"Hermione!" Ron called down the hall as he and Harry descended the stairs that led up to Professor Trelawney's tower. She had just finished an exhilarating arithmancy class, and was eager to talk to her two best friends.
"How was divination? Today in arithmancy we talked about the importance of multiplication in charms, and-" she started, but was interrupted by Ron's excited voice.
"Lavender asked me to the Yule Ball!" he exclaimed. "Can you believe it?" Hermione's mouth dropped, immediately forgetting whatever she was about to say.
"You lucky prat!" Harry laughed. "No one's asked me yet. Lavender, really..."
"What's wrong with her?" Ron snapped.
"Well, to want to go with you, there must be something wrong in her head," Harry laughed. Ron gave him a penetrating glare.
"Oh quit it, you two," Hermione shook her head. When would they ever grow up? "Ron, I think it's wonderful that Lavender asked you. She's a very nice witch, and excellent in charms..."
"You should have heard Trelawney today!" Ron continued. "She told Lavender to 'waste no time with the issue that was on her mind because Venus had aligned with Mars,' or something like that jabber she's always on about, and then, after class, Lavender asked me! And I even have my new dress robes, and..."
"Our wittle Ronnie is growing up so fast!" Fred pretended to sob into George's robes and they turned the corner. "Oh, I must tell mum!"
"Don't even think about it, unless you want mum to taste one of your delicious porcupine pastries--"
"On second thought, George, maybe we'll just let her know when Ron announces the engagement." Ron hit both of them in the shoulder.
"While the four of you discuss that utterly envigorating ball that isn't for another three weeks, I'll be in the library," Hermione stated. Ron and the twins didn't even notice, and Harry waved a brief "so long" before joining in on the Weasley boys' conversation. Hermione sighed as she trudged to the library.
The halls were relatively crowded, as it was only late afternoon. The paintings along the walls were chatting about the Yule Ball and the Christmas Feast. Honestly!, Hermione shook her her head, why does everyone care so much about this Yule Ball? Hogwarts has only had them for the last three-hundred years! Hermione finally reached the library, where she found the peace and solitude she had been seeking- but not for long.
She had been in the middle of an excellent chapter of Wendel the Weird and his Wonderful Work when the Patil twins came in, sat down at her cosy table in the back of the library, and pushed several of Hermione's favorite books out of the way so that they had room for several of their magazines, including Witch Weekly and Teen Sorceress.
"Hermione, have you been asked to the ball yet?" Parvati asked, looking excited.
"No, but personally I think the ball is only a way for particulars to think they are superior to others when they get a date and less social members of their class do not," Hermione replied. "Therefore, I do not wish to be a part of it."
"You must be joking!" Padma gasped. "Well, we are making you go to that ball whether you want to or not. And with our help, you may just look as good as us!"
"I really don't--" Hermione started.
"Issue one: getting you a date," Parvati began. "To do so, you first must think of someone you would like to ask, and then you--"
"Parvati, I really think we should take this one step at a time," Padma interrupted. Hermione opened her book once again, but Padma snapped it shut. Hermione was feeling quite annoyed.
"Good idea, twin sister," Parvati laughed. "So. Is there anyone you would especially like to go to the ball with?"
"Well, not really," Hermione sighed, "I haven't seen Viktor since summer, and besides, we aren't really right for each other."
"Definitely not," Parvati nodded, "he was too-- too much of a box." Hermione opened her mouth to say something, or, more likely, yell something, but Padma once again interrupted her.
"What about Seamus Finnigan?" Padma giggled. "He's a nice boy. You two would really hit it off, I'd bet." Seamus?, Hermione thought. That idea had never occurred to her before.
"Seamus!" Parvati squealed, "of course!" Several other people in the library turned around, and Hermione tried to hush them. Unfortunately, it was to no avail.
"We can't be this loud in the library," Hermione scolded them. "You'll have to talk to me later, I have a lot of work to do."
"You mean we have a lot of work to do," Padma stated. The twin girls pulled Hermione out of the library carrying their magazines, and Hermione barely had time to grab all her books.
They reached the Fat Lady's portrait a few minutes later, and Padma left them. She looked slightly disappointed to be missing the fun, but she said she had business of her own to attend to with the Hufflepuffs. It was obvious to Hermione that Padma fancied one of them, but Hermione didn't say anything as she didn't want to get in a bigger mess than she already was in. They entered Gryffindor Tower after uttering the password "Lethifold," and they entered the common room to see that there were lots of students there already. Ginny was talking to a few fourth year boys (Hermione thought they had a fondness for Ginny), Ron was sitting on a couch near the fire talking to Lavender, and Harry was sitting in a chair nearby, pretending to do his Charms homework, but really watching Ron and Lavender talk.
"She finally asked him," Parvati giggled. "Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen?"
"Sure," Hermione mumbled, really wanting to hurl.
Parvati led her to a large table, where she spread out her magazines.
"I'll be right back," she said, before going to get something out of her dorm room. Harry noticed Hermione sitting at a table covered in teen witch magazines, and, naturally, he came over to see what in the world had happened to Hermione.
"Hermione, what in the name of Merlin are you doing?" he asked, wide-eyed.
"The Patil twins," Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's a long story, but basically they're trying to get me a date for the Yule Ball. Help!"
"Well, er, go with me, then," Harry decided. "That way you won't have to worry about them."
"No- no, you go ask Cho Chang," Hermione replied. "Besides, you're my friend. It would be strange for us to go together."
"You right," Harry replied. "I'll ask Cho tomorrow after Herbology. She has Care of Magical Creatues that period, so..."Harry had drifted off into his own little world, and he walked back to his chair, still muttering something about Cho Chang.
A few minutes later, Parvati returned with a large bag. It was so heavy that she was nearly dragging it along the ground, but she managed to lift it onto the table.
"So," she started, "first, we start with the makeup. Normally I ask Lavender for help, but..." she giggled, "we mustn't bother her."
Ginny glanced across the room, and Hermione mouther the words "help me" to her. Ginny got the picture, and left the company of the fourth year Gryffindor boys.
"Hello," Ginny smirked. "Parvati, what in the--"
"Hemione needs a date for the Yule Ball, so I'm giving her a makeover," Parvati smiled knowingly.
"Great!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'll help." Hermione gave Ginny a menacing glare, but Ginny just smiled in return. "Remember that gel you used last year, Hermione? You still have a lot left. I'll be right back." Hermione sighed loudly, knowing it was hopeless. She was never going to escape from Parvati's wrath, so Hermione just sat there and sulked while Parvati and Ginny got to work.
The following morning, Ron and Harry walked down to breakfast together as usual. Hermione hadn't been in the common room, so they assumed she had already gone down to breakfast. However, when they got there, she was nowhere to be found.
"Wonder what she's up to?" Harry thought out loud.
"Probably in the library-- where else would she be?" Ron replied as he waved to Lavender who was at the other end of the table.
"You're probably right," Harry sighed. He looked up at the enchanted ceiling, which was currently cloudy and rainy, with lightning every so often. It was unusual to have a thunderstorm in the morning, but they had been having more and more of them as it grew closer to winter. Occasionally, they had snow, but it soon melted. Everyone was hoping for a white Christmas, but they didn't know if it would be certain. Harry's gaze fell off the ceiling and onto Cho Chang, who was eating quietly, stirring her eggs and hash browns together. She had been very quiet so far that year, and it was obvious she missed Cedric a lot, as did Harry. He felt that it was all his fault, Cedric's death, even though somewhere inside he knew it wasn't. Just thinking about the event made him shake... Cedric's ghostly voice, his parents... Take my body back, Harry, will you? Take my body back to my parents...
"Harry?" Ron asked. "You all right?" He had a look of great concern for Harry on his face. Harry shook his head and nodded.
"Fine," Harry mumbled, "I'm fine." His eyes still rested on Cho's forlon, defeated face. She looked different now. The year before she would be surrounded by Ravenclaws, laughing and chatting, but now... she was still amidst the crowd, but apart from the at the same time. It made Harry's heart ache to talk to her. He was just about to, when Hermione ran into the room.
At first Harry didn't recpgnise her- her hair was straight, and it looked a good deal lighter. Her face was shiny and clean, and she had a good deal of makeup on. However, she wasn't smiling. The look on her face could kill.
"Oh, I'll never forgive Parvati for this!" she yelled. Several Hufflepuff heads turned, shocked at what they were seeing and hearing. "And Ginny... oh, she only made things worse!"
"Hermione, calm down," Ron replied, still in a state of shock. "Why are you bloody mad?"
"Can you see what that hag did to me?" she yelled. At those words, Lavender stomped over, looking quite annoyed.
"What did you just call Parvati?" she said angrily, her voice hard. Ron tried to calm her down, but it didn't work.
"A hag," Hermione replied, looking as tense as Lavender. They eyed each other angrily, both with a look of hatred in their eyes.
"Come now, Hermione, you don't really think that," Harry said, trying to settle everyone's nerves. Hermione didn't say anything, she just glared at Lavender.
"I'm going to the library," she bursted as she grabbed a piece of toast and left the Great Hall, slamming the door behind her. The Gryffindors just stared at the door, which Lavender soon slammed after another outburst. Ron followed her, looking worried. Harry was left at the table, feeling very confused, when Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas sat down next to him.
"That was something," Dean whistled.
"What, you mean that explosion?" Harry asked. "Imagine..."
"No, we were referring to Hermione," Seamus replied, grinning. "What happened to her?" Harry stared at the two Gryffindors with disgust before heading off to the library to calm Hermione down.
When he reached the library, she was nowhere to be found. She wasn't at her usual table, and he searched all the sections for her, but she was nowhere. He looked for her in all the usual places: the common room, Professor Flitwick's classroom, even the kitchen, but she was nowhere. Then something occurred to him.
He raced to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and snuck in when noone was looking. The sobbing was heard immediately, and he found Hermione in front of one of the sinks, desperately trying to get rid of the makeup on her face. Unfortunately, she wasn't having much luck. Myrtle was floating in the sink next to her, looking quite amused.
"Hermione?" Harry asked. She jumped, then turned around.
"Harry, honestly, you scared me," she sighed. "I don't know what I'd do if you had been one of the Slytherin girls. Imagine what would happen if-- oh Harry!" She ran up to him and gave him a hug, crying into his shoulder.
"Hermione, calm down," Harry replied, patting her on the back. She pulled away from him. "It's just an appearance. You're still Hermione, aren't you?"
"Well, yes," she sniveled, almost smiling.
"Hullo, Myrtle," Harry called over to her when she saw her jealous face.
"Hi, Harry!" she greeted him, her anger turning into a smile and then into confusion. "Why don't you visit me more often?"
"I've been busy," he replied. The truth was, he had had a lot on his mind since the end of last term, and visiting Myrtle wasn't exactly at the top of his list.
"Oh, I'm just so mad at Parvati!" Hermione sighed, wiping a tear off her cheek. "And Ginny, and Padma, and Lavender... but I suppose she was only defending her friend." Hermione walked into one of the stalls and sat down on the toilet cover. Harry nodded, glad to see Hermione making some sense. "But did you see everyone when I came in? All they saw was how I looked. They didn't even care that I was mad! Oh, I just want to yell at the whole lot of them! I wish Parvati didn't use this horrible Permanent Spell on my makeup. It won't come off until tonight, after all my classes."
"Forget it, then," Harry replied. "Besides, we have Transfiguration in ten minutes. You don't want to be late, do you?"
"Of course not!" Hermione smiled, wiping another tear away. "We should get there early if we can. Oh, Harry, I'm so lucky to have a friend like you!" She gave him another big hug, and Myrtle once again got a jealous look on her face.
"See you, Myrtle," Harry called as they walked out the door.
"Doubt it!" she she yelled back.
Later that week, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked to Care of Magical Creatures class together as usual, Hermione once again primped up by Parvati. Hagrid said he had some new creature to show them, and they hoped it was something at least mildly interesting. The last of the Blast-Ended Screwts had finally done itself in, so Hagrid and the class had been reading out of books for the past few weeks. Even the Slytherins wanted Hagrid's crazy creatures back. Harry and Ron had gone to visit Hagrid the day before, and he was very excited about some new creature he had come across. This worried them, as whenever Hagrid got excited, it usually meant he had a dragon egg in his hut or he had won a three-headed dog from a man in a pub. But they were in for a surprise that day.
"Wonder what horrible creature is in store for us today?" Draco Malfoy sneered as he spoke to Pansy Parkinson in a voice loud enough for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to hear. "I can't wait to see Potter pee in his pants in fear. And Weasley... I can already see him-- Mum! Mum! I'm going to die, I'm going to die!" He and the other Slytherins laughed cruelly.
"If I remember correctly, Malfoy, you were the one hiding from the Blast-Ended Screwts in Hagrid's hut," Harry told him cooly. Ron and Hermione sniggered. Malfoy opened his mouth to say something, but instead walked away, muttering "Potter..."
Hagrid finally arrived, carrying a small box which was about the size of an encyclopedia. Harry stared at it, tilting his head as if trying to figure out what could be inside. Hagrid had a huge grin on his face, and he was almost skipping as he walked. The class assembled around him, staring at the small box with great interest.
"What's in there, Hagrid?" Dean asked loudly.
"Quiet!" Hagrid hushed the students. "We don't want ter wake em up. A'fore I open the box, I need all o yeh to be absolutely silent, all righ'?" The students nodded eagerly, and even Malfoy shut his mouth.
"Maybe I ought ter tell yeh what's in ere first," Hagrid whispered. The eyes of all the students were upon him. "Now ere's a hint... Bowman Wright created a metal one o these fer Qu- er, I mean, because th' creature became endangered. Now any o' yeh know what that is?"
Hermione's hand shot in the air as usual, her face brimming with excitement. And, to everyone's surprise, Harry raised his hand, too. He was a little surprised himself that he knew, but it was the one thing he did best...
"Yes, Arry?" Hagrid asked, beaming.
"Is-- is it a snigdet?" Harry guessed. "Too many were being killed in Quidditch games, so Wright created the Golden Snitch. Isn't that right?"
"Exactly, Arry," Hagrid grinned. The Gryffindors grinned at Harry, who was very pleased with himself. "Five points fer Gryffindor." Hermione patted Harry on the back, and told him she was glad someone besides her had read Quidditch Through the Ages. "Now, these snidgets here ave been hurt, an' the Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation in Somerset as allowed us to try an' bring them back to health. I'll be takin' care of em, but I'll need all of yer help." Hagrid slowly opened the box to reveal six young snidgets sleeping on the hay Hagrid had put in the box for them. Harry and Malfoy looked at the snidgets with even more interest than everyone else. "Now, everyone be quiet unless you want em ter wake an' fly away- least the ones who can use their wings. But we're lucky nough ter have two Quidditch seekers in our class," ("Sure, lucky we have Malfoy, Ron muttered") "so I ave brooms ready in case any o' them escape." He closed the box and set it on the ground. "Mione, Lavender, mind going ter the library ter look fer sommat these guys'll eat?" Hermione and Lavender nodded, and started towards the castle.
"I'm sorry about my outburst the other day," Hermione sighed. "I didn't mean it, really. Parvati isn't a hag, she's a very nice witch. I was just really annoyed about this Yule Ball thing she's done to me-- I don't like it at all." Lavender nodded.
"I overreacted, too," she replied, "you're forgiven, and I hope you'll forgive me."
"Of course," Hermione smiled. "Have you started on the Transfiguration homework yet? The advanced cross-species transfiguring? I found it slighty baffling at first, but if you concentrate hard it's quite easy. I practiced on a beetle last night, and I managed to turn it into a suitable cat."
"I didn't understand at first, but Ron has been helping me," Lavender replied.
"Ron?" Hermione looked confounded. "Since when has he been tutoring in transfiguration?"
"He's been doing quite well lately, actually," Lavender replied. "Did you see what he did in class yesterday? When he turned an ant into a rabbit? The rabbit still had feelers, but besides that it was perfect!"
"No, actually, yesterday there was a prefects meeting in the Great Hall discussing decorations for the Yule Ball," Hermione replied. "But Ron was never good in--"
"I can't wait for the ball!" Lavender giggled. "When Ron accepted my approach I was even more happy then when Seamus asked me last year! I really wanted to go with Ron, actually, but I wouldn't admit it at the time. Has anyone asked you yet?"
"Well, no, Parvati's idea hasn't been working," Hermione replied as she tugged at her hair. The gel Ginny had put in was giving her a cowlick. "I knew it wouldn't, but I really don't care about the ball, anyway. I'm only going to make sure things are in order and to assist the chaperones."
"Hermione, why won't you admit you had fun last year?" Lavender smiled. "Come on, I know you did, even if you won't admit it. You liked having all those boys staring at you, didn't you? Heck, I even saw Malfoy staring!"
"That's another reason NOT to go to the ball..."
"Seamus hasn't asked anyone yet," Lavender giggled. "He's going to ask you, I know it! You should have seen him in Potions the other day..." Lavender stopped there, however, because they had reached the library.
Madam Pince was at her desk, as usual, reading a book which appeared to be a romance novel. Lavender giggled at the sight, and Hermione stepped on Lavender's foot to get her to keep quiet.
"Excuse us," Hermione said quietly, "Madam Pince?"
"No, Loretta! He's evil!" she cried. "Go after Michael before it's too late!" Hermione and Lavender looked at each other, trying as hard as they could to swallow the burst of giggles that was about to come out. "Oh, oh, I'm sorry, my dears. Sometimes I enrapture myself in these history books so much, that I begin to think they're actually occuring!" She chuckled nervously and stuffed the romance novel under her desk. "Now, how may I help the two of you?"
"Do you have any books on snidgets?" Lavender asked.
"Hagrid asked us to come here and see if you have any books on snidget behavior and basic nutritional facts," Hermione explained. Madam Pince nodded, got up from her desk, and walked toward the section of the library labeled "Animalia." The two girls followed, and Madam Pince gestured towards a section with books about the snidgets and told them that they could also check in Quidditch books for general information. They thanked her and got to work on finding some books that would be helpful.
Very few other people were in the library, as most were in class, except for a few first years doing research. Hermione and Lavender were just about to leave when they saw Cho enter the library.
"What's she doing here?" Lavender asked. "And why is she by herself? Don't teachers usually send students up to the library in pairs? And Chang of all people..."
Hermione and Lavender casually walked by, but Hermione stopped behind a shelf to see what section Cho was looking at. The two girls peered around the bookshelf to see Cho scanning over a row of books with her finger. She did this for quite a while, but then she stopped at a book and pulled it out. Hermione whispered Revalio and out of the tip of her wand came a ribbon of glitter which spelled the name of the book.
"Ghosts and How They Come to Be," Hermione whispered. "Why would Cho Chang be researching ghosts? We don't study that in our classes until seventh year, and she's only in her sixth..."
"You must be mistaken, Hermione," Lavender replied. "She's probably come from Binns' class. We shouldn't get so worked up over nothing."
"I suppose," Hermione replied, still staring at Cho, knowing that Lavender's prediction was most likely not true.