Standing in the changing room of Madam Malkin's, with five different costumes in my hands, I regretted coming with Ginny now. These weren't even the first costumes she had stuffed into my hands, those had already been discarded whilst Ginny searched for more. I'm sure Madam Malkin wasn't too pleased with her, as I had tried on about half of her shop, but she said nothing to either of us, and continued serving the other customers in the shop.
The Halloween Ball was next week, and Ginny had already found an outfit. I hadn't . This was why I was here, being bombarded with clothes by my best friend. It was a mascaraed ball, which means that I had to find a costume and mask.
I looked down into my hands, hung four of the five costumes up, and began trying on the first one. I slipped into it, and glanced into one of the full-length mirrors. A very revealing pirate costume. I shook my head, and stripped off. Hanging the pirate costume back up, I looked up at the remaining four costumes. One was a devil, one was a witch (how cliché?), one was a nurse, and the last was a Greek goddess.
I sighed, knowing that the only one I would wear there would be the Greek Goddess. I threw the three others out to Ginny, and got a low growl back. I laughed, and tried on the goddess outfit.
Once I was finished, I looked in the mirror. It was beautiful. It was pure white, in an asymmetric shape. The loose material reached my mid thigh, and there was a few pieces of thin gold chain around the waist. There was a loose, white cape at the back, which was attached to two gold bangles around my wrists. A gold headband with a few green leaves attached and gold gladiator sandals which reached my knees came with it, so I tried those on too. I looked hot.
'Ginny,' I called out to her, and she drew back the curtain. Through the mirror, I could see her eyes widen and her mouth open.
'Hermione, you look hot! You actually have to buy that one, it's the best you've tried on!' she shouted. I grinned at her, and did a twirl to show her all of the dress. It flowed around me, then gathered again when I stopped. It was absolutely perfect.
'I think I will buy this one, Gin. It's perfect! What way should I wear my hair with it?' I asked, as I looked in the mirror, studying the costume from every angle. A grin spread across the red-head's face, and she came into the little cubical with me.
'Hmmm... I think you should either wear it in loose curls,' and she pushed my hair forward and scrunched it up, 'or in a messy bun, with a few strands hanging down around your face,' she said while gathering my hair into a messy bun, showing me.
'I like the messy bun, what do you think?' she asked. I thought about it for a minute.
'I like the bun too, it feels more goddess-y?' I laughed, and so did Ginny.
'Okay, take it of so you can pay for it. We have to go soon, I said we'd meet Harry and Ron in the Three Broomsticks at 4, and it's ten minutes to 4 now. Hurry!' she called as she walked out of the cubical and drew the curtains back.
I took off the sandals and headband, then the dress. I changed back into my jeans , sweater and UGG boots. Picking up the costume and my jacket, I walked back out into the shop. There was a lot less people left than when we first came into the shop earlier, at half past 2. Madam Malkin was standing at the till, so I walked over to her and placed the costume on the counter.
She smiled at me, and waved her wand. The costume flew into a bag and landed back on top of the counter.
'That'll be 30 Galleons, my dear.' She said, and I handed her over the money. Grabbing the bag, I walked out of the shop to meet Ginny standing outside. She was just putting her jacket on, so I put mine on too.
'How much was it then?' She asked. I zipped up my jacket, and flicked my hair out of it.
'30 Galleons.' I told her, and she nodded.
'That's not bad, I thought it would be around that. I still can't believe I got mine for only 10 Galleons, brand new too!' Ginny had found hers in a small shop in Hogsmeade called Mirrors. It was a version of Little Red Riding Hood. It was a red and white dress; empire shaped, the sleeves and the bust were white with black lace up, and the skirt was red. It was low-cut, went to her mid-thigh, had puffy sleeves and came with red and white stockings and a red cape. Ginny loved it. I had to admit it was nice, but a little too revealing for my liking.
'Yours was quite a find, I'll admit. But I like mine, I think it suits me. So who are you going with to the Ball? Harry I presume.' and I nudged her with my elbow. She smiled sheepishly, and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her black jacket.
'Yes, if you must know, I am. Is there anything wrong with that?' she laughed, 'so are you going with Ron, then? Or someone else?' she asked.
I laughed and shook my head, 'You know I don't feel that way about Ron, I'm going by myself.' I told her, hopefully I wouldn't be the only one going by themselves.
'Oh yeah, you told me that. Don't worry, lots of girls go by themselves, but none of them will look as hot as you,' she winked at me, as we came to the Three Broomsticks. We went inside, and I unzipped my jacket, as the warm air of the pub hit us. I saw Harry and Ron sitting at a table, with four drinks in front of them.
I pointed them out to Ginny, and we walked over to the table.
'Hey guys, thanks for getting our butterbeers,' I slid in beside Ron, and Ginny sat down next to Harry. I noticed Ron had a firewhiskey instead of a butterbeer. I took a sip of mine.
'No problem, did you get your costumes then?' Harry asked, and I glanced at Ginny. She brought her finger to her lips, and shook her head. I giggled.
'Yes I did, but I can't tell you what it is,' I said. Ginny laughed, but Harry looked confused, and I took a drink of my butterbeer.
'Why not? It's just a costume,' he said, and looked over at Ginny.
'Yes, I'm aware, Harry, but I still can't tell you, you'll have to find out next week,' and I winked at him. He laughed.
'Whatever, Hermione. I'm going as a Quidditch player, I couldn't really be bothered this year,' I groaned at him.
'You can't go as that, Harry! That's not fair, you have to dress up, not just wear a uniform!' and I rolled my eyes at him. Picking up my drink, I finished it off.
'I'm going as a boxer,' Ron said, and I smiled at him.
'See Harry, even Ron's dressing up, go and buy something to wear,' I told him, and he sighed.
'Fine, I'll go buy something later, okay?' Smiling, I knew I'd won.
'Good, now are we going then?' I asked, noticing everyone's empty glasses. They all looked at each other, then nodded, and stood up.
'Okay, I'll go with Ron and get a costume, Hermione. Does that make you feel better?' I nodded, 'We'll see you guys at dinner, bye!' He called after us, then disappearing down the street in the direction of Madam Malkin's.
After dumping my bags on the bed in my Head's Room, I changed into a white vest and a see -through flowery top. Ginny went into the bathroom I shared with Blaise Zabini, the Head Boy, to fix her hair and brush her teeth. I grabbed my wand, and straightened my hair, then went into the bathroom.
'Come on, Ginny, dinner is about to start,' I shouted over to her, and she fixed her fringe.
'Okay, coming now!' she called, and ran over to me. We walked down to the Great Hall, and met Luna on the way.
'Did you get your costume, Hermione?' she asked. I smiled at her and nodded.
'Yeah, I got it today, did you get yours?' I asked her, and she nodded too.
'Yes, I think I'm going to go as a bumblebee, Daddy made it for me, it even has wings!' she said, and clapped her hands with joy. I wasn't sure that if her father made it, it was such a good thing, but I smiled at her and said, 'that sounds lovely, Luna!' anyway.
We arrived at the Great Hall, and took our seats at the Gryffindor table, while Luna sat at the Ravenclaw table.
Harry and Ron appeared in the doorway, and I could see Harry had at least one bag in his hands. Harry disappeared back out the door, and Ron came to sit with us.
'Where's Harry gone?' Ginny asked, as Ron began piling his plate.
'Just up to leave his bags and stuff to his room, he'll be down in a minute,' he said, just before he stuffed his face with mashed potatoes. Ginny and I knew it would be nearly impossible to talk to him when he was eating.
A few moments later, Harry appeared in the doorway again, and came down to sit beside Ron. It was possible to have a conversation with Harry while he was eating, though he usually only wanted to talk about Quidditch. He smirked at me when he sat down.
'Hey guys, what's up?' he asked, and grabbed two chicken wings. I smirked back at him.
'Hey Harry, not much. I'm guessing you got your costume then?' I asked, and took a drink of my pumpkin juice as Ginny reached over me and grabbed some salad.
'Yeah, I did.' he said, and ate some of his steak.
'Cool, I can't wait for the Ball now.' Harry glared at me and I smiled at him.
'Something wrong Harry?' I asked, and he smirked once again.
'Nothings wrong ,Hermione dearest, why would ever assume something is wrong?' and he laughed.
Laughing, I finished my plate and stood up.
'I'll see you guys tomorrow, I've got some homework to finish. You can come round later on tonight if you want, bye!' I waved at them, then walked out of the Great Hall.
I came to the portrait that covered the Head's Dorm. Lara, the little girl in the portrait, greeted me.
'Hello, Lara. Phoenix,' as soon as I spoke the password, her portrait swung open. I stepped into the warmth of the Common Room, and saw Blaise sitting on one of the brown armchairs beside the fire, reading a book. He looked up when I walked in.
'Hey, Hermione, what's happenin'? He asked, and flicked a page in his book. Even though Blaise was a Slytherin and best friends with Draco Malfoy, he was pretty decent, and we had came up with a truce at the start of the year. I went over and stood in front of the fire, getting warm.
'Nothing really, Blaise. Got my Halloween costume today,' I said, and warmed my hands.
'Cool, what you going as?' He asked, and flicked another page.
'Can't tell you,' I said, and he looked up.
'Why not?' he asked, and a very Slytherin smirk appeared on his face. I winked at him.
'Secret,' I said, 'I'm away to do the rest of my homework before bed, Blaise,' and walked over to the door to my room. I whispered 'windowsill' to the door, and it opened. The reason my password was 'windowsill' was because I had tried to come up with a really random password, that no one could guess.
After grabbing all of the homework that needed doing – including a potions essay due tomorrow- I sat down at the desk in my room and started.
I wasn't sure about this story, do you guys think that I should continue it? :) Please R&R
Julie