Hermione gaped at herself in the mirror. She had gotten her hair to look nice before, but never had she had it done entirely straight… Draco's going to be doing backflips. she thought smugly.

Ginny came into the bathroom, wearing her new dress. In contrast to Hermione's new hairdo, Ginny had curled her hair into perfect ringlets with Hermione's help. "You still can't get over it?" she smirked, setting down a bundle of hair pins under the mirror. "Really, you do look stunning and everything, but get used to it! You're different now."

Hermione gently touched the silky strands that fell in front of her shoulders again. "I just didn't think it was possible to make my hair this obedient." she retorted. "But, what do you think? Should I leave it down, or put it into a bun?"

"Definitely leave it down." said Ginny, starting to clip her curls into place. "You have to show this off to the world, or else it'll be a waste. Draco's going to start drooling, I swear." she giggled. "Now go change into your dress so I can zip your back up. Then you can help me pin up the back of my hair."

Hermione finally tore her eyes away from the stranger in the mirror, and left the bathroom. She unzipped the garment bag that was lying on her bed, and donned the fine piece of clothing that was lying in it. She even managed to zip up the back of the dress by herself, and headed back to the bathroom feeling like she was a queen of some sort.

Ginny had pinned up her curls into an elaborate hairdo, with just a few strands still hanging off in the back. She directed Hermione on where to pin them, and then they were ready to do each other's make-up. Ginny used only eyeliner and mascara to frame Hermione's beautiful brown eyes, going for a simple approach so as not to outshine the dress.

Hermione mainly used green eye shadow and a little bit of rouge, so the green of Ginny's dress would be matched and brought out. When she was done, Hermione thought, She really does look like Ariel from 'The Little Mermaid.' If only Harry were here to be her Prince Eric…

Hermione thought of her own prince. Not Ron, but the divine being that was surely already clad in his dress robes and lounging with Zacharias in the common room. Ginny had told them that they weren't allowed to peek while the girls were getting ready, so that they could have the "full effect" when they came out after being glorified.

Draco was probably planning the Quidditch tryouts with Zacharias. Ginny had already masterminded her plan, and made sure the boys knew that piece of information before going into Hermione's room to get ready. "And remember, it's not just me you have to worry about. There's also a certain Trevor Birch that I'm sure you'd like to flatten. So I would finish those sign-up sheets and plan basic strategies as soon as possible if I were you… Gryffindor's sign-up sheet is already half-full and we know exactly how to destroy you…"

"Have you seen my shoes?" Ginny's question brought Hermione back to the present. "I thought they were next to the dresser, but I don't see them."

Hermione looked at where Ginny was standing, and saw only her own box of shoes. She strode over, and saw something peeking out from underneath her bed. She crouched down and pulled it out, and it turned out to be Ginny's box of shoes.

"Here they are." she handed them to a relieved Ginny. "I must have kicked them under the bed by accident when I was grabbing my dress. Sorry."

"No harm, no foul." Ginny grinned, and then frowned as she took out the shoes. They were very pretty to look at, but she finally realized that putting them on would be a nightmare. As Ginny struggled with her shoes, Hermione easily slipped hers on. "Take your time." she told her. "I'll go clean up the bathroom. It's no problem."

"Thanks, Mione." Ginny muttered, concentrating on tying the proper ribbons together. "You were right, by the way. These shoes seem to be designed purposely for the wearer to have a hard time putting them on."

Hermione smiled, patted her friend on the back, and went into the bathroom. She put away her hair-straightening potion, brush, and cosmetics, and then grabbed Ginny's things and put them into her cosmetics bag. Returning to her bedroom, she set down Ginny's belongings next to her, and was relieved to see that Ginny had successfully put on the first shoe and was now attempting to tame the second one.

So Hermione gathered up the garment bags, shoeboxes, and clothes that the girls had been wearing before changing, and put them along with Ginny's bag onto her bed, knowing that Ginny would come back to Montecino Tower after the party since they had planned a sleepover for that night, complete with Zacharias and Draco. The Head Boy and Head Girl had brought a large bag of pajamas, toiletries, and other necessities from their dormitories up to Montecino Tower after lunch in preparation for the sleepover.

"We're spending more time with you guys than we are with our Houses." Zacharias had remarked after lunch, when they returned to the common room. "Soon, people won't even remember that I'm in Hufflepuff and Ginny's in Gryffindor."

"That's the general idea." Draco drawled. "We're promoting House Unity, remember? McGonagall wants her student leaders to be 'House-less,' if I recall her speech correctly."

"Okay, I'm done." Ginny announced triumphantly, standing up and letting her dress fall over her legs, so that her shoes were hidden. She looked like she came straight out of a fairytale book, and Hermione again wished fervently that Harry were here as she admired Ginny's beauty. But that would mean Ron would be here, too, and not only would he disapprove of Ginny's rather "mature" dress, but he wouldn't allow you to remain close to Draco. Oh Harry, but you would understand, wouldn't you? You were the first to know that Draco's changed…

"Hermione, you really look beautiful." Ginny whispered, staring back at Hermione. "Forget Draco, if Ron could see you right now, I'm sure he'd shut up about that Jane Dawlish woman and write essays for his letters instead of two paragraphs."

Hermione smiled. Ginny always made her feel better, no matter how good she already felt or how down she was, and hugged her best friend. "Thanks, Gin. Now let's go 'Stupefy' those boys outside!" Ginny giggled, and the girls departed the bedroom that was choked up with the perfume they had been spraying.

Little did they know that the boys, in addition to planning the Quidditch tryouts and making sign-up sheets, had also planned on how to react when the girls finally came out. So when they entered, the boys looked up, gave an unimpressed glance, and went back to talking Quidditch. But Hermione and Ginny weren't fooled. As amazing as Quidditch was, it wasn't amazing enough for the girls to know that they weren't really absorbed on the topic, and were teasing again.

So the girls ignored the boys as well, setting down their purses hard on the glass coffee table and giving each other evilly mischievous looks, until an idea struck them.

"Oh, what a shame that no one's escorting me to the party." Ginny sighed dramatically. "I guess it's just you and me, isn't it, Hermione?"

"Oh, I don't know, Ginny." Hermione played the act. "Maybe we can invite Luna, and make it a trio of unescorted, ugly, hopeless, lonely, and desperate ladies."

"But didn't you hear? Rolf Scamander is escorting Luna! They're both in the Slug Club, since she's a war hero and he's a grandson of Newt Scamander, who-"

"-wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!" Hermione interrupted excitedly. "I didn't know he had family at Hogwarts! How lovely. I'm so envious of Luna, but good for her."

"I don't think you'll have a problem, actually, Hermione." Ginny was smiling widely, and Hermione knew her next tactic was designed to finally break the boys. "For, you see, there's a certain Trevor Birch whom I'm sure-"

Draco stood up abruptly, cutting off both Zacharias and Ginny's words. Hermione finally got a full view of him wearing his dress robes, and immediately was mesmerized at just how beautiful he looked. She didn't even notice that he was kneeling down in front of her until he grabbed one of her hands with both of his.

"Miss Hermione Granger," he said in a hushed tone, as Hermione looked down and was met with his stormy gray eyes, "may I escort you tonight?"

Hermione almost giggled, but didn't. She was proud of her and Ginny's successful attempt to one-up the boys, but the intensity of Draco's eyes meant that he was being as serious as he could possibly be. She could see the determined silver glint that was camouflaged by the stormy gray, and so replied softly, "Yes. I'd be honored."

Draco grinned, kissed her hand in a glorified imitation of how Trevor Birch had first kissed her hand, and stood up, his eyes back to their normal soft gray. He kept one hand holding hers, and turned to Zacharias, who rolled his eyes.

"Well, don't expect me to kiss you." he grumbled as he also kneeled in front of Ginny. Instead of asking her if he could escort her first, though, he instead reached into the pocket of his dress robes, and took out two tiny scarlet pouches and gave one to her.

"Miss Weasley, in return for this gift, would you allow me the privilege of escorting you tonight?"

Ginny opened the bag, and turned it upside-down over her palm. Out dropped two pearl earrings, surrounded by a ring of tiny diamonds, and backed with sparkling silver.

"Done." said Ginny, her mouth slightly open, and eyes glued to the jewelry in her hand. Zacharias stood up, smirking, and said, "It's good doing business with you, Weaslette."

"Anytime." she shot back, grinning. She put the earrings in as Zacharias went to give Hermione the other pouch.

"Now, before you try and reject my generosity, I want to remind you that Draco got you two dresses, so it was only fair that I got you guys something to complement his present." he said quickly, shoving the pouch into her hand before she could protest.

Hermione decided to drop it, seeing that Zacharias had a point, and put the earrings in. "They're beautiful. Thanks, Zach."

Zacharias beamed. "It was the least I could do after you gave me those life-saving Pumpkin Pasties."

Then a thought struck Hermione. "When did you get these?" she asked curiously. "Surely not when we went to Hogsmeade today? You were with us the whole time." she frowned.

"Erm…" he turned to Draco for help. The blond supermodel looked smug as he said, "He did buy these at Hogsmeade. But you wouldn't have known."

"Why?" asked Ginny, stepping closer to the group after picking up her purse from the glass coffee table and handing Hermione hers as well.

"Let's just say that you girls take an awful long time when you get ready for parties." Draco smirked, waiting for Hermione to put two and two together.

"You mean you guys went to Hogsmeade without us while we were changing?" asked Hermione, more shocked than upset. "That must've been the fastest shopping excursion in the world!"

Draco shook his head, chuckling. "Actually, it wasn't. You guys really do take a millennia to get ready. Am I right, Zach?"

Zacharias nodded, laughing. "We even stopped by 'The Bloody Mary' for a quick snack, and when we got back, you two STILL weren't done."

He and Draco high-fived, and Ginny said amusedly, "Well, at least Zacharias got what he wanted, after all. Let's go already. The dinner reception starts at six o' clock, and I'm hungry. We can beat them at the actual party afterwards. We'll even have witnesses to show off for!"

They all laughed, and Draco again rested Hermione's hand into the crook of his arm in the momentary distraction. Hermione wasn't actually mad, just surprised that the boys could shop, eat, and change so quickly. As Draco swept her out of the common room, with Zacharias and Ginny following, she also realized, somewhat grimly, that she would probably have to start getting used to extravagant presents from both boys. It's just another form of competition for them, she thought wryly.

Draco interrupted her thoughts as they neared the bottom of the staircase. He had been the perfect gentleman so far, walking slowly to accommodate her new shoes that were rather difficult to walk in, and watching her carefully in case she should trip so he could catch her.

He now whispered huskily into her ear, "I forgot to say this earlier, but you should know that you look… absolutely divine, my princess."