We had just embarked on a difficult human transfiguration chapter, in which our first lesson was to change the color of our eyebrows. I stood before my mirror, my wand pointed at my brow bone, muttering my spell. Thankfully, Hermione had talked me into practicing last night and I had the spell down pat.

"What do you think, Harry?" I turned to him, my eyebrows now a sizzling electric blue.

"Spectacular," he grinned, his left eyebrow newly virescent. "And mine?"

"Quite lovely- they even match your eyes!" I giggled; turning to see what color Hermione had made hers. My smile faded when I saw her morbid expression. I followed her gaze to see Ron, whom had a spectacular handlebar mustache. However, he was doing a cruel impression of Hermione jumping up and down in her seat when Professor McGonogall asked a question. Lavender and Parvati were egging him on, howling with laughter. I frowned, turning to Hermione. All of this was because Ginny told Ron about Viktor. The bloke should have seen it coming, anyway.

I flicked my wand discreetly, causing Ron's eyebrows to grow at an alarming rate until they reached the floor, curling out to match his mustache. I saw a sparkle of amusement in Hermione's eyes while I openly smirked at my success. Ron was so busy panicking that he didn't notice I was the one who did it. At the end of class, Hermione left immediately, forgetting most of her things. I suppose my little prank wasn't enough to expunge all of her sorrows, so I grabbed her books and darted after her.

After Hermione and I spent a while in the bathroom, I had her cheered up enough for dinner. Harry was sitting with Ron, but we decided that it was likely Lavender would show up soon, so we sat a bit down the table.

My ears tuned into their conversation when I heard a familiar name.

"…that Adrienne thing really freaked them out, but as there hadn't been anything since… Oh, hi, Hermione!" Parvati beamed, smiling at us both. I smiled back; happy to see she was awkward about Ron and Lavender, too. As it turned out, Lavender had squished between Harry and Ron, nuzzling against him and being as obsessive as possible.

"Hi Parvati! Are you going to Slughorn's Party tonight?" Hermione asked, completely ignoring the two lovebirds.

"No invite," she pouted, losing the gleam in her eyes, "I'd love to go, though. Sounds like fun- better than studying all night. You're going, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm meeting Cormac at eight and we're-"

There was a loud noise, causing most of us to jump, and Ron surfaced from his alternate world and into reality. Hermione acted as though nothing had happened, practicing my advice more thoroughly than I expected.

"-we're going up to the party together"

"Cormac? Cormac McLaggen?" Parvati confirmed.

"That's right," Hermione replied sweetly, "the one who almostbecame a Gryffindor keeper" she said, reminding Ron of her contribution to his success.

"Are you going out with him, then?" she leaned in, wide eyed and open-eared.

"Oh yes- didn't you know?" she giggled in a very un-Hermione-like way. So un-Hermione-like, in fact, that I was baffled at her thoroughness and glanced at Harry, who had the same reaction. It seems like our little Hermione has a knack for revenge.

"No!" she said, positively agog at the gossip. "Wow, you sure like your quidditch players, don't you? First Krum, then McLaggen…"

"I like really good quidditch players," she corrected, beaming in triumph, "well, see you! Got to get ready for the party!" she popped to her feet like a jack-in-the-box. At once, Parvati and Lavender huddled to converse, Ron becoming a dim second in interest.

I stood, my face still frozen with shock as I followed Hermione out of the Great Hall.

"That… was…" I began, at a loss for words.

"Exhilarating? Belated? Thrilling?"

"Brilliant!" I broke into a grin. "Wow, Mione, I didn't think you had it in you! It's always the quiet ones…"

/

I took a deep breath before following Hermione down the staircase, which Harry was waiting by the foot of. Nearby stood a group of jealous girls sending me hateful glares, but what did they matter? Nothing- they were nothing. I had my real friends and that was all it took for the world to turn.

Hermione had swirled to the foot of the stairs, arm in arm with McLaggen (to Ron's benefit, I'm sure). This alerted Harry of my entrance, and he turned to look up at me with that same dreamy smile he had at the Yule Ball. My dress sparkled along with my necklace Harry had given me that very night two years ago. My earrings, a gift from Hermione from a previous Christmas, just barely peeked out from behind my golden curls. I had pinned my hair back enough so that they were visible.

When I reached the bottom, I could have sworn Harry was about to drool. I thought I'd save him the embarrassment, so I laced my arm through his and we left for Slughorn's party. Once we were in the corridor, Hermione dropped her arm from Cormac's, insisting that they "save it for the after party". Harry and I were a little put off by that statement, so we dropped behind them.

"Do you think Ron will ever get over himself?" I asked, pondering how long it would take for him to man up and straighten out his issues with Hermione.

"Dunno, what do you think?"

"I give him until the end of the year"

"Why then?"

"Because then I kick his ass," I said with a little preview kick. Thank god my dress had a slit. Harry snickered, obviously amused by my feisty attitude. "Well, he needs a eye-opener! How rude he's been lately. It's like he's been brainwashed-"

"He's just oblivious, I suppose"

"Are you kidding? He's a bloody- sod- git- twit- arse- prat-" I fired as many British slang terms I knew, but stopped in a huff when Harry began laughing out loud. "What?"

"It's just funny to hear you swear like that. Just two years ago you came here with an American accent and all, and now you've got this vast vocabulary"

"I guess I adapt well," I smiled, almost laughing myself. I must have looked like a belligerent fool shouting out those swears words. I looked around, hoping no one had heard.