Disclaimer – I solemnly do swear that I own nothing… except the plot, which is mine!! hehey

Author's Note – So here I am again for a second chapter… And thanks for your reviews!! You can't imagine how eager I was when I saw that you appreciated my work!! And honestly, I live for reviews guys! [Get the hint? (ö,)] And hey, I'm having the greatest fun writing this story, so please, please, pleaaaaaaase, don't stop reading and reviewing…

I still find it quite incredible how far we came from being mortal enemies to best buddies… to a now, married couple and eternal lovers.

            But hey, let's not burn the steps! This was only the beginning of our story… So where was I?

            Yeah, Draco and I had a wonderful year together and though the newly found friendship was so fresh and pure, I felt like I'd known him forever and I couldn't even remember why I hated him so much. And I just know he felt the same way.

            The long-awaited seventh-year dance was announced and all the seventh-years were very excited. I mean, who wouldn't? It would be the guys' last chance to find the courage to walk up to their respective crushes, ask them if they would want to go to the dance with them. And it would also be the chance for the girls to see if their charms had worked on anyone… and be asked to the dance by the guys.

            Everywhere I went, I heard the Dreadful D-words… Dance… Dates… Dress… To make the story short, things I thought pointless and ridicule. Until…

            I was in the Great Hall, eating with Parvati and Lavender. After yet another fight with him, Ron won't speak to me and I had the feeling that Harry –not wanting to turn his back on his best friend – had thought it would be better to stay with him instead of causing a clash between him and Ron.

            "… With that lovely hairdo I saw in that magazine," Lavender was saying eagerly. "It's gonna be perfect."

            Parvati smiled. "And what are you gonna wear Mione?"

            Taken by surprise, I spilled juice all over myself. Flushing, I grabbed my wand and restored the mess. "Well, I still don't know – "

            "WHAT?" the two girls shouted.

            "Hey!" I frowned. "No need to screech like that. What's wrong with you?"

            "With us? Nothing! But you, yeah, something's wrong. Hermione, the dance is tomorrow. How are you ever gonna be ready in time?"

            "Don'tcha worry," I said lightly. "I'll just find an old something and slip it on, no big deal."

            "No big deal?" Lavender asked looking at me as thought I was a crazy person. "Hermione, it's our last year at Hogwarts! You've got to look pretty for that special night."

            I rolled my eyes. "Lavender, believe me, I don't see why I should look pretty."

            "For your date of course!" Lavender exclaimed.

            "Who are you going with anyway?" Parvati inquired.

            "Uh, nobody," I blurted, again, taken by surprise.

            "WHAT?" screamed Parvati.

            "Oh, for God's sake. Parvati, stop screaming," I said.

            "Sorry," she said ruefully. "It's just that all of us –"

            "Most of us," Lavender corrected glancing at Parvati pointedly, "have got a date for tomorrow."

            I was starting to feel uneasy. "Well, there always are exceptions. And this time it's gonna be me."

            "Well, you might not be for any longer," Lavender said. Her eyes lit up and she jerked her head towards the entrance. "Look who's coming, Mr. Hottie himself."

            "Draco?" I let out, turning around and immediately discerning him at the doors. He saw me, and he walked his to our table. Suddenly, I realized something, "What do you mean 'I might not be for any longer'?"

            But the two girls were not even listening to me.

            "Just look at him," Parvati sighed. "He's such a babe."

            "And he's ten times better now that he knows how to smile." Lavender said dreamily.

            "Remember how all he used to do was scowl and be nasty?" Parvati recalled.

            Lavender glanced at me. "You've changed him, Mione. You really did."

            I didn't know what to answer. I, Hermione Granger, had changed Draco Malfoy? Yeah, there was something different about him. 1. He wasn't so rude anymore. 2. He had learned to become self-effacing… well, not really but he was working on it. 3. Well, 3, He was sweet and gentle. He had definitely changed… but was I really the cause of it? Fortunately, Draco entered the scene at that precise moment and I silently thanked him for doing so. His timing was perfect.

"Hey, Mione. Can I have a word?"

            I smiled at him. "Yeah, sure." I turned to my two girl mates. "Sorry girls. Head Girl duties."

            "Yeah no problem," Lavender said, "see you Draco."

            "Bye Draco," Parvati purred.

            Ugh! I thought. Why do they have to act this way? Oh, great, now I'm being a jealous fat cow.

            "Yeah, bye," Draco mumbled before leading me out of the Great Hall, leaving behind Parvati, Lavender, their rotten conversation about the dance and my half-eaten dinner.

            Mind you, Draco's just a friend, I told myself. A very close friend but just a friend nonetheless. There's no reason for me to get jealous about my friends finding Draco hot and drooling over him. They have the right to do so.

            We stopped walking when the cheerful chatter of the students was very faint.

            I don't blame them, Draco's hot and I can't deny that, I went on thinking and remembering the one time I had caught a glimpse of his hard, flat stomach. And he's totally gorgeous, just look at his handsome face and amazing eyes.

            "Mione?" came Draco's voice. "Are you listening to me?"

            "Hm?" I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts. "I'm sorry. I was just… away. What were you saying?"

            "I was just saying, …don't interrupt me until I've finished, okay? …I… I've… been thinking… and the seventh-year dance is supposed to be grand and everyone wants this particular night to be the most memorable and special one of his school year. And I do too. And an unforgettable night can't be special and unique for me, if… if I'm not with you… So, uh, Hermione… would you like to go to the dance? With me?" he finished on a quite hesitant note the speech he had started so valiantly.

            I was so astonished that not a word would come out and I just stood there staring at him like an idiot. I had expected some prefect talk or whatever… but not this! Not that I wasn't pleased but… I was kinda shocked. Imagine, your best boy mate comes up to you and says the sweetest thing you never thought he'd say and asks you out for a dance. How would you react?

            "Uh, Mione?" he tempted after a while. "I've finished. You can talk now."

            But I still couldn't find my voice. Had he just asked me to the dance? I asked myself. Oh my God… Oh my God…

            "I know it's at the last minute and you're not –"

            "I'd love to," I interrupted, finally saying what I wanted to say. "I'd love to go with you Draco."

            His face broke into a radiant smile and I know it was the mirror image of the look on my face.

            "Jesus Christ!" I said frustrated. "It's official. I've got nothing to wear. Nada, Niente."

            I sure as hell didn't want to put on 'an old little something', as I had so nonchalantly told Lavender and Parvati the day before. Not when I had a date with Draco. I didn't know why but I really wanted to look good for him. I ran a hand through my hair. Wrong thing to have done; my hand got stuck in a forest of knots.

"Arrg!! This stupid bushy hair! Stupid trunk!" I pushed my trunk shut and paced up and down. "Stupid dance! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

            The dance is in about one hour and fifteen… no thirteen minutes and I have not even taken a bath yet, I thought.

            Suddenly I got an idea. Of course, I thought, why haven't I thought about it in the first place? I got out of my Head Girl room and made a beeline to the seventh-year girls' dormitory.

            I pushed open the door and I was only half-surprised to see the girls walking around hysterically, slipping on their gowns and applying their makeup.

            Some of them noticed me and grinned at me. I returned them their smile.

            Parvati and Lavender… Parvati and Lavender… Parvati and La –

            "Hey! Parvati! Lavender!" I waved at the two girls who waved back at me. I gestured them over and the made-up and already dressed girls came over to me. Let's hope that they'll be able to help me…

            "What's going on Mione? Why aren't you in your room getting ready?"

            "I've got a lil' problem and I was hoping you'd help me," I explained my deal to my mates.

            "Don't worry, Mione," Parvati said patting my back. "Lavender here has got an outfit that'll suit you perfectly."

            Lavender looked at Parvati blankly. "I do?"

            "Yeah," Parvati said patiently. "The dress you were going to wear but didn't at the last minute."

            "Oh!" Lavender's face lit up, she nodded and we followed Lavender to her bed. "I brought it last year," she was explaining, her head buried in her trunk, "but I never had a chance to wear it. I was gonna sport it tonight, but at the last time I went shopping, I saw this dress in a window shop and I couldn't resist buying it. I mean I fell in love with it and I just had to buy it for tonight. So there you go," she pulled out a light-pink dress and held it in front of me. "This will do perfectly."

            The three of us ran excitedly [yeah, including me. Who would've thought that I would be excited about a dance?] to my room and I went straight into the bathroom.

            "Wait!" Parvati exclaimed, before I could close the door. She conjured two bottles and handed them to me. "They are shampoo and conditioner. Use them instead of your regular stuff to wash your hair, k?"

            I grabbed them from her hand and glanced at Parvati. "What's the difference between this one and mine?" I asked.

            "You'll soon find out," Parvati said mysteriously. "Now go take that shower!"

            I gave her a dubious look and scampered off into the bathroom where I took a quick shower [I had no time for a long one]. Fifteen minutes later, I was out, towel wrapped around my body and my hair dripping wet.

            "Good," Parvati said. "Now, you just let us take care of you, girl. Okay?"

            I don't know if that's such a good idea, I thought. Let them take care of me? Parvati and Lavender? I didn't want anything 'too much' and I don't know if these two had the same idea as me. But I nodded anyway.

            Lavender had me sit on a chair she had successfully conjured and was already blow-drying my hair. And I remember thinking what a waste of time this was. My hair could and would never be controlled.

            "Ouch! Lavender, that's hot," I complained.

            "Stop grumbling, Mione," Lavender said good-naturedly, but turning the heat degree one knot down anyhow.

            Meanwhile, Parvati had disappeared from my room and I was about to ask where she was when she reappeared holding her makeup gear in her hand.

            "No!" I told her, having to shout because of her noise the blow dryer was causing. "No way you're making me wear these artificial crap!"

            "Come on, Hermione!" Parvati shouted back. "I thought you wanted to look good for Draco?"

            I glared at her while she smiled in fake innocence at me. "Alright, but don't make me look like a clown!"

            "Promise!" Parvati said.

            And soon, I found myself stuck between my two friends: one messing up with my face and the other one busy trying to make my hair look good. Like it was possible!!… Or so I thought.

            After much whining from me, several 'Stop moving!' from Parvati and… uh, to my great surprise, some 'your hair is so gorgeous, Hermione!' from Lavender, they had finished with me. They wouldn't even let me take a look at myself in the mirror.

            "When you've put on your dress and your shoes, that's when you'll be able to take a look at yourself," Parvati said fimly.

            "And hey, I didn't know what to do with your hair, Mione," Lavender told me. "I tried everything I knew and I like it best when it's hanging loose, so…"

            I nodded.

            "Now, please," Parvati said. "Slip on that dress and then we'll see how pretty you look."

            I went into the bathroom and put on the strapless dress.

            A few minutes later, I was out. And Parvati and Lavender were both staring, slightly opened mouthed at me.

            "So?" I asked quite uncomfortably.

            "Oh, Mione!" Lavender gushed. "You look simply beautiful!"

            Parvati smiled. "Yeah, you look amazing!"

            After putting on my sling back white shoes, I was ready and quite impatient to see myself at last. Parvati and Lavender seeing my eagerness, found pleasure in making me wait longer.

            "Wait till Draco sees you," Lavender was saying.

            "He'll be falling head over heels!" Parvati burbled.

            "Can I see myself now?" I interrupted.

            They smiled. "Yeah of course."

            "Thank you," I said walking to my full-length mirror near my bed. "You know, I don't know how much to than- Oh my Gosh…" I let out as I saw myself in the mirror.

            Was that really Hermione Granger??

            For a start, that wasn't my hair. Mine are bushy, full of knots and rebellious when those on my head right now, why, they were soft and silky. I touched the hair that was cascading over my bare shoulders and my back. Sure enough, they really were my hair. Wonder how Lavender did that… And my face, well, Parvati hadn't made me look like a clown at all. Quite conversely, the makeup looked… natural.

And the dress well there was nothing too extravagant about the dress; it was a plain, simple dress but it really was beautiful. The material looked silky, there were some pleats at the waist, which smoothed down. There was a layer of sheer fabric that went beyond the silky fabric. It was feminine and not too much skin showed, which was good, actually.

The only thing that was making me recognisable was the silver pendant my mother had given me when I was younger that always hung around my neck.

And without wanting to seem vain, I looked gorgeous.

"So?" Lavender asked eagerly.

I stared at myself and after a while, I succeeded admitting to myself that this was really me. "Oh my God!" I cried. "Lavender, Parvati… You're geniuses!!! Thanks so much. How did you do that?"

The two girls smiled at me, looking quite pleased with themselves.

"Well, it was always in you, Mione," Lavender said. "We just forced your beauty to come out into broad daylight!"

            "And we succeeded! You look even more gorgeous than before," Parvati said. "Draco's going to find it really hard to stop staring at you!"

            I blushed. Wonder if he'll recognise me…

            "And my hair, Lavender," I said in awe and amazement. "How did you do that?"

            "Well, the shampoo Parvati gave you did the work, really." Lavender said humbly. "I just blow-dried. And anyway, I always had that itch to make your hair go straight…"

            "No one will recognise you at the dance, Mione," Parvati told me.

            "Speaking of which, I think we should go," Lavender said. "We're already late."

            I took a last look at myself in the mirror and followed the girls out; I had a feeling that night was going to be wonderful!

Author's note – End of second chappie!! Hope you liked it… You know what to do now, and that's reviewing… =) and in advance sorry for all the mistakes I made, if there's any. I honestly, sincerely, genuinely didn't do it on purpose…=)