The Masquerade: Part II
A/N: Wow, almost no bloody reviews. Thanks to the few who did review; I am so appreciative of you guys being so faithful. I probably wouldn't be updating right now though unless I was in such a horrible mood as I am right now. The passion of anger makes me want to pour emotions into stories. Haha. And no, she is not wearing a prostitute dress. That's silly and impractical.
"Hermione, it'll be wonderful!" squealed Ginny. "You've got a wonderful dress robe, gorgeous shoes, and a body that I didn't even know existed. Don't worry, as soon as I talk to- oh, hell, I almost gave it away- as soon as I talk to your date for tomorrow night, we'll be able to start your makeover in the morning! This is just too exciting!" Hermione smiled faintly at her passionate young friend, wondering where she got all her bloody energy from.
Ginny just kept blabbering on as they walked through the hallways, passing fellow students who were giving them a most peculiar stare. As Ginny kept talking and talking, a certain something was pulling at Hermione's chest. Hermione instantly recognized it at dread- or fear. What if her new makeover was wonderful and attracted certain boys to come dance with her? Would she ignore them? Would they even come? Her biggest fear was finally acquiring a handsome lad to dance with her, but her scaring him away with small talk having to do with Snape's latest essay prompt or somewhat.
Hermione was immensely relieved, however, when she arrived at her portrait hole to go to sleep. "Ginny," she said softly. "I'm glad you're so happy for me, but I'm really tired… I'll see you bright and early in the Gryffindor common room for my… erm, transformation." Ginny clapped her hands together excitedly and gave Hermione a quick hug.
"A'voir!" she said quickly, and ran away to her common room. Hermione slumped against the wall and banged her head against the portrait. Immediately the elderly man's snore turned into a strangled yell. "Blast it all! Who indeed is that? Show yourself at once!" Hermione's face turned a deep red and she quickly muttered the password. As the disgruntled old man swung forward to reveal the common room entrance, Hermione heard several odd noises coming from it.
"Oh, Draco, darling…" was all Hermione needed to hear. 'So,' she thought. 'He brought Sally Anne back to the common room to… to…' Her eyes brimmed with tears and she dashed over to her stairway that led to her room. Her packages were flying out behind her, and she only glanced over at Draco and Sally Anne for a quick moment. She immediately wished she hadn't, and let out a small gasp.
Draco was sitting on the brown leather couch, slumped down with an elbow propped on the arm of the chair. He was holding the side of his head, his hair mussed up and his tie loosened. Standing in front of him was Sally Anne, her foot placed in a certain area on Draco's body. Hermione's jaw nearly dropped as she saw Sally Anne dressed quite… naughtily. She was clad in a skimpy red bra, showing off an enormous amount of her breasts. She was also only wearing matching lacy bottoms with a garter strap holding onto knee-high nude fishnets. Hermione noted she was wearing red stilettos ('How? Honestly, how does she bloody walk around?!' she thought) and her wavy black hair was falling short beneath her shoulders.
Just as she was shielding her eyes, she heard another sort of strangled yell. "Hermione!" came Draco's weak voice. Hermione felt tears almost flowing down her cheeks, and her throat was stuck in a position where her voice would come out squeaky. Not wanting him to see her cry, she dashed upstairs and slammed her door shut behind her. After carelessly throwing her expensive dress and shoes on the ground, she threw herself on her bed, tears flowing freely and strangled sobs escaping her mouth. She pounded on her pillow as hard as she could, thoughts of skimpy bras, men, and bloody wankers running through her mind.
A few seconds later muffled shouting was heard down in the common room. Hermione whipped out her wand and sound-proofed her door, not wanting to hear an angry lover's spat. Once everything was quiet, she hugged her body and tightly as she could, barely breathing. She couldn't shut her eyes, because every time she did so she saw Draco and Sally Anne alone together in the common room. She was horrified. Still, she got up quietly, hiccupping every now and then, and hung her dress up on a hook next to the door. Suddenly, she heard a rather noisy and frantic pounding.
She turned quickly and looked at where the sound was coming from. She tiptoed over to it and opened the door just a crack. There she saw Draco's face, cheeks tinged with a slight pink. "Hermione!" he whispered hoarsely. Angrily she slammed the door shut as spell wore off, and she heard "Hermione! Listen to me, I need to talk to…." She said the spell again, not wanting to hear dim-witted excuses for her heartbreak. She crawled into her cozy bed and cried until sleep claimed her.
Hermione groggily woke up the next morning, sunshine pouring from her small window into the huge room. As much as she wanted to stay in bed, she quietly got up and brushed her teeth. She glanced at her watch, and upon seeing the time threw on her cloak, grabbed her dress and shoes, and rushed out to the Gryffindor common room. When she muttered the password and raced up to the girl's dormitories, she completely ignored calls from her friends. She rushed into her old room to find Ginny, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown all waiting for her with face masks on.
Breathless, she let out, "Sorry I'm late, I didn't know I… what the hell is on your faces?" Hermione giggled, something she rarely did. Parvati made a sour face at Hermione, but rushed over to give her a hug. As she did so, she backed away, still holding Hermione's arms.
"Hermione, dear," she said delicately. "Did you, erm… shower this morning?" Hermione shook her head, and Parvati turned to the other two girls. "Ladies, we have some serious work to do here." The other girls rushed forward, chatting excitedly to each other, prodding Hermione's face here and poking her belly there. It was all rather embarrassing. Finally, they seemed to come to a conclusion of what to do first and sat Hermione down. Parvati and Ginny were on either side of her, holding her arms and watching Lavender strut around the room.
"First thing we are going to do to you, Hermione, is… well, take off your cloak and robes and put this on," she said strictly. She handed Hermione a fuzzy pink bathrobe, and Hermione glanced at all the others. They were wearing the exact same things- Lavender in… lavender, Ginny in red, and Parvati in a gold colour. Her face turning red, she took off her cloak and asked the others to turn around. Grudgingly they did so, and she quickly slipped out of her clothes and put on the robe.
"Good," said Lavender. Then, she yelled, "Next!" Parvati came up behind Hermione and brushed her hair out with some difficulty. Ginny came in front of her as well and put a greenish goop on Hermione's cheek. After Hermione automatically wiped it off, Lavender yelled, exasperated, "Hermione! You have to keep still as we help you out! Don't you want to look your best for Draco?" Hermione looked scathingly at Ginny, who shrugged and slapped some more goop on her face.
"Great, Hermione," Ginny exclaimed. "This is a concoction I made myself that will make your skin clear and radiant and beautiful! Feels as soft as a baby's backside… look here, feel my arm!" Hermione did so, and wasn't quite convinced. She didn't say so however, and Ginny spread the lime-smelling goop across her forehead. Once Parvati was done untangling the knots, Hermione rubbed her sore head, but Parvati swatted her hand away and put the hair into a high ponytail. Then they all came up in front of Hermione, peering closely into her face. Hermione backed her head a bit, but Ginny jerked her head forward as Lavender brought up a pair of tweezers. Hermione's eyes grew to the size of teacups.
"Oh, NO!" she exclaimed, her hands flying up to her unruly eyebrows. "You can't, simply can't… think of how much it will hurt!" Parvati sighed, and Hermione noted how incredibly fake it sounded.
"Oh, Hermione," said Parvati. "Don't you know pain is the price of great beauty? Don't talk rubbish." Hermione squeaked a no, but they all chanted, "Petrificus Totalus!" and Hermione lay on the bed, completely still. Her eyes were full of fury, and if looks could kill, Parvati, Lavender, and Ginny had been murdered days before. Ginny held a magnifying glass up to Hermione's forehead, and Lavender plucked Hermione's eyebrows to perfection. However, Hermione was shooting daggers at them the entire time, feeling like her very forehead was on fire. As soon as they murmured the counter curse, Hermione leaped up and nearly strangled Lavender.
"This is the thanks I get?" yelled Lavender. Ginny plopped Hermione back down and soothed her, telling her to leave Lavender alone- she was only trying to help. Also, according to Ginny, Lavender and Parvati were the people to go to, as they did wonderful jobs with makeup, clothing, etc. No wonder their grades were so dismal in every class except Divination… they were both so busy concentrating on waxing and other painful ways to… "Beautify™" one's self.
After they were finished with her face, they all headed to the bathroom and took showers, one right next to the other. Hermione was stuck on the far right, next to Lavender. Unfortunately, it was the most painful shower Hermione had ever had, as random creams and shampoos were being chucked into her stall. Everything varying from "Frieda's Frizz-No-More" to "Magic Hair Removing Cream" was rubbed, scratched, massaged, or scrubbed onto Hermione's skin or scalp.
Once the shower was over, they all rubbed Serena's Smoothing Serum™ vigorously onto their bodies. Hermione was aching all over; she'd never dreamed that a makeover would hurt so much. Everyone wrapped towels around their heads and headed back to the dormitory, receiving several whistles from the males they sauntered past. Hermione brought up the rear, slouching slightly and turned her head facing the wall. As soon as they walked into the room, Ginny performed a quick drying spell on their hair.
"Oh," said Hermione, feeling a bit dim. "It never occurred to me to use such a spell after the shower… Ginny, it's ruddy brilliant!" Ginny blushed slightly and thanked her. Hermione's hair was still bushy and frizzy, though, and she was quite annoyed with it. Parvati came up to Hermione, her dark hair shining and flowing behind her.
"Parvati is the expert on hair," noted Lavender. "I wouldn't let anyone else deal with a single strand of my beautiful blonde hair." Hermione snorted, finding Lavender quite snotty by saying such a thing. Although she was a bit ruffled by Hermione's snort, Parvati beamed and thanked Lavender profusely. Then, she pulled some Sleek-Easy Hair Potion out of her nightstand and slathered it on Hermione's hair. Once it was smooth and straight, she whipped out her wand.
Hermione loved her hair straight. She personally thought it beautiful, and thought that it suited her quite nicely. It was truly horrible, she knew, that it took too long to tame it.
Parvati chanted a spell that Hermione had never heard before and watched in a nearby mirror as her beautiful, shiny straight hair was slowly shortening and winding itself. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly. Parvati hushed her and Hermione then saw as her hair formed, all by itself, into an elegant low knot on the back of her head. Small curls were falling out of it here and there, especially around her face. It was amazing.
Ginny plopped herself down in front of Parvati as well, pushing Hermione to the side. "Oh, Hermione!" she exclaimed, patting her own hair. "It's beautiful! But it's my turn." Hermione stood up and walked to the bed, where she sat down. She watched as Lavender "worked her magic" on Ginny. Ginny's hair immediately scrunched into soft waves flowing down to her mid-back. Then two pieces from under hear ears went around to the back of the head, magically staying in place.
Afterwards, Lavender's "beautiful blonde hair" was only straightened with some extra shine. Lavender looked down her nose at the other girls.
"I want to keep mine simple, you know, so everyone can pay attention to my beautiful dress," she stated. Hermione exchanged a look with Ginny while Lavender ran her fingers down her gold hair. Afterwards, Parvati curled the ends of her hair and left it in dark, deep layers. She too wished to keep it quite simple.
Then came the moment of truth. After Ginny walked over to the hook holding their dresses, Hermione clenched her fists. She was quite nervous about her dress robe, feeling it too revealing and inappropriate for a Head Girl. Ginny handed each girl their robes, each squealing as they saw one another's dresses. Hermione protectively hid hers behind her back as she watched the girls slip their dresses on and zipper each other up.
Hermione plopped down on the bed, gripping her dress firmly in her lap. The other girls looked so beautiful. She felt it wasn't fair- these were the types of girls that most guys went positively crazy and… randy for. Hermione knew that in her whole experience in Hogwarts, no guy had ever thought of her like that. Viktor liked her for her brains and… in his opinion, "beautiful soul". She snorted. Draco was different. He loved her for her wits, her snarky comments, her brains- he loved her for who she was. Apparently that wasn't enough physically.
"Hermione?" came a timid voice. Hermione's head shot up as she saw Parvati in front of her. "Well? What do you think? And I'm trusting you to give me your honest opinion." Hermione's eyes scanned Parvati's dress. It was a gold colour, contrasting beautifully with her dark skin. It dropped right below her knee, and had black tulle fluff the skirt end up. She looked positively radiant.
"Oh, Parvati," she sighed. "No words come! You look smashing." Parvati grinned toothily and placed a miniature sunflower above her ear. As she slipped on black pumps, Lavender stepped forward, clad in a strapless scarlet dress robe. Hermione was taken aback momentarily, but found it actually quite flattering on her. It was floor length, but showed just enough of a pair of high-heeled red sandals, completely flattering her red toenail polish.
"Lav! You look darling, red is definitely the perfect colour for you!" squealed Ginny. Hermione wholeheartedly agreed, watching Lavender snap gold hoops with red beads onto her ears. Finally, as Ginny sauntered to the front of the group, Hermione jumped up.
"Cor, Ginny!" was all she could say. Her friend looked beautiful. Hermione looked on as Ginny spun around like a model. Her dress was a deep, deep green, with a low square neckline and inch-thick straps. It set off her pale skin and cutesy freckles so wonderfully that Hermione felt inferiorly ugly. And although she was barefoot, she still looked totally complete.
"Thanks…" said Ginny, a bit puzzled. "…if that's a compliment." Hermione nodded her head quickly, not wanted to sound as if she was criticizing the outfit. "Now, Hermione… it's your turn."
Parvati and Lavender spun quickly around and squealed, wanting to see how their creation came out. Hermione was quite nervous- she wasn't sure she was ready to wear something so revealing- but she slipped the dress robe on and zippered up the back. She walked up to the other girls quite shyly, folding her arms across her chest. Lavender gasped.
"Hermione!" she squealed. "Unfold your arms at once! Let me see… oh... Hermione!" Hermione had let her hands down toward her sides to show them her dress, but immediately regretted doing so. "No, Hermione, honestly," Lavender added, "the dress looks really marv on you. I never… I can't believe… wow." Hermione walked over to the mirror and looked herself over.
She was… beautiful. She'd never seen herself like this- so… well polished. If her mother had been here, tears would be rolling down her face, proudly stating "Hermione, you're a little lady." Her face was smooth and clear, her eyebrows plucked and even, and teeth straight and white. Her hair was still in ringlets, but it complemented the dress quite nicely. Ginny had dyed the black pumps a dark green to match Hermione's sash as well, so she put them on and wobbled a little. Then, Parvati came up behind Hermione and put a little dainty flower in her knot.
Ginny glanced quickly at the clock. "Damn! We're late!" she cried. The girls looked at each other in horror.
After Ginny said that, each girl frantically put on a little eye makeup and lippy, (Hermione's done for her), and they all looked at each other and held hands. This, of course, soon turned into a huge bear hug in which Lavender broke free of, proclaiming "My hair's getting ruined!" They all laughed and started for the door.
"Hermione," said Ginny. "Your date is waiting for you!" She snickered and walked through the door, and Hermione's heart started to flutter. She'd completely forgotten about her blind date. 'What if Ginny picked out someone horrible? What if she picked out someone gorgeous? What'll I do? What'll I say?" she thought frantically. Each girl descended down the stairwell slowly and ran to greet their dates.
Ginny walked over to Harry and gave him a quick peck on the lips, causing his face to turn quite red. Hermione clicked her tongue in wonder- how long had they been going out? She'd sure missed quite a few things- sobbing over Draco had caused her social status to plummet to the ground.
She then watched as Parvati strolled over to Dean, whom she grinned at as he pinched her cheek lovingly. He was wearing a gold tie underneath his black dress robes to compliment Parvati's dress. Next, Lavender sauntered over to Seamus, and quite naughtily grabbed his tie and pulled him into a full frontal snog session. Hermione felt herself blush, but looked over at the last boy remaining.
It was Ron. He stood there blushing quite profusely, the tips of his ears tinged pink far more than she'd ever seen. He was rather sweaty, and rubbed his free hand on the side of his robes. His other hand held a beautiful corsage, obviously picked out by Ginny, she thought. He grinned sloppily when he saw her, and although she felt a bit disappointed, she walked over to him and gave him an awkward hug.
"Hey, 'Mione," he said, his voice cracking a bit. She backed away and smiled at him, remembering to look as sweet as possible. She was about to say hello back, until he asked, "Do you know if Luna's ready yet?" Hermione was shocked.
"Wh…what?" she asked. "What are you talking about?" Her hand flew up to her forehead. What was going on? Wasn't Ron her secret date? Ron laughed nervously, and explained his situation to Hermione.
"You see, it took me a load of guts to ask her. I mean, I know she's a bit… er… loony at times, but I think that's really different and beautiful at the same time," he laughed. "So, I asked her to the ball as soon as humanly possible. And she told me she was getting ready with some Gryffindor girls tonight, so I thought she might have been with you guys…er… yeah," he finished lamely. Hermione's heart leapt a bit.
She bid him a good luck, and a "see you later", and strolled over to Ginny and Harry, who were laughing and kissing. Hermione nervously prodded Ginny, who turned to Hermione and shrugged. Hermione felt dizzy yet again. Had she been stood up? 'Merlin,' she thought. 'This is just too much to handle.' She walked over and sunk into a squashy armchair, before realizing she was sitting on something that was poking her in a place she didn't normally like to mention.
She reached under and pulled out an ivory envelope, that in a neat cursive writing read "Hermione". Hermione gasped. She realised just then exactly whose handwriting that belonged to.
Whoa. I know I took forever (hey, I warned you), but I think it's rather nice. Special thanks to all who reviewed.