And now, "the Ginny torturing Hermione by taking her shopping chapter!" better known as the dress shopping chapter!
hope you like it... it was mostly based on when my mom took (dragged me screaming from the house) me shopping for a semi-formal dress last year...
and thanks to moony066 and MotherCrumpet for the awsum suggestions of pranks to do at the Ball.
And now on with the chapter... just after these brief messages...
Disclaimer: no (I told you... brief)
Random Quote (not Latin this time) of the Day:
"We don't make mistakes, we make happy accidents" -Quote from Painter Bob in a movie I watched in painting class :P... Seriously, how wrong does that sound?
Chapter 25
No Manhandling!
"How about this one?" Ginny held up a periwinkle strapless dress for Hermione to see.
"No,"
"What about this then," she grabbed a silvery-white, floor-length gown.
"no"
"this one's nice"
"no"
"Well this maybe?"
"no"
"well you choose one then,"
"I don't really like any of these," Hermione shifted her weight from one foot to the other uneasily.
"Then just grab some and go try them on!" Ginny sighed in exasperation, shooing her friend into the dressing room, along with a pile of dresses.
A few minutes later, the redhead stood outside the stall, tapping her foot impatiently, "Are you almost done in there?"
"I don't like it," Hermione replied from the other side of the wall.
"Well come out and I'll take a look,"
Hermione stumbled out of the dressing room in a glitzy yellow strapless dress, looking very much out of her element.
"Yeah, you're right… yellow's not really your color… and it's too sparkly," Ginny surveyed her friend critically, "Alright, go back in and try another one.
Two hours and forty-three dresses later, they had still not gotten anywhere.
Hermione scowled and trudged back into the cubicle, dragging the next dress to be tried, on the ground behind her.
"Please!" Madam Malkin's irate voice yelled from the other end of the shop, "Do not manhandle my dresses!"
Ginny smiled wryly as Hermione slammed the door, muttering angrily. After a few moments, Hermione emerged once again, wearing a tiny red dress.
"Ginny," she sighed warily, "There is absolutely no way I am wearing any of these dresses in public!" she gestured towards the colorful pile.
"Why not?"
"They're all so… flashy… and skimpy."
Ginny was about to retort, 'So?' but thought better of it, and instead suggested, "Well why don't we get rid of all the ones you're sure you won't buy, and then you can try on the ones that are left."
So they did just that. Hermione gladly discarded anything that ended above her knees or had no straps, while Ginny sorted out the almost neon colored, eye-blinding dresses.
They were left with a small assortment of simpler, more conservative, much more appropriate gowns. One by one, Hermione tried on and rejected a dark green, a shimmering purple, and a few different black dresses. This whole shopping thing was becoming very trying on her nerves. She donned a midnight blue, velvety halter dress and stepped out of the changing room for Ginny's inspection.
Ginny's eyes swept swiftly over the ankle-length, flowing cut of the gown, and then continued on to note the delicate crystal rhinestones dotted elegantly along the neckline, waist and hem. It looked simply stunning on Hermione, but would take a bit of persuasion to get her to actually buy it.
"Yes… you're getting that," Ginny declared suddenly.
"bu…What?" Hermione stammered, clearly taken aback.
"I said, you're going to buy that one," Ginny replied grinning impishly.
"No… I can't," she fingered the velvety material nervously.
"What's wrong with it?" the redhead inquired, "It can't possibly get any longer without you tripping over it!"
"No… it's just… there's no back," Hermione turned around, proving to her friend that there was indeed no fabric covering her shoulders or upper-back.
Ginny burst out laughing.
"What?" demanded Hermione.
"It's a halter-tied dress!" Ginny giggled, "There isn't supposed to be a back! Seriously Hermione, this is probably the most conservative dress they have here! It looks gorgeous on you and you are going to buy it!"
"but…"
"no, I don't want to hear it. Just change back into your regular clothes and we can go pay for it,"
Glad to have an excuse to stop modeling dresses, Hermione gratefully changed into her jeans and T-shirt, her back safely covered once more. Once she exited the dressing room, she was more or less dragged, along with the dark blue gown, to the register, by Ginny.
Looking reproachfully at the dress and her widely grinning friend, she pulled a few handfuls of money from the pocket of her cloak and paid Madam Malkin, who chided, "Now don't carry it like that dear, you'll muss the fabric."
Hermione responded with a fierce glare and stomped out the door, purposely dragging the bag on the ground.
"Sorry about my friend," Ginny apologized angelically, as the shop-owner raised a quizzical eyebrow, "She doesn't like dresses much."
"pity," murmured the witch sympathetically as Ginny ran to catch up with Hermione.
"Hermione! Hermione! Wait up!" Ginny yelled, her feet smacking down on the icy, wet cobblestones. Finally, she caught up, her breathing ragged.
"Wanna…go meet… Harry and Ron… Three Broomsticks… now?" she panted, her breath freezing over as it left her.
Hermione agreed happily, making sure to drop the paper bag with the dress in it a few times on the slushy ground for good measure, and they nearly sprinted over, anxious to get inside the warm building.
0o0o0o0o0o
"Oy! George Look!" Fred pointed through the frost-covered window of the shop, "They're human again! Well… at least some of them are,"
George joined Fred at the window peering out at the many Hogwarts students, and yes… elves. Fred suddenly fell to the ground, rolling with laughter.
"Wha! What?" George scanned the crowds trying to find the source of his twin's laughter.
"Malfoys! Tried… haha… wands! Heeheee!"
George instantly located the three Malfoys, who looked rather unpleasantly… purple, bright neon purple.
"Haha!" George landed atop Fred, "They tried to use their wands to change back, again! That's so pathetic! Haha! They of all people should know by now, that the most common side effect of our potions is turning a different color if you try to reverse the effects!"
"Merlin knows we've given them so much over the years. And every-time! Every-bloody-frickin'-time! They always try to counter back, and change colors! Hahaa!"
"To the best test dummies ever!" George conjured up two steaming mugs of butterbeer and took a hearty swig.
"I'll drink to that!" Fred laughed and followed suit.
Emptying his mug, George spotted two figures running toward the Three Broomsticks across the road.
"Hey look! Hermione and Ginny are human again too! It is a good day!"
"Amen brother! Amen!" Fred shouted wildly (scaring a few nearby customers), before filling their mugs to the brim once more with the frothy drink.
Well thanks for reading! Now REVIEW!
Cactus 0- if no one knows the point then there probably isn't one...which confuses me... and if I continue this train of thought, I will probably end up taking about twenty more lines and boring you and whomever else is reading this with the thoughts that pop into my mind when I think too much... And I have realized that thinking too much is what causes my depression... maybe I should stop thinking... is that even possible?... and I should really stop typing now... goals for life: 1-stop thinking... 2-stop typing
Sorry for the bit of rambling above... if I stop typing withing the next five lines, maybe I'll achieve my second goal of life... but that would mean I could never update again... so I won't... and maybe If I learn how to hibernate I can reach my number one goal, unless dreaming counts as thinking... which in that case, I'll never achieve any of my goals leaving me goaless... aaaannndd I'm rambling again...
New Goal of Life... STOP RAMBLING...
okay Bye Now! REVIEW!
-Oli
ps- there's still time for prank ideas! hint..hint