A/N: Before I begin I'd like to apologize fervently for my extreme lack of update. The notebook in which this story was written was lost and thus all inspiration died. Luckily I caught a nasty cold and in my boredom cleaned out my room and found the story once again. My cold also gave me stagnant hours of boredom which I have decided to fill with re-typing this story. Enjoy!

ATTENTION!

Anything bolded/italicized/underlined and centered is Hermione's thoughts.

Skin Deep

Chapter 2: The Announcement

When Ron, Ginny and I finally made it to the Great Hall, everyone was nearly finished with their meals. Ron pulled up a seat by Harry and began to pile large amounts of food onto his plate while simultaneously shoving some of it into his mouth and talking to Harry (who seemed not to notice the half-chewed food spilling from his friend's mouth).

"Boys." Ginny whispered into my ear as she rolled her eyes and giggled. I smiled while filling my plate with a delicious assortment of various mouth-watering foods. Just as I lifted a forkful of food to my mouth, Dumbledore stood and the Hall grew silent (save for Ron's slightly disgusting chewing noises).

"Students, professors, and honored guests," he began, his eyes containing their usually mischievous sparkle. Guests? I scanned the room for any unfamiliar faces. Standing in a deserted corner of the Great Hall were two beautiful and official looking witches, each accompanied by an equally impressive wizard.

"Oh, that blonde haired wizard is my cup of tea." Ginny mused aloud, causing Ron to choke on his food as Harry glowered at the aforementioned wizard. Before either boy could admonish her, Dumbledore spoke again.

"As some of you may have heard, Witch Weekly and The Daily Prophet are conducting a contest to find the best all-around witch and wizard," I exchanged glances with Ginny. Just this morning we had read about it in The Prophet, "Hogwarts is the next, and final, stop in their evaluations. Anyone who is interested in entering the contest, please meet with the head of your house." Two Ravenclaw girls jumped out of their seats to rush their Head of House, but the students seated next to them hurriedly pulled them back down. "At the end of the term, all of the participating schools will come to Hogwarts to attend a masquerade ball where the winners will be announced." A dull roar of whispers erupted as Dumbledore dismissed everyone.

Yes! A perfect chance to prove to everyone that beauty doesn't matter!

Are you kidding? The judges were gorgeous! They'll probably expect the winners to be as equally stunning as they are…

Maybe, but it's a best-all around contest, not a beauty contest

"Great," Ron groaned as they walked back to the common room, "another contest like the Triwizard Tournament."

"Except without all the dangerous, life-threatening challenges and whatnot." Ginny pointed out cheerfully.

"It's like a muggle popularity contest." Harry observed "Usually, muggles vote for whom they'd like to win. Predictably, their votes usually go to the most handsome contestants. No witch or wizard short of stunning stands a chance of winning this contest." Two red-heads nodded their agreement.

"So," I began, trying to sound nonchalant, "What do you think my chances are of winning?" My three closest friends exchanged shocked and slightly worried glances.

"Mione, you're not thinking about entering, are you?" Harry asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"As a matter of fact, I am." I answered, shrugging his hand off. "You all think I don't stand a chance, don't you?"

"To put it lightly, Hermione, you're not exactly a Veela." Ron stated bluntly, causing Harry and Ginny to wince.

"Oh, I get it." My tone took on an angry sting, "You think someone like Fleur stands a better chance of winning because she's gorgeous and I'm not?" I glared at the flustered red-head as tears welled up in my eyes.

Don't break down in front of him. Don't.

"Mione," Harry wrapped one of his wiry arms around my shoulders in an affectionate side hug. "He didn't mean it that way." Somewhere inside of the most logical lobes of my brain I knew he was right, but that didn't heal the wound that had been dealt to my heart. It was at this very moment that I began to doubt myself. Just how far would brains and courage take me in this truly skewed contest?

"C'mon," Ginny laced her fingers into mine, shoving me from my self-pitying thoughts. "Let's get you away from here before my insensitive older brother says something even stupider." Ron's withering gaze followed us until we rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Faintly, I heard his voice echo thought the hallway as he asked Harry "What was that all about?"

"At least you didn't cry in front of them." Ginny pointed out later that evening. After returning to the sanctity of the Gryffindor girl's dorm rooms we changed into our pajamas and Ginny had pulled out a rather large box of assorted chocolates from Honeydukes that she had saved for 'emergencies'. Now the colorful cardboard box was 1/3 of the way destroyed and lacy doilies were the only lone survivors of our vicious raid.

"Well, you could have defended me." I whispered, popping another chocolate covered cherry into my mouth.

"Oh Hermione," she sighed, "You heard what Harry said. It's a popularity contest. Do you really want to endorse such a frivolous waste of time? After all, the Hermione I always knew cared nothing of her well-known status as 'the friend of Harry Potter' or 'Member of the Golden Trio'. My Hermione cared about passing her O.W.L.'s and finishing her homework a week in advance."

"I haven't changed, Ginny. My goals and morals are still the same. Education will always be first, don't you see? That's the main reason I want to enter. I overheard some of the third years saying that a large part of the scoring will be made up of general wizarding knowledge. If I can score highest in that category—"

"But Hermione, why? This just doesn't seem like something you'd normally do."

Her simple statement rang true in my heart and I knew that I'd have to explain my 'scheme' to her. After a few moments of silence I used to collect my thoughts I reluctantly explained everything in full. Her reaction was just not what I had expected.

"I always knew you fancied him." She giggled and munched away happily on a toffee.

"Ginny! Is that all you've got to say?" I tossed a balled up doily at her and missed pathetically which sent her into renewed peals of laughter.

"So you don't deny it then?" She smirked devilishly and I fought the urge to scream.

"He's my best mate."

"So then you're only using him to prove a point?"

"Of course not!"

"So, you do fancy him then?"

A silence.

"It's one or the other."

"…Okay, so I do…" With a loud thunk Ginny fell off the bed and rolled around of the ground, laughing uncontrollably. "I didn't realize the situation was so hilarious." I muttered indignantly.

"Sorry. It's just so obvious."

"Gee, thanks."

"Now," she composed herself and crawled back up onto my bed, tossing the box of chocolates onto the floor to make room. "About this contest. Beauty will factor in, but you are beautiful, just not in the blatantly Veela way."

"Don't get any ideas, Gin." I gave her a suspicious look. "I want to win this despite appearances, remember?"

"Oh, you'll wow them way before that. I have a plan." Her grin suddenly seemed sinister and as a wave of terror washed over me, I wondered just how she had been placed into Gryffindor when sometimes she could seem so sincerely Slytherin.