Ginny Weasley was sitting on her bed rereading a particularly interesting story in Quidditch Through the Ages when Hermione Granger entered the room.

"Hey Ginny, you busy?" Hermione sat beside her on the bed.

"Nope, just reading, what's up?"

"Nothing," Hermione looked around the room pointedly.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes."

"Well, okay then," Ginny picked up her book and continued reading. Hermione twiddled her thumbs for a little bit.

"Um…Any plans for Hogsmeade next weekend?" She asked.

"Not really, you?" Ginny eyed her over the book.

"No," Hermione said nothing else, but appeared extremely interested in the comforter.

"Alrighty then," and Ginny returned to her book again. She got through two paragraphs before Hermione spoke.

"Ginny!"

"What?"

Hermione bit her lip, and then, "How do you get a guy's attention?"

Harry and Ron were playing a game of Exploding Snap halfheartedly in the common room. They both seemed to have something else on their minds, and any previous attempts they had made at conversation were feeble and short-lived.

"So…any plans for Hogsmeade next weekend?" Ron asked after unnecessarily clearing his throat.

"No, you?"

"Um..no, but ,er, I was thinking about just going with Hermione, you know?"

"Oh, well then I'll just go with you guys," Harry said as the cards exploded.

"Oh, yeah, that could work," said Ron looking slightly crestfallen, "unless, you know, you have a girl you want to ask, or…something."

Harry tried to keep his face neutral as his heart jumped in several different directions at once. A girl? Of course there was a girl he'd like to ask. Did Ron know this? Had he noticed him staring at her as she walked past, sitting far too close to her at the Burrow, or, God forbid, mention her name in his sleep?

"A girl? Not really, I mean, er, you know...not right now..."

"I assume by 'a guy' you mean my brother?" Said Ginny, raising an eyebrow.

"What! Of course not, where would you get a ridiculous idea like that? That is a rumor completely founded in lies and over generalization. We're just friends, you can be friends with a boy without liking him; I do it every day. If you honestly think that I would like someone like Ronald, then you are clearly mistaken. We are obviously two completely different individuals, and nothing would ever work between us. Assuming that we did fancy each other, but we don't, which is of course another reason it would never work." Hermione was breathing slightly heavier than normal after this.

"So, you do mean my brother?"

Hermione deflated a little. "Yes."

"Well, that's going to be difficult, so I hope you're up for the challenge."

"Why is it going to be difficult?" Hermione looked concerned.

"Because even though everyone else can tell that you fancy each other, he's still completely oblivious."

"So what do I do to get him to notice me?"

"Well, I'd try wearing a jumper made of bacon. That'd draw his attention nicely."

Hermione seemed to seriously consider this for a moment before Ginny said "Hermione, I'm kidding." Hermione made a face as if to say 'of course, I knew that.'

"The real problem isn't that he's not noticing you, it's that he's not noticing you as a girl. Right now he's noticing you as Hermione, but you want him to notice you as Hermione," Ginny winked as she said the last part. Hermione looked scared; there wasn't a book in the library that could prepare her for this.

"So there's no one you'd want to go with?" Ron persisted.

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Er, I'm just…looking out for you. You know, as a friend."

Harry paused before deciding to throw caution to the wind. "Well, I guess there is one girl I wouldn't mind asking," Ron looked interested, "a Ravenclaw." Okay, so not that much caution.

"So, why don't you?"

"I don't think she's interested."

Ron looked down at the cards just as they exploded, causing him to cough as he breathed in the small plume of smoke.

"What about you?" Harry asked, trying to drive Ron away from the subject as images of him and Ginny flooded his mind.

"I just told you I'm going with Hermione."

"No, I mean is there a girl you fancy? You know since we're looking out for each other and all."

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess," Ron fumbled the stack he was shuffling and the cards splayed to the ground, "a Ravenclaw," he added as he bent to pick them up. As he returned to eye level he chuckled nervously. "Hope we don't fancy the same girl, huh?"

"Oh, I don't think that's a problem," said Harry with more truth than Ron knew.

"Remember how you told me that if I wanted Harry to notice me I should pretend I don't like him?" Ginny asked when Hermione finally agreed, nervously, to take her advice.

"Yeah."

"Just do that."

"But I never acted like I liked Ron in the first place!"

"Listen, he's taking you for granted, all you need to do is show him that you talk to other people besides him. Not only will he realize what he feels for you, but he'll be driven by this crazy desire to prove himself. It's in his nature."

"That's all fine and well, Ginny, but I don't talk to anyone else."

"Then start."

"How?"

"Just flirt a little. You don't need to go steady with anyone or anything."

"Flirt? How on Earth do I do that?"

"You don't know how to flirt?" Somehow, Ginny wasn't all that surprised.

Hermione dropped her face in her hands and Ginny heard a very muffled "I'm doomed" come from her mouth.

"Okay, well first off you just need to start a conversation with someone. What are some conversation starters you could use?"

"Well, I suppose I could bring up the charms lesson we had yesterday. It took me a whole ten minutes just to get the wandwork down, and then with the incantation-"

"Hermione," Ginny said sternly.

"What?"

"No."

"Um, well, there was this book I read the other day about advanced defensive magical…magical theory…and…um…." She faltered under the look Ginny gave her. She thought for a few more minutes before suggesting feebly, "Quidditch?"

"Thata girl. Although, you will want to seem as though you know what you're talking about when you bring it up." Hermione looked nervous again. "Luckily for you, there's a book for that," Ginny tossed her copy of Quidditch Through the Ages at Hermione, "this will teach you everything you need to know."

"Now, when you're talking about quidditch, you need to simultaneously seem as though the last thing you want to talk about is quidditch, if you know what I mean." Hermione looked horrified. "You just have to act like it! Anyway, you do that with body language. Try flipping your hair over your shoulder."

Hermione flipped her hair, looking as though she was trying to ward off a troublesome fly. Ginny tried most sincerely not to laugh.

"Okay, we'll work on that. You'll be making Ron jealous in no time."

"So then, why don't we just go with these Ravenclaws to Hogsmeade, then? Separately," Ron added.

"I guess that could work," said Harry, avoiding Ron's gaze.

"So, all that's left to do now is ask them. We can do that."

"Sure, we've faced worse," said Harry, feeling like he's never faced worse.

"Yeah," Ron snorted, "even that charms exam was harder than this."

"I thought you failed that exam?"

"What? Oh, I meant, er, I meant the one before…that one…," Ron cleared his throat again.

"Oh, yeah, that one was easy," said Harry with an airy laugh, remembering that he failed that one.

After several more tries, Hermione finally got the hair flip down. "That's it, Hermione! Now, remember, don't flirt with too many guys at once, that'll just make him mad, and everyone will start talking about you, anyway. Look for a strong guy, preferably older, someone Ron can easily hate."

"Are you sure I'm ready?"

"Of course, just remember, this is all pretend. It's like an experiment, of sorts. Completely academic. That way, you don't get nervous around the guy you're flirting with."

"An experiment, right," said Hermione, strengthening her resolve.

"Well, it's now or never. Go show 'em what you've got."

"Thanks Gin," said Hermione. She walked all the way to the door, opened it, then turned over her shoulder. "And Ginny? That whole ignoring Harry thing," Ginny looked up, "well, I'm no expert, but I'd say its working."

She left Ginny to herself, smiling as she picked up Witch Weekly off her bedside table, opening it at random, and not paying any attention to what she was looking at as images of her and Harry flooded her brain.

"Or we could just wait for them to ask us? I mean, they're bound to ask us, right?"

"Of course, who wouldn't want to ask us?" Said Harry, thinking that she would never ask him.

"Right. So, we'll wait for them to ask us, then."

"Right."

"What are you guys talking about?" Hermione walked over to them from the staircase leading to the girl's dormitory.

"Nothing," said Ron quickly, knocking over the house of cards he'd been building. "Want to play, er, Exploding Snap?"

"No thanks," said Hermione, "I was actually thinking of playing a little wizard's chess." She walked over to a couch where a seventh year was playing chess by himself. She sat down beside him, smiled, and flipped her hair over her shoulder in a way Harry didn't even know she was capable of. He heard Ron drop the cards behind him, yet again, as the seventh year smiled back.