Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the long wait - once my exams had finished my housemate borrowed my Goblet of Fire so I couldn't write anymore! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's longer than the others - I couldn't help but write about Hermione getting ready, seeing as it was such a transformation!

THE BALL – Hermione

The Christmas holiday had been very different to those that Hermione had experienced at Hogwarts in previous years as it seemed that almost every student from fourth year and above had chosen to stay for the ball (as well as a few younger students who had older partners). Despite Ron's display of ignorance during their argument a few days earlier, Hermione had given over to the festive spirit that had settled over the castle, and decided to forgive and forget. Well, not forget, exactly – she still felt a rise of emotion whenever she thought about what he had said.

So far, the holiday had been a lot of fun. Everyone in Gryffindor tower was in high spirits in the run up to the Ball. Hermione couldn't help but feel excited when she imagined dancing in the Great Hall, and, despite herself, when she imagined the reactions of the other girls in her year when she turned up with Viktor. She had still only told Ginny who she was going to the Ball with. Ron had taken to asking her at random intervals who she was going with – perhaps trying to catch her off guard – and had become almost as persistent as Parvati and Lavender in their quest to discover the identity of her mystery partner. Parvati had gone into raptures when she had told Hermione that she was going to the Ball with Harry. Hermione had wondered if Harry was quite sure what he had let himself in for. Ron was going with Padma, Parvati's twin sister from Ravenclaw. Secretly, Hermione hoped that Padma was as giggly as Parvati so that Ron could finally realise that looks weren't the only thing you should judge on. After all, look at what the Veela had turned into during the Quidditch World Cup!

The day of the Ball had finally arrived, with a fresh blizzard to add to the deep snow which had covered the grounds. In the afternoon Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George went out into the grounds. Ginny and Hermione had made a snow-wizard with a long beard, and bore a striking resemblance to Dumbledore. Once they had finished, Ginny had joined the boys, apparently unable to resist the call of a snowball fight. Hermione chose to watch rather than join in, and cast a non-melting charm on a patch of snow so she could sit down. Watching the Weasleys and Harry fight was very amusing. It had started off as Fred, George and Ginny against Harry and Ron but had soon descended into every man (or girl) for themselves. Ginny made up for being the smallest and only girl by bewitching some snowballs to chase after her brothers. She, Hermione and Harry had watched in hysterics until George, temporarily blinded when a snowball hit him in his face, ran headlong into Ron, knocking him flying into Fred, and all three of them landed in a heap where they were pelted by the rest of Ginny's snowballs. I'll have to ask her how that spell works, thought Hermione as the Weasley boys struggled to their feet.

When it came to five o' clock, Hermione decided to go back to the Castle to start getting ready. It was her first time using Sleakeazy's Hair Potion, despite the amount Parvati and Lavender got through, and given the state of her hair Hermione had a feeling it would take a long time to get it to calm down.

'What, you need three hours?' Ron said incredulously as she got up to leave. Hermione merely smiled as he was smacked on the side of his head by George's snowball, and waved as she set off, choosing to (once again) ignore Ron's question, 'Who're you going with?'

When she reached her dormitory, Hermione was not at all surprised to find Parvati and Lavender getting ready. Parvati was sitting in front of her mirror, magicking her hair into a long plait. Strands of her hair were flying around as she flicked her wand, braiding golden ribbons in amongst her ebony locks. Hermione smiled to herself. If Parvati applied as much effort to her schoolwork as she did to her beauty charms, Hermione might find herself with competition for the highest marks. Lavender had a towel wrapped round her hair, and was busy painting her toenails a glittering shade of purple. She looked up when Hermione entered.

'Hi, Hermione! Are you getting ready now?'

Hermione nodded in reply. She crossed to her bed and gathered up her hair things, her make up (her mother had insisted she bought some to match her robes) and her dressing gown. Opening her trunk, she took out her dress robes which were still wrapped up from when she had bought them at Madam Malkin's. She had been as secretive about her robes as she had been about going with Viktor.

'I'm just going to have a shower,' she told Parvati and Lavender, as she left the dormitory and headed towards the bathroom.

She showered, put on her dressing gown and dried her hair with her wand. Hermione had decided days ago to get ready on her own, she didn't think she could cope with her roommate's constant questioning about who she was going with, and wanted to get ready in peace. Eyeing the pink bottle of Sleakeazy's Hair Potion suspiciously, she unscrewed the lid and began to smooth it into her hair.

By the time she had straightened the last section of hair, it was already quarter past six and Hermione was grateful that she had started to get ready so early. As she wasn't as proficient as Parvati in hair charms, she decided to do her hair the Muggle way. She twisted her hair up into a knot and secured it with clips. Admiring her reflection in the mirror, she added a fixing charm in the hope of restraining her hair – after all, it was so bushy she wasn't sure how long the potion would hold out. She swept some shimmery blue eye shadow across her eyelids, and put on some subtle lipgloss. Although her mother had succeeded in convincing Hermione to buy make up, Hermione had insisted that it had to be understated. Once she had put on her dress robes and shoes, Hermione surveyed her reflection. She couldn't help but smile broadly (and then even more broadly when she saw how good her new teeth looked). Glancing at her watch, she saw it was seven o'clock. She was meeting Viktor in fifteen minutes! Hermione gathered her things up and hid them away in a corner of the bathroom. She opened the door a crack and peered outside. The corridor was empty, and her dormitory door was shut. She could hear Parvati and Lavender giggling from inside. Thankful that no one was around, Hermione walked as briskly as she could in high heels to the spiral staircase and down to the common room. As she reached the bottom step, she checked to see if the common room was empty – she couldn't let Harry and Ron see her leaving for the Durmstrang ship! Fortunately it was empty, and she ran across the room and through the portrait hole.

The halls were deserted as Hermione made her way to the Entrance Hall. When she got outside, she pulled out her wand and cast an Impervius charm on her robes – she didn't want them to be ruined by the snow. Performing a complicated little wave, her wand started blowing out hot air as it had done when she had dried her hair earlier, Hermione melted a path towards the Lake.

The Durmstrang students were congregating at the edge of the Lake, apparently waiting for Karkaroff to lead them up to Hogwarts. Hermione suddenly felt nervous; she didn't know any of these people, and judging from the sullen looks some of the girls were casting in Viktor's direction, she wasn't entirely sure that they would be pleased to meet his dance partner. It would have been simpler going with Ron or Harry, she thought. As she hesitated, peering out from behind a tree, Karkaroff appeared and the students set off towards the castle. Viktor hung towards the back, apparently still waiting for her to arrive. As the majority of the group passed her hiding place, Hermione darted out to join Viktor, hoping she wouldn't be noticed by too many people.

'Sorry I'm late,' she said, slightly breathlessly.

'It is alright,' Viktor replied, 'Many of my friends are meeting partners up at the castle, so I did not look out of place without you.'

Hermione flicked her wand so that it melted a path in front of them as they walked.

'That is a spell we are using often at Durmstrang; most of the year it is snowing,' Viktor told her. Then he turned sideways to face Hermione, 'You look very... pretty tonight, Hermy-own,'

Hermione blushed, and was very thankful that Ron wasn't there to witness the conversation.

Soon they had reached the main doors. As Karkaroff opened them, the noise of excited voices drifted across them the hall. As she walked into the Entrance Hall, Hermione felt a great weight in her stomach. What would people say, when they saw her with Viktor? And more importantly, what would Harry and Ron say? Glancing round the Hall, Hermione located Harry and Ron. Harry was talking to Parvati, and Ron had his back to Hermione, apparently looking for somebody. Looking for me, she thought, and the knot in her stomach seemed to pull tighter.

'Champions over here, please!' Professor McGonagall's voice rang out over the Hall. Hermione wrenched her gaze away from Ron, partly because McGonagall's voice had snapped her out of her thoughts, and partly because Viktor had taken her by the hand and was leading her towards the doors to the Great Hall.

McGonagall explained that the Champions and their partners were to line up on one side of the door whilst the rest of the students entered the Great Hall, and then they were to enter in procession once everyone was seated. Looking up the line of couples, Hermione spotted Harry, who appeared to have just noticed her. He looked quite surprised to see her standing with Viktor, his mouth was hanging open slightly. Well, I must have done a decent job of getting ready, Hermione thought to herself, and she smiled nervously.

'Hi, Harry!' she said, 'Hi, Parvati!'. Parvati was gaping at Hermione, giving her the appearance of having been stunned.

The crowd of students filtered into the Hall, Viktor's fan club from the library shot Hermione nasty looks as they walked past, as did Pansy Parkinson and a few other girls. Hermione had been expecting this though, and ignored them. What she hadn't been expecting, however, was for her best friend to walk past without even giving her a second glance. As she watched the back of Ron's head disappear into the Hall, Hermione felt a twinge of sadness.

Once the last couple had found their seats, McGonagall led the champions into the Hall, to rapturous applause. Hermione felt her cheeks growing warm as she walked around the Hall; every face was turned towards them. As they approached Ron's table, Hermione smiled at him. Ron looked puzzled for a moment, then his eyes widened with shock.

Hermione looked away from Ron as Viktor told her about his first victory procession for Bulgaria, when he had been so nervous he had tripped over his own broomstick and fallen flat on his face in front of hundreds of people. Laughing, she turned back to Ron, and was shocked to see him glaring at her with narrowed eyes.

As they took their places at the top table, Hermione put all thoughts of Ron to the back of her mind. I'm not going to let my evening be ruined by him, she thought fiercely. For one thing, it would be rude to Viktor. Hermione chose a meal from the menu, and it appeared immediately on her plate. Viktor had started to tell her about his school; Hermione found it fascinating to hear about the spells Viktor was learning in his final year (he was equally impressed to hear that Hermione could perform some of them herself), and about the five houses of Durmstrang, which had been created to represent the five countries that Durmstrang students had come from when it was first built. Viktor was telling Hermione about the school grounds when Karkaroff interrupted him.

'Now, now, Viktor!' He laughed, although Hermione noticed it didn't reach his eyes, Don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!'

'Igor, all this secrecy... one would almost think you didn't want visitors.' Dumbledore smiled at Hermione. She smiled back, then returned to conversation with Viktor – this time about Hogwarts, so as not to annoy Karkaroff.

At the end of the meal, she and Viktor were still deep in conversation. They had talked about many things, including the correct way to pronounce 'Hermione' – after some struggling, Hermione had decided 'Herm-own-ninny' was the closest match she could expect. Viktor was in the middle of expressing his shock that Hermione was Muggle-born ('But you can perform so many difficult spells, that students from my year cannot do!') when Dumbledore stood up to announce the beginning of the dancing.

It had come as a surprise to Hermione to learn that Viktor, who had always appeared uncoordinated when not on his broom, was quite an experienced dancer. Durmstrang, he told her, held annual balls where partners were required to dance properly. Hermione, whose only dancing experience had been ballet lessons when she was younger, had enlisted the help of her mother, who had sent her a book about ballroom dancing. Hermione had read the book thoroughly in preparation for the Yule Ball (after all, she didn't want to make a show of herself in front of the whole school), but as Viktor knew what he was doing, she found it quite easy to follow his lead.

After two songs, the Hall had warmed up considerably. Viktor had decided to go and get some drinks, so Hermione headed towards where Harry and Ron were sitting.

'Hi' said Harry. Hermione noticed that Parvati seemed to have abandoned him, but decided not to say anything. Glancing over at Padma, it looked as though she was seriously considering following suite.

'It's hot, isn't it?' Hermione breezed, fanning herself with her hand, in an effort to cool down 'Viktor's just gone to get some drinks'

Ron scoffed, 'Viktor? Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?'

'What's up with you?' asked Hermione, taken aback.

'If you don't know,' he said, scathingly 'I'm not going to tell you.'

Hermione stared at him, confused. Why was he in such a foul mood? She looked at Harry for assitance, but he seemed as clueless as she was. 'Ron, what -?'

'He's from Durmstrang!' spat Ron, seemingly unable to control his anger any longer. 'He's competing against Harry! And Hogwarts! You – you're fraternising with the enemy, that's what you're doing!'

Hermione's jaw dropped. She could hardly believe that Ron could say such a thing, especially as he had been so thrilled when Viktor had arrived at Hogwarts. Didn't he realise how ridiculous he sounded?

'Don't be so stupid!' she said, 'The enemy! Honestly – who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?'

Ron chose to ignore this

'I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library'

'Yes, he did,' said Hermione, feeling her cheeks growing warmer through embarrassment and anger at Ron. 'So what?'

'What happened – trying to get him to join spew were you?'

'No, I wasn't!' Hermione retorted, indignantly, her anger growing 'If you really want to know he – he said he's been coming up to the library every day to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!' She was blushing furiously now.

'Yeah, well – that's his story,' Ron said nastily.

'And what's that supposed to mean?'

'Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with... he's just trying to get closer to Harry – get inside information on him – or get near enough to jinx him –'

Hermione felt as if Ron had slapped her across the face. How could he say that? Was it so unbelievable that someone could take an interest in her? Did he think she was that plain, that boring, that she had no chance of finding someone who might like her? And how could Ron think so little of her loyalty? 'For your information, he hasn't asked me one single thing about Harry, not one –' her voice was quivering now.

'Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cosy little library sessions –'.

'I'd never help him work out that egg! Never. How could you say something like that – I want Harry to win the Tournament. Harry knows that, don't you, Harry?' she looked pleadingly at Harry for support.

'You've got a funny way of showing it,'

'This whole Tournament's supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!' she said. Her voice was getting high pitched now, as it always did when she was angry and trying her hardest not to lose control of her emotions.

'No it isn't! It's about winning!'

'Ron,' said Harry, quietly, 'I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum –'

'Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are,' Ron spat.

'Don't call him Vicky!' cried Hermione hysterically, and she jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, biting hard on her lip to stop herself from crying. True, she was offended that Ron could think so little of her, that four years of friendship didn't seem enough to convince him that he and Harry were her best friends, and that she would do anything. But more over, she was angry that he could say those things to her without any sign of remorse.

There you go! I hope you liked it. Please review, I really appreciate it : ) And, if you like this story, have look at my other stories. 'The Emotional Range of a Teaspoon' is another re-telling from Hermione's point of view.