A/N – Bits of dialogue are from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

-

Hermione Granger

"It's just a ball," Hermione muttered to herself as she continued to put more Sleekeazy's Hair Potion onto her hair. "A ball. Nothing more."

Then why was she so nervous?

"I heard that, Hermione!" Lavender Brown giggled from her bed. "Are you nervous?"

"No. No, of course not," Hermione said far too quickly.

"Ha! You are nervous!" Parvati laughed. "I would be to, if I was going without a date."

"I have a date," Hermione snapped. "I just haven't told anyone who it is yet. You'll see tonight." Hermione knew how foolish that sounded when the words came out of her mouth.

"Sure," Lavender said condescendingly. "I honestly thought you would have gone with Harry or Ron."

"Well, I'm not," Hermione said. Lavender had said that everyday since she found out that Hermione had a date, and that it wasn't Harry or Ron.

She hadn't quite accepted that a world famous quidditch player had asked her to the Yule Ball. Little book worm Hermione Granger was going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum. Not that she cared that he played quidditch.

She remembered how nervous he was when he asked her. How he couldn't even look her in the eye until she said yes, without even a moment's hesitation. How he took her hand after she said yes. It had been like a dream.

The truth was, she had been trying to hide how hurt she was that neither Harry nor Ron had asked her. She knew neither of them fancied her, but it would have been so much fun to go with either one of them.

And then Ron started talking all that nonsense about wanting a beautiful date. That hurt more than not being asked. That Ron didn't think she was pretty, not even a little bit. Hermione knew she didn't have Parvati's exotic beauty or Lavender's cuteness, but she never thought she was horrible looking. Especially after she let Madam Pomfrey fix her teeth.

"Harry's got the most amazing eyes, doesn't he, Hermione?" Parvati asked suddenly.

"Err, yes," Hermione said, not really paying attention. "Harry's eyes are nice."

"I'm so glad Seamus asked me right away," Lavender sighed. "I think I might have a crush on him."

As Parvati and Lavender collapsed into giggles, Hermione once again thought how annoying the pair of them could be at times. She truly wished there were other girls in the dormitory besides the three of them.

Hermione's wand gave a slight popping noise, meaning it was time to meet Viktor outside the Great Hall. She stood up and gave herself once last look in the mirror. The blue robe she picked out with her mum this year looked very well. She had small pearl earrings dangling from her ears, which showed nicely with her hair pulled back like it was.

"I'll see you both at the ball," Hermione said quietly, and slipped out of the dorm. The common room was full of people waiting. Harry and Ron weren't there, so she didn't stop and say hello to anyone.

Viktor was exactly where he said he'd be, right be the entrance to the Great Hall. Hermione felt herself blush when she saw him. Was that a sign? She knew books so well, but barely knew her own heart.

"Hello," Viktor said somberly.

"Hi," Hermione said, trying to smile. She hoped the doors to the Great Hall would open soon.

"Did you read today?" Viktor asked eagerly.

"No," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Christmas and all..."

"Merry Christmas," Viktor said slowly.

"Happy Christmas, Viktor," Hermione smiled. She was starting to feel much more comfortable.

The doors to the Great Hall burst opened and couples started to rush inside. Viktor offered Hermione his arm, and trying not to blush again, she put her arm in his.

The Great Hall looked beautiful, absolutely wonderful. Briefly, she wondered how many hours the House-Elves put in to make this evening possible, but then she stopped herself. She wanted to enjoy tonight. Tomorrow she could work on their rights.

"Champions over here, please!" Professor McGonagall said in a loud voice. Hermione smiled at Viktor and together they walked to the front of the Great Hall.

She saw Harry staring at her once they got to the front. "Hi, Harry!" she said happily. "Hi, Parvati!" Hermione wasn't sure she liked the look on Harry's face. Why did he look so surprised?

But then, Hermione realized, Harry wasn't the only one. She was getting looks of either surprise or hatred. The hatred, she expected from Viktor's fan club. She tried not to feel to hurt at everyone's surprise. To keep herself calm, Hermione turned her attention to Viktor and ignored everyone that was staring. Why did everyone have to stare?

Professor McGonagall led the champions to the Head Table, where the judges were currently sitting. When Hermione was sitting down at the table, she finally felt herself starting to relax.

Dinner was wonderful. She and Viktor found enough things to talk about. More importantly, she started teaching him how to say her name, which he had pronounced wrong every time he tried to say it.

Before she knew it, the Weird Sisters were on stage. To be honest, she didn't really like their music that much. Viktor took her hand and led her to the dance floor. It was nice, really, holding his hand like that.

Hermione stood still while Viktor put his arm around her waist and took her hand. They didn't so much dance, but simply sway to the music. Viktor turned her once, and she saw Ron staring at her with an expression she couldn't read. She did know she didn't like the look in his eyes. So she turned Viktor back around.

But then other students were dancing, and Hermione finally felt like she was out of the spotlight.

"How do you do it?" Hermione asked as they continued to dance. They were the same height.

"Do vat?" Viktor asked in surprise.

"Be so comfortable in the spotlight. Knowing that wherever you go, people are going to be staring and asking for your autograph?" Hermione asked.

"Vell, I am used to it, I guess," Viktor said after a minute. "I haff been on the National Team since I vas fifteen."

"I couldn't imagine," Hermione said.

The song ended and Viktor nicely asked if she wanted something to drink. Hermione was feeling slightly flushed and agreed quickly. As he went to get drinks, she walked off the dance floor to talk to Harry and Ron.

Five minutes later, she stormed off, infuriated with Ron. How could he ever think those awful things about her? She would never, ever betray Harry. Never.

"Herm-own-ninny?" Viktor asked, sounding concerned. "I haff drinks."

"Thank you, Viktor," Hermione said softly. She took a glass of punch and took a long sip. Some of the magic of the evening was gone for her.

"Vould you like to dance again?" Viktor asked after they finished the punch.

Hermione nodded and Viktor took her hand. They danced for the rest of the evening and Hermione forced herself to stop thinking about Ron and how much he had just hurt her. She wouldn't let Ron ruin this night. Even if he was being an enormous prat.

When the evening was finally over, Hermione and Viktor walked hand in hand to the entrance hallway to say good night.

"I had a wonderful time, Viktor," Hermione said, looking down at her feet. "Thank you for asking."

"Thank you for saying yes," Viktor said. And then he smiled the first real smile she had seen from him.

"You're welcome," Hermione blushed. In the background, Hermione could hear Ron and Harry's voice. Before she even knew what she was doing, Hermione wrapped her arms around Viktor's neck and gave him a long kiss. Long enough so she knew that Ron saw the kiss.

When she stepped away, Viktor nodded, smiled again and said, "Good night." When his back was turned, Hermione walked purposely past Ron and Harry, giving Ron the nastiest look she could muster and strode up the hallway to the Gryffindor common room.

She heard them follow her, but she absolutely refused to look behind her. Hermione was still furious with what Ron accused her off.

"Fairy Lights," Hermione snapped at the Fat Lady. Reluctantly, the Fat Lady opened the door, and Hermione tried to slam the door in Ron's face, which the Fat Lady protested loudly.

"What was that display downstairs?" Ron yelled.

Hermione took a few steps towards the fireplace. "Lower your voice!" she snapped. "People are still coming in." Which was true. Students were still coming in from the portrait hole.

"And you say you weren't fraternizing with the enemy!" Ron bellowed, ignoring Hermione's request completely. "That looked like fraternizing to me!"

"I was saying good night," Hermione said angrily. "It's none of your business who I fraternize with!"

"It most certainly is, too, my business," Ron cried. "Anything that could hurt Harry is my business!"

"Me dancing with Krum is not going to hurt Harry!" Hermione yelled. People were staring at them, but Hermione didn't care anymore. Ron was driving her mad.

"It might! It just might!" Ron yelled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Where's your loyalty?"

"My loyalty? Where's your loyalty to me?" Hermione cried. "I would never do anything to hurt Harry!"

"You say that now," Ron said angrily. "I can't believe I had to spend all night watching you dance with him and then…and then…"

"And then what, Ron?" Hermione challenged.

"Kiss him! I saw you kiss him! How could you do that?" Ron yelled. "My entire night was ruined because of watching you with that prat!"

Just then Harry entered the room, but both Hermione and Ron ignored him, too busy fighting.

"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" Hermione cried.

"Oh yeah?" Ron spat. "What's that?"

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"

Ron looked stumped at that, and Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She picked up the hem of her robe and ran upstairs as quickly as she could. Except the last place she wanted to be in was her dorm. Parvati and Lavender were probably waiting to ambush her with questions.

She opened the door, and had been right. They were sitting on Lavender's bed, waiting.

"I'm really tired," Hermione said quickly. She threw off her dress robe on the floor and didn't even bother picking it up. With one hand, she took down her hair and found a hair band to put it back in a ponytail.

"Are you all right?" Parvati asked.

"I'm fine," Hermione snapped.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lavender asked hopefully.

Hermione shook her head violently. She debated whether she needed to go to the bathroom or not. She decided she wanted to go to bed. With a sigh, she flung herself on her bed and drew the curtains around her.

Then flicking her wand, she placed a silencing charm on the curtains. Normally she didn't silence her bed. But she did tonight, because Hermione felt the tears welling up in her eyes, and the last thing she wanted was Parvati and Lavender to hear her cry. Then she would never hear the end of it.

"Sam," Hermione said softly, reaching for her teddy bear. Sam had been her teddy bear since she was little. She had been quite worried about the state of Sam until she came to Hogwarts. She was always able to do the necessary repairs to Sam to keep him looking good with a little magic.

She hugged Sam tightly to her chest and lay back against her pillows. "Please don't cry," she told herself. "Please, Ron's not worth this."

"No boy is worth this," she whispered. But that was the problem. Ron wasn't just a boy. Ron was her best friend.

She closed her eyes and pictured Ron's face in her head. Hermione wasn't the smartest witch her year for nothing. She was well aware that at the rate they fought, she would certainly end up taking out her wand and cursing him some day.

Or kiss him, a voice whispered in her ear.

Hermione sat up suddenly at that thought. She suddenly pictured the two of them arguing, followed by a passionate kiss. She blushed furiously as she realized if that happened, she wouldn't push him away.

Her breath caught in her throat. "Curse him or kiss him," Hermione said, her voice slightly strangled. Considering the argument they just had, and her current state, she wasn't sure at the moment which she would prefer.

-

A/N – Next up…Pansy Parkinson!