Prompt: Match

Summary: Ginny concocts a plan to get Neville and Hermione together and sparks fly.

Ginerva Weasley was trouble. Sure, she wasn't as elaborate as Fred and George, pulling pranks at every given opportunity. But she had her moments, and, as everyone had to admit, she had spunk. That's how she got Hermione and Neville together.

It was an…interesting match, to say the least. But it worked, and that's why it was too easy to get them together. They only needed a little push; just one romantic night together, and Ginny knew the rest would take care of itself.

Obviously she couldn't just ask Neville to ask Hermione out, or the other way around. That would be inappropriate. But there were other ways of getting them some alone time. She made plans with them for dinner on Saturday. Then just one quick owl over some "unexpected" reason why she had to leave early, and the plan was all set.

Ginny was usually late, but she arrived at the restaurant early that night– even before Hermione– to make sure nothing went wrong. She kept shuffling on her feet on the cobblestone, going over quidditch plays in her head to calm her excitement. Or nerves. She couldn't tell which.

Suddenly there was a pop, and she saw a mound of bushy hair coming her way. It was dark, but as she came into the light Hermione's face started showing more clearly. "You're here early."

"Well hello to you too."

"Sorry. For a second I worried I had the time wrong." Never. Hermione had never been late a day in her life. "Is Neville here yet?" She seemed so hopeful, and it definitely wasn't Ginny's imagination. This plan would be easier than she thought.

"No, but we said six-thirty. He has ten minutes."

Hermione's face fell. She was impatient by nature and disliked tardiness– especially when it was someone she really wanted to see.

"Oh, okay. So how have you been?"

"Good, what about you?"

They started catching up on everything. Hermione didn't follow quidditch too closely so Ginny had plenty of stories to tell, and barely any time had passed before the popping sound appeared again. Neville appeared right next to them, and Hermione let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in.

"Hi."

"Hello, Hermione." He smiled at her. "Ginny."

"Right on time," Ginny smirked, remembering how Hermione had greeted her.

"Yeah," Neville said. "So what restaurant are we going to?" Ginny hadn't told them where they were eating, only the street to meet her on.

"It's right around the corner."

It was dark inside the restaurant, as the only source of light came from the candles on the tables and stone walls. The waiters wore identical red vests and bow ties, so even though the place wasn't too fancy, there was a slight air of sophistication. Hermione and Neville hadn't been there before, but clearly, Ginny had.

"Ginny!" the manager himself had come out of the backroom to greet her. He extended two beefy arms out and gave her a hug.

"Hi! These are my friends, Neville and Hermione," she gestured to them. Hermione waved while Neville gave an awkward smile. Then Ginny gestured to the manger. "This is Oberon, he's a family friend."

"It is so great to see you again, Mrs. Potter. I have your table all ready to go." She had specifically requested the best (most romantic) place to sit. It lay in the perfect spot: the corner across from the kitchen. No one would bother them there, it was easy to wave staff over, the band wasn't too loud or soft, and the lighting was perfect.

Phase one– getting them to a nice restaurant– was complete. On to phase two: excusing herself from the dinner. This was the trickier part, and it required more thinking. One of George's puking pastilles or nose-bleed nougats could've done the trick, but it seemed rude to get sick in a public setting, and she didn't want the others worrying. She had another plan though. It had required Harry's help, but at least it didn't seem like anything would go wrong.

Sure enough, merely ten minutes after they were seated, the waitress appeared with a letter. "Ginny Potter?" She nodded. "This is for you."

Ginny,

Hopefully this gets to you in time. The babysitter just told me that she can't make it tonight. James is still at the Burrow, but Molly can only watch him until seven. I'm really sorry to ruin your night off, but I can't leave work early and someone has to take care of him. I promise I'll make it up to you later.

Harry

The letter was fake of course. She had asked Harry to write it and send it from his office. Then she would go and pick up James from the Burrow at seven. Ginny technically wasn't lying– Harry was working and she was in charge of James for the night.

"The babysitter cancelled," Ginny said, feigning shock. "What time is it? I have to pick up James from my parents."

Hermione checked her watch. "Six-fifty. What's going–"

"I'm so sorry, but there's no one to watch James tonight." This wasn't exactly the first (or second time) Ginny had to run out on her friends to be with James. With her busy quidditch schedule, and Harry's unpredictable hours– combined with his tendency to go away on long assignments, plans were complicated. But she made an effort to see her brothers, Neville, Hermione, and Luna any chance she had.

She set the letter down on the table for them to read as she packed up her bag. Hermione skimmed it quickly, then handed it to Neville, who said, "Tough luck. But we'll see you next Saturday, right?"

"Of course." Ron was throwing a dinner party. Ginny checked her watch, and scrambled to put the last of her things away. "Ok, I really have to go. Goodbye!"

"Bye!" they called out after her. Suddenly it was just Neville and Hermione. Alone. In a dark corner. If they didn't have feelings for each other, it would've felt either awkward or creepy. But Ginny knew what she was doing, and they were actually excited by the prospect of one-on-one time.

"So what were we talking about again?" Neville asked.

"A report I have to write for the ministry. But tell me, how are classes going? You're teaching the second years mandrakes soon?"

"Yeah, a few of them actually seem excited."

The waitress walked over. "Are you ready to order?"

"Can we have another minute?" Hermione asked.

"Of course." The waitress looked at the candle on the table. "It's looking a little low. I'll switch it out really quick." She put it out and pulled a new one from her pocket, along with a wand. "Incendio!" She was supposed to light it, but she sent the spell in the wrong direction, setting the tablecloth on fire.

Neville and Hermione pushed their chairs back as far as they would go. Hermione quickly pulled out her wand and yelled, "Aguamenti!" Sending a stream of water at the table and putting the fire out. Neville's face was ghost white. Hermione could feel her heartbeat. The waitress, who was barely twenty, looked as if she might faint.

"Oh no...I was supposed to replace these with the new fireproof ones this morning!"

"Well, it's fine, see?" Neville pointed. The fire was already out, and he quickly flashed a spell of his own, getting rid of the burn marks. "No harm no foul."

The waitress nodded. "Um...I'll be back in a minute...after, you've, um...you know what you'll order." And she scurried away.

Now that the shock had worn off, Hermione and Neville burst out laughing.

"Well that was...something," Neville said, and Hermione burst out into even more laughter.

"That's one way to put it." But they both quickly composed themselves, fully aware that they were grown adults in a semi-nice restaurant. "I love incendio, but it can be a little tricky. Matches are so underrated."

"I mean I can understand that. The wizarding world could definitely use some muggle products. But aren't those a little outdated? People use those...you know...the thingies?" And he imitated using a lighter.

"They're called lighters. And hey, my mum uses matches too." She couldn't even try to sound offended; she was grinning from ear to ear, and it wasn't long before they were laughing again. Neville looked, really looked at Hermione. The soft lighting of the candle cast an iridescent, angelic glow over her. Neville had already thought she was attractive, but he suddenly found it impossible to ignore how beautiful she was. And she was dazzling him with more details about the Ministry, giving him her interesting opinions (and asking Neville for his.) He wondered how anyone could be that smart. That was when he knew– his schoolboy crush had never disappeared.

They were still having a great time by the end of the night, enjoying the warm atmosphere and dessert.

"We need to do this more often," Neville said as he sipped his coffee. "I see you all the time, but we never get to spend time alone."

"I know! We used to do that a lot. I miss that." She had spent so much time distracted by work and her other friends that she had almost forgotten how much fun Neville could be. She missed his jokes, his tangents on herbology, the way he seemed interested when she spoke about work. She even missed the little things, like his iconic smile when she spoke too much about a topic she loved. Hermione decided that she didn't want to go without those things ever again.

Though no one made any confessions of love or proposed to run off into the sunset, it was the beginning of a wonderful relationship.