As dinner was ending that evening, Victor walked over to the Gryffindor table.
"Are you sure you won't reconsider, Hermoninny?" he asked.
"I already told you I'm going with Ron," Hermione said firmly.
"Are you mental?" Ron asked. "You're turning him down for me?"
"Of course," Hermione said.
"Let's discuss this somewhere more private," Harry said. "How about the room of requirement?"
He motioned for Ginny to join them and led the way upstairs. When the room opened, Ron was surprised to see lots of comfortable chairs and not much else.
"It changed since the last time I was here," he said, looking around.
"The room disappears every time we leave," Harry explained. "When I walk in front of it, I have to think about what I want in it, and that's what we find."
Harry turned to Hermione.
"Who do you really want to go with, Ron or Victor?" he asked.
"Ron," Hermione said softly.
"Well Victor, Hermione made her choice," Harry said. "If you tell us what you like about Hermione, maybe we could think of someone else for you."
"She's the only girl who doesn't go crazy over me because I'm famous," Victor said. "She's smart and hard working."
Harry looked at Ginny.
"Are you going crazy over him because he's famous?" he asked.
Ginny shook her head.
"Do you want to go to the ball with me or Victor?" Harry asked.
"You of course," Ginny said immediately.
"Well Victor, you were just turned down by two girls," Harry said. "Obviously, not all Hogwarts students are obsessed with fame. There are enough who are that wouldn't turn you down no matter what, so you would have no trouble getting a date, but if you want someone who could see the person beneath the famous quidditch player, we can help you find her."
"I really wanted Hermione," Victor said. "But if she doesn't want to be with me, I'll accept your offer."
"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "I knew Ron a lot longer than I knew you, and I prefer Ron. Please don't get insulted. If you would have asked first, I would go with you."
"Let's go to the Gryffindor common room to see what reaction Victor gets there," Harry said.
They walked into the common room. Immediately, all activity stopped. A bunch of giggly girls immediately surrounded their group. Harry checked the rest of the room. There wasn't a single girl who managed to ignore Victor's presence.
"Accio map," Harry said waving his wand.
"Ask next time," Fred and George said.
"I have to get Victor away before he drowns in all this drool," Harry apologized.
They quickly left the common room only to be followed out by a gaggle of girls. Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak.
"Put this on," he told Victor.
When the girls didn't see Victor anymore, they reluctantly went back inside. Victor removed the cloak and gave it back to Harry.
"Let's try the Ravenclaw common room," Harry said. "Hopefully they have someone normal."
They used the map to find the common room and realized that the map can't answer the door's question.
"What came first, the chicken or the egg?" the door knocker asked.
Harry checked the map.
"It doesn't say the answer," he complained.
"We know that eggs come from chickens," Hermione said. "So the chicken had to come first. Otherwise, where did the egg come from?"
"Good reasoning," the knocker said. The door opened.
"But if the chicken came first, where did it come from?" Harry asked. "I thought chickens come from eggs."
"What are you doing here?" a seventh year Ravenclaw asked upon seeing four Gryffindors entering the common room.
When she saw Victor with them, she froze. As soon as everyone saw who came in, the group was surrounded by a group of fawning Ravenclaws. Harry looked around and noticed Luna Lovegood sitting at a table, reading the Quibbler.
"There's a normal girl," Harry said. "Let's introduce you."
The five visitors sat down at the same table as Luna. She looked up, surprised.
"You're Harry Potter," she said.
"I know that already," Harry said.
"You're Victor Krum," she said to Victor.
"I know," Victor said.
"I know Ginny, of course," she said. "Ginny is a very nice girl."
She looked at Ron.
"You must be her brother," she told him.
Ron nodded. She looked at Hermione.
"I don't know who you are," she said bluntly.
"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione told her. "What's your name?"
"Luna Lovegood," Luna said. "Why are you in the Ravenclaw common room?"
"We have a bit of a problem," Harry said. "At lunch today, I asked Ginny to go to the Yule Ball with me."
"You asked Ginny?" Cho said, looking disappointed.
That was when Harry realized that every Ravenclaw was standing around their table, listening to their conversation.
"Cedric wants to ask you," Harry told her quickly. "I noticed him looking at you during dinner."
He turned back to Luna.
"I asked Ginny and Ron asked Hermione," he explained. "After that, Victor asked Hermione. When Hermione said she's going with Ron, Victor said he only wants to go with someone who isn't a huge fan of his. He can't stand having girls go crazy over him because he's famous without realizing that underneath the fame is a real person. He thought Hermione is the only girl in the school like that. I introduced him to Ginny and she also turned him down, since she's going with me. I told Victor I'll find other normal girls who aren't star struck. You seem to fit the bill. Whether or not Victor asks you is up to him, but I wanted to at least introduce you."
Harry stood up and motioned for Ron, Ginny, and Hermione to leave with him.
"You are leaving me here?" Victor asked.
"I thought you would want us to," Harry said.
Victor shot him a pained look.
"Do you want us to stay?" Harry asked.
Victor nodded and they all sat back down.
"Nobody asked me to the Yule Ball," Luna said. "Going to the ball with someone is like having friends. I think I would like to have friends."
"What are your criteria for a friend?" Harry asked.
"Someone who is nice, like Ginny," Luna said. "Ginny is always nice to me."
"I knew I asked the right person," Harry said, smiling at Ginny. "I try to be nice to everyone."
"Are people mean to you?" Hermione asked.
"They call me Loony," Luna said. "Otherwise, they don't bother me."
Hermione looked at Victor.
"Can we go back to the room?" Victor asked Harry.
"We'll talk to you later," Harry told Luna.
They walked back to the room of requirement.
"Why would I want to go with a weird girl?" Victor asked.
"Because she doesn't care that you're famous?" suggested Harry.
"What do you think?" he asked the others.
"You could go as a friend," Hermione suggested. "You could hang out with us, although Harry warned that he may try some of his strange adventures."
"Maybe I will ask her," Victor said, "Unless one of you change your mind."
"I think Luna is nice," Harry said. "She is a bit unusual, but she seems like the type to keep her cool in a dangerous situation."
"I will ask her if you agree to hang out with me," Victor said.
"If you don't mind sitting around instead of dancing, and possibly running off on some of my paranoia, you could join us," Harry said.
"I'll ask her tomorrow at breakfast," Victor said. "But I'll make sure she knows it's only as a friend."
And that is how Luna Lovegood ended up at the Yule Ball.