Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Ron knew he needed to talk to Luna and Hermione. He'd had no idea that Hermione liked him that way. He didn't really like Luna, he had only asked her out because he had felt like he should get over Hermione and start looking at other girls. Obviously, he had been wrong.

Ron had been looking all over the castle for Luna, and he wasn't having any luck in finding her. He was just about to head back to the common room when he saw her coming towards him.

"Hello Ronald, where are you headed?" asked Luna, her large eyes gazing into his, making him quite uncomfortable.

"I was looking for you, where have you been?" he asked.

"I've just been walking around the grounds and I was on my way back to the common room," answered Luna. "I need to talk to you about the ball, do you have a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," said Ron. "Actually, I'd been hoping we could talk about that. You see, the thing is-"

"Neville asked me," interrupted Luna. "I didn't give him an answer, and I don't want to seem rude, but would you mind if I went with him instead?"

"Uh, sure, go ahead," said Ron.

"You're sure?" asked Luna. "It's not that I don't like you as a friend or anything…"

"I understand," said Ron, trying to keep from laughing at the situation. Here he was being dumped by Luna Lovegood, for Neville, of all people! He wasn't sure why he found this so funny, but he was nearly bursting with laughter.

"Thanks for being such a good friend Ronald, I knew I could count on you," said Luna, smiling as she walked away.

As soon as she left, Ron raced back to the common room to find Hermione.

Hermione was sitting by the fireplace with Crookshanks in her lap when Ron burst through the portrait hole.

"Hermione, can I talk to you?" asked Ron, collapsing onto the couch next to her.

"What do you want?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the fireplace.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I know I've been a jerk lately. I should have asked you to the ball, not Luna."

"You're right, you have been a jerk," said Hermione, standing up to look at him. "You've been leading me on for months, years actually, and then you ask Luna Lovegood to the ball instead of me! How was that supposed to make me feel?"

"I know, I'm really sorry," he repeated, looking down at his feet. "She's not going with me anyway though."

"Why not?" asked Hermione, softening slightly.

"She dumped me for Neville," Ron explained, chuckling slightly at the memory.

Hermione giggled and sat back down beside Ron, who was very relieved that she wasn't angry anymore.

"So, can you forgive me for being such a prat?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with hope.

"I guess so," said Hermione, letting out a huge yawn. "Well, I'm heading off to bed, okay? Goodnight Ron."

"Wait, Hermione, one more thing," he said. "Will you, um, go to the ball with me? Please?"

Hermione's eyes flashed angrily as she spun around to face him.

"I don't want to be a last resort Ron, I want you to want to go with me!" she said. "How can you be so insensitive? I've been crying over you all afternoon, and you expect me to just say yes? I'm going to bed, I've had enough." And with that, she ran up the stairs and into her dorm.

"I can't believe it, I messed up again!" shouted Ron angrily. Crookshanks looked at him with distaste. "What are you looking at, bloody cat!"

The next day, Ron told Harry about his and Hermione's fight. He couldn't understand why Hermione kept switching moods and getting mad at him.

"Ron, I think you hurt her feelings," said Harry, after Ron gave a detailed description of the previous night's events.

"Me? How did I hurt her feelings?" asked Ron, hoping Harry could make some sense of this.

"Well, I'm no expert on feelings or anything," said Harry. "But I think you should have waited a while before asking her to the ball. You know, give it a few days to blow over or whatever."

"Why? I mean, she wanted me to ask her, so I did. I don't get it," said Ron, pulling at his hair in frustration.

"I don't know, maybe you should talk to her a bit more before asking her again," suggested Harry.

"Who said I was going to ask her again?" said Ron.

"Look, you like her, she likes you, don't complicate things so much," said Harry. "Anyway, I told Ginny I'd go with her to visit Hagrid, so I've got to go. Good luck with Hermione."

"Yeah, see you later," said Ron, trying to decide what to do about Hermione.

Hermione was in her dorm, talking to Lavender about Ron. She wasn't sure if this was the best person to go to for advice, but she was desperate.

"So let me get this straight," said Lavender, while painting her nails bright purple. "He asked you, and you said no, and now you're mad at him?"

"Yes," said Hermione, trying to get Crookshanks out from under her bed.

"Well, why?" asked Lavender.

"Why what?" asked Hermione, getting a large scratch from Crookshanks.

"Why are you mad at him?" asked Lavender.

"He asked Luna first, he shouldn't just come crawling back to me every time he gets dumped," answered Hermione, giving up her battle with Crookshanks and sitting on her bed.

"Look Hermione, I'll be honest with you," said Lavender, putting her nail polish away and facing Hermione. "He didn't mean to be rude; he thought he was doing the right thing. Guys just don't get it I guess, but maybe you should tell him how you feel."

Hermione contemplated this for a bit, and then decided that she needed to talk to Ron.

Thank you very much to jeevesandwooster for reviewing! I love reviews; they make me want to keep writing!

I know I left Ginny out of this chapter, but I promise she'll be back for the next one!