-THE REUNION - CLASS OF '98

CHAPTER 5: Anticipation

Finally the day had come.

When Hermione woke up that Saturday morning, her rather Gryffindor courage had abandoned her. She felt slightly sick and every time she thought about the reunion, her stomach did a little flip.

After trying her dress on one more time and making sure it still fit, for some reason she needed the reassurance, she had a light lunch later on and got ready for her appointment at a salon in Diagon Alley. She put on a pair of jeans with an old beat up T-shirt and was ready to go.

She knew that her hair would take the whole afternoon, plus her nails needed a restoring spell. Usually the target to sooth her anxiety were her nails and she chewed on them frequently. And since she had no patience for beauty salons, with the useless gossip and all that small talk she didn't know how to make, she grabbed a book from her personal library.

A magical beauty salon was a little different from the muggle ones that Hermione's mother used to take her as a child. For starters, there were no such things as scissors or any electrical device such as blow driers. The whole thing was done with the combination of wand spells and potions.

From outside, it looked almost like any shop at Diagon Alley and she could see inside from the large glass window. It was a confusion of women with towels wrapped around their heads and flashes of light from the hairdressers' wands, as they performed their styling spells. She pushed the door open and went to the small reception counter located near a fireplace. A witch with an aloof expression said, without taking her eyes off of a large book, "I'll be right with you."

The witch turned to the fire place and asked, "Is 10:00 am a good time for you Ma'am?"

The head floating in the hearth nodded back and the woman wrote the name down with her pink glittery quill. Only then, the witch lifted her eyes to glance at Hermione and with a very disapproving look, as she scanned her clothes and hair, she asked, "Do you have an appointment, Ma'am?"

Hermione nodded and told the woman her name. The witch then took her to a small room in the back where her hair would be washed and her nails restored and painted. As she followed the woman, she observed the place. The decoration was gothic, stone walls with large mirrors in front of dark wooden chairs, shelves covered with potions of different colors and texture, lined the walls. She could hear the mirrors guiding the hairdressers to cut, style and pointing out missed spots.

After having her hand dipped in a restoring potion, the plump hairdresser who was talking from the moment they were introduced and Hermione didn't think she had stopped to even breathe yet, flicked her wand to add the desired color to her nails.

Later she was placed in one of the wooden chairs and heard a disgusted gasp, "Dear God, somebody call fashion Dementors, because this woman just killed her hair!"

It took a while for Hermione to realize it was the mirror talking. It was a male voice but slightly effeminate. "When was the last time you went to a salon dear, the 80's?"

She decided to ignore it and reached for the book in her purse. It was going to be a long afternoon.

She was immersed in her book while the hairdresser went on with the tedious task of straightening her hair. There was a screen placed on her side blocking her from seeing any of the other customers as well as them seeing her. After a while she was brought back from her reading by a very familiar voice.

"Honestly, I don't think we have to worry about that. I doubt she will show her face there, not after losing her one chance of ever getting married and to a rich wizard, no less. She must be embarrassed. I know I would," said the voice as another high pitched one joined in laughing.

"People like her should know they don't have the luxury to choose, but I suppose a good book is always better than any company," the high pitched voice added and there was a pause before they both said in unison, "NOT!" And burst out laughing again.

Hermione didn't need to see who were the two spiteful harpies talking behind the screen. She knew their voices from years of living in the same dorm and having to deal with their insufferable teasing.

Lavender and Parvati.

Parvati which was the high pitched voice asked, "But seriously, do you really think Ron Weasley is going to spare his attention to you, even without Granger there? There are going to be hundreds of women from all houses in our year, who are obviously going to be chasing him. Besides, you have a boyfriend!"

Lavender snorted. "That never stopped anyone."

Hermione thanked Merlin they couldn't see her there, because she wanted to be able to savor the look of shock in their faces when she arrived at the reunion. And not only that, but with a boyfriend and probably being the only woman who wasn't going to be running after Ron. She secretly wished there was more she could do about it, there was an urge inside of her that wanted to get up and hex them to the next reunion, but there was little she could do. So her best choice was to look good and proud.

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Snape spent most part of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon pacing madly around his chambers. He couldn't help but being nervous, and he had no idea why! Apart from the fact that he would have to endure a party where Potter and his friends would be attending, and the fact he was going with Luna, he couldn't think of anything to be nervous about. Those things were more annoying than upsetting.

Then what was it?

The dream with that insufferable woman kept flashing through his mind, just contributing to increase his irritation. He tried to occupy his mind in his lab then, with his research work and after taking an unusual long time to focus, he managed to spend the rest of the afternoon without thinking of the reunion.

He stopped only when there was an hour left before the party. He took a quick shower and washed his hair thoroughly with a new concoction he bought at Diagon Alley, for extra oily hair. He never bothered much with those things and usually washed his hair with a potion he brew himself. But this time he would indulge to a little vanity for a change. The thought made him shiver and he scowled at himself in the mirror.

After performing a drying spell and tying his hair properly, he put on his outfit and was practically ready when he heard the knock on the door. Who could it be here at this time? He went to the door and opened it suspiciously.

The dreamy large eyes of Luna Lovegood stared back at him. In fact, through him was more likely. His eyes immediately caught her attire. She was wearing a green flowery dress, and by flowery, it didn't mean with flowers printed on it, but real flowers and leaves stuck to it. He could still smell fresh dirt from the garden in her dress. Her blonde hair was tied up in a pile of curls that would have looked really good if it wasn't for the huge butterfly pinned to it. She had charmed it so it kept flapping it's wings slowly, making it disturbingly creepy.

It suddenly dawned on him that it was a mistake to have accepted her company to the reunion. All she was going to do was attract the wrong kind of attention to him. As if he needed more of that.

Since she didn't say a word, he spoke first, "Good evening, Miss Lovegood. I was under the impression I was supposed to go to your chambers and meet you there."

"I was bored. Are you ready?" she asked with the usual vacant expression.

"I suppose so." He gave her an almost inexistent smile and gestured for her to go while he put the wards on the door.

They walked quietly through the long corridor when he finally asked her, "Can I ask you a question, Miss Lovegood?"

"Sure," she replied adjusting the top of her dress and fluffing the flowers up her cleavage.

"What is the real reason you want to attend this reunion?" he asked frowning. He knew she hadn't asked to go with him just to be in his fascinating company. But going as his date would give her a good excuse to be at the party without people wondering what she was doing there.

She looked at him as if the answer was obvious and he was too daft to ask. "Ronald Weasley," she simply said and focused her gaze back in the distance.

He sighed and shook his head, deciding he would ask no more and just try to survive the night.

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Hermione checked the mirror for the tenth time in half an hour. She was waiting for Neville and the wait didn't help on her nerves at all. Why was she so nervous? She had planned every detail carefully. They would tell everyone that they were dating secretly for quite sometime and were very happy together. Even simple details as their favorite hobbies and music were discussed and studied.

She sighed shaking her head at how pathetic that whole thing was. Working so hard to be a fake, and for what? To impress people! That was so unlike her. She would never bother with that if it wasn't for the fact she didn't want to give the Weasleys that satisfaction. Thanks to her Gryffindor stubbornness.

She shivered at the thought. She was starting to sound like Snape. The image of the Professor came to her mind. She couldn't forget him since that dream she had, he was looking at her so intensely. Such enigmatic eyes... How come she never noticed that? And that day at Diagon Alley, he looked so different shopping for clothes... so normal.

She jumped, startled as a loud pop called her attention. Neville had finally arrived. His eyes grew wide when he saw her. "You look great Hermione," he said checking her out.

"Thank you, Neville, you look good yourself," she complimented and he blushed just like he used to in their school days.

Not wanting to wait any longer she said, "Shall we go?"

Neville nodded and they held each other's hands, apparating to the gates of Hogwarts.

As they took in their surroundings, they could see other couples arriving in the same fashion. Many people, she couldn't recognize, everybody seemed so different. How can one change so much in only five years? She hadn't changed a thing...

They crossed the gates and headed slowly, still holding hands, to the front doors of the castle. As they were climbing the steps, Hermione stopped in her tracks, her stomach sank in and she felt a mix of emotions she didn't expect to feel, when a voice she knew so well called her name.

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A/N : I know you hate me LOL. But the good news is that the party is on next chapter. Hope you guys have enjoyed so far. I want to thank Julie for the suggestions and helpful hints. And Susan for her beta help on revising all 4 previous chapters.

Thanks to vizzy-vicky-lou, Katie, Arestoktra, fan-rei, angelusdream, parody-of-an-angel and Cow as White as Milk for the wonderful reviews, I'm glad you guys are enjoying!