Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or anything else of J.K. Rowling's. I only own my OCs. As a fair warning, there is a lot of fashion and dress talk in this chapter. To all of my guy readers and my not as fashionista girl readers; I'm sorry if that part bores you. I'm sorry for it taking so long. I did have it all typed, but then, my dogs were messing around and managed to unplug the computer cord. I lost all of my work, so I was stuck re typing it. Well, here it is now!
She awoke to Ginny shaking her and half screaming, "Wake up! We need to get to Hogsmede early."
Groggy, she rolled out of bed and rubbed her eyes. She glanced alarger alarm clock and felt a jolt of surprise. "Ginny! It's 6:00 in the morning."
"I know. We need to be on Hogsmede by 7:30, and I assumed that you wanted some time to get ready."
Grumbling, she walked over to her wardrobe and picked out a pair of muggle jeans and a T-shirt. Since she would be changing a lot today, she wanted something she could easily get out of and easily put back on, unlike the Hogwarts uniform.
Next, she made her way over to the dorm's bathroom. She yanked a brush through her hair and brushed her teeth.
"Are you ready yet?" Ginny called anxiously.
"Just hold on a second." She replied. Quickly, she grabbed her purse, and as an afterthought, two pieces off parchment. Remembering what she learned in Muggle Studies class, she folded the first piece into an origami crane. Origami and Japanese muggles were just so fascinating! With a chuckle of amusement, she remembered that making a thousand of the cranes was supposed to be good luck. Once she was satisfied with the crane, she grabbed a quill and wrote on the second piece of parchment and wrote, "Viktor, what is your favorite color? You'll find out why I'm asking later. -From Hermione" She felt the odd urge to add one of those little winky emoticons that people usually use for texting. She quashed the urge, though, and made sure there was space for him to reply before folding up the parchment and tucking it into the wing of the crane. Plucking her wand out of her pocket, she whispered an incantation and enchanted the crane to fly to Viktor and return to her with his answer.
Finally, she exited the dormitory and found Ginny waiting impatiently at the portrait hole, holding her purse.
"Wait a second, Ginny. I'm financing this shopping spree."
"But I can't expect you to pay for my stuff!" she protested.
"Ginny, trust me. You are doing me a huge favor. My parents sent me an insane amount of money to go shopping with. They sent me roughly $1550 in muggle money, which translates roughly out to 31 gallons. Then, they told me if I didn't spend at least half of it, they were going to take me out and force me to buy things, or they'd do it for me. They said that they want me to 'let loose for once and enjoy myself'." She shuddered at the thought of having to go shopping with her parents. They meant well, but they always picked out things too girly, like dresses. She understood the importance of dresses for special occasions, like the Yule Ball, but for any other time, no.
"Are you sure?" she asked skeptically.
"I'm positive. I am asking you, as my best friend, to help me spend this money so I am not forced to go shopping with my parents."
"Alright. I'll go put my purse back. Wait, what's that?" She asked, pointing to the origami crane fluttering through the window.
"I'll tell you in just a second" She gave Ginny a it's-a-secret look.
"Oh, ok." Ginny said, catching on. "I'll be right back."
The crane continued to flutter towards her until it landed in her hair. With a sigh of contentment, she retrieved it from her bushy locks. She unfolded it and it read. "Hermione, my favorite color is a light blue-grey. I believe it's called periwinkle in English. I have a question of my own; what are a few of your favorite gemstones? It's the same here; you'll find out why I'm asking later. -From Viktor."
She was happy to find that Viktor could not only speak English, but knew enough to write properly as well. She snatched a quill from a nearby desk and wrote. "Viktor, my favorite gemstones are aquamarine, Brazilian opal, and white Australian crystal. -From Hermione."
"Oh, that's what it was for." She jumped when Ginny spoke. Apparently, her best friend had been reading over her shoulder. "Come on, I'm ready to go. " With that, they exited the common room and started the trek to the edge of the grounds.
Surprisingly, no one else was up except for a few tired teachers. They were sure to avoid the especially cranky Professor Snape.
Finially, they reached the edge of Hogwarts's grounds, where Hagrid was preparing the horseless carriages.
"Aye there, you two. What 'er ya doin' up so early?" He called out cheerily.
"We want to get into Hogsmede early to go dress shopping." Ginny replied.
"So the both 'o you found dates, eh?"
"Yep! I'm going with Nevile as friends and-"
She cut Ginny off. "I'm keeping who I'm going with a secret."
"Oh, that's fine. It's you an' your date's choice. 'Ere, this carriage is ready, girls. Have fun shoppin'."
"Thank you, Hagrid." She said earnestly before stepping into the carriage with Ginny.
"See you when we get back!" Ginny called as the carriage trotted away.
Remembering the crane, she whispered the incantation again and it took off.
"So that's how it was flying. Where'd you learn that charm?"
"Professor Flitwick mentioned it once in class, and it interested me, so I asked him about it, and he gave me the page number to look it up. "
"Always the bookworm, eh?" She said teasingly.
"Yep. What type of dress are you looking for?"
"I really don't know yet." Ginny confessed.
"I think it would be best to figure out a dress color first. It'll be tricky finding a color that doesn't clash with your hair."
"I haven't even thought about that."
"Hmm, I think a purple or a lavender would look best, but blue, green, gold or silver would look good too."
"I already know what your dress color is." She said in a sing-song voice. "It's going to be periwinkle."
"I hope Ms. LaRosa has some thing in that color. "
"I think she will. Look! We're hear already. " they stepped out of the carriage and entered the newly opened Ms. LaRosa's Dress Shop.
"Hello dears! What are you two looking for?" Ms. LaRosa greeted as the walked in.
"We're looking for dresses for the Yule Ball. " She said warmly.
"Oh! The Yule Ball! Lets get looking."
"I'm looking for something in Periwinkle."
"And I'm not sure what I'm looking for yet, although I'm leaning towards something purple or lavender. " Ginny said shyly.
"Perfect! Hold still, dears, and I'll get you fitted and find some dresses." With a flick of her wand, Ms. LaRosa enchanted the tape measure to measure them and a pencil to write down their sizes. Then, she turned off to pick out dresses from the hundreds that were on the racks.
Shortly, the petite woman came back with so many dresses that you couldn't see the top of her raven black, curly hair. " I think these will do to start out with." Came her muffled statement. "Let's get you two into the dressing rooms."
"Would you like some help?" She offered kindly.
"I'm fine," she said dismissively. "Now hurry along, dear." She walked into the dressing room, followed by a tottering Ms. LaRosa. With a grunt, she tilted the dresses the right way and hung the on an empty rack nearby. Then, she flicked her wand and summoned the clipboard with their sizes on it. "Yes!" She said. "I guessed the sizes right." She plucked two dresses off of the rack. One was a almost-black purple, floor length chiffon trumpet gown with a one shoulder sleeve that was extremely fitted and embellishments on the sleeve and one side. The other one was periwinkle, like she had requested. It had an emperor waistline, and a square-ish one shoulder neckline. Half of the top was embellished with rhinestones, and the other half was chiffon that gave way to a straight, a-line silhouette with piles of bouncy ruffles.
She handed the purple dress to Ginny said. "Here you go! The changing stalls are over there. Try this on, and dear, what's your name?"
"Oh! We never introduced ourselves, did we? My name is Ginny, and this is Hermione."
"Ok, and Hermione, try this one. There's another changing stall next to Ginny's."
"Thank you, Ms. LaRosa."
"Oh please, just call me Sophie." She when to the stall Sophie had pointed to and changed into the dress, and came out.
"Come look in the mirror, girls!" Sophie said. Both she and Ginny went over to the mirror.
"It's not really my style." She said kindly.
"Same here." Ginny added. "I can barely walk in this, let alone dance.
"I agree. Ginny needs something with a bit more leg room, and Hermione, all of those ruffles just don't seem to flatter you. Let's try something else." She went to pick out two more dresses.
The next dress she picked was a royal purple organza ball gown. It was sleeveless, but had plenty of fluffy fabric at the top. Then, until about the hips, it was a smooth fabric, decorated with beaded crystals. Finally, it poofed out into a short layer of close-knit ruffles over top of a full skirt. The seconded dress was a shimmery powder blue sheath dress made of chiffon. The halter neckline pulled up into a beaded collar. The fabric was flowy, and had a mini train as well a rouching to the sides.
"Try these on for size." Once again, they went, changed and came out to look in the mirror.
"Hmm," Sophie clucked. "What do you think?"
"This is better with the leg room, but I feel like I'm drowning in fabric."
"I think so, too. wanted your opinion before I said anything. What about you, Hermione?"
"I think I would like something a tad bit more fitted, and I'm not in particularly of this neckline. Also, I would like the dress to periwinkle, exactly, if possible. "
"Ok, dear. I can tweak the color a little bit, if its close, so you won't have to worry about it not being periwinkle. Just a question, if I may be so bold to ask, why do you insist on periwinkle?"
"It's her date's favorite color." Ginny chimed in.
"I see," Sophie chuckled. "I'll make sure it's periwinkle then."
Next, she picked out an amethyst organza sheath dress with a halter-V neck neckline with a layer of tool and lace over top and a satin bow tied at the waist. Then, she picked a periwinkle satin ball gown with lace and sparse, small crystals on the bodice. A silver ribbon with crystals sewn into it tied around the waist and the skirt had a layer of tool over it that had hundreds off tiny crystals sewn into the fabric all over. On the sleeves were tool ribbons.
"Third time's a charm! "
They tried on the dresses and once again came out to look in the mirror.
"Hermione," Ginny gasped in awe. "You look like a princess."
"I do?" She blushed.
"Definitely. I think that's the one you should get. I think I'll keep looking though. I don't really like the lace on me."
"I think I've finally figured out what dress you want, Ginny. Try this." Sophie handed her a lavender mermaid gown with a sweetheart neckline and was made of chiffon. There was light crystal beading on the bodice. It was fitted until about two inches above her knee. Then, it diagonally cut across and turned into soft, romantic ruffles that led out into a mini train. A plum ribbon tied around her waist, and a broach was pinned in the center of the ribbon. It was two crystal-covered hearts linked together .
She tried it on and came out. "Perfect." She said. "Harry won't be able to resist you in that."
Ginny blushed. "You really think so?"
"I take it that Harry is her date?" Sophie asked.
"No, just the oblivious git that she likes that was to stupid to ask her before someone else did."
"I see, and who is your date, Hermione, dear?"
"I'm keeping it a secret. Lots of people would be upset if they found out."
"I think I've got a lucky guess." she said with a knowing smile. She leaned in and whispered in her ear " It's Viktor Krum."
With a startled gasp, she said "how did you know?"
"Dear, Viktor is my nephew, and he's been writing to me about 'the most lovely Hermione Granger' for months. That is your last name,right?
"Yes, Granger is my last name. Viktor is really your nephew?"
"Yep! His mother is my sister Antoinette. She moved to Bulgaria to go to college and got married."
"I can't believe you are old enough to have sister who has A seventeen year old son. You don't look a day over twenty-five." Ginny said incredulously.
"You flatter me, Ginny. I'm actually twenty-nine. Antoinette is actually thirty-eight. We were born quiet a few years apart. "
"It is such a small world. I think we're about ready to pay. How much are these dresses?" Hermione asked.
"They are three gallons, apiece. If you get the dress and shoe combo, you can get you shoes for six sickles a pair. "
"We'll take it. Where are the shoes?"
"Right this way." Sophie ushered them into a different room.
Ginny picked out a pair of peep toe, lavender one inch heels with a rhinestone heart on the fabric that held the shoe to her foot. She ended up picking out a pair of open toe, silver strappy two and a half inch heels with metal rings helping to connect the straps.
After picking out their shoes, they returned to the changing room.
"It's just so beautiful." She sighed and twirled. She just loved how the crystals shimmered and danced in the light whenever she moved. After a moment, she finally changed and went up to pay.
"Here you go, Sophie. Seven gallons, keep the change as a tip."
"You are just as sweet as Viktor told me. Here, let me wrap those up for you. " With a wave of her wand, everything was wrapped up. "I hope to see you two again sometime!"
"You too! Thank you, Sophie!" They called as they walked out. They were immediately greeted by rush air as a carriage hurried past.
"Did you see who was in that carriage?" Ginny teased. "I wonder why your date was in such a hurry."
"Beats me." She replied.
"Come on, lets get back to the castle. It's almost nine, so the boys should be waking up within an hour."
As she stepped into the carriage with her shoes and dress, she felt like something she had never felt like before; a princess.
YAY! It's finally done. I hope the fashion details weren't too boring. I was wondering if anyone knows what accent Hagrid has? I thought it might have been Scotish, but I wasn't sure. Also, since I'm an American, the translation is in American dollars. Roughly, one gallon = $50, one sickle = $3, and one Knut = $0.15 . I know its not exact, but I'm too lazy to figure out the exact amount. Anyways, I hope you liked it! To all of my favoriters, followers, and reviewers; YOU ROCK! This story has barely been out a week, but it's one on my most popular ones already. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, and remember; reviews make me write faster. ;)