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Hermione looked up into her dates smiling face as he whirled her around the dance floor. She could hardly believe this was happening to her. This night had been near perfect. It was a night out of reality. She looked like a dream and had a handsome date who seemed to enjoy being with her.
She was at the Yule Ball with Victor Krum. It was still hard to believe. Of course, she had admired him. During the World Cup, she could see he played Quidditch as bravely as Harry did. Not that she was such a fan of Quidditch, but she could admire the daring style of his flying.
Then he came to Hogwarts. She had noticed he spent almost as much time in the library as she did. She had thought she'd seen him looking at her a time or two, but didn't think much of it. Then his fan girls would come and she just got annoyed. He seemed to get annoyed as well. She wasn't sure others would be able to see that, but, being Harry's friend, she was familiar with how one could close in on themselves, then put on a somewhat resigned, public face. That was something she was familiar with. She had to smile to herself that Harry's mostly used that so far with Ginny and Colin Creevey. Harry was getting older, though, and girls were beginning to notice him more. Harry just didn't see it...yet.
Then he approached her. It was only half an hour before the library would close and Ron and Harry had already returned to the common room. He stopped by her table and asked if he could sit. He actually seemed quite shy. Hermione liked that. He saw the Runes book on the table and started speaking on how he liked Runes and some of the projects he had worked on for that subject. Hermione started asking questions and there they went. By the time the library closed, he had asked her to be his date for the Ball.
Hermione's mind had raced. When the Ball was announced, she actually hoped Ron would ask her. She had started liking Ron for quite a while now, but he didn't seem to see her as a girl. Listening to his thoughts on what he wanted in a date, she realized he was still too immature for a real relationship yet. Well, she wasn't going to just sit and wait on him to grow up. She wanted to go with someone who wanted to go with her. Victor seemed nice. They had some things in common and he actually vaguely reminded her of Harry in some totally unrelated way. Even the way he massacred her name was somewhat charming. He was older, but not that much older. And she had to admit, most of the boys her actual age seemed eons too young.
She said yes.
They had met a few times after that. Talking to each other surprised her on how easy it flowed. He invited her to prepare with the other ladies in the Durmstrang ship. At first, she had demurred. They were all strangers to her, after all. He then introduced her to his friend, Ivan, and his fiancée, Maria. Maria was very outgoing and easy to talk to. She was, again, invited to prepare with them and Maria engaged her in conversations on hair dos that would look perfect with her facial structure. Hermione finally agreed.
It was fun, preparing with the other girls. They were in a large room. Many of them spoke Bulgarian, but Maria and her friends spoke in English with her and helped her style her hair and put on make up. By the time they were ready, Hermione couldn't recognize herself. She felt like a princess.
Victor's eyes, when he saw her, had her blushing. She nervously took his arm and he escorted her right up to the castle. The look on Ron and Harry's faces had been highly flattering as well.
Ron and Harry did not seem to be enjoying the ball like she was. They weren't dancing and seem to be ignoring their dates. Seeing that reinforced Hermione's feeling that she made the right decision and was glad she chose to go to the Ball with Victor. She liked Ron, but she now liked Victor as well. She was content to see where this would go.