It was Saturday. The weekend was here. A time for relaxing, finishing off the last minute essays you still hadn't quite got round to and, in this case, a trip to Hogsmeade.
Hermione had woken early. Of course she'd be spending the day with Harry, Ron and Ginny but she was also hoping for a little time to herself today. She wanted to sit in the Three Broomsticks with a bottle of butterbeer and think about herself. She wanted to spend this weekend sorting herself out. She was losing her mind over a boy, a Slytherin at that.
Hermione brushed her hair and left her dormitory. She entered the Gryffindor common room wearing her favourite pink sweater and a smile. Ginny was already waiting for her but neither of the boys were there yet.
"You feeling better this morning?" Ginny asked
"I don't understand. I haven't been ill"
"You could've fooled me"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You just haven't been acting like you recently!" Ginny looked at her friend, "I dunno what it is, but I know there's something going on. I won't nag you about it but I only hope you trust me enough to tell me when you're ready!"
Hermione mentally debated with herself. She did trust Ginny. Maybe Ginny would be the perfect person to tell first. Hermione knew Ginny would keep it a secret even if she didn't agree with it. At least Hermione would not have to keep this a secret anymore and she'd have someone to talk to. No, she couldn't tell. Even Ginny would laugh at this or maybe worse. It wasn't worth losing or fighting with her best friends about it. It had to stay secret. It was better that way.
"Hello! Earth to Hermione! Wake up Hermione!" Ron's voice woke her from her reverie.
"Are you sure you're alright Hermione?" Ginny asked
"Yeah, yes, I'm fine"
"Come on guys. We'd better get down to breakfast quickly." Harry led his friends from the common room and down to the Great Hall.
As she entered the Great Hall, Hermione looked at the ceiling. It was a bright, sunny day. Perfect for a trip to Hogsmeade. The Great Hall was full of the sound of happy students all looking forward to the Hogsmeade trip. Her eyes flicked towards the table at the far side of the hall. There he was, as always, with Crabbe and Goyle. It wasn't Crabbe and Goyle that really bothered her it was the pug-faced brat sitting closest to him, Pansy Parkinson.
The four friends sat together and ate their breakfast. Hermione sat opposite Ron and facing the Slytherin table. She hadn't touched the plate of bacon and eggs in front of her; she'd spent the whole time looking straight passed Ron at Malfoy. She hadn't even blinked for a few minutes. He looked up from his table and straight at her. Her heart skipped a beat. That millisecond spent looking directly into his eyes left her breathless.
Dumbledore called for attention, waking her from her moment of bliss.
"I only have one notice this morning" He began, "I would just like to inform you about an event which will be coming up in the very near future. During the holidays Hogwarts will be holding a ball for all year groups to enjoy as a special treat. So I might add that all of you going into Hogsmeade for the day may want to invest in new clothes for the occasion. For those of you who will remain in school. Do not worry about your clothes. You will not need to wear dress robes. But I would think it better for girls' to be in dresses and boys in suits. Enjoy you're day. Thank you!"
"Hermione, I hope you don't mind but I promised I'd meet Luna at 12 o' clock"
"No, no, that's fine. I'm used to spending my time with the boys." Ginny gave her friend a hug and ran off to meet Luna. Hermione smiled to herself. Harry and Ron came running up to her.
"Hermione, Hermione! There's a show on at Zonko's that I do not want to miss! Quick hurry up!" Ron said while trying to drag her along.
"I'm sorry Hermione but we really want to go. If you don't want to come we'll understand and we'll meet you in the Three Broomsticks in an hour!" Ron grabbed hold of his friend and dragged him off before either of them could hear Hermione's reply.
'Well that just leaves me' she thought as she headed towards Gladrags clothes store. She was going to buy a new dress for the ball before going to the Three Broomsticks.
Hermione stepped inside the shop. She heard a bell ring somewhere in the back. A moment later a small witch appeared, holding a tape measure in her left hand.
"Good afternoon dear, how can I help you?"
"Oh, I was just looking for a new dress"
"What style would you like, colour and size is no problem. All our dresses adjust to the size of the person wearing it and the colour you desire at the wave of my wand."
"I don't know what style yet but I'm sure I'll find something. Thank you."
"Well dear, just ring this bell on the counter here if you need any help." The witch smiled and left into the back room.
Hermione wandered around the shop, looking at each and every dress individually. She was surprised that she was the only one in the shop, but then there was a show on a Zonko's so many people would have wanted to see that.
There were dresses in every style. She looked in amazement at how beautiful some of them really were. It wasn't until she'd seen nearly every dress in the shop until she saw the most beautiful sight before her. As she turned a corner into the other half of the shop she saw it. The most beautiful dress she'd ever seen. It was hanging magically in the air and turning slowly.
It had inch thick shoulder straps made of pink roses and a tight fit around the top. It flowed from the waist down to the ground. On the back there was a large pink rose which flowed into a short train behind similar to wedding dresses but much shorter.
She was so attracted by the dress that she did not notice someone watching her from the other side of the shop.
Hermione longed to just try on the dress. She knew she could not afford it but she had to try it on. There were lots of nice dresses but this was definitely the most beautiful.
Driven by her desire to try it on, she rang the bell. The small witch came trotting out to meet her.
"I was wondering if I could try on a few dresses"
"Of course my dear, you go collect the ones you like and I'll set up some blinds for you to change behind." Hermione grabbed two of her second favourites. A long plain, black one with spaghetti straps and a Chinese style red one with flowers on.
"Here we go dear" The witch showed her to where she was to change. The witch helped her into the Chinese style dress and pulled back the blind so she could look in the mirror.
Malfoy looked up from the suit he'd been looking at. 'Nah, red's not her colour' he thought before turning back to his suit.
"Well dear?"
"I don't think red's really my colour. I also don't think that Chinese suits me much. I'll try the other one"
Once she had changed into the other dress she looked yet again into the mirror. It fit nicely on Hermione did the dress. It showed her nice figure well.
Malfoy looked across the shop at her 'Wow!' he thought 'Not bad for a mudblood' His eyes were drawn to her for a second.
"That looks lovely dear" The witch said "Are there anymore you would like to try?"
"There is one more, but I don't think I'd be able to afford it"
"Never mind about the price dear, you can try it on even if you don't buy it. Try it on and see. You never know, the price might not bee that bad. Besides you can dream can't you?" Hermione smiled and the witch went to fetch the dress.
"It's beautiful" Hermione gasped as she stared at her reflection.
"You know, every girl who comes into this shop tries on that dress. But I have never seen anyone look so lovely as you do my dear" The witch smiled, "You don't believe me do you? No, well if you wait there I'll prove it" The witch scuttled off into the men's department and grabbed Malfoy's arm.
'Oh, not him, anyone but him' Hermione thought to herself as Malfoy was dragged in front of her.
"Now my dear tell this lovely lady how she looks. Be honest" Malfoy stared open-mouthed at her.
"Well?" Hermione asked quietly, her cheeks glowed slightly pink.
"I...well...you...I mean it looks...erm" The small witch chuckled softly
"Just tell her if you like it dear" She prompted him. He looked at her again. His eyes traced her body. She looked wonderful but he could never tell her that. He could never let her know that she, a mudblood, looked more beautiful than anything he'd ever seen in his whole life.
"It looks...err...very...erm....nice" He said not taking his eyes from her.
"You see my dear. I meant what I said" The witch smiled. "Thank you dear, you may go now." She said to Malfoy. He reluctantly left back into the men's department stealing a last look before Hermione stepped behind the blinds to change.
"Just out of interest how much is that dress?"
"200 galleons my dear"
"Oh, that is a little too much, I think I'll take this one" Hermione held up the black dress.
"But if you were to buy it I could probably give you a small discount. You see you're not the first to try on that dress and it's been with us for a month now and we really need to get rid of it. We have some new stock coming you see. I could sell it to you for 150 galleons"
"I'm sorry but I really don't have enough money. I can barely afford this dress"
"Such a shame, dear. You would have surprised everyone by wearing that. Oh well. 20 galleons for the black one then" The witch flicked her wand and the dress folded itself into a box and a ribbon tied itself around the box. "Thank you and I hope to see you again in the future my dear"
Hermione left the shop and headed for the Three Broomsticks. She sat at a table alone with a bottle of butterbeer. Had he really meant that she looked very nice or was he just saying that. Did he even notice her at all? Hermione looked around the pub for familiar faces. Everywhere she looked there were groups of friends chatting happily about their purchases. In the centre of the pub she noticed Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones talking to Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley, Terry Boot was sitting opposite a slightly younger girl with long blonde hair who was laughing; a little way from them sat Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil chatting away while giving Parvati's sister Padma a manicure with a new nail kit. But there was only one table that really caught her attention. Over in a dark corner sat a group of Slytherin's: Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson and Malfoy.
It's the things that you do
(So physical)
It's the things that you say
(So flammable)
You know I can't resist
Boy it's such a shame
Do you belong to another
I don't wanna hurt nobody
But my heart just can't hold back
It's the way you make me feel
(The way that you make me feel)
Spinning my world around
Tell me, how can I walk away
I don't care what they say
I'm loving you anyway
It's the way you make me feel
Hermione's eyes fixed upon Malfoy. She was caught in the same bliss she felt every time she set eyes on him. Pansy Parkinson laughed loudly at something he had just said and laid her head on his shoulder. Hermione withdrew her gaze. He had a girl. How could he ever like her? He liked the pug-faced brat. Tears formed in Hermione's eyes.
I'm gonna make you mine
(It's not impossible)
Got to let you know
(I'm irresistible)
Baby can't you see
You're the one for me
But you belong to another
I don't wanna hurt nobody
But my heart just can't hold back
It's the way you make me feel
(The way that you make me feel)
Spinning my world around
Tell me, how can I walk away
I don't care what they say
I'm loving you anyway
It's the way you make me feel
Malfoy looked over at Hermione; she felt his eyes on her and looked up. He smiled slightly and barely noticeably. She smiled back a little too.
When I look into your eyes
Every time you smile at me
Oh I go weak inside
Baby I just can't hide, my love
It's the way you make me feel
(The way that you make me feel)
Spinning my world around
Tell me, how can I walk away
I don't care what they say
I'm loving you anyway
It's the way you make me feel
Hermione smiled to herself. Had he given her a real smile? Or had it just been her imagination? She didn't care. The point was he'd looked at her and not yelled anything rude across the pub, or even mouthed it like he sometimes did.
"Hermione there you are! I see you've bought a dress" Ginny appeared followed closely by Luna Lovegood.
"I bought a dress too! Did you see the gorgeous pink one?"
"Yes. Did you try it on?"
"I just had to!"
"I bet the woman said every girl who set foot in the store tried it on"
"She did" Luna cut in
"And that no one had looked more beautiful than you did" Hermione finished.
"Actually that part was inaccurate" Luna answered.
"She said I looked lovely and that only one other girl had ever looked more beautiful than I did"
"Really?" Hermione said in amazement
"Yeah, I really envy that other girl you know"
"Erm, Gin I think that was me" Ginny looked at her in shock for a moment.
"I'm not surprised Hermione" She looked at her friend and smiled. "Seriously you are the prettiest girl in Gryffindor; all the guys are saying it. You should have bought the dress" Hermione smiled. She didn't know whether her friend was just saying that of whether it was true.
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