Disclaimer: Look Chapter one

Chapter 3:

14. October – 30. October

It was the middle of October, a Wednesday and by now Hermione didn't bother herself to talk to her friends apart from greetings or unimportant stuff.

She had tried a few times more to spend some private time with them, but they were always too busy snogging their girlfriends, playing Quidditch or going on double dates in Hogsmeade.

It did hurt to be pushed aside like yesterday´s trash, but she still had hope that they would eventually come around. At least Harry.

For now she tried to be contend with reading a book at meal times and ignore the fact that she was ignored.

Supper time today was no difference, beside that she heard something that made her focus turn from the Potions book to the small talk around her.

Normally she wasn't interested in gossip, especially when Lavender Brown was the one reading it. She was nearly as bad as Rita Skeeter and that meant something, coming from her mouth.

"Can you believe it? Zabini asked her to the ball and she said yes."

From Lavender´s affronted voice, one could believe that the Italian boy had pronounced a death threat and not an invitation to the Halloween ball.

"She said yes, to a Slytherin?" a seventh year girl named Anna asked.

"Well, he does look good," another girl piped in but was silenced with angry glares.

"I guess he is okay looking," Lavender presumed haughtily. "But, really! I had expected more from Parvarti! I mean a sneak -how disgusting is that? You should mean, she had more pride, than that."

Hermione frowned behind her back. Lavender and Parvarti used to be best friends. From the way it sounded that had changed, too.

After a quick look over the table, she noticed that the dark skinned beauty wasn't in her usual spot. In fact she wasn't at the table at all.

"On the other hand, with a scar like that, it would not be easy to get a date. Maybe she just panicked, you know," Lavender continued.

Hermione could feel the blood rushing into her face as she listened to Lavenders insults.

How dare she to say something like that! At least Parvarti was brave enough to fight for her believes and not hide in fear, like some stupid blond bimbo.

She waited a moment to see if there would be someone to speak in Parvarti's defence, but also a great deal of people listened nobody said a word.

"And what is wrong with Parvarti going to the ball with Zabini?" she asked with a calm voice, although she knew the answer already.

As if the Dark Lord himself had just made a quick step on the table, her house mates fell into silence.

"He is a Slytherin!" It was Ron, who finally broke the silence and sounded as disgusted about the fact, as Lavender before.

"And?"

"And?" Ron snapped as if she had just asked the silliest question. As far as she knew Ron, it probably was for him. "He is a Death Eater, Mione! Parvarti should know better than to fraternise with the enemy."

"Fraternise with the enemy?" the curly haired witch snapped back and stared him into the eyes. "In case you haven't notice, the war is over Ronald." She wasn't sure where her next words came from, but before she realised they were over her lips. "I know you have been unconscious for the most part of the final battle, but by now even you should know that."

She could hear a couple of gasps and whispers on the table, but Hermione ignored them as well as the fact that Ron was turning crimson.

" And you know as well as everybody else, that Zabini was spying for Dumbledore and has never been a Death Eater."

"Oh, please, Mione he was just trying to save his sorry ass."

"You mean like you,when you left Harry and me?" she asked in a bitter tone and watched as his face turned the colour of his hair.

That squashed everyone on table instantly. She wasn't surprised that he had forgotten to tell the others about that little detail, during his story times.

"How dare you, you stu-" Lavender's shrill voice finally broke the silence, but she interrupted her before she could finish.

"How dare I? How dare you, you stupid little hussy!" That forced a squeak out of her, but Hermione continued before she could say anything. "Parvarti used to be your best friend and other than you she fought for our side. She didn't hide like a coward! So how dare you to insult her? She can be proud of her scar, it shows her bravery but then again, that's another thing you know nothing about, right? And if Zabini asked her to the ball, I'm sure he did it cause he liked her and you are just a jealous cow. Not so long ago, you couldn't stop telling anybody how hot you found him and would do anything for him to notice you," Hermione spat with venom.

By now, it seemed the whole student body listened in silence to her little fury break out and only now she noticed that she had jumped up. She was half leaning over the table and glaring daggers at Lavender, who looked a little pale around her nose as she watched her with big frighted eyes.

"I think that is enough now." It was Harry's calm voice, which broke the silence for the third time and her head wiped around instantly.

He was looking at her with sad green eyes and she knew, he wished she had remained silent. His disappointment hurt more than she liked to admit, but maybe it wasn't so unexpected as one might think.

"Enough, allright," she snorted. "You of all people should know about scars, Harry. Yet you sit here and say nothing, while they talk like that about Parvarti."

There was a flicker in his eyes, that told her that he knew that she war right, but he said nothing. Maybe it was better that way.

She led her eyes glide over her the students and shook her head. Most people were staring at her with open mouths, some were whispering already about her embarrassing act, while some others looked thoughtful.

She tried to blend out Lavender, who obviously had gotten over her fear and draped herself all over Ron. Telling him that he was her hero, regardless of what that frigid bitch said.

How could someone be frigid and a bitch at the same time?

She was about to risk a quick look at the staff table, as she could hear clapping.

Irritated she looked around, till she could see a platinum blond boy standing up with a bright grin and clapping hands.

Of course, Malfoy! He had to make the whole thing even more embarrassing.

But from one minute to the other there was more clapping.

Padma Patil was clapping too and sending her a thankful glance over the hall for defending her twin in her place.

Next was Zabini. He wasn't clapping, but he rose from his seat and acknowledged her with a firm nod, to show that he was on her side. Luna was clapping, too. Even more enthusiastically than anybody else and it nearly made her smile.

After that there were a few more, even from the staff table and this time she did smile inwardly.

So that was her outcome.

Half of the staff table, though the half which was still sitting had encouraging smiles on their faces.

Three Slytherins -who would have seen that day!

Five Rawenclaws.

Eight Hufflepuffs and two Gryffindors.

Neville -ever loyal Neville -was smiling at her. Though the second person was quite a surprise: Ginny Weasley. Like Blaise she wasn't clapping, she didn't even smile or nod in her direction, although that had more to do with fact that she was arguing with her brother. Ron had manage to tear himself away form Lavender for a moment and tried to push his sister down beside him.

But Ginny would have none of it. She remained standing.

Hermione wanted to cry. She wasn't sure if it was because of Ginny's loyalty, or the fact that Harry was avoiding her eyes.

With another look around the hall, she turned around and left.

The moment she was out of the hall, she started to run. All she wanted to do, was hide and cry. She didn't care that she was acting cowardly now.

Now that Voldemort was gone, things should be better. She should be able to enjoy her time with her friends and finish her education without the fear of someone trying to kill them.

But somehow everything had turned out wrong.

These days, there were more Syltherins than Gryffindors supporting her and her two so called best friends were none of them.

As soon as she had reached her room, she threw her self onto her bed and gave into her urge to cry.

A girl was allowed to wallow in self pity once in a while.

The next week was dreadful. Hermione wasn't quite sure what was the worst. Harry who was avoiding her eyes, the pitiful looks of the others, Ron who was imitating her in class and tried to be as hurtful as possible or -or the fact that Draco Malfoy seemed to be her best friend theses days.

Well, sort of. The word friend was maybe a little bit over stretching for what they were. She couldn't come up with a definition that sounded nearly good enough, but maybe the name didn't matter.

Fact was they did get along with each other.

The last week they had started to spend their evenings together studying. Mostly they used one of their rooms, to avoid the curious glances they would get in the library or any other place.

She had already enough with things being as they were and she wasn't anxious to put oil into the fire.

There was one other thing that made her head hurt. It seemed she had a little fan group of boys from fifths year, who had got it into their heads to take her to the Halloween ball. In their twisted mind she was their heroine.

She escaped from Gringott's on the back of a dragon, how cool is that?

I heard she can do wandless magic...

She dated Victor Krum, he is the best seeker ever!

To be honest -she could live with the three disillusioned Hufflepuffs. What made her worry were the the two Syltherins, from Ginny's year.

Their odd behaviour since the beginning of the school should have warned her. They had greeted her every time they passed her in the hallway. Odd!

And now they had obviously decided to get on with it.

But Slytherins would be Slytherins and other as the harmless Hufflepuffs, their way of asking didn't let much room for objection. And obviously it didn't matter how old they were, apparently they were born with the ability to ignore a no, when they heard one.

She would have laughed, if she wasn't so busy with hiding from the more persistent of the two.

"Care to explain, what you are doing?" a voice sounded up behind her.

With a shriek she turned around and stared directly in the face of none other than Draco Malfoy. As always, he was grinning at her with a smugness that usually made her want to choke him.

"What does it look like?" she snapped. "Hiding."

"And what would a war heroine like you be hiding from?" She shot him a death glare, which he outright ignored. "A couple of Hufflepuffs?" he snickered. Apparently he had heard about that.

"Haven't you been the one, who preached about bravery a couple of days ago?"

"Very funny!"

"It's a gift."

"Git!" she muttered. "And only for your information, I'm not hiding from some Hufflepuff." All the while she was sneaking suspicious glances around the corner.

"Who are you hiding from then?"

"Blake Campell," she mumbled.

She should have kept quiet. From one moment to the other, he threw his head back and laughed. Startled she realised, that she had never heard him laugh before. At least no real laugh. But her astonishment vanished quickly, as she noticed a flash of black hair down the hallway.

"Oh, no!" Groaning she leant against the wall. "Really what could a Slytherin want from me, of all people? And don't tell me this war heroine crap," Hermione muttered.

"Really, Granger!" Malfoy snorted. "You are powerful, famous, pretty and a challenge. That's more than enough to raise the interest of most men."

Hermione stared at him, as if he had just confessed his undying love for her, but before she could screech out a what? Campell rounded the corner.

"Mya, there you are!" She swirled around. "Trying to play hard to get?" He smirked and she was tempted to punch Malfoy behind her. Even without looking at him, she could tell that he was laughing his ass off -inwardly of course!

"I'm not playing anything, Campell," she snapped and tried to glare at him, a diffecult task since he was so much taller than her.

"Blake," he repeated.

"Listen, here Cam-"

"Blake. Better get used to it now. I wanted to talk to you about our costumes for-"

"Our costumes?"

"It's nice to make them match, don't you think?"

"I'm not going to the ball with you!" she insisted.

"Why not?"

Why not? Why not? He hadn't even asked her, he just assumed she would giggle like a stupid airhead and faint to his feet with a happy yes on her lips. It was always the same with the attractive ones. They all thought they were Merlin's gift to the witches.

"Because she's going with me."

Suddenly she could feel Draco's arm around her waist, not pulling her against him, but clearly sending a message to his house mate. It sufficed, at least for her. Her eyes must be as large as saucers, but Hermione was not stupid enough to pass her opportunity to get out of this. So she nodded.

"Malfoy!" Blake's voice was icy as he acknowledged the blonde. He must have seen him before, she realised but didn't even spare him a side glance.

Odd, she thought. Not so long before, no Slytherin would have dared to be anything but respectful towards the Prince of Slytherin.

Only one thing among so many others in the some things change scenario, she momentarily lived in.

"Campell," Draco nodded in return.

"We will talk another time, Hermione," Blake smiled in her direction.

And with that he was gone.

With an undefinable sound, she let her head drop against the wall behind her. "Why me?" She muttered and closed her eyes.

"Come on, Granger. We have not all day. You can wail in self pity another time!"

"Easy for you to tell. You are not the one who is hunted by a bunch of crazy Slytherins."

"Don't be such a drama queen," he snorted and snatched her wrist. "Let's go!" And with that he pulled her behind him. They were nearly down the hallway, when Hermione finally realised what he was doing.

"Hey! Stop. Where are you taking me?"

Her effort to loosen his grip were ignored and he simply walked along. "Shopping."

From all answers he could have given her, that was not one she expected. "Shopping?"

"Yes. Or do you have a costume already?"

"No. What? A costume? But I-" She stuttered.

"Thought so. Now stop struggling."

Half an hour later they were walking through Hogsmeade. Hermione wasn't sure where he was heading to, but it was obviously not one of the usual shops.

As they reached it however, she knew why it was unfamiliar to her and blanched. Most of the students simply hadn't enough money to buy an ordinary scarf here.

Not that they would sell anything ordinary.

Of course she had heard from the Magnificent, but she had also heard of the Vatican library, which didn't mean, that she would ever set a foot in it.

"Malfoy have you lost your mind? I can't afford to buy anything here," she hissed and struggled harder against his grip.

"Don't worry about unimportant things. It attest bad manners to speak about money. So now stop complaining and act like a normal girl would do!" He told her haughtily, but she could plainly she the amused smile on his lips.

"Unimportant things?" She snapped as he pushed her into the shop, furthermore ignoring her attempts to break free.

Before she could say anything else, as an older witch in a perfectly fitting blue robe approached them.

"Good day Madam," she greeted her. Hermione could feel her grey eyes wandering quickly over her form. She didn't need to show her disapproval of her appearance to let her know that she was not welcome.

However, the moment her eyes fell on Draco, her expression changed instantly. The grim line, which formed her lips transformed into a pleasant smile.

"Mister Malfoy!" she exclaimed. "How good to see you again. What can I do for you?"

"My date and I need costumes for the Halloween ball." Although his tone was polite, the undeniable threat was clear.

"Of course," the witch assured quickly and sent a smile her way.

Hermione snorted inwardly. Whatever influence the Malfoys may have lost after the war, it was enough left to intimidate the woman in front of them.

Or better, it was enough money left.

An eternity later it seemed Hermione had tried on every costume this shop possessed. Malfoy was the worst shopping partner she had ever had. The shop assistant couldn't find a dress he didn't find a fault with.

Wrong colour. Wrong cut.

Too flashy. Too modest. Too everything.

"Malfoy, I swear to you, if I-"

"Yes, yes, yes Granger. I know." He put her threat aside. "Next!" He ordered the poor woman. Her dislike for the older witch had vanished quickly, after Malfoy started calling out orders. All the while he was sitting in a comfortable looking chair.

Like a little tyrant on his throne.

Mumbling undefinable things under her breath she tried to ignore her rumbling tummy. Never had she thought that shopping could be that exhausting. Slowly her traitorous mind was telling her that going to the ball with Campell wouldn't be so bad. At least she wouldn't be stuck in here.

"Here try that on, honey."

She had closed her eyes and was tempted to ignore her, but finally her good manners won over. She opened them and...

For a moment she nearly forgot to breath. There in the outstretched hand of the older woman in front of her was it.

A dress.

But it wasn't just any dress. It was the dress from her dream. The one she had been wearing when she was wandering through the dancing crowd in her.

Again she was stuck in a part of her dream. Night for night, she would do nothing else than watch other witches and wizards dance around her. She would admire their costumes or stare at herself in one of the giant mirrors.

She was a fairy.

Her dress clung to her curves perfectly and the small stones on her corset sparkled with every move. The parts of her skin, which weren't covered with cloth, shimmered golden and let her hold her breath in awe. Her hair was styled the way of ancient Greece and seemed to remain in place by sheer luck. That -more than anything else made it clear that it couldn't be reality. In real life, her hair would never stuck in place so easily or shine like that.

The light golden masked, which covered half of her face, was beset with diamonds and Hermione know for sure that she had never looked that beautiful in her life. Or ever would that is -outside of a dream.

But the most breathtaking thing about her costume, were the enchanted golden wings on her back, which fluttered lightly in the air.

"Granger!"

Draco's impatient voice ripped her out of her thoughts.

"Hu?" she asked bewildered, all the while starring at the breathtaking dress.

"I said, if your are really so unwilling to put it on, you-"

"No!" she interrupted him hastily. The word came out louder, then she indented and Hermione tried to cover it with a quick smile.

"It's perfect. I love it!"

And for once in her life she didn't mind to act girly. She was smiling like a manic, when they left the shop half an hour later. Of course Malfoy had found his costume ten thousand times quicker than she, but she didn't even comment at how unfair that was.

It simply didn't matter at the moment.

"Granger," Malfoy hissed. "If you don't lower that smile of yours, I will you hold responsible for anything they will do to me!"

"Hu, what?" she snapped out of her memories.

"They think I've Imperioed you."

Only now Hermione noticed the people staring at the two of them. They were back in the better visited area of Hogsmeade and she hadn't even thought about the fact, that Draco's and her appearance could raise some trouble.

Rolling her eyes at the noisy crowd, she suggested that they should better return to school.

"Embarrassed to be seen with me, Granger?" he joked.

"Don't be ridiculous. I can be friends with whoever I like."

The moment it was out of her mouth, she flinched slightly. It wasn't very hard to notice Malfoy stiffen beside her for a second before he returned to his normal uncaring self.

"Friends?"

It was hard to interpret the tone of his voice and Hermione was tempted to declare it as a fault, but only for a second.

"Yes, Mal-Draco. Friends. That's if you want that."

He was silent for so long that they nearly have managed half of their way before he finally spoke again.

"Maybe I want that, Hermione."

Grinning they walked back to school.

Of course she would dream about her costume again. She wasn't really surprised by that. What surprised her though, was that it wasn't the usual scenario she was used to these days.

The people around her were still the same. They were dancing, laughing and chatting happily with each other, but something was different.

It took a a moment to realize what it was and then it clicked.

They were seeing her!

For a moment her discovery shocked her into stupor. Literally.

Till that moment, she never realized that the others hadn't seen her. She just assumed that nobody was paying her attention. It was dream after all.

But now there was no denying that everybody was staring at her. Slowly the people stopped dancing. The noises went down -even the music vanished, till finally an awkward silence filled the great hall.

Still frozen on the spot, Hermione looked around.

Everyone was staring at her with an odd expression, she couldn't quite describe. Her cheeks were growing hotter with every second. She hated to be in the spotlight.

To make everything worse, some of them were pointing with their finger in her direction. Mortified she closed her eyes and wished the floor would rip open and swallow her.

The last few days, nothing like this had happen, why had it to turn from nice to worse now?

She wasn't sure how much time had past, it was hard to tell, but suddenly she could hear someone calling her name. It was a soft, melodic sound. At first it was barely more than a whisper and she wasn't sure if it wasn't only a hallucination but then the voice got louder. Whoever was calling was getting nearer.

Still, she wouldn't open her eyes.

He -she was sure that it was a he -was calling her name again and she wished, he would say it more often. Her name had never sound better, it was nearly like music. A soft, melodic ring that send shivers down her spine.

"Hermione!"

"Hermione!"

"Hermione!" Suddenly something changed. The voice wasn't melodic any longer. It had a whiny overtone that made her frown. Somehow it was familiar.

"Hermione!" The voice was definitely wrong.

She wanted the beautiful one back.

"Hermione!" Wincing, she took a step back. Apparently that wasn't working. Her eyes were still closed and for a reason she couldn't quite grasped, she didn't want to open them. But some invisible force was trying to rip them open, as soon as she thought that.

She fought it. She wasn't practically fond of this dream so far, but she liked the voice. It reminded her of the music she was used to hear in her dreams.

"Hermione!"

Crap! It was harder then she thought.

"HERMIONE!" This time, it was a bark and from one moment to the other she couldn't fight it any longer. Her eyes snapped open...

A strange feeling of deja vu came over her, as she nearly fell out of her bed.

"Malfoy," Hermione muttered.

"Hermione Granger!"

Rolling her eyes she got up. "Coming, Malfoy," she barked back.

He really needed to work on his temper.

It was a Thursday and the Halloween ball would be in two days from now. Nearly two months had passed since the beginning of the school year and with every day, Hermione could see the changes that had come with it.

Sitting at the breakfast table was maybe one of the times you could actually see and feel it. For the first time in many years Hermione was alone.

Not in the physical sense. She was still sitting in the same seat as ever, but although Ginny, Neville and Parvarti made an effort to made her feel welcome, it didn't work.

The was no more chatter, laugh or even serious talk between them. There was nothing.

It wasn't that she was a pariah. She had done too much in the war to be simply ignored by most people, but sometimes she thought, ignorance would be lighter to bear then Ron's insults or Harry's effort to avoid to look at her.

She snorted at her own bipolar thoughts. Well at least, if everyone ignored her, Harry's attitude wouldn't hurt that much. Though she was still asking herself, what she had done to earn that treatment from her former best friend.

Ron had never been one to think before he acted and the few things she had thrown at him, had probably been enough, to raise his hilarious temper. But Harry...

The most logical reason was possible his friendship with Ron. After all he had always chosen the redhead over her. So she shouldn't be surprised.

Unfortunately it didn't hurt any less thereby.

So she was somewhat surprised this morning. Owls were filling the great hall, like every other morning during the school year and Hermione wasn't really paying attention to them.

Who would owl her after all?

She was just about to drink some pumpkin juice, as a beautiful red-brown owl landed in front of her and eyed her out of its big yellow globes.

"Hallo there," Hermione cooed. "Have you got something for me?" she asked curiously.

"Don't flatter yourself! That's for me." She was so shocked for a moment at Ron's rude comment, that she froze in her seat. Of course he was busy making her life miserable these days, but normally he avoided to speak directly at her.

"Ron!" Ginny snapped at her brother, clearly as shocked as she herself.

"That's George´s owl, what would he want from her," Ron snapped, while Lavender giggled happily.

She wanted to hex him so badly that moment, but the owl beat her to it. She bit Ron, who was trying to get to the letter at its legs, without hesitation. And with gusto as it seemed.

"Ouch! Stupid bird," he yelled.

"Serves you right," she muttered and took the letter. This time nobody tried to stop her. Ron was still whining over his bleeding finger and Lavender tried her best to make it worse.

Rolling her eyes she decided it would be the best to read the letter somewhere else.

"Here," She offered the pretty bird a piece of bacon, which he happily scarfed down. And with a satisfied hoot he left.

As did she.

Ten minutes later, she was back in her room and made herself comfortable on the bed, before she opened the envelope.

Dear Hermione,

at first let me tell you that I'm sorry, that it took me so long to write to you. To be honest, the moment I figured out what you gave me, I wanted to curse you.

Oh...She had just wanted to comfort him. Obviously it had been a bad idea to give the memory box to him.

Please don't be upset with yourself! I know you just wanted to help me and you did. I just needed a little bit more time to realize that.

At first it was to hard...I think you know what I mean.

Yes, she knew. After the death of her parents it was hard just thinking about them. Later, when she had tried her memory box for the first time, it nearly broke her heart. It was just too much at once. It had cost her a few more tries to finally cherish it. Today -nearly two years later it still hurt, but the memories and emotions helped her to remember the good times she had had and always put a little smile on her face.

She had hoped it would be the same for George.

Today I can't say it didn't hurt, but I'm likewise happy to have the possibility to 'feel' my memories again. And I'm grateful that you allowed me this chance.

All the others just try to avoid saying his name in my presence. They think it would hurt me too much, but in doing so, it is as if they were trying to ignore that he ever lived.

You're the first person who spoke his name in over a year and you're the only one who want me to remember him.

And I thank you for that.

By now she had tears in her eyes. Although she could understand the uneasiness of other people speaking about Fred in front of George it hurt her to know how much it hurt him. Blinking away the tears, she forced herself to read ahead before she would lose herself in thoughts.

I have thought about it for a while, and I'm sure there are a lot of other people who would love to have more then a simple memory of their loved ones. The war wasn't easy on anybody and even the ones who haven't lost anyone, I'm sure would want this memory box.

So what I'm asking you is, if you are interested in selling them in my shop? Of course half of the money I would make out of them would be yours.

Think about it. You can owl me any time and I'm sure we will see each other on Christmas break.

Sincerely yours,

George

PS: I don't know what is going on between my brother an you. But whatever it is, don't let him get to you.

Selling the memory box? She had never thought about it. It was just something that she had made up one night. An idea to help her to ease the pain she felt.

Maybe George had a point there. Many people had lost their their loved ones in the war and would probably be happy to remember them that way.

Slowly a smile spread about her face. For the first time, she had the feeling that something would change for the better.

TBC

A/N: Thank you for your reviews, I hope I can hold your interest.^^

ChildofLight: I know, I know exclamation marks...my great weakness. Don't ask me why, but I seem to love them. You are not the first to make me see that (and probably not the last). I'm really working on that matter but thank you for reminding me. Perhaps I need that now and then to slow them down a little. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.