The Top Ten Reasons

I woke up on Thursday, February 13th, with sunlight in my eyes, and dread building in the pit of my stomach. It was the day before the Valentine's Day Ball. The moment I saw the pink notice on the Gryffindor notice board, I was convinced for sure that such social events were created just to torture me. Not only had a fresh zit just popped onto the tip of my nose, but I noticed that my thighs were getting pudgy. How beautiful would they look with a shimmery ball gown?

Besides, who wants to slink off to the pink decorated Great Hall to plant themselves as a wallflower while all the other happy couples sway past you during a sickeningly romantic love song?

This is my point. Things aren't the same when all your friends have boyfriends and you don't.

"Oh, you're such a drama queen, Leandra," my sister, Lacey, scoffed at me when I mentioned that I would die of humiliation if I showed up at the Ball without a date. "Do you think every girl in Hogwarts has a boyfriend except you?"

Um. Yes?

But it didn't matter. I was going to this ball whether I liked it or not. See, I have a little thing called a best friend and she doesn't take no for an answer.

"You'll have fun, sweetie," Ginny insisted when we went shopping for dresses. "What else are you going to do on a Friday night? Homework?"

Apparently yes was the wrong answer.

Sure, it seems like Ginny is controlling. But I think she just wishes I could find a boyfriend. Ginny's rather like a mix of a mother and sister - she cares about me, and she makes me do things I don't want to do, but she's also a great confidante, and a lot of fun. She just doesn't understand what it's like to be a social retard.

Okay, okay, maybe I'm not anything quite as drastic as a social retard. But I don't have guys constantly trailing after me like puppies.

Now, I sat on the edge of my bed, rubbing my eyes and wondering how I was ever going to get out of this ball. Faking an illness? No, Ginny could tell when I was faking better then my own mother could. Broken leg? Like that would work. Death in the family? It was no use. Ginny knew me too well. Thanks a bunch, Gin. I could have been stuck with a clueless best friend, instead I got a genius.

Ginny bounded into the dormitory, her red curls tied away from her face. She beamed at me. "Oh Lea, I can't wait for tomorrow!" she squealed, twirling around. "You are going to have so much fun, I know it."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, pulling on my socks and my robes. I glanced blearily at the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot, my hair was knotted, my skin was yellowish and the zit on my nose seemed to be growing before my very eyes. Ah, yes. Love mornings.

Ginny stopped twirling and frowned at me. "You aren't mad at me, are you?" she asked, sounding slightly worried. "I just don't want you to miss this. And the Weird Sisters are good, even if they're not...erm..."

"Nirvana?" I said sleepily, grabbing my books, and we started to head downstairs. They are my favorite band, even if I can't drag my walkman to Hogwarts to listen to "Heart Shaped Box" every day.

"Right," Ginny said, still looking worried. "Nirvana. It will be fun though, don't you think? Ella and I will be with you the whole time."

"What about Draco?"

"Oh, him." Ginny flicked a hand in the air, as if her boyfriend was no big deal. "Ah, don't worry about him. He probably won't even show up. He loathes balls and other social events of all kinds. And besides, you are my first priority." She smiled at me. "It's one of the perks of being a best friend. You're at the top of each other's list."

I tried to smile back. I knew that Draco would never skip out on Ginny, no matter how much he complains about having to go to balls and things with her. "Feminine things are for feminine people, Weasley," I overheard him telling her one day when I went to meet her after her potions class. "I am not going to a Valentine's Day ball!"

When I asked Ginny later, she laughed. "He's the Draco we all know and love," she said in an offhand way. "If he didn't make a big fuss about this, then he'd lose all his pride the second after walking into the Great Hall for the ball. He's a male, Lea. They're very dramatic." She sighed. "This one is, anyway."

Ginny was trying to make me feel better, so even though I was still feeling bitter about being dateless when she had a steady boyfriend, I put on a happy face. It wasn't her fault I was blessed with stringy dishwater blond hair, a lumpy complexion, and hips the size of the Empire State Building. No, I had my genetics to thank for that.

Besides, I told myself gloomily. I could always disappear into the shadows by the punch bowl so I wasn't around to be pitied.

Ella arrived at the Gryffindor table for breakfast a couple of minutes after us, her shimmery dark hair falling into her brown almond shaped eyes. She's Spanish, and the kind of person adults call "spontaneous" and "sociable." Coming from Madrid when she was twelve, she and Ginny had bonded immediately when she arrived at Hogwarts on the first day of second year. In a few days, all three of us were inseparable. When you first meet Ella, it can seem like she's extremely overwhelming. This is true, but once you get to know her, there are few people that are more likeable. Unlike me, Ella picked up the British ways right away. While she and Ginny are saying "reckon," I'm saying "think" and they both laugh at me like I'm a clueless American.

Which I sort of am. One thing about Ella and Ginny though - when they're both together, it makes me feel even more inferior. Ella's an exotic Spanish beauty, and Ginny's just gorgeous. It's not fair.

"Hey babes," she said cheerfully, sliding in on my left and pulling every dish she could reach towards her. "Psyched up for the ball?"

I muttered a response. Ella and Ginny both looked at me. "Lea, what's up?" Ella said. "Is this about the no date thing?"

I put on my 'confused' face. "What are you talking about?"

Ella looked at me sternly. "Ginny and I know you better than you know yourself, princesa," she said. "You can't hide things from us."

I glared into my orange juice. The truth of this statement made me want to throw something. Why oh why couldn't I have best friends who didn't care about me? Why am I so unlucky??

"Not everyone is going to have a date," Ella said, putting her hand on my arm. "It's no big deal. Valentine's Day might be worked up to a huge deal about love and romance and snogging, but it's really nothing."

"Yeah," Ginny added, trying yet again to be helpful. "It's nothing. I don't even really want to go..."

I nodded. "Really, you guys, I'm fine. It'll be fun."

"You know," Ella said, scanning the Great Hall. "I bet if we really work hard, we could even get you a date for tomorrow."

"Ella!" Ginny said, hitting her on the arm. "Leandra doesn't need a date! She has us. You aren't helping."

Ella sighed. "Oh come on," she said. "I was just trying to boost her confidence. Lea, you totally underestimate yourself. You are such a hottie - you just need to stop underestimating yourself. You could get a date, no problem."

"Mmm, like who?" I said dully. "Dennis Creevey?"

"Ick," Ginny said, making a face. "Lea, you cradle robber."

"No, no," Ella said, annoyed. "Don't be stupid. How about...Anthony Goldstein?"

"Mmmm, yummy," Ginny said, propping up her head on her hands as the said seventh year entered the Great Hall. "He's sexy."

"He's also taken," I pointed out. "Does the name Padma Patil ring a bell?"

"Right," Ella said, looking put out. "Well, how about Terry Boot?"

I looked down at my porridge unhappily. Now I'd done it. Wished for a boyfriend and now my friends wouldn't rest until I had one. Why was my life so unfair?

"Hold it!" I commanded, and Ella and Ginny looked at me, surprised. "Listen, guys. Not that I don't appreciate the effort, but I really don't need a date. I'll be fine."

"Well, if you're sure," Ella said uncertainly.

"I am," I said, pasting on a smile. The bell rang, and I jumped up from the table, relieved.

Ginny hugged me before we went our separate ways - Ella and I to Herbology, Ginny to Seventh Year Potions. "It'll be fine," she whispered to me. "You are beautiful, and one day you will find that person you will be with forever. Somebody who sees the awesome person that Ella and I see everyday."

And without another word, she smiled at me, waved, and disappeared around the corner.