AN:

My apologies to you all! I am so sorry it took me so long to update, and I know excuses aren't what you want to be reading, but I still need to explain. My computer crashed and I was unable to get online for weeks, and after that I could not get my documents to upload! It was a terrible process but I am finally able to write again! Now I will stop blabbing and get on with the story ...

(the day of the St. Patrick's Day dance)

Hermione's eyes popped open with excitement. For some reason, she knew today was going to be special. The dance was tonight, and the entire day she had no classes!

She pulled her tired body out of her bed and slowly made her way to the showers. A wave of icy water woke her up in a snap! Hermione wrapped her bath robe around her shivering body and walked down to the Common room.

"Woah, Hermione! What happened to you?" Sirius yelled aloud as she walked down the stairs. Her hair had already begun to curl and had inflated to twice the size as before.

"Oh, Sirius. You know you love it!" she joked back.

Remus sat quietly by himself, just amazed at the sight of her. Her purple bath robe seemed to highlight her slender figure and the curls framed her face gracefully. He jumped out of his seat and rushed over to give her a bear hug.

"Mmmhph!" Hermione mumbled as her mouth was shoved against his chest. "Remus! You scared me!"

"Sorry! Good morning Hermione!" he apologized with a smile.

"Oh, Remus, you know I don't mind! So, guys," she said, addressing the entire group, "What do you want to do this morning?"

"Well, Hermione, seeing as to how you are standing in front of us in little more than a birthday suit, I move that we all get dressed before we go anywhere, ok?" Lily recommended playfully.

Hermione giggled as she looked down on herself. The robe was a bit ridiculous! She ran up the stairs and found some old jeans to put on. An old green sweater went on top of that and she french braided her thick hair before running back down to the group.

The group decided to run down to the kitchens for a mid-morning snack. After the elves had stuffed them all full of cake and pumpkin juice, Hermione suggested that they walk around outside.

The morning was sunny and only a bit cool. The last snow had fallen and melted more than a month before. Remus pulled Hermione ahead of the group to talk to her.

"Hermione, are you excited for the dance tonight?" he asked innocently.

"Of course I am! I cannot wait to go and get dressed up again for you! So, are you excited?"

"Well ... " he paused. "I guess so. I need another chance at dancing with you! At the last dance I'm sure I left you with ten sore toes!"

"You definitely did not! You are an excellent dancer!" she protested.

"I don't know. We might need some more practice before tonight," he said as he swept her into a dip. The two of them danced slowly down the road, unaware of the stares blazing into their heads.

Hermione giggled as Remus spun her around. He was so nice! He took her waist and twirled her through the air.

"Remus!" she shrieked, not expecting her feet to leave the ground.

"Oh, Remus! My heart flutters every time I see your beautiful eyes!" Sirius popped up next to them.

"Stop it, Sirius!" Hermione tried to sound stern but more giggles spilled out.

The rest of the group finally caught up. "Guys, I hate to break up the party, but I think the girls should go ahead and start getting ready for the dance," Lily broke in.

"She is definitely right," Hermione agreed. "It will take me forever and a day to become beautiful!"

" ... or at least try to be beautiful!" Sirius teased.

With a quick swat across Sirius' head, Hermione ran up to the dorms with the rest of the girls.

"So, Hermione,you looked pretty happy dancing with Remus! You excited?" Lily asked.

"Of course! Lily, I cannot find my bubble bath. Do you have any I could borrow?" Hermione knew Lily would be just about the only person with bubble bath, them both being muggle-born. Taking warm dips before dates was becoming a regular occasion. Lily tossed the bottle to her and Hermione headed off the the showers.

Once again, she transformed the shower into a jaccuzzi and filled up the bubbles. About an hour or so later, she had soaked for about as long as she could stand. She stood up and dried off before tying her blue towel around her chest and running to the dorms.

"You look relaxed!" Hanna greeted her.

"I am!" Hermione replied. "And I am really running behind! I am never going to be ready in time!"

Hermione rushed over to her dresser and found the potion to make her hair curly. She rubbed some of that through the mop of wet hair and re-wrapped the towel around her head.

She raced over and found some sparkly nail polish. Even with magic, it was still better to hand paint her nails. Her toenails were soon sparkling and her nails had a new French tip.

This dance was officially muggle-formal dress, so Hermione had purchased a dress the last time she was in Hogsmeade. It was pale purple and had a ton of soft layers in it. It poofed out at the bottom, but the top of it was her favorite. The front of it gracefully looped downfrom herneckline,baring only a little skin.Her entire back was exposed, but matching ribbons zigzagged across to lace it up. Hermione felt so beautiful when she had tried it on! The only problem was, she could not slip it over her head with her wet fingernails!

"Lily? Hanna? Can you come help me get into my dress?" she asked.

Her friends obliged. They lifted her dress over her head slowly, managing not to knock off her towel. Lily laced up the back and Hanna smoothed the skirt. Hermione wriggled a bit and her towel slipped off and fell at her feet.

"Hermione, you look amazing!" Lily and Hanna said in unison.

"Well, that would be great, considering my hair is still turban-style!" she replied.

Hermione flung off the towel and ran a comb through her hair. With her wand, she slowly dried the curls. Lily pinned a few up in roselets, leaving the rest to fall down her back.

"Oh guys! You look amazing! I didn't mean to forget about you, I was just in a hurry," Hermione said. It was true, Lily was in a fantastic green dress and Hanna was wearing ice blue.

"No problem! We know you are excited. So, should we head on downstairs?"

They made their way to the Common Room, where their dates were waiting. The girls giggled as the guys' jaws dropped at the sight of them.

"Well, you obviously look great!" Remus said. "Shall we get to the dance?"