Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters.
A/N: Thanks, Captain Oblivious, Kara Black, Siria, Radioactive Pixie, sazzi boo, and Halfling.
A Different You by Lina Shay
Chapter Sixteen: Much Uneasiness
"Oh a wizard party!" squealed Candi. "Won't that be, like, the utter most!"
"Most what?" Hermione asked as they sat around the kitchen table at breakfast. "Doesn't matter. I'm not going."
"Did I teach my little Minie to neglect her social life," Candi said, touching her chin.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Besides, it's at that fine Harry Potter's house," her father said over his morning paper.
"I told you," Hermione began, "Harry and I broke up."
"Well, this will give you a chance to totally get him back," Candi insisted, pouring Hermione's dad some coffee.
"Don't you two get it?" Hermione demanded. "I don't WANT him back."
"When a wealthy man wants your affections, it's, like, not very bright to turn him down," Candi advised.
"Oh, so that's why you married dad," Hermione announced.
Candi and Hermione's dad both looked quite unamused. Hermione got up from the table and went into her room. It seemed to be her favorite place now. It was the only place that felt safe, except for Draco's arms that is.
There was a prissy sort of knock on her door. Without her permission, Candi walked right in. She sat down next to Hermione on her bed.
"I think I, like, understand it now," Candi said sympathetically.
"I really doubt that," Hermione muttered.
"You don't want to go to the party because you totally don't have anything cool to wear," Candi insisted. "I wasn't going to give you this until Christmas but it's only, like, the day after tomorrow, so I'll let you open it now."
Candi got up and ran out of the room. Hermione massaged her sinus' in an attempt to relieve her stress. Candi came back into the room with a box wrapped in pink paper. She set it on Hermione's lap excitedly. Hermione open the present to oblige Candi, though she wasn't sure why she should do Candi any favors. Inside the box was a gown quite a style of it's own. It was like a combination between medieval and disco. To get the full-impression of the dress, Candi insisted Hermione wear it. Hermione did and stared at her reflection in Mr. Guise. The top was rather normal, dark purple and off the shoulder with long flowing sleeves. Just beneath the bust line, the purple parted to reveal a pink min-skirt and go-go boots between the two streams of the dark purple over-dress which flowed to the floor. It would not have been Hermione's choice of outfit.
"It's lovely," Hermione muttered, still staring at her reflection.
"Oh! I totally knew you'd like it!" Candi squealed, throwing her arms around Hermione.
A black and grey owl flew into the room, causing Candi to shriek.
"I'll totally never get use to that," Candi breathed as Hermione took the note from the owl. It was from Draco. Hermione opened it instantly.
"Dearest Hermione,
I really don't know how to start this letter, so I'll just go right to the point. Everyone from Hogwarts was invited to Snape's party, so I'm sure it's not some conspiracy. I'm going and I was wondering if you would meet me there and we could dance or something.
Love,
Draco"
Hermione looked from the letter to her reflection.
"What's it say, Minie?" Candi asked.
Hermione let out a sigh. "I'm going to the party."
"I knew this dress would convince you," Candi said confidently.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
The night of the Wicked Big Party, Mr. Guise dressed Hermione's hair. The top half was pulled up in a bun with a pink ribbon matching her skirt and boots. The rest of her hair was down and loose. Even with Draco's conclusion that the party could not be a conspiracy, she still was unsure about it. The idea of going to Snape and Harry's party was simply unnerving.
"Do you want us to drive you, Beautiful?" Hermione's dad asked as Hermione tried to get herself to leave the house.
"No, I doubt you could get there by muggle means," Hermione told them.
"Have fun, Minie," Candi insisted.
Hermione took a breath and left her house. She caught the Knight bus to Snape's Surprisingly, there were other Hogwarts students on board dressed up to go to the party. This did not ease her mind. The Knight Bus reached the Snape Estate in record time. With all the sharp turns and the impossible speed, Hermione had to run to the privy first thing to check her hair. A man in a dark cloak took her invitation before letting her in. She would wonder about him, but she was too busy searching about for the privy. While the other students went to the Ballroom straightway, Hermione veered off down a hall.
Voices came from ahead. Being where she was sure she wasn't supposed to be, Hermione instantly found and door and hid inside the room. She kept it cracked open so she could see who it was that had talked. She couldn't see a thing, but she heard Harry's voice.
"Come on, old timer," Harry muttered, resentment under his breath. "Move along. Faster! I don't know why I have to babysit you when you're in this stage. Move it. Come on! I have people to meet."
The footsteps stopped. There was a pause, then there was a muffled thump, which was either a baseball hitting into a glove or someone's shoe impacting with someone else's rear end. Dumbeldore gave a yelp.
"Wha-I beg your pardon," came Dumbldore's voice.
"Rictusempra!" Harry casted immediately.
Dumbledore broke out into laughter.
"Now Severus won't know the difference," Harry muttered. "He'll think you're just in the first stage. I better get you to the ballroom in a hurry."
Hermione held her breath as Harry and a hysterical Dumbledore walked by. When they were gone, Hermione tried to make sense of what just happened, but she couldn't seem to.
After letting herself breathe again, Hermione looked about the room she had hidden in. It was quite dark with the exception of several torches with eerie green flame. From the specks of green light far off, she could suppose that this was quite large room, but she could hardly see a thing but the torch flames. Hermione searched about herself for her wand, but instantly froze at the strangest sound, like something being dragged across the floor, but there were no footsteps preceding. Hermione's arms broke out in goose bumps. She glanced ahead into the darkness, peering to try and see. Nothing. Just darkness and floating green torches.
The sound was getting louder and had a slimy sort of edge to it. The sound ceased suddenly, a few feet away, as it sounded. Hermione listened hard and waited. All of a sudden, two bright green eyes appeared just above the ground a yard away. Hermione gasped, spun around, pushed through the door and went off down the corridor like a bottle rocket. She was so spooked that she ran right into Draco without even seeing him.
"Hermione, are you all right?" he asked, placing on hard on her arm and the other on her face to try to calm her.
"I-I just saw..." Hermione breathed. "I saw something down there."
"Were you sneaking about Snape's house?" Draco asked, amused. "How marvelous! Did you find anything?"
"Just that...thing," Hermione pointed into the darkness. "It was strange with green eyes."
"You mean Harry?" Draco joked.
"I'm serious," Hermione insisted, smacking Draco on the arm.
Being in Draco's presence was immediately calming. They were laughing in no time, and Hermione had forgotten all about the eyes she saw. Draco put an arm around her and they walked into the Ballroom together.
A/N: Thanks, Captain Oblivious, Kara Black, Siria, Radioactive Pixie, sazzi boo, and Halfling.
A Different You by Lina Shay
Chapter Sixteen: Much Uneasiness
"Oh a wizard party!" squealed Candi. "Won't that be, like, the utter most!"
"Most what?" Hermione asked as they sat around the kitchen table at breakfast. "Doesn't matter. I'm not going."
"Did I teach my little Minie to neglect her social life," Candi said, touching her chin.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Besides, it's at that fine Harry Potter's house," her father said over his morning paper.
"I told you," Hermione began, "Harry and I broke up."
"Well, this will give you a chance to totally get him back," Candi insisted, pouring Hermione's dad some coffee.
"Don't you two get it?" Hermione demanded. "I don't WANT him back."
"When a wealthy man wants your affections, it's, like, not very bright to turn him down," Candi advised.
"Oh, so that's why you married dad," Hermione announced.
Candi and Hermione's dad both looked quite unamused. Hermione got up from the table and went into her room. It seemed to be her favorite place now. It was the only place that felt safe, except for Draco's arms that is.
There was a prissy sort of knock on her door. Without her permission, Candi walked right in. She sat down next to Hermione on her bed.
"I think I, like, understand it now," Candi said sympathetically.
"I really doubt that," Hermione muttered.
"You don't want to go to the party because you totally don't have anything cool to wear," Candi insisted. "I wasn't going to give you this until Christmas but it's only, like, the day after tomorrow, so I'll let you open it now."
Candi got up and ran out of the room. Hermione massaged her sinus' in an attempt to relieve her stress. Candi came back into the room with a box wrapped in pink paper. She set it on Hermione's lap excitedly. Hermione open the present to oblige Candi, though she wasn't sure why she should do Candi any favors. Inside the box was a gown quite a style of it's own. It was like a combination between medieval and disco. To get the full-impression of the dress, Candi insisted Hermione wear it. Hermione did and stared at her reflection in Mr. Guise. The top was rather normal, dark purple and off the shoulder with long flowing sleeves. Just beneath the bust line, the purple parted to reveal a pink min-skirt and go-go boots between the two streams of the dark purple over-dress which flowed to the floor. It would not have been Hermione's choice of outfit.
"It's lovely," Hermione muttered, still staring at her reflection.
"Oh! I totally knew you'd like it!" Candi squealed, throwing her arms around Hermione.
A black and grey owl flew into the room, causing Candi to shriek.
"I'll totally never get use to that," Candi breathed as Hermione took the note from the owl. It was from Draco. Hermione opened it instantly.
"Dearest Hermione,
I really don't know how to start this letter, so I'll just go right to the point. Everyone from Hogwarts was invited to Snape's party, so I'm sure it's not some conspiracy. I'm going and I was wondering if you would meet me there and we could dance or something.
Love,
Draco"
Hermione looked from the letter to her reflection.
"What's it say, Minie?" Candi asked.
Hermione let out a sigh. "I'm going to the party."
"I knew this dress would convince you," Candi said confidently.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
The night of the Wicked Big Party, Mr. Guise dressed Hermione's hair. The top half was pulled up in a bun with a pink ribbon matching her skirt and boots. The rest of her hair was down and loose. Even with Draco's conclusion that the party could not be a conspiracy, she still was unsure about it. The idea of going to Snape and Harry's party was simply unnerving.
"Do you want us to drive you, Beautiful?" Hermione's dad asked as Hermione tried to get herself to leave the house.
"No, I doubt you could get there by muggle means," Hermione told them.
"Have fun, Minie," Candi insisted.
Hermione took a breath and left her house. She caught the Knight bus to Snape's Surprisingly, there were other Hogwarts students on board dressed up to go to the party. This did not ease her mind. The Knight Bus reached the Snape Estate in record time. With all the sharp turns and the impossible speed, Hermione had to run to the privy first thing to check her hair. A man in a dark cloak took her invitation before letting her in. She would wonder about him, but she was too busy searching about for the privy. While the other students went to the Ballroom straightway, Hermione veered off down a hall.
Voices came from ahead. Being where she was sure she wasn't supposed to be, Hermione instantly found and door and hid inside the room. She kept it cracked open so she could see who it was that had talked. She couldn't see a thing, but she heard Harry's voice.
"Come on, old timer," Harry muttered, resentment under his breath. "Move along. Faster! I don't know why I have to babysit you when you're in this stage. Move it. Come on! I have people to meet."
The footsteps stopped. There was a pause, then there was a muffled thump, which was either a baseball hitting into a glove or someone's shoe impacting with someone else's rear end. Dumbeldore gave a yelp.
"Wha-I beg your pardon," came Dumbldore's voice.
"Rictusempra!" Harry casted immediately.
Dumbledore broke out into laughter.
"Now Severus won't know the difference," Harry muttered. "He'll think you're just in the first stage. I better get you to the ballroom in a hurry."
Hermione held her breath as Harry and a hysterical Dumbledore walked by. When they were gone, Hermione tried to make sense of what just happened, but she couldn't seem to.
After letting herself breathe again, Hermione looked about the room she had hidden in. It was quite dark with the exception of several torches with eerie green flame. From the specks of green light far off, she could suppose that this was quite large room, but she could hardly see a thing but the torch flames. Hermione searched about herself for her wand, but instantly froze at the strangest sound, like something being dragged across the floor, but there were no footsteps preceding. Hermione's arms broke out in goose bumps. She glanced ahead into the darkness, peering to try and see. Nothing. Just darkness and floating green torches.
The sound was getting louder and had a slimy sort of edge to it. The sound ceased suddenly, a few feet away, as it sounded. Hermione listened hard and waited. All of a sudden, two bright green eyes appeared just above the ground a yard away. Hermione gasped, spun around, pushed through the door and went off down the corridor like a bottle rocket. She was so spooked that she ran right into Draco without even seeing him.
"Hermione, are you all right?" he asked, placing on hard on her arm and the other on her face to try to calm her.
"I-I just saw..." Hermione breathed. "I saw something down there."
"Were you sneaking about Snape's house?" Draco asked, amused. "How marvelous! Did you find anything?"
"Just that...thing," Hermione pointed into the darkness. "It was strange with green eyes."
"You mean Harry?" Draco joked.
"I'm serious," Hermione insisted, smacking Draco on the arm.
Being in Draco's presence was immediately calming. They were laughing in no time, and Hermione had forgotten all about the eyes she saw. Draco put an arm around her and they walked into the Ballroom together.