A/N Chokers and square necklines and butterfly clips, oh my. Who remembers 90's fashion? (Let's be honest, 90's fashion is back with a vengeance). Again thank you for the kind reviews, favourites, and follows! I hope you enjoy this early, longer chapter!

~Dot

The lowest level of the Ministry of Magic was just how Hermione remembered; dismal, dark, and cold. She was sat in the tiny corridor between the courtrooms. Harry was pushing an hour of testifying, and Hermione was on edge waiting for him to be done.

As Kingsley had promised, the trials were private-no one knew that they were there today. There were no reporters to avoid or autographs to give. Instead, they were hastily taken to the ninth floor of the Ministry and down a desolate staircase to the tenth.

Today, Draco Malfoy was on trial, and when it was done, his mothers would be next. Hermione hoped desperately that today would be the only day she had to testify. She was uneasy about reliving her past. It was hard enough to do with those she loved and seemed next to impossible to do in front of strangers.

Though there was one thing that was keeping her anxiety at bay-Ron was with her. While he couldn't come into the courtroom, he could stay with her while she waited. They didn't have much to say to each other, especially since she was worried that if she tried to talk only sobs would come out.

As soon as they sat, Ron put his arm around her, and he hadn't moved his arm since. She cuddled into his chest, feeling calmed by his heartbeat that she could hear from his chest in tune with his heartbeat pulsing on her wrist. Her invention had been working perfectly.

Ron made sure to "message" her every night. The first night was with a simple goodnight. After that night, however, they spent hours talking to each other about nothing of importance. When they were apart (which was becoming a rarity recently) they would secretly message each other. Ron had begun trying to message her at mealtimes. Though, often his spelling was off, as he was trying to message her with his hands under the table. She knew that the others figured out something was up, as Ron spent more time with his hands under the table instead of eating and Hermione would often guffaw out of nowhere, responding to Ron's quips about the conversations being had or the excessive raisins in the pudding.

She had never felt so close and reliant on someone else in her life. It was beginning to scare her how much she did rely on him. However, that fear was always abbreviated when she was with him.

Hermione kept her head rested on his chest, trying to breathe deeply and match her racing heartbeat to his steady one. They sat in comfortable silence. But that was soon broken as Harry entered the corridor. He looked more tired and dishevelled than he had when he went in. Hermione went to ask him how it went, but was shuffled away and into the courtroom before she could.

The room felt entirely too big. The last time she was here, it was filled with people. There had been rows and rows of Wizengamot members including Umbridge (who, thankfully, had been sent to spend the rest of her years in Azkaban) and a hurdle of defenceless muggle-borns waiting to hear their fates.

Now, there were only a few people in the room. There was the Chief Witches assistant, who showed her to her seat. Next to her was the Chief Witch, the opposing counsel, and the Malfoy's counsel, whom Hermione had met previously when she was prepared to take the stand. And finally, across from her, was Draco Malfoy.

He looked smaller than she remembered. The chair he sat in seemed to overwhelm his tiny frame, though thankfully, he was not chained to it as his predecessors had been. His face was gaunt and sucked in, with deep purple rings under his eyes. His clothing engulfed his bony figure, very different from how Hermione knew him to look; he used to be so polished and impeccably dressed. Now, he looked bedraggled, to the point that it was hard not to pity him.

She made sure to not look him in the eyes while the Chief Witch swore her in. Then, her testimony began.

The opposing counsel was the first to question her. Time moved in a blur as she recounted her early experiences with Draco to the near-empty court. He wanted to know of all of her experiences with Draco in order to "show his character". Though, of course, nothing he asked about showed Draco in a good light.

She wasn't sure how the counsel had learned so much about their time at Hogwarts. He grilled her on their early encounters, refusing to say the word that Draco often called her, and instead asking her to say it (and gasping dramatically when she did). He knew about her slapping Draco, Draco hitting her with the densaugeo spell in fourth year, his numerous threats, and his attempts to kill Dumbledore.

By the time they got to her time at Malfoy Manor, she was exhausted. He went into grim detail of her torture, even going as far as making her show her mudblood scar (which did cause audible gasps from those around her). She tried to say how Draco had lied about Harry being there, which is what led to their escape, but the opposing counsel ignored her, instead fixating on the fact the Draco did not stop her torture and even stayed to watch.

To her surprise, after the brutal questioning about the Manor, the opposing counsel stopped, saying he had asked all he needed to. Hermione expected that she would have to testify with Draco's counsel next, but the Chief Witch stopped it, saying they would convene again tomorrow, as it was getting late. With that, she was escorted out of the room.

Harry had been waiting for her along with Ron, and the three of them headed back to the burrow in silence. Though, as soon as she made it through the front door, she collapsed into Ron's arms. He managed to lead her into Ginny's room, offering calm supporting words in between her sobs.

She held onto him for a long time, letting all of her stress and fears out with each sob. Soon, it had grown dark, and Hermione knew it wouldn't be long before Ginny would come to bed. She tried to steady her breathing and wiped her tears on a handkerchief Ron provided. As she had expected, as soon as she wiped her face, Ginny knocked on the door. Ron kissed Hermione on her forehead before motioning to his watch with a wink and saying goodnight.

After a comforting hug from Ginny, the young women got ready for bed in silence. As soon as she switched her light off, Hermione checked her bangle. Ron was sending her message after message about how strong and brave she was. While she didn't feel like either of those things, his encouraging words did bring a smile to her face. Their conversation quickly moved to reminiscing and only after two hours of talking about how boring Professor Binn's class had been (she never would have admitted it before, but Ron and Harry were right about his droning lectures) did they finally say goodnight.

It felt as though the intensity of Hermione's nightmares had doubled. Every time she fell asleep, she was bombarded with images from the Manor. The pain caused by Bellatrix in her dreams radiated through her even as she awoke. After her third time waking from a nightmare, the pain got so bad that she ended up in the loo again, sick. This time, however, she was not alone. As soon as she felt able to, she went to head back to Ginny's but was blocked when she opened the bathroom door.

George was waiting for the loo and looked at her with concern.

"You alright?", he asked.

She nodded her head and quickly went up the stairs, hoping that he was none the wiser to her problems.

The next day went by faster than the day before, partially because they were being questioned by Malfoy's counsel, and there were much less good things to say about him than bad. His counsel was nicer, trying to put a positive spin on her encounters with Draco. Still, when she left, she was utterly exhausted, though grateful that she was done.

She spent most of the rest of the day in bed, with Ron bringing her tea and books to read. He sat with her as she read, bringing her peace by just being there. Eventually, she was sure he must be bored, so she started a new book, this time reading to him.

She had another nightmare and pain-fueled night. When she awoke she was sure she couldn't have looked much better than Malfoy had. She was exhausted. This wasn't new to her, as most of her nights were riddled with nightmares. However, this time her exhaustion came from a different place. Testifying had knocked whatever energy she had left out of her. Though, she breathed easier knowing it was over.

She dragged herself to the bottom floor of the burrow and found Harry and Ginny eating their breakfast. She was happy to see them, as it was getting harder and harder to spend quality time with them, and even harder to get one of them alone. Hermione supposed they were making up for their year apart. After chatting with the pair for some time over tea, she began to realise how much she missed them-especially Harry, whom she barely saw aside from mealtimes.

They talked about the ball, and Ginny mentioned that Fleur was going to bring some dresses over for the women to try. Hermione was unaware of this, and was slightly concerned, knowing that Fleur's style, while always polished and beautiful, was a much better fit for a Veela, than someone who looked like her. Though she was glad the dresses were sorted out, if she was left to her own devices, she was sure she'd look drab.

She tried to talk to Harry about the ball, but he was unenthusiastic-barely answering her questions with more than a grunt. She decided to stop pestering him, as he seemed dejected and down at any mention of the party. In fact, he seemed that way most of the time.

Really, everyone was in poor spirits. No one was left unscathed from the funerals and the past year. Talk of the ball was the only time people would light up, and those people were mainly made up of Ginny. She knew she should talk to Harry, to check on him. But, she never found the right time. She felt like she was intruding whenever she tried. As much as she hated it, it seemed like their relationship had changed.

Ron soon joined them and tried his best to keep up with the conversations while scarfing down his breakfast. The moment they were done eating, Harry and Ginny excused themselves and not-so-subtly sneaked up to Ginny's room together.

"I have a question for you," Ron said while finishing the last of the sausages. Hermione inquired as to what he wanted to ask, and he continued. "Well," he said, "I was thinking about the ball." Apparently Ginny wasn't the only one. "And I realised that that would technically be our first date."

"Yes," Hermione said. "I suppose so."

"I don't think that's right," Ron said, causing Hermione's eyebrow to raise. "I mean, I don't think that should be our first date," he clarified. "We should have a proper one first, not one with paparazzi and awards and stuff."

"Are you asking me on a date, Ron Weasley?", she flirted.

"Yes I am," he said with a prideful smile, seeming to puff his chest out a bit when he did.

"Well the ball's a few days away, we would have to-," she started.

"Tomorrow", he interrupted, "at noon."

"Alright," she said with a smile, choosing to ignore him interrupting her. "What should we do?"

"It's a surprise," he said.

"Oh, really?", she questioned.

"You're not the only one who can do surprises," he joked. "Only don't expect too much, since we can't leave the burrow's grounds without a chaperone."

"Right," she said. The chaperone (typically an Auror) rule was instated when they moved into the burrow. Evidently, the golden trio wasn't skilled enough to be trusted on their own, at least not until all of the death eaters had been rounded up.

"Well, I'm still looking forward to it", she smiled. She tried all day to goad information out of him but to no avail.

After dinner, Fleur arrived with what seemed to be way too many dresses for one person to own. Most were in garment bags, and the young women helped Fleur haul them into Ginny's room.

Fleur set up a make-shift clothing rack with a closet rod she had somehow managed to carry along with the dresses. As she began unzipping the bags, Hermione couldn't help but feel concerned. She was right-Fleurs dresses were not meant to be worn by someone like her, they were far too revealing. How was she to cover up her scars in a dress that seemed to be made of two large handkerchiefs?

Ginny immediately rushed to the choices and began picking through the ones she wanted. But Hermione held back.

"Do you have any dresses that are a bit more…" Hermione paused, trying to think of the right word, "modest?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, "Hermione won't be happy until she looks like a nun," she joked.

"Vell," Fluer said, "Zee's are old dresses, I can alter zhem however you vould like."

"Really?", Ginny asked, with her head barely visible through the throng of dresses.

"Yes," Fleur said. "I am very adept at altering spells. I can change the lengths, colours, sleeves; vhatever you vould like.

"Thank you," Hermione said and cautiously joined Ginny to sort through the dresses. Hermione ended up with two to try on, while Ginny found six. Hermione let Ginny be the first to try her dresses.

Most of Fleur's dresses were light in colour and Fleur explained that she was a "vinter"-apparently Ginny was a spring and Hermione was an autumn. Hermione had no idea what Fleur was on about, but she seemed to know what she was doing. When she changed the dress Ginny was in from a pastel pink to a deep emerald the transformation was stunning. Suddenly, Ginny seemed to glow, the dress accentuating her fiery hair and fair skin.

It was official; Ginny had found her dress (and only on the third try). The newly-green dress was made of silk and draped across her body. It was simple with thin straps holding up a square neckline. But the pièce de résistance was the back, or the lack thereof. The back fell much lower than Hermione would be comfortable with and finished in a scowl across Ginny's lower back. However, Ginny did have the physique for it, and it showed off the many muscles she had gained from quidditch.

Hermione was next, and she tried on her two choices to a tepid response. Fleur rummaged through her clothes and finally found one for Hermione to try. Hermione reluctantly tried it on, only because of Ginny's pleading, as it was not something she would choose.

Much like Ginny's dress, it had a low back, though thankfully not quite as low, and was made of satin. The front had a high boat neck (the only part of the dress Hermione liked) and was a pastel yellow. Trying it on, Hermione was sure it was a dud like the others she had tried on, but Fleur and Ginny disagreed. Fleur had Hermione turn away from the mirror (so she could have a dramatic reveal) and began altering it.

She added sleeves, tightened some parts, and loosened others. Finally, she made Hermione close her eyes as she changed the colour. Both Ginny and Fleur turned Hermione around and had her open her eyes, presenting her as if she was a golden goose on Christmas.

Hermione tilted her head while analysing it. It did look better than before. The sleeves added a bit of elegance to the dress and thankfully fully covered her scar. The dress fit her impeccably, and even though she didn't love how her body looked right now, she couldn't help but agree that it was flattering. Though, the colour change into a deep crimson is what made the difference. As with Ginny, she seemed to pop in the colour. Plus, it was almost Gryffindor red (just a shade bit darker) which made her like it even more.

There were just two problems with the dress.

"It's a bit low in the back, isn't it?", she asked.

"Nonsense," Ginny scolded. "Anyway, you'll have your robe to cover it."

Fleur nodded and brought out an embossed velvet witches robe, which she enchanted to be the same colour as Hermione's dress. It was fancier and more delicate than anything Hermione had ever worn. Though Fleur assured her it was okay to borrow and pointed out that it's not every day that a witch receives the Order of Merlin.

With the robe, Hermione felt pretty; prettier than she ever had felt before. She agreed that it was perfect, but there was one last thing that was missing.

"Is there a way to get it to cover my neck?", she asked.

Fleur scoffed at the remark. "I vill not be changing that dress to be a col roulé-a neck of the turtle. Can't you use ze cream?"

Hermione shook her head. She had tried to use blemish and scar covering cream on her scars. While they worked on her burns and other scars, they did nothing to cover the scars Bellatrix gave her.

"What about this?", Ginny asked, while rooting around in her wardrobe. She pulled out a thin piece of fabric, which Hermione initially took to be a ribbon, but was instead a choker necklace.

Ginny put it around Hermione's neck and Hermione inspected her appearance. While the necklace didn't cover her entire scar, it covered most of it, making it so that it was impossible to decipher that it was actually a scar. Fleur changed the colour of the choker to match her dress, and Ginny squealed-Hermione had found her dress.