“Hermione!” he gasped.
“Neville! Are you alright? Has someone cursed you?” she asked, seeming alarmed by his apparent lack of breath.
“No, no I’m fine. But I-” he looked at her and took a deep breath. “I have to ask you a question.”
Mustering his flutter-nerves, he stammered quickly, “Come to the ball with me? Please?” Hermione looked confused at first and then her expression softened.
“I’m sorry Neville, but someone has already asked me.”
“Oh,” he replied. “Umm… that’s okay too. Just wanted to make sure we all had dates.”
“Of course,” she replied, and they continued awkwardly together down the hallway.
They had just passed the girls washroom when Cedric turned the corner. He looked dashing as usual, with the same combed hair, neat robes and slightly flushed cheeks. On his left breast however, was a neatly pinned S.P.E.W badge.
“Morning Hermione,” he said with a very sly grin. Hermione turned a slight shade of pink and replied with a girlish giggle. Neville, looking at the floor and twiddling his thumbs, waited uncomfortably for the encounter to cease. But upon realising that their blatant flirting with each other was in no hurry to end, he grunted a curt goodbye and stalked off down the adjacent hallway.
Unfortunately for Neville, their teasing did end soon after, and as though Hermione hadn’t already had enough excitement, Ginny came roaring down the hall waving a large catalogue.
“Hermione, I’ve just got Madam Malkin’s winter catalogue! You’ve got to find a dress!”
“So soon?” Hermione asked.
“Yes soon! Here, you take this. I’ll run down to the kitchens and steal us some dinner. I’ll meet you in the common room so we can pick out dresses!” Ginny said, thrusting the large and heavy catalogue into Hermione’s arms and then she darted off down the hallway Neville had gone down only minutes before.
Hermione had waited nearly ten minutes and finally Ginny came running into the deserted common room with a bag full of chicken, a flask and two glasses of pumpkin juice and a huge smile on her face.
“I think we’ll be looking for my dress as well! Neville’s just asked me!” she exclaimed as she ran up the stairs to the girls’ dorms where Hermione was waiting.
“Chicken! Thank goodness, I’m starving, and that’s wonderful!” Hermione exclaimed, equally as excited as the red head, and they hurried into the dorm.
“I love this lavender one! That green one as well!” Ginny pointed as they started flicking through. Hermione quickly shoved another morsel of chicken down her already full throat and then incinerated the waste with a flick of her wand.
“Ginny,” she said, glancing at the prices. “How exactly… are you going to afford this?” Hermione asked uncomfortably.
“I worked all summer at my Aunts!” Ginny said in a pleasant tone, still flipping through the book.
The dorm door opened to reveal Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.
“Is that the new catalogue?” Lavender squealed. Hermione and Ginny both squeaked back and all the girls were soon sitting beside one another on the bed, gawking at the hideous dresses and shrieking at the appealing ones.
“Oh! Parvati! Your sister would look so glamorous in this one,” Ginny pointed.
“But I think I would look even more glamorous in it!”
Then standing up, Parvati strutted her stuff around the common room.
“No, no Parvati! It’s like this!” Lavender corrected and then jumped up onto the bed and struck a very sexy pose.
“Ginny! Look at this one,” pointed Hermione.
“How luxurious!” Lavender declared.
It was a silky emerald green, floor-length gown. A light sheen glistened over the bodice and the skirt flowed like a sea of green. Rouched fabric flowed from the right to left and then cinched at the hip.
“It’s perfect!” Ginny decided.
With one dress down and three to go, Lavender pulled out a large bag of sweets and they began prying through the book once again.
“Lavender this would look ravishing on you,” Ginny said pointing to a yellow gown.
“I entirely agree! With my hair pulled back in a… je ne sais quoi!” she flexed her French muscles and tossed back her hair all in a very ditzy demeanor which made Hermione want to vomit.
“What about me?” steamed Parvati, apparently upset by the lack of attention she was getting. “I want something pink.”
Hermione quickly flipped through to the pink dresses, which opened to a very risky party dress. The skirt was frilly and light pink. It was short, about mid-thigh in length. The bodice was strapless and a darker hue of pink. The edges were accentuated with hot pink lace.
“It’s gorgeous! Very daring! Mysterious! It’s perfect,” she sighed while the other three looked wondering to themselves if they were looking at the same dress.
“Now we’ve just got find something for Hermione,” Lavender said taking the book.
“What about this?” she pointed to a black velvet flood-length dress. Ginny shook her head, refusing to let Hermione wear such a hideous thing.
“This?” Lavender asked.
Hermione shook her head. “How’s this?”
“She is not wearing that! Here hand me the book,” Ginny demanded. She beckoned both Lavender and Parvati over. The trio analyzed her hair colour and complexion. They looked at her arms, and the state of her legs. With a final deliberation, Ginny revealed the dress they had chosen.
It was a long, floor-length gown. The cut was structured and the fabric narrowed about the waist and continued along the line of the body until far below her hips, where the substantial skirt flared out. It created the perfect hourglass figure. There was a thick band of detailing around the top of the skirt to add emphasis to the unorthodox proportion of the dress. But even in its unusual style, the gown was worthy of dinner with the Queen. It was colored a pearly blue and made of heavy satin.
“It’s beautiful,” Hermione gazed.
“Well, that’s settled,” Lavender laughed. “Let’s all fill out our order forms together and send them in tomorrow morning!”
So the girls scribbled down their desired dresses, along with the measurements of their school robes and all went to sleep, eager to mail the owls at dawn.
“I can’t believe it!” Ron told Harry. “She’s already got a date! Maybe she’s lying... Must be lying… poor girl.”
“You’re just mad because she completely rejected you,” Harry chuckled.
“Sod off!” Ron said and Lavender Brown came screaming down the hall, dragging Parvati Patil down the hall.
“Are you two okay?” Harry called after them.
“We’ve got to get ready for the ball!”
“It’s only barely past noon!”
“EXACTLY! We’re late!”
Although they were late, they were not the last ones in the dorm. About five minutes after they arrived, Hermione stumbled in with a very large, heavy parcel.
“Late delivery,” she explained. Upon opening the parcel all the girls were baffled by the eight, medium sized bottles of Hair Tonic. In a very communal moment - more communal then most would think Lavender and Parvati were capable of - each one of the girls grabbed a bottle of the tonic. They spread the thick potion into their hands, and began applying liberal amounts to Hermione’s bushy hair. After fifteen minutes and the seven of the bottles, her hair had moderately smoothed itself and was now in an elegant twist.
The ladies then changed and began working on their own hair. Hermione zipped Ginny’s dress up and with a flick of her wand and curled her ginger hair. Parvati combed her long straight locks, and Lavender (with much effort) twisted her thick hair into a complicated and fragile up-do. Aje ne sais quoi.
By seven o’clock, they were ready and decided to walk down to the entrance hall and mingle with other students before the ball officially began at eight.
Upon arrival at what one might consider a ‘pre-event party’, Parvati and Lavender disappeared, leaving Hermione and Ginny to sit by themselves on the steps listening to a group of Beauxbaton girls discuss French men. More specifically, how Hogwarts men were “pansies” in comparison. Just as they concluded a discussion on the superiority of French physique over the English physique, teachers began ushering students into the hall in preparation for the first dance.
“Ginny! I’ve left my earrings in the dorm! I’ll be right back!” Hermione frantically said, dashing up and then back down several flights of stairs which meant she was out of breath when she ran into Cedric.
“Hello,” she blushed.
“Hi,” he said and looked her over head to toe.
“Shall we?” he asked and offered his arm. She took it nervously and he escorted her.
“You look beautiful, you always look beautiful,” he whispered in her ear.
“You look rather dashing yourself,” she replied blushing even deeper.
“That dress is amazing. You’ll be every girl’s worst enemy tonight.”
“Well let them be jealous, certainly this kind of attention doesn’t come my way often.”
“You’re too clever for your own good,” he remarked thoughtfully.
“You’re too handsome for your own good,” she teased. He blushed deeply, and then look her hand to lead her down the stairs. Only the champions stood in the entry hall now, and all of them stared at Hermione. She was by far the most elegant girl there. Her dress fit her like a glove, and her elegant bun with a loose curl or two at the sides made her look even better. She would have taken time to be flattered had she not been consumed with thoughts of dancing with Cedric.