Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon looking for Jessie. She wanted to give the necklace back as soon as she could. But when she had finally found her, she saw that she was surrounded by her ‘rich’ friends. Hermione sighed loudly and gave up. She would have to give it to her another time.
It was now quarter past six and Hermione decided to take a long bath before getting ready for the event. She went to her bathroom, turned on the hot water tap and poured some bubble liquid so that the whole tub was filled with large, pink bubbles. Next, she lit the candles that were placed in the bathroom, closed the lights and put on some soft music. Ah! How inviting the water looked! She immediately removed her clothes and slowly slipped into the hot water.
She soaked in the tub for an hour and a half, listening to the soft music and inhaling the mild aroma that the bubbles gave off. When all the bubbles had gone, she decided it was time to get out, so she took a shower and came out, wrapping a towel around her. She went to her bed, where her dress was laid out, and started to get ready.
She dried and made her hair, put a little make up and perfume, put on her shoes, straightened her dress and looked in the mirror. She wore a light blue dress that came up to her knees. The straps were tied around her neck so that half her back was exposed. Her hair was beautifully curled into loops of ringlets which fell to her shoulders and on her feet were a pair of criss-crossed black sandals. Hermione smiled to herself. She looked and felt pretty.
Deciding to take a shawl, just in case it got cold, Hermione draped it over her shoulders and left her room. It was already half past nine and the main deck was already crowded with people. The deck was beautifully set up. Lights were hung around, tables and chairs were spread out everywhere, a small stage was set up for the band and there was an empty space for people to dance.
Everyone was talking, laughing and clinking glasses with one another. Hermione, not knowing anyone, stood alone nervously, looking at the people coming to join the event. Suddenly, she spotted Jessie who was sitting on a chair, drumming her fingers on the table. She was sitting….alone! This was her chance to give her necklace back! She quickly made her way around the crowd until she was right behind Jessie. Hermione gently tapped her shoulder and Jessie turned around.
“Hermione! What are you doing here? Quickly now, go! My friends will be here any minute!”
Hermione felt like slapping Jessie but she kept her cool. “Can’t you just shut up about your friends for a minute? I have something of yours,” she growled. She opened her purse and rummaged around, looking for the necklace.
“Look, I couldn’t care less of what you have of mine! Just go!” Jessie said, getting agitated.
Hermione didn’t listen and took out the necklace with the heart shaped pendant. “Are you sure you don’t want this back?” she said, swinging the necklace in front of Jessie’s face. Jessie gasped and felt around her neck, realizing that it wasn’t there anymore. She looked at the necklace swinging in front of her face and snatched it from Hermione’s hand.
“Alright fine, I’ve got it back. Now move it! My friends will be back -” But she was stopped midway when a male voice interrupted her.
“Jessie, we’re back. Who’s your new friend?”
Hermione looked up and saw a group of people standing around the table. There were three girls and four boys, who all looked around eighteen or nineteen years old. All of them stared at Hermione.
“Earth to Jessie? Can’t you hear me? Who is she?” said a one of the boys, nodding his head towards Hermione.
“You could have just asked me,” said Hermione, irritated. “I can understand English perfectly well. I’m not some kind of animal, you know.”
The boy looked at her and smiled. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to act rudely! My name is Roger.”
“Hermione,” she said, quickly. “Anyway, I’ll see you around.” She smiled at Jessie and turned around to walk away.
“Hey, wait a minute!” said Roger. Hermione stopped and turned to look at him.
“Why don’t you come and join us? I mean, we can see that you’re Jessie’s friend and any friend of Jessie’s is a friend of ours! And anyway, this evening is meant to be for socializing!” he said enthusiastically.
Jessie clearly didn’t like the idea and quickly said, “Oh no, no, no! Hermione is much too preoccupied at the moment, she told me so herself! What is it that you wanted to do again, Hermione?” Jessie gave her a warning glare and waited for Hermione to make up something important.
Hermione sighed and replied, “I have to…umm…go and speak with the captain!”
Roger’s eyebrows shot up and he looked at Hermione curiously. “And what in the world would you want to ask the captain?”
“I think she’s just making up an excuse to get away from us,” said one of the girls. The second girl nodded her head in agreement while the third just kept quiet.
“Nonsense, Laura! I’m sure she has her reasons,” said Roger, waving his hand. He looked at Hermione and said, “You don’t have to tell me what you want to ask the captain, it’s your business and not mine and I apologize for asking. But can’t you ask him later? I’m sure your question can wait and it would be great to get to know one another! When will we ever have the opportunity in doing that?” The other three boys nodded their heads eagerly.
“Come on! Join us!” said Roger.
Hermione couldn’t help smiling at the boys who wanted to become friends. When would she ever get the chance? She looked at Jessie, who looked absolutely shocked that her friends wanted to get know her and when one of the boys pulled up a chair for Hermione, Jessie looked at Laura and sighed in defeat.
Hermione sat next to Roger, and he introduced her to all his friends. “This is Tom, Jake and Alex,” he said, motioning towards the boys, “and Laura, Terry and Violet.”
Time passed and Hermione got to know them more. Jessie, Laura and Terry didn’t join in their discussions; they felt that Hermione was ruining their chances with the boys. Violet was different. She highly enjoyed Hermione’s company and talked with her incessantly.
“Oh my god!” yelled Laura suddenly, her face full of delight.
“What? What?” said Jessie, clutching her friend’s shoulder and looking at her curiously.
“There! In front of you! Can you see him? That’s the guy I met at the pool yesterday!”
Jessie stood up and looked where Laura was pointing to. When she spotted him, her jaw fell open and she gasped in delight. “Oh my god, Laura! He’s gorgeous!”
Curious, Hermione looked for the guy they were talking about, and when she saw him, her jaw fell open too, though not with delight; mostly out of shock. The boy that they were pointing to was none other than Draco Malfoy. He was wearing a white shirt which was unbuttoned till his chest, a pair of black jeans with a black belt around it and pair of heavy, black shoes. His shirt was loosely tucked into his jeans, which were slightly below his hips, and his sleeves were rolled up till his elbows. His fringe was lightly covering his eyes, giving him a more boyish look. Hermione had to admit that he looked like a Muggle in those clothes and looked somewhat decent; however, the girls that had just seen him enter the main deck thought him more than decent, he was absolutely gorgeous.
A/N:
I don't know why this chapter took more than a week to get posted...but oh well, it's up now! I know this chapter isn't much about Hermione and Draco but it's a really important chapter! The next chapter is really long and was extremely fun to write so hold on! On the way out...please R&R!