I love you, my wonderful reviewers. You all really encourage me... cookies and Cedric dolls for everyone!

She grimaced at the way her feet were hurting, at how her eyes hurt and head hurt and especially how her heart hurt. She was cowering in the library, completely visible to anyone who might walk by, and yet no one did. Everyone else was still down at the Ball, dancing the night away. Only she was up here, having a quiet cry and feeling sorry for herself.

"I'm pathetic." Her voice trembled a bit, but when she said it again she seemed to gain strength. "I'm pathetic."

She remembered how happy she had been that morning, and how now it all seemed like a faraway dream, like the more she tried to grasp happiness the more it slipped away through her fingers like water.

The first thing Hermione thought of when she awoke on the morning of December the 25th was, "Good Lord, the Yule Ball is tonight."

There were presents piled at her feet, books and whatnot from some friends and acquaintances, a tooth care kit along with a new dental research book from her parents, some candy, a pair of socks from Dobby, and other things. There was even a lovely bracelet from Viktor, with a note stating that he would see her that night. The gift was lovely and she smiled more at ease with the thought of going with him. They were just friends, after all. Actually judging by how well they knew one another they were even less than that.

She finished folding the last bit of wrapping paper and pushed it all neatly into a little rubbish bin. There, now Lavender and Parvati wouldn't have to worry about fitting their own paper in. The other girls were still asleep, she noticed, Parvati drooling out of the corner of her mouth and Lavender snoring softly. With a smile she stood and, snatching a tissue, walked over to Parvati and gently wiped the corner of her mouth. Hermione smiled; although they were not close friends and didn't giggle in the halls or converse about boys or have too many discussions, sometimes she felt closer to them than she would have if they had done all those things. Life was curious like that.

She waltzed her way back over to her four poster, spinning and humming and tapping out steps with her feet. The textbook had been helpful for the most part, moving pictures really helped. She had been fairly confident about the Ball until she had read that there were many types of music for each dance and then she had slowly began to worry that she might not be able to fit her steps to the music. Smart though she may have been, Hermione was not egotistical and she knew that physical activities had always been a harder subject for her to master. It worried her.

But still, this morning she was a princess and a courtly young suitor had asked her to the ball. She was going, and she was going in style. Hermione had been planning this for days now, ever since the kiss in the library. She hadn't seen Cedric since, and she worried he was avoiding her. Well, being Viktor Krum's date would make it impossible for Cedric to avoid her then. What had at first seemed an awful idea was now turning to her advantage, though she did feel a bit bad at using Viktor.

She raised her fingertips to brush them over her mouth, caressing the small lips as her memory took her back to that rainy evening in the library when Cedric had held her so tightly, when she had kissed him and he had kissed back.

Her stomach jumped at the memory and her face flushed hotly. Guilt flooded through her, she had ruined something so perfectly good and pure… wait, who was she kidding? They hadn't been friends; there had been no friendship. It had just been random conversations, a lucky save, and one all-powerful, searing kiss.

Even just thinking of it made her blush. It had been so… good too. Like nothing she'd expected. She'd heard Lavender and Parvati say how slimy and icky and stupid it was but with Cedric she hadn't noticed anything like that at all…

She flopped back onto her bed, swearing softly. "Damn you Cho Chang." She swung her arms back above her head and let them collide with the wall before slipping down with gravity and collide with the bedspread.

Except one of them didn't collide with the bedspread.

She sat bolt upright and twisted around, so quickly her back cracked in protest. There was an envelope on her bed addressed to her in a red ink that shimmered softly in the early morning light. Her name was written in an elaborate hand, with not too many frills and curlicues but still lovely. Her heart leapt at the sight of it. The mysterious envelope screamed 'Secret Admirer' and she ripped it open wildly, desperate to see what it contained.

A note tumbled out, written in the same ink and addressed to her in the same precise hand.

Hermione, it read:

I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. I must claim you tonight for a dance. I'm sure you'll look lovely. You always do.

I'll be waiting at eleven o'clock by the entrance to the Great Hall. I can't wait to see you.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

Hermione bit her lip. What if it was Cedric? Then her logical mind caught up. It couldn't be Cedric, she reasoned. He was going with Cho (damn her) Chang. But what if it was? After all, she certainly had given him a reason to think of her…

A very good reason…

Hermione mentally slapped herself. When had she turned into such a… bad girl? She'd used to be so good and pure and innocent… maybe it was the time she'd caught Seamus and Lavender making out that she'd started getting these ideas, or that time she'd seen Cedric…

That memory made her cringe and yet also made her feel so… wistful. She'd come out of the library late one night and had seen Cedric and Cho kissing in the corridor. Well, it had progressed to more than just kissing, to be certain. Hermione had been so shocked that she'd ducked back into the hiding place that the doorway provided her. And yet she hadn't been able to stop herself from peeking. The thought of watching those two kiss and touch and embrace and kiss until she thought they were going to rip one another's clothes off was almost too much for her. But sometimes, late at night, she tried to imagine it as if she had been Cho Chang, being kissed so passionately and lovingly…

It was enough to make her want to scream and throw something with envy.

Damn Cho Chang.

Tonight, Hermione was going to go all out. Tonight, she was going to get the guy. And maybe even meet her secret admirer… the thought made her shiver with delight. Her whimsical brain carried her away into indulgent fantasies of it being Cedric who was waiting for her, and she giggled softly to herself as she floated away into Hermione Happy Land.

"Hermione…umm, Hermione. Snap out of it. Hermione…" A hand waved in front of her face and she blinked as someone patted her cheek lightly.

Lavender stood over her. "Are you okay?"

Hermione beamed up at her, not caring at how ridiculous she looked, daydreaming at seven in the morning. "I'm fine. No, I'm great!"

Lavender pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Okay then. Anyway, oh, presents!" The girl squealed and turned away from her, and Hermione picked up her note again.

"Eleven o'clock, hmm?" She considered. Why not?

Visions of her and Cedric dancing together, so close, so close beneath the moonlight of the hall ceiling made her smile and throw her arms back behind her.

It was going to be a great day.