Disclaimer: I don't own it.
A/N: Thanks for the positive reviews! They're always welcome. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Recap:
Saturday morning came, and Ginny was knocking on the door of Hermione's room bright and early. Hermione went and opened the door with a yawn, obviously having still been enjoying her rest. "What's going on, Gin?" Hermione asked, truly curious.
"We have to get you ready! It's your big date with Romulus! I can't believe you were still sleeping! Come along! Let's find you something to wear! Get in the shower and I will have everything ready for you by the time you come out!" Ginny responded, almost in a drill-sergeant manner.
Hermione took one last look at her warm cozy bed then obeyed Ginny's command, getting into the shower and thinking about what the day would bring.
New Chapter
When Hermione emerged from the shower with a towel on, she found Ginny engaged in a heated argument with her roommates, Lavender and Parvati. Lavender and Parvati looked about ready to pounce on Ginny, and Hermione knew why. Ginny messed with their beauty sleep.
"What in the name of MERLIN are you doing here at this time, Ginny Weasley?" Lavender screeched.
Ginny had what Hermione knew to be her sarcastic smile plastered on her face when she responded calmly, "Well, I'm here to get Hermione ready, of course."
Parvati seemed to calm down slightly at this, but Lavender decided to continue her rant, "Well I realize that you are going to have to do quite a bit of work, but couldn't you have done this somewhere else?".
Parvati put her head in her hands. Did she REALLY have to go there, AGAIN? She thought in frustration. Meanwhile, Hermione stayed quiet in the doorway of the bathroom, no one had realized she was standing there yet.
Ginny's frustration hit the ceiling at this point. "LAVENDER! What the HECK is wrong with you? Hermione has done absolutely nothing to you, and you are being the most rude and self-centered person I have ever met in my entire life. Hermione's more naturally beautiful than you have EVER been. Do you think that all of us girls are too stupid to realize that you put a lot of time and money into your appearance. I'm sure your daddy spent a lot of money to have that mediwizard perform that breast augmentation spell as well as he did. What about your nose? You lost the bump and some of the width it had during your second year here. The boys may be too daft to notice these things, but the girls all know. I understand that you are jealous of Hermione, but mark my word, if you say one more nasty thing about her, I WILL make you pay. No amount of money and appearance-enhancing spells will undo what I could do to you. Do you understand?"
Lavender's eyes were so wide that Ginny thought they were going to pop out. She glanced over at Parvati and saw her look slightly concerned, but Parvati had her hand over her lips like she was trying to hide a smile. She then glanced over to the door of the bathroom and saw Hermione standing there quietly. She looked mildly upset about the whole ordeal, but Ginny could tell in her eyes that she was secretly grateful that Lavender might finally stop attacking her.
Lavender could not make out a coherent response, and so she just grabbed some clothing and marched out into the hallway. Parvati finally let out a small chuckle then followed Lavender to help her cool down. With the two of them gone, Ginny turned her attention fully onto Hermione. "So, are you ready to have me work my magic on you?"
Hermione smiled at Ginny's terrible pun and nodded, finally taking in what Ginny had done while she was showering. She had transfigured something into a beautiful vanity, and she had what Hermione thought to be all the cosmetics in existence lined up on it. Ginny motioned for Hermione to take a seat, and Hermione sat down in front of the large mirror.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to use all of this on you. It would look ridiculous. I just was wanting to see all of my options and decide which one I thought would look best with your outfit." Ginny said, reassuringly.
After looking over at the outfit that she had put on Hermione's bed, she decided what she was going to do. She decided that she was not going to put on any foundation because she wanted the makeup to be light. She applied a shimmery champagne colored eye shadow to Hermione's eyelids and then put on mascara. After she was sure that the eyes were done evenly, she decided to keep it simple since it was for the daytime and not some big dance or event. She applied a sheer lip gloss to Hermione's lips and then decided that nothing else needed to be done. Romulus recognized her beauty even before the makeover and prior to her putting on any makeup, so there was no use in going overboard when it was unnecessary.
After that, she decided to turn her attention to Hermione's hair. She muttered a quick drying spell, and she saw that the hair products that Hermione had been given worked quite well. Her hair dried into beautiful, shiny ringlets. However, she wanted to do something different. She pulled Hermione's long, curly hair back and put it into a messy bun with the help of some clips and hair ties. She put a quick spell on it to keep it the way it was after she had it just the way she wanted it.
Hermione admired the work that Ginny had put into her appearance in the mirror. She had to admit that Ginny had done a good job. She loved the simple, elegant style in which she had applied the makeup and done her hair.
While Hermione was looking in the mirror, Ginny brought over a bowl of warm water. "Soak your hands in it for about ten minutes." Ginny instructed as she went through one of the drawers of the vanity. Hermione did as she was instructed while she figured out what Ginny was going to be doing. She had never really had a manicure before, and she was rather excited to see how it would turn out.
After the ten minutes elapsed, Ginny took out a file and filed Hermione's nails to make them all well-rounded. Then, she took out a different tool and pushed back the cuticles on Hermione's nails. When she was finished with that, she took out the moisturizing lotion that she had pulled out of the drawer and gave Hermione a hand massage. Hermione was relaxing and decided that she quite liked getting manicures.
"When did you learn to give manicures, Ginny?" Hermione asked, truly curious.
"My mom and I give each other manicures during breaks. It's kind of a girl thing that she and I do for some time away from all my brothers." Ginny answered.
"Ah, well that would be fun. Perhaps I should suggest this to my mom." Hermione responded, thoughtfully. Ginny just smiled and applied a base coat before taking out an apricot-colored nail polish and white polish.
"I'm going to give you a French manicure with a twist. Instead of pink, I'm going to use apricot. I think it will turn out looking good." Ginny said, as she started to apply it. When she was finished, she saw that she was right. Hermione admired her nails and Ginny looked happily down at her work. Ginny painted her toenails in a similar fashion, and when it all dried, she took Hermione over to the bed where she had put the clothes for the day.
Hermione put on a simple, light-weight yellow dress with a white cardigan just as Ginny had put them on the bed. Ginny smiled when she saw how well everything came together. After she had her clothes on, Ginny searched through Hermione's closet and found a pair of white sandals and instructed Hermione to wear those. When the look was complete, Hermione looked at herself in the mirror and gave Ginny a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you so much, Ginny. I love it!" She said sincerely.
"No problem, 'Mione. Now, if you would excuse me, I need to go get ready myself. I'm sure Romulus will love the look."
After Ginny left, Hermione descended the staircase and saw Harry and Ron sitting together playing chess. Hermione walked over while they were very focused on the game and said, "So, how's the game going?"
Both boys jumped slightly at the sudden distraction then looked up at Hermione. Harry smiled and stood up to give her a hug. "Aww, our little 'Mione going out on a date. You look beautiful. Romulus had better be careful or some other guy may try to steal you away from him."
Hermione laughed and punched Harry lightly on the arm. "You're being silly, but thanks."
Ron stood up and gave Hermione a hug as well. "You really do look great, 'Mione. Are you sure you want to waste the look on Romulus? I'm still not sure that he's right for you. What if he turns out to be some creepy stalker guy? That's why Lavender and I should go with you….to protect you, ya know?"
Hermione sighed, "Ron, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Romulus. Besides, you know how Lavender feels about me. For the everyone's sake, I think it is best that you and Lavender stick with the plan of going with Harry and Ginny. I will be fine. I'm not exactly a damsel in distress anyway, Ron. It's sweet that you are concerned, though."
Ron blushed a bit and nodded, "I know you're not weak, Hermione. We just worry. Lavender said that she actually does like you, though. She just gets jealous is all. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you do change your mind."
Hermione wanted to roll her eyes at how utterly fooled Ron still was by Lavender, but she decided to stay neutral about it. Harry looked at Ron like he was an idiot, but he also remained silent.
Hermione watched them for a few minutes, then Romulus came up behind her. "Good morning, Hermione. You look absolutely beautiful."
Hermione blushed a bit at the compliment and turned to face Romulus and gave him a brief hug as a greeting and turned to stand beside him, both of them facing Harry and Ron.
"Good morning Harry, Ron." Romulus said politely.
"Good morning!" Harry responded, "I hear you two are in for a fun day."
"Morning," Ron said, reluctantly.
Romulus smiled at them both, "I think it will be fun, especially with such wonderful company."
Hermione thought she heard what could best be described as a growl coming from Ron's throat after the last comment that Romulus left. Harry seemed to think the noise was hilarious and was biting down on his lower lip to prevent himself from laughing. Romulus glanced at Ron and lifted an eyebrow, but turned to Hermione, "So, are you ready to go?"
"Yes! See you two later!" Hermione responded, and they left go get on the carriages headed to Hogsmeade.
When they arrived, the first place they headed was to the bookstore. They were both excited about the potions book that they discussed previously. After finding it, they spent another few hours looking through dusty old tomes and discussing various potions and spells, exchanging information they already knew and looking up things when they ran into a topic they had questions about. They both left with several new books, which they shrunk down to make them easier to carry around.
They went to a few more shops before they started getting hungry. It was about 12:30 when they made it to the Italian restaurant that Romulus had mentioned. Hermione looked around, thoroughly appreciating the replicas of muggle art masterpieces they had decorating the walls.
"Just the two of you?" a waiter asked politely. Hermione had not even noticed him standing there since she was so caught up in her surroundings.
"Yes," Romulus responded congenially.
"Right this way, then" the waiter responded, leading them back to a cozy little booth. "Will this be suitable?"
"Yes," Hermione replied with a smile.
"Good, then may I start you off with something to drink?" the waiter asked.
"I'd just like some tea." Romulus replied.
"I'll have the same," Hermione chimed in.
"I'll have those right out for you two, then." The waiter said as he disappeared.
Hermione watched him disappear then turned to Romulus, who had his attention at the entrance of the restaurant. Hermione followed his line of vision to see what he was staring at. She was only slightly surprised to see Ron with a rather disgruntled Lavender and exasperated Ginny and Harry along with him.
Hermione took a deep breath and looked at Romulus, "Well, this should be a rather interesting dinner."
Romulus nodded and watched as Ron lead the waitress to the table he wanted…the one right beside the booth where he was currently seated.