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Hermione had been stunned beyond belief when Ginny asked her to take her to the yule ball. She'd assumed that she'd meant as friends- but the younger girl had been quick to clear it up. 



She wanted them to go as dates and Hermione hadn't seen any reason to say no. It wasn't like it was hurting anything. They might not be the only same sex duo there- but it would start a precedent of it being okay if that was the case. Hopefully. 



Hermione spent the evening making herself look as beautiful as she could manage. She even used a potion to make her hair more manageable  - something that would be much too work to do on a daily basis. But she wanted to do this for herself and Ginny.



    She finished and waited patiently for the younger girl. She didn't have to wait long as she appeared only five minutes later. Her eyes widened despite herself. She looked rather pretty. 



The green and pink of Ginny's dressrobes sort of clashed but they clashed in a way that worked. That just went to show that anyone could make anything work so long as they wore it well. 



"You look good, Hermione." Ginny uttered, smiling almost shyly. 



Her words snapped her out of her thoughts and she smiled in return, holding her hand out to the other girl. 



"As do you, Ginny. Come on. We're already late." Hermione responded, feeling her face heat up slightly. 



She'd never thought she'd be flustered by her before now- but she supposed  it was just because she'd actually appreciated her efforts. Unlike some people. 



Ginny offered her a little nod  and took her hand. Nothing else was said as they finally left the common room. They remained silent during the walk as well. 



There were a few shocked expressions on the few people they passed- some even bordering on disgust. But Hermione did her best to ignore that.



One would think the magical world would be more accepting than the muggle world. Apparently not. But maybe she was jumping to conclusions.



Perhaps they weren't expecting Hermione to go with Ginny. Even so- they could still pretend to have even an ounce of manners and hide their shock.  



However, when they finally arrived- the reactions were more pronounced. All eyes were on Hermione, seemingly filled with disbelief. 



 As they walked further into the room, the whispers were more audible. 



"Is that -? It can't be Hermione.." 



"She came with the female weasel? I can say I'm surprised. There is no accounting for a mudblood's taste.." 



The last one enraged Ginny. This became obvious when she stepped towards him. Whether she was going to hex the hell out of him or punch him, Hermione didn't know.



But either way, she didn't want this to ruin their night. She tugged on the younger girl's hand, only stopping when she had her attention. 



"Ignore him. He's not worth it. Let's dance." Hermione implored. 



She was worried that it wouldn't work. She always struggled when it came to getting Ron to leave things be. She nibbled at her bottom lip as the seconds ticked by. 



"Alright.. come on 'Mione." Ginny relented, a sheepish expression on her face. 



That was surprisingly easy. But she supposed it helped that Ginny had wanted to come - even before they'd agreed to come together. 



It took them a few minutes to figure out who was leading. Hermione found herself leading Ginny- which made the most sense, she was soon to learn. 



Ginny truly wasn't that good of a dancer but she wasn't horrible, either. While she missed a couple steps or did them too slowly- she didn't crush her feet. That was always a plus. 



They danced for as long as they could without tiring. Hermione had long since forgotten about all of the eyes on them- too entranced by the way Ginny happened to be gazing at her. 



Ginny followed Hermione over to Harry and Ron. Their dates had long since stormed off- clearly they had tired of being ignored. 



Hermione flopped down beside Ron and Ginny flopped down beside Harry. Harry offered the two the faintest of smiles while Ron pointedly kept his gaze averted. 



"It's quite hot out there. Though it was fun." Hermione tried to start a conversation. 



Ron snapped his head around to glare at her balefully. It surprised the usually bushy haired girl quite a bit.  



"Well, maybe if you and my bloody sister weren't so lost in each other you wouldn't have gotten over heated!" Ron snapped. 



Harry shifted uncomfortably before muttering some sort of excuse. He stood and hurried over to a  vaguely  familiar girl. 



Apparently whatever came out of that was preferable to what was going on now. Ginny couldn't say she blamed him. Even so, she was annoyed by her brother. 



"Don't be a git, Ron." Ginny interrupted before anything else could be said.  



Hermione sent Ginny a somewhat thankful smile. She shrugged her shoulders and offered a tiny smile in response. 



It was difficult to reason with Ron. Sometimes one just needed to cut to the chase. But that didn't always work. Hard to say whether or not this would be one of those times. 



"You can shut up, Gin. You're not even supposed to be here! You should be somewhere else with someone else!" Ron turned his ire on his little sister as well. 



Ginny wished Hermione would let her hex him - but she could tell from the look the older girl sent her that she wasn't going to. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. 



"What's your problem, Ron?!" Hermione demanded, arching an eyebrow. 



Ron seemed to be debating whether or not he wanted to answer that question or not. She hoped he did as it would get this over with much sooner. 



"My problem?! It's you that's got the problem! I think it's pretty messed up that you'd lie to me about having a date and then go with my sister. If you didn't want to go with me you could've just bloody said so!" Ron shouted. 



With that, he stood and stormed off without a backwards glance. Ginny rolled her eyes and slumped down in her chair. Of course that's what Ron's pea brain would make him assume. 



Hermione was oddly silent, fiddling with her hands. She was concerned but she didn't want to press. Finally, she looked at her and her heart sank. 



Hermione's eyes were slightly teary- most likely despite herself. She could only hope the older girl wasn't regretting this. 



"I'm sorry..." Hermione nearly whispered, getting up and hurrying after her brother a moment later. 



Well, wasn't that just great.