Chapter 8 ~ Spinning Around
"Spin around come back home
You're runnin out on a line
Sometimes feel I'm going outta my mind
Stunned here waitin for anyone to take the time
Spin around we get further and further away
Smile and wave and ain't got nothin to say
Stunned here waitin for anyone to take the time
To change my mind this time"
- "Spin Around" by Josie and the Pussycats
The Hogsmeade castle was full of excitement the day before the Hogsmeade trip. Ron was going crazy, explaining how he missed the taste of his favourite sweets, and how he missed buying Dungbombs. Hermione gave up doing her homework, and watched Harry and Ron playing wizard chess.
"Check!" Harry exclaimed after an hour of vigorous play.
"Where?" Ron responded, looking curiously around.
"You're the chess genius, figure it out!" Harry teased.
"Well, I don't see any "checks", mate!" Ron told him, peering down on the bored.
"Checkmate!" Harry laughed. "Checks…mate! You're hilarious, Ron!"
"Huh? What did I do?" Ron questioned.
Hermione sighed. She muttered something that sounded a lot like, "Boys!"
Suddenly, Neville ran up to them, his face red with exhaustion. "Professor McGonagull told me to tell you guys of an announcement," he explained, panting between words.
"We already know that there's a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow Neville," Harry replied, annoyed.
"No, not that," Neville responded. He thrusted a piece of parchment into Hermione's hands, who read it aloud:
"Although there is a Yule Ball at Christmas, there's also a Hallowe'en ball for seventh years. It's more of a masked ball, as you must go in disguise. You will dress in your dress robes, but you must a have a mask. You will find several at the new clothing shop in Hogsmeade, which is the purpose of this trip. The girls must find their dates, and once they do, they must stay with them the whole night, still masked. You must not tell each other your identity, or give away any clues that may lead to finding out your identity or another person's identity before midnight. At midnight you will unmask yourselves and see if you succeeded in finding a date. Professors will also dress up…Hope you have fun and we expect all seventh years to be dressed up and ready to dance at 7 o'clock sharp on October 31st!
Sincerely,
Professor Dumbledore"
"WICKED!" shouted Harry, knocking over the chessboard in his excitement. Ron yelled, "HARRY! WATCH OUT!" but Harry ignored him.
"Are guests invited?" Harry asked anxiously. He wanted to invite Cho – he hadn't seen her in a while.
"Doesn't say…" Hermione said, glancing over the parchment again. She wasn't really glancing at the parchment, however; she was lost in her own thoughts. "Who's going to be my date?" she thought. "What kind of mask should I get? Professors are going to dress up to? That means Oliver…"
She hastily shoved her thoughts out of her mind – she didn't want to think about Oliver. She really liked him, there was no use denying it – but then again, so did every other girl in Hogwarts. And since that incident where Snape accused them of having a relationship, Hermione commanded herself not to let Snape's words come true.
Harry did a good job of interrupting her thoughts. "I wonder how much the masks are?" he said, prodding his chin wisely.
Hermione turned the parchment around and said, "There's stuff on the back too!" And began to read again:
"Guests are welcome, as always, to this dance. Masks are 2 sickles 5 knuts each. Glitter ones are 5 sickles and 7 knuts each."
"GREAT!" Harry shouted, knocking over the board and pieces again, which Ron had just assembled. Ron groaned and headed underneath the table again to collect the pieces.
The trio spent the night conversing about Hogsmeade and the Hallowe'en dance, but were soon too tired to speak, and decided to dream about Hogsmeade and the Hallowe'en dance instead.
Hermione piled into bed last night with happy thoughts in her head. She was sure this was going to be a great weekend, and Oliver was also in her mind (she couldn't get him out of her head). She rested her head on the pillow and fell into an instant sleep. And no hissing noises in the whole Hogwarts castle could wake her up.
Her sleep couldn't last forever, and she woke up in the morning very cheerful. She put on her robes, and filled her moneybag with galleons, sickles, and knuts. It was a bright Saturday morning, and Hermione raced down to the Great Hall, trying to eat as soon as possible so she could go to Hogsmeade.
She ran through the entrance hall as though she was running a marathon race, but she stopped abruptly, made sure there was no water (she didn't want to fall again), and sped off yet again.
Harry and Ron were already in the Great Hall, munching away at anything they could get their hands on. They managed a small "hi", their mouths full of food, and continued eating.
"Why are you eating so quickly? You're going to vomit it all out if you eat it too quickly, you know that right?" Hermione asked, setting her moneybag down on the table.
Ron swallowed hard on some pumpkin juice and said, "Yeah, but we're hungry, and we got to get an early start to Hogsmeade. You know those masks are going to sell out easily."
"I've got to buy 2," Harry said. "One for me, one for Cho."
"But then you'll know what kind of mask she's wearing!" Hermione exclaimed, taking some toast and shoving it in her mouth.
Harry smiled guiltily. "And I've got to go to the owlery first," he reminded them through a mouthful of toast. "Got to send an invitation to Cho about the Hallowe'en dance tomorrow night, of course."
Near the end of breakfast, Hermione noticed Oliver, his moneybag at his side. "He's also going to Hogsmeade," she thought. "He's also going to dress up…"
She thought of him continuously as Harry wrote down his note to Cho on a piece of parchment and tied it around Hedwig's leg, who hooted softly and nipped Harry's finger affectionately. Then, she flew off into the distance, blending in perfectly with the clouds that floated in the sky.
"All right, ready to go?" Professor McGonagull asked as the trio made their way to the entrance.
"Yes," they all responded, nodding their heads. She checked them off the list and they made their way to Hogsmeade, for the first time in their seventh year, and one of the last times they would while at Hogwarts.
When they got into the new clothing shop (called "Bewitching Wardrobes and Accessories for all Occasions) they found that Dumbledore wasn't very specific with his letter, as the masks were all different! Although there were plain ones and glitter ones, it turned out that there was a plain one and a glitter one for every single mask! You could get a mask that resembled a pig with sparkly glitter or plain. You could get a mask that transformed every 5 minutes, so that once you looked like a bat, the other like a wolf. Hermione decided to get one that looked like a kitty cat, with little ears. She tried it on and found she looked very beautiful, even though she couldn't see her face. She knew that Ron had gotten one that resembled a bludger (although Hermione thought that was very insane, as she didn't find a bludger mask attractive), but she didn't know what Harry had gotten because the place was very packed, and also because Harry just saw Cho, and he ran off with her.
After they spent their money on the masks, Hermione and Ron went outside to wait for Harry and Cho, who were trapped inside among other students.
"I wonder whom I'll go with," Ron said aloud, looking around at available girls. "I could ask Fleur Delacour…we're allowed to have guests…"
"Ron! She's 3 years older than you," Hermione scolded. "You don't want to go around with a female who's in 20s!"
"Well, you're friends with Oliver, and he's much older than you!" Ron argued.
"Age ain't nothing but a number," said a hissing voice behind them, ending their arguments. Both of them flung around, and saw Malfoy, smiling mischievously with his goons Crabbe and Goyle at his side.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron asked, very angry.
"Buying a mask for the dance, of course," Malfoy replied, running a few fingers through his slick hair. "This IS a Hogsmeade Trip after all. What kind of mask did you buy, Weasley? Probably not a very good one. After all, you can't afford one."
And, very rudely, he snatched Ron's bag and rummaged through it, taking out the bludger mask. He laughed very loudly, forcing Crabbe and Goyle to snicker very stupidly. "A bludger mask?" Malfoy questioned, looking at it and throwing it into the bag again. "It strangely resembles you, Weasley. It reminds me of how airheaded you are – such a large head, and with nothing in it or on it – except a few freckles and flaming red hair. I wonder who's going to go to the dance with you now, Weasley."
"I will," said Lavender Brown, who came up behind them. "Ron's a very sweet and passionate boy. You're nothing but scum, Malfoy. SCUM! Why don't you go back to your true home – Azkaban! Because after all those rotten things your father has done, I wouldn't be surprised if you did the exact same thing as well."
Malfoy spat on the ground and said, "Well, you've got one admirer, Weasley. Wonder how long she'll last? Probably not that much longer…she'll realise what a stupid git you are and move on." He spun on his heel and walked off, Crabbe and Goyle stalking behind him.
"You're the stupid git, Malfoy!" Ron and Lavender cried simultaneously. They looked at each other and grinned.
"So how about it, Ron?" Lavender asked. "Do you want to go to the dance with me?"
"Sure!" Ron replied. They made plans and whispered in each other's ear (although Hermione knew that they were probably just telling each other what masks they were wearing) before Lavender walked off.
"Now I just have to get a date," Hermione grumbled, looking around at all the boys while waiting for Harry and Cho.
Neville Longbottom stood at the entrance of Fred and George's Joke Shop, which was now very popular. He was slurping an ice cream, but accidentally knocked the ice cream over, so he had ice cream and chocolate running down his robes. Hermione shook her head. "He may be nice," she thought. "But he's way too clumsy! Imagine him getting me drinks! My robes will be turned a completely different colour with him getting drinks!"
She looked at Seamus Finnigan. He was a Head Boy, and had completely changed his ways (he was no longer bad at magic). But he wouldn't make a very good dancer, Hermione was sure of that.
She looked at Dean Thomas. He had grown into a very handsome man, very tall, and admired by fellow classmates. He wasn't as cute as Oliver, she had to admit that, but Dean looked a lot like him. Same built, same height. She smiled at him, trying to get attention. He was very kind as well…she noticed that. He caught her eye and smiled back and approached her. Ron eyed her carefully, and looked at Dean. He caught on and left to go look for Harry.
Dean walked up very close to her and said, "Are you available for the dance on Hallowe'en? Because I'd be honoured if you chose me as your date."
"Sure!" Hermione replied, acting exactly like Ron did when Lavender asked.
"Thanks, Hermione," Dean said, turning around and smiling. "See you there!"
She smiled gleefully and Ron walked up to her again, accompanied by Harry and Cho. "So?" Ron asked, looking at Hermione. Hermione nodded a "yes" in reply, and looked at Harry and Cho.
Although Cho was a year older than Harry, she was shorter than him, about a head shorter in fact. Her shoulder-length black hair swung behind her as the wind blew, and her almond-shaped eyes were very keen and sharp (needed for catching the snitch, Hermione thought). "Hello Hermione!" Cho greeted, shaking Hermione's hand eagerly. "It's nice to meet you again."
"You as well," Hermione replied, putting her hair behind her ears.
"I heard about the accident," Cho told them. "Are you all right, Hermione?"
"I'm fine," Hermione assured her. "I used to have some problems thinking, and I was a bit slow, but I'm as good as new now!"
"That's good," Cho said. They all stood in silence afterwards, at a lost for words. Finally Hermione broke the silence.
"So Cho, are you going to the dance with Harry?" Hermione asked, putting her bag over her shoulder.
"Yeah," Cho replied, holding hands with Harry. "Just so happens I have this weekend off – no Quidditch practices or games at all – so it'll be great to go see what Hogwarts looks like now."
"Just the same as last year," Ron explained. "Only I don't know a lot of people now."
"Trying to recognise a 1st year at Hogwarts is like trying to find a needle in a haystack," Harry summed up for her.
"A needle in a haystack?" Ron questioned, looking very puzzled. "How big is the haystack? If it's big then the needle would be hard to find, no doubt but if…"
"Ron, it's just a saying," Hermione said exasperatedly. "Just like 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'."
"I know it doesn't fall far from the tree," Ron said matter-of-factly. "Unless you pick the apple from the tree and then throw it over your shoulder so then it falls a hundred yards away or…"
Harry, Cho, and Hermione all sighed in union, infuriated, while looking at Ron.
"What?" Ron asked. "What did I say?"
They spent the rest of the day in Hogsmeade in Fred and George's Joke Shop, in The Three Broomsticks, and several other shops. At the end of the day they headed back to the Hogwarts castle (excluding Cho, who stayed at The Three Broomsticks), with their money bags considerately lighter and their stomachs full with Butterbeer and ice creams.
That night, Hermione put on her mask over and over again, looking at herself from different angles. Since today was the 30th, tomorrow was the day of the dance, and Hermione wanted to look her very best for Dean.
Her head touched the pillow again, and she fell into a dreamful sleep. Dreams and thoughts of Dean and Oliver, of her mask, and Neville, but it all turned into a dreadful dream, one Hermione did not remember in the morning.
She was walking to the dance, mask placed on her face, looking very beautiful. She met up with Dean, and she knew it was him for he had told her what kind of mask he was wearing. But then she saw two others wearing the exact same mask, and decided to choose. She chose the first boy underneath the mask, but it ending up being Neville Longbottom, smiling very stupidly. She picked the third boy, and it was Dean. He smiled happily and asked for a dance, but they stopped abruptly as the second boy took off his mask. It was Oliver, who was steaming, and exclaimed, "I thought you'd choose me, Hermione, over these two gits!" and walked off, very angry. Hermione was stunned but began to dance with Dean, when Neville suddenly asked if she wanted a drink. She agreed and he got a drink, but when he handed it to her, it went all over her dress robes making them a light shade of red, which was the colour of the fruit punch. Everyone laughed at her, and through the laughing crowd she noticed Malfoy, laughing away and pointing while saying, "THIS IS WHAT YOU DESERVE MUDBLOOD!"
Hermione woke up, very hot, but after taking a nice long drink of water she did not remember the dream/nightmare at all and thought about the days' events instead.
She went down to lunch after finishing her other homework assigned with Harry and Ron, who were very excited. A little too excited, Hermione thought. They kept jumping and clowning around, trying to scare others (since it was Hallowe'en). They even spooked out Hermione.
Ron was telling her a scary story of a very large spider (Hermione was shocked by this because Ron usually flinched whenever seeing or talking about a spider). He was saying a part of how a large spider began crawling up a girl's arm, when suddenly a spider began to crawl up her arm as well. She shrieked and ran out of the common room, but it turned out to be a prank; Harry had bought a 'not real, but it moves!' spider, and decided it would be funny to set it on someone.
At 3 o'clock, Hermione decided to get ready and ran up to the girls' dormitories, along with other girls in the seventh year.
"What?" Ron called after her, as she ran up the stairs. "Are you going to put on a whole different body?"
"Well, she's going to put on a different face at least," Harry agreed. "It is a masquerade dance."
At 7 o'clock several girls arrived down the stairs, including Hermione. Although she couldn't remember it, she looked a lot like she did in the dream – stunning. Her hair was twisted up into a half bun, half ponytail. Her robes were periwinkle blue, and she had blue studs in her ear. Her cat mask (which had blue eyes and blue ears) matched perfectly. She put it on and looked at the other girls. None of them had the same mask as her – she was unique. She noticed Lavender hadn't put her mask on, and they began chatting. Soon, the boys began arriving as well and everyone put their masks on. Lavender's mask was shaped like a butterfly's, and looked very good on her.
Ron came down the stairs with his bludger mask on, and approached Lavender. She giggled slightly, and they began to hold hands. She didn't recognise anybody else except for Neville Longbottom (he had lost his mask and made a bad attempt at making his own – it was a paper bag). She didn't notice Dean and didn't know where Harry was until he came up behind her and greeted her.
He also looked stunning. He was wearing green dress robes that matched perfectly with his eyes (which were visible through the eyeholes). His mask was shaped like a Mask of Zorro type of mask, and it was also green. "Cho knows my favourite colour is green," he told her. "She'll be able to spot me very quickly, I hope."
At 7:25, the seventh years headed down to the Great Hall. As they came ever closer, Hermione (who was in the lead as Head Girl) noticed that all the tables were pushed to the side, and that the staff table now became a place full of refreshments. The ceiling at the top, which acted as though it was outside, was now black and full of misty clouds. Bats were hanging around the walls, as ornaments, but were soon flying through the air. Pumpkins were floating up and down, and the floor was black with specs of orange – it looked as if they were in a Hallowe'en Discothèque!
Harry soon caught up with Cho, she noticed, and Ron was dancing away with Lavender. "Where could Dean be?" she wondered, as she stood alone at the side of the hall.
Everyone was dancing away on the floor except for a boy who was stuffing his face full with refreshments, and Neville, who didn't seem to find a date and was now being made fun of by Draco Malfoy.
That's when she noticed "him". The tallest one of them all. Very built, very tall. He was wearing a mystic black mask with glitter on it, and it resembled a mask from "The Phantom of the Opera". She approached the boy (she was sure it was Dean, she was sure of it), and went behind him, tapping him on the shoulder three times. The boy spun around and smiled (all you could see was the smile and a mask on his face). He said, "Hello…may I have this dance?" and she nodded.
They twirled and spun around for what seemed like ages. She got dizzy after a few songs sung by The Weird Sisters, and almost slipped, by the boy underneath the mask caught her and regained her balance. After a while, they both grew weary and tired and the boy asked if she wanted some drinks. She nodded and they both went to full up goblets of fruit punch.
"Poor Neville," said the boy behind the mask as he slurped some juice. "He didn't find a date."
"And he lost his mask," Hermione added, finishing her goblet and pouring some more.
"You look beautiful," the boy complimented. Hermione felt her cheeks flush with red, but she nodded and said, "You look great as well."
The night continued with more spinning around. She noticed Ron smiling at her, and Harry caught her eye and smiled at her as well. She returned both smiles, but then she noticed that they both started snickering.
"What are those two laughing about?" Hermione questioned, as the boy dipped her down. He was very good at dancing, unlike Seamus Finnigan, who was now on top of his date, laughing flirtatiously.
"No clue," the boy responded. They danced for a few more hours, and chatted all the while, keeping in mind that they shouldn't give their identities, even though they already knew who they were.
Finally, after many more dances (and sniggers from Harry and Ron), Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"Silence, please," he called as he stood up. His blue eyes were tinkling with satisfaction as all of the dancing stopped and The Weird Sisters stopped singing. "I hope that you have all had fun at this dance. This dance is really so that you could make more friends. Many of you…except for the ones who have already revealed your identity or those who don't really have masks…" he glanced at Neville, who smiled weakly. "…many of you don't know who you're dancing with. You could be dancing with the very enemy…or with someone you have admired for a while. It could be your best friend, or a person who might have not had a chance to meet. But, look at me, wasting valuable time. In one minute, when the clock strikes midnight, you may unmask."
Everybody stood anxiously, though in silence. The silence was only broken by Neville's clatter; he had knocked over 5 goblets, and now fruit punch was streaming on the floor.
Hermione stared at the boy, knowing it was Dean. "There's no point to unmask," she thought. "I know it's Dean already. And he knows it's me."
The minute seemed like an hour, every second seemed like a minute. Until, finally, after much waiting, they heard an unmistaken ring of midnight.
Hermione took off the mask, which seemed stuck to her sweating face. She threw it on the floor, and looked at Dean. But the only problem was…it wasn't Dean. This whole night, the fantastic dancing, the chatting, wasn't with Dean. She stared the boy in the face, and smiled. She was…with Oliver Wood.
***************************************************
FINISHED! Yahoo! Hermione was with Oliver! Yah! Right? *Awww* - right? I hope so. Hope you liked the Oliver/Hermione action, although you didn't really know it was Oliver until the very end. But it was suspense! Anyways, here are individual thanks to reviewers:
KAOS – I took your *thought* into consideration – and here it is. I changed it a little, because I felt I should make it a "masked" ball, but I hope you like it all the same. Thanks for the suggestion! And for the "brilliant" thing – that really inspired me to write this!
iluvsqual – Guess what? I love Squall too! I hope to get a chance to read your story too, because it sounds pretty good! Thanks for all the compliments (I'm blushing a lot right now)…this is my first fanfic on Fanfiction.net so I'm glad people like it! :) I'm glad you're getting all giggly (that's how the first few chapters are supposed to run) but then a huge big bad dilemma/problem comes…I think!
merlin – I reviewed "The Rise of Voldemort" so you can check that out. I really want to be an author (although I already am, and you are too since we both write stories, but I mean as a famous one or to get a book published or something), and thanks for the compliments!
Juvenus – I'm glad updates make your day! Here's Chapter 8, and I hope Chapter 9 will be coming your way! That rhymes – hey, hey!
Draco's Girl – Thanks for the suggestions. Oliver/Hermione action will be coming up shortly, don't you worry, although some has already started in this chapter. Will it last though? Stay tuned! Duhn, duhn, duhn…
iluvsqual – I think it would be incredible if we could all be Hogwarts Students! Thanks for reading!
CHAPTER 9 WILL BE UP SOON AS SOON AS I'M FINISHED!
"Spin around come back home
You're runnin out on a line
Sometimes feel I'm going outta my mind
Stunned here waitin for anyone to take the time
Spin around we get further and further away
Smile and wave and ain't got nothin to say
Stunned here waitin for anyone to take the time
To change my mind this time"
- "Spin Around" by Josie and the Pussycats
The Hogsmeade castle was full of excitement the day before the Hogsmeade trip. Ron was going crazy, explaining how he missed the taste of his favourite sweets, and how he missed buying Dungbombs. Hermione gave up doing her homework, and watched Harry and Ron playing wizard chess.
"Check!" Harry exclaimed after an hour of vigorous play.
"Where?" Ron responded, looking curiously around.
"You're the chess genius, figure it out!" Harry teased.
"Well, I don't see any "checks", mate!" Ron told him, peering down on the bored.
"Checkmate!" Harry laughed. "Checks…mate! You're hilarious, Ron!"
"Huh? What did I do?" Ron questioned.
Hermione sighed. She muttered something that sounded a lot like, "Boys!"
Suddenly, Neville ran up to them, his face red with exhaustion. "Professor McGonagull told me to tell you guys of an announcement," he explained, panting between words.
"We already know that there's a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow Neville," Harry replied, annoyed.
"No, not that," Neville responded. He thrusted a piece of parchment into Hermione's hands, who read it aloud:
"Although there is a Yule Ball at Christmas, there's also a Hallowe'en ball for seventh years. It's more of a masked ball, as you must go in disguise. You will dress in your dress robes, but you must a have a mask. You will find several at the new clothing shop in Hogsmeade, which is the purpose of this trip. The girls must find their dates, and once they do, they must stay with them the whole night, still masked. You must not tell each other your identity, or give away any clues that may lead to finding out your identity or another person's identity before midnight. At midnight you will unmask yourselves and see if you succeeded in finding a date. Professors will also dress up…Hope you have fun and we expect all seventh years to be dressed up and ready to dance at 7 o'clock sharp on October 31st!
Sincerely,
Professor Dumbledore"
"WICKED!" shouted Harry, knocking over the chessboard in his excitement. Ron yelled, "HARRY! WATCH OUT!" but Harry ignored him.
"Are guests invited?" Harry asked anxiously. He wanted to invite Cho – he hadn't seen her in a while.
"Doesn't say…" Hermione said, glancing over the parchment again. She wasn't really glancing at the parchment, however; she was lost in her own thoughts. "Who's going to be my date?" she thought. "What kind of mask should I get? Professors are going to dress up to? That means Oliver…"
She hastily shoved her thoughts out of her mind – she didn't want to think about Oliver. She really liked him, there was no use denying it – but then again, so did every other girl in Hogwarts. And since that incident where Snape accused them of having a relationship, Hermione commanded herself not to let Snape's words come true.
Harry did a good job of interrupting her thoughts. "I wonder how much the masks are?" he said, prodding his chin wisely.
Hermione turned the parchment around and said, "There's stuff on the back too!" And began to read again:
"Guests are welcome, as always, to this dance. Masks are 2 sickles 5 knuts each. Glitter ones are 5 sickles and 7 knuts each."
"GREAT!" Harry shouted, knocking over the board and pieces again, which Ron had just assembled. Ron groaned and headed underneath the table again to collect the pieces.
The trio spent the night conversing about Hogsmeade and the Hallowe'en dance, but were soon too tired to speak, and decided to dream about Hogsmeade and the Hallowe'en dance instead.
Hermione piled into bed last night with happy thoughts in her head. She was sure this was going to be a great weekend, and Oliver was also in her mind (she couldn't get him out of her head). She rested her head on the pillow and fell into an instant sleep. And no hissing noises in the whole Hogwarts castle could wake her up.
Her sleep couldn't last forever, and she woke up in the morning very cheerful. She put on her robes, and filled her moneybag with galleons, sickles, and knuts. It was a bright Saturday morning, and Hermione raced down to the Great Hall, trying to eat as soon as possible so she could go to Hogsmeade.
She ran through the entrance hall as though she was running a marathon race, but she stopped abruptly, made sure there was no water (she didn't want to fall again), and sped off yet again.
Harry and Ron were already in the Great Hall, munching away at anything they could get their hands on. They managed a small "hi", their mouths full of food, and continued eating.
"Why are you eating so quickly? You're going to vomit it all out if you eat it too quickly, you know that right?" Hermione asked, setting her moneybag down on the table.
Ron swallowed hard on some pumpkin juice and said, "Yeah, but we're hungry, and we got to get an early start to Hogsmeade. You know those masks are going to sell out easily."
"I've got to buy 2," Harry said. "One for me, one for Cho."
"But then you'll know what kind of mask she's wearing!" Hermione exclaimed, taking some toast and shoving it in her mouth.
Harry smiled guiltily. "And I've got to go to the owlery first," he reminded them through a mouthful of toast. "Got to send an invitation to Cho about the Hallowe'en dance tomorrow night, of course."
Near the end of breakfast, Hermione noticed Oliver, his moneybag at his side. "He's also going to Hogsmeade," she thought. "He's also going to dress up…"
She thought of him continuously as Harry wrote down his note to Cho on a piece of parchment and tied it around Hedwig's leg, who hooted softly and nipped Harry's finger affectionately. Then, she flew off into the distance, blending in perfectly with the clouds that floated in the sky.
"All right, ready to go?" Professor McGonagull asked as the trio made their way to the entrance.
"Yes," they all responded, nodding their heads. She checked them off the list and they made their way to Hogsmeade, for the first time in their seventh year, and one of the last times they would while at Hogwarts.
When they got into the new clothing shop (called "Bewitching Wardrobes and Accessories for all Occasions) they found that Dumbledore wasn't very specific with his letter, as the masks were all different! Although there were plain ones and glitter ones, it turned out that there was a plain one and a glitter one for every single mask! You could get a mask that resembled a pig with sparkly glitter or plain. You could get a mask that transformed every 5 minutes, so that once you looked like a bat, the other like a wolf. Hermione decided to get one that looked like a kitty cat, with little ears. She tried it on and found she looked very beautiful, even though she couldn't see her face. She knew that Ron had gotten one that resembled a bludger (although Hermione thought that was very insane, as she didn't find a bludger mask attractive), but she didn't know what Harry had gotten because the place was very packed, and also because Harry just saw Cho, and he ran off with her.
After they spent their money on the masks, Hermione and Ron went outside to wait for Harry and Cho, who were trapped inside among other students.
"I wonder whom I'll go with," Ron said aloud, looking around at available girls. "I could ask Fleur Delacour…we're allowed to have guests…"
"Ron! She's 3 years older than you," Hermione scolded. "You don't want to go around with a female who's in 20s!"
"Well, you're friends with Oliver, and he's much older than you!" Ron argued.
"Age ain't nothing but a number," said a hissing voice behind them, ending their arguments. Both of them flung around, and saw Malfoy, smiling mischievously with his goons Crabbe and Goyle at his side.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron asked, very angry.
"Buying a mask for the dance, of course," Malfoy replied, running a few fingers through his slick hair. "This IS a Hogsmeade Trip after all. What kind of mask did you buy, Weasley? Probably not a very good one. After all, you can't afford one."
And, very rudely, he snatched Ron's bag and rummaged through it, taking out the bludger mask. He laughed very loudly, forcing Crabbe and Goyle to snicker very stupidly. "A bludger mask?" Malfoy questioned, looking at it and throwing it into the bag again. "It strangely resembles you, Weasley. It reminds me of how airheaded you are – such a large head, and with nothing in it or on it – except a few freckles and flaming red hair. I wonder who's going to go to the dance with you now, Weasley."
"I will," said Lavender Brown, who came up behind them. "Ron's a very sweet and passionate boy. You're nothing but scum, Malfoy. SCUM! Why don't you go back to your true home – Azkaban! Because after all those rotten things your father has done, I wouldn't be surprised if you did the exact same thing as well."
Malfoy spat on the ground and said, "Well, you've got one admirer, Weasley. Wonder how long she'll last? Probably not that much longer…she'll realise what a stupid git you are and move on." He spun on his heel and walked off, Crabbe and Goyle stalking behind him.
"You're the stupid git, Malfoy!" Ron and Lavender cried simultaneously. They looked at each other and grinned.
"So how about it, Ron?" Lavender asked. "Do you want to go to the dance with me?"
"Sure!" Ron replied. They made plans and whispered in each other's ear (although Hermione knew that they were probably just telling each other what masks they were wearing) before Lavender walked off.
"Now I just have to get a date," Hermione grumbled, looking around at all the boys while waiting for Harry and Cho.
Neville Longbottom stood at the entrance of Fred and George's Joke Shop, which was now very popular. He was slurping an ice cream, but accidentally knocked the ice cream over, so he had ice cream and chocolate running down his robes. Hermione shook her head. "He may be nice," she thought. "But he's way too clumsy! Imagine him getting me drinks! My robes will be turned a completely different colour with him getting drinks!"
She looked at Seamus Finnigan. He was a Head Boy, and had completely changed his ways (he was no longer bad at magic). But he wouldn't make a very good dancer, Hermione was sure of that.
She looked at Dean Thomas. He had grown into a very handsome man, very tall, and admired by fellow classmates. He wasn't as cute as Oliver, she had to admit that, but Dean looked a lot like him. Same built, same height. She smiled at him, trying to get attention. He was very kind as well…she noticed that. He caught her eye and smiled back and approached her. Ron eyed her carefully, and looked at Dean. He caught on and left to go look for Harry.
Dean walked up very close to her and said, "Are you available for the dance on Hallowe'en? Because I'd be honoured if you chose me as your date."
"Sure!" Hermione replied, acting exactly like Ron did when Lavender asked.
"Thanks, Hermione," Dean said, turning around and smiling. "See you there!"
She smiled gleefully and Ron walked up to her again, accompanied by Harry and Cho. "So?" Ron asked, looking at Hermione. Hermione nodded a "yes" in reply, and looked at Harry and Cho.
Although Cho was a year older than Harry, she was shorter than him, about a head shorter in fact. Her shoulder-length black hair swung behind her as the wind blew, and her almond-shaped eyes were very keen and sharp (needed for catching the snitch, Hermione thought). "Hello Hermione!" Cho greeted, shaking Hermione's hand eagerly. "It's nice to meet you again."
"You as well," Hermione replied, putting her hair behind her ears.
"I heard about the accident," Cho told them. "Are you all right, Hermione?"
"I'm fine," Hermione assured her. "I used to have some problems thinking, and I was a bit slow, but I'm as good as new now!"
"That's good," Cho said. They all stood in silence afterwards, at a lost for words. Finally Hermione broke the silence.
"So Cho, are you going to the dance with Harry?" Hermione asked, putting her bag over her shoulder.
"Yeah," Cho replied, holding hands with Harry. "Just so happens I have this weekend off – no Quidditch practices or games at all – so it'll be great to go see what Hogwarts looks like now."
"Just the same as last year," Ron explained. "Only I don't know a lot of people now."
"Trying to recognise a 1st year at Hogwarts is like trying to find a needle in a haystack," Harry summed up for her.
"A needle in a haystack?" Ron questioned, looking very puzzled. "How big is the haystack? If it's big then the needle would be hard to find, no doubt but if…"
"Ron, it's just a saying," Hermione said exasperatedly. "Just like 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'."
"I know it doesn't fall far from the tree," Ron said matter-of-factly. "Unless you pick the apple from the tree and then throw it over your shoulder so then it falls a hundred yards away or…"
Harry, Cho, and Hermione all sighed in union, infuriated, while looking at Ron.
"What?" Ron asked. "What did I say?"
They spent the rest of the day in Hogsmeade in Fred and George's Joke Shop, in The Three Broomsticks, and several other shops. At the end of the day they headed back to the Hogwarts castle (excluding Cho, who stayed at The Three Broomsticks), with their money bags considerately lighter and their stomachs full with Butterbeer and ice creams.
That night, Hermione put on her mask over and over again, looking at herself from different angles. Since today was the 30th, tomorrow was the day of the dance, and Hermione wanted to look her very best for Dean.
Her head touched the pillow again, and she fell into a dreamful sleep. Dreams and thoughts of Dean and Oliver, of her mask, and Neville, but it all turned into a dreadful dream, one Hermione did not remember in the morning.
She was walking to the dance, mask placed on her face, looking very beautiful. She met up with Dean, and she knew it was him for he had told her what kind of mask he was wearing. But then she saw two others wearing the exact same mask, and decided to choose. She chose the first boy underneath the mask, but it ending up being Neville Longbottom, smiling very stupidly. She picked the third boy, and it was Dean. He smiled happily and asked for a dance, but they stopped abruptly as the second boy took off his mask. It was Oliver, who was steaming, and exclaimed, "I thought you'd choose me, Hermione, over these two gits!" and walked off, very angry. Hermione was stunned but began to dance with Dean, when Neville suddenly asked if she wanted a drink. She agreed and he got a drink, but when he handed it to her, it went all over her dress robes making them a light shade of red, which was the colour of the fruit punch. Everyone laughed at her, and through the laughing crowd she noticed Malfoy, laughing away and pointing while saying, "THIS IS WHAT YOU DESERVE MUDBLOOD!"
Hermione woke up, very hot, but after taking a nice long drink of water she did not remember the dream/nightmare at all and thought about the days' events instead.
She went down to lunch after finishing her other homework assigned with Harry and Ron, who were very excited. A little too excited, Hermione thought. They kept jumping and clowning around, trying to scare others (since it was Hallowe'en). They even spooked out Hermione.
Ron was telling her a scary story of a very large spider (Hermione was shocked by this because Ron usually flinched whenever seeing or talking about a spider). He was saying a part of how a large spider began crawling up a girl's arm, when suddenly a spider began to crawl up her arm as well. She shrieked and ran out of the common room, but it turned out to be a prank; Harry had bought a 'not real, but it moves!' spider, and decided it would be funny to set it on someone.
At 3 o'clock, Hermione decided to get ready and ran up to the girls' dormitories, along with other girls in the seventh year.
"What?" Ron called after her, as she ran up the stairs. "Are you going to put on a whole different body?"
"Well, she's going to put on a different face at least," Harry agreed. "It is a masquerade dance."
At 7 o'clock several girls arrived down the stairs, including Hermione. Although she couldn't remember it, she looked a lot like she did in the dream – stunning. Her hair was twisted up into a half bun, half ponytail. Her robes were periwinkle blue, and she had blue studs in her ear. Her cat mask (which had blue eyes and blue ears) matched perfectly. She put it on and looked at the other girls. None of them had the same mask as her – she was unique. She noticed Lavender hadn't put her mask on, and they began chatting. Soon, the boys began arriving as well and everyone put their masks on. Lavender's mask was shaped like a butterfly's, and looked very good on her.
Ron came down the stairs with his bludger mask on, and approached Lavender. She giggled slightly, and they began to hold hands. She didn't recognise anybody else except for Neville Longbottom (he had lost his mask and made a bad attempt at making his own – it was a paper bag). She didn't notice Dean and didn't know where Harry was until he came up behind her and greeted her.
He also looked stunning. He was wearing green dress robes that matched perfectly with his eyes (which were visible through the eyeholes). His mask was shaped like a Mask of Zorro type of mask, and it was also green. "Cho knows my favourite colour is green," he told her. "She'll be able to spot me very quickly, I hope."
At 7:25, the seventh years headed down to the Great Hall. As they came ever closer, Hermione (who was in the lead as Head Girl) noticed that all the tables were pushed to the side, and that the staff table now became a place full of refreshments. The ceiling at the top, which acted as though it was outside, was now black and full of misty clouds. Bats were hanging around the walls, as ornaments, but were soon flying through the air. Pumpkins were floating up and down, and the floor was black with specs of orange – it looked as if they were in a Hallowe'en Discothèque!
Harry soon caught up with Cho, she noticed, and Ron was dancing away with Lavender. "Where could Dean be?" she wondered, as she stood alone at the side of the hall.
Everyone was dancing away on the floor except for a boy who was stuffing his face full with refreshments, and Neville, who didn't seem to find a date and was now being made fun of by Draco Malfoy.
That's when she noticed "him". The tallest one of them all. Very built, very tall. He was wearing a mystic black mask with glitter on it, and it resembled a mask from "The Phantom of the Opera". She approached the boy (she was sure it was Dean, she was sure of it), and went behind him, tapping him on the shoulder three times. The boy spun around and smiled (all you could see was the smile and a mask on his face). He said, "Hello…may I have this dance?" and she nodded.
They twirled and spun around for what seemed like ages. She got dizzy after a few songs sung by The Weird Sisters, and almost slipped, by the boy underneath the mask caught her and regained her balance. After a while, they both grew weary and tired and the boy asked if she wanted some drinks. She nodded and they both went to full up goblets of fruit punch.
"Poor Neville," said the boy behind the mask as he slurped some juice. "He didn't find a date."
"And he lost his mask," Hermione added, finishing her goblet and pouring some more.
"You look beautiful," the boy complimented. Hermione felt her cheeks flush with red, but she nodded and said, "You look great as well."
The night continued with more spinning around. She noticed Ron smiling at her, and Harry caught her eye and smiled at her as well. She returned both smiles, but then she noticed that they both started snickering.
"What are those two laughing about?" Hermione questioned, as the boy dipped her down. He was very good at dancing, unlike Seamus Finnigan, who was now on top of his date, laughing flirtatiously.
"No clue," the boy responded. They danced for a few more hours, and chatted all the while, keeping in mind that they shouldn't give their identities, even though they already knew who they were.
Finally, after many more dances (and sniggers from Harry and Ron), Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"Silence, please," he called as he stood up. His blue eyes were tinkling with satisfaction as all of the dancing stopped and The Weird Sisters stopped singing. "I hope that you have all had fun at this dance. This dance is really so that you could make more friends. Many of you…except for the ones who have already revealed your identity or those who don't really have masks…" he glanced at Neville, who smiled weakly. "…many of you don't know who you're dancing with. You could be dancing with the very enemy…or with someone you have admired for a while. It could be your best friend, or a person who might have not had a chance to meet. But, look at me, wasting valuable time. In one minute, when the clock strikes midnight, you may unmask."
Everybody stood anxiously, though in silence. The silence was only broken by Neville's clatter; he had knocked over 5 goblets, and now fruit punch was streaming on the floor.
Hermione stared at the boy, knowing it was Dean. "There's no point to unmask," she thought. "I know it's Dean already. And he knows it's me."
The minute seemed like an hour, every second seemed like a minute. Until, finally, after much waiting, they heard an unmistaken ring of midnight.
Hermione took off the mask, which seemed stuck to her sweating face. She threw it on the floor, and looked at Dean. But the only problem was…it wasn't Dean. This whole night, the fantastic dancing, the chatting, wasn't with Dean. She stared the boy in the face, and smiled. She was…with Oliver Wood.
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FINISHED! Yahoo! Hermione was with Oliver! Yah! Right? *Awww* - right? I hope so. Hope you liked the Oliver/Hermione action, although you didn't really know it was Oliver until the very end. But it was suspense! Anyways, here are individual thanks to reviewers:
KAOS – I took your *thought* into consideration – and here it is. I changed it a little, because I felt I should make it a "masked" ball, but I hope you like it all the same. Thanks for the suggestion! And for the "brilliant" thing – that really inspired me to write this!
iluvsqual – Guess what? I love Squall too! I hope to get a chance to read your story too, because it sounds pretty good! Thanks for all the compliments (I'm blushing a lot right now)…this is my first fanfic on Fanfiction.net so I'm glad people like it! :) I'm glad you're getting all giggly (that's how the first few chapters are supposed to run) but then a huge big bad dilemma/problem comes…I think!
merlin – I reviewed "The Rise of Voldemort" so you can check that out. I really want to be an author (although I already am, and you are too since we both write stories, but I mean as a famous one or to get a book published or something), and thanks for the compliments!
Juvenus – I'm glad updates make your day! Here's Chapter 8, and I hope Chapter 9 will be coming your way! That rhymes – hey, hey!
Draco's Girl – Thanks for the suggestions. Oliver/Hermione action will be coming up shortly, don't you worry, although some has already started in this chapter. Will it last though? Stay tuned! Duhn, duhn, duhn…
iluvsqual – I think it would be incredible if we could all be Hogwarts Students! Thanks for reading!
CHAPTER 9 WILL BE UP SOON AS SOON AS I'M FINISHED!