Pairing: Percy Weasley and Hermione Granger

Rating: K

Summary: They are friends, and when no one is going to take her to the senior ball, he comes back to Hogwarts to escort her.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter universe, although sometimes it would be nice if I did. I may own the story lines, but sometimes even they aren't original. If they in anyway mimic another story line, I apologize right now.

Words: 1435

To go stag or not?

Hermione Granger did make it to be Head Girl this year at Hogwarts, just like everyone thought. But also like everyone thought, she was having a hard time trying to find someone to escort her to the final senior ball at Hogwarts. Everyone was supposed to come, but they were, unofficially, supposed to have a date. To not have one would just be pathetic. Hermione was tired of being pathetic when it came to boys, so she tried this year, to flirt with boys, but all they wanted was to get into her knickers; which was not the main objective. She looked at Ginny, who had numerous boy friends, and asked how she did it.

"You need to be yourself, Mione," she had said. Well, easier said than done. The 'herself' Ginny was referring to was a bookworm, who was more interested in books that boys at the current moment. So she laid off trying to get the attention of guys. This kinda worked to tell the truth. There were a few boys who had been captivated by her and actually asked her on a few dates, but once they got her away from the library they were back to the same old routine. Sweet talk her and try to get in her knickers. Terry Boot had actually tried, but had been on a date as well, walking near by and found him trying to force his hands all over her. Needless to say that Terry would go no where near her, especially when Ron was around; because he beat the snot out of Terry in the middle of the Hogsmeade street. He felt really justified that he got a weeks detention for his physical actions. But McGonagall, no matter how much she agreed with his actions, had to give him the punishment.

"Dear Percy,

How have you been lately, it's been a while since I received any news about you. I do miss talking to you; you were one of the only people who seemed to understand me. All the boys around here, and especially my own age, are absolutely atrocious. I don't know how they can stand to be like they are. Bunch of perverted monkeys they are. Anyway, I'm sure Ron has filled the family in on the incident that happened this past week, where Ron served all the detentions for helping me. I had thought I finally found a decent guy who would respect me and everything, but no, he tried too. Now it's the day before the big dance and I have no one to go with. I bought this pretty brown dress and everything, but no one to really show it off to. I can't go single to this thing, I will be more of a laughing stock that I already am. I just wish I still had someone like you around to talk to about these things.

Talk to you soon,

Hermione"

She finished writing her letter and sent it off with Hermes, Percy's owl, who had just mysteriously showed up and look like he demanded she send a letter to his owner. All the thoughts were swirling around in her head about boys, the dance, and the letter before she fell asleep.

The day of the dance had arrived and Hermione got a letter around lunch time, when she was going to start getting ready to go. It had said "I will be holding a white lily and meet you by the entrance hall. Please come, this is nothing to make fun of you, or harm you. Please trust me." She shrugged and decided to meet this mysterious person. What harm could it do. She could easily defeat a vast majority of the people living in this castle (the exceptions being Harry or the professors).

After taking a very long hot shower, she decided to straighten her hair the Muggle way, since it was the most effective with her. The magic frayed her hair and made it look quite bad, but with the application of Sleak-easy's Shampoo, and some magic after she straightened it, her hair would look rather nice. This whole process took nearly two hours because of the low heat setting and the fact that she did very small sections at a time. After her hair was done, it was time to work on make-up. She called Ginny up to help her check for spots she missed with her hair and to help her with the make-up. The natural look was what worked best for Hermione, so Ginny stuck to foundation, brown mascara and liner, and a darker tan shadow for the eyes, just to make them pop a bit more. Her lips were shiny with peach gloss, while her cheeks stayed blush free. After Ginny approved of the whole look it was nearly five o'clock. An hour left before the dance was to begin… at least the picture portion. Hermione lay on her bed, careful not to mess up any of their hard work and read her book for an hour.

Once it was nearly time, she shimmied into her brown satin gown. It was a strapless dress, that hugged her just right; not too form fitting, but not so baggy to where it would fall off (think of the Prom episode from season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer… Buffy's dress, but brown, not pink). Her shoes were strappy sandals that had three inch heels. They were perfect because she didn't want to be taller than her date, but she wanted to have some amount of height to her petite frame. Her decent from Gryffindor tower was met with shock and awe. Harry and Ron both gave her a kiss on the cheek before all heading down with their dates, Ginny and Susan, respectively. Hermione waited in the Entrance hall, while everyone else poured past her to get into the Great Hall so they could find a seat. Hermione asked Harry and Ron to save her and who ever was meeting her a seat with them. But then she remembered, she had to sit at the table with the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy, who had Pansy Parkinson on his arm. Granted, she only had to sit there for a brief amount of time, but she still had to sit there at the start.

There were only a few people left when she spotted her date, his back was to her, but she could clearly see that he was carrying a white lily. She carefully walked over to him, smoothing her dress and calming her nerves and she walked. Once she tapped him on the shoulder, he turned and she gasped.

"Percy?" she said, completely shocked. He was wearing a Muggle tux, and was looking very suave. This look was so far from what he had graduated the school with. He got contacts, and wore his hair slightly longer, and went to the gym four days a week, so he was bordering on being buff. "What on Earth…?"

"I owled Dumbledore last night, and he seemed to think it was a wonderful idea that I take you," Percy said nervously. "I hope this is okay. I mean you always say how much you like being around me in your letters."

"No, this is completely wonderful," she said, wrapping her arms around him, squeezing tightly. "But why would you come back to a dance for me?"

"I thought that would be abundantly clear by now," he chuckled. "You sure you're the brightest witch of the age?"

"Really? You actually came to be with me?" she said excitedly.

"Yes, if you'll have me," he said, still looking nervous.

"Oh, of course," she said, linking her arm with his. "Now lets go to this dance and show everyone what I have and they don't."

"Alright then, lead the way," he gestured.

They danced the night away, and Ron, who had already known, was very happy for his best friend. She had finally got a guy who was going to treat her right and be with her for her smarts as well as her looks. Harry was happy that he and Ron didn't have to beat up any more guys for giving her a hard time, she had someone to do that for her. The rest of the girls were jealous of Hermione because Percy paid attention to her the whole night, unlike all of their dates, and he turned each girl that asked him to dance away. All in all, the night was good, and so was the wedding, just little over a year later.

A/N: I know the ending sucked, because I can't write an ending to save my life… just read some of my other stuff and you'll see. But I hope you kinda like the rest of it. Review if you did or didn't.