Red Halloween
Within the next couple days Hermione fully recovered, and within the next couple weeks, she was back to working far too much. She didn’t make the quidditch team, but Lavender, Emma, and Jason did. Gryffindor played their first game against Hufflepuff and beat them three hundred to forty five; and as always Hermione showed up to support Gryffindor. She didn’t seem too disappointed, in fact it almost seemed that Ron and Harry were more disappointed for her. School was of course picking up; Harry and Hermione were up later nights into the morning, and Hermione even later working hard on something, which she wouldn’t share with her two best friends. This kept them curious, especially Harry, but she wouldn’t say anything about what was keeping her up far into the morning. It was Thursday evening and the trio had a three-day weekend ahead of them. Friday was Halloween, and they had the day off to go to Hogsmede, with a Halloween masquerade in the Great Hall later that night. In the meantime, everyone was wrapped up in cloaks, scarves, and hats braving the upcoming storm to enjoy the warmth of Hogsmede.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were passing the Shrieking Shack just meandering around Hogsmede after visiting Zonko’s and buying some sweets at Honeydukes. Hermione stopped and leaned against the fence, looking at the shack.
“It’s been so many years, I feel like we’ve been here forever,” murmured Hermione looking at the Shrieking Shack.
Harry leaned against the fence also, staring at the place where he had first met Sirius, and Voldemort's servant. The place where he saw his dad's friends reunited again in a dark way. The very place where he had let Wormtail escape and bring Voldemort back to power. And now Voldemort was back again to begin another war to bring the destruction he couldn't the first time. It was three years ago Peter escaped, two years ago Voldemort came back to power, and one year ago he dueled with Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic and wizarding world, and parts of the muggle world came to know of his return. It had been so many years, but to Harry they were all meshed into one big nightmare. It seemed that most of his life he was fighting, even before he knew he was a wizard he was fighting the Dursley's and now he was fighting the darkest wizard of his age, and when he wasn't fighting Voldemort he was fighting Malfoy. All Harry wanted was a break, a break to be a normal sixteen-year-old wizard; but now Voldemort was hiding and nobody knew why, it made him more uncomfortable that he didn't have anything to fight. These thoughts flew around in his head so vibrantly that when Hermione touched his shoulder he jumped forgetting where he was and what was going on.
Ron gave him a funny look, "You alright mate?"
Harry nodded his head and pushed his hand through his hair, "Yeah, just thinking of things," replied Harry trailing off.
Hermione looked at Harry seriously before saying anything and then suggested, "We should probably go to Madam Rosmerta's and get some butterbeers, we have been out here long enough." Harry and Ron nodded and followed Hermione down and Harry completely forgot all about Voldemort.
Soon the three of them were seated at a table, sipping their butterbeers and warming up from the cold. Madam Rosmerta had the place decorated quite festively for Halloween. Pumpkins with changing expressions sat about the place, and enchanted bats flew around the room. Black and orange decorations adorned the ceiling, chairs, and tables and haunting music in minor chords filled the air. Harry, Ron and Hermione chatted casually about classes and Halloween dance later that night, when a tall raven-haired Ravenclaw girl approached their table. Her sapphire eyes passed over everyone and stopped when they reached Ron. Unblinkingly she asked if she could speak with Ron, alone. Hermione and Harry exchanged glances with Ron who appeared to be trying to look all too casual.
"I'll be right back," he mumbled following Kira away from the table and soon out of sight of Ron and Hermione. Harry and Hermione exchanged a worried glance.
"Maybe we should…"started Harry.
"No!" Hermione interrupted.
"She could curse him or something, I don't know. I don't trust her, you were the one that warned us," replied Harry casting a furtive look at Hermione.
"I know, I know, " whispered Hermione, "but I think there is something more going on here. Wait a moment." Harry gave her a blank stare but she continued to look past him, where Kira and Ron had disappeared. Harry looked back, hardly expecting Ron to come back entirely so soon. Ron sat back down next to Harry blushing excessively. Hermione tossed him a questioning glance, which Ron deliberately avoided and pregnant pause ensued before Harry got impatient.
"What was that about?" asked Harry a little louder then he had intended.
"What?" replied Ron sincerely hoping he could diverge the topic.
"Ronald," hissed Hermione, indicating that she was not going to put up with his playing dumb.
"Oh Kira, she was just asking about a potions assignment," replied Ron, whose manner became a lot more casual, and he relaxed a little. Hermione rolled her eyes and sauntered off to pay for their drinks, disappointed.
"Come off it Ron," said Harry seriously, "what was that all about?"
"Just what I said," retorted Ron defensively," what do you think it was about?"
"I don't know, you won't tell me," Harry returned angrily. Ron didn't respond but seethed until Hermione came back also clearly upset. The three of them returned to the castle in a bitter silence, in which there was nothing to distract them from. The common room was empty when they returned as they were back quite early; and the three of them just stood there looking for an excuse to do something or change the subject.
"Fine!" sputtered Ron angrily, " Kira asked me to dance with her tonight, that's it! Nothing else, and for that matter, I'm not even sure if I like her like that. But really what was I going to get but cursed for refusing her? Stop looking at me like that Hermione!"
Hermione's expression was twisted into a sort of shocked and pleasant expression and she was fumbling for words, muttering phrases. Harry sat there surprised not sure whether or not to congratulate his friend, or not. He hardly expected Kira to fancy Ron, he thought she was trouble, and he still wasn’t so sure.
"I told you guys, now aren't you going to say something?" asked Ron helplessly looking between Harry and Hermione.
Hermione looked at him, starting to complete phrases now, "Oh of course Ron, I should have seen it before. Kira wouldn't even talk to someone like you if she weren't interested, I can't believe I didn't think of it. I mean of course I was so wrapped up in…in…school that I didn't really contemplate the possibility…oh Ron tell me, what did she say?" asked Hermione desperately now direly interested.
Ron collapsed next Harry on the couch, and Harry looked down at him curiously as the story developed. “Well, it was all very fast really, and it was all a blur. I must have sounded really dumb, and probably came off like I really liked her because I got nervous. But she asked me, I told her sure, like it was no big deal, and then she left," Ron replied shrugging.
"Sure, you told her sure…honestly you two are the most tactless boys in the whole school," sighed Hermione.
"Hey don't bring me into this," retorted Harry, "you've got nothing on me."
"Only Cho," murmured Ron avoiding Harry's cold glance.
"I think it's nice Ron, and it will probably be good for you, you're the only one of us who hasn't been on a real date," said Hermione turning to go upstairs.
"No one said anything about a date, she wanted to dance with me, there is a difference," clarified Ron, looking at Hermione earnestly.
"That's not what she meant Ron, it's a date, and I hope when you agreed to the date you were planning on spending the whole evening with her," returned Hermione.
"I…of course…" muttered Ron, who watched dismally as Hermione climbed up the stairs. “Where is she going? Even she wouldn’t get ready this early,” remarked Ron offhandedly.
“I don’t know,” replied Harry stretching. “So what do you think about tonight? Aren’t you kind of surprised, did you know she liked you?”
“Actually I had no idea, she has always been kind of cold. Though she does help me in Potions sometimes,” mused Ron thinking back, then becoming frustrated,” And now that I know it’s a date I don’t know what to think. I thought I just promised her a dance, that wasn’t a big deal, but if it is really a date…I don’t know…stupid girls, like I was supposed to know it was date,”
“I don’t envy you,” grinned Harry, “come on let’s go see Sirius before we have to get ready tonight.”
***
As long as Harry, Ron and Hermione had been at Hogwarts there had never been a masquerade, and it was causing quite a buzz. Apparently it was a ninety year celebration of the dance, the Halloween masquerade only happened once a decade which made it more special than a normal dance but not as important as the Yule Ball. It was started in 1906 by the dueling club and they wore costumes, for effect, and would have contests to see who the best dueler was. It was originally more of a party, not a dance, though Hermione suspected she was the only one in the school who knew that. She did wonder however how it became a dance.
Though Hermione herself hadn’t gone up to get ready early, there were plenty of girls in the dormitories, already picking out dresses, masks, and make-up. This made Hermione more than a little frustrated as she had hoped to study in peace, but there was no chance of that in a room of bustling girls. She laid on her bed and tried to read for a little while, trying hard to concentrate but Ginny finally coaxed her into getting ready. Though Hermione was not one for fashion, she had chosen quite an elegant dress robe; it was royal violet velvet, with satin silver trim and diamond sequins around her waist and neck, forming brilliant swirling patterns.
Hermione sat back impatiently on the bed smoothing out her robes, “I’m done now.”
“For heaven’s sake Hermione, you aren’t even going to do your hair or make up, what’s the point of going if you aren’t going to try,” replied Ginny trying for the hundredth time to put her hair in the knot that was like on the picture in front of her.
“I hardly see how all this is necessary, I’ll just be wearing a mask,” said Hermione, holding her mask up to show Ginny.
“Well at least do your hair then, the point of the masquerade is to keep people guessing and no offense but everyone will notice your frizzy hair from a mile away,” retorted Ginny turning around look at her. Hermione frowned at her disapprovingly. “Hermione, are you really going to make light of a ninety year Hogwarts tradition?” asked Ginny seriously.
Hermione finally sighed and threw her hands in the air, “Fine, but I don’t have anything to do my hair with this time.”
Lavender who seemed just to be waiting for the opportunity to makeover Hermione Granger, piped up, “I have some stuff, if you want I can do it for you.”
“There you go,” said Ginny shooing Hermione away towards Lavender. Hermione glanced back at her friend skeptically.
“You’ll look great, it’s just different, it’s not going to kill you,” replied Ginny cleaning up her mess.
***
Harry and Ron climbed down the stairs to the common room to wait for Hermione. Ron was sporting his new dress robes; Fred and George had bought for him after they opened their joke shop. Ron was quite surprised that there was nothing wrong with them and that they didn’t contain some gag, even now he wasn’t so sure but they looked alright, and were much nicer then anything he could afford. Harry kept joking about what a show off he was wearing nicer robes then anyone in the common room.
“Harry, where are your glasses?” asked Ginny coming down the stairs, spotting Ron and Harry waiting.
“I have temporary contacts you could say,” responded Harry taking off his mask.
“What?” asked Ginny frowning at him.
Harry realizing contacts must be a muggle term shook his head, “Never mind, where is Hermione?”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were waiting for her. She left early; I suppose she had to do something. The masquerade starts in a little while, maybe she thought she was meeting you down there,” answered Ginny shrugging her shoulders. Then there was a scream upstairs, Ginny glanced up and winced. “I guess Elizabeth’s hair coloring didn’t go so well, I better go.” With that Ginny ran up the stairs, and Harry and Ron exchanged an amused look.
“I wonder what it’s like being up there,” considered Ron pointing upstairs to the girls’ dormitories.
“But do you really?” countered Harry raising his eyebrows.
“Probably not,” agreed Ron, “let’s go find Hermione.”
“And Kira,” added Harry as they exited the common room.
The doors to the Great Hall were just opening as Harry and Ron arrived downstairs. There were dozens of students piling in the great hall that was cleared out for the ball. There was a band playing where the teacher’s table used to be and that table was moved to the side of the room. Orange and Black decorations adorned the walls and the ceiling was a starry night sky with dark clouds floating across it so you could occasionally catch the full moon. Students dressed in extravagantly colored robes stood around the edges of the room, only a few couples danced in the middle. Harry was very glad that the pressure to find a date was off, he was quite content going by himself, and he wasn’t alone. This wasn’t quite the event that the Yule Ball was a couple years ago. Harry turned to Ron who wasn’t very keen on looking for Kira, though Harry didn’t see her and he had looked. As a matter of fact there weren’t a lot of girls there at all yet, Harry wondered if they were all having crises in their dormitories, and the thought amused him. Though he didn’t see Hermione either, and she wouldn’t be the type of person to have a fashion crisis. Then again everyone was in a mask, though he hoped he could recognize one of his best friends. As Harry watched the door, he did see Kira enter with a couple of her Ravenclaw friends. She was hard to miss standing tall compared to all the other girls there; she wore plain midnight black robes with gold lace trim and an extravagant mask that somehow amplified the deep blue in her eyes. He nudged Ron who looked up towards the door, and his eyes widened. Kira walked past Ron and Harry, brushing her fingertips across the front of Ron’s robes, and Ron just stared at her through the holes in his mask in a kind of awe and surprise. Harry passed his hand in front of Ron’s eyes.
“Hello?” asked Harry grinning.
“What does that mean?” asked Ron, pulling his mask off and asking Harry diligently.
“I think she likes you mate,” replied Harry playfully imitating her.
“Oh come off it Harry, where is Hermione when you need her?” responded Ron shoving Harry.
“I was wondering the same thing myself,” murmured Harry, “do you know what she was wearing?”
“No, like she’d tell me,” countered Ron using his height to look over the crowd. Then Dumbledore’s voice floated over the crowd reminding them that first half hour of the dance had passed and that everyone must be wearing their mask within the ball vicinity. Ron hastily put his mask back on, and turned to Harry.
“Well if you find Hermione, send her my way would you?” sighed Ron.
“I’m sure Kira will appreciate that,” remarked Harry, “don’t worry though, I’ve got your back if you need it. Now go on, you kids have fun.” Ron glared back at Harry as he left him to join Kira and her friends and their dates. Harry decided to move around the room a bit to see if he could find Hermione. Not being as tall as Ron he didn’t have the benefit of being able to see everywhere. At the other end of Great Hall where all the food and drinks were, he found Seamus, Dean, and Neville.
“Hey Harry,” called Dean waving, Harry walked over to them momentarily giving up his search for Hermione.
“Hey guys, no luck on dates huh?” asked Harry helping himself to a drink.
“Ginny is out dancing,” replied Dean motioning towards Ginny, in deep magenta robes, dancing with some of her friends.
“So Harry have you seen her yet?” asked Seamus looking at Harry eagerly, Neville and even Dean had rapt attention as well.
“Who?” asked Harry giving Seamus a puzzled glance.
“Hermione, she was dancing with Ron earlier, she looks totally different. I didn’t even recognize her,” responded Seamus with a look of awe and a bit of disappointment.
“Oh,” replied Harry mildly not really sure what to say about the subject.
“If you’re looking for her Harry I bet you won’t find her, she is totally unrecognizable,” continued Seamus, Harry disagreed but didn’t say anything and decided to leave the Gryffindor boys feeling a little uncomfortable with this conversation.
“Oh well, maybe I’ll find Ron then,” replied Harry lightly before again emerging himself back into the crowd on the dance floor, searching for one of his best friends in the large group. Fortunately his luck changed, and Dumbledore announced that all first years through fourth years must return to their houses, leaving only the fifth, sixth, and seven years in the great hall. Harry could not believe he couldn’t find his friends, and when he did find Ron he was emerged in conversation with Kira. Harry threw his arms up and continued to wander moving around the dance floor talking to various people. He was kind of disappointed in the whole masquerade as a whole, his best friend had a date, and Hermione was missing in action. With all his musings he had accidentally found himself in the middle of a bunch of dancing students and had backed into older Slytherin girl as the last song had come to a close.
Now the lead singer of the band, spoke while the band played slow dance music in the back, “Everyone get on the dance floor now, find a guy or a girl and start dancing, make someone’s night special, and we’ll keep the dancing slow.” Harry looked around wildly, this was the bad part of not having a date, and he didn’t have anyone to dance with. Then he saw her, he saw Hermione walking up to him. Seamus was completely wrong, he was wrong about him recognizing her as it was quite obviously Hermione. He was also wrong about the fact she looked completely different. Her hair was curled but it was the same face hiding behind the mask, the same person underneath the vibrant robes. She did look nice but just a little more touched up than normal.
“I am so glad to have found you Harry, I’m so terribly tired of dancing with everyone,” she remarked somberly. Harry smiled as he took his friend’s hand and placed his had around her waist.
“Hermione, I’ve been looking all over for you, you look, you look gorgeous, I mean you look really nice.”
She blushed under her mask and looked down, “I’ve been getting that a lot tonight, I suppose it will probably be best when Cinderella changes back to rags tomorrow.”
“I didn’t mean it like that, you always look nice, you’re pretty Hermione, you just look so different, the nice robes and the new hair style. It is so different then the way you hide behind all those books,” tried Harry, desperately not wanting to injure her feelings. But Hermione wasn’t listening; she was staring at the ground, slowly raising her gaze to the doors of the Great Hall.
“Hermione? Are you okay?” asked Harry gazing at her intently.
Hermione clutched his shoulder sharply, “Dance towards the door Harry, quickly.” Without asking her why he did ask she asked and they soon were standing close to the doors.
“C’mon,” whispered Hermione grabbing Harry’s hand and pulling him past the doors. Once they were out of the Great Hall and into the Hallway, she looked around at the ground then sprinted towards down the hall, withdrawing her wand from her robes.
“Hermione!” yelled Harry sprinting after her, when he saw what she was chasing after and took out his wand too thought he wasn’t sure what he was going to do to the rat.
“Transforme!” shouted Hermione, though her spell missed entirely, the rat did indeed transform, Hermione stopped dead in her tracks apparently not sure what to do now and Harry paused behind her as Peter Pettigrew appeared in the hallway in front of them in the same shambles that Harry saw him the first time they met, but with wand up and ready.
“Expelliarmus,” bellowed Harry but instead of Peter’s wand flying, Harry’s wand snapped out of his hand and came clattering to the ground.
“Crucio,” snarled Peter wand pointed at Hermione this time, Hermione fell to the ground, dropping her wand and shrieking in pain. Harry stared defenseless, and frozen, he didn’t know what to do, though he knew there were a million things he could do. Hermione didn’t do anything; this was Harry’s battle. But Harry didn’t get to finish this battle because of a cold voice that came from behind him.
“Drop that wand Peter and you can go straight to hell,” he growled dangerously.