CHAPTER SIX: LE BANDE DES COPAINS
HERMIONE GRANGER
The meeting was fun; everyone was standing on chairs, ladders, step stools, and tables in order to hang things on the walls. We'd gotten Flitwick to charm the ceiling to look like a dark, starry night for the ball, with a full moon; banners announced the ball; a dance floor and stage were set up.
I was up on a ladder, holding one end of it to the wall as Kevin, on another ladder next to me, hung the other end. Once he'd attached it, I started on mine. When I was finished, I leaned back slightly to view our work.
"It looks fantastic, Hermione," Kevin told me, sending me an easy grin. I felt a thrill in my stomach at that smile, and I smiled back. "Hey," he added, "By the way, would you like to go to Muggle Formal Night with me?"
I looked at him and grinned. "I'd love to."
"Great," he replied. "Now, sorry to change the subject, but what do you think of this for the stage curtains? I thought it was a little too dark." He held up a small patch of material, and I realized it was bright, fire-engine-red linen. I sighed.
"No, Kevin. This is far too light. Our music isn't...it isn't red. Do you know what I mean?"
"Sure," he said, though it was clear he didn't. "So what color do you want the curtains to be, then?"
I smiled, pulled out my wand, and touched it to the fabric. It immediately turned into a dark, heavy, navy-blue velvet---the blue so dark it was nearly black. Across it, in a diagonal stripe, was a line of shining silver thread.
"Wow," Kevin said. "Nice. What's the stripe for?"
I shook my head. "This is no stripe," I replied. "Are the curtains ready to be hung up?"
"I think they hung the red ones," he answered apologetically.
"Good," I replied, and crossed the room the see the progress on stage.
The people in charge of decorations had, indeed, hung up the red linen curtains; the were closed, as they were working behind them and, when pushed aside, they were in the way. I pulled out my wand and concentrated. I pictured the fabric I wanted, then held my wand to the curtain.
It was as if I'd dropped a ball of black ink into a red pond. The color spread quickly, in a wave, across the fabric; it transformed into velvet as it billowed outwards; soon, the curtains were made of the same deep navy blue as the fabric in my hand.
When that was finished, I held my wand to the curtains again, and silver thread appeared, spelling the words:
Welcome To The First Annual
Muggle Formal Night
"That looks fantastic," Kevin said, coming up behind me.
"Thanks," I replied, smiling at him.
"Well, as usual, I've come to interrupt your work to ask you an opinion on something," Kevin said. "Could you come backstage for a minute?"
"Sure," I assured him. I laughed as he took my hand and led me backstage, though I caught Sirius' eye from across the room, and he looked deeply hurt. I was at a loss as to why, but allowed Kevin to pull me behind the curtain.
I looked around backstage, but no one was around---and all the decorations that we were supposed to be hanging were already up.
"What do you need my opinion on?" I asked Kevin, and he turned to look at me.
He was very close to me.
"This," he replied, and kissed me.
I was surprised; Kevin had never shown that he wanted anything but friendship towards me, and here he was kissing me. But I liked Kevin---a lot. And so, almost immediately after his lips met mine, I began kissing him back. When we finally broke the kiss, we stood and looked into one another's eyes for a long time.
"So," Kevin said after several minutes of having our faces just inches from each other's. "What'd you think?"
I smiled shyly. "I liked it," I told him. "You're a very good kisser."
"Good. Want to do it again?"
I laughed and kissed him gently. It was Kevin who deepened the kiss a moment later; but I protested when I realised that here we were, making out while everyone was working hard.
"Kevin," I said, pulling away. "Kevin, we have to get back to work."
He groaned. "Why?" he asked grumpily, and I smiled, kissing him softly.
"Because we only have two days," I reminded him quietly, "And we still have a lot of work to do."
He groaned again. "Fine," he replied grumpily, and we both went back around the curtain. Kevin still held my hand even as Lily came running up to me.
"Hermione! Where have you been?" she asked hurriedly. I flushed and pulled my hand out of Kevin's, taking a step away from him, but I didn't get the chance to say anything before Lily looked at Kevin, then me, and grinned. "Oh," she said simply, which made me even more embarrassed. "Well, Hermione, we need you over here, some paint spilled and we can't get rid of it. We tried vanishing spells and all kinds of things, but nothing works and we couldn't find you---"
"Okay, Lily," I said calmly. "Where is it?"
"Oh---over here," she answered, taking me over to a paint spill on the floor. I picked up the nearby carton and laughed.
"Lily," I told her, "This is water-based paint."
"What's that mean?" she asked, and I realised there was no such thing in the wizarding world.
"Could someone get me a bucket of water?" I called, and saw Sirius leave the room. I got a mop from the corner, just as Sirius marched back in, lugging a huge bucket of water with him. "Thanks," I said, taking the bucket and trying not to worry about the shadowed look in Sirius' eyes. He looked like his best friend had just died. I made a mental note to ask him about it later, and told everyone to stand back. Without further delay, I dumped the entire bucket on the floor. Everyone gasped and backed up from the rapidly spreading water, surprised at what I was doing. I laughed and began mopping it up, the color on the floor vanishing as the water touched it. Almost everyone laughed and got back to work; Sirius, Lily, Remus, and James stayed to help me, summoning more mops from the nearby broom closet.
SIRIUS BLACK
I got two letters that night while Hermione was out with Lily and her friends. I opened the first one to find it was from my mother.
Sirius,
When are you going to make something of yourself? Albus Dumbledore is a fool; you'll realise that someday, and your twisted loyalty to him will change. Rigelus' did, and he's younger than you are. He spent only a year at Hogwarts before begging to be switched to Durmstrang. Sometimes I truly think you are just too stupid to realise the direction you're heading in. Well, Sirius, let me tell you this: if your loyalties don't lie with your family, then our loyalties no longer lie with you. If you haven't made something of yourself within a month, you will cease to be a part of this family.
Toujours Pur,
Aquila Black
I shook open the second letter to see my father's signature. Preparing myself for insults or worse, I read:
Sirius Black,
What in the hell are you waiting for? Your mother sent you a letter as well, I know, but I wanted to tell you a few things. First off, your mother's getting upset. Your brother only spent a year at your freak school; you've spent seven. Are you trying to make Lord Voldemort come after you? What's wrong with you?
I'll tell you what's wrong with you. You're a worthless piece of shit who hasn't got any ambition. I'm ashamed to admit you're my son. Now, Rigelus, he's a fine boy; he's becoming a Death Eater next week. You see? He knows what's important: power. He's got ambition. And you're still in school---not a decent school like Durmstrang, but a school for idiots who actually think that Dumbledore can protect them.
So, you little shit, your mother's been kind enough to give you a month to get your ass in gear. If you haven't straightened your act out by then, we're disowning you. Is that clear?
It goddamn well better be.
Toujours Pur,
Cygnus Black
I let out a deep breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, crumpled up both letters, and threw them, not knowing or caring where they landed.
HERMIONE GRANGER
Lily's friends turned out to be Sarah Frasier, who was tall, with light brown hair to her shoulders and emerald-green eyes, and Hallie Bidding, who was shorter, with black hair halfway down her back and hazel eyes. Both of them were in our year, and therefore in our dormitory. I knew them, but had never really talked to them.
"Well," Lily said after we all said hello, "Shall we go?"
"Sure," Hallie responded, and we headed down past the gates into Hogsmeade.
"Okay," Sarah said as we walked past a few shops. "What does everyone need?"
"I just need to figure out what to do with my hair," Lily replied, "So I just need a hair shop that sells hair clips and things. And Hermione needs a dress."
"A dress?" Hallie asked, looking at me. "Well, let's do that first. You've got to have a dress. I was just looking for shoes."
"I just need earrings," Sarah said.
"Okay, let's go to Madam Malkin's," Lily decided. "They're stocking Muggle formalwear just for Muggle Formal Night."
We went into Madam Malkin's, and each of them immediately started taking dresses off racks and holding them up to me.
Within five minutes, I held a pile of dresses that reached from my arms to my chin.
"Okay, girls, let her try them on," Hallie said, noticing the size of the pile and laughing. Lily and Sarah looked up from the dresses they held and started laughing, too. I grinned and headed to one of the fitting rooms, which startled me because each wall held a mirror that completely covered the wall itself.
The next half an hour was spent trying on ridiculous dresses; Sarah joined me halfway through, though she already had a dress, and soon the four of us were competing to see who could find the worst dress.
I went into my changing room and put on a huge, frilly, sparkling pink dress, adorned with bows, ribbons, lace, and fringe.
"Everyone ready?" I called, laughing, and received three affirmative answers. "Okay, ready: One, two, three!"
A the word "three", all four of us unlocked the fitting room doors and jumped out, looking at one another's dresses.
Hallie saw my dress and burst out laughing, making Lily and Sarah turn and look. Within seconds, all of us were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe.
"Ladies and nonexistent gentlemen," Lily said grandly, composing herself for a few seconds, "I believe we have a winner!" Which, of course, just made all of us laugh harder. Still laughing, we all went in and changed back into our robes; we'd each picked out ten dresses, and that had been the last one.
"Okay, guys, now I need help," I said when we'd all calmed down and put the dresses back. "I need to pick out a real dress."
"Why, you wouldn't wear the pink one?" Sarah asked innocently, and we all burst out laughing again.
"Here," Lily said seriously when she calmed down, picking up a dark green dress with a silver stripe down each side. "Try this one."
I took the dress and went into the changing room; when I emerged, I had a grumpy expression on my face.
"I look like a Slytherin," I said, and they all laughed.
"You look fabulous, though," Lily said.
"She's going with a Ravenclaw, not a Slytherin," Hallie pointed out to Lily, then turned to me. "I don't think it's your color," she said helpfully, surveying me with a shrug.
"Good," I said, and went to take it off. Sarah brought me a simple, navy blue dress, which Lily insisted wasn't formal enough. Then Hallie brought me a rich purple gown, which was really pretty but didn't look very good on me.
"You know," Lily said, "You always wear dark colors, Hermione."
"So?" I asked.
"Maybe we should stop bringing you dark dresses," Lily explained.
"Oh," I said, surprised. "Sure."
SIRIUS BLACK
"Sirius," Remus called as he and James came in the portrait hole.
"What?" I asked, dragging my eyes away from the window.
"Hey," James said, seeing the look on my face. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," I replied.
"Liar," James answered.
"Fine," I said, looking out the window. "Kevin and Hermione are going to Muggle Formal Night together, and I got a couple letters from my family tonight."
I saw Remus and James exchange a look.
"Well, what do you say to coming down into Hogsmeade with us?" Remus asked.
I shrugged. "Fine," I replied, getting up.
"Well, that was enthusiastic," James commented, and I shrugged before following them out of the common room, out of the castle and into Hogsmeade.
Half an hour later, I was feeling a lot better; hanging out with Remus and James would do that to you. We'd just some out of Honeydukes when James suggested a visit to Zonko's, so we all headed down the street together, laughing and messing around.
"Hey," Remus said suddenly. "Sirius, would you mind if James and I asked you to stay here for a minute or two?"
I raised an eyebrow. "What for?"
"Your birthday's in a week, stupid," James replied, grinning, "and we know what we want to get you. Only there aren't any other Hogsmeade trips this week, so we've got to get it now."
I shrugged. "Cool."
"Yeah," James agreed, and they headed off down the street. I grinned and sat on the curb, looking around; then I caught a glimpse of a familiar face out of the corner of my eye. I stood up and crossed the street; peering in Madam Malkin's store windows, I was surprised to see Lily, along with Hallie Bidding, Sarah Frasier, and---
"Hermione?" I said out loud, but of course she couldn't hear me. Then I remembered: she was shopping for a dress tonight. And only then did I realize that Hermione wore a floor-length, silver dress that was so pale it looked white. She didn't see me; none of them did. I watched as Hermione turned around in a full circle for the other girls to admire her dress; they were all smiling. Hallie said something to the girl who worked there------and he went into the back room. Hermione said something to Sarah, and all four of them laughed; I just stared. Alex came out of the back room and said something to Hermione; laughing, she lifted her hair up and allowed him to put a diamond necklace around her neck.
"Oi, Sirius," said a familiar voice, and I spun around, startled, to see James standing behind me.
"Hi," I said breathlessly. "Where's Remus?"
"He's bringing your present up to the castle," he replied. "What are you so interested in Madam Malkin's?"
I cleared my throat. "Oh---new robes," I lied. "Anyway, let's get to Zonko's."
James laughed. "You don't think you're getting off that easy, do you?" he asked, peering over my shoulder. He froze for a second, then laughed gently. "Oh, man, Sirius."
I shrugged, looking out at the snow.
"This girl's got you whipped, doesn't she?" he asked, grinning.
"Oh, shut it," I replied as he began chuckling. "Like you're not obsessed, either."
"Why don't you just ask her out, then, mate?"
"Because she's going out with Kevin," I replied bitterly.
"Going to a school dance together does not qualify as dating," James replied.
"No," I replied quietly, taking one last look at Hermione through the window. "But going behind the stage curtain during a planning committee meeting and making out with him does." I headed down the street, only stopping when James grabbed my shoulder.
"Hey, wait a minute. How do you know that?"
"I was near the curtain," I said, moving away from his hand, "and I heard them."
"Let me guess: you made an excuse to go over there when you saw them go back there, and then used your Animagus senses to hear what they were saying."
I shrugged. "Maybe."
"Oh, man. I'm sorry, mate," James said sympathetically.
"Let's go to Zonko's," I replied shortly, spotting Remus.
James nodded slowly. "Okay."
Though it took every once of will I possessed, I didn't look back.
HERMIONE GRANGER
I ended up trying to decide between three dresses. One was simple, a pale silver, floor-length dress with tulle underneath to make the skirt wide. One was deep blue with a thin stripe of silver down each side; the collar and hem were also lined in silver, and intricate designs were embroidered all over the bodice in silver thread. The third was pale green, which I decided I liked more for it's style that for it's color. I decided against the green, then tried on both the silver and the blue dresses again; I chose the blue.
"You see?" Lily said when I announced my decision. "Always goes for dark colors."
"Aw, leave her alone, Lily," Sarah responded. "She did try on the silver one."
"That's true," Lily replied. "So what are you going to do with your hair?" she asked me.
"I don't know," I admitted, fingering a curl that hung in my face. "Leave it down, I suppose. I never used to be able to, my hair was so bushy, but now that it's thinned out and actually curled, it's not a problem anymore."
"Good," Lily decided. "You can help me with mine, then."
"I will," I promised.
"I still need shoes," Hallie commented.
"Okay, how's this: we all help Hallie find her shoes while we're here. Then we go to Curl Up and Dye and figure out hair, and I can buy my earrings," Sarah suggested.
Curl Up and Dye? I thought. Oh, that hair and accessory place that used to be next to Madam Malkin's.
"Good idea," I decided, and they headed to the shoe section while I purchased the dress.
"That's a nice dress, that is," said the guy behind the counter.
"Thank you," I said, surprised.
"I'm Alex. Alex Diton."
"Hermione Granger."
"Pretty name. Here you are," he added.
"Thank you," I replied, and took the dress, wrapped safely in a protective cover and folded into a bag, just as Hallie returned from the shoe section with a pair of white, one-inch heels.
And then Alex's eyes caught Hallie's.
"Alex! Oh my god!" Hallie exclaimed.
"Hi," Alex replied, grinning madly.
"Oh, you two know each other?" I asked.
"Why didn't you tell me? Oh my god, it's so good to see you," Hallie said in a rush, not listening to me.
"Hallie and Alex have been dating for six months," Lily informed me. "They just haven't seen each other in awhile because he was visiting family in America."
"Well, guys, you probably want to talk and all that," I said. "Hallie, we'll just be next door getting earrings, okay?"
Hallie grinned. "Yeah, see you in a minute."
Sarah had just decided on a pair of earrings to go with her dress when Hallie burst in to Curl Up and Dye, her face lit with a huge smile. "Well, I've got my date to Muggle Formal Night," she said happily.
We all laughed, then went to talk to the woman behind the counter about Lily's hair.
"Chenelle?" Sarah said to the lady behind the counter.
The woman turned. "Sarah! Oh, It's so good to see you, darling. How are you?"
"I'm very well, thank you."
"And who are these lovely young ladies?" the woman asked.
"Oh---these are my friends. Lily Evans, Hermione Granger, and Hallie Bidding," she said, pointing out each of us in turn. "Girls, meet my aunt Chenelle, also known as Madam Krumner."
"Nice to meet you," we all said, smiling.
"It's very nice to meet you, as well," she replied. "I'm always glad to meet Sarah's friends." The woman talked with us for awhile, and I was strongly reminded of Mrs. Weasley because of her warmth and kindness. "Now," she said, looking at us each in turn. "Are you four getting your hair styled here for Friday night's ball?"
"Yes," the other three said. I fingered my hair as she looked at me expectantly.
"Oh," I said. "I was actually just going to leave it like this. Maybe put some Sleakeazy's in it, you know."
"What's this?" she replied. "You have this beautiful hair, and you won't let me style it?"
"Oh, it's not you, Madam Krumner," I replied, but she cut me off.
"Please, call me Chenelle. I'm not yet forty; 'Madam' makes me sound like I'm eighty."
"Okay. Well, I guess you could style it if you wanted to," I decided.
"For free," she said happily. "All four of you, I will style for free. Anything you want."
"Oh, you don't have to do that," we all immediately began protesting.
She held up a hand. "How's this---I'll style your hair for free if you'll all agree to buy your earrings for the ball here. Any earrings, it doesn't matter. Whatever earrings you like."
We all smiled. "I guess we could do that," Sarah agreed. "You're sure you don't mind? We're all willing to pay."
"Just buy a pair of earrings, and I'll give you a free hair appointment."
"Okay," we all agreed, and all five of us headed to the earring display once more.
"I already have my earrings," Sarah commented.
"What color is your dress, dear?" Chenelle asked me kindly. I smiled.
"It's dark blue and silver," I replied, smiling. "Would you like to see it? I just bought it---not ten minutes ago," I told her.
"Ooh, may I?" she asked eagerly. I pulled it out of it's bag and laid it on the counter before her wondering eyes. "Goodness," she says. "It's gorgeous, absolutely beautiful. And I'm glad I saw this, because I know exactly the thing I want to do with your hair. And," she added excitedly, "I have the perfect earrings for you, if you like them. I won't be but a moment, they're in the back room," she said hurriedly, and disappeared through the door behind her.
"Five Galleons says they're completely gorgeous," Sarah said boldly, having overheard our conversation.
I turned to her. "Why are you betting?" I asked, watching Hallie call Lily over to a certain pair of earrings.
"Because I've never seen Chenelle this excited," Sarah replied, smiling.
"Then I won't take that bet," I replied, laughing. "I'll lose."
Sarah's eyes widened. "You bet you will," she said breathlessly, looking past me.
I turned; and there in front of me were, as Sarah had said, a completely gorgeous set of earrings.
"Yeah, Sarah," I said slowly, staring. "I would've lost."