Chapter 2-Blonde Ambition
Hermione stood just outside the doors of the Great Hall listening to the sound of the chatter from inside. She swallowed nervously, wringing her hands together. She wasn't sure she had the guts to go through with this after all. She twisted a lock of hair near her face around her index finger. It was a nervous habit she had done a million times before, except that this time instead of a curly brunette lock bouncing back into position, a long strand of extremely straight, extremely blonde hair fell smoothly into place around her face.
The spell had been surprisingly simple once she got the hang of it. She had practiced on Crookshanks, not that she would ever tell Ron she had temporarily turned her own cat green. The tricky part had been getting just the right shade. She had gone through several shades of blonde; strawberry, dishwater, sunshine, honey, wheat, bleached platinum, (scary) before she had decided on her current shade which was, well, quite blonde. Not scary blonde but as close as she could get to the color of the super-witch on the magazine. Yes, Hermione Granger was a flaxen blonde.
She had also taken the time to find a decent straightening spell. The spell was actually to smooth facial wrinkles (the Botox of the wizzarding world if you will) but Hermione had modified it a bit and she found it much easier than the gobs of magical hair gel it would have taken to keep her hair under control. Plus the spell had given her hair nice smooth waves that she really thought went well with her new blonde hairstyle. After that she had gotten a little carried away. To compliment her new hair color she had also chosen a new eye color to boot. She looked at her reflection in a nearby mirror for the millionth time. She smiled nervously. Light green eyes framed by smooth blonde locks stared back at her. She most certainly looked different, but was it better? Had she gone overboard? Would this help her to accomplish her goal? There was only way to find out. She took a deep breath. It was now or never.
Hermione stepped into the hall holding her breath. One step. Two steps. Three steps. The chattering continued at its usual rate as she headed towards the Gryffindor table. Her nervousness was quickly turning into disappointment. Apparently going blonde was not nearly as shocking as she has thought-
"AHHHHH!!! HERMIONE!! YOUR HAIRRR!!" The familiar shrieks of Lavender and Pavarti startled Hermione and she only had a moment to recover as her fellow bunkmates accosted her.
"YOUR EYES!!"
"IT'S STRAIGHT!"
"THEY'RE GREEN!"
"IS IT A WIG?"
"WHAT SPELL DID YOU USE?"
"OH MY GOD! YOU HAVE TO SHOW US HOW TO DO THAT!"
A small but increasing circle of curious girls oooing and ahhing suddenly surrounded Hermione, several being so bold as to reach out and examine long strands. Hermione was feeling a bit overwhelmed. The chattering had definitely died down and she could feel a lot of eyes on her.
"Do.do you like it?" she questioned nervously.
"It's amazing Hermione! You look great!!" said Pavarti. A few Ravenclaw girls standing nearby nodded in agreement. Hermione felt her confidence grow as more girls admired her new look. Maybe this was the change she needed after all. She suddenly couldn't wait to show Harry and Ginny and..other people her new look. She tried to peer over a couple of the girl's shoulders but Ron and Harry always sat at the opposite end of the table. Hermione tried to break away.
"Um.well thanks. I'm just going to get some supper," she said trying to slip away politely.
"Come eat with us," said Lavender, grabbing Hermione's arm and dragging her towards the table. Hermione reluctantly agreed as she sat down, several more girls examining her hair and eyes. This wasn't exactly the attention she had been hoping for. She felt more like a science experiment gone wrong than a super-witch beauty. The doubt crept back into her mind. Maybe this was a big mistake. She looked up eyeing her escape route, but caught the eye of a sixth-year Hufflepuff named Ian Grant looking instead. He was cute. He smiled at her. Really cute. Despite her nervousness, Hermione smiled back shyly. Maybe this was not such a big mistake.
*********************************************************************
Ron, Harry and Ginny mulled over a levitating makeshift diagram of a quidditch field Ron had created with carrot sticks and bagels. He was using celery sticks to represent himself and Harry as they plotted out possible strategies for tomorrow's match. He levitated a nearby breadstick into the scene.
"Now Gin, you're the breadstick. When they try to go after Collin, the licorice stick, I want you to fly like this." Ron sent Ginny's breadstick whizzing past the opposing teams candy canes. He glanced up at his sister only to see that her head was craned in the opposite direction looking towards the entrance to the great hall, eyes squinted.
"Ahemmm," Ron cleared his throat shooting her an annoyed look. Ginny turned her head back towards Ron and Harry.
"Sorry Ron. Just wondering what all the commotion was about." She craned her neck missing Ron's second annoyed look. Ron vaguely heard shrill girly shrieks coming from up front.
"Sounds like a typical Lavender-has-a-new-hairstyle shriek to me," joked Dean pretending to puff up a fake hairdo and batting his eyes. Harry and Seamus smirked while Ginny continued to strain her neck to see.
"No. I don't think it's Lavender," she said.
"Come on Gin, we've got a big match tomorrow. You need to concentrate on the task-"
"Oh my goodness! Is that who I think it is?" Ginny interrupted Ron, jumping up and heading towards the opposite end of the table without another look back at Ron and Harry.
"-task at hand," Ron finished as he watched her whiz away. He glared after her.
"C'mon mate, let it go," said Harry. "We've been practicing and going over strategy all week. I think we're as ready as we can possibly be." Ron huffed, continuing to maneuver food items around the edible field.
"That's just fine Harry. We've got the biggest match of the year tomorrow against Hufflepuff, but just let her go off and act all.all.girly," Ron said exasperated. Harry tried to suppress his grin. It was truly amazing how serious Ron could be about quidditch. "Not to mention," Ron continued, " that for whatever reason, that Hufflepuff has been remarkably good this year."
"Yah, that Ian Grant is amazing!" said Collin who was sitting next to Ginny's empty spot. "He is like the next Viktor Krum or something. I mean when he scored on Ron like four, or was it five times, last match it was just totally amazing!"
"Yah Collin. Grant is good but we're ready for him this time," said Harry watching Ron who was still focused on his diagram but whose ears were getting quite red.
"But the way he zigged-zagged on that broom and just flew circles around Ron every time he tried to head him off-"
A swift kick from Harry under the table cut Collin off mid-sentence. Harry noticed that Ron had a death grip on his wand and he figured he better shut Collin up before it was Collin's neck being strangled. Ron swallowed and looked up. Harry could tell he was trying to keep his cool.
"Yes Collin, Grant's a good player and he did score on me three times, but that's why myself and the rest of us are going to be extra-prepared for tomorrow's match," he said sternly. "Especially you Collin.right? Everyone has to pull their weight this match." Collin who finally realized he was irritating his captain nodded aggressively, before excusing himself.
"Don't even look at me like that," said Ron, noticing Harry's disapproving look.
"You were a bit hard on him don't you think? He does the best he can, and he has gotten much better."
Ron sighed running a hand through his red hair. "Yah I know. I'll apologize to him later. I just get so worked up before a big match."
"I noticed. Luckily, the more worked up you get the better you usually play," said Harry. "But seriously, why don't you try and relax a bit, play some chess.do some homework.
"Thanks Harry. I'll definitely think about that chess idea," he laughed. Ron felt better as he watched the celery sticks dart past the candy canes. They were prepared for tomorrow's match. Maybe a good game of chess was just what he needed to relax. He would go find Hermione right after dessert and harass her into playing with him. He had barely seen her all week between his non-stop quidditch practices and her non-stop studying. He really did miss her. It was funny how the person he had most rows with was also the person who he was most relaxed around.
He was a bit surprised she hadn't come down for supper. He smiled as a familiar image of Hermione appeared in his mind, curled up in a library chair with her head resting between the pages of an open book, wild curls fanned out about her, totally oblivious to the rest of the world. Yes, that was Hermione.
Ron decided that as soon as he finished his 3rd slice of pumpkin pie he would go and bring Hermione Granger back into real world. He shoveled another piece of pie onto his plate as he watched a candy cane fly out of the way of a zooming celery stick. He.er.Gryffindor were so going to kick Ian Grant's.er.Hufflepuff's arses tomorrow.
Ron was lost in his thoughts as Ginny ran towards him dragging someone by the hand with her.
"Hey Harry, Ron. I want you to meet my friend," she said practically giggling. Ron looked up but whoever it was, she was standing behind Ginny and all he could make out was a wisp of blonde hair. Suddenly Ginny moved aside.
The bite of pie Ron had just taken fell out of his gaping mouth and his wand slipped from his hand causing a cascade of donuts, candy canes, celery and carrot sticks to fall from the air and land all over the table.
"I think you know Hermione," said Ginny smiling.
Ron stared incredulously. It was Hermione, but not Hermione. It was some kind of trick. Ron blinked stunned into silence. Next to him, Harry was doing a slightly better job of keeping it together.
"Wow, Hermione. You're.blonde. It's uh.really.different.er.nice," Harry stammered.
"You hate it, don't you?" she said her face falling.
"No, honestly. It was just a bit of a shock. But really, it's nice," he said sincerely.
"It's hot!" commented Dean letting out playful catcall and winking at Hermione playfully.
"Thanks Harry, Dean" she said smiling and blushing furiously. She turned towards Ron who was still starring at her his eyes wide. So far, everyone had reacted pretty well to her new look. "So what do you think Ron?" She tried to ask casually.
Ron just starred. She had done something to her hair and instead of the rich colored curls that were almost alive, it was straight hanging limply around her face and it was.blondish. Some bizarre shade that he was certain he could never get used to. On top of that, her eyes, her normally big brown expressive eyes that reminded him of the color of chocolate frogs.were green. A green like.like split pea soup. He hated split pea soup. He swallowed. She was waiting for his answer. He knew he was supposed to say something nice, a compliment perhaps. But this was Hermione, who he was used to being totally honest with, and his true feelings flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"Hermione, you look bloody ridiculous!" He knew it was a mistake. Big. Huge. Mistake.
Hermione's face fell. She hadn't necessarily expected him to tell her she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but just the way he had said, what he said made her heart break. She felt tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. She couldn't even look at him.
"Hermione, I just meant that-"
Hermione didn't give him the chance to explain. The last thing he saw was blonde hair trailing behind her as she ran from the great hall.
"Really brilliant Ron," said Harry, sounding irritated. Ginny spun on her heel and narrowed her eyes glaring at Ron.
"Here's a little bit of strategy for you, big brother. When a girl asks you if you like her new hair style, DON'T EVER SAY THAT!!" She shook her head and shot him one more glare before turning and rushing off to find Hermione.
Ron looked down at his pie. He has lost his appetite.
A/N: Silly boys...they never say the right thing. ( Thank you to my very helpful beta and for the reviews. They are much appreciated.
Hermione stood just outside the doors of the Great Hall listening to the sound of the chatter from inside. She swallowed nervously, wringing her hands together. She wasn't sure she had the guts to go through with this after all. She twisted a lock of hair near her face around her index finger. It was a nervous habit she had done a million times before, except that this time instead of a curly brunette lock bouncing back into position, a long strand of extremely straight, extremely blonde hair fell smoothly into place around her face.
The spell had been surprisingly simple once she got the hang of it. She had practiced on Crookshanks, not that she would ever tell Ron she had temporarily turned her own cat green. The tricky part had been getting just the right shade. She had gone through several shades of blonde; strawberry, dishwater, sunshine, honey, wheat, bleached platinum, (scary) before she had decided on her current shade which was, well, quite blonde. Not scary blonde but as close as she could get to the color of the super-witch on the magazine. Yes, Hermione Granger was a flaxen blonde.
She had also taken the time to find a decent straightening spell. The spell was actually to smooth facial wrinkles (the Botox of the wizzarding world if you will) but Hermione had modified it a bit and she found it much easier than the gobs of magical hair gel it would have taken to keep her hair under control. Plus the spell had given her hair nice smooth waves that she really thought went well with her new blonde hairstyle. After that she had gotten a little carried away. To compliment her new hair color she had also chosen a new eye color to boot. She looked at her reflection in a nearby mirror for the millionth time. She smiled nervously. Light green eyes framed by smooth blonde locks stared back at her. She most certainly looked different, but was it better? Had she gone overboard? Would this help her to accomplish her goal? There was only way to find out. She took a deep breath. It was now or never.
Hermione stepped into the hall holding her breath. One step. Two steps. Three steps. The chattering continued at its usual rate as she headed towards the Gryffindor table. Her nervousness was quickly turning into disappointment. Apparently going blonde was not nearly as shocking as she has thought-
"AHHHHH!!! HERMIONE!! YOUR HAIRRR!!" The familiar shrieks of Lavender and Pavarti startled Hermione and she only had a moment to recover as her fellow bunkmates accosted her.
"YOUR EYES!!"
"IT'S STRAIGHT!"
"THEY'RE GREEN!"
"IS IT A WIG?"
"WHAT SPELL DID YOU USE?"
"OH MY GOD! YOU HAVE TO SHOW US HOW TO DO THAT!"
A small but increasing circle of curious girls oooing and ahhing suddenly surrounded Hermione, several being so bold as to reach out and examine long strands. Hermione was feeling a bit overwhelmed. The chattering had definitely died down and she could feel a lot of eyes on her.
"Do.do you like it?" she questioned nervously.
"It's amazing Hermione! You look great!!" said Pavarti. A few Ravenclaw girls standing nearby nodded in agreement. Hermione felt her confidence grow as more girls admired her new look. Maybe this was the change she needed after all. She suddenly couldn't wait to show Harry and Ginny and..other people her new look. She tried to peer over a couple of the girl's shoulders but Ron and Harry always sat at the opposite end of the table. Hermione tried to break away.
"Um.well thanks. I'm just going to get some supper," she said trying to slip away politely.
"Come eat with us," said Lavender, grabbing Hermione's arm and dragging her towards the table. Hermione reluctantly agreed as she sat down, several more girls examining her hair and eyes. This wasn't exactly the attention she had been hoping for. She felt more like a science experiment gone wrong than a super-witch beauty. The doubt crept back into her mind. Maybe this was a big mistake. She looked up eyeing her escape route, but caught the eye of a sixth-year Hufflepuff named Ian Grant looking instead. He was cute. He smiled at her. Really cute. Despite her nervousness, Hermione smiled back shyly. Maybe this was not such a big mistake.
*********************************************************************
Ron, Harry and Ginny mulled over a levitating makeshift diagram of a quidditch field Ron had created with carrot sticks and bagels. He was using celery sticks to represent himself and Harry as they plotted out possible strategies for tomorrow's match. He levitated a nearby breadstick into the scene.
"Now Gin, you're the breadstick. When they try to go after Collin, the licorice stick, I want you to fly like this." Ron sent Ginny's breadstick whizzing past the opposing teams candy canes. He glanced up at his sister only to see that her head was craned in the opposite direction looking towards the entrance to the great hall, eyes squinted.
"Ahemmm," Ron cleared his throat shooting her an annoyed look. Ginny turned her head back towards Ron and Harry.
"Sorry Ron. Just wondering what all the commotion was about." She craned her neck missing Ron's second annoyed look. Ron vaguely heard shrill girly shrieks coming from up front.
"Sounds like a typical Lavender-has-a-new-hairstyle shriek to me," joked Dean pretending to puff up a fake hairdo and batting his eyes. Harry and Seamus smirked while Ginny continued to strain her neck to see.
"No. I don't think it's Lavender," she said.
"Come on Gin, we've got a big match tomorrow. You need to concentrate on the task-"
"Oh my goodness! Is that who I think it is?" Ginny interrupted Ron, jumping up and heading towards the opposite end of the table without another look back at Ron and Harry.
"-task at hand," Ron finished as he watched her whiz away. He glared after her.
"C'mon mate, let it go," said Harry. "We've been practicing and going over strategy all week. I think we're as ready as we can possibly be." Ron huffed, continuing to maneuver food items around the edible field.
"That's just fine Harry. We've got the biggest match of the year tomorrow against Hufflepuff, but just let her go off and act all.all.girly," Ron said exasperated. Harry tried to suppress his grin. It was truly amazing how serious Ron could be about quidditch. "Not to mention," Ron continued, " that for whatever reason, that Hufflepuff has been remarkably good this year."
"Yah, that Ian Grant is amazing!" said Collin who was sitting next to Ginny's empty spot. "He is like the next Viktor Krum or something. I mean when he scored on Ron like four, or was it five times, last match it was just totally amazing!"
"Yah Collin. Grant is good but we're ready for him this time," said Harry watching Ron who was still focused on his diagram but whose ears were getting quite red.
"But the way he zigged-zagged on that broom and just flew circles around Ron every time he tried to head him off-"
A swift kick from Harry under the table cut Collin off mid-sentence. Harry noticed that Ron had a death grip on his wand and he figured he better shut Collin up before it was Collin's neck being strangled. Ron swallowed and looked up. Harry could tell he was trying to keep his cool.
"Yes Collin, Grant's a good player and he did score on me three times, but that's why myself and the rest of us are going to be extra-prepared for tomorrow's match," he said sternly. "Especially you Collin.right? Everyone has to pull their weight this match." Collin who finally realized he was irritating his captain nodded aggressively, before excusing himself.
"Don't even look at me like that," said Ron, noticing Harry's disapproving look.
"You were a bit hard on him don't you think? He does the best he can, and he has gotten much better."
Ron sighed running a hand through his red hair. "Yah I know. I'll apologize to him later. I just get so worked up before a big match."
"I noticed. Luckily, the more worked up you get the better you usually play," said Harry. "But seriously, why don't you try and relax a bit, play some chess.do some homework.
"Thanks Harry. I'll definitely think about that chess idea," he laughed. Ron felt better as he watched the celery sticks dart past the candy canes. They were prepared for tomorrow's match. Maybe a good game of chess was just what he needed to relax. He would go find Hermione right after dessert and harass her into playing with him. He had barely seen her all week between his non-stop quidditch practices and her non-stop studying. He really did miss her. It was funny how the person he had most rows with was also the person who he was most relaxed around.
He was a bit surprised she hadn't come down for supper. He smiled as a familiar image of Hermione appeared in his mind, curled up in a library chair with her head resting between the pages of an open book, wild curls fanned out about her, totally oblivious to the rest of the world. Yes, that was Hermione.
Ron decided that as soon as he finished his 3rd slice of pumpkin pie he would go and bring Hermione Granger back into real world. He shoveled another piece of pie onto his plate as he watched a candy cane fly out of the way of a zooming celery stick. He.er.Gryffindor were so going to kick Ian Grant's.er.Hufflepuff's arses tomorrow.
Ron was lost in his thoughts as Ginny ran towards him dragging someone by the hand with her.
"Hey Harry, Ron. I want you to meet my friend," she said practically giggling. Ron looked up but whoever it was, she was standing behind Ginny and all he could make out was a wisp of blonde hair. Suddenly Ginny moved aside.
The bite of pie Ron had just taken fell out of his gaping mouth and his wand slipped from his hand causing a cascade of donuts, candy canes, celery and carrot sticks to fall from the air and land all over the table.
"I think you know Hermione," said Ginny smiling.
Ron stared incredulously. It was Hermione, but not Hermione. It was some kind of trick. Ron blinked stunned into silence. Next to him, Harry was doing a slightly better job of keeping it together.
"Wow, Hermione. You're.blonde. It's uh.really.different.er.nice," Harry stammered.
"You hate it, don't you?" she said her face falling.
"No, honestly. It was just a bit of a shock. But really, it's nice," he said sincerely.
"It's hot!" commented Dean letting out playful catcall and winking at Hermione playfully.
"Thanks Harry, Dean" she said smiling and blushing furiously. She turned towards Ron who was still starring at her his eyes wide. So far, everyone had reacted pretty well to her new look. "So what do you think Ron?" She tried to ask casually.
Ron just starred. She had done something to her hair and instead of the rich colored curls that were almost alive, it was straight hanging limply around her face and it was.blondish. Some bizarre shade that he was certain he could never get used to. On top of that, her eyes, her normally big brown expressive eyes that reminded him of the color of chocolate frogs.were green. A green like.like split pea soup. He hated split pea soup. He swallowed. She was waiting for his answer. He knew he was supposed to say something nice, a compliment perhaps. But this was Hermione, who he was used to being totally honest with, and his true feelings flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"Hermione, you look bloody ridiculous!" He knew it was a mistake. Big. Huge. Mistake.
Hermione's face fell. She hadn't necessarily expected him to tell her she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but just the way he had said, what he said made her heart break. She felt tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. She couldn't even look at him.
"Hermione, I just meant that-"
Hermione didn't give him the chance to explain. The last thing he saw was blonde hair trailing behind her as she ran from the great hall.
"Really brilliant Ron," said Harry, sounding irritated. Ginny spun on her heel and narrowed her eyes glaring at Ron.
"Here's a little bit of strategy for you, big brother. When a girl asks you if you like her new hair style, DON'T EVER SAY THAT!!" She shook her head and shot him one more glare before turning and rushing off to find Hermione.
Ron looked down at his pie. He has lost his appetite.
A/N: Silly boys...they never say the right thing. ( Thank you to my very helpful beta and for the reviews. They are much appreciated.