Ch. 7: Tricks and Treats

It was Halloween night. Hermione was slumped, exhausted, in the chair beside her table. It had been a very long day. She had woken up early in order to review the instructions for decorating that she had carefully written out, as well as the menu, which she had then delivered to the house elves in the kitchen.

Then, as soon as her last class was over, she and Draco had rushed to the Great Hall to meet with Dumbledore. A particularly tiring hour later, the three of them had transformed the Great Hall into the Forbidden Forest.

She sighed, and pulled her hair off of her flushed face, tying it back. She almost did not want to go to the Halloween Feast. But she knew that it was her duty, and that she would be expected.

Draco climbed through the portrait hole, bone tired. He had just run down to the kitchen to ensure that the food preparations for the feast were going smoothly. He had offered to do this, knowing that Hermione must have woken at an ungodly hour to edit and deliver the menu. She looked exhausted in the Great Hall, and he knew she wouldn't make it through the evening without some rest.

His eye fell on the very girl he was thinking of.

She was staring blankly at the wall of books in front of her, and Draco stopped for a moment to admire the soft line of her jawbone, normally hidden under her intensely curly hair. Her pretty brown eyes looked vacant, and a half smile played on her lips.

Wait. Draco thought confusedly. Since when is Hermione pretty?

He looked at her more closely; she still seemed unaware of his presence.

He smiled to himself, realizing that her lack of care for her appearance had led him to believe Hermione to be a rather awkward young woman, when in fact her features were quite pleasant.

He walked over to his friend, standing behind her.

"Boo!" He said softly.

Hermione jumped, then turned to him, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Draco Malfoy! How dare you! You nearly scared the breath out of me!" She chided.

He laughed at her outburst, and a moment later she joined in.

"I've been standing her for several minutes, waiting for you to notice my godly presence" he joked.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, and then turned away, looking at the clock.

"Goodness! There's only a quarter hour left before the feast. I should wash up!" She exclaimed.

Draco watched her run to the bathroom, and a plan began to formulate in his head.

8888888888888

"Say, Hermione…I've got a question," Draco asked, as she emerged from the bathroom five minutes later, face freshly washed.

She looked at him expectantly.

"Well…I've noticed that you mostly just hang around with Harry, Ron and me…and I was just wondering who your female friends were." He finished lamely. Damn. That came out all wrong.

Hermione did not seem to take offense to the question, however, and considered it carefully.

"Well, I've never been one to have a gaggle of girl friends…I don't know, it always seemed to me that girls were very petty and gossipy. I guess Ginny would be my closest female friend. We don't really hang out much during school, but in the summers we have quite a good time together at the Burrow," she said thoughtfully. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, uh, just wondering was all," Draco said hurriedly. "Well, I really must get down to the feast. I'll see you there!"

Hermione watched as he rushed out of the portrait hole, his cheeks slightly flushed.

Boys. She thought. I don't think I'll ever understand them.

888888888888888

Ginny Weasley. Ginny Weasley. WHERE IS GINNY WEASLEY. Draco thought with frustration as he looked around the entryway, which was crowded with students waiting to enter the Great Hall for dinner.

Finally, he spotted red hair. Long red hair. Walking past her, he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her behind a suit of armor.

"Hey! What's the idea!" Ginny said in an annoyed voice.

"I need your help." He said in a low voice.

She spun around to face the boy who had grabbed her, expecting Harry or Ron, only to meet the intense stare of Draco Malfoy.

"Mal-Draco? What do you want?" She said suspiciously.

He rolled his eyes, "No need to act like I'm about to hex you. I just need your help with something.

"Okay, so tell me." She said, meeting his gaze evenly.

He faltered, turned red, and looking away, spluttered, "DidyouknowHermionewaspretty?"

Amused now, Ginny said "What was that? I couldn't quite make it out."

"Did. You. Know. Hermione. Was. Pretty." He hissed, even the tops of his ears turning red.

"Well, of course I did." She scoffed.

Then her eyes narrowed, as she asked, "What's it to you?"

"Well, I don't know. I just noticed it this evening, and thought that maybe she'd have more…self-confidence…or something…if she took some care with her appearance.

To his surprise, Ginny clapped her hands delightedly. "I've been telling Hermione that for years! That if she took some care, she'd turn heads!"

The doors to the Great Hall swung open, and Draco heard appreciative murmurs from the crowd of students.

Ginny stood of tiptoe and whispered to him, "Meet me by the fourth floor girl's restroom after the Feast. We have things to discuss."

She walked off towards the Hall, joined by several other sixth year girls.

Draco followed after a moment, seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing by the staircase.

"Where have you been, mate?" Harry said, "We've been looking all over for you."

"Oh, just had to stop in the bathroom," Draco said quickly, "Come on, let's go see how the feast turned out."

88888888888888888888

The Great Hall was magnificent. The walls had been charmed to resemble the tall trees of the forest, with several large trunks protruding from the ground between tables. The ceiling appeared cloudy, with a full moon shining through every now and again. Mist rose from the ground, which had been transformed into a spongy moss.

Large spider webs hung from trees, which Ron shuddered at the sight of, only to be reassured by Hermione that there were no spiders in this particular forest.

The large house tables had disappeared in favor of many smaller tables, the proper size for 5 or 6 witches and wizards to sit around. A torch set in the middle of the table illuminated the dining area.

A murky pond separated the Staff table from the rest of the Hall, and every once in a while a slimy tentacle slithered out of the water.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco claimed a table near the front of the Hall for themselves. Once everyone had been seated, Dumbledore rose.

"Welcome to the Halloween Feast. I know you are all anxious to eat, and so I will not bore you with a long speech. Rather, I have prepared a few short words: Higgle muffins and sprout tops. That is all."

As he sat, the torches at the center of the table rose into the air, and the first course appeared on the table.

8888888888888888

An hour later, as Ron picked at a pumpkin pasty, appetite finally satiated, Dumbledore stood, spreading his hands, and the doors of the Hall reopened.

Stuffed, sleepy students began to make their way back to their dormitories, Ron and Harry heading off to Gryffindor Tower.

Draco pulled Hermione's sleeve as she started up the stairs.

"I'll be up in a moment Hermione, I just want to, er, go make sure the house elves have got clean up under control."

Hermione beamed at his thoughtful behaviour towards the elves, and waved to him, continuing towards their dormitory.

88888888888888

Ginny grinned at Draco. They had become accomplices. Draco, having very little knowledge of female grooming habits was happy to have the help of the pretty sixth year, while Ginny was practically crowing with joy over the fact that she had an "inside agent."

"So you know what you have to do, correct?"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'll have to owl for some of those uh, thingies, you were talking about though."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Leave that bit to me. Just meet me here around 5 tomorrow and I'll have everything we need."

The next few chapters will be more like this one, not as serious as the previous chapter. I hope you all liked it! Please let me know what you guys are thinking!!

Kill-me-if-Harry-dies: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this next bit. Also, I could not agree more with your username. J

KtotheT: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CATCHING THAT!! I went back and patched that part up a bunch. I can't believe I overlooked that while writing. I suppose that's what I get for writing late at night.

Elizabeth