Hermione sat barely breathing on the transfigured stool, intensely relaxed, in fact almost unconscious. Ginny's dexterous fingers had patiently combed, smoothed, brushed and tamed her hair for what felt like hours, and were now gently plaiting. Her fingers ran through her hair gathering sections to add to the plait, and brushed against her scalp like a soothing massage. She had never known how therapeutic it could be to have your hair brushed, and was happily pondering on the history of female grooming rituals.
Ginny was slightly more tense.
She had accomplished that mammoth task of taming Hermione's hair, and was deep in the midst of plaiting. So far along that any mistake now would mean starting over, and so near the end that she was nervous with anticipation. The muggle instructions were wonderful; step by step instructions weren't often needed when dealing with magic, so the ones that did appear were often badly written with few diagrams. This muggle magazine had everything, even still photos which were much more helpful than models swishing their hair around impressively. She could really study the detail.
Finally she reached for a hair band and secured the plait now resting against Hermione's shoulders. She tucked up a few stray tendrils with kirby grips, leaving a few more free to soften the new look. Then she stood back and admired her work, Hermione really did look very pretty. Hermione seemed unaware of this though, until Ginny poked her in he shoulder and her head shot up. She was sat in front of the mirror and her jaw dropped.
"Ginny! Its...its, well, its fantastic!"
"You like it then?" Ginny smiled, a little smugly.
But Hermione was sat transfixed, patting the plait with one hand, gaping into the mirror. After a few minutes her eyes flickered to Ginny and she came back down to earth.
"I can't believe you managed it, without any magic, do you know how many times I've attempted to sort my hair out over the past few years. All those times in the library and during exams when I was so fed up with it being in my face" She turned and grinned at Ginny.
"Thanks, I owe you one"
"You certainly do, I want a change too" said Ginny pointing to her own head.
Hermione sighed, "But are you sure you want to change the colour, most girls would die for such a gorgeous shade"
Ginny crossed her arms grimly, "I want a change Hermione, and you're not backing out, it's my turn" and she sat down abruptly on the bed. It had sounded firm, but her head was full of doubts. Suppose it was mucked up? What, what would her mum say? Of course the boys would laugh at her, she'd never hear the end of it. But much more seriously, what if it wasn't fixed by the start of term in just a few weeks? She cringed. Unfortunately Hermione noticed.
"Alright, I'm nervous too and I don't want to ruin you. Hair colouring is a serious matter, and these are new spells for me. Look" Hermione said a little desperately "I'll do the best I can, and if it does go wrong, I'll do anything to help you fix it..." she trailed off uncomfortably. Its nice to have some confidence in your stylist, she thought, and I'm not giving any.