Chapter 10: Hogsmeade and Halloween
The rest of September and most of October went by without incident.
Malfoy remained unaware that Hermione had seen his memories through his Pensieve and Hermione had no intention of mentioning it to him.
After Malfoy left the Hospital Wing, he and Hermione had resumed being cold towards one another, though they had both started to act civilly. Although Malfoy still called her Granger, he had refrained from calling her Mudblood constantly and Hermione stopped assuming he was a Death Eater and treating him like a complete git. Just because they acted civilly however, did not mean that they were friends, and they still argued quite frequently.
The week of Halloween, Hermione and Malfoy entered the Common Room to find that a notice had been posted informing students that there would be a trip to Hogsmeade the day before Halloween. Many girls in the Common Room squealed at this information, as everyone who was invited was preparing for Slughorns Halloween ball.
Although Hermione and Malfoy did not really want to go, they had both decided that they would have to if they wanted to keep up their appearance as a couple.
The day of the trip to Hogsmeade, Hermione, Malfoy, Ollie and Violet walked together to the small town, happy to be out of the castle.
"We should probably go to Gladrags first so that we can get costumes, then we can go have a butterbeer," said Hermione.
"I have a better place to go," said Malfoy.
"Where? As far as I know, this is the only place in Hogsmeade that sells costumes," said Violet.
"Just follow me," said Malfoy, who had begun to walk down the street where the Shrieking Shack was.
All of the buildings on the street were houses, except for one. Malfoy had led them to an old Victorian building, which had a sign in front of it that said "Madame Trixies Robes for All Occasions."
The four made their way up the steps and entered the shop, a small bell signalling that they had entered.
"Good afternoon. How may I help you all today?" asked a small man with a handlebar moustache.
"Hello. We need costumes for a Halloween Ball," said Ollie.
"Excellent! Ladies, if you would be so kind as to go to the left half of the shop, my wife Trixie will help you get sorted. Gentlemen, follow me."
The group split up and Hermione and Violet made their way to the women's section so that they could see Trixie.
Hermione had expected Trixie to be someone like the man who had greeted them when they entered the shop, short, lanky and quiet, but they were instead greeted by a loud, large woman with bright purple hair.
"Good afternoon! Welcome to Trixies! What can I help you with today? Maybe a nice new set of dress robes? Or perhaps a gown for a lavish ball?"
"Actually, we need to find costumes for a Halloween ball," Hermione said politely, trying not to laugh at the exuberant woman.
"Wonderful! How about this?" the woman asked, holding up a bunny outfit.
"Well, maybe something a little more…mature?" Violet asked.
"Oh but of course! How about this one for you," she said holding up a devils costume to Violet, "and this one for you," she said thrusting an angel costume to Hermione.
"Er- maybe it would be better if we looked around on our own?"
"Very well. I know when my help is not wanted. If you need any help however, you just need to ask," the woman walked away, leaving Hermione and Violet to look for costumes on their own.
The two girls browsed the racks, looking for something that would suit them for the ball.
"How about this one?" Violet asked Hermione, showing her a costume of a flower.
Hermione laughed. "It would certainly suit you, seeing as how your name is Violet."
"I know. I think I will try it on. Have you found anything yet?"
"Not really. I think I will just buy a new set of dress robes and wear those to the ball.
"I think not. You have to dress in costume. I will not attend a dance with someone who is dressed inappropriately for the event," Malfoy said approaching the girls with a lavish black costume hanging over his arm.
"Well if you think you can do a better job at finding a costume for me to wear, then be my guest."
"Fine," Malfoy said, already beginning to look through the racks of clothes.
Hermione grumbled and made her way over to the dressing rooms so that she could see how Violet looked in her costume.
"Violet! It looks brilliant on you!"
"Do you really think so? It's not to predictable?"
"No not at all! You should definitely wear that one."
"Ok good. Did you and Malfoy find anything for you to wear?"
"I didn't find anything but Malfoy is still looking."
The girls made their way over to the front of the store where Ollie was purchasing his costume. He was going to dress up as a broom, which was actually a very odd costume as he looked like a tree with twigs sticking out of his head rather than leaves. As Violet was paying for her costume, Malfoy came to the front of the store to pay for his.
"See? I told you you would not find a costume for me to wear."
"Actually, I did find one.
"Well then where is it?"
"You're not allowed to see it until the night of the ball," Malfoy said while paying for his costume.
"But then how will you know I will like it or that it will fit? And where is it anyway?"
"Relax Granger. I have impeccable taste in clothing; therefore I am sure that you will like it. Madame Trixie is known for her skill at knowing the sizes of everyone as soon as anyone walks into the store, therefore she will be able to adjust it so that it will fit you, and the night of the ball, the costume will be sitting on your bed, ready for you to wear."
"But what does it matter if I see it now or not?"
"It's a surprise," Malfoy said causing Hermione to think that it was something she would never wear if she had any say in the matter.
"Don't worry Hermione, I saw the costume he picked out for you and I am sure you will love it," said Violet and they left the shop.
"How did you find out? You were with me the whole time!"
"Actually, I wasn't. He whispered at me to get my attention and asked my advice when you were not paying any attention."
Annoyed at not being allowed to know what her costume was, Hermione and the others made their way back to the main street in Hogsmeade towards the Three Broomsticks.
All but the main streets were deserted, as it was unseasonably cold for October. When they finally reached the Shrieking Shack, however, there were three adults, staring up at the house as though admiring it.
"Mum! Dad! Uncle Sirius!" Ollie said, running over to his parents.
"Ollie! Violet! We were wondering where you were! We heard it was a Hogsmeade weekend and decided to surprise you with a visit," said Lily Potter, who was hugging her children.
Hermione and Malfoy approached the others quietly, feeling slightly awkward. They had never seen James and Lily and it was odd to suddenly see them. It was even worse for Hermione to see Sirius, as he and the trio had all gotten very close before he slipped beyond the veil.
"Ah! Hello Hermione, Draco. It's good to see you both again. Getting ready for the Halloween ball I suppose?" James Potter asked them.
"Yes Mr. Potter. We just got our costumes from a shop up the street."
"Brilliant. Now, why don't we all go down to the Three Broomsticks? You all must be freezing," Sirius said.
They all made their way down to the Three Broomsticks, enjoying each others company. Hermione was thrilled to meet Harry's parents, but could not help but feel a little guilty that she was meeting them while Harry could barely remember them. Even Malfoy seemed to be enjoying the presence Sirius and the Potters, which Hermione found odd but she quickly forgot about it.
They all went into the Three Broomsticks and sat in a booth away from the other students. Lily, James and Sirius went to fetch mugs of butterbeer for everyone while the children remained in the booth, talking happily.
The happiness around the booth did not last for long though. Shortly after Sirius and the Potters went to get their drinks, Harry, Pansy and Blaise Zabini entered the Three Broomsticks, making their way right over to where they were sitting.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Mudblood and the Orphan," said Harry, glaring at them maliciously.
"Leave them alone Harry. Why do you have to be such a prat?"
"I don't think I was talking to you Violet, so mind your own business."
"Don't talk to her like that! She is your sister!" Ollie said, jumping up from his seat.
Zabini looked at Ollie and raised his wand, not using any spells but keeping it pointed at Ollie just in case he tried anything.
"You may want to watch what you do Potter."
"Oh? And why would I want to do that Malfoy? Think I'm afraid of being caught by a teacher? Or do you think I should watch myself because you might try something? What's the matter Malfoy? Too afraid to stand up to me? Would you still be afraid to stand up to me if I touched your little Mudblood here?" Harry said, bringing his hand down to stroke Hermione's cheek.
"Don't you dare touch me. If you ever touch me again I swear to Merlin that I will hex you so bad that you will regret ever tormenting me."
"Harry?"
They all turned to see Sirius and the Potters walking towards them, their hands filled with mugs of warm butterbeer.
"Harry! It's good to see you! Why don't you join us?" said Lily, handing a butterbeer to Harry.
"No, that's alright mum. I need to go back up to the school. Quidditch practice," and with that, Harry, Pansy and Blaise left the shop.
"What was that all about?" asked Sirius.
Malfoy snorted and was about to tell them exactly what it was about when Hermione rushed to tell them instead.
"He is probably just having a bad day."
The subject quickly changed and they all drank their butterbeers while talking about Halloween, school, and life in general.
The next day, everyone in the Common Room was buzzing over the ball. While most of the boys spent the day playing exploding snap or chess, the girls spent the entire day preparing themselves for the ball. Among these girls was Hermione, who no one had seen since breakfast. When anyone asked where Hermione was, they all got the same response: that she was in her room getting ready for the ball.
While Hermione was getting ready for the ball, all she could focus on was her costume. She had no idea what to expect and was having a hard time figuring out what to do with her hair because of it. Finally, she decided to use Sleekeazy's Hair Potion to tame her normally wild hair and put it so that half of it was up in a clip while the rest was down, curling slightly at the tips. The whole time she was getting ready, she kept checking to see if her costume had arrived, but it did not arrive until 10 minutes before the ball was to begin.
She had looked over at her bed to see that a large white box was sitting on it. Hermione excitedly ran over to the box and opened it. As she pulled her costume out of the box, she felt her mouth hang open.
The costume that Malfoy had picked out was beautiful. It was a medieval scarlet coloured gown with gold lace sewn at the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the gown. Blinking, Hermione snapped out of her trance and quickly put on the gown. It fit perfectly. She looked in the mirror and was amazed at her appearance. She rarely felt pretty and this was one of the few times she did.
She heard a knock from the door and yelled for them to come in. Violet entered in her flower costume with a goblet of something smoking in her hand and gaped at Hermione's appearance.
"Blimey Hermione. You look brilliant! Malfoy was right when he said he had excellent taste. When he showed me the costume, I thought it looked great but it looks even better on you. He is going to die when he sees you in it."
"Do you really think it looks all right?"
"Alright? It looks wonderful!"
"Oh, I'm just so nervous! I never dress up like this!"
"Well, Ollie and I figured that you would be nervous so I brewed you a Calming Draught to help you relax. I think Ollie gave one to Malfoy too but I am not sure."
"I didn't even think to brew one! Thank you so much!"
"Drink up. It's almost time for the ball."
After Hermione drank her potion, the girls made their way downstairs where Ollie and Malfoy were playing a game of exploding snap.
When the boys realised that the girls had approached them, they both turned to look at them, their mouths falling open the second they saw Hermione.
"Wow Hermione, you look great!" said Ollie.
"Thank you. Your costume is er- really great too."
Ollie laughed and turned to his sister and whispered something that Hermione and Malfoy could not hear.
"I told you you would like the costume Granger," Malfoy said with a smirk. He was dressed in a medieval costume as well, though his was black rather than scarlet.
"Do you always have to be such a git Malfoy?"
"Fine. I'm sorry I was a git. You look beautiful," he said, staring into her eyes so that she would know he was not lying.
Hermione blushed scarlet, her face matching her gown.
"Well then, we better go down to the ball," Malfoy said, grabbing Hermione's hand.
While Hermione and Malfoy left the portrait hole hand in hand, Ollie and Violet lagged behind.
"Dad was right. Love potions always do the trick," Violet said to Ollie with a scheming smirk on her face.
A/N: smirk I don't usually like it when there is a ball in a fan fiction but I wanted Ollie and Violet to use a love potion on Hermione and Malfoy. Hehehe. Next chapter: The Halloween Ball in Slughorns chambers, a kiss, and the morning after the love potion wears off. I'm not sure when I am updating. I need to pack for my trip. If I don't update before I leave, I will post again as soon as I get back in the beginning of August.