Chapter 7 revised

7/ /08-7/ /08

here's chapter 7-elimination night

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'Bloody hell! gorgeous...' Draco stared at Hermione like he never saw anyone more beautiful than her. She was wearing a bergundy colored dress that was being held up by the fabric around her neck that criss-crossed down her back and ended at her lower back. The dress ended at her ankles,showing her 3 inch white heels.

But just then Draco saw Seamus give Hermione a look that was one of...wanting? Draco felt even more angry and bitter.

'wait! I did not just think that'

'oh yes you did' said the evil little voice in Draco's head.

"can't deny feelings" It cackled evily

'I do not think Granger is Beautiful or even remotely pretty!' he thought back

He tried ignoring the voice that kept repeating,"you like,Granger!,you like Granger!".

Hermione stood there looking out at the crowd. she was nervous as ever! All the girls had fake wide smile on. Hermione did the same and smiled at the audience. She looked over the crowd and did not see Harry nor Ron. She found Draco sitting in the front. She couldn't tell why, but when her eyes sought him she felt more confident. The guys let go of the girls arms and walked off stage.

The girls placed one hand on their hips and turned to stand at an angle. they began to walk around and show off their dresses. they walked in various routines and danced inbetween. the girls stopped a few minutes stepped back into her place as the guys came out again and resumed their places. The whole thing only lasted about an hour.

'What in the world were the escorts for if this was all they were going to do?!' Hermione thought as she strained a huge smile. The crowed clapped and wolf-whistled for the girls. Erwin Finkleburgh stepped back on stage.

"well,that was lovely! Now,our judges will write what they thought of the girls and tally up votes. the Elimination Ceremony will be tomorrow at 8pm sharp! Thank you ladies for that wonderful show! See you all tomorrow!" The hall began to empty.

Hermione scowled and thought,'show? what are we, dogs!?'

She turned to walk backstage with the rest of the girls she glanced at the judges who were now standing up. She didn't know any of them but when she turned her head more she caught long,greasy hair shining in the light.

'no...' she was the only one on the stage so she ran to hide behind the curtain.

'it can't be!' she thought wildly. Sure enough her worst fear has come true.

Severus Snape was one of the judges.

"SNAPE?!"she quickly covered her mouth and ran into the dressing room. the Judges looked around for the source of the noise. Severus Snape looked at the curtain that was now swaying slightly and smirked.

'it seems Miss Granger has noticed me..' he thought. he gathered his papers and fallowed the other judges to the judging room.

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Malfoy stood standing outside the girls dressing room waiting for Hermione with Harry and Ron.

'I should've been up there with her,not Finnigan' He thought and quickly brushed the jealousy away.

A few minutes later,Hermione stepped out the room with her dress in her arms.

"Harry,Ron! where were you?"Hermione asked once she saw her friends.

"oh,I'm fine,Granger,how about you?"Draco knew his jealously about Seamus was getting to him. Hermione glared at him.

"Hello,Malfoy."she had noticed that she'd been switching back and forth between "Malfoy" and "Draco".

"You looked great, Hermione," Ron said."Yeah really good!"Harry smiled and looked at Draco.

"Uh, yeah you were fine...for a mudblood," He inwardly kicked himself when he saw Hermione's gaze harden. then inwardly kicked himself for kicking himself for calling her a mudblood. Ron started towards him, but was held back by Harry.

"Anyway did you see Isabella?"Hermione thought for a bit."well, she was in the pageant."

"How about after?" She shook her head."No. I was the last to get changed. I stopped because I saw Snape as a judge," the three boys eyes widdend.

"Hate to say this,Hermione,but you're not going to win,"Ron said sadly."What a way to be optimistic,Ron!" Harry said.

"Well,getting past that,were do you think Isabella went?"Harry asked anyone who was listening."Didn't you hear,Potter? Granger was the last in the dressing room so everyone else left before her!"Malfoy said. Harry glared at Malfoy.

"Look here,Malfoy: Hermione said that you had changed for the better and she trust you and we believed her, but now I'm not so sure. You don't act like you've changed at all." Harry said in a deadly voice. He stepped closer to him with an angry face.

"I don't have to prove a bloody thing to you, Pothead. Just because I'm helping you blithering idiots doesn't mean I change my personality just to suit you! I'm still me and you have to deal with it. I can help with this thing and you know it. You can believe who ever you want, but when I do something I stick to it! Right now I'm helping you save this thing from going down.I'm willing to be a little civil towards you,Potter, but don't expect anymore then that from me."Malfoy turned around quickly and left the trio staring after him.

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'...don't expect anymore then that from me' those words kept repeating in Hermione's mind as she headed back to her room. For some reason it bothered her. She thought he had actually changed everything about himself. She walked past her sleeping roommates and crawled into bed.

"Is that all?"she whispered in the dark and then closed her eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.

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'...Don't expect anymore then that from me' Those words kept repeating in Draco's head. For some reason it bothered him that he said that. He had honestly thought,at first, that he had changed everything about him but the old,or current,Draco came back. He then realized he can never change. He can switch sides and fight for the good but his attitude towards certain people or people in general will never changed. He still thought Weasley poor,He still thought Harry as an attention seeker and he sill thought Hermione as a mud-wait!

Draco bolted up from his bed.

"Is she even that anymore?" He whispered to himself. Except for tonight, he hadn't even noticed that he hasn't even said the word since...when? he layed down and pulled the cover over his head.

"Granger is just a... filthy, dirty mudblood!" He whispered harshly into his pillow. With that issue solved he rolled over and fell into an uneasy sleep.

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The judges walked into the judging room as someone quietly fallowed behind. They all sat around a table and talked about the girls.

"I think Miss Delacour was very good," Snape other judges agreed.

"Although,Miss Granger was stunning!" Said another judge. Snape sent a death stare at her and sighed.

"Well,Miss Granger has a habit being good...at everything." They continued to talk for 39 minutes more. Soon after they had made their decision, the Judge who had disagreed with Snape excused herself and went to athroom. the person followed her inside.

The judge walked into a stall in the bathroom.A few minutes later she came out and began to wash her hands.

the lights suddenly went out.

"Hello?Is anyone in here?"she turned off the faucet and grabbed her wand.

The light came back on.

"Oh, dear! You scared me, Dearie." She said looking at the girl behind her through the mirror. The girl stared.

"Are you alirght?" The judge asked,turning around as the girl pulled out her wand and pointed it at her.

"IMPERIO!"
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Hermione slept later then usual. They had a month until the next compition so there was no rush for to be up and early. She got up and got dressed for the day and walked down the hall and into the Lobby. She walked over to the Dining Hall and sat down to eat breakfast. She got up and walked outside to the pool layed down in a chair and thought about last nights events.

'Isabella seemed alright last night. She didn't do anything to ruin the Pageant but...' Hermione was at lost for thoughts. This whole thing has got her brain all messsed up! she doesn't know what to do about the girl. She is so good at conceling herself and acting innocent when the time calls for it. Hermione turned over to lie on her stomach.

'and it doesn't help either that I might like-' She didn't even want o finish that thought though she knew what she wanted to think. SHe forcfully pushed it out her mind.

'i need to rest' Hermione closed her eyes and dozed off into a restless nap.

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Harry and Ron sat in the game room playing wizards had beat Harry for the third time in a row.

"I give up!"Harry grinned and leaned back in chair."you an never beat me,Harry. i am the champion!"Ron said shook his head.

"Have you seen Hermione by the way?"Harry was already 2pm."No.I haven't."Harry and Ron stood up and went in search of Hermione.

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Hermione woke to the sound of a voice." 'Ermione?" Hermione opened her eyes to see Gabrielle. She looked at her, sat up and smiled at her.

"Hello,Gabrielle."she said." 'Ello! 'ow are you tozay?"she asked.

"I'm bit frazzled, I'm a bit worried about tonight." It was the truth. She was very worried about the elimination.

"Oh don't worry! You will show Malfoy!"

"oh,well,about that...I gave up on it.I'm only in it for fun."it wasn't a complete lie. Hermione still wanted to prove to Malfoy that she could win this thing, even if they were on even ground with each other and trying to stop Isabella from doing Merlin knows what!

"Zat is great! I 'ope you are 'appy with zis. I must go.I am meeting ze best boyfriend ever! Au Revoir!"Gabrielle stood up and skipped to the door and ran inside.

"Hermione!" Someone called. Hermione got up and walked to Harry and Ron who were running towords her.

"Hermione where were you?" Ron asked.

"I was outside.I fell asleep." She gave an apologetic look.

"well,are you ready for tonight?" Harry asked."I suppose." Hermione looked over Harry's shoulder and saw a flash of white-blonde hair going into the building.

"Well I'm going to get ready. See you later." Hermione walked away from them and headed inside.

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It was already girls were rushing once more backstage to prepare for put on her dress once more and did her hair and looked over at Isabella:she was also getting ready and talking to a few of her friends. She caught bits of the conversation.

"...Yeah, I did it." Isabella and some other two girls gave knowing glance at each other."great!" One of them said.

"I can't wait to see if it works. Did you do what he said yet?"she asked Isabella.

"Not yet. It'll work out." Isabella girls stood up and walked over to their vanity mirrors. Hermione put on her shoes and stood up.

'Harry needs to know this' Hermione walked over to the door and was about to leave when-

"you look beautiful,Hermione" Hermione turned around to see Seamus; she barated herself for not walking faster.

"Thank you,Seamus."she said. Hermione looked up and felt his gaze on her as she became immensly uncomfortable.

"Hey,Hermione...,"Seamus said, but then the anouncer on stage introduced the girls and their escorts so they walked on stage.

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Draco sat in the third row with Potter and Weasley. He looked up as the girls stepped on stage and once more he looked for Hermione. His gaze hardend as he saw Seamus's arm around her waist.

"Welcome,to the elimination ceremony! Now without any more dely I shall call the ladies who are staying first...," The three boys kinda tuned in and out of the noise. Harry and Ron had braught a mini wizards chess game to occupy their time. Draco stared at Hermione and unconsciencely looked Hermione up and looked right at him and Draco became frightened that he had been caught staring until she gave a small smile to him. He smiled back though she could not fully see it for it was dark over the audience.

"You might want to do something about that staring problem. She might get scared off," Draco jumped at the turned to see Potter grinning like the arse he is.

"I don't have clue what you're talking about potter!" Draco kept wouldn't have believed Draco if it weren't for the color that appeared on his face.

"But I'd be quick about it if I were you. She won't wait forever."Harry honestly didn't know what he truely meant by that last statment.

"yeah,whatever, Potter."Draco looked at Hermione once more.Mudblood.That's what he saw up there. a filthy,dirty little mudblood with bushy brown hair and stuck up know-it-all who had become princess for a day. And nothing more.

The host guy had finally gotten down to the final 14. Only 4 more girls will be moving on and 10 will be gone. Out of those 14 girls were Hermione,Gabriella,Isabella and another girl named Stephanie Yang.

"The next name I shall call is..Stephanie Yang!!"The crowed cheered for Stephanie as she walked backstage with with her escort. The crowd became silent again.

"the next lady I shall call is..." Hermione stood their next to Gabrielle. She grabbed her hand and squeezed it to reasure her somehow. She glanced over at Isabella: She didn't look the least be worried that she could leave.

"And the chosen one is.." Before Erwin could say the name, Ron had gotten a wicked Idea and shouted,"Harry Potter!" Trying to make a joke out of the"chosen one". Harry grabbed Ron and sat him down harshly. Ron stiffled his laughter as Harry scowled at him.

"Hermione Granger!"Hermione let out a breath and walked backstage with Seamus.

"And the next girl to move on is...Isabella Lestrange!"Isabella smirked at the other girls who had to leave. She shook Erwin's hand and walked away.

"And the final girl to move is...Gabrielle Delacour!"Gabriella gasped and smiled. She walked backstage with the rest of the girls.

"well that was very lovely and now..."the host began to speak the little end speech that no one payed attention to.

Hermione saw Isabella brush past her and over to her mirror. The others had left to their dressing rooms. Hermione bent down to take off her shoes but when she stood up,Isabella was gone.

'How in Merlin's name...? she was right there!' Hermione quockly changed and grabbed her things and ran out the door to find Harry,Ron and found them waiting outside in the hall.

"Hey,Hermione you were great. Congrats,"Ron smiled."Thanks, Ron, but I need to tell you guys something very important."She was breathing slightly heavy due to her running.

the three boys listened intently as Hermione told them what she had discovered.

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A/N-yeah! ch.7 is complete! sorry for the long wait. I hope I did a good job. oh,yes and congradulations for BloodMoon Rising on guessing the who the person was in the bathroom.