Hi... WARNING: Ron and Hermione shippiness ahead. Harry meets some of Ashley's siblings in the coolest car EVER.
Disclaimer for the sake of disclaiming…: All Blackwells belong to me. All harry potter characters belong to JK Rowling, and all lyrics belong to musicians. Not me.
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Harry stared in surprise- all the people in the car resembled Ashley strikingly. Three tall blond boys smiled at him and two girls who looked exactly like Ashley moved forward in the back chair, and grinned at them. "C'mon, Harry, get in," Ashley said as she placed Hedwig's cage and his large suitcase in the back.
Ashley pulled Harry into the back seat with the two other girls, and began introducing them. "This is Mary Kate or Mary Jane, we call her Katie..." The girl sitting next to Ashley smiled at Harry. Katie's hair a little curlier than Ashley's, but they looked alike otherwise. "And this is Kim..." The other girl smiled, too- Kim had straighter hair than Ashley, and it fell in front of her face elegantly. "This is Todd, Josh, and Artemis-" Todd seemed taller and more aggressive than his siblings, but he grinned at Harry quite warmly. Josh had long blond hair, and he grinned, too. The boy sitting next to them, who was Artemis, had blue hair and many piercings; he blinked at Harry, then gave him a small smile. "Up in the front's Andy-" An older looking boy in the driver's seat turned around and smiled at Harry. "And finally, this is Hannah," a girl sitting next to Andy turned around, too, and grinned at Harry.
They all grinned at him expectantly. Harry then nervously asked, "Are these all your siblings, Ashley...?"
"Yeah, our family's pretty big," Josh answered instead of Ashley.
"There's a lot of us," Todd added. "It can get sort of hectic sometimes, but it's cool."
"Who are we picking up next, Andy?" Ashley asked.
Andy looked forward as they drove through the streets. "Hermione lives closer, so we'll pick her and her family up..."
"We're picking up her parents, too?" Harry asked. He'd never met them personally before.
Artemis had been staring at Harry curiously for the past few minutes. He quietly spoke up, "We have to- Voldemort's already figured out that he can get to you through your friends and their families, so we invited them to stay with us for their own safety."
Harry stared back at him. "That's really good."
"If we didn't take these precautions, her parents could be killed," Artemis answered, he turned back to the front, and stared out the window.
Todd and Josh walked over Artemis and sat down next to Harry as the back seat expanded. The girls began to talk quickly and excitedly within themselves in French, occasionally glancing at Harry and giggling. Todd turned to Harry, and said, "So... what's up?"
"Pardon?" Harry said. He had been watching the girls, but snapped back into reality.
Josh laughed, and Todd said. "Well, not only have you been staring at Ashley for the past, like, three minutes, you seem pretty surprised about something. Oh, don't worry about Arty. He's always like that. Actually, I think he likes you. Don't worry, he's really just a big softie," Todd smirked at Harry's look of fright as Artemis stared at him for a few seconds. Artemis rolled his eyes at Todd's comment, and leaned back on the front seat as he looked out the window.
"We're here, guys," Andy said. Harry looked out the window. Hermione's house, like the Dursley's, had an utopian look to it with the surrounding houses, expect hers had a beautiful garden outside. "Wanna go get her, Harry?"
"Uh, sure," Harry said. He got out of the car, and walked up to the house. He rung the doorbell, and waited.
The door opened, and Hermione stuck out her head. The worried frown she had been wearing disappeared, and she grinned at Harry as she opened the door wider. "Hi, Harry, I wasn't expecting you. A worried face came over her features. "Are you safe? Do you need to come inside?"
"Hi, Hermione, and no, I'm totally fine. Weren't the Blackwells going to pick you up?" Harry said, signaling to the SUV.
"Oh- yeah. I'll go get my stuff," She disappeared behind her door. She came out a few seconds later dragging her Hogwarts trunk and a few other bags. Her parents followed soon after, carrying their own bags. Todd came out of the car and opened the back trunk, taking Hermione's trunks and placing them in. Harry noticed Hermione blushed slightly when Todd grinned widely at her.
Todd opened the back door, and led in Hermione and her parents. Harry noticed the car had internally expanded to fit in four more long seats and open space in the middle while the outside of the car looked the same. Harry climbed in, following the Grangers.
Ashley stuck her head out a door that had suddenly appeared. "It's getting sort of crowded, so we're gonna hang out back here. C'mon," Harry went in, and sat down on a blue beanbag.
The room was brightly lit, and it was filled with comfortable and colorful couches and bright lamps. An orange and purple rug lay on the floor, and blindly colored posters hung on the walls. Ashley and her siblings were sitting around, and when they caught sight of Hermione, Ashley and her sisters sprung up, after, of course, introducing everyone.
"Oh, Hermione, let's give you a make-over!" Kim said. Hermione was shocked at first, but then smiled back shyly.
Kim walked over, and looked her over. "You know, if we brush you hair, and add some tasteful bows and a vintage touch here and there, you'll look absolutely breath-catching," She began to circle Hermione as her sisters watched. "You have very nice eyebrows, and some mascara can bring out your eyes more... You lips are nice and full, they look so healthy! Some lip gloss would look awesome there... If we give you some really sheer blush and eyeshadow, we can pull off some bright red lipstick..."
Looking harassed, Hermione asked nervously, "Why do you want to give me a make-over?"
"Well, Hermione, you are very, very pretty, but we can bring it out even more with a little make-up and some nice clothing... we have an entire hour to kill, and in these times of pain and war, moments like these, were we can have care-free fun are invaluable. And anyways, don't you wanna look good for Ron? No guy in his right mind can resist a extra-low back, body-hugging red dress, and that includes him..." Kim grinned mischievously as Hermione blushed scarlet and crossed her arms.
"Oh, all right..." Hermione smiled, and Kim led her into another room as she told her various fashion tips and styles.
Harry looked around the room again. "This is quite nice," Todd nodded, and looked down.
"Why don't we put on some music? This is boring..." Todd asked. He pulled out a sleek, white rectangular object with a square screen and a circle that had an arrow on the top, two arrows facing right on the right, two arrows facing left on the left, and a small square at the bottom of the circle. He pressed a few buttons, and placed in into a speaker-like object.
A drum solo began the song, and a boy with a high and raspy voice began to sing. Go ahead as you waste your days with thinkin'...
"What band is this?" Harry asked. Hands are shaking cold, these hands are meant to hold... "I don't remember, but they're kind of good, aren't they!' answered Todd. Harry nodded. And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along, just to make it through...
A new song began with a man that had a raspy voice singing. It's a new world, it's a new start, it's alive with the beating of... young hearts! It's a new day, with a new plan, I've been waiting for you... Here I am...
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Ron picked up his bag from the ground, and looked out over the road. His dad said that some new members of the Order, the Blackwells, were coming to pick them up and had invited them to spend the summer with them. His dad was extremely excited, as they lived part of their lives as Muggles and he wanted to find out everything. His mother, though, wanted to visit them because they had offered to hold Bill and Fleur's wedding free of charge. More importantly, though, they promised safety from Voldemort, and his parents trusted them completely. Ron, honestly, was looking forward to spending the summer with Harry and especially Hermione someplace elsewhere than the Burrow or the Headquarters, possibly somewhere where he and Hermione could have a few more private moments.
Ever since returning from his sixth year at Hogwarts, Ron had been haunted by dreams, many of which involved a... not-so-innocent Hermione. He knew he didn't have time for this- there was a war going on, and Harry and Hermione needed his support. Nevertheless, he couldn't stop the yearnings to be with Hermione. He wasn't sure why, but sometimes, when he was alone in his room and thinking about Hermione, he lost himself in some really nice, comforting memories involving the two of them, and hoped for the day when he could hold her in his arms and call her his own, safe from Vodlemort.
Soon enough, a black truck-like car with flames painted on its side drove up, and after they climbed in, Ron and Ginny were led into a brightly colored room, and they sat down next to Harry.
"Hey, Ron," Ron grinned back at Harry, and looked around worriedly.
"Where's Hermione?" he asked as he fixed a loose strand of hair absentmindedly.
Harry looked at him, curious. "Why do you care?"
Ron blushed, and crossing his arms, answered quickly. "I don't- I was just wondering..."
Harry rolled his eyes, and Ron shifted his attention to the conversation Todd and his brothers were having with Ginny over which band sung better from the one they were listening to compared to the Weird Sisters.
"This is really lame," said Ginny. I beg to dream and differ from the their hollowed eyes... This is the timing of the rest of our lives...! On holiday!
"This song is a classic! How could you not like it!" replied Todd. Josh nodded vigorously as Artemis watched them argue with a bored expression.
"The guys sounds like he's drunk! You call that music!" Harry laughed, and Ginny turned to him. "Aren't they horrible?"
"Actually, I like this song," Harry smiled. Ginny rolled her eyes, and turned back to Todd. Ron noticed for a moment that Harry's gaze lingered on Ginny's face. "What do you think, Ron? Ron...?"
Ron payed no attention to him. He felt his jaw drop open, but did nothing to attempt to close it. Holy shit...
Harry turned to look at what Ron was staring at, and his eyes widened in shock.
Was that... Hermione? Hermione didn't look like that...No ,wait, it was Hermione. She grinned at Ron, and he recognized her smile. She wore a flowing white shirt with a V-neck and a dark magenta border reaching to her hips, and atop that a shorter gray structured jacket reaching halfway down her stomach. Below that she had black footless tights and a pair of dark purple peep-toe heels with an inconspicuous pump and a short wrap around her ankle. Her hair was in an elegant bun, with a long curly bang down the side of her face and a butterfly barrette holding it up.
Ron had never noticed before, but Hermione was delicately curved, like a glass sculpture of a beautiful woman. He suspected the absence of baggy robes and a huge amounts of books weighing her down finally let them show. Nonetheless, Ron was dumbfounded- Hermione looked absolutely stunning, and he couldn't help but feel surprised. Since when had he thought of Hermione as 'beautiful'? He hadn't, expect during the Yule Ball- he had been shocked then, but it was nothing compared to this. Ron wondered... what exactly was beautiful about Hermione? She had stopped growing around the middle of the fifth year- had she changed? Or have I?
Kim followed her out of the room, and held her arms out, presenting Hermione. "What do you think, guys?"
Ashley sat down next to Ron. She looked at him, and with an almost pitying look on her face, pushed his chin up. He closed his mouth abruptly, and glanced at Ashley quickly, and went back to gawking over Hermione. Harry turned to Hermione, and with a friendly smile, said, "You look great, Hermione."
Hermione grinned, and turned to Ron. Ron felt a peculiar sensation in his lower stomach, his brain jammed. He blushed redder, and opened his mouth to say something. Instead, he rushed to the nearest open container (which happened to be a filled flower vase) and vomited. A look of disgust filled Hermione's face, and she walked away and sat down next to Katie sadly and buried her face in her hands.
Todd, sensing trouble, led a shaking and pale Ron into the bathroom. Feeling horrible, Ron let himself be led into the bathroom, Harry following them closely.
Ron leaned over the sink, and splashed some water onto his face. He groaned, and rubbed his eyes. Todd patted his back and gave him a few words of comfort; "It's okay, dude, don't worry about it..."
"How can I not?" Ron sniffed, and leaned his face on his hands as he sat down on the toilet seat, his chest aching. "I can't even talk to her without imagining us... you know..." An image he had enjoyed thinking about over the summer of Hermione came into his mind, and he pushed it out, feeling embarrassed.
Harry sat down on the sink, and rubbed Ron's back. Todd crouched down, and whispered, "Really, don't worry about it... 'no better way to tell a girl she looks hot by throwing up after looking at her, Ron."
"What are you talking about? She probably thinks that I think she looks ugly..." Ron's voice was muffled, and he tried to not sound desperate while he had never felt so torn in his life like this.
"You don't, and that's what matters..." Ron groaned, and began to massage his temples. "I know how to make this all better, Ron," Ron looked up at Todd, his eyes puffy. "Spill the beans, c'mon, tell us absolutely everything."
"I don't want to... just leave me alone..." Ron groaned and buried his face again.
"Ron, sometimes things come to us in life that we really don't wanna deal with, but we've got to. This is one of those things," Ron looked up at Todd. Todd gave him a small smile, and continued. "No guy should ever have to talk about his feelings, I'll tell you that. But, Ron, if you don't talk about it, it's gonna get worse. Talking about it helps you, like, sort out your thoughts, and calm down. If you don't, Hermione's gonna keep haunting you, and you'll never manage to gather up all the courage you need to ask her out, or maybe even to tell her what's going on in your head. Don't blow your chance at a real relationship, and don't worry, Harry and I'll keep your secret," Ron was quiet for a few seconds, thinking about Todd's words, then straightened up.
"I don't know where to start," he said.
Todd sat down on the floor, and looked up at him. "The beginning. When did it all start?"
"Umm... I don't really know..."
"What about the Yule Ball?" Harry asked. "Don't try to tell us you weren't jealous."
Ron massaged his temples again. "I wasn't jealous... "
Todd snorted, and said incredulously, "Of course... you weren't jealous, and I invented microwave popcorn and condoms that year, too."
Ron ignored him, wondering what 'meecrovave plop-cord' was, and kept staring down. He felt Todd and Harry watching closely, and finally gave in; "I don't think I can explain how I felt... I guess I was just shocked that Hermione actually had someone crushing on her... it always felt like Harry and I were the only boys in her life, and the only ones she would ever hang out with... it was so strange to see her with Krum... how could she have gotten someone like him...? An older guy who was an international Quidditch player... And I didn't really expect her to refuse to go with either of us..." Ron let his thoughts translate into words blindly, unaware of what he was telling Harry and Todd.
"But would you have felt any different if Hermione had gone with someone who wasn't you or Harry?" Todd asked. Ron paused, and said nothing. "Were you really 'surprised', or were you... jealous?"
Ron shook his head violently. "No, I wasn't... it just surprised me..."
Todd stood up, and said firmly. "Ron- stop fidgeting. Just stop, and look back... right then, when you watched Krum and Hermione dance, how did you feel? How do you feel now, thinking back?"
Ron paused, and thought... "N-no... I... I don't know..." He remembered, sitting on the table, and as he watched them... his heart sped up, his brain jammed, and the only thing he could think of was his hate toward Krum. But- it was Hermione... she wasn't the type to constantly date and flirt with boys... but then she had pushed him away, and gone with some idiot... "I... I guess I-I was... a little..."
"Good. Now that that's out, answer the other question... how do you feel about it now?" Todd asked, rubbing Ron's back, too.
"Well... part of me still doesn't want to accept it, and still hates Krum... but the other part says 'why not'..." Ron mumbled, not believing he just said that.
"Why not what?" asked Harry calmly.
"...why not like her, it thought... why not take her to a ball... and... why not feel jealous... I guess I never saw Hermione like that, and I couldn't handle it when someone else saw her like that and she left me..." Ron whispered, feeling a little relieved.
"YES, yes, Ron, now where're getting somewhere!" Todd said excitedly with a grin. Ron couldn't hold back a smile, and looked up at him and Harry. "Now, one more thing for now... when I say 'Hermione', what comes to mind? What memory, what picture, if any...?"
Ron drew breath, and remembered as he talked quietly of the experience...
After discussing Dobby and Kreacher's reports on Malfoy, Harry went up to bed, leaving Ron and Hermione alone in the common room. Ron was looking over the essay Hermione had just fixed after he spilled ink all over it. He looked up, and saw her picking up some textbooks off the floor.
"I'll be right back, okay, Hermione?" Ron told her as he got up. She looked up at him and nodded with a small smile.
A bathroom break later, Ron walked down the stairs of the boy's dormitory. He heard voices, and stopped.
"… I don't know what you're talking about, Lavender," Ron heard Hermione say nervously.
"Don't you say that to me- you know what you've done," he heard an angry Lavender say. "Ever since you came into the picture and tried to steal Ron from me, our relationship fell apart. I like him, and he likes me too, and if you do anything to make this any worse, you'll pay."
Ron heard Hermione whimper softly, "Really, Lavender, I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Please. Ever since we started dating, you couldn't help but be jealous. You've made Ron mad, and we lost our connection. If you just stayed away, we'd still be as happy as we were before. You're an annoying bitch who has nothing better to do with her life but ruin other people's relationships! Now you stay away from my Won-Won!" Ron heard someone stomp up the girls' dormitories, and a door slam shut. Everything was quiet until he heard someone start to cry.
He walked slowly down the stairs, and saw Hermione crying into her hands. He slowly walked to her, and sat down next to her. No-one said anything for a few seconds. Ron slowly reached out, and placed his hand on Hermione's shoulder. She jumped and looked up, turning to him.
"Ron... d-do you think I'm annoying?" she asked through tears.
"Annoying how?" Ron replied softly. "It depends."
She sniffed, and as she tried to stop crying, she said, "Well, I-I know that sometimes y-you and Harry get mad at me f-for telling you to do y-your homework or t-to behave..."
Ron gave her a small smile and replied sweetly, "You do do that a lot, but if you didn't, Harry and me would've been kicked out of Hogwarts four years ago for setting the Great Hall on fire and murdering Malfoy and Snape..." Hermione laughed, and dried away a tear."The only time I ever found you really annoying was our first year during our Wingardium Leviosa lesson in Charms until I figured out you were trying to help. Whoever told you that doesn't know what they're talking about."
Hermione gave him a watery smile, and wiped off her cheeks. "When I was in Muggle school, kids didn't really like me. I started being a smart-ass when I was six, and apparently, I still am..." Ron laughed as she smiled. "I had a cousin, and she was thirteen and I was eight, and I used to think she was the most admirable person I'd ever met. She was pretty, she had a lot of friends, and she got everything she wanted. At first, she didn't mind me hanging around when she was with her friends. Then, one day, I went outside to ask her to play tea-party with me. She was talking to some boys in our neighborhood, some of which were fifteen or fourteen. She turned to me and she said, 'Go away, you annoying brat. Go play with your stupid dolls somewhere else.' I ran home, and cried. The next day, she and her family moved away and I threw away all my dolls and 'stupid' toys..."
Ron watched her sympathetically as Hermione crossed her legs on the sofa. She rubbed her eye, and began to talk again, "When I was eleven, a few months before I got my Hogwarts letter, my Muggle class went on a field trip to the park. I had just moved there, and I didn't know anyone. I brought a platter of cookies, and a jumping rope to the trip for the picnic we would have afterwards. After the trip, the class sat down for lunch. There were a group of girls sitting aside talking to each other, and they seemed nice, so I went over with my cookies. I walked up to them and asked if I could sit with them and share my cookies. One of them looked at me and said, 'We aren't friends with annoying nerds. And especially ones like you.' She stood up, knocked over my cookies, and the entire groups stood up and walked away, glancing at me and laughing. I walked away, and cried under a tree until the picnic ended. It's odd... I haven't been called annoying since then..."
She looked up and smiled at Ron. He smiled back, and sticking one leg under another, began: "The only time I was ever called annoying was when I was three. Fred and George were playing with some garden gnomes, throwing rocks at them and stuff, when I came out with my teddy bear to see if I could play, too. I picked up a rock, and threw it at a gnome. I missed, so I picked up another rock and threw it. This one hit Fred... he turned around and said, 'Go away, you're so annoying!' Then he turned my teddy bear into a spider, and I ran into the house scared half to death..." Hermione laughed, and watched Ron as he continued. "I don't really know why people find you so annoying. I guess maybe because you're smart and like to show it..."
Hermione shrugged. "I don't really care anymore. But you don't think I'm annoying, do you?" Ron shook his head and smiled. Hermione grinned and gathered up her textbooks. Ron stood up, stretched his arms, and picked up his essay and D.A.D.A. textbook. He followed Hermione slowly as she began to ascend the girls' staircase.
"Ron?" He turned to Hermione again. She walked up to him. She blushed, and looked up to him.
"Thanks."
She hurried up the girls' staircase, seeming a bit embarrassed. Ron walked up to the boy's dormitories and fell asleep with a smile.
Ron finished, and looked up at the two boys.
"Oh, how sweet. Don't tell that to my sisters, they'll start squealing and... yeah, just don't tell them," Ron smiled, and crossed his arms. "Is that all that you picture with her mention?"
Ron blushed, and answered, "Well..." Todd laughed at his implication, and looked down at his shoes.
Harry took the opportunity to speak up, and said, "Ron, are you ready to go back out now?"
Ron leaned his forehead on his hand, and mumbled, "No... can't I just stay in this room for the rest of eternity and never have to face Hermione again...?"
"C'mon, dude, how're you supposed to ask her out and snog her lips off in this lame excuse for a bathroom? Anyhow, I bet my sisters are just itching to give you a make-over, too," Todd said encouragingly. He laughed at the look on Ron's face, and said, "Trust me, dude, you need one."
Todd pushed the door open, and dragged Ron out. Thankfully, Hermione wasn't in the room, and he sat back down on the couch, wondering what he could say to her. Harry sat down next to him, leaned over, and whispered, "At least this has a good side- you'll be stuck in some claustrophobic room with three fit babes dressing you," Ron grinned, and settled back on the couch.
0000
"Oh, Hermione, please, don't worry about it..." Katie said as she brushed through Hermione' hair. Hermione stared down at the floor, sadly re-living the last three minutes.
She had come out of the room, dressed quite fabulously and feeling beyond confident with herself, expecting to be complimented on her new look; she was also half-hoping Ron would spare one look at her, experience some extreme love-at-first-sight, pounce of her, admit his undying love to her, and then whisk her off to do some serious snogging. She had not expected, though, for Ron to stare at her with a sick expression on his face and then throw up into a nearby flower vase.
Hermione tried to not cry, but a small tear separated itself from her eye. "I just thought he liked me... guys that like you don't barf when they see y-your new look..." Ashley went up to her, and wrapped her arms around Hermione.
"He does like you, Hermione... You see, when you came out, you looked so absolutely stunning and breath-catching that Ron lost his breath, and as he tried to tell you how astonishingly amazing you looked and how his amorality was flaring up, the butterflies in his stomach shook so badly they caused him to barf. Really, Hermione, he does like you. Personally, I think of it as a great compliment to be barfed at," Hermione grinned against her will, slightly thankful for Ashley's humor. Ashley stepped back, and smiled at her warmly.
"Wanna try that again?" Hermione nodded as Ashley continued. "All right. Are you ready to really rock Ronald's world?" Hermione nodded again with a grin. Ashley smiled, and took out a dress from the closet.
"This one will make you hotter than the goddess Aphrodite herself," Ashley straightened it out, and held it before her over-exaggeratedly. It was the same dress Kim had described before- a super low bare-back blood red dress which separated into two parts at the chest, and tied up at the neck, leaving much space for cleavage.
Five minutes and many strangely-placed zippers later, Hermione stood in front of the mirror admiring herself. The dress made her look amazing- it gave her curves she had never even imagined having before. "C'mon, Hermione, we need to do your hair."
Hermione sat down on the spinning chair, and Kim pulled out a flat pincer-like object with Blackwell written on the side. "Why don't we straighten your hair? That'll knock Ron's socks to Jupiter..." Hermione nodded, and sat back. Kim took a bushy strand of hair, pressed it between the object, and pulled it down, going through all of the strand. About ten minutes later, Kim stopped, and turned Hermione to the mirror.
Hermione mouth fell open. Why had she never done this before? Straight hair made her look thin, elegant, and gorgeous. It fell over her face gracefully, and it had big, soft curls that joined the huge bushel of hair together at the back. "Wow... Hermione and straight hair go like strawberries and cream..."
Kim watched her for a second, then turned Hermione to her again. "The thing with these dresses is you can't wear your hair down. What we can do, though, is this..."
Kim took most of Hermione's hair, expect for a long, wavy strand, and slowly put it up in an elegant bun. The strand she held up at the side of her face with a heart-shaped barrette. "Now, for make-up..." Katie took some sheer blush, one which had the same skin-tone as Hermione, and covered her face with it ("We're not gonna make you look like a clown!"). She then took some light pink blush and placed a bit on her cheeks ("It should be the exact same color as your face after running two miles."). Ashley walked over, and applied grey and bronze eyeshadow, and added thick mascara ("Gives you the I'm-too-hot-for-you look..."). "For the last touch, the lips..." She then applied some salmon lip gloss on Hermione;("For the shine and snogging, ya know?"). To finish Hermione's make-over, Ashley got out a pair of long, silver earrings, and carefully adjusted them onto Hermione's ears.
"You look amazing, Hermione," Kim stepped back with her sisters, and the looked Hermione over. Hermione, stood up and walked over to the mirror and examined herself.
Hermione was dumbfounded. In all her life, she had never considered herself beautiful; she often argued against her wish for Ron to love her with a 'Why would he love an ugly, boring bookworm like me?', but right now, that was the last thing on her mind. The dress gave her curves, curves that she had dreamed of having in her most intimate dreams which often included a very Romantic (! Ron, making even more impossible than it was already. In this dress, Hermione looked tall, collected, smooth, and as Kim liked to say, hot… She no longer saw tired bangs under her eyes, or the acne puberty brought along- her face looked fresh, relieved and natural, except for her lips… before, they were chapped and dried up, but now they looked moist, full, and completely kissable. A glorious image came into her mind- Ron leaning to kiss her, whispering what every girl wanted to hear from the love of her life…
"Hermione?" she heard Ashley's voice far-off. "You still have to put on shoes… how do you like these?" She held out a teeny pair of slim heels. She helped Hermione put them on, carefully doing up the laces that curved around her leg. Hermione wobbled in the sandals, and held onto Katie's shoulder to keep her balance.
"They look good, but I can't walk, let alone stand, in them," Hermione said as she tried to take a few steps. She staggered, and fell, Ashley catching her.
"Don't worry about it- Ron'll have fallen at your feet by then , he'll break your fall," Ashley grinned, and pushed Hermione back up. "Ready?" Hermione nodded, and straightening her dress, began to walk toward the door.
Katie walked out before her, and Hermione heard her announce, "Lady and gentlemen… may I, if I may, introduce our very own Hermione, sporting the hottest look right now- Dressed to Kill!"
"Go!" Ashley gave Hermione a push out the door.
A platform had appeared from nowhere, and bright lights blinded her as she slowly walked across toward Katie's voice. "Smile, Hermione! C'mon, show us what modeling really is!" Hermione grinned, and walked up to the end of the platform.
Katie and her sisters stood at the bottom, and Ashley struck a pose in the darkness. She threw her head to the left, brought her left hand to her breast, and placed her right hand over her head, her hand caressing the back of her neck. Hermione mirrored the pose. Ashley pointed to her face, signaling Hermione to have a slightly quizzical expression, with her eyebrows cocked, and have a slight smile. Hermione struck the pose, and saw Katie take a few pictures of her.
Hermione turned her attention to Kim, who also struck a pose; she leaned forward, pushed her left shoulder out, placing her left hand upon it, and turned her head a bit to the left. Hermione mimicked it and her expression as Katie snapped more pictures. Katie signaled her down the stage, and Hermione staggered down the steps.
"That was great, Hermione! My sister's quite a famous fashion designer, and she loves to use everyday people to model her work. She's be thrilled to use you," Ashley said brightly. Hermione grinned as she continued, "You're a great model, did you know?"
"Thanks," Hermione answered, and turned to the boys. Harry stood up, and walked over.
"That was great, Hermione- you look awesome in that dress," she grinned as Todd and his brothers walked over and complimented her as well.
Hermione turned to go talk to Ron, but jumped when she saw him right in front of her. He blushed, and stepped back. She smiled brightly, and he tried to smile back, and stuttered, "Y-you look- I mean, you, uh… th-that dress looks absolutely s-stunning on y-you, Hermione… s-sorry about b-before, I, um…" he became quiet, and blushed bright red. Hermione grinned, and blushed a little, too.
"Ron, Hermione- c'mon, let's get you both back into casual clothes, 'cause we're about to arrive!"
Songs are- Move Along by the All-American Rejects and Here I Am by Bryan Adams
So much fluffiness!
BTW, Todd is NOT gay. Alright? He's just very understanding and a bit metro-sexual (has girl-like qualities).