The counter keeps saying my first chapter is only 334 words long, lol :P !!!!!! Nevermind!!! Thanx, everyone who reviewed my last chapters – I really appreciate it !!

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Hermione's POV

I looked at my dress robes again.

"What do you think?" I asked Lavender

"I think that you need to wear something more interesting!" She said sternly, "I know you're only going with George Weasley, but you should at least make an effort – everyone will think you're real boring if you wear green!"

I looked at my robes again.

"Well, yeah, I suppose I do want to try and look my best, but I mean, I wore this one last year and it's really comfortable…"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Pavarti said suddenly. She rummaged around in her trunk for ages, before producing the brightest robe I'd ever seen. It was a deep purple with silver embroidery lining the hem.

"I know it's a bit creased, but I've never worn it before…Purple doesn't really suit me," she explained, noting my puzzled look.

"I'm not so sure…" I added doubtfully.

"Oh, go on, I mean, you can't really make even more of a fool of yourself – you're already going with George Weasley," Pavarti pointed out giggling,

"He's not that bad," Lavender insisted, "Anyway, Angelina's going with Fred," she added

"Yes, but you're biased though, 'cause you fancy his brother and therefore don't know any better," Pavarti said laughing.

Lavender had eventually managed to persuade Ron to go with her, although I personally knew he had only agreed because he didn't want to stay behind - and no one else had asked him.

"Are you going to wear it then?" I looked at it doubtfully, but anything was worth a try, I thought, if it meant that George noticed me properly.

"Ok, ok," I agreed reluctantly,

"Right, now we have to do your hair!" Lavender prompted

"Oh, no, there is no way…"

But I'd been grabbed by the arm and dragged off towards the bathrooms before I got any further.

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Twenty minutes and a lot of mess later I was able to turn myself round to look in the mirror for the first time, and to say I had a complete shock, was putting it somewhat lightly. It was blue!!!

"OMG! What have you done?!"

"I think it looks really cool!" Lavender said

"It's blue!"

"You said you didn't want people to think you were boring!"

"Yeah, but I didn't want them to think I was completely mad either!" I sighed

"Oh, well I'm afraid you'll have to put up with it, it's permanent for another twenty-four hours,"

"Then it'll disappear," Pavarti tried to add helpfully.

"Nevermind – I suppose it doesn't look that bad!"

Actually, once I'd got used to it, it did look kind of good. Lavender had also done a pretty good job of trying to straighten it too, so instead of looking a frizzy mess, it was just naturally wavy.

Finally, I was actually somewhere near ready to leave. Lavender and Pavarti had insisted on putting make up on me, (seeing as I'd never worn any before though, I couldn't really tell if they'd done a good job or not) and I had to admit, the purple robe actually looked quite good once I'd put it on.

I waited patiently with Pavarti for Lavender to finish getting ready, because I was too nervous to go down on my own, and I didn't really want Harry or Ron to see me yet. Lavender had dressed up in a royal blue robe and added matching streaks to her hair, from the remains of the dye she'd used on mine. Pavarti had opted for a black robe, exactly the same shade as her hair which was similar to what she usually wore anyway.

"Come on Lavender," Pavarti moaned impatiently,

"I'm coming - I'm just putting some foundation on,"

"If you put any more of that stuff on, Ron won't even recognise you," Pavarti giggled.

* Gods, if she takes much longer, I think I'm going to end up chickening out *

I thought nervously.

Lavender spun round and headed for the door.

"Ready?"

George's POV

I paced the hallway nervously,

"Hey, George, who you going with?" Ron asked

"Huh?" I looked up distractedly

"you'll never guess!" Fred grinned "He's taking Hermione!"

"Hermione?!" Ron spluttered "How come she agreed to go with you?"

"Charming," Fred laughed, "Anyway, she asked him!"

"Hermione asked you?" Ron stared at me incredulously, making even more nervous. I couldn't even manage a decent reply.

"Yeah, so?" I grunted

Ron just raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Hi, Lavender," Ron called,

My head snapped up, Lavender? I glanced at the girls, who were now walking down the front stairs. Oh, I thought disappointed. I'd assumed Hermione would have been with her and Pavarti. I gave an agitated sigh, before doing a double take,

"Hey, who's that," I murmured squinting.

Everyone turned round to stare,

"That," Fred replied grinning "Is your date!"

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I don't think anyone was more shocked than I was. I mean, I thought Hermione was cute, but was he seriously telling me, that this gorgeous girl standing in front of me, was the Hermione I knew - my little Brother's friend, who had stayed round our house every summer for the past three years? I must have been gaping 'cause Fred suddenly kicked me in the leg and told me to stop dribbling.

The first thing I noticed about her was her hair. No longer cute and frizzy - sleek blue curls tumbled down her back. She was wearing a cool purple robe too, and she must have been wearing make up 'cause her eyelashes were dark and curly and she had deep red lipstick on.

"Hi, Mione" I mumbled shyly,

"um…Hi George,"

Fred wolf-whistled and wandered off towards the Hall to find Angelina and Lavender had taken hold of Ron's arm and was practically dragging him off.

"er, wow, Hermione, you look…Great!" I said, realising nervously that we were both alone. Gods, I couldn't even think of anything to say. For the first time in my life I was actually speechless.

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"Do you want a drink?" I asked, over the music. Hermione nodded, so I headed over to the tables at the edge of the room. I couldn't believe that all this was actually happening. I mean, Hermione had spent the last three summers at our house and I hadn't even noticed how pretty she was! I couldn't believe how blind I'd been. We'd been dancing for over an hour, and I was starting to feel really hot. I could already taste salt in my mouth. * Must be nerves * I thought * I never usually sweat this much * I left the drinks on the table and went quickly to the boy's bathroom to splash my face with cold water, and bumped into Ron.

"Hi, George! How's it going?" He said grinning,

"Ok,"

"I finally figured out why Hermione asked you!" Ron said

I looked at him puzzled.

"It was a dare," he said

"What? How do you know?" I asked frowning,

" 'Cause Lavender was the one, who dared her," He explained grinning, but I wasn't listening, I turned round quickly and instead of returning back to the hall, I went outside and sat down in the dark. It all made sense now. I mean, why would Hermione have asked me, anyway. It wasn't as if we had a lot in common. In fact, we couldn't be more opposite if we tried. And now I'd just made a complete fool of myself, by agreeing to go. I sighed and wiped the sweat off my forehead with the sleeve of my jacket. At least I hadn't told her the truth – how I really felt about her. I'd have really looked stupid then. * Great – some consolation * I thought and buried my head in my hands.

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Hey peoples, sorry this chapter was worse than the last, lol!!! I kinda got stuck!! It would be real cool if you could tell me how I could improve my writing though. I can't really judge which bits are bad 'cause I wrote it, lol !!!!! Thnx!