Hey y'all! I had this idea about the Yule Ball and I couldn't get it out of my head.

Summary: Yule Ball AU! What if Hermione realized that the boys were helpless when it came to finding dates for the Yule Ball and decided to help? What if she enlisted some other girls in her plan? Ron/Millicent, Harry/Luna, Fred/Hermione, Neville/Ginny, Seamus/Lavender, Dean/Parvati, Viktor/? (I haven't fully decided on that one yet.). Pansy Bashing! I haven't fully decided on Draco yet. I am working under the impression that Harry's year would be small so there are only three Gryffindor fourth year girls.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Hermione Granger was a witch on a mission. She stepped into an alcove to look at the map. Harry had only shrugged when she had asked to borrow the map and hadn't too many questions. She was thankful that he had pressed for answers. She was looking for a certain witch and she didn't need him to ask to many questions. She didn't want to reveal too much and then have her plan not work. She spotted the name she was looking for right around the corner from where she was but she was two others. While she would have preferred to have her be alone for this conversation, the two witches that were there weren't as awful as some others.

Putting the map away and taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, Hermione was quick to move around the corner. Spotting the three witches, Hermione called out, "Bulstrode, Greengrass, Davis! Wait a second I need a word." Daphne turned and faced the Muggleborn with a look of disdain, "What Granger?" Hermione took a breath, "I need to ask Bulstrode something, though it also extends to the two of you as well." Millicent rolled her eyes, "What is it?" Hermione looked at the girl, "I was wondering if you wanted to join some girls and I on a trip to Muggle London to look for dresses for the Yule Ball?"

Whatever Tracey Davis had been expecting, it wasn't that. She had to know why the girl was inviting the three of them, "Why?" Granger simply shrugged, "It depends on which answer you want to hear. All of them are the truth. There is the self-serving answer that Bulstrode would owe me a favor later; there is the answer you three would expect me to say as a good person, that every girl deserves to feel like a princess once in their life. Then there is the answer you would expect me to say as a loyal Gryffindor, that a friend of my fancies Bulstrode and wants to take her to the Yule Ball which also fits in with the self-serving answer. Finally, there is also the simplest answer, I heard what Parkinson said earlier and I want to prove her wrong. I hate Pansy Parkinson with every fiber of my being."

Millicent Bulstrode shot Hermione a look, "Really?" The Gryffindor simply nodded. Daphne decided to focus on one bit of the explanation, "One of your friends wants to take Millie to the ball?" Hermione nodded, "Yes, but he is afraid to actually ask. He doesn't know I am doing this though. As you have probably noticed the boys, I surround myself with are hopeless when it comes to girls. I'm pretty sure they haven't even realized that I am a female so." She raised an eyebrow and shot the girls a look to press her point. Each girl nodded in agreement knowing how the Gryffindor fourth year boys were.

Millie had a question that she needed answered, "Why is he afraid to ask me?" The fourth year Slytherin was assumed that he was afraid because of how she looked. She knew she wasn't as beautiful as her friends on either side of her. As if sensing her thoughts Hermione was quick to answer, "He's afraid that if he asks, you'll say no. He really fancies you Millie. He deserves a bit of happiness so I figured that I would help. I figured that if I reached out to you and helped you with something, you would be less likely to turn him down."

Daphne's brain started thinking through the girl's words. She knew it had to be either Potter or Weasley that the witch was talking about. She hoped for Millie's sake that it was the red-haired wizard that Granger was talking about. She knew her friend fancied the bloke and while the girl herself didn't know what her friend saw in him, she wasn't going to stop her from fancying him. She decided to figure out which boy was being referred to, "Which one? Potter or Weasley?" Hermione gave a small smile, "Of course you eliminated the others. I know you want to know, but I think it would be better to wait until I get an answer. That way if you say no and he finds out, I can say it was because he was a Gryffindor and not because of who he was as a person. Though I will say that he has a big family."

The Slytherin girls knew exactly who she was talking about. She just didn't want to say the name out loud, that way she can truthfully say she never told them his name. Millie was secretly happy that it was Ron who Hermione was asking for. She had fancied him since her third year, but always thought that he fancied the Muggleborn girl in front of her. She realized she never gave the girl an answer and decided to remedy that, "Yes to both the day in London and to the date for the Yule Ball. Will you tell him?" Daphne and Tracey both nodded in agreement that they would also go with them to London.

Hermione got a twinkle in her eye that sort of scared the other girls, "I'll tell him that I got him a date to the Yule Ball that way he doesn't try to find one on his own, but I won't tell him who until closer to Christmas. There is less of a chance of him opening his mouth and screwing it up if he doesn't know. I mean I love the boy like a brother but he does speak without thinking at times, especially when he is flustered." The girls nodded in agreement. Realizing that they were nearly to curfew, she addressed the three girls, "I haven't spoken with Dumbledore yet. I wanted to get all the information possible before I approach him. Will you write to your families to get permission to leave Hogwarts? I figured that if everyone had permission from their families to go and if we had a plan in place there would be less of a chance of him saying no. If your parents ask who else is going so far it is my two dorm mates, Ginny, Luna, Padma, Susan, Hannah, and the other girls from the Gryffindor quidditch team. My mom said she would help us in London and Susan said that her Aunt Amelia would also come with us if your parents are unsure about us going out without an adult witch."

Daphne nodded and the four witches split going to their respective common rooms. Hermione sat on the couch in the Gryffindor common room and thought about the conversation she had with the three Slytherin witches. She was glad that the conversation went well and the girls were interested in coming. She didn't know what would happen with the Yule Ball and she didn't know what the shopping trip would bring, but she knew that she had made the right decision in helping her friends.

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