Chapter One
Looking in the mirror she thought, "I am not a girl anymore, I am a woman," she laughed to herself. Hermione Granger found it very difficult to imagine herself as anything other than the bushy haired, buck toothed know-it-all who had first met Harry Potter and Ron Weasley on the Hogwarts Express 6 years ago. Suddenly people looked at her without muttering "Mudblood" or "geek" under their breath; they were starting to find Hermione Granger attractive.
A knock on the door signalled Ginny Weasley's early evening entrance to the Sixth Year dormitories.
"Hey, what are you wearing tonight?" Hermione asked Ginny.
"Oh, y'know, just whatever I pull out of my wardrobe," Ginny replied with a mock-casual tone. She sat down on Lavender Brown's bed charming her hair so that it shone electric blue when the light hit it.
"Haha, yes, of course you're going to wear whatever you can find to the Halloween Ball you're attending with Harry!" Ginny stuck her tongue out at Hermione, but the witch continued, "Do you want me to help you with your dress robes?" She asked, grinning with excitement about the night ahead.
"Yes please 'Mione! I want them to look less like a second hand marquee and more…" she paused, trying to find the right word.
"You want them to accentuate those womanly curves of yours?" Hermione questioned, poking Ginny in the ribs.
Ginny giggled, "Yes! Exactly! I want Harry to be thinking about what I look like under the robes!" She flushed violently red and was suddenly glad there was no-one else in the room.
"Okay, I really didn't need that mental image, thank you." Hermione looked utterly disgusted. She picked up Ginny's dress robes from Lavender's bed and set to work transfiguring and charming them.
"Hermione, who are you going with tonight?" Ginny asked, knowing that plenty of guys had asked her best friend to be their date. She winced as with a quiet "Diffindo" her robes were in two.
"I'm not going with anyone; I don't like any of them." Hermione shrugged and returned to re-stitching Ginny's robes with a handy sewing charm Mrs Weasley had taught her.
"Oh come off it Hermione, you went out with Viktor Krum, it's not like you've never had a boyfriend."
Hermione held up the dress robes for size, her wand between her teeth, a look of concentration on her face, "Don't remind me, I can't believe I was that shallow! He has to be nearly reaching Crabbe and Goyle's stupidity levels." Hermione grimaced at the thought, passing the dress robes to Ginny so that she could try them on.
"Oh 'Mione! They're perfect!" She did a little twirl and the bottom glided round her smoothly.
"Very Monroe-esque darling," Hermione said, putting on her best fashion designer voice.
"Thank you Hermione! So… why aren't you going with anyone? The Ball is our first chance to get dressed up in ages."
"I just don't like any of them, they're just too immature." Hermione shrugged as Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"GINNY!" Harry hollered from the common room several hours later, "Come on! We'll be late!" Ginny ran down the stairs from the dormitories, hitching up the bottom of her dress, with Hermione closely following.
Both Harry and Ron's jaws dropped, "Woah! You look… Amazing!"
Hermione had used the same Sleekeazy's Hair Potion as she had for the Yule Ball two years previously and had gold glittering in her hair which perfectly complimented the gold beading on her deep red dress robes. Her makeup, simple yet elegant, finished the ensemble, and she smiled at Ron and Harry as she decended the stairway.
Harry and Ginny shared a quick kiss and the four left the common room and headed down to the Great Hall.
Walking through the magnificent doors into the Great Hall, Hermione instinctively looked towards the sky. It was a clear night, and a slim crescent moon could be seen shining through the enchanted ceiling. Orion could also be seen, an ominous sign of the winter to arrive shortly.
"Is it really that time of year already?" Hermione thought, wondering why time went so quickly recently.
A scream arose Hermione from her musings. Upon inspection of the source of the scream she saw this year's Halloween "entertainment". Around the room, over 20 boggarts were floating, crawling, slithering and prowling between students, frequently changing shape to whatever may be most terrifying to the closest pupil.
Among the boggarts and the students in their dress robes or suits – Hermione noticed that some of the Muggle-born wizards had yet to accustomed to wearing forms of dresses – were most of the members of the Order. She saw that Tonks was sporting long purple hair that fell in ringlets around her dress robes that were a shade darker; while Moody was looking very mysterious in an outfit Hermione thought might suit a James Bond villain. He nodded slowly at Hermione, taking a sip from his infamous hip-flask.
Remembering that Dumbledore had specifically informed all staff that they were to wear the stupidest costume they could find, she saw him dressed in a pumpkin costume with a matching orange beard, dancing the tango with Professor Trelawney who was wearing a pair of butterfly wings that had been charmed to flutter, making her look with her enlarged eyes and arms of gold bangles even more like an oversized insect.
A tabby cat that had strange square markings around its eyes was sat swishing her tail on a velvet cushion placed on one of the small tables around the room. Madame Hooch was bouncing around in an astronaut's outfit complete with moon boots
Harry, Ginny and Hermione sat down at one of the many small tables dotted around the room.
"Ooh, look at Luna!" Ginny squealed, pointing to Luna Lovegood ambling over to their table looking positively luminescent in pearly white dress robes, holding hands with a blushing Neville Longbottom.
They sat down together at Hermione and Ginny's table as Harry got up to get them drinks and Ron had gone off in search of Susan Bones, his Hufflepuff date for the evening.
"Hermione?" Neville asked, "Could you help me with Professor Snape's Potions assignment tomorrow, please?" He said this all very fast, causing Hermione to ask him to repeat the question.
"Yes, yes of course I'll help you." Hermione replied absent-mindedly.
Neville was about to thank her when his arm slipped and he threw butterbeer and Muggle Halloween table confetti all down himself. Hermione sighed, gave a vague flick of her wand and he was dry and clean again, Luna kissing him as if he'd just risked his life for her.
Hermione, however, wasn't paying attention to the happy couple, or Ginny to her left. She was simply staring into space, wondering why she hadn't accepted anyone's offer of a date.
"Hermione?" She heard a soft male voice disturbing her thoughts. "Hermione?" He repeated warmly.
Turning her head, she saw Sirius Black standing in front of her in a Phantom of the Opera style mask, his hand outstretched to her. "Would you like to dance?"
Hermione blushed, smiled and took his hand, walking with him to where couples were slow dancing to a Muggle song
Sirius put his arms around her waist as her arms found their way around the back of his neck. Hermione breathed in his aroma, the sweet, crisp scent of Firewhiskey was on his breath, while his clothes smelled faintly of cologne.
"Thanks," she whispered into his ear.
"I thought you looked bored," he replied, smiling at her.
"What the hell is he doing with her?" the wizard thought, glaring in their direction.
"Maybe because he hasn't pretended to hate her for the last 7 years," the other voice in his head reminded him.
"I'll meet you in the astronomy tower at midnight," Black whispered to her and left as the last notes of the song came to a close.