"I think it's really nice you're going with Neville, Ginny." Hermione sat in front of the mirror in Ginny's dorm as Demelza Robins carefully secured her hair into an elegant twist. The dorm was positively covered in paper-chains and holly that she and Demelza strung up while procrastinating studying.
The rest of Ginny's dormmates had gone home for Christmas, but Demelza stayed back, attending the ball with her cousin from Beauxbatons. It made the third-year dorm the perfect spot to get ready. Demelza had a knack for cosmetics that Ginny and Hermione both lacked, and Hermione benefitted extra from evading Lavender and Parvati's persistent questioning on who her date was.
"He's not some kind of charity case. He's really doing me more of a favour, I wouldn't be going at all if he hadn't asked me." Ginny feigned nonchalance while her legs dangled from their spot at the edge of her bed.
"I know. But it's nice you stuck to your word. Even when you could have gone with Harry." Hermione gave a knowing look that made Ginny's cheeks turn red.
"I wouldn't want to go with someone who wouldn't ask me, anyways," Ginny mumbled, the words only a partial truth.
She'd be lying to herself if she said she hadn't been disappointed when she actually had been given the chance to go with Harry, only to have to reject him. Him and Ron laughing at the prospect of her going with Neville didn't help matters, though it made her more irritated with them than anything. Neville had the decency to actually ask someone before the very last minute. He had twice the nerves either of them did, Twi-Wizard Champion or not.
"Anyone would be lucky to go with you, Gin. It's more fun to go with a friend anyways, less pressure," Demelza said, smoothing Hermione's hair over once more. "You're all set, Hermione."
"Ooh, it looks lovely, thank you Demelza!" Hermione beamed.
Ginny silently agreed, feeling an annoying pang of envy for Hermione's beautiful (and newly bought) dress while she stepped into the same dress robes her Mum had worn back when she was in school. With Hermione and Demelza's help, they had trimmed off outdated ruffles from the sleeves and pulled in the waist, giving it a more modern look.
"What do you think? They're not as bad as Ron's, right?" Ginny gave a small twirl.
"You look lovely. Neville won't be able to keep his eyes off you," Demelza winked while she stepped into her own clothing.
Ginny grimaced at the thought, causing her roommate to laugh. "Better if he did. We're going as friends, Demelza." Demelza hummed in reply.
"He's so excited. Ron said he's been practising dancing in the dormitory," Hermione said, adjusting the straps of her shoes.
"Has he been practising snogging his pillow too?" Demelza waggled her eyebrows. Ginny reached across the bed to hit her arm.
"If things go horribly, you can always find me and Clémence. Maybe she'll know a cute French garçon to set you up with."
"Don't care much for the French," Ginny muttered.
But, Ginny found she did not need to find Demelza and her cousin (or her cousin's French friends), or anyone else during the ball. Any nerves she'd been harvesting in anticipation for the evening dissipated as soon as she met Neville in the common room.
"You look great, Ginny," Neville beamed at her when she joined him. It was strange seeing everyone in clothes so different from their uniforms. Neville, for his part, had his hair nicely combed back and wore a set of dress robes that looked slightly too big for him. Hand-me-downs, maybe, like hers? It gave her a small comfort that she wasn't the only student who didn't have brand new robes.
"You look quite handsome yourself, Neville." Ginny grinned back.
They easily found their place in the Great Hall at a table with others in Neville's year - Seamus and Lavender, Dean and Susan Bones, and two of Susan's friends from Hufflepuff Ginny didn't recognize. They spent dinner swapping stories of family Christmas traditions. The whole table laughed when Ginny shared a story of the twins letting a niffler loose in the house, putting forth a near-perfect impression of Mum when she found the thing stealing ornaments from the tree.
The group stood to the side as the four champions took to the center of the brightly lit dance floor. Ginny's eyes followed Parvati, who looked beautiful in her bright colours and bangles. She felt a flash of unwarranted jealousy, briefly letting herself imagine that it was her dancing with Harry right now. No matter how gorgeous Parvati looked, he didn't seem to be enjoying the waltz very much, Ginny thought with a twinge of satisfaction.
Neville's voice pulled her from her bitter thoughts. "Should we… dance?"
"Yeah, we should." Ginny followed his lead towards the dance floor. "So I just - " Ginny swallowed, taking his outstretched clammy hand. She lifted her other to rest on his shoulder.
"Yeah, and I uh…" His hand wrapped awkwardly, tentatively, onto her waist. Ginny tried not to stiffen at the touch. He was making a very concentrated effort to look just past her shoulder.
"Ok."
"Ok." Then they began moving. Ginny winced when his foot landed on top of hers.
"Oops, sorry," Neville grimaced. Whatever practising he had been doing wasn't very helpful. They were having trouble finding any rhythm that followed the music, their feet getting tangled with every other step. Neville's hand was so light on her waist that it didn't allow her much guidance, and she was desperately fighting the desire to take the lead.
Ginny winced again. She regretted Demelza encouraging her into open-toed heels.
"Sorry, I'm not very good at this."
Ginny shook away the stinging in her toes. "It's not your fault, Bill says I'm not very good at letting the boy lead."
"That's shocking," Neville grinned at her. "He's the one who works with dragons, right?"
"That's Charlie. Bill's a cursebreaker, the one in Egypt."
"Right." Neville's eyes squinted momentarily, as though this would help him commit this information to memory. "Tell me about your brothers"
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "You know over half of them."
"I mean what it's like having them. I don't have siblings. Like… who's your favourite?"
"It doesn't really work like that," Ginny laughed. "But it's Bill. That hardly counts, though, Bill's everyone's favourite."
Her eyes wandered as Neville attempted to spin her, catching sight of Ron sulking off to the side, looking absolutely miserable. She could see Fred just beyond him, twirling Angelina effortlessly and George laughing next to them with Alicia Spinnett. Percy, standing stiffly off to the side, head pivoting like an owl as though trying to spot anyone important he could weave into conversation with. She hardly had to look to find them, the invisible string that connected her to each of them tugging her eyes in the right direction. If she thought hard enough, it could pull her across the world to the dragon pits in Romania, the tombs in Egypt.
"I guess I've never thought about what it would be like to not have them. They've always just… been there."
"Is it hard being the only girl? Whoops - sorry." He caught her hand as she spun back into place, but this time pulled her too hard, knocking her slightly off balance.
"Sometimes. But I get the benefit of no competition for attention - I'll always be the favourite sister. It's harder being the youngest."
"How so?"
"Sometimes I feel like I'm never my own person. There's always someone to compare me to. At home, it's always 'I remember when Percy had that habit' or 'Doesn't she look like Ron when she does that?' And then at school I'm always 'so and so's' little sister, or it's teachers saying things like 'Charlie struggled with this charm too!'"Why are you sharing this?
"That must be frustrating." Neville looked at her so intently, green eyes full of such genuine curiosity, that she couldn't stop herself from continuing to talk.
"I dunno. It can be a lot to live up to, I guess. It's like there's a massive magnifying glass on me, watching and judging my every decision." Her heart beat faster. She shouldn't be saying any of this, talking about her insecurities so candidly. Neville could use them -
"I know how you mean."
"You do?" Her eyes snapped back to his. Her paranoia fell away as quickly as it isn't is your friend. She hated that she still had to do this stupid exercise.
"Yeah well…Gran always has really high expectations." Neville flushed. "My parents were super talented, both aurors…"
Ginny noted the past tense. She'd never heard him mention his parents before. She realized she didn't know anything about them, or why it was his Gran who raised him. Her focus was drawn towards dodging a step headed straight for her toes, and then he continued speaking before she could ask more.
"Sometimes I wish there was someone else so it could lessen the pressure. I bet a sibling would probably be better at things than me, so at least she'd have one talented grandchild."
"You shouldn't say that. You have loads of talents," Ginny said sternly. Neville pulled a face.
"I'm serious. You're brilliant in Herbology. Most of us can't make heads or tails of plants. You're the only reason I got good marks on my last Herbology essay."
"That wasn't all me, you had the outline - "
"Take the compliment, Neville. You need to believe in yourself sometimes."
The slow waltz faded off and Neville stepped away. A faster paced song picked up, for which Ginny felt grateful. The students around them began to break into a less formal dancing pattern. Ginny grabbed his hand with a grin. "C'mon, let's go towards the front, I love this song."
Neville began to protest, but she didn't give him a chance, dragging him through the crowd. As the night went on, Neville's coordination improved, as did his confidence as he broke out into bolder movements. Ginny's eyes eventually stopped scanning the crowd for Harry, who she realized was too busy moping off to the side with Ron most of the time to even enjoy the ball to begin with.
After several songs they decided to take a break. Ginny massaged her feet (she worried she might have a bruised toenail) while sipping on pumpkin juice Neville had fetched. Neville sat next to her, face red from exertion and beads of sweat dampening his forehead. A slower song struck up. Ginny smiled while her eyes traced Hermione gliding among the crowd with Viktor Krum, her expression relaxed and open in a way Ginny had never seen from her friend before.
"Hey." A tan, dark-haired boy appeared before them, looking significantly less dishevelled than Neville did. "You're Ron Weasley's little sister right? I'm in his year."
Ginny cast a pointed look to Neville by way of saying,See? I told you so. "My name is Ginny."
"Cool. Michael Corner." His cheeks dimpled to an easy-going smile. "Hey Neville, can I steal your date for the next dance?"
"Oh uh, yeah, sure!"
Michael Corner held out an expectant hand. Ginny eyed it.
"Aren't you going to ask me if I'd like to dance? " Ginny raised an eyebrow.
Michael Corner smirked and straightened up. He bowed low from his waist, keeping his eyes locked to hers. He looked so ridiculous it was almost charming.
"Miss Ginny Weasley, would you please do me the honour of allowing me the next dance?"
She glanced at Neville, who gave a noncommittal shrug.
"Well, alright," she laughed. Michael grinned at her, extending his hand once more and leading her back out to the dance floor. His hand wrapped firmly around her waist, much more confident than Neville's felt there as he began guiding her gracefully through the crowd.
"So let me guess, Ginny. Like all the other Weasley's, you're in Gryffindor."
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. "Brilliant guess. You must be Ravenclaw."
"I am," he grinned proudly. Ginny wanted to clarify that she'd been joking, but thought better of it. Michael Corner was a significantly better dancer than Neville, confident enough in his movements that it was slightly easier for her to let him take the lead. "So why are you here with Neville Longbottom?"
Ginny felt suddenly defensive. Michael spun her in a twirl. "He's my friend."
"Oh. I sort of thought it was because third years can't come unless they have a date." Despite the bit of truth in his statement, Ginny kept her expression impassive. "Lots of people in my year think he's a bit of a dud."
Her eyes narrowed. "That's a shame. You should get to know him more. He's brilliant."
Michael Corner seemed momentarily taken aback by this, but then his smile softened. "Well alright then. Do you like Quidditch? Your brothers are the Gryffindor beaters, right?"
Ginny felt her mild irritation blooming. "Did you ask me to dance just to talk to me about my brothers?"
He raised a bemused eyebrow at her. "No. I asked you to dance because it seemed unfair that Neville Longbottom got to have the prettiest girl in the room to himself all evening."
Ginny felt ashamed that the flattery made her heart skip. The pressure of his hand on her waist urged her closer, nearly bringing her chest against his. "I do like quidditch," she admitted, trying to take the attention off of the rapid heat forming on her cheeks.
They began talking about their favorite teams (hers, the Holyhead Harpies, Michael's the Wimbourne Wasps). He shared that he was hoping to get a chance to speak with Ludo Bagman before the night was through. Ginny nearly offered to ask Percy to introduce him before thinking better of it. Before she knew it, the song had ended and once more Michael was bowing in a deeply dramatic gesture. He was rather charming, she had to admit, and had a quite witty sense of humor.
"Thank you for the marvellous dance, milady," Despite herself, Ginny found herself giggling as he took her hand to his lips to kiss it."Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Give me another chance, maybe we could hang out sometime. Talk more about Quidditch and less about your brothers."
"Yeah, alright," Ginny nodded. Her hand still felt warm from where his lips had been. She felt a rush of courage. "How about next Hogsmeade weekend? Could meet at the Three Broomsticks?"
Michale cocked his head at her, that easy smile spreading across his face once more. "It's a date."
Ginny couldn't keep a girlish grin off her face as she found Neville once more. Even as the crowds dwindled, they stayed out on the dance floor until the Weird Sisters finished their final song and the students were all ushered out of the Great Hall.
They chatted their whole way up to the Common Room, both feeling excitable despite their exhaustion from dancing the entire evening. Her mind wandered to her dance with Michael, heart still fluttering from the brief flirtation.
"What do you know about Michael Corner?" Ginny asked with as much indifference as possible.
"Michael?" Neville's brows drew together in thought. "Don't really know him well, to be honest. Hangs around with Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein a lot, they're Ravenclaws in my year. Tend to keep to themselves. McGonagall likes him, he's good at transfiguration." He looked suspiciously at her. "Why?
"No reason," Ginny answered quickly.
"Do you fancy him?"
"No!" Ginny said defensively. "I mean, I only just danced with him. I don't know him."
"But you want to know what he's like?"
"I just didn't know if he's a major prat, or something."
"Well, I don't think he is. Always been nice enough, anyways." Neville looked mischievously to her. "Did he ask you out?"
"Neville!"
"I won't tell anyone. I'm only wondering. It's not like you to ask my opinion of someone."
"I value your opinion," she huffed, certain her face was now a quite vibrant shade of red.
"You value my opinion when it comes to your prospective suitors?"
Ginny smacked his arm, which earned her a grin from him.
"Well, if he did ask you out, I think he's a decent enough bloke," he shrugged. Ginny glared at him, and he held up his arms in defense. She fought the urge to clarify that technically she asked Michael Corner out, not the other way around. "I'm only saying."
"You seemed to be having a fun time with that Hufflepuff girl, what's her name?"
"Hannah." Neville answered quickly.
Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Shut it," he muttered, and it was Ginny's turn to grin.
The two climbed through the portrait hole, and then they were standing in front of the respective staircases leading up to their dormitories.
"Thank you for taking me. I had a really great time." She wrapped her arms around Neville in a tight hug. She felt him tense in surprise before he reciprocated.
"I'm really glad you came with me," Neville pulled back from her slightly, but his hand still rested outstretched onto her shoulder.
"I know that you would have much rather been there with Harry," he said, quieter now. Ginny opened her mouth to protest but Neville spoke again. "But I really appreciate that you still came with me. It meant a lot."
"I'm glad I went with you and not Harry," Ginny said without a second thought, and she realised that her words were honest. "He looked miserable the whole time. I had much more fun with you than I would have with him."
"I'm happy to hear that you weren't miserable the whole time," Neville laughed. "I guess we'd better head up. Thanks again, Gin. I really had a lot of fun."
Ginny smiled back up at him, hesitating for a moment. Oh, what the hell. Then pressed up onto her toes to leave a quick peck on his cheek. "Thank you, Neville. And Happy Christmas."
She watched his cheeks turn a mild shade of pink as she turned to bound up the stairs, cheerily waving back at him.