Disclaimer: (I forgot about this in the last chapter sorry!) Sadly, I don't own anything! Just the plot!
Chapter 5
After reading Hogwarts: A History for an hour, Hermione put her hair in a loose ponytail, got dressed in jeans and a blue polo shirt and made her way through the portrait of the Fat Lady towards the Great Hall for breakfast.
She was so excited about the ball tonight and that surprised her. She decided that she was going to buy a new dress with the leftover money she had saved up from her birthday and Christmas last year. For her, this was unusual as she wasn't usually like other girls, who looked forward to the ball all year and would dream of it every night and would spend weeks preparing their outfit. Although she did look forward to it and sure, she would make an effort and look nice but it wasn't to impress anyone in particular like the other girls. The ball, to her was just an excuse to dress nice and hang out with her friends without people making fun of the fact that she wasn't studying like most nights. But this time it was different. She, Hermione Jane Granger, had a date.
She began to feel butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't believe how nervous she was. 'It's only Harry' she thought. But that WAS the point. It was Harry- the same Harry who saved her life many times, the same Harry who made her nervous just by his presence, the same Harry whose smile made her go weak at the knees, the same Harry whom she had fallen in love with. This thought didn't improve the butterfly situation at all. In fact she didn't feel that she would be able to keep any food down at all. However she still went into the Great Hall, hoping to see Harry. She approached the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Ginny.
"Hey Gin," said Hermione as she picked up a slice of dry toast.
"Hey Hermione," mumbled Ginny through a full mouth.
"Have you seen Harry by any chance?"
Ginny swallowed her porridge and cleared her throat. "No sorry," said Ginny. She noticed the disappointed look on Hermione's face. "Is it important?"
"Ye...well no not exactly, just a bit. Don't tell anyone, I just don't want you hearing about this from someone else. To be honest, Harry and I kinda had a small argument last night but everything is sorted and I was just wanted to see him in person today to check. But don't worry Gin I'll probably see him later on tonight."
Ginny sat for a minute or two thinking while Hermione attempted to eat her toast. Ginny was one of the first people to spot that Harry and Hermione both liked each other that way and she was the only person that Hermione had confessed to about her feelings towards him. She and Ron had been quite certain for weeks that Harry would have asked Hermione to the ball tonight. However, she didn't want to confront Hermione and ask her if he had. If it wasn't true, then Hermione would probably get quite upset.
"Maybe Harry and Ron came down to breakfast early because of Quidditch this afternoon. I don't know why though. With Harry now being captain and having a Firebolt the Cup is literally in the bag! But you know what they are like. They would spend all day training if they could."
Both Hermione and Ginny laughed at this. "Yeah I guess you're right." said Hermione. "Are you allowed to leave early for the ball tonight?"
"Well I'm gonna ask Harry but if he says no I'm still going to go anyway!" laughed Ginny.
While the two of them were trying to control their laughter, they heard someone shout.
"Hey Ginny! Hey Hermione!"
The two girls turned round to see Lavender approaching them and waving. She sat down next to Hermione and grabbed a slice of buttered toast.
"Are you ready to go Hermione?" asked Lavender.
Hermione nodded and pushed her half eaten slice of toast aside, finally deciding that she was too excited and nervous to eat anything.
"Where are you two going?" asked Ginny.
"Hogsmeade," answered Lavender. "I'm going to get my new dress!"
Ginny giggled. "Great! I can't wait to see the look on Ron's face! I will see you both in the dormitories tonight then?"
"You betcha! Bye Ginny!" shouted Lavender as she grabbed Hermione's hand and led her out of the Great Hall, causing Hermione to nearly trip over her feet twice.
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Just as they entered Hogsmeade Village, Lavender (for the third time that day) brought up the topic of the ball in their conversation. After questioning Hermione for 10 minutes on whom she was going with, Hermione sighed and finally gave in.
"Fine! I wanted to make it a surprise for tonight but at least it will shut you up!"
Lavender (mimicking Ron) punched her fist up in the air in triumph. "Yay! Now spill! Who and how although I think I can guess." She said with a wink.
Hermione decided to give Lavender just the basics as she didn't want to go into too much detail and she didn't want anyone to find out the truth about what really happened. She was hoping to forget last night as quickly as she could.
Hermione took a deep breath. "Remember the argument I told you about that me and Harry had last night?" Lavender nodded. "Well to say sorry Harry sent me flowers, breakfast in bed and a letter apologising and asking me to accompany him to the ball while you all were asleep."
"Oh my gosh how cute!!!!" squealed Lavender.
"So I sent him a note back saying yes and I gave the note to a house elf to give it to him. Honestly Lavender I couldn't refuse! The letter was so beautiful. He basically apologised for absolutely everything and said how bad he felt. The flowers were beautiful too!" A slight tear ran down Hermione's cheek as the picture was still very clear in her mind.
"Awwww that is so romantic you are so lucky! I hope Ron would do something like that for me!"
Hermione laughed at what Lavender said. "I'm sure he would Lav. Oh and before I forget to ask will you help me pick out a new dress for tonight?"
"WOULD I?!?!?" shouted Lavender through a gigantic smile and before Hermione got a chance to register what Lavender had said she had grabbed her arm and was dragging her through the village at top speed towards the robe shop. This time, Hermione was careful not to trip up.
After a few minutes a very exhausted but excited Lavender and Hermione made it to the robe shop. When they entered they were greeted by a plump middle aged witch wearing maroon dress robes with red horn rimmed glasses and a measuring tape around her neck. "Good morning ladies can I help you?"
"Yes my name is Lavender Brown and I am here to pick up an ordered dress robe under that name," said Lavender politely.
"No problem dear," replied the witch. "Would you like to follow me please?"
"Thank you," said Lavender. She turned to Hermione. "Hey, why don't you take a look around and when I'm done I will come look for you?"
"No problem," said Hermione as Lavender followed the witch to the counter at the back of the shop. Hermione turned round and felt her jaw drop.
She had never seen so many dresses in her entire life. Every row was filled with dresses of every size, shape, material and colour. They were all simply stunning (although the tiny black leather mini dress in the corner didn't take to her fancy at all.) Hermione began to feel worried, there was so many to choose from and she didn't come in looking for anything in particular.
After five minutes of wondering round and looking lost, Lavender came back holding a large bag with her dress inside.
"Find anything?" she asked.
"No," Hermione said glumly. "There are so many to choose from I just have no idea where to begin."
"Why don't we just ask someone?" said Lavender and before Hermione could answer. Lavender turned and went to look for someone. She came back a minute later with a witch dressed in black who didn't look very much older than her and Lavender. Actually she was quite the opposite from the witch who first served them as she came in. She was tall with medium length blonde air and hazel eyes. However she too was wearing a measuring tape around her neck.
"Hi, I'm Christine. I understand you are looking for some new dress robes. Any occasion in particular?"
"Yes, there is a summer ball at Hogwarts tonight," answered Hermione.
"Oh yes of course. I used to love them when I was at Hogwarts. I just left three years ago and I got a job here so I was still close to it. Why don't you follow me to the dressing room and give me some ideas on the kind of dress you would like and I will see what we have?"
"That would be great thanks!" Hermione and Lavender followed Christine into the large female dressing room and they sat down. Christine took out a piece of parchment an a bright purple quill and laid them both on the counter next to her.
"So fire away. What kind of dress would you like?"
Hermione thought about it for a moment but nothing really jumped out at her. "Em well...I don't really know apart from I don't want something too bold that I stick out like a sore thumb. A pastel shade would be nice I think. What else....oh yeah and I don't want it to be too revealing at all."
Christine nodded. "Okay then, could you stand up please while I take your measurements?"
Hermione stood up and Christine wrapped a tape around her. Hermione saw that as she spoke her measurements, the purple quill in the corner was writing them down on the piece of parchment. "Why don't you tell me your favourite colour?"
"Well........blue. My last robes were periwinkle blue so I would like something different preferably like a pale almost baby blue."
"Ahh okay then I will see what I can do," said Christine.
"Thanks," said Hermione as she sat down next to Lavender. Then she suddenly remembered something and began to blush. "Oh and Christine, eh......well I really want this to be special because I er....haveadateandIreallywanthimtonoticeme." said Hermione, the last part in a rush. She was now blushing so hard that she could feel the heat coming from her cheeks.
Hermione was astonished to find that Christine had understood everything that Hermione had said and was smiling broadly. "Oh I see, well I am sure that he will like you in whatever you wear," she winked at Hermione and turned away.
Hermione turned to Lavender. "So what is your dress like?"
Lavender smirked. "You will have to wait and see," she giggled.
Christine returned sooner than they both expected. She was carrying three bags. "Don't worry there are more than three but I thought I would bring them in three at a time. Okay then, here is the first one. Tell me what you think."
She opened the bag to reveal a blue, long sleeved crushed velvet dress. It was nice but Hermione had her doubts.
"Well it's nice but I think the colour is too bold for me and the long sleeves make it look heavy for a summer ball. It would be perfect for the Yule ball at Christmas." She turned to Lavender who was nodding in agreement.
"I understand," said Christine as she placed the dress back inside the bag and on the rail opposite her. "That's handy actually as the other two have not got long sleeves and are a lighter shade of blue than this. Well here is the second one."
The second was a lighter blue. It was very close to the periwinkle of her old dress which was a shame. It had ¾ length sleeves and a wide white collar. It reminded her of the dress worn at the end of Disney's Sleeping Beauty.
"I like this one but the colour is very similar to my old dress robes and I wanted something different. But can I keep this aside just incase?"
"Sure no problem," said Christine. "Right now this is the third."
This went on for another fifteen minutes. Hermione was surprised that Lavender didn't get bored but she seemed to be enjoying herself very much. Hermione knew that Lavender wanted to be a robe maker like Christine when she left Hogwarts so this was giving her great experience.
Hermione was given another ten dresses. Some modern and some that looked like they would fit in well at a medieval style party. There were about six she liked enough that she tied on but none really looked great on her in her opinion. Some looked better on the rail than on her and some felt quite uncomfortable. She was beginning to feel desperate and worried again. By now the dressing room was quite busy with other girls trying on robes and their boyfriends sitting in the corner looking extremely bored. Christine was trying to reassure her.
"Don't worry honey it used to take me ages before I found my dress. In fact if you find one within the next ten minutes you will be one of our quickest female customers!"
This cheered Hermione up a lot as she handed Christine back yet another dress (too sluty).
"Now the other main colour for this dress is white but it still fits your description. Honest!"
Christine opened the dress to reveal one of the most beautiful dresses Hermione has ever seen. She saw Lavender's jaw drop. It looked more like a top and skirt than an actual dress. The top was a lace up corset with no sleeves. It was white with a pale blue embroidered flowers on it so it did looked more blue than white. The blue thread had a hint of glitter in it so it shined beautifully in the light. The bottom half was a long skirt made of a very floaty pale blue silk material. It too shimmered in the light.
Hermione was lost for words. "It is amazing," was all she managed to say. She put her hands over her mouth and Christine laughed.
"I thought I would save the best for last!" she laughed. She handed the dress to Hermione. "Here try it on!"
Hermione emerged five minutes later (Lavender had to help her lace up the corset) and looked in the mirror. Unlike other corsets, it wasn't too tight on her although it was tight enough so it hugged her figure very well and she looked like she had a smaller waist. It even emphasised her bust though not too much so she didn't look too sluty. The bottom half didn't hug her figure at all. It flowed down her legs from her waist and rested just at her ankles. When Hermione took a few steps, she looked like she was gliding across the floor, even floating. Lavender was squealing and jumping yup and down like a baby girl.
"Hermione you look stunning!"
Hermione smiled and paced up and down the changing rooms. On her way, she saw some of the boys take a glance at her while their girlfriends were not looking. This made Hermione blush. One boy had his jaw dropped and his friend had to snap him out of it before his girlfriend noticed. But it wasn't his opinion that she wanted, it was Harry's. She couldn't wait show him tonight.
"This is perfect I'll take it. Thank you so much Christine."
"Anytime Miss eh.......?"
"Hermione Granger," she answered.
"Hermione Granger?! Wow aren't you like one of the smartest students in your year?"
"She is!" Lavender interrupted which made Hermione blush yet again.
"My sister talks about you. She is in your year - Hannah Abbot."
"Oh yeah we know her" said Hermione and Lavender together.
"Well tell her I said hi," said Christine as she gave Hermione her change. "Good luck tonight. I'm sure you will both knock em' dead!"
They both let out a small giggle. "Thanks!" they both said as they headed out of the shop.
Hermione was so thrilled about her dress that she couldn't keep her excitement in. She turned round and gave Lavender a huge hug.
"Lavender thanks so much for helping me you're the best!"
"No problem," said Lavender struggling to breathe as Hermione was squeezing her so tightly. She finally let go of her. "Hey, we still have some time to kill. Why don't we go to the Three Broomsticks for a few butterbeers and then we can go back to Hogwarts and get ready?"
"Sounds perfect," said Hermione through a huge smile.
The two girls giggled, linked arms and strolled down the street, both VERY satisfied with their purchases.
A/N WOW! Long chapter lol. I hope you like that design for Hermione's dress. I thought about it for ages. Anyway chapter six will be here soon. Until then r/r please!!!
Stephy xx