It was the ball day and Hermione was peacefully sleeping in her bed, but was woken by Ginny. As soon as she opened her eyes a cloud of read head covered her sight.; Ginny was already ready to go out. As the redhead happily bounced around the room, Hermione rubbed her eyes and yawned. "What's it Ginny?" she asked, starting to get out of bed.
"Today, we're going to Hogsmeade to buy a nice dress for the ball with Morgan and Luna! No excuses, a cost of dragging you to the shop, I will take you there." she ordered with the index finger pointing at Hermione. "Umf, okay, Ginny." Hermione groaned; she knew that on certain things she couldn't deal with Ginny.
"Well, perfect, now get ready! We must hurry, or all the best clothes will be taken before we even arrive!" "don't say nonsense; Hogsmeade shops will have been informed by McGonagall of the ball, and will have prepared a huge supply of clothes for the horde of girls who will attack their shops." "oh Hermione, why you must always cut down all my motivations?" Ginny exclaimed Laying on the bed with a dramatic sigh. "Oh come on Ginny, now I'm coming." and so she slipped into the bathroom.
As soon as she came out, Ginny grabbed her by the arm and in a moment they were with their shoes in the snow on the way to Hogsmeade. "What delicacy." Hermione sarcastically commented, getting to her feet and covering her ears with a cap. "you took too long, now let's go, hurry up!" Ginny urged her, and they started walking, almost running, towards the boutique of the small village.
DLIN. The doorbell rang over the door of Midnight Melodies, the best clothes shop in Hogsmeade. That sound was repeated almost continuously for how many people had crammed into the small shop. The walls were entirely covered with clothes, for the occasion all the ball gowns had been placed in the first room, while the other regular clothes had been moved to the secondary rooms, and the dressing rooms had been multiplied.
In the shop they were packed like sardines, and there was an immense queue, both at the register and at the dressing rooms. The clothes were sorted by color and length, and fluttered around the room reaching those who had called them. It was a pretty sight, except that you had to struggle if you wanted to take your dream dress before someone else.
They spent half a day in the shop, skipped lunch because in their -brilliant plan- while everyone was eating, maybe they would have had a little break to look at the clothes carefully, and luckily for them, they achieved the desired purpose, and for a half an hour the shop was almost everything for them.
Ginny tried on at least five dresses before finding the right one, and although she also knew it was perfect, it took her a long time to decide to buy it. After a very long labor, she decided to take an elegant a-line satin emerald green dress, with lace top part and long sleeves, of-the shoulder neckline, and top part studded with little shiny stones, that gave light at the whole dress. First she rejected it because it was green, and she didn't want to look like a Slytherin, but Hermione insisted a lot saying that she would look perfect because of her hair, until she was convinced.
Hermione tried two, one with a mermaid gown and the other with a a-line gown with a bit of train. In the end she decided to take the one with the a-line gown, a hug-shoulder neckline, and was of a beautiful midnight blue. It had tulle sleeves and the top part was covered in lace and shiny crystals till the start of the gone, were lace branched and disappeared. Hers and Ginny's one were almost the same model.
Morgan had taken a tulle sky blue dress, with tulle bishop sleeves, off-shoulder neckline, and a-line tulle gown. Pearls, lace and crystals covered neckline and belt. Luna got a blushing pink light dress decorated with tree branches, leaves and flowers, and sweetheart neckline.
Meanwhile Ginny and Hermione were going to pay the dresses, Morgan and Luna had already gone to the three broomsticks to order butter beers for them too. Before Ginny could say or do anything, Hermione paid both clothes with disappointment of her friend.
"It's my Christmas present for you." she explained, handing Ginny her bag with the dress. "I also have your gift." and so saying she took a beautiful hair clip from his shoulder bag. A few flowers made of crystals were surrounded by branches with small silver leaves and shiny pearls. "Thanks Ginny! It's so beautiful!" said Hermione clutching the clip in her hand. "it's for tonight" she said in a voice stifled by her friend's grasp. "I will definitely put it." He answered putting the clip in the bag with the dress.
"Come on, let's go and join the others at the pub, and after we run to the castle because we still have to do hair and makeup!" and with this Ginny dragged Hermione to the pub and then dragged out Morgan and Luna still intent on drinking their butter beers. As soon as they arrived at the castle, each of them took a shower and then, respecting the strict order of General Weasley, they found themselves in the female Gryffindor dorm.
"Well, we have four hours to be flawless." Ginny said walking back and forth around the room speaking just like a great general. "Do you have shampoos, make up, clothes, and accessories with you?" she asked, suspiciously questioning the others. "Yes sir captain!" was the answer she received from her army. "very well, I told the others in the dormitory to go somewhere else with their friends to get ready, so we have the bathroom all for ourselves, so move on, we have lot to do!" and with this they all catapulted into the spacious bathroom of the dormitory to wash their hair. Ginny was the last to wash them because she first helped the others, as soon as one had finished two prepared her, and the other went to wash.
Morgan's straight hair was transformed in soft waves, let down but with a braid around her head. She had a light makeup because Ginny wanted to give value to her beautiful green-gold eyes. And as accessories, she had a nice pair of cage champagne-golden heeled sandals. Luna, on the other hand, wanted to keep her hair natural, but she used a nice clip with a large flower. She wore rather extravagant shoes that had belonged to his mother. white and golden with a butterfly on the back.
Ginny kept her hair straight but with two little braids that united behind her head from an amber brooch, forming a graceful pigtail in the middle of the other red hair down. Hermione also kept her hair loose but Ginny affirmed her curls and pulled up part of her hair in a messy pony tail/bun, to give volume, even if she left the most of them down. And then placed the clip she had got her for Christmas. She wore classic silver sandal heels, because at least she wanted to let her feet breathe a minimum in all that torture.
"good, we are on time." Ginny said to her friends who were holding their pochette bags proudly. "now we will go to our partners and we will procure them a heart attack, and make die of envy every single person who is in that room, all clear?" the others nodded. "Perfect, let's go then." she said walking down the stairs with the others following.
They walked the corridors of the school that separated them from the great hall, and when they reached the last staircase Hermione blocked a moment. She saw all the astonished expressions of the boys in the room also those of the other envious girls; that evening, she and her friends, were really beautiful.
But then she remembered every single word Malfoy had said when they "agreed" to come to the ball together. -Who knows if he came... maybe he stood me up...- she thought looking for his silver eyes with her brown ones in the crowd. -Oh, there he is... he had really came?!-
Hermione came down the staircase with all the grace she possessed praying not to stumble in her heels, and a second of silence filled the room. She looked like a princess. Indeed, a queen.
She went to a speechless Malfoy smiling brightly. "Granger... you look... stunning." he forced himself to admit taking her hand and entering the room. Above the open door there was a large inscription: "welcome to the Holly Ball, the memory ball."
From the ceiling of the great hall, beautiful snowflakes, which seemed to be handmade one by one, gently fell as if dancing, disappearing before reaching the heads of the students. Eight large Christmas trees were located at the sides of the room, there were tables with beautiful sky blue tablecloths edged with white lace and shiny pearls. On the table there were silver cutlery and napkins folded into magnificent figures. A large ice sculpture of the castle dominated the room from the stage where the teachers' table was, a large number of winter flowers were scattered in the room in bouquets, and holly was everywhere.
As soon as the couple entered the room there fell such a silence that a pin could be heard falling on the ground, everyone was speechless, how's possible that the Slytherin prince, a (former) death eater, had come with the Gryffindor Princess, the mudblood?! The couple in question, however, paid no attention to those incredulous looks and the arrows of hate behind their backs.
The music started.
"may I have this dance, m'lady?" "yes you may..." she replayed grinning not wanting to go into detail with the m'lady thing and preferring to enjoy the moment.
The two began to dance among the other couples who stared at them rather than dancing. They were actually really good at dancing, synchronous, like they knew exactly what the other was about to do before did. perfect. they were an interesting and quite pretty sight.
After half an hour, they went to sit at a table and Malfoy left Hermione alone to go get the drinks and say hello to his friends.
She was smiling looking at her friends a few tables down. Morgan and Luna were seated together at another table with Rolf, Neville, and Hanna, who had agreed to go with Neville as expected; they seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Harry wasn't there with Morgan. Maybe, he was comforting Ron after his first dance with Pansy... .
"Hermione!" Ginny called. "someone is fighting Draco at the drinks table!" she explained grabbing her friends hand and dragging her to the table. As they get closer, she could hear the terrible things they were saying to him. And he was defending himself without magic or normal fighting.
"look at that bloody ferret" "he must still be the dark lord's faithful servant..."
"please guys, stop it. You don't know anything..." he said trying to old back anger. But the crowd continued to insult him.
"are they crazy getting him back here?!" "what can you say us about Vincent Crabbe?!" "he should be rotting in Azcaban!" enough.
Hermione step between Draco and a group of guys who were insulting him for being on Voldemort's side she took her wand from her dress and pointed it at them. "listen to me dears! Don't you dare touch him! He suffered more than you can even imagine. He has already got his punishment. And just to let you know, he has faugh much better than you all! Stay away from him!" she yelled dragging Draco away and making the group of accusers go back.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't had freak out like that. Probably now I seem a crazy fun girl." "not until you are my crazy fun girl partner for this ball."
"why you didn't fight? I know you could kinda avadakedavra them for what they said. You just talked to them, no spells, nothing." she asked walking back at their table waiting for Blaise and Ginny.
"I'm not so used to avadakedavra someone! And I thought if I did that, you would freak out, punch me -hate to admit, but that was quite was painful- and you would have stopped talking to me. I would have lost the only person that doesn't believe I should be in Azcaban. With time i learned that you can't change people's mind who have a strongly convinced idea of you in a certain way... even if it's a bad way." He replayed sitting back at their table, with a dramatic sight.
"you know Malfoy, you're kinda cute." "no I'm not. I'm dark and mysterious and dangerous." "yeah, that, and cute." Draco was about to reply but McGonagall appeared behind the lectern and cleared loudly her throat.
"Now we will move outside for the fireworks display in honor of the fallen of the war, organized by George Weasley. Anyone who wants to, later can go back to the party, but the little ones will be able to go to sleep."
In less than ten minutes the whole mass of students moved to the courtyard for the firework display.