Chapter 16 ~ The Yule Ball
"Tell me what do they see when they look at me
Do they see my many personalities
Can you help me
Does anybody hear me
Can they even see me
This is my reality, oh" -"Split Personality" by PINK
Hermione woke up with a start the morning of The Yule Ball, which was Christmas Eve. She thought it was because of her excitement, but all of a sudden she heard whispering and hissing. Hermione shivered all over and hoped that there wouldn't be another attack today. Or ever.
Hermione glanced at her watch and saw that it was 6 o'clock. It was still fairly early, but the odd voices continued and Hermione decided to wake up.
She rushed towards the washroom before anyone else (although she always got first dibs because she was Head Girl), and brushed her hair, washed her face, and applied some make-up before going to dress.
Since it was the Christmas holidays they could dress in whatever they want. She eyed her jeans and her blue jumper that she had received from Mrs. Weasley last Christmas and decided to put them on. She was about to close her closet up when all of a sudden she eyed her new dress robe. She was feeling hesitant; she wanted to put it on, but knew that the time would come to look dressed-up that evening. She closed up the closet and ran downstairs.
She was greeted by Harry and Ron who were already awake. Ron was also wearing a jumper from last year which was unsurprisingly maroon. Harry was wearing a green sweater.
"Why are you up so early?" Hermione asked.
"Why are you?" Ron asked, putting down his Chudley Cannons book.
"Couldn't sleep.those odd noises again," Hermione answered, plopping herself down in a squishy armchair next to Harry.
"Same here," Ron said exasperatedly. "How the hell are we supposed to sleep if we've got people talking all the time?"
"I don't exactly know if they're people Ron," Harry told him. "For all we know it could be.well, you know.Voldemort."
"Will you STOP saying the name?" Ron cried through clenched teeth. "It's worse enough that he's trying to kill you everywhere we go! Stop saying it!"
"I won't stop saying it," Harry said. "And you should start saying it and stop being a coward."
"Do you think breakfast is ready?" Hermione asked, trying to stop Harry and Ron fighting yet again.
They decided to go down to the Great Hall, and when they did they saw that several other students had already arrived, eating their breakfast and talking in hushed voices. Several of them were talking about the Yule Ball and how they were going to do their make-up; others were conversing who was going to win the Quidditch Cup the following year; the rest were talking about the strange voices.
The Great Hall was decorated beautifully. The usual 12 trees were assembled around the rim of the hall. There were many mistletoes that hung in mid-air next to the candles, and the mistletoes also led out into the corridors.
Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat themselves down at their usual spots at the table. They called for Dobby, and at once his voice was heard.
"Dobby wants sir to order sir!" Dobby cried back at the sound of his name. "And miss and other sir!"
Harry grinned. "Um.I'll have whatever you're making! I'm sure it's good!"
"Oh, sir is so noble! So kind! Dobby could never measure up to what sir is! Dobby makes bad food! Sir does not want!" Dobby shrieked.
"No, no Dobby - I want whatever you're making right now!" Harry assured him.
"All right sir!" Dobby said. The plate was soon piled with pancakes and bacon, and his goblet was full to the rim.
When Ron and Hermione had ordered they consumed down their food quickly. "What's your rush?" Hermione asked as she took a sip of juice.
"Me and Harry are going to play a game of Wizard's Chess," Ron informed her.
"Just don't bet on the Agrippa card," she warned. "You never know what'll happen."
"We won't," Harry assured her. "What's your rush?"
"I'm going down to the library," Hermione answered. "There's an Arithmacy essay I have to finish up."
Ron rolled his eyes, "Fine then - we'll see you later!" He gestured for Harry to stand up and they exited the hall, waving to Hermione.
Hermione smiled and finished the toast she had gotten from Dobby. The other students had just begun to arrive, as well as the teachers; she noticed Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, and Professor McGonagull all in a bunch. Oliver (or 'Professor Wood' as everyone else called him besides Hermione, Harry, and Ron) headed towards her, grinning his prize-winning grin.
"How're you doing, love?" Oliver asked, grabbing some toast off a large plate on the table.
"Pretty good," Hermione replied. "But, you're going to have to stop it with the 'love' thing. People will get suspicious."
"Sorry I can't help it.love," he smirked sitting down beside her. "So, what are your plans for today before the Yule Ball?"
"I have to work on an Arithmacy essay," she replied, rummaging through her book bag. "I'm going to go to the library."
"Well that sounds absolutely FASCINATING Hermione," Oliver said sarcastically, grinning even more. "But I'm afraid I've got to.uh.go clean my dress robes. Yep! That's it! And besides.I wouldn't want to distract you from your work, of course."
"All right then," Hermione replied, knowing that Oliver wouldn't want to go to the library with her. "I'll see you later, then?"
"But of course," Oliver smiled. "Bye!" He took a sip of a goblet next to Hermione and exited the Great Hall, waving.
Hermione picked up her book bag full of her accessories and walked towards the library, where she would probably spend about 5 hours there. She was walking happily, looking at the mistletoe and varieties of Christmas when she suddenly heard a disturbing whisper. She whipped around and looked around her but there was nothing there. She continued to walk, but she heard hissing and whispering. It was an odd voice, which sounded distant, yet it was haunting.
As though in a trance, Hermione rushed through the hallways, past the library, as though destined to find the voices. She couldn't understand what the voices were talking about since all she heard was hissing, but she began to follow them, as though Harry searching for Tom Riddle's voice as he commanded for the Basilisk.
The voices were leading heard towards the dungeons. She walked down the steps absent-mindedly, dropping her books on the steps which echoed horribly. Her eyes were rigid and her feet dragged along the floor as she walked. Turning yet another corner, walking yet another corridor; Hermione didn't know when this would end, but she seemed to have lost consciousness of her thoughts. All she could concentrate on were the voices. It seemed as though her life.or, rather the end of her life.depended on it.
The hissing grew louder and louder with every step Hermione took. Her whole body began to shiver and even though she wanted to wrap her cloak around her in attempts to make herself warmer, she couldn't. Now, as she came closer the hissing became clear, and it sounded as though some of it was actually English.
"Yes, my master.I know." a voice said which echoed throughout the corridors. Hermione shook her head, trying to get out of the trance and trying to hear her thoughts, which were saying, "Is this Pettigrew? And is the hissing voice You-Know-Who?"
Hermione knew for a fact that that voice wasn't Pettigrew; his voice was shaky and panicked; this voice seemed quiet, calm, and misty. And it was a female voice as well. Yet, and Hermione felt shaken by this, she also knew for a fact that the hissing voice was indeed You-Know-Who, and that there probably was some sort of snake with him.
Hermione stopped abruptly. "Turn back," a voice in her head instructed. "If you continue walking, you'll reach You-Know-Who.all right. Voldemort.and that mysterious person. And then you'll probably be dead. If you turn around than you might escape and be left untouched."
Hermione took a step backwards.
"Yes." whispered another voice in her head. "But if you go down there you'll be able to see who's behind all this.you know it's Voldemort.but you'll be able to find out who else it is.you could be a hero."
Hermione took a step forwards.
"No!" cried the first voice. "Do you think you'll be able to take on Voldemort, a full-grown snake, and a person who seems to do a much better job than Pettigrew? With Harry and Ron by your side, you probably could. And you know a lot of spells, so you might have a slight chance. But it's not like you could kill them. After all, the three spells that could do marvelous yet dangerous things are illegal. Voldemort can afford to them. YOU can't.just turn around and walk away and no one.hopefully.will get hurt."
Hermione took a step backwards, turned around and began to walk away as quietly as possible as to not alert the two people.well, wizards.that stood just beyond the corner at the end of a corridor. However, when she heard the person's voice again, she stood quite still to eavesdrop and find out what they were planning to do.
"Well.you can't Apparate in the Hogwarts grounds.I've learned that from years of experience.when you called on me before in Hogwarts I felt the Dark Mark burn yet I could not come.yes, that was the year of the Triwizard Tournament.and we were so close to succeeding.and this time we will!" the voice told Voldemort triumphantly. "We will have to lure them out of the Hogwarts grounds.perhaps in Hogsmeade.I could suggest another trip.hmm.this will take cautious planning my Lord.cautious and precious planning."
Voldemort began to hiss and Hermione heard a snake move around on the floor.
"Nagini is getting hungry.she needs something to eat." Voldemort told the other voice.
"Are you listening to me my Lord? We need to plan this!" the voice cried. "And besides.if Nagini wants a snack she'll be glad to have one.I sense a witch standing just a corridor away from where we are speaking."
Hermione felt herself go unusually cold. She was caught!
"Yes.Nagini would like this snack.and we cannot have this witch interfering.Nagini." He began hissing odd things in Parseltongue and then translated it into English so that the witch beside him would understand. "Nagini.would you like to play a game of cat and mouse?"
Hermione began to run as fast as her legs could carry her because she just realized that the snake, Nagini, was chasing after her! Hermione didn't want to turn around for fear of what was behind her; she turned corridor after corridor, not remembering how to get out. The snake behind her was slithering and moving rapidly towards her, but she didn't dare to look at it.
She knew that running around in the dungeons was helpless and that she's probably get caught so she tried to find Snape's office. "He could help," Hermione thought hopefully. "Unless he's in on this too."
Hermione ran around helplessly, the snake still on her trail. She tried to ignore all of the cramps she had, and all of the stitches at her side as she hopelessly ran. The dungeons seemed much larger than usual, or perhaps it was just because Hermione was lost. Every corridor was beginning to look familiar; the paintings began to look the same.
Hermione took out her wand, and mimicking what Harry did on the last task in the Triwizard Tournament, cried out, "Show me!" It spun very quickly, and then pointing to her right. She ran down the corridor, but then she noticed that she was heading towards a dead end.
"Stupid wand! Why didn't it work?" Hermione thought angrily, as she heard the snake slithering behind her. Then she realized that You-Know- Who.Voldemort was there. He could trick her.and he obviously did so by leading her in the wrong direction. Now she was cornered and she was going to die.
Hermione stood with her against the wall. She was shaking uneasily and could hear the snake just around the corner, slithering nearer and nearer.
But, all of a sudden, she heard a voice shout a few words and her eyes drooped. Her back slid against the wall and she fell onto the floor, unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you all right?"
Hermione opened her eyes with difficulty. Everything was blurry all around her. She could see a fire just to her left and she noticed that she was lying on a red squishy couch.
Sitting beside her, looking extremely worried, was Harry. His glasses were hanging loosely on his face. Ron was sitting in an armchair, his face buried in his hands. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the fire, the light causing odd shadows on his face.
"Are you all right, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore repeated.
Hermione blinked and struggled to sit up. "I'm.I think I'm okay," she answered. "What happened down in the dungeons?"
"Well, it appears that Voldemort was indeed down in the dungeons," Dumbledore said, making everyone flinch except himself and Harry. "And, you, Miss Granger, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whatever made you come down there?"
Hermione just remembered what had happened. "Who.who saved me? Or rather, who made me go unconscious? I remember, that snake was chasing after me and then I found myself at a dead-end and then all of a sudden I heard some words and I went unconscious."
"That would be Snape," Harry told her. "He's on his way."
"Snape? How did he find me?" Hermione asked.
"Well, we're guessing he heard the commotions that were going on in the dungeons," Harry suggested. "We heard some of it too. The voices were louder than ever before.we could even hear it in the Common Room. Yet it was all distorted; we couldn't understand a word."
"Miss Granger, did you happen to witness anything between Voldemort and that other wizard?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Witch," Hermione corrected. "There was a witch with him. It was a female voice. And, yes, I did happen to witness their whole conversation before I was caught." She paused, wondering if she should continue or not. Ron still had his face in his hands. Dumbledore nodded. "And.well.they were working on a plan. The witch was talking about not being able to Apparate or Disapparate within in the Hogwarts Grounds, and that they'd have to lure some people out somehow.and, well.I think the witch said that she'd try and suggest a Hogsmeade Trip.and that this would take cautious and precious planning.Professor Dumbledore, do you know what she's talking about?"
"I have some idea," Dumbledore admitted, still gazing at the fire. "However, I don't know which one."
Hermione didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Apparently neither did Harry. She couldn't see Ron's expression for he still had his face in his hands.
"Well, I would like you all to come to my office in an hour," Dumbledore said. "I know this is interfering with your preparations for the ball, but I just hope that it won't have to be postponed."
At this, Ron quickly raised his head. "Postpone?! But Professor Dumbledore, this is my chance!"
Dumbledore chuckled. "My dear boy, I doubt that it will be postponed. However, if I find that there is a great danger amongst this castle, then I will postpone it. I will probably just raise the security for the ball. Wouldn't want anything to happen.so, you three just come to my office, all right?"
The three of them nodded as Dumbledore exited the Common Room.
"Snape?! Tried to save me?" Hermione cried in disbelief. "I thought he'd be the last person on earth to do that!"
Harry nodded. "I don't get it either."
"Maybe he's trying to get on Dumbledore's good side," Ron guessed. "Either that or Snape's lost his bananas."
"Marbles, Ron," Harry corrected.
"I don't have any marbles!" Ron exclaimed.
Harry sighed and muttered, "Well, Snape doesn't have any bananas either."
"That's exactly my point!" Ron cried.
Hermione chuckled as Harry sighed. Harry turned towards Hermione. "Are you all right Hermione? That was quite an ordeal you went through!"
Hermione nodded, "Yeah. I'm a bit stunned, but I'll probably be all right. What time is it?"
Ron checked his watch. "It's half past one.don't worry, you'll get all your precious time to do your make-up."
"I'm not going to be doing my make-up," Hermione snapped. "I was just wondering since I still have to finish my Arithmacy essay!"
Ron and Harry laughed. "It's the holidays Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "Give yourself a rest and leave the homework behind for a bit, all right?"
Hermione smiled. "All right then," she agreed. "But I will put the blame on you if I don't get to work on it, all right?"
"Hey, it's not our problem," Ron told her. "We just merely suggested it, and you took the offer!"
"He's right, you know?" Harry asked.
Hermione laughed. "Whatever."
They all sat in silence for quite a bit.
"So," Harry finally said, breaking the silence, "what are we going to do now?"
"The same thing we do every day, Harry!" Ron exclaimed, as though it was obvious.
"What's that?" Hermione asked.
"Play Wizard's Chess!" Ron answered.
Hermione rolled her eyes as they emerged in yet another game of Wizard's Chess, and while they played, Hermione did the normal thing that any girl would do a few hours before Yule Ball - finish up her Arithmacy essay.
An hour later, they headed towards Dumbledore's office. Harry led the way for he knew the route the best, but when they finally arrived at his office they arrived at a problem - they didn't know the password to get in!
"Dumbledore's not thinking logically, is he?" Ron said, pulling his hair in frustration. "If he was, then he would be waiting out here for us and then let us in. But no, he just had to let us stand out here like a bunch of nutters and try to guess the password."
Suddenly, the gargoyle sprang open, letting them in.
"Nutters?" Ron asked. "But, I was just talking."
They walked in one after another, with Ron still trying to figure out what had just happened. They walked through the door into Dumbledore's office, which still looked exactly how it was the last time Harry was in there. The same curious silver instruments stood on the spindle-legged chairs that Harry was familiar with. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, was standing on its golden perch. It looked marvelous, with red and gold plumage. Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned towards Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore was sitting in his usual chair, talking assertively with Snape, who was sitting in the opposite chair.
"Please, sit down," Dumbledore gestured. Hermione looked at Dumbledore, almost about to laugh because there wasn't anywhere to sit. The two chairs were already occupied, and there were no other chairs.
"Ah, yes, of course," Dumbledore said, just realizing the situation. He clapped his hands and in an instance three chairs appeared. Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat down in the chairs.
"So, as you know," Dumbledore began, "something occurred today down in the dungeons involving Miss Granger, Professor Snape, Voldemort, an unknown witch, and a snake named Nagini."
At once, Harry remembered what happened in his fourth year with himself, the Death Eaters, Voldemort, Wormtail, and the snake named Nagini. As if it was a reflex, he put his hand on Hermione's arm and tried to comfort. She smiled as Dumbledore continued.
"Now, Professor Snape has only filled in some gaps, but I need Miss Granger to fill us in on exactly what happened down in the dungeons," Dumbledore said. ".If she doesn't mind of course. And Professor Snape will inform us of the rest."
Hermione felt strange since she was the one doing all the talking.she was used to Harry being in the strange situations, although she didn't want him to, and then being sympathetic for him. Now, she was the one doing all the talking.
"Well," Hermione began, not knowing how to start, "I was going to work on an Arithmacy essay in the library, and Harry and Ron were going to the Common Room to play a game of Wizard's Chess.." She explained the rest, telling them all about the conversation between the witch and Voldemort, right down to being trapped at the dead end. She stopped abruptly, and Snape began to explain the rest.
"I was busy preparing notes for the next class," he began, in a very silky tone, "when I heard some odd slithering noises. I exited my office and headed towards the corridors when I heard slight screaming. I came towards a dead end and saw Miss Granger.now, I don't have any idea what she was doing there, because this 'voice put me into a trance' excuse is highly doubtful, but I saw the snake and I attempted to stun it - obviously it was too powerful because it hit Miss Granger, also knocking her unconscious."
Hermione thought that 'obviously it was too powerful' bit was also highly doubtful - he probably made it 'too powerful' on purpose.
"I searched through the whole dungeons," Snape informed them, "but I didn't find anything else besides the snake."
"Where is the snake now?" Dumbledore asked.
"Gone, headmaster, when I came back from searching," Snape answered. "Miss Granger was still there."
"Of course I was," Hermione thought as Dumbledore sat in thought. "What else was I going to do if I was knocked unconscious?"
"Very well," Dumbledore said. "Well, I don't know how they managed to get out so quickly."
"Maybe they Disapparated!" Ron cried brightly.
"Ron, how many times have I had to tell you?" Hermione asked exasperatedly. "You can't Apparate or Disapparate in the Hogwarts Grounds. That's exactly what Voldemort and that witch were talking about!"
"Exactly, Mr Weasley, maybe you could do with taking a leaf out of Miss Granger's book," Snape said. "By that I don't mean memorizing the whole entire book as Miss Granger does but actually getting some logic stuck in your head for more than 10 seconds!" Both Hermione and Ron turned furiously red.
"Professor Snape, please calm down," Professor Dumbledore said wisely. "Now, because they have both disappeared I will let the Yule Ball go on. However, I will raise the security so that we have the professors on high alert. We wouldn't want anything to happen on this day. And it's Christmas as well, so we should all be happy! All right, you three may return to your dormitories. I will need to talk to Professor Snape a while longer."
The three of them stood up and exited Dumbledore's office. As soon as they were out of earshot, Ron started conversation.
"Did you see that?" Ron asked. "Snape insulting us right in front of Dumbledore! Does he really want to get sacked?"
"I sure hope so," Harry chuckled.
"I'm really glad he was there though," Hermione said suddenly. "I mean, in the dungeons. If it wasn't for him, well.I'd.I'd be."
"Dead?" Ron finished suggestively.
Hermione lowered her head, as though dreading the very thought of it.
"Well, it's good the prat was there," Ron agreed. "But don't go trying to pay him back or anything. But maybe that's exactly what he wanted to do." He paused as he gave the Fat Lady the password and they entered the Common Room, which was empty except for the few first, second, and third years. Everyone else was getting ready. "Maybe he wanted to help Hermione so that he would 'owe her one' and have to everything he says."
"Oh, come off it Ron, don't be stupid," Hermione told him. "I just hope there won't be any teasing about a Professor.no, the head of the Slytherin house helping a Gryffindor."
"Maybe that's what he wanted to do!" Ron exclaimed. "He wanted you to be made fun of and then you'd commit suicide or something and then he'd be laughing and."
"Shut up Ron," Hermione ordered. "I'll see you boys soon.say, in five hours?"
"It takes you that long to get ready?" Ron asked.
Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I guess it does," and she went up the stairs and into her dormitory.
Ron and Harry stood looking at each other, now knowing what to talk about or what to do. "Um," Harry finally said, "you reckon we better start getting ready to?"
Ron shook his head. "Nah, I reckon we'd ought to play a few more games of Wizard's Chess!"
Harry nodded. "You're on! What do you wanna bet that I'll win?"
"Nothing at all Harry," Ron laughed. "Just a friendly game. No Agrippa Cards involved."
They chuckled and sat themselves down once again to their favourite game with Ron and Harry not even worrying or thinking about the Yule Ball.
***************************************
Hermione slowly walked up to her dormitories and began to wish that the meeting in Dumbledore's office had ended sooner than it did. She would bet anything, even Ron's Agrippa card, that the girls had already started getting ready and now were gossiping. Hermione knew that she would look like an idiot walking in, not even starting to get ready. She hoped that they hadn't started to get ready, and began to walk in. But it seemed that she got more than she had bargained for.
She walked in smiling, but that quickly turned into a state of shock expression. It turned out that none of the girls had just started when she walked in - they were all already finished!
"Where have you been?" Parvati asked curiously.
"I've been busy," Hermione admitted. "All of your are.already finished?"
"Of course we are," Lavender snapped, as she browsed through 'Witch Weekly'. "You'd think we'd sit around all day 'being busy' and not doing preparing ourselves and getting ready.like you?"
Hermione felt her face go red and murmured, "No, of course not."
She went over to her bed and began to prepare herself as quickly as she could, carefully being inspected by the rest of the girls. It felt strange, putting Sleekeazy's Hair Potion in her hair, putting on her elegant dress robes of periwinkle blue, and applying loads of make-up, which she rarely did, in front of all the girls who were already finished. She finally finished herself almost three hours later, and even though she also began to chat and browse through magazines, she couldn't help feeling that she had made a fool of herself, although not meaning to.
"You look amazing," Lavender complimented when she finally got out of the bathroom. "But there's one problem, I'm afraid."
"What's that?" Hermione asked, biting her bottom lip in frustration.
"You forgot to pin on your Head Girl badge, silly!" Lavender laughed.
Hermione laughed with her as she pinned on her Head Girl badge, but she felt that putting it on made her feel even more stranger.
She went down with the rest of the girls at half past seven with the rest of the girls, and to her surprise she didn't see Harry or Ron anywhere. Seamus, Dean, and the rest of the seventh years were already down, but Harry and Ron were apparently still up in their dormitories. Neville wasn't there because he was home for the holidays (and also because he didn't want to be embarrassed - people were still making fun of him because of what happened at the Hallowe'en Ball).
"Why are Harry and Ron still up in the dormitories?" Hermione asked Seamus suspiciously.
"They got so caught up in their game of Wizard's Chess that they forgot to get ready for the ball," Seamus answered, smirking a bit. "They just ran up there only twenty minutes ago!"
Hermione laughed but noticed Lavender, who was obviously upset that Ron wasn't there yet, and she stopped laughing.
"What's taking Ron so bloody long?" Lavender asked. "He's not a girl - it shouldn't take him so long, right?"
"He'll be down soon," Hermione assured him. "He just wanted to look extra- special for you!"
Lavender smiled. "He did?"
"Of course he did," Hermione lied, even though she was just trying to make Lavender feel better. "He told me that when I was going to get ready."
Lavender grinned. "Thanks Hermione.your all right, you know that?" She gave Hermione a grateful look and turned to talk to Parvati.
"I'm all right?" Hermione thought. "Just all right?"
Fifthteen minutes after Lavender and Hermione's conversation, a clatter could be heard on the stairs and rumbling afterwards. It turned out that, in Ron's excitement to get to Lavender, he tripped down the stairs onto Harry and they both fell down the stairs! Hermione quickly walked over to the stairway and found Harry and Ron looking like they had just been thrown into a cage with a thousand dragons. Everyone gathered around the stairways and looked at Ron and Harry.
Ron groaned as he struggled to get up. His lip was bleeding and his knees were skinned. A great deal of his robes were ripped. Harry looked much worse. His glasses had broken in half, his dress robes were completely destroyed, and his nose was bleeding as well. Hermione sighed as she took out her wand and muttered a few words. In an instant, Ron and Harry's robes were looking brand-new. She went over to Harry and said, "Arculus Repairo!" and Harry's glasses were repaired. They gave her grateful looks as she said, "Well, I can't fix the blood, but other than that you look fine!"
"Wow Hermione, thanks!" Ron cried. He smiled and ran over to Lavender who began to hug him and ask him if he was all right.
Hermione smiled at Harry. Harry smiled back and said, "Thanks.you look beautiful by the way. Who're you going with?"
Hermione had just realized that she hadn't told them who she was going with. "Um.you'll find out," Hermione replied mysteriously.
"Okay then," Harry said, apparently disturbed by her mysteriousness. "Save me a dance though, all right?"
Hermione raised her eyebrows, stunned by his question. "U-um.yeah, of course, Harry," she said finally.
Hermione arrived in the Great Hall with the rest of the Gryffindors feeling slightly alone - she was the only one without an escort, besides Harry. The Great Hall looked marvelous - the twelve trees were up again, but were decorated more magnificently than before. Little crystals fell from the ceiling which were really small fairies that threw fairie dust in the air when someone past. The mistletoes were everywhere and Hermione noticed that a few couples had already started kissing underneath them. "My last Yule Ball," Hermione muttered underneath her breath. "Better make it a good one."
The Weird Sisters were back again and had made a stage at one edge of the Great Hall, and were waiting for their cue as Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Welcome to our Yule Ball," he greeted. "The Yule Ball is usually only supposed to take place during the Triwizard Tournament, but we have decided to continue it so our Christmas Spirits are lightened. Now, before we begin, the Head Boy and Girl of this year must have a dance. Amazingly, they are both from the same House, which is very rare. I'd like to ask Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnigan to step up."
Hermione felt her face turn red as the students and professors began to applaud politely. "Go on Hermione," Harry told her. "You can do it."
"What? With Seamus the old klutz?" Hermione whined. "He'll probably step on my feet!"
But it appeared that Hermione had no choice; Seamus had already made his way towards the center of the dance floor and has his arms opened wide, as though waiting for her to jump right in them. Hermione walked hesitantly, throwing odd looks at Harry, as though it was his entire fault that she was put in this situation.
She eventually reached Seamus, quite some time after the applause had finished, and The Weird Sisters struck up a lively tune. They swerved around to the rhythm, with Hermione wishing that the song would end quickly. He smiled cheekily at her and complimented her, "You look great Hermione." Hermione just nodded, looking down upon her feet in hopes that Seamus wouldn't step on them. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the song ended and rest of the couples assembled themselves around the dance floor.
"Nice dance," Harry laughed as he approached her. "Cho isn't here yet, and I guess your date isn't either - so, would you like to dance?"
Hermione nodded. "Of course, Harry."
Harry and Hermione began to dance but they weren't really concentrated on how they were dancing. Both of their heads were twisting and turning and observing the people in the Great Hall to see if their dates had arrived. "Where could Oliver possibly be?" she thought as she swung in circles, making her feel slightly dizzy.
Once the dance had finished, Harry seemed to have spotted Cho and was dashing towards her as quickly as he could. Hermione decided to have a rest and see if she could spot Oliver any time soon.
"Maybe he was one of the professors that went to heighten the security," Hermione figured. "Or maybe he didn't want to show up."
"Want a drink?" a voice said behind her. Hermione swung around and saw Oliver, wearing brilliant robes of navy blue, holding two goblets.
Hermione sighed with relief. "Oliver, finally," she said, taking the goblet from him. "What took you so long?"
"Dumbledore wanted to see me," Oliver informed her, smiling widely. "He had a genius idea."
"He did?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Yeah, he wanted me to become your bodyguard," Oliver told her.
"Your serious?" Hermione almost shrieked, thrilled by the very thought.
"No, that was just a joke!" Oliver laughed. "Dumbledore just told me that he wants me to secure the grounds later on through the night.so this time that we have right now is precious, love."
"No doubt about that," Hermione said, finishing her goblet off. "So.um."
".Would you like to dance Hermione?" Oliver finished for her.
Hermione nodded. "Sure."
The Weird Sisters had just started a slow song, so Oliver and Hermione were dancing quite closely to each other. Hermione ran her eyes through the many couples and noticed Harry and Cho getting maybe a little too close to each other, and Lavender and Ron. Hermione noticed that Ron was slightly red.
"So," Oliver said, interrupting her thoughts. "How's the school year been going for you?"
"Apart from almost being murdered by a snake, I guess I'm doing okay," Hermione said, cracking a small smile.
"You must've been scared," Oliver realized.
"You have no idea," Hermione said.
"Are you all right, Hermione?" Oliver said sternly, as though he was a parent.
Hermione chuckled, "I'm all right, Oliver. Believe me. If you're here, I know that everything will be okay."
"I'm not Superman you know," Oliver smiled. "That's a Muggle show by the way."
"I know," Hermione replied. "I learnt about it in Muggle Studies."
"You know everything, don't you?" Oliver said, holding her closer as the song continued.
"Well, there are some things that I don't know," Hermione admitted. "I do know a lot I guess, but I'm.I'm still learning."
There was a sudden tap on her shoulder that made Hermione jump as the song ended.
"Hey Granger," she heard from behind her. "You said you'd save me a dance remember?"
Hermione turned around to face Malfoy. He was looking quite handsome, Hermione had to admit, in dark ink-green robes.
"So, how about it?" Malfoy asked as another slow tune began. "You wanna dance?"
"Uh." Hermione managed to say. She turned around to face Oliver, who looked completely outraged!
"I think you should just back off mate." Oliver began, as he remembered the incident where Malfoy attacked her.
"Oliver," Hermione began, pressing Oliver's arm gently, "it's just one dance.it'd be rude to reject him." She stared deeply into his eyes as though saying, "Everything will be all right."
Oliver glanced back and smiled weakly. "All-all right.you-you dance, I'll go get a drink," he said eventually.
Oliver walked away and she turned to Malfoy again. "You look gorgeous, Granger," he said as he put his arms around her waist. She put her arms around his neck hesitantly, as though he might snap at her.
"Don't worry, I don't bite," Malfoy laughed as the song played.
Hermione was lost beyond words at Malfoy's personality. For the past six years she had pictured him as the meanest boy alive, a cruel boy without a thought for anyone except himself and his purebloods. She saw him as the teaser, and she was the one who was always teased. And now suddenly the picture had changed; she didn't know if it had become clearer or even more unfocused but she knew Malfoy had changed. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or he had just changed suddenly; it was almost as though he had a split personality.
"You really do look gorgeous, Granger," he repeated.
"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" Hermione snapped. "Don't think I've forgotten about that incident where you got drunk and attacked me, or all the times you've called me Mudblood or teased me.what are you doing?"
"I'm.I'm just trying to become a better person Hermione," he said.
Hermione look wide-eyed with shock. Her mouth hung open like her jaw was suddenly too loose as she stared, bewildered by what just happened - Draco had just called her by her first name!
"Are you all right?" Malfoy asked as they swayed around the dance floor.
Hermione managed to close her mouth and she nodded. "Yes, I'm fine," she said. "What do you mean by becoming a better person though?"
"Well, you know I've always been.well, I've treated some people unfairly, like you Hermione," Malfoy began as Hermione began to think, "Stop it! Stop it!", "and I don't want to become like my father. And I know that being rude and cruel is being one step closer to becoming a Death Eater. And I don't want to be like that."
"And what about that incident in the hallway?" Hermione responded. "What was going on there?"
"Well Zabini dared me to," Draco told her.
"Zabini dared you to attack me? And you agreed?" Hermione said angrily.
"No, no, no," Draco assured her. "He dared me to have a drink.and I did, not knowing what I was getting myself into. Before you know it I was going out of my mind and as soon as I saw you I started doing crazy things. And.I apologize."
Draco Malfoy? A Slytherin? Apologizing to Hermione, a Gryffindor? Hermione felt as though she was in a dream, or a nightmare rather, and wondered whether she should pinch herself or not.
"What exactly do you apologize for?" Hermione questioned. She knew she sounded harsh, but she wasn't used to this new side of Malfoy.
"I apologize for.everything," he answered. "I apologized for all the times I teased you and called you Mudblood, I apologize for attacking, I apologize for insulting your friends.I apologize for everything, Hermione. I really am sorry."
Hermione swallowed uneasily as the song ended. Oliver hurried back as quickly as he could with two goblets in his hand.
"Thanks for the dance," Malfoy said, kissing her hand gently. Hermione blushed as he smiled and began to walk away.
Oliver's face was steaming by the time Hermione walked up to him. "What the hell does that guy think he's doing?" Oliver asked.
"He's not doing anything Oliver," Hermione said, taking a goblet from Oliver.
"He's trying to steal my girl away!" he cried exasperatedly.
"Well, Oliver, nobody's really supposed to know that I'm your girl, and he doesn't know either," Hermione said. "So don't be jealous if somebody does that because were not supposed to be a couple and nobody is supposed to know about it so they don't know if I'm taken or not."
Oliver sighed. "You're right," Oliver said; running a hand through his short, brown hair. "You're always right, love."
"I'm not always right!" Hermione disagreed.
Suddenly Professor McGonagull came between them. It looked as though Professor McGonagull had definitely had a drink or two, for she was smiling flirtatiously at Oliver. "Would you care to dance, Professor Wood?" she asked.
Oliver put on an odd face as he set his goblet down. "Uh, sure," he replied, getting up.
Hermione laughed as Professor McGonagull dragged Oliver on to the dance floor and they began to dance to an old folk song.
"Hey 'Mione," said Ron, coming up to her. "Fancy a dance?"
"I wouldn't want to fancy one, but yeah, sure I'll dance," she answered, smiling a bit.
The night went by in a blur. Hermione and Oliver were careful to alternate so they wouldn't look "too interested" in each other, and Hermione ended up dancing with a lot of people. She had a blast and was quite satisfied that Oliver didn't have to leave during the night because there were no sightings of any strangers within the premises.
By the end of the night, Hermione was exhausted, and also was very confused about Malfoy's new attitude and personality. Hermione eventually left with Harry and Ron, waving occasionally to Oliver, who waved back with an enormous grin on his face, and the three of them returned to the Gryffindor Tower.
"Whoo! Some night!" Ron cried.
"Yeah it was," Harry agreed, remembering all the splendid dances he had with Cho.
Hermione didn't really know if it was 'some night'. It was different and strange then all the other nights she had recalled. It was great of course, dancing with Oliver all night (except when they were alternating), but this night was strange.rather, the whole day was strange. She was put into a trance and followed some voices belonging to Voldemort and some witch; a snake had almost killed her; Snape had actually saved her; and Draco Malfoy was being nice for a change! It had certainly been an experience, but it was an experience that Hermione hoped would not repeat.
She say good night to Harry and Ron after they climbed into the Gryffindor Common Room, and as Hermione slowly made her way up to her dormitories she began to think. Maybe all of the misconceptions of Draco were wrong.what if he really was a nice guy? What if he was truly sorry? Hermione didn't know the real answers to this, but knew that something about Draco had changed. And that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't such an arse anymore.
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YAY! FINALLY DONE! I'm sorry it's taken me so long, but I've been so busy this summer with many other things. I've gone camping, gone to Canada's Wonderland, and at one point when I came home I found myself with a writer's block (stupid things). But yes, I'm finally done. I don't think this is one of my best chapters but that's because I found myself at a dilemma and I wasn't really sure what to do. I promise on my Harry Potter memorabilia that Chapter 17 will be uploaded soon and I'm really sorry that I haven't udpated sooner.but I hope you like it anyways! Thanks to my reviewers (individual thanks as always):
wowie - You really think I should get more than 100? Well this was my first Harry Potter fic so I didn't really expect anything much but right now I'm overwhelmed and I'm glad you like it!
Jenni - I really like your Quarantine story and trust me, I am not worthy. *lol*
Oliver Lover - much more Oliver in this chapter! Ha ha! "This is the best story by far?" I'm blushing, thanks!
hunny - Yea, I'm sorry that the Sunday has come and gone.about a thousand times. I was just really busy.but I hope you like this chapter!
eagle's eyes - You want me to finish it? Where's all the fun? *lol* I'm glad you like it though.I don't know if I want to finish it so soon because I'm having so much fun with it.
Emily - Thanks! I'm sorry you miss the updates, 'cause I did too. I promise to update more frequently now!
karizma87 - Ahh, everybody's yelling at me because I haven't updated lately! Just kidding.thanks for the compliment about "you're a really great writer and you should keep on writing" - I really appreciate that!
Alanna Black - I am don't worry!!
Metalchik13 - Geez, your making me blush too much. I don't think I exactly write as J.K. Rowling, but I'll take that compliment and stick in my compliment book.nah, I'm just kidding. Thanks for the compliments!
CHAPTER 17 (Geez, I'm that far already?) will be up soon, don't worry!
"Tell me what do they see when they look at me
Do they see my many personalities
Can you help me
Does anybody hear me
Can they even see me
This is my reality, oh" -"Split Personality" by PINK
Hermione woke up with a start the morning of The Yule Ball, which was Christmas Eve. She thought it was because of her excitement, but all of a sudden she heard whispering and hissing. Hermione shivered all over and hoped that there wouldn't be another attack today. Or ever.
Hermione glanced at her watch and saw that it was 6 o'clock. It was still fairly early, but the odd voices continued and Hermione decided to wake up.
She rushed towards the washroom before anyone else (although she always got first dibs because she was Head Girl), and brushed her hair, washed her face, and applied some make-up before going to dress.
Since it was the Christmas holidays they could dress in whatever they want. She eyed her jeans and her blue jumper that she had received from Mrs. Weasley last Christmas and decided to put them on. She was about to close her closet up when all of a sudden she eyed her new dress robe. She was feeling hesitant; she wanted to put it on, but knew that the time would come to look dressed-up that evening. She closed up the closet and ran downstairs.
She was greeted by Harry and Ron who were already awake. Ron was also wearing a jumper from last year which was unsurprisingly maroon. Harry was wearing a green sweater.
"Why are you up so early?" Hermione asked.
"Why are you?" Ron asked, putting down his Chudley Cannons book.
"Couldn't sleep.those odd noises again," Hermione answered, plopping herself down in a squishy armchair next to Harry.
"Same here," Ron said exasperatedly. "How the hell are we supposed to sleep if we've got people talking all the time?"
"I don't exactly know if they're people Ron," Harry told him. "For all we know it could be.well, you know.Voldemort."
"Will you STOP saying the name?" Ron cried through clenched teeth. "It's worse enough that he's trying to kill you everywhere we go! Stop saying it!"
"I won't stop saying it," Harry said. "And you should start saying it and stop being a coward."
"Do you think breakfast is ready?" Hermione asked, trying to stop Harry and Ron fighting yet again.
They decided to go down to the Great Hall, and when they did they saw that several other students had already arrived, eating their breakfast and talking in hushed voices. Several of them were talking about the Yule Ball and how they were going to do their make-up; others were conversing who was going to win the Quidditch Cup the following year; the rest were talking about the strange voices.
The Great Hall was decorated beautifully. The usual 12 trees were assembled around the rim of the hall. There were many mistletoes that hung in mid-air next to the candles, and the mistletoes also led out into the corridors.
Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat themselves down at their usual spots at the table. They called for Dobby, and at once his voice was heard.
"Dobby wants sir to order sir!" Dobby cried back at the sound of his name. "And miss and other sir!"
Harry grinned. "Um.I'll have whatever you're making! I'm sure it's good!"
"Oh, sir is so noble! So kind! Dobby could never measure up to what sir is! Dobby makes bad food! Sir does not want!" Dobby shrieked.
"No, no Dobby - I want whatever you're making right now!" Harry assured him.
"All right sir!" Dobby said. The plate was soon piled with pancakes and bacon, and his goblet was full to the rim.
When Ron and Hermione had ordered they consumed down their food quickly. "What's your rush?" Hermione asked as she took a sip of juice.
"Me and Harry are going to play a game of Wizard's Chess," Ron informed her.
"Just don't bet on the Agrippa card," she warned. "You never know what'll happen."
"We won't," Harry assured her. "What's your rush?"
"I'm going down to the library," Hermione answered. "There's an Arithmacy essay I have to finish up."
Ron rolled his eyes, "Fine then - we'll see you later!" He gestured for Harry to stand up and they exited the hall, waving to Hermione.
Hermione smiled and finished the toast she had gotten from Dobby. The other students had just begun to arrive, as well as the teachers; she noticed Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, and Professor McGonagull all in a bunch. Oliver (or 'Professor Wood' as everyone else called him besides Hermione, Harry, and Ron) headed towards her, grinning his prize-winning grin.
"How're you doing, love?" Oliver asked, grabbing some toast off a large plate on the table.
"Pretty good," Hermione replied. "But, you're going to have to stop it with the 'love' thing. People will get suspicious."
"Sorry I can't help it.love," he smirked sitting down beside her. "So, what are your plans for today before the Yule Ball?"
"I have to work on an Arithmacy essay," she replied, rummaging through her book bag. "I'm going to go to the library."
"Well that sounds absolutely FASCINATING Hermione," Oliver said sarcastically, grinning even more. "But I'm afraid I've got to.uh.go clean my dress robes. Yep! That's it! And besides.I wouldn't want to distract you from your work, of course."
"All right then," Hermione replied, knowing that Oliver wouldn't want to go to the library with her. "I'll see you later, then?"
"But of course," Oliver smiled. "Bye!" He took a sip of a goblet next to Hermione and exited the Great Hall, waving.
Hermione picked up her book bag full of her accessories and walked towards the library, where she would probably spend about 5 hours there. She was walking happily, looking at the mistletoe and varieties of Christmas when she suddenly heard a disturbing whisper. She whipped around and looked around her but there was nothing there. She continued to walk, but she heard hissing and whispering. It was an odd voice, which sounded distant, yet it was haunting.
As though in a trance, Hermione rushed through the hallways, past the library, as though destined to find the voices. She couldn't understand what the voices were talking about since all she heard was hissing, but she began to follow them, as though Harry searching for Tom Riddle's voice as he commanded for the Basilisk.
The voices were leading heard towards the dungeons. She walked down the steps absent-mindedly, dropping her books on the steps which echoed horribly. Her eyes were rigid and her feet dragged along the floor as she walked. Turning yet another corner, walking yet another corridor; Hermione didn't know when this would end, but she seemed to have lost consciousness of her thoughts. All she could concentrate on were the voices. It seemed as though her life.or, rather the end of her life.depended on it.
The hissing grew louder and louder with every step Hermione took. Her whole body began to shiver and even though she wanted to wrap her cloak around her in attempts to make herself warmer, she couldn't. Now, as she came closer the hissing became clear, and it sounded as though some of it was actually English.
"Yes, my master.I know." a voice said which echoed throughout the corridors. Hermione shook her head, trying to get out of the trance and trying to hear her thoughts, which were saying, "Is this Pettigrew? And is the hissing voice You-Know-Who?"
Hermione knew for a fact that that voice wasn't Pettigrew; his voice was shaky and panicked; this voice seemed quiet, calm, and misty. And it was a female voice as well. Yet, and Hermione felt shaken by this, she also knew for a fact that the hissing voice was indeed You-Know-Who, and that there probably was some sort of snake with him.
Hermione stopped abruptly. "Turn back," a voice in her head instructed. "If you continue walking, you'll reach You-Know-Who.all right. Voldemort.and that mysterious person. And then you'll probably be dead. If you turn around than you might escape and be left untouched."
Hermione took a step backwards.
"Yes." whispered another voice in her head. "But if you go down there you'll be able to see who's behind all this.you know it's Voldemort.but you'll be able to find out who else it is.you could be a hero."
Hermione took a step forwards.
"No!" cried the first voice. "Do you think you'll be able to take on Voldemort, a full-grown snake, and a person who seems to do a much better job than Pettigrew? With Harry and Ron by your side, you probably could. And you know a lot of spells, so you might have a slight chance. But it's not like you could kill them. After all, the three spells that could do marvelous yet dangerous things are illegal. Voldemort can afford to them. YOU can't.just turn around and walk away and no one.hopefully.will get hurt."
Hermione took a step backwards, turned around and began to walk away as quietly as possible as to not alert the two people.well, wizards.that stood just beyond the corner at the end of a corridor. However, when she heard the person's voice again, she stood quite still to eavesdrop and find out what they were planning to do.
"Well.you can't Apparate in the Hogwarts grounds.I've learned that from years of experience.when you called on me before in Hogwarts I felt the Dark Mark burn yet I could not come.yes, that was the year of the Triwizard Tournament.and we were so close to succeeding.and this time we will!" the voice told Voldemort triumphantly. "We will have to lure them out of the Hogwarts grounds.perhaps in Hogsmeade.I could suggest another trip.hmm.this will take cautious planning my Lord.cautious and precious planning."
Voldemort began to hiss and Hermione heard a snake move around on the floor.
"Nagini is getting hungry.she needs something to eat." Voldemort told the other voice.
"Are you listening to me my Lord? We need to plan this!" the voice cried. "And besides.if Nagini wants a snack she'll be glad to have one.I sense a witch standing just a corridor away from where we are speaking."
Hermione felt herself go unusually cold. She was caught!
"Yes.Nagini would like this snack.and we cannot have this witch interfering.Nagini." He began hissing odd things in Parseltongue and then translated it into English so that the witch beside him would understand. "Nagini.would you like to play a game of cat and mouse?"
Hermione began to run as fast as her legs could carry her because she just realized that the snake, Nagini, was chasing after her! Hermione didn't want to turn around for fear of what was behind her; she turned corridor after corridor, not remembering how to get out. The snake behind her was slithering and moving rapidly towards her, but she didn't dare to look at it.
She knew that running around in the dungeons was helpless and that she's probably get caught so she tried to find Snape's office. "He could help," Hermione thought hopefully. "Unless he's in on this too."
Hermione ran around helplessly, the snake still on her trail. She tried to ignore all of the cramps she had, and all of the stitches at her side as she hopelessly ran. The dungeons seemed much larger than usual, or perhaps it was just because Hermione was lost. Every corridor was beginning to look familiar; the paintings began to look the same.
Hermione took out her wand, and mimicking what Harry did on the last task in the Triwizard Tournament, cried out, "Show me!" It spun very quickly, and then pointing to her right. She ran down the corridor, but then she noticed that she was heading towards a dead end.
"Stupid wand! Why didn't it work?" Hermione thought angrily, as she heard the snake slithering behind her. Then she realized that You-Know- Who.Voldemort was there. He could trick her.and he obviously did so by leading her in the wrong direction. Now she was cornered and she was going to die.
Hermione stood with her against the wall. She was shaking uneasily and could hear the snake just around the corner, slithering nearer and nearer.
But, all of a sudden, she heard a voice shout a few words and her eyes drooped. Her back slid against the wall and she fell onto the floor, unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you all right?"
Hermione opened her eyes with difficulty. Everything was blurry all around her. She could see a fire just to her left and she noticed that she was lying on a red squishy couch.
Sitting beside her, looking extremely worried, was Harry. His glasses were hanging loosely on his face. Ron was sitting in an armchair, his face buried in his hands. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the fire, the light causing odd shadows on his face.
"Are you all right, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore repeated.
Hermione blinked and struggled to sit up. "I'm.I think I'm okay," she answered. "What happened down in the dungeons?"
"Well, it appears that Voldemort was indeed down in the dungeons," Dumbledore said, making everyone flinch except himself and Harry. "And, you, Miss Granger, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whatever made you come down there?"
Hermione just remembered what had happened. "Who.who saved me? Or rather, who made me go unconscious? I remember, that snake was chasing after me and then I found myself at a dead-end and then all of a sudden I heard some words and I went unconscious."
"That would be Snape," Harry told her. "He's on his way."
"Snape? How did he find me?" Hermione asked.
"Well, we're guessing he heard the commotions that were going on in the dungeons," Harry suggested. "We heard some of it too. The voices were louder than ever before.we could even hear it in the Common Room. Yet it was all distorted; we couldn't understand a word."
"Miss Granger, did you happen to witness anything between Voldemort and that other wizard?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Witch," Hermione corrected. "There was a witch with him. It was a female voice. And, yes, I did happen to witness their whole conversation before I was caught." She paused, wondering if she should continue or not. Ron still had his face in his hands. Dumbledore nodded. "And.well.they were working on a plan. The witch was talking about not being able to Apparate or Disapparate within in the Hogwarts Grounds, and that they'd have to lure some people out somehow.and, well.I think the witch said that she'd try and suggest a Hogsmeade Trip.and that this would take cautious and precious planning.Professor Dumbledore, do you know what she's talking about?"
"I have some idea," Dumbledore admitted, still gazing at the fire. "However, I don't know which one."
Hermione didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Apparently neither did Harry. She couldn't see Ron's expression for he still had his face in his hands.
"Well, I would like you all to come to my office in an hour," Dumbledore said. "I know this is interfering with your preparations for the ball, but I just hope that it won't have to be postponed."
At this, Ron quickly raised his head. "Postpone?! But Professor Dumbledore, this is my chance!"
Dumbledore chuckled. "My dear boy, I doubt that it will be postponed. However, if I find that there is a great danger amongst this castle, then I will postpone it. I will probably just raise the security for the ball. Wouldn't want anything to happen.so, you three just come to my office, all right?"
The three of them nodded as Dumbledore exited the Common Room.
"Snape?! Tried to save me?" Hermione cried in disbelief. "I thought he'd be the last person on earth to do that!"
Harry nodded. "I don't get it either."
"Maybe he's trying to get on Dumbledore's good side," Ron guessed. "Either that or Snape's lost his bananas."
"Marbles, Ron," Harry corrected.
"I don't have any marbles!" Ron exclaimed.
Harry sighed and muttered, "Well, Snape doesn't have any bananas either."
"That's exactly my point!" Ron cried.
Hermione chuckled as Harry sighed. Harry turned towards Hermione. "Are you all right Hermione? That was quite an ordeal you went through!"
Hermione nodded, "Yeah. I'm a bit stunned, but I'll probably be all right. What time is it?"
Ron checked his watch. "It's half past one.don't worry, you'll get all your precious time to do your make-up."
"I'm not going to be doing my make-up," Hermione snapped. "I was just wondering since I still have to finish my Arithmacy essay!"
Ron and Harry laughed. "It's the holidays Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "Give yourself a rest and leave the homework behind for a bit, all right?"
Hermione smiled. "All right then," she agreed. "But I will put the blame on you if I don't get to work on it, all right?"
"Hey, it's not our problem," Ron told her. "We just merely suggested it, and you took the offer!"
"He's right, you know?" Harry asked.
Hermione laughed. "Whatever."
They all sat in silence for quite a bit.
"So," Harry finally said, breaking the silence, "what are we going to do now?"
"The same thing we do every day, Harry!" Ron exclaimed, as though it was obvious.
"What's that?" Hermione asked.
"Play Wizard's Chess!" Ron answered.
Hermione rolled her eyes as they emerged in yet another game of Wizard's Chess, and while they played, Hermione did the normal thing that any girl would do a few hours before Yule Ball - finish up her Arithmacy essay.
An hour later, they headed towards Dumbledore's office. Harry led the way for he knew the route the best, but when they finally arrived at his office they arrived at a problem - they didn't know the password to get in!
"Dumbledore's not thinking logically, is he?" Ron said, pulling his hair in frustration. "If he was, then he would be waiting out here for us and then let us in. But no, he just had to let us stand out here like a bunch of nutters and try to guess the password."
Suddenly, the gargoyle sprang open, letting them in.
"Nutters?" Ron asked. "But, I was just talking."
They walked in one after another, with Ron still trying to figure out what had just happened. They walked through the door into Dumbledore's office, which still looked exactly how it was the last time Harry was in there. The same curious silver instruments stood on the spindle-legged chairs that Harry was familiar with. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, was standing on its golden perch. It looked marvelous, with red and gold plumage. Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned towards Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore was sitting in his usual chair, talking assertively with Snape, who was sitting in the opposite chair.
"Please, sit down," Dumbledore gestured. Hermione looked at Dumbledore, almost about to laugh because there wasn't anywhere to sit. The two chairs were already occupied, and there were no other chairs.
"Ah, yes, of course," Dumbledore said, just realizing the situation. He clapped his hands and in an instance three chairs appeared. Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat down in the chairs.
"So, as you know," Dumbledore began, "something occurred today down in the dungeons involving Miss Granger, Professor Snape, Voldemort, an unknown witch, and a snake named Nagini."
At once, Harry remembered what happened in his fourth year with himself, the Death Eaters, Voldemort, Wormtail, and the snake named Nagini. As if it was a reflex, he put his hand on Hermione's arm and tried to comfort. She smiled as Dumbledore continued.
"Now, Professor Snape has only filled in some gaps, but I need Miss Granger to fill us in on exactly what happened down in the dungeons," Dumbledore said. ".If she doesn't mind of course. And Professor Snape will inform us of the rest."
Hermione felt strange since she was the one doing all the talking.she was used to Harry being in the strange situations, although she didn't want him to, and then being sympathetic for him. Now, she was the one doing all the talking.
"Well," Hermione began, not knowing how to start, "I was going to work on an Arithmacy essay in the library, and Harry and Ron were going to the Common Room to play a game of Wizard's Chess.." She explained the rest, telling them all about the conversation between the witch and Voldemort, right down to being trapped at the dead end. She stopped abruptly, and Snape began to explain the rest.
"I was busy preparing notes for the next class," he began, in a very silky tone, "when I heard some odd slithering noises. I exited my office and headed towards the corridors when I heard slight screaming. I came towards a dead end and saw Miss Granger.now, I don't have any idea what she was doing there, because this 'voice put me into a trance' excuse is highly doubtful, but I saw the snake and I attempted to stun it - obviously it was too powerful because it hit Miss Granger, also knocking her unconscious."
Hermione thought that 'obviously it was too powerful' bit was also highly doubtful - he probably made it 'too powerful' on purpose.
"I searched through the whole dungeons," Snape informed them, "but I didn't find anything else besides the snake."
"Where is the snake now?" Dumbledore asked.
"Gone, headmaster, when I came back from searching," Snape answered. "Miss Granger was still there."
"Of course I was," Hermione thought as Dumbledore sat in thought. "What else was I going to do if I was knocked unconscious?"
"Very well," Dumbledore said. "Well, I don't know how they managed to get out so quickly."
"Maybe they Disapparated!" Ron cried brightly.
"Ron, how many times have I had to tell you?" Hermione asked exasperatedly. "You can't Apparate or Disapparate in the Hogwarts Grounds. That's exactly what Voldemort and that witch were talking about!"
"Exactly, Mr Weasley, maybe you could do with taking a leaf out of Miss Granger's book," Snape said. "By that I don't mean memorizing the whole entire book as Miss Granger does but actually getting some logic stuck in your head for more than 10 seconds!" Both Hermione and Ron turned furiously red.
"Professor Snape, please calm down," Professor Dumbledore said wisely. "Now, because they have both disappeared I will let the Yule Ball go on. However, I will raise the security so that we have the professors on high alert. We wouldn't want anything to happen on this day. And it's Christmas as well, so we should all be happy! All right, you three may return to your dormitories. I will need to talk to Professor Snape a while longer."
The three of them stood up and exited Dumbledore's office. As soon as they were out of earshot, Ron started conversation.
"Did you see that?" Ron asked. "Snape insulting us right in front of Dumbledore! Does he really want to get sacked?"
"I sure hope so," Harry chuckled.
"I'm really glad he was there though," Hermione said suddenly. "I mean, in the dungeons. If it wasn't for him, well.I'd.I'd be."
"Dead?" Ron finished suggestively.
Hermione lowered her head, as though dreading the very thought of it.
"Well, it's good the prat was there," Ron agreed. "But don't go trying to pay him back or anything. But maybe that's exactly what he wanted to do." He paused as he gave the Fat Lady the password and they entered the Common Room, which was empty except for the few first, second, and third years. Everyone else was getting ready. "Maybe he wanted to help Hermione so that he would 'owe her one' and have to everything he says."
"Oh, come off it Ron, don't be stupid," Hermione told him. "I just hope there won't be any teasing about a Professor.no, the head of the Slytherin house helping a Gryffindor."
"Maybe that's what he wanted to do!" Ron exclaimed. "He wanted you to be made fun of and then you'd commit suicide or something and then he'd be laughing and."
"Shut up Ron," Hermione ordered. "I'll see you boys soon.say, in five hours?"
"It takes you that long to get ready?" Ron asked.
Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I guess it does," and she went up the stairs and into her dormitory.
Ron and Harry stood looking at each other, now knowing what to talk about or what to do. "Um," Harry finally said, "you reckon we better start getting ready to?"
Ron shook his head. "Nah, I reckon we'd ought to play a few more games of Wizard's Chess!"
Harry nodded. "You're on! What do you wanna bet that I'll win?"
"Nothing at all Harry," Ron laughed. "Just a friendly game. No Agrippa Cards involved."
They chuckled and sat themselves down once again to their favourite game with Ron and Harry not even worrying or thinking about the Yule Ball.
***************************************
Hermione slowly walked up to her dormitories and began to wish that the meeting in Dumbledore's office had ended sooner than it did. She would bet anything, even Ron's Agrippa card, that the girls had already started getting ready and now were gossiping. Hermione knew that she would look like an idiot walking in, not even starting to get ready. She hoped that they hadn't started to get ready, and began to walk in. But it seemed that she got more than she had bargained for.
She walked in smiling, but that quickly turned into a state of shock expression. It turned out that none of the girls had just started when she walked in - they were all already finished!
"Where have you been?" Parvati asked curiously.
"I've been busy," Hermione admitted. "All of your are.already finished?"
"Of course we are," Lavender snapped, as she browsed through 'Witch Weekly'. "You'd think we'd sit around all day 'being busy' and not doing preparing ourselves and getting ready.like you?"
Hermione felt her face go red and murmured, "No, of course not."
She went over to her bed and began to prepare herself as quickly as she could, carefully being inspected by the rest of the girls. It felt strange, putting Sleekeazy's Hair Potion in her hair, putting on her elegant dress robes of periwinkle blue, and applying loads of make-up, which she rarely did, in front of all the girls who were already finished. She finally finished herself almost three hours later, and even though she also began to chat and browse through magazines, she couldn't help feeling that she had made a fool of herself, although not meaning to.
"You look amazing," Lavender complimented when she finally got out of the bathroom. "But there's one problem, I'm afraid."
"What's that?" Hermione asked, biting her bottom lip in frustration.
"You forgot to pin on your Head Girl badge, silly!" Lavender laughed.
Hermione laughed with her as she pinned on her Head Girl badge, but she felt that putting it on made her feel even more stranger.
She went down with the rest of the girls at half past seven with the rest of the girls, and to her surprise she didn't see Harry or Ron anywhere. Seamus, Dean, and the rest of the seventh years were already down, but Harry and Ron were apparently still up in their dormitories. Neville wasn't there because he was home for the holidays (and also because he didn't want to be embarrassed - people were still making fun of him because of what happened at the Hallowe'en Ball).
"Why are Harry and Ron still up in the dormitories?" Hermione asked Seamus suspiciously.
"They got so caught up in their game of Wizard's Chess that they forgot to get ready for the ball," Seamus answered, smirking a bit. "They just ran up there only twenty minutes ago!"
Hermione laughed but noticed Lavender, who was obviously upset that Ron wasn't there yet, and she stopped laughing.
"What's taking Ron so bloody long?" Lavender asked. "He's not a girl - it shouldn't take him so long, right?"
"He'll be down soon," Hermione assured him. "He just wanted to look extra- special for you!"
Lavender smiled. "He did?"
"Of course he did," Hermione lied, even though she was just trying to make Lavender feel better. "He told me that when I was going to get ready."
Lavender grinned. "Thanks Hermione.your all right, you know that?" She gave Hermione a grateful look and turned to talk to Parvati.
"I'm all right?" Hermione thought. "Just all right?"
Fifthteen minutes after Lavender and Hermione's conversation, a clatter could be heard on the stairs and rumbling afterwards. It turned out that, in Ron's excitement to get to Lavender, he tripped down the stairs onto Harry and they both fell down the stairs! Hermione quickly walked over to the stairway and found Harry and Ron looking like they had just been thrown into a cage with a thousand dragons. Everyone gathered around the stairways and looked at Ron and Harry.
Ron groaned as he struggled to get up. His lip was bleeding and his knees were skinned. A great deal of his robes were ripped. Harry looked much worse. His glasses had broken in half, his dress robes were completely destroyed, and his nose was bleeding as well. Hermione sighed as she took out her wand and muttered a few words. In an instant, Ron and Harry's robes were looking brand-new. She went over to Harry and said, "Arculus Repairo!" and Harry's glasses were repaired. They gave her grateful looks as she said, "Well, I can't fix the blood, but other than that you look fine!"
"Wow Hermione, thanks!" Ron cried. He smiled and ran over to Lavender who began to hug him and ask him if he was all right.
Hermione smiled at Harry. Harry smiled back and said, "Thanks.you look beautiful by the way. Who're you going with?"
Hermione had just realized that she hadn't told them who she was going with. "Um.you'll find out," Hermione replied mysteriously.
"Okay then," Harry said, apparently disturbed by her mysteriousness. "Save me a dance though, all right?"
Hermione raised her eyebrows, stunned by his question. "U-um.yeah, of course, Harry," she said finally.
Hermione arrived in the Great Hall with the rest of the Gryffindors feeling slightly alone - she was the only one without an escort, besides Harry. The Great Hall looked marvelous - the twelve trees were up again, but were decorated more magnificently than before. Little crystals fell from the ceiling which were really small fairies that threw fairie dust in the air when someone past. The mistletoes were everywhere and Hermione noticed that a few couples had already started kissing underneath them. "My last Yule Ball," Hermione muttered underneath her breath. "Better make it a good one."
The Weird Sisters were back again and had made a stage at one edge of the Great Hall, and were waiting for their cue as Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Welcome to our Yule Ball," he greeted. "The Yule Ball is usually only supposed to take place during the Triwizard Tournament, but we have decided to continue it so our Christmas Spirits are lightened. Now, before we begin, the Head Boy and Girl of this year must have a dance. Amazingly, they are both from the same House, which is very rare. I'd like to ask Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnigan to step up."
Hermione felt her face turn red as the students and professors began to applaud politely. "Go on Hermione," Harry told her. "You can do it."
"What? With Seamus the old klutz?" Hermione whined. "He'll probably step on my feet!"
But it appeared that Hermione had no choice; Seamus had already made his way towards the center of the dance floor and has his arms opened wide, as though waiting for her to jump right in them. Hermione walked hesitantly, throwing odd looks at Harry, as though it was his entire fault that she was put in this situation.
She eventually reached Seamus, quite some time after the applause had finished, and The Weird Sisters struck up a lively tune. They swerved around to the rhythm, with Hermione wishing that the song would end quickly. He smiled cheekily at her and complimented her, "You look great Hermione." Hermione just nodded, looking down upon her feet in hopes that Seamus wouldn't step on them. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the song ended and rest of the couples assembled themselves around the dance floor.
"Nice dance," Harry laughed as he approached her. "Cho isn't here yet, and I guess your date isn't either - so, would you like to dance?"
Hermione nodded. "Of course, Harry."
Harry and Hermione began to dance but they weren't really concentrated on how they were dancing. Both of their heads were twisting and turning and observing the people in the Great Hall to see if their dates had arrived. "Where could Oliver possibly be?" she thought as she swung in circles, making her feel slightly dizzy.
Once the dance had finished, Harry seemed to have spotted Cho and was dashing towards her as quickly as he could. Hermione decided to have a rest and see if she could spot Oliver any time soon.
"Maybe he was one of the professors that went to heighten the security," Hermione figured. "Or maybe he didn't want to show up."
"Want a drink?" a voice said behind her. Hermione swung around and saw Oliver, wearing brilliant robes of navy blue, holding two goblets.
Hermione sighed with relief. "Oliver, finally," she said, taking the goblet from him. "What took you so long?"
"Dumbledore wanted to see me," Oliver informed her, smiling widely. "He had a genius idea."
"He did?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Yeah, he wanted me to become your bodyguard," Oliver told her.
"Your serious?" Hermione almost shrieked, thrilled by the very thought.
"No, that was just a joke!" Oliver laughed. "Dumbledore just told me that he wants me to secure the grounds later on through the night.so this time that we have right now is precious, love."
"No doubt about that," Hermione said, finishing her goblet off. "So.um."
".Would you like to dance Hermione?" Oliver finished for her.
Hermione nodded. "Sure."
The Weird Sisters had just started a slow song, so Oliver and Hermione were dancing quite closely to each other. Hermione ran her eyes through the many couples and noticed Harry and Cho getting maybe a little too close to each other, and Lavender and Ron. Hermione noticed that Ron was slightly red.
"So," Oliver said, interrupting her thoughts. "How's the school year been going for you?"
"Apart from almost being murdered by a snake, I guess I'm doing okay," Hermione said, cracking a small smile.
"You must've been scared," Oliver realized.
"You have no idea," Hermione said.
"Are you all right, Hermione?" Oliver said sternly, as though he was a parent.
Hermione chuckled, "I'm all right, Oliver. Believe me. If you're here, I know that everything will be okay."
"I'm not Superman you know," Oliver smiled. "That's a Muggle show by the way."
"I know," Hermione replied. "I learnt about it in Muggle Studies."
"You know everything, don't you?" Oliver said, holding her closer as the song continued.
"Well, there are some things that I don't know," Hermione admitted. "I do know a lot I guess, but I'm.I'm still learning."
There was a sudden tap on her shoulder that made Hermione jump as the song ended.
"Hey Granger," she heard from behind her. "You said you'd save me a dance remember?"
Hermione turned around to face Malfoy. He was looking quite handsome, Hermione had to admit, in dark ink-green robes.
"So, how about it?" Malfoy asked as another slow tune began. "You wanna dance?"
"Uh." Hermione managed to say. She turned around to face Oliver, who looked completely outraged!
"I think you should just back off mate." Oliver began, as he remembered the incident where Malfoy attacked her.
"Oliver," Hermione began, pressing Oliver's arm gently, "it's just one dance.it'd be rude to reject him." She stared deeply into his eyes as though saying, "Everything will be all right."
Oliver glanced back and smiled weakly. "All-all right.you-you dance, I'll go get a drink," he said eventually.
Oliver walked away and she turned to Malfoy again. "You look gorgeous, Granger," he said as he put his arms around her waist. She put her arms around his neck hesitantly, as though he might snap at her.
"Don't worry, I don't bite," Malfoy laughed as the song played.
Hermione was lost beyond words at Malfoy's personality. For the past six years she had pictured him as the meanest boy alive, a cruel boy without a thought for anyone except himself and his purebloods. She saw him as the teaser, and she was the one who was always teased. And now suddenly the picture had changed; she didn't know if it had become clearer or even more unfocused but she knew Malfoy had changed. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or he had just changed suddenly; it was almost as though he had a split personality.
"You really do look gorgeous, Granger," he repeated.
"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" Hermione snapped. "Don't think I've forgotten about that incident where you got drunk and attacked me, or all the times you've called me Mudblood or teased me.what are you doing?"
"I'm.I'm just trying to become a better person Hermione," he said.
Hermione look wide-eyed with shock. Her mouth hung open like her jaw was suddenly too loose as she stared, bewildered by what just happened - Draco had just called her by her first name!
"Are you all right?" Malfoy asked as they swayed around the dance floor.
Hermione managed to close her mouth and she nodded. "Yes, I'm fine," she said. "What do you mean by becoming a better person though?"
"Well, you know I've always been.well, I've treated some people unfairly, like you Hermione," Malfoy began as Hermione began to think, "Stop it! Stop it!", "and I don't want to become like my father. And I know that being rude and cruel is being one step closer to becoming a Death Eater. And I don't want to be like that."
"And what about that incident in the hallway?" Hermione responded. "What was going on there?"
"Well Zabini dared me to," Draco told her.
"Zabini dared you to attack me? And you agreed?" Hermione said angrily.
"No, no, no," Draco assured her. "He dared me to have a drink.and I did, not knowing what I was getting myself into. Before you know it I was going out of my mind and as soon as I saw you I started doing crazy things. And.I apologize."
Draco Malfoy? A Slytherin? Apologizing to Hermione, a Gryffindor? Hermione felt as though she was in a dream, or a nightmare rather, and wondered whether she should pinch herself or not.
"What exactly do you apologize for?" Hermione questioned. She knew she sounded harsh, but she wasn't used to this new side of Malfoy.
"I apologize for.everything," he answered. "I apologized for all the times I teased you and called you Mudblood, I apologize for attacking, I apologize for insulting your friends.I apologize for everything, Hermione. I really am sorry."
Hermione swallowed uneasily as the song ended. Oliver hurried back as quickly as he could with two goblets in his hand.
"Thanks for the dance," Malfoy said, kissing her hand gently. Hermione blushed as he smiled and began to walk away.
Oliver's face was steaming by the time Hermione walked up to him. "What the hell does that guy think he's doing?" Oliver asked.
"He's not doing anything Oliver," Hermione said, taking a goblet from Oliver.
"He's trying to steal my girl away!" he cried exasperatedly.
"Well, Oliver, nobody's really supposed to know that I'm your girl, and he doesn't know either," Hermione said. "So don't be jealous if somebody does that because were not supposed to be a couple and nobody is supposed to know about it so they don't know if I'm taken or not."
Oliver sighed. "You're right," Oliver said; running a hand through his short, brown hair. "You're always right, love."
"I'm not always right!" Hermione disagreed.
Suddenly Professor McGonagull came between them. It looked as though Professor McGonagull had definitely had a drink or two, for she was smiling flirtatiously at Oliver. "Would you care to dance, Professor Wood?" she asked.
Oliver put on an odd face as he set his goblet down. "Uh, sure," he replied, getting up.
Hermione laughed as Professor McGonagull dragged Oliver on to the dance floor and they began to dance to an old folk song.
"Hey 'Mione," said Ron, coming up to her. "Fancy a dance?"
"I wouldn't want to fancy one, but yeah, sure I'll dance," she answered, smiling a bit.
The night went by in a blur. Hermione and Oliver were careful to alternate so they wouldn't look "too interested" in each other, and Hermione ended up dancing with a lot of people. She had a blast and was quite satisfied that Oliver didn't have to leave during the night because there were no sightings of any strangers within the premises.
By the end of the night, Hermione was exhausted, and also was very confused about Malfoy's new attitude and personality. Hermione eventually left with Harry and Ron, waving occasionally to Oliver, who waved back with an enormous grin on his face, and the three of them returned to the Gryffindor Tower.
"Whoo! Some night!" Ron cried.
"Yeah it was," Harry agreed, remembering all the splendid dances he had with Cho.
Hermione didn't really know if it was 'some night'. It was different and strange then all the other nights she had recalled. It was great of course, dancing with Oliver all night (except when they were alternating), but this night was strange.rather, the whole day was strange. She was put into a trance and followed some voices belonging to Voldemort and some witch; a snake had almost killed her; Snape had actually saved her; and Draco Malfoy was being nice for a change! It had certainly been an experience, but it was an experience that Hermione hoped would not repeat.
She say good night to Harry and Ron after they climbed into the Gryffindor Common Room, and as Hermione slowly made her way up to her dormitories she began to think. Maybe all of the misconceptions of Draco were wrong.what if he really was a nice guy? What if he was truly sorry? Hermione didn't know the real answers to this, but knew that something about Draco had changed. And that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't such an arse anymore.
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YAY! FINALLY DONE! I'm sorry it's taken me so long, but I've been so busy this summer with many other things. I've gone camping, gone to Canada's Wonderland, and at one point when I came home I found myself with a writer's block (stupid things). But yes, I'm finally done. I don't think this is one of my best chapters but that's because I found myself at a dilemma and I wasn't really sure what to do. I promise on my Harry Potter memorabilia that Chapter 17 will be uploaded soon and I'm really sorry that I haven't udpated sooner.but I hope you like it anyways! Thanks to my reviewers (individual thanks as always):
wowie - You really think I should get more than 100? Well this was my first Harry Potter fic so I didn't really expect anything much but right now I'm overwhelmed and I'm glad you like it!
Jenni - I really like your Quarantine story and trust me, I am not worthy. *lol*
Oliver Lover - much more Oliver in this chapter! Ha ha! "This is the best story by far?" I'm blushing, thanks!
hunny - Yea, I'm sorry that the Sunday has come and gone.about a thousand times. I was just really busy.but I hope you like this chapter!
eagle's eyes - You want me to finish it? Where's all the fun? *lol* I'm glad you like it though.I don't know if I want to finish it so soon because I'm having so much fun with it.
Emily - Thanks! I'm sorry you miss the updates, 'cause I did too. I promise to update more frequently now!
karizma87 - Ahh, everybody's yelling at me because I haven't updated lately! Just kidding.thanks for the compliment about "you're a really great writer and you should keep on writing" - I really appreciate that!
Alanna Black - I am don't worry!!
Metalchik13 - Geez, your making me blush too much. I don't think I exactly write as J.K. Rowling, but I'll take that compliment and stick in my compliment book.nah, I'm just kidding. Thanks for the compliments!
CHAPTER 17 (Geez, I'm that far already?) will be up soon, don't worry!