Ron was surprisingly okay with her relationship with Fred. It didn't hurt that he had started dating Lavender after the Gryffindor party following the Quidditch game. While it was annoying to constantly have Lavender around now, Parvati was usually there, too, and she was okay company. Hermione hadn't been paying much attention to the new additions to their group. She had be poring over the 17 books that Fred had sent her. Despite her course load, she had finished all but one of the seventeen in the month since the Hogsmeade trip.
She sat in one of the plush armchairs in front of the fire with Harry; Ron and Lavender were wrapped around each other in the corner. Listening to the crackling fire, Neverwhere was open in her lap; Crookshanks lay at her feet, taking in the heat from the fire. Harry, however, was busy with a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay that Hermione had finished two days before. Snow was swirling outside the windows as winter set in in late November.
Harry was just asking Hermione about the properties of nonverbal spells when a handsome horned owl rapped on the window. A third year nearest to the window opened it and let in the owl as well as the freezing air. The window was shut promptly and the owl shook snow out of its feathers before flying over to the fire. Hermione thought that it meant to warm up before delivering its letter. It was a few moments before she realized that it was sticking its leg out to her. Tentatively, she took the red envelope from the owl.
"Who sent you a Howler?" Harry asked, looking up from his essay in shock. Hermione shrugged. She slit opened the envelope and it rose in the air in front of her and the unmistakable voice of Fred Weasley filled the common room.
"HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER, YOU ARE A BRILLIANT WITCH AND I AM HONORED TO BE YOUR BOYFRIEND! I WISH I WAS AS SMART AS YOU! I JUST HOPE THAT YOU'LL BE AS CLEVER AND HILARIOUS AS ME ONE DAY! HAVE A GREAT REST OF TERM!"
The Howler fell to the hearth. Hermione, in shock, stared at it. There was a deafening silence and then the entire Gryffindor common room erupted in laughter. Ginny was rolling on the floor, crying with giggles. Hermione buried her face in her hands.
The only person who wasn't amused was Ron. He looked sullen as Lavender laughed hysterically. Hermione avoided his eyes as she hid behind her hair. The horned owl landed at her side and she asked Harry for a scrap of parchment. She scrawled: Fred Weasley, you are an arse.
She sighed, she wasn't really mad at him. It was such a Fred thing to do. Underneath her previous writing, she added: Will you come to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party on the 20th of December with me?
She attached the note to the owl's leg and walked it to the window, desperately avoiding everyone's eyes. She returned to her book and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Eventually, people went back to their activities and homework. Hermione sighed in relief.
Fred sent his reply two mornings later. I'll wear my finest robes.
The remainder of November and the majority of December seemed to pass rather quickly. Her lessons were becoming increasingly more complex and difficult, Hermione spent most of her time studying the new theories and spells. Embarking on human transfiguration proved to be very difficult, but Harry and Ron's horrible attempts at it lightened the mood. Hermione had succeeded in turning both of her eyebrows blue then back to their usual brown during their last lesson of the term.
After their lesson, Hermione changed Harry's yellow eyebrow back to black and Ron's purple eyebrows back to red. They walked down to the Great Hall, Ron and Harry joked about their lessons that day. Ron said, grinning, "Did you see my mustache?"
"Imagine if you could really grow that," Harry said, returning the grin.
"I think I'd grow a beard instead," Ron said thoughtfully.
Hermione rolled her eyes. She was grateful that Ron was acting normally after Fred's Howler last month. He had been quiet for a few days following it, but lightened up one day when Seamus Finnigan set fire to his bag in Charms.
"So, you lot have that party tonight?" Ron asked as they sat down for dinner.
"Yeah," Harry said, miserably.
"Oh, cheer up," Ron said as Lavender sat down beside him. "I bet you'll meet loads of famous people."
"Yeah, because I need more of those in my life," Harry grumbled. He looked toward Hermione when Lavender began to distract Ron. "What time is Fred coming?"
"He's meeting me at quarter to eight," Hermione replied, putting a few pieces of fruit on her plate. Harry looked at her meager meal and raised an eyebrow. She muttered, "Queasy stomach."
"Why?" He asked, loading his plate with steak and kidney pie and roasted potatoes.
"This is our first event…as a known couple," she said, looking away with a red face.
"So?"
"So," she began, "it sets the bar for every other event that we attend as a couple. We have to present ourselves properly."
"I don't think Fred's worrying about this," Harry reasoned.
"He wouldn't," Hermione frowned. Harry looked away, feeling as though he had raised a sore subject. Hermione shook her to clear it. "You still don't have a date."
He frowned. "There was no one I wanted to ask."
Hermione knew that wasn't true. She knew that he wanted to ask Ginny, but she was already going with her boyfriend, Dean Thomas. Hermione scanned the Great Hall and found Romilda Vane looking their way. She leaned over the table and whispered, "Go with a friend."
"You're already going with Fred."
Hermione laughed and said, "You have other friends."
Harry looked around and spotted Luna rising from the Ravenclaw table. As Luna passed their table, Harry stopped her. "Luna, do you want to go to Slughorn's party with me tonight?"
She appraised him then cast a look at Hermione, who smiled. "Okay."
"I'll meet you in the entrance hall at eight o'clock."
When 6:30 rolled around, Hermione rose to get ready for the party. She took care with her hair, braiding several strands and connecting them at the back of her head. Wearing her blue dress robes, she appraised herself in the mirror. Pleased with her look, she took a deep breath and walked out of her dormitory.
Fred stood in the entrance hall, tapping his toe to the music trickling down from Slughorn's office. He wore new black velvet dress robes with a red bowtie. As Hermione walked down the staircase, the sound of her heels on the marble alerted Fred to her presence. He looked up at her and beamed.
Fred walked to meet her and took her hand, kissing it. Hermione blushed as he looked up at her and said, "You look beautiful."
"You look very nice, too," she smiled.
"Was the Howler too embarrassing?" He asked, sincerely.
She groaned. "More embarrassing that you can imagine."
He shrugged. "I think I have a pretty great imagination."
She rolled her eyes. "How's the shop?"
"Business is booming. I couldn't be happier," he said looking at her and smiling. "At all."
Hermione hid a smile by adjusting her hair. "Shall we?"
