My toes were inches from the bottom step of the staircase. All I had to do was lift my foot and prove to everyone what I had always known.

But what if it didn't work? What if I took the most terrifying step of my life and it just sent me sliding back down into the confusion I'd only recently dug my way out of?

"Neville?" A pretty redhead rounded the bend above me and descended to my side.

"Hi, Ginny." I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as she watched me, questions filling her eyes.

"Are you waiting for someone in the girls' dorm? I can run back up and get her." She turned, but I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, my eyes trained on the ground.

"No, I...um...nevermind." Shaking my head, I inched back. It was a silly idea. The person who created the spell wouldn't have thought of me.

A hand slipped into mine, and my eyes snapped up to Ginny's. She smiled, her kind eyes watching me with something that felt like understanding.

"Come on. There's something I need to show you in my dorm room." She pulled me back to the stairs.

"I-I don't think I can. The spell. B-boys can't climb the stairs."

She gently squeezed my hand. "I don't think that will be a problem."

Taking a deep breath, I nodded, then placed my foot on the first stair. It stayed solid beneath my feet, and a weight lifted from my shoulders as I continued to climb.