"Okay, open your eyes."

Hermione looked up to see Pansy wearing a stunning lavender dress with black accents that swept almost to the floor. She bunched her hair nervously as she examined her reflection in the mirror. "What do you think?" Pansy asked.

Hermione bit her lip. "Er," she said, watching the velvety material swirl around Pansy's hips and trail into bunches on the floor. Pansy snapped her head around to stare at Hermione, eyes crinkling.

"What? What's wrong with it?"

"It's a bit much." Hermione confessed. "We're only having dinner."

"Only dinner?" Pansy asked, voice raising as she turned back to her wardrobe. "It's the first time I'm meeting your parents. I want a dress that matches." She smoothed her hands over the bodice, a frown tugging her features downward.

"I don't typically wear floor length purple ballgowns to dinner with my parents," Hermione pointed out, settling against the back of Pansy's bed.

"So you don't like it." Pansy yanked open the doors to her wardrobe harder than necessary, sorting through her clothes with rough hands. "Well, I'm not planning to just wear trousers and a a nerdy sweater every day like you do. We can't all run around like that, some of us have to actually make an effort." She turned away and slid her dress off, kicking it a few feet away once it had pooled around her ankles.

Hermione felt her hackles rise then. "I don't see why you're accusing me of dressing poorly," she stated icily, "When you're clearly upset about something else."

There were a few moments of resolute silence as Pansy glared at the pink fluffy dress she had worn to the yuleball hanging in her wardrobe. Finally she sighed and looked down. "Is the dress too much?" she began quietly. "Or am I too much for your parents?"

Oh.

Hermione fiddled nervously with her hands, unsure how to respond. "I'm not sure," she admitted. She had never brought a girl home to her parents before and she didn't know how they would react to that, Pansy's dress notwithstanding. "But if they put up with my nerdy craziness for sixteen years so far, I'm sure they'll love you for being too much."

Pansy gave an unladylike snort as she pulled a pretty yellow skirt out of her wardrobe, shaking her head. "I'm glad you finally admitted you're a nerd" she teased, hand sliding into Hermione's. Hermione scoffed. "How about this skirt?"

"I like it."

"Good, because I want you to wear it."

Hermione huffed. "Pansy!"