The Yule Ball had to be the worst social function I'd had the opportunity to attend since I turned eleven and my parents introduced me formally into the Wizarding World. Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley chickened out on the whole letting the whole school knowing they were an item...thing. That didn't stop them from abandoning Longbottom and me to sneak out to the grounds. It wasn't long after I sat down at one of the tables that the whispers started. By the next morning, I would be known as Pansy Parkinson, the girl who Draco left for a blood traitor.

Well, at least the Slytherins would say that. I doubted any of the Hufflepuffs would say that, they were all so nice. The Gryffindors would probably would think I deserved it, if they didn't scorn Ginny for dating the "enemy". The Ravenclaws, well, I didn't really know any of them, so I couldn't say what they would have said. I placed my head on my palm with a sigh, and watched the other students dance the night away. Well, at least I took some solace in the fact that it looked like Potter and his friend Ron Weasley were as miserable as I was.

I watched enviously as Granger and Krum danced to their fifth song when I heard someone clear their throat near my left shoulder. I looked up and saw that it was Longbottom. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here," he said, studying his feet as if they were the most interesting thing there was in the world, "seeing as I was sitting here first."

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, standing up. "Happy Christmas, Longbottom." I didn't know why I extended this to him. Up until that fateful moment, I had never given him anything but disdain and misery because of his seemingly incapability to cast even the simplest of spells. Maybe it had to do with the fact that at that moment in time we were both completely miserable for the exact same reason. It's not easy to be in love with someone who didn't love you back.

I had just decided I would be better off heading back to the dormitories when Longbottom spoke up again. "If you want, that chair's not taken. You can sit there, if you like." He was motioning to the chair across from him. I was a bit suspicious, but I sat down. I must have looked it, because he quickly said, "It's just, well, my gran always said that misery loves company, and I think we might be the most miserable of the school."

"What about Potter and Weasley? They seem pretty miserable. Why volunteer to join a Slytherin in misery when your fellow Gryffindors suffer just as much?" It was a valid question. I couldn't understand why he wanted to sit with me instead of the people who had been on his side and defended him against me and the other Slytherins. He muttered something unintelligible under his breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Well, if I went over to join Ron and Harry, sooner or later they're going to ask where Ginny is, and well, would you want to be the one to explain to her brother that she ran off with Malfoy?"

"Good point," I said. "Okay, Longbottom--"

"Please call me Neville. I always feel like I'm in trouble when somebody calls me Longbottom."

"All right, Neville. I still have to wonder, why me?"

He pondered my question for a few moments, and then replied, "well, who else in all the school is going through the exact same thing that I am? Who else in all the school has been pining for someone who has eyes only for someone else?"

I blushed a little. I knew was pretty obvious when it came to Draco, but I still hated being called out on it. "I'm pretty transparent, aren't I?"

He laughed. "Only about as transparent as I am when it comes to Ginny. So, I have to ask, if you can tell, how long as Draco and Ginny been together?"

"Honestly? I think it was sometime during incident with all that weird stuff and petrification going on Second Year. She was really disturbed about something, and she couldn't talk to her brothers or any of the Gryffindors, apparently. So somehow she and Draco started talking, and it led to this secret thing. I've known about it since the beginning. Not even Zambini knows about those two, and Draco and Zambini are supposed to be best mates."

"I think it's the same thing with Ginny and Hermione. Those two are nigh on inseparable, and yet I don't think Hermione has a clue." He shook his head, and sighed. "Well, at least two people are breaking down the barriers between our houses."

I just shrugged. I did agree with him on that. It seemed rather silly that just because we were sorted into different Houses that we wouldn't associate with others. Not that I was perfect in that aspect. I as rather well known for my hatred of anything that wasn't Slytherin. Even my old friend Parvati and I haven't really spoken since our first year. So I remained silent, watching once again as Granger and Krum danced. I glowered as another slow song came on, and I realised once again I would not be dancing. I twirled my finger around the edge of an empty goblet, trying not to watch. I didn't even bother trying to look semi-amused, as I would have if this had been a function my parents were hosting. They weren't there, and I didn't have to pretend to enjoy myself, so I didn't. "I never want to attend another school dance again," I muttered aloud, not realising I had even spoken.

Neville looked over at me. "They're not as much fun when your date leaves you for someone else, are they?" He looked at me, and listened as the Wyrd Sisters started up another slow song. He stood up, and turned to me. "Would you-would you like to dance with me Pansy?"

I looked up at him, a little shock. "What? Me? Dance with you?" It sounded pretentious, I knew and I was mentally kicking myself. Neville had offered me one way of saving face, and I was blowing it even as I had just thought it was silly to harbor such pretentions.

Neville, to his credit, didn't slink off embarrassed like he might have any other time. That day, he just leaned in closer with a smile on his face and said, "the school is already talking about Draco and Ginny having wandered off, seemingly together. Now, let's really give them something to talk about. You and I might know the truth, but it couldn't hurt either of us to have the school guessing a bit. It'll just be one dance. After that, we can go our separate ways."

His hand was still offered to me. I didn't take my eyes off his kind face as I took the hand and let him lead me to the dance floor. I was still a little hesitant as we walked onto the dance floor and he began to lead, because Neville was not known for his grace and elegance in movement. It didn't take long for me to realise that my fears in his movements was unfounded. While in day to day activities he may have been clumsy and forgetful, when it came go dancing, he was a true Débutante. I couldn't help but smile as we waltzed, and the whispers around us reached our ears. He was right, the talk had gone from Ginny and Draco to Neville and myself. Neville smiled back at me and he said something I didn't quite expect, "You know, this hatred between the Houses is silly. If it didn't exist, I think we would have been friends long ago."

"My friend?" I was confused. "Neville, since we've started at Hogwarts, I've given you nothing but grief for all of your mistakes you've made in every class we've had together. In fact, the only I don't think I ever hounded you about your inability is Herbology, and that's because you're better at it than Granger is."

He lifted me off my feet and twirled me before setting me down. "But let me ask you this, Pansy. If I had been in Slytherin, just the way I am now, would you have still given me grief, or would you have worked with me to improve my talents, and used me to help you in Herbology?"

I was about to answer of course I would have treated the same, but I stopped, and thought about it as one song ended and another began. Neither of us stopped dancing as I mulled over his question. I mean, Crabbe and Goyle were not much more talented than Neville was, and yet I did not treat them with the disdain that I had until that moment I held toward Neville. "You're right, I probably would not have treated you the way that I have. That doesn't mean we would have been friend, though."

He didn't say anything, he just smiled at me as we danced. I'm not sure how long we danced, but it was far more than one or two songs. By the time we were too tired to dance anymore, the Great Hall had cleared out significantly and we were some of the last people left. Draco and Ginny had sneaked back into the dance sometime after Potter and Weasley had left. Draco and Ginny both gave us a strange look but to our credit, we simply smiled and waved as we headed out the door. I looked up at Neville as we said goodnight. "Thank you," I said.

"For what?"

"Well," I said, a slight blush in my cheeks, "for everything. You offered me a seat when you could have let me walk away. You talked with me when everyone else was whispering about me. You danced with me and changed my mind about a lot of things. And for that, I thank you."

"Oh, that," It seemed it was his turned to blush, "Well, you're welcome and all, but I suppose I should tell you the truth. That seat you were in? It wasn't mine. I just couldn't think of any other way to approach you. Good night." He turned and headed toward the Gryffindor tower, leaving me to standing there, a bit flustered.