The Winter Ball

It was December 20th; the day of the Winter Ball. They had to go to their classes, but the last ones were cut short in preparation for the event. Hermione was not really looking forward to it, but also not dreading it either. It was 5:45; two hours before the ball officially started.

Hermione took a long, hot shower, trying to mentally prepare for tonight. She got out and got into her pajamas so as not to spill anything on her robes. Hermione combed out her hair and used the straitening spell on her hair.

"No, that doesn't look quite right," she thought to herself. She used a slightly less strong of spell, making her hair have ringlets around her face, making her look like an angel. She smiled slightly at herself in the mirror. "That will do fine." She carefully put on eyeliner and mascara, along with dark blue and grey eye shadow. Hermione sat down at the table and pulled out a book and started reading. She read for about 45 minutes to calm herself down. She was thinking about Fred. She honestly couldn't help it. Hermione glanced down at her watch.

"Oh my goodness, I only have 30 minutes left!" she thought in panic. She quickly got up and walked back over to the mirror. Something just wasn't right. She tried doing things to her hair and finally settled on using a small silver clip inlaid with black and blue stones that pulled the right side of her hair back, but still left a few pieces of hair hanging in her face.

Hermione walked over to her closet and carefully picked up her dress. It was a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that was snug around her small stomach and her chest, then loosened around her hips and elegantly flowed out from there. It was a moderately low-cut dress, but did not show too much. It had silver lining around the neckline and the train. It had black embroidery of delicate swirls along the side of the dress with small, silver beads.

She walked over to her jewelry box and opened it up. Hermione picked the necklace that matched perfectly with her dress and clipped it around her neck. It hung to the center of her chest; which added the perfect touch.

All in all, she looked beautiful. Hermione looked in the mirror approvingly. She slowly headed to the stairs and walked down. Neville was standing at the bottom of the staircase, gawking at her.

"Her-Hermione?" he managed to choke out. She smiled warmly at him. Harry and Ron were looking at her differently than they usually did, getting disapproving looks from their dates. Neville offered his arm to her and she took it in her own. They walked down into the Entrance Hall.

Hermione saw people looking at her and heard them whispering. "What is she doing with him?" " Wow." She saw Seamus look at her and he was in a state of shock.

"You… You're with Neville?" he asked angrily. Seamus glared at Neville with jealousy.

"Yes," Hermione answered quietly. Neville smiled over at her and she smiled back at him. They passed Draco Malfoy with Pansy and he couldn't say anything negative about her; there was nothing. Pansy just looked at her with hatred and slight jealousy about not being able to look that good.

They continued their way to the Great Hall to find it completely different. There was a large dance floor and tables that sat two to each.

"Everyone, please be seated," The headmaster's voice boomed across the Great Hall. Everyone sat down and silenced. "It is just like three years ago, the teachers tell me. They say you just order off the menu," he said, gesturing to his.

There were floating candles that lit the Hall. Neville commented on them and they talked quietly amongst themselves while they ate. Once they were done, the food simply disappeared. Some slightly slow music started up and a few people went on the dance floor.

"Would you, erm, like to dance Hermione?" Neville asked shyly.

"Alright," she approved. He took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. He awkwardly placed his hands around her waist and she gracefully wrapped her arms around his neck. They rocked back and forth, Neville's footing a little off but it was still enjoyable.

"Thank you Neville, that was fun," Hermione said as she sat back down. They talked for a while then somebody walked up to her. It was Seamus.

"Will you dance with me?" he asked. She looked at Neville and he nodded. Hermione in turn nodded and she went with him. They were dancing for a couple minutes then Hermione heard a disturbance by the door but ignored it. A moment later, Hermione felt a hand on her back.

"May I have this dance?" the voice said. She turned round slowly, realizing who it was.

"Fred!" she gasped. She was perplexed. He handed her a beautiful bouquet of Calla Lilies and pink flowers. She took them shyly and looked at him in wonder.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," she whispered. She quickly walked over to Neville. "Neville, I'm sorry. I have to leave you from here. Someone unexpected showed up. Again, I'm sorry." With that, she walked back to Fred. She set the beautiful bouquet of flowers on a nearby table. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him.

"I've needed to talk to you lately. I can't let you go again; you're too important to me. I love you," he said simply and seriously. Hermione's heart swelled. She knew deep down that she loved him too.

"I love you too," she whispered. She buried her head in his chest as they rocked back and forth to the beat of the music.

"You look absolutely stunning tonight. You-you're wearing the necklace I gave you," Fred said in admiration. "Have you loved me this whole time?"

Hermione nodded. "I was a fool to have ever stopped what we had between us. Please forgive me. We're meant for each other." There was a long pause. "What do we do now?" she whispered. Looking into his beautiful brown eyes she saw concern and worry.

"Honestly, I really don't know. I think if we really tried, we could make it work. I'm willing to do that if you are." He looked at her in questioning.

"I am," Hermione said simply, but seriously. He drew her into a hug and looked down at her.

"I love you," he whispered. He gently placed his hand on the side of her face and kissed her. She didn't pull away and they stayed like that for a minute or so. When they finally broke apart, they looked around. Everybody was staring at them in curiosity. Hermione immediately blushed bright red. She grabbed her bouquet and they sat down at one of the little tables.

"I'm really glad we talked this over. I've really needed to talk to you," she said. As the ball came to a close, the music ended. Hermione and Fred said a last goodnight kiss.

"I guess I'll see you in a couple of days for the break," Fred said.

"Yup," Hermione agreed then she headed off for bed.

Hermione kept getting weird glances all day in the halls and people kept were talking about her. She finally just walked up to someone and asked.

"What in the world is going on? Why does everyone keep talking about me?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

"Well," the girl giggled, "it's just about you and Fred. It's just a little, you know, strange." The girl giggled again and walked off.

"It doesn't matter what other people think, it's about what I want and what I think. Not the general publics'." She kept that thought in her head all day and dreamed about going to the burrow for Winter Vacation…

(A/N Please review! It means the world to me!)