed his eyes, and saw him looking at Michael. A blush crept across her face, and her gaze dropped to her plate. 'Remember Michael...'
She felt Seamus' eyes on her. The blush deepened. Soon it became extremely obvious Seamus was staring at her, everyone at the Gryffindor table was giving her inquiring looks, shooting thier eyes between Seamus, herself and Michael. That is, until Lavender burst into tears, running from the table, through the suprised great hall. Lavender had always been one to make a scene, and poor Neville was left, red-faced and obviously in some kind of pain; it looked like he was about to burst into tears as well. There were no questions asked, but Neville answered the one question everyone was thinking.
"I only told her I loved her."
Ginny thought that explained everything quite well. If Michael ever told her that he loved her, well... she wouldn't know quite what to do. Certainly she wouldn't burst into tears, but she wouldn't be exactly happy about it either. It occured to her that she should actually want her boyfriend to tell her things like these, but she brushed it aside; the food was served.
Laying in bed later that night, the thought reoccurred to her. Maybe if Michael could tell her right, possibly at the Winter Ball Dumbledore had mentioned. Outside, by the lake, underneath the full moon, with a little bit of snow falling. They'd be sitting on the bench, breathing in the crisp air, his jacket around her shoulders, while she'd be holding on to the single rose he'd given her and her heart would begin to pound in rhythym with his. They would both know, and he would break the silence, and say "Gin... I love you." Then give her her first kiss... because even though she had been dating him for at least 2 years, he still hadn't kissed her. The most he had done is hug her, which was still quite friend-like.
When comparing reality to her romantic dream, she realized that Michael would never do something like that. But she could think of someone who would... and her thoughts, for at least the fifteenth time that day, returned to her dashing young friend. She wondered what it would be like to kiss Seamus... and her heart almost skipped a beat. She almost slapped herself for being such a bad girlfriend, but decided instead to remind herself of her ever-lasting devotion and love to Michael.