She had always been nice to him. Neville watched Hermione across the library over the cover of his book. She had never told him that he needed to improve in any way, unlike his Grandmother. She simply accepted him for who he was. And she believed in him. She was constantly telling him that he was smart enough to get their potions homework when she was tutoring him. That was why he loved her.
He watched her waggling her finger at Ron Weasley in exasperation and smiled. She wasn't afraid of speaking her mind either. He admired anyone who could do that, especially when he had such a hard time speaking his. But Hermione always did it with such tact and only out of love. Unlike his Grandmother who simply criticized you for what you were lacking.
Neville sighed. He had long admired her from afar—or even up close when she'd been tutoring him—but he'd never had the courage to tell her so. He was determined that this year, his fourth year at Hogwarts, would be the year. He was tired of waiting on the sidelines.
Neville saw Victor Krum hiding from his fan club in the stacks of books. He almost thought he was spying on Hermione, Harry and Ron, but that had to be his imagination. He wished he had Victor's girl problems. But this was the year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and great courage was required of many. Well, it was required of the champions, at least. He had not been able to enter, to his great relief—though his Grandmother had been very upset about the age limit and had written Dumbledore a very nasty letter—but … he still felt compelled to live up to the greater expectations this year seemed to require of all of the students: comradeship, courage, and maturity.
If Harry and Cedric could be courageous enough to face a dragon, then certainly he could be courageous enough to ask Hermione to the Yule ball. He watched Harry and Ron leave, but Hermione stayed behind. Probably to do more research. She was very serious about her schoolwork. Neville gulped. Now was the time to do it, if ever there was a moment to ask her out.
He closed his book, gathered up his stuff, and walked over to her. She looked up at him as he approached and smiled. His legs instantly turned to jelly. He took a deep breath and forced himself to keep walking towards her table.
"Hi Hermione," Neville squeaked and cringed. He didn't want to sound like an idiot.
"Hi Neville," Hermione tilted her head to read the spine of his book. "Studying potions some more? Did you need help with something?"
"Yes. Er, no. That is," Neville licked his lips, "I mean I was studying potions, but I don't need help at the moment."
"Oh. Okay."
"Hermione, I was wondering…"
"Yes?" Hermione encouraged him patiently. She was always so patient with him.
"I know it's quite a ways away still, but …" he rushed to get the words out, "would you be my date to the Yule ball? That is, if you don't already have a date."
"Oh, I see," Hermione blushed. He'd never seen her blush before and it took his breath away. It was so becoming on her. "Oh dear." Now she looked seriously distraught. That couldn't be good. "Neville, I would love to go with you," his heart soared, "but …" his heart sunk into the bottom of his stomach and he felt like he was going to be sick. "I already have a date," she squirmed in her chair without looking at him.
"Oh." Neville couldn't find any other words. He was desperately trying to not be sick or cry or just sit down as his legs gave out from under him.
"I'm terribly sorry," Hermione said. She looked up at him, her eyes glistening ever so slightly, and he began to look around frantically for an exit.
"That's okay. I understand. I just thought, if you didn't already have a date, maybe…" he was babbling. He had to get out of there. "Well, I'll see ya later." He scrambled for the door to the library and got out of there as quickly as he could.
When he stopped running, he found himself alone in a distant alcove. He sat down to breathe and found a few tears slipping down his cheeks. Boys weren't supposed to cry. He wiped them away furiously and drew in a big shaky breath.
So much for courage. He was very disappointed with himself. Hermione couldn't think so well of him now. Neville sighed again. Despite everything there was one question that out-weighed everything else. It tormented him in a way he never thought possible. Who had already asked Hermione to the Yule ball?
Neville sat in the common room watching the other Gryffindors around him. They rarely bothered him when he was sitting in his favorite chair facing the room, with a Herbology book propped up on his lap. He liked to quietly observe the others. He watched Ginny Weasley come through the portrait hole, her cheeks gleaming. No doubt she'd been making out with yet another boy. She was starting to get a reputation. But Neville had been watching her for quite some time now.
He suspected that she suffered from the same thing he did, a broken heart. She was a nice girl and had been quiet just like him until about halfway through last year. Then she'd started dating around. And she wasn't afraid to speak up any more. She looked over at him, as if she'd sensed he'd been watching her. She waved and he nodded. That was all the invitation she needed to start heading his way.
Neville sighed and put his book away. He had been trying to avoid conversation with anyone just yet. He wasn't sure he wouldn't embarrass himself. Ginny sat down in a chair beside him.
"How goes it Neville?" she asked.
"Fine," he said softly. Ginny tilted her head and studied him.
"You want to go for a walk around the lake?" she asked. Neville wasn't surprised. Ginny was always very perceptive about others.
"Yeah, actually. That sounds like a good idea." Neville said, relieved.
"Well, let's go then," she said standing up and waiting for him to do likewise. He got up and went out the portrait hole.
Ginny didn't say anything as they were walking around the lake. That's what he liked about her. She never pushed. She knew when there was a problem and she was simply there to support you through it. She didn't need to know the details.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" Neville found himself saying. He wasn't sure this was the wisest course of action, but … he had to know if she would understand.
Ginny paused before she responded. "Sure."
"Who broke your heart?"
Ginny stopped walking and looked at him for a long time before she answered. "I trust you not to tell anyone else this," she said as she licked her lips. He nodded in agreement and waited. "Harry." He had been right.
"I asked Hermione to the Yule ball," he found himself confessing. Somehow he felt free to share his feelings with her now, knowing that she felt the same way. She would keep his sorrow a secret. "But…" he swallowed, finding his throat dry, "she already had a date."
"Really? Who with?"
"I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "It's just…"
"Yeah, I know. It makes you feel invisible."
"Yeah. That's it exactly! She's had my heart for the taking for four years now and…"
"They don't need it." Ginny sighed and rubbed her upper arms as she crossed them across her chest. "I know." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Neville. I know exactly how you feel."
He looked at the ground and kicked a rock. He felt like crying again. He felt so lost.
"Neville," Ginny hesitated and he looked up at her. "I've got an idea." She had that look she got sometimes, like she was planning on taking over the world.
"What is it?" he asked cautiously.
"You know, I haven't been asked to the Yule ball." She looked at him expectantly.
"You mean… do you want to go to the Yule ball with me?" he asked in disbelief.
"Why Neville, I'd love to. Whatever gave you the idea?" she grinned at him.
He laughed and it caught in his throat. It was the first time he'd felt anything but grief in the last few days. Why not? No one else would understand what he was going through. And Ginny would be fun. He crooked an elbow at her and asked "Shall we?"
She laughed and took his arm. "Absolutely," she said as they started to walk back towards the castle together. Maybe the ball wouldn't be so bad after all.
Neville was pacing in the common room. He was waiting for Ginny to come down from the girls' rooms and she was taking her sweet time. He fidgeted with his bow tie for the millionth time. His collar itched. But at least his dress robes looked better than Ron's. He laughed to himself. Poor Ron.
He heard someone coming down the stairs and bent to pick up the orchid corsage he had gotten for Ginny. He turned around to be confronted, not by Ginny, but by a vision. His jaw dropped.
"Hermione?" he asked. "Is that you? You look…" his voice faltered.
"Thanks Neville," she blushed for the second time in front of Neville. She didn't even look like herself. Her normally unkempt hair was swept up off her shoulders in a most becoming manner and she wore a dress unlike anything he'd ever seen her wear before. He couldn't find any breath to say anything. "Well, I'm running late and my date is waiting for me. I'd better get going," and she was gone before he came to his senses.
"Beautiful," he finished. He stood there stunned, clutching the corsage in its plastic container a little too tightly, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and Ginny smiled up at him.
"Sorry I was late. I had to help Hermione with her hair," she said apologetically. He nodded. "Saw her, did you?" He nodded again helplessly. She patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay. We don't have to go if you don't want to," she told him softly.
He shook himself out of his stupor and kicked himself mentally. She was suffering as much as he. Ron had bluntly told Harry to invite her to the Ball when they were both dateless, but she'd had a date with him that she had to honor. He couldn't let her down after that. He wouldn't abandon her, just as she wouldn't abandon him. He smiled at her and shook his head.
"No, we'll go. And we'll have a good time too. I promise."
She smiled back up at him with a twinkle in her eye. "Is that for me?" she asked pointing at the forgotten corsage in his hands. He started.
"Oh! Yes." He opened the container and went to pin it on, but paused awkwardly.
"Here, let me." Ginny took the corsage from him and pinned it on herself, much to his relief. "Shall we?" she crooked her elbow at him this time and it was his turn to take her arm.
They arrived just in time to see the opening dance. Again, Neville found himself speechless as he watched Hermione circling in the arms of Victor Krum. Krum! He felt his face flush with anger and jealousy. No wonder he had been lurking around the library like a guilty dog.
But then, just as suddenly, he felt relieved. At least it wasn't someone who went to Hogwarts. He was only here for the year and then he'd be gone. Perhaps that wasn't the end of the world. He turned to ask Ginny to dance as the next song started and found her as pale as the snow outside. He followed her gaze and saw her watching Harry leave the dance floor with his date. He knew exactly how she was feeling.
"Shall we dance?" he asked her, diverting her gaze from her own private torture. This time it was her turn to nod mutely. He swept her out onto the dance floor and pretty soon she was back to her lively self. He was determined that they should have a good time tonight, despite everything they were both feeling, and between the pair of them, they would dance every dance together.
Later that evening, as Neville was waiting for Ginny to come back from the bathroom, he saw Hermione leave her date to go talk to Ron and Harry at their table. They had refused to dance all evening and had been deserted by their dates. More the loss for them, Neville thought.
As he watched them, he noticed that Ron and Hermione were getting more agitated. He couldn't hear what they were saying over the music from the ball, but he could tell they were yelling at each other. He watched Hermione storm off in tears and felt his heart sink. So that's how the field lay. Krum might not be here next year, but … Ron would always be here.
He looked down at his shoes. Somehow their shine seemed duller. He felt someone sit beside him at their table and looked up. Ginny was studying him silently again.
"Did you see?" he asked her. She nodded sorrowfully. "Did you know?" How could she not, he was her brother after all.
"Neither one of them has ever said anything to me, but I've always suspected that something was between them and that someday…" her words died away. "I'm so sorry Neville. Sometimes we can't change the cards fate deals us." She sounded just as miserable as he felt. He looked up at her and saw tears glistening in her own eyes. "Did you know that Harry asked Cho Change to the Ball before anyone else?"
Neville started. He hadn't heard that part of the story before. He only knew how her brother had stumbled all over her feelings by trying to get Harry to ask her out. He reached across the table and took her hand.
"I'm sorry," he told her. She sighed and wiped at her eyes with her other hand. He could see her shoulders arching as she gathered her courage.
"Oh bother. Look at us. We're a couple of sad sacks, we are. Come on," she practically yanked him to his feet as she headed for the dance floor again. "Let's dance the night away."
Neville laughed. Even if his heart was breaking, he would enjoy himself for her sake. They were both heartbroken after all, and if she could do it, so could he. He gathered his courage as he zipped onto the dance floor with her and swept her into his arms for another dance. They smiled at each other, sharing their secret silently as they continued to dance the pain away.
Disclaimer: These are not characters of my own creation. They are the intellectual property of JK Rowling.