So, the first time I posted this, on my other account, it was actually around Halloween time. So...happy spring break?
You don't know how much I wanted to make Ron dress up as Edward Cullen or something. I had so many sparkling jokes ready until I realized this would be set in 1999, long before Dr. McSparkly was born. Sad…
Please enjoy! It's sappy and written very quickly without editing, but I hope you enjoy it!
Hermione glanced at herself nervously in the mirror, tugging on the white cloth of her dress. Ginny smiled, adding the finishing touches on her friend's hair with her wand. It was Halloween eve and the girls were standing in Hermione's old bedroom of her parent's house.
"You look gorgeous, Hermione. You'll have guys all over you tonight," Ginny said, setting down her wand and reaching for some eyeliner.
"Er, thanks Ginny, but I highly doubt it." The skeptical witch brushed on some gold eye shadow, lips puckered into an "o" as she concentrated.
Her red-headed friend smirked as she applied eyeliner heavily to her white-painted face. "Well, maybe if you cut your skirt a little shorter…"
"Athena was not a slut, Ginny."
"Then go as Aphrodite."
Hermione huffed. "Not in a million years would I be caught dead traipsing around dressed as the goddess of love, when I could be the goddess of wisdom."
Ginny rolled her eyes, then put down the eyeliner, satisfied with her zombie-fied appearance. When Hermione had invited her to go the Granger's annual Halloween party, the youngest Weasley had been unimpressed with the silly muggle tradition of dressing up. But now that she was adorned with a ragged ballet skirt and camisole, and her face painted beyond recognition, Ginny decided that it was a rather fun part of the holiday.
"Girls! The boys are here!" Mrs. Granger called from downstairs. Hermione picked up her helmet and Ginny took one last look in the mirror, then the pair walked down the stairs. Harry and Ron were seated in the Granger's living room, munching on the pumpkin-shaped cookies Mrs. Granger had served them. Ron was adorned in a batman costume, not quite sure who the Superhero was, but entertained by the outfit nonetheless. Harry, in one of his ironic moods, was wearing his work robes and carrying his wand. Mr. Granger was out back hanging decorations, his Dracula cape nearly strangling him as he tried to hang lanterns from the tree.
As the girls entered, the boys both stared, eyes wide. While Harry looked in awe, Ron looked furious.
"No way in Hell are you leaving this room like that!" He shouted at Ginny, pointing at her rather low cleavage.
Even under the layers of white makeup, Ginny's face reddened noticeably. "And who are you to tell me what I can or cannot do, Ronald? I'm an adult now, I can dress how I like!"
It was true, they all had to admit. Ginny had graduated, along with Hermione(the only one of the trio to go back to Hogwarts after Voldemort's death), the previous May. She was a legal adult in the magical world, and had moved into a flat with a few of her old Hogwarts roommates. Ron had no right to tell her what to do, and yet… he was Ron. And Ron would never pass up a chance to play the big brother.
As the two Weasleys yelled at each other, Hermione sat on the couch next to Harry, smirking. He raised his eyebrows, and the two began to have one of their infamous "silent conversations".
These conversations had been first dubbed so after Harry had answered Hermione's unspoken question out loud in the common room one evening. Ron had been convinced they had learned some new mind-reading spell for weeks, and was a bit upset they wouldn't teach it to him. The other two had spent that week repeatedly trying to explain to their friend that they had just read each other's facial expressions, but he wouldn't be convinced until Professor McGonagall assured him there was no such spell allowed on the grounds of Hogwarts, to prevent cheating and such.
And it was still a bit uncanny, but everyone around them had grown used to their freakish ways. Even now, Mrs. Granger just looked away, busying herself in Ron and Ginny's argument.
Hermione quirked her eyebrow. Why are you staring?
Harry shrugged, nodding towards her outfit. You look pretty tonight.
Hermione looked away, blushing a little, then looked back, smiling. Thank you.
Harry nodded towards Ron and Ginny, rolling his eyes. How long is that going to last?
Hermione scoffed. Who knows?
Before they could continue, the doorbell rang, and the muggles came pouring in.
"Oh, I can't believe Mum invited my old classmates from Elementary school," Hermione groaned, taking a sip of her cider. "They were so mean to me, calling me names and throwing my books in the mud. They made my life a nightmare. But it's been so long, I'm sure they're nice now. It's just… awkward."
Harry and Ron looked towards the group, eyeing them curiously. The group didn't look nice to either of them, reminding the boys of the nasty packs of Slytherins back at school. The girls were all dressed in various short skirts and dresses, and the guys didn't hide the lust from their eyes. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that they had not changed in the least.
"Er, hello everyone. I hope you're having fun," Hermione said as the trio walked up the Slytherin-look-alikes. A dark-haired girl with an especially slutty nurse costume on sneered, but plastered on a fake smile as she recognized Hermione.
"Oh, Hermy! It's so good to see you! It's been too long." The nurse gave Hermione a little hug, as the rest of her group poorly contained their snickers. "Oh, and who are you dressed as?"
Hermione seemed quite reluctant to tell them, but the witch mustered up her Gryffindor courage and said in a proud voice, "Pallas Athena."
The girl cocked her head. "Who?"
Hermione sighed. "The Greek goddess of wisdom."
The nurse looked torn between amusement and mocking. "Oh. And who are these two?" She turned her greedy eyes on Harry and Ron.
"Er, these are Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, my friends from school." She said, glancing at the guys nervously. The nurse moved closer, her eyes on Harry. Her friend, a slutty firefighter, moved closer to Ron, licking her bottom lip. The boys both took a step back, sending distressed looks at Hermione.
"Oh, well, Harry, Ron, and I have to go greet other guests. See you all later!" Hermione nearly ran from the Slytherin-look-alikes, dragging Ron in one hand, Harry in the other.
"Oh, they're even worse than I thought. If you'll excuse me, I need to go slam my head against a wall for a moment." Hermione raced off into the house, leaving the boys standing outside in the yard full of muggles in costumes.
"Oh, look at Ginny, all over that guy! Come on, Harry!" Ron dragged Harry over to where Ginny was flirting with a muggle boy dressed as a movie character Hermione had mentioned was named Zoro.
"Can you believe her? Back from her freaky boarding school and trying to be all buddy-buddy with us? How pathetic. And those guys? Way too hot to actually be her friends. I bet she's paying them. No girl that ugly could ever score guys like that." Harry turned, appalled at what he heard coming from the mouth of the slutty nurse, who only stood a few feet away.
Ron turned, having heard her as well. He looked rather angry, his ordeal with Ginny forgotten.
"And that costume? Who the Hell dresses up as a Roman Goddess or whatever? She's still such a loser." A leather-clad kitty cat was now speaking, her voice high-pitched and nasally.
"I still can't get over those guys she hired. I wonder how much she's paying them…" The nurse's firefighter friend now spoke, flipping her hair back.
"I bet she's whoring herself out to them. You know it's always the quiet, ugly ones who go to those measures. But who would want to even get that close to her?" The nurse once again spoke, and the boys saw a flurry of brown hair run off towards the house, and knew Hermione had overheard. Harry felt his anger rising.
"Maybe I would." Ron said loudly, causing the girls to turn around. He and Harry stood tall, arms crossed and faces furious.
"Oh, really? How much did she pay you to say that?" The girls smirked, hands on hips.
"Nothing at all." Harry said, clenching his fists.
The nurse smirked. "Oh, I see. She's giving you something else later on tonight, then?"
Harry felt his face redden at the thought, but he kept his cool. "No, but I assume that's what you're doing in payment for those monkeys to be seen with you sluts."
The girl opened her mouth in shock and hurt, then scowled angrily. "I don't have to pay them anything. They want to be around me. Tonight is just a bonus for both of us." She seemed quite smug about the prospect of banging a guy Harry thought resembled an ape.
"Right. Like he would want to be around you. Is it your hot body or your charming personality that he loves so much?" Ron's voice dripped with sarcasm as he verbally abused the girl.
The girl smirked at him, running a hand up his chest. "You're just mad 'cause you don't get a piece of this." She motioned to her body, as if revealing a great prize.
Ron scoffed. "Oh right, with those mosquito bites, any guy would just want to ravage you right here, right now."
She gasped, looking like he had just slapped her in the face. Her friends all gasped too, and started hissing dirty insults at Ron.
He looked quite pleased with himself. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize A-cups were in style now. Pardon me."
Before the girls could speak again, Harry cut in, his voice low and menacing. "If any of you say another bad word about Hermione as long as you live, you will regret it."
The group of sluts scowled, crossing their arms. "And what would you do to us? You wouldn't hurt a girl. You'd get your ass sued off of you."
It was Ron who spoke next. "Oh, we have our ways," he said eerily as he waved Ginny over. The girl, who had heard everything, looked absolutely livid.
"My dear sister, would you mind having a chat with this lovely lady here?" Ginny nodded, dragging the girl off by the scruff of her neck.
"I'll go make sure she doesn't actually hurt her." Ron jogged off after the girls, leaving Harry with the hard job: Confronting an upset Hermione.
He walked through the house, calling her name, to no avail. She wasn't anywhere to be found, but Harry was certain he knew where she had gone. With a turn he was gone, and the house was silent again.
As he walked through Hogsmead, Harry felt himself missing Hogwarts greatly. How many days had he walked through these streets, worrying about asking out Cho or anticipating a delicious butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks?
Harry walked down the path until he reached the overlook to the Shrieking Shack, where a hunched-over figure sat, crying. In the moonlight Hermione's dress seemed to glow, and her normally brown bush of hair looked golden and nicely curled, adding to the ethereal effect. She had her arms wrapped around her self, and she seemed to be shivering. It was very cold out, Harry noticed, so he took off his dark-blue robe, setting it on her shoulder. He was extremely grateful he had decided to wear normal clothes underneath, for once.
She looked up at him, eyes glistening. What are you doing here? How did you know where I'd be?
He smiled sadly, sitting next to her. I'm here because I know you.
She looked down, a few tears slipping out. "You know, Hogwarts was such a blessing to me. Those kids were horrible to me, and every night I wished on my lucky star that someone would come and take me away so I could escape them. I never imagined it would actually work. And when Ron and the others started calling me a know-it-all our first year, I wanted to die. I had gotten my wish and my treatment was no better."
Harry looked down, ashamed, but Hermione pulled his face back towards hers. "But when you two saved me from the troll and became my friends, I found a hope in the world I had never known before. I was…happy.
"Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. Dressing up as something you're not, pretending you're pretty or special for one night. It's nice. And the fact that I've always loved spooky stories never hurt either."
"I think you're always pretty," Harry blurt out, staring at his best friend.
She smiled, but shook her head. "You're sweet, Harry. But really, I'm okay with it. It's just, seeing those kids again tonight, hearing their insults again…it just brought back some horrible memories." She sniffed, wiping her eyes on the sleeves of Harry's robe.
Harry frowned. "Hermione, you're not ugly, you're not a loser, and any guy would be lucky to take you home for the night." She blushed furiously at the last comment, but smiled.
"Harry!" She slapped his arm, then pulled him into a hug. He set his head on top of hers, smelling her lavender shampoo and sticky hairspray.
"Well, it's true. I mean, when I saw you come down those stairs tonight-" He froze, biting his tongue. Hermione's heart sped up, and she found it a bit hard to breath.
"What?" She asked, pulling back to stare at him.
"I…er…I thought you looked pretty….and…" Harry stumbled over his words, absolutely flustered at his slip. He had practically told his best friend that he wanted to take her, right there on the stairs when she came down. That sort of thing didn't usually sit well with people who didn't return your feelings.
Oh, yes, Harry had feelings for his female best friend. He wasn't sure how long he had been harboring them, but they were there, always pestering him when he really would rather not feel that way. Maybe it was just because he had seen her grow through her awkward phase into a beautiful young woman that he wanted to jump her when she put on a little makeup, or maybe the full moon was making him crazy. Either way, Hermione now knew his feelings, and that was not good at all.
He looked down, face flushed. And I really like you.
She blushed, eyes widening. Really?
He smiled weakly. Really really.
She smiled, then pulled his lips to her, a gesture he understood completely. He ran his hand through her curls as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His free hand ran down her spine, settling on the small of her back.
They fell back against the ground, Hermione's hand running up Harry's chest as his hand ran a bit lower, hiking her up until she was straddling him. The moon shone down upon them as they reveled in their passion, mouths dancing together in harmony.
Hermione broke away, panting. "Not right now. Not here. It's dirty and cold and anyone could walk down here."
Harry chuckled, sitting up and planting a soft kiss on her lips. "Always the practical one, aren't we?"
Ron and Ginny stood by the refreshment table, both looking rather annoyed with the other.
"How about that one? He's cute." Ginny asked, pointing to a boy across the way.
"Nope." Ron said, barely glancing at him.
"That one?" She pointed to a mummy with a rather nice figure dancing with a few of his friends.
"No." Ron took a swig of cider, smacking his lips loudly. He didn't even look where she had pointed.
"Ooh, how about that girl in the leather jumpsuit? That tight ass just turns me on…"
Ron spit out his cider, coughing loudly. "WHAT?!"
Ginny giggled. "Just making sure you were still listening."
Harry and Hermione walked up to them, holding hands. Ginny eyed their disheveled appearance with a devious glint in her eye, but Ron seemed unperturbed.
"We're heading back to our place," Harry said, talking about the apartment he shared with Ron. The red-head nodded, bidding them farewell.
As the couple walked away, Ginny nudged Ron, an evil grin on her face. "So, what do you think they're going to be doing at your place?"
Ron shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Probably having one of their freaky 'conversations'. Those two say a lot without even touching. Imagine what they'll talk about tonight."
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