After classes had ended that day, Ginny, Heather, Luna, Rolf, and Zacharias followed Draco and Hermione up to Montecino Tower. There was an unspoken truce in the air for Ginny and Draco to be around each other outside of class, for it was understood that the four girls would need each other in preparation to look absolutely stunning for the Valentine Ball, and the most ideal dressing area would be Montecino Tower.
Zacharias, Rolf, Luna, Heather, and Ginny were all carrying garment bags, and the girls in addition were carrying make-up bags as well as bags full of beauty potions and other necessities such as perfumes and brushes. As the seven friends trudged upstairs, all except one of them were lively and chattered away happily, almost forgetting the fact that Draco and Ginny were still upset with each other.
Hermione, the exception, was busy brooding on how she was going to prepare Draco for Ron's presence. With his problem with Ginny right now, she wouldn't be surprised if his temper went astray tonight and ugly things happened. What am I going to do? she thought miserably.
When the friends reached Lady Montecino's portrait, she beamed at them all, thinking that perhaps Draco and Ginny had made up for the upcoming party. "House Unity." said Draco after everyone had greeted the beautiful woman. As they filed in, Lady Montecino called, "Make sure you get Kreacher to come and take a photograph of you all after you're done beautifying yourselves and before you leave!"
"No problem, Lady Montecino." Draco said brightly, his mood vastly improved from the last few days. Hermione smiled at the excited lady, but her mind was still whirring furiously to find a solution to her dilemma.
The boys were given half an hour to get ready, as Ginny declared the girls needed much more time, as there were more of them, and it didn't matter if the boys looked ugly. "Don't worry, no one will look at you anyways." she had assured them. "It's us females that'll be the center of attention. Go. You have now twenty-nine minutes and thirty seconds. Chop chop!"
With a last scowl at the bossy redhead, the boys vanished inside Draco's room and the bathroom while Heather and Luna giggled at Ginny. The girls set their luggage down in Hermione's room before returning to the common room to chatter. Of course, Hermione was still quiet, barely hearing her friends' innocent gossip, and it was Luna who first noticed that something was not quite right with Hermione.
"What's the matter?" the blond girl asked, lightly touching Hermione's arm. "Something's bothering you, Hermione. You should tell us."
"It is about Draco?" asked Heather worriedly. "Is everything alright between you two?"
"It's fine, it's fine." Hermione muttered, not meeting either of the girls' eyes.
Ginny cleared her throat. "Mione, should I tell them…?"
Hermione deliberated for a moment, and then nodded. "Go ahead, Gin."
Ginny exhaled. "Alright, guys. To make a long story short, Ron's coming tonight as Romilda Vane's date."
Heather gave a loud "No way!" while Luna raised an eyebrow. "He's got a lot of nerve coming here, doesn't he?" she said calmly. "After all he's done, I wonder exactly how many pieces Draco will tear him into."
"That's the problem." Hermione said grimly. "I don't know how to tell Draco this without ruining the dance before it starts. And if I don't, he'll be so shocked at seeing Ron there that he'll charge without thinking and get himself humiliated."
"My, my." Heather said softly. "I think you'll have to tell him, Mione."
"I know, but how?" the bushy-haired brunette replied, twisting her hands anxiously.
"I'd tell him right after you guys have your first dance." said Luna serenely. "That way, you'll have at least one good dance with him before he starts looking for Ron to pummel."
Ginny nodded her agreement, and Hermione sighed. "I guess you guys are right then."
"I know I'm always right." a voice from behind them sounded. The girls jumped from their seats and turned around to see Draco, Rolf, and Zacharias looking snazzy in their dress robes. Rolf and Zacharias wore classic black dress robes that looked nearly the same. Only their ties were different, as Rolf was sporting a sapphire blue one while Zacharias had a white one with a large diamond in the middle.
Draco's robes were a solid emerald green, and he sported a plain golden tie. All the boys looked handsome, Draco most of all in Hermione's opinion, and the girls immediately ran to them and started fussing over them, much to their annoyance.
"Calm down already." Zacharias moaned as Ginny and Heather cooed over how adorable he looked. Draco decided to step in and help his friend by looking at his watch, and saying, "You girls only have two-and-a-half hours left to get ready. So-"
With a squeal, the girls dashed off to Hermione's room without another word, Ginny slamming the door behind them. "Thanks, Draco." Zacharias grinned. Rolf looked at the Senior Boy in awe.
Exactly two-and-a-half hours later, the girls were ready and inspecting each other for any last minute details they might have overlooked before going into the common room. Each girl's ensemble stuck to the theme of Valentine's Day, and therefore the main colors of each outfit were red, pink, and white.
Heather wore a full-length gown that looked fit for a princess. The skirt was huge, cascading in white ripples to her dark pink stilettos. Here and there were dark pink roses scattered all over the voluminous skirt, matching the dark pink bodice that was dotted with pearls, which was strapless. The top of the bodice was embroidered with white lace, and on Heather's bosom lay a magnificent chain of pearls and diamonds, courtesy of Zacharias. Her hair had been curled so that it looked only chin length, with only a princess pony tail holding it back. On top of her head was a small but glittering tiara that went perfectly with her necklace, and she had only diamond studs in her ears.
Luna also wore a full-length gown, but hers was of the palest pink and there were small diamonds sprinkled all over both the skirt and the bodice. It was a simple dress, really, fitting Luna perfectly and showing off her slim figure. The skirt barely flared out, instead floating close to her body, and the bodice was also strapless. Luna had straightened her wavy dirty-blond hair for the evening, and it flowed down gracefully onto her bare back. She wore no necklace but she did have on a pair of dangling diamond and sapphire earrings that sparkled at the tiniest tilt of her head. Luna looked like a pink cloud filled with a thousand tiny stars, and she, too, wore a tiara, but hers was of sapphires and diamonds. Her stilettos were also sapphire blue, and Hermione thought that the pale pink and dark blue looked quite lovely together.
Ginny's gown was more similar to Hermione's; it was short and strapless, and it also clung to her figure. It was entirely silver, save for the red rubies intricately sewn into a swirl design at the waist of her bodice. Her skirt was made of elegant silver frills that flowed only to her upper thigh, and her ears were decorated with Zacharias's earrings. Ginny's beautiful red hair was swept into a high bun that was held together by a glittering diamond band, and on her throat hung a simple silver necklace that was attached to a ruby heart charm. Her shoes were glossy red pumps, and made the tall redhead look even more mature.
And finally, there was Hermione in a short red dress that came to her knees. Like Heather's gown, the skirt cascaded in ripples, but clung close to her thighs like Ginny's did. The bodice had intricate silver swirl designs wrapped all around it, and it was strapless as well. Nestled on Hermione's throat was Draco's locket, and she, too, had Zacharias's earrings on. Her shoes looked similar to Ginny's, but at the toes, she had a large ruby in the center of a silk bow as a decoration. She had done her hair exactly how she had done it in her fourth year at the Yule Ball, except that instead of pink crystal fasteners, she had used ruby pins, just for Draco's appreciation. While she hadn't regretted going with Viktor, she knew Draco had regretted going with Pansy, so this was her little present for him.
"We look beautiful!" Ginny squealed, beaming at the four of them in the mirror.
Heather shushed the excited redhead, telling her that the boys would barge in if she kept carrying on like this.
"We do look rather nice." Luna agreed, twirling around in her gown, and sighing contentedly.
"OI! Hurry up, will ya? We're going to be late if we don't go soon, and in case you've forgotten, we have to start the dance!" Draco Lucius Malfoy was a hypocrite at heart, but Hermione didn't mind that.
"We're coming, Drake. We're just doing last minute touch-ups!"
"Well, could you make it last second touch-ups instead?" Zacharias grouched. Heather giggled. "We're coming, sweetie. Be patient!"
"We have been, for the last two-and-a-half hours." Rolf replied earnestly. Luna grinned goofily. "He's got a point, you know."
"Alright, alright." said Ginny. "Let's go."
Whispering and giggling excitedly, the girls filed out of Hermione's room after turning off the lights. Just as they expected, the boys' jaws dropped in awe upon seeing their lovely ladies. However, what they didn't expect was seeing each boy holding a magnificent bouquet of flowers, as well as a certain Harry Potter looking flashy in his scarlet dress robes and a silver tie.
"HARRY!" Ginny shrieked, hobbling over to her boyfriend at the speed of light and strangling him in a hug. "You're here!"
"Yes, I'm here." Harry chuckled, one hand holding the roses patting Ginny's back, the other hand trying to fix his glasses that had been knocked askew by Ginny's sudden lunge. "You look good."
Ginny stepped back, grinning. "Thanks for stating the obvious." She batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. "Anyways, when'd you get here? I thought we were going to meet after the first dance! Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"It was a surprise, obviously." Harry said, smiling widely. "It wasn't my idea, though. You'll have to thank this young man here, I believe." He pointed to Draco, who hadn't taken his eyes off of Hermione.
Ginny stiffened, and Draco finally peeled his eyes off of his girlfriend to turn to Ginny. His face became impassive as everyone waited to hear what Ginny would say.
"Erm, thank you, Draco. Thank you so much. I'm really grateful." she said in a small but sincere voice. It was the first thing she had said to Draco after little more than a month, and it made Draco feel strange to hear her voice directed at him after all this time.
"You're welcome, Ginny." the blond replied calmly. "It wasn't much, though. All I had to do was write Harry a letter last week, and then I used Side-Apparition to bring him here from Hogsmeade after he arrived this evening."
Both sides seemed to be on the verge of apologizing to each other when Kreacher suddenly croaked, "Pictures, everyone!"
Hermione looked around wildly for her favorite elf before she saw him by the armchair Crookshanks and Bubble were currently sharing, holding a camera.
"Zacharias got hungry." Rolf explained, "So we went to get Kreacher and then he remembered that Lady Montecino wanted us to take a photo, so he brought a camera, too." Hermione smiled at the empty platter on the glass coffee table, and said, "Well, let's do this then! We have a dance to be going to!"
It took a while for the group to decide which arrangement was best for eight people, and it was finally agreed upon that the girls would sit on the couch and their respective boyfriends would stand behind them. Hermione sat on the far right, holding her bouquet of crimson roses, Ginny next to her, with a bouquet identical to Hermione's, then Heather with a bouquet of pink roses, and finally Luna with an identical twin of Heather's bouquet. The boys stood straight and tall, and each had their right hand draped on the backrest behind their girlfriends' necks. Kreacher took several shots, and then Lady Montecino's voice was heard. "I know it's impressive to be fashionably late, but you guys are stretching it out!"
"Coming!" eight voices cried. After frantic goodbyes and thanks to Kreacher and Lady Montecino, both of whom looked fondly at the happy students, the friends hurried downstairs. As they were met by an irritated Professor McGonagall outside the closed double doors of the Great Hall, Hermione saw Draco and Ginny exchange small smiles, and was glad that they had finally made up. Harry James Potter, you are truly amazing.
