Hermione woke up on Christmas morning with a smile on her face. Not only was today Christmas day, but also tonight was the Yule Ball. She was able to spend her day with Ginny and Luna. They opened their presents when they woke up; Ms. Wesley knit Hermione a red and grey sweater, which she thought, was very kind. Her parents sent her a whole stack of new books, which sent a small pang of sadness through Hermione. The girls then spent the rest of the day getting ready. They each did their nails; Hermione painted hers a dramatic dark purple to match her light purple dress. Luna tried to curl Hermione's hair, but it refused to comply and she had to rely on a spell. She tried different hairdos, but she felt none looked dramatic enough to go with her dress, so she decided to leave it down and just clip the right side of it back to show off her face.
After putting on a little concealing powder, which felt very foreign to Hermione, she put on her dress. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she felt truly beautiful for first time in her life. Her dress showed off her curves slightly, but also made her look like a goddess. It flowed magnificently and perhaps added a mysterious side to Hermione that she never knew she had. She smiled and hoped Cedric would like her dress as much as she did.
Hermione felt extremely nervous as she descended the stairs. Before going down the last flight of stairs that would lead her toward the crowd, Hermione stopped, took a deep breath, and peaked around the corner. She spotted Harry with Luna and Ron seemed to be with a girl named Lavender. It was time; Hermione walked around the corner and started to walk down the stairs and immediately found Cedric. When he saw her, he looked up and down and smiled. As she passed by Ron and Harry, they both seemed to be staring at her, especially Ron.
"You look…absolutely beautiful," stuttered Cedric.
Hermione blushed as she responded "thank you."
"Shall we," asked Cedric as he offered her his hand.
"Let's," she answered as she gave him a coil smile.
The four champions and their partners gathered in front of the door and walked into the dining hall, which had been turned into a giant ballroom, while being cheered by the rest of the student body. Hermione blushed as a few girls seemed to aw at her dress; she was not used to all this attention. Before she could process what was going on, they were on the dance floor and Cedric had his hand on her waist.
"You ready," asked Cedric nervously.
Before Hermione could answer, the music began and she and Cedric were moving. The melody came from an orchestra that had appeared on the far side of the room, and as the music started, snow started to fall.
Cedric was a very good dancer, leading Hermione perfectly and twirling her at just the right moment. She was not expecting this and let out a small yelp in surprise each time he did, which always made Cedric smile. After three minutes had passed, others joined them on the dance floor, starting with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, then Neville and Ginny and soon the rest of the crowd.
Hermione and Cedric danced through the first three songs before deciding to take a breather and found a small bar table which they could both stand at.
"I am going to go get us some drinks, I will be right back," said Cedric.
Hermione took this time to finally look around the dining hall and take in the decorations. The whole floor was covered in a small layer of snow, except the dance floor which was a giant snowflake. The ceiling held floating candles and beautiful plush white clouds from which small crystals of snow seemed to be falling but never reaching the ground. The table Hermione was standing at resembled a frozen tree trunk and faced a huge Christmas tree, which was covered in gold and silver decorations.
Hermione spotted Cedric being accosted by one of his friends so she decided to try to find Harry and Ron. They seemed to be chatting amongst themselves at a table nearby.
"What happened to your dates," asked Hermione, who was surprised to see Ron looking grumpy.
"Cho went to meet up with some of her friends for a while and Lavender seems to have…well disappeared," responded Harry.
"I see you found yourself a date," Ron mumbled grumpily. "Another champion no less, you must be very proud."
Hermione was very taken aback by Ron's comment.
"It's not like that…we've been friends for a while and so he decided to ask me."
"Hmf," grunted Ron.
"Anyways, I should be getting back, but I just wanted to come over and say hi. I will try to catch you guys later," Hermione said as she walked away.
Cedric had just returned to their table as she approached it.
"Sorry I took so long, my friends were just commenting on…well you and were a little surprised I had asked you," said Cedric looking embarrassed.
"Its fine, I took the opportunity to go say hi to Ron and Harry, although poor Ron, his date seems to have left him. Thank you for the drinks, I was getting quite thirsty from all the dancing we did."
Hermione and Cedric continued to talk for the rest of the evening. They seemed to talk about everything, growing up, their fondest memories, past relationships, future plans. They did not notice as the Great Hall got emptier throughout the night and did not move until past midnight when they were told by Filch that the ball was over. Cedric walked Hermione all the way up to the Gryffindor common room.
"Thank you for a lovely evening," said Hermione.
"It was my pleasure," responded Cedric as he leaned forward and kissed Hermione on the cheek. "You really did look absolutely beautiful."
As he turned around and walked toward the Hufflepuff common room, Hermione stared at him and blushed. Her cheek still tingled from his kiss as she walked through the fat lady portrait.