Hermione awoke with a start, mostly because Ginny had pounced on to her bed yelling her name loudly.
"Huh?" Came the intelligble reply. Hermione's eyes didn't want to ope, her vision blurred as she looked at the ginger who had moved from her bed to Hermione's wardrobe.
"I need to you to wake up. We're going to use that straightening potion that George sent you so get in the shower." Hermione sat up, rubbing her brown eyes. Ginny had already stepped into her bathroom, began running the water. "Come on Hermione, we still have to do some alteration to your dress and mask when you get it." Ginny pulled the covers off the girl. "
Alright Ginny, I'm going, I'm going." Hermione crawled to the edge of her massive bed, stumbling off of it. Not giving two shits that Ginny watched her strip down to her knickers before disappearing into the bathroom. Hermione stepped into the spray of water, Ginny had hit the combination of hot and cold water just right. The girl almost melted, though when the water hit a sensitive spot on her neck Hermione hissed pulling away from the water. Reaching her hand up, Hermione ran a thumb slowly down her neck hissing in pain once more.
"Hermione! We haven't got all day. We need to make it to Hogsmeade before eleven. That's when everyone else is going and if we don't make it in time they're going to get all the good dresses!" Ginny pounded at the door to hurry along her best friend. Merlin's beard the girl was bossy.
"Alright Ginny, Alright!" Hermione grumbled as she quickly washed her body, Hermione always felt like the soap she had smelled like liquid sunshine, or her interpretation of it.
Grabbing the potion George had concocted for her, Hermione vigorously lathered it into her hair. She had been saving this for a special occaison, Hermione made sure not to use all of it. It smelled divine, like a good mixture of coconut milk, vanilla bean, and cinnamon. George always did know the scent that his her in the best way. Stepping out of the shower, Hermione wrapped a thick, fuzzy towel around her breasts, tucking it within itself.
Hermione picked up her wand, muttering Exaresco over her hair. Hermione turned, looking in the mirror, though her now straight, exceedingly long, hair didn't catch her eye the way the purple marks that littered her neck, at least four of them. One under the base of her ear, one under her jaw, one right on her jugular vein, and the last one on her collar bone. Yes, Hermione remembered that one. It had hurt a little, the pain had been pleasurable though. Now more than ever Hermione was glad that Professor Flitwik had taught her the Gliphor charm.
"Gliphor." Hermione didn't mutter this spell, she said it quite plainly watching at the skin on her neck smoothed over, effectively hiding the marks that Malfoy had left the night before. No longer worried about the marks Hermione did take a moment to look at her hair. She had never seen it so straight before. Ever. "Ginny, your brother is a miracle worker." Hermione opened the door, showing the girl her hair. For once the layers in it, along with the natural tawny brown highlights could be seen.
"Va, va, voom girl. What have you done with my best friend. This, this sexy minx before me did not enter the bathroom of that I'm sure." Ginny smiled at her good naturedly, Hermione could't help but return the smile. "Now that you look gorgeous, toss this one and let's get going. We can't be late." Ginny flung a sweater and pair of jeans at Hermione, who caught them with ease.
"Are you going to be buying a dress today?" Hermione pulled the blue sweater on over her head, making sure not to mess up the long strands of silky hair that lay down her back. Ginny snorted in reply.
"Don't be stupid Hermione, the moment you told us of the Halloween Masque I sent letters back to Mom. She controls my trust after all." Hermione forgot that the Weasley's had come into money now that the Minister of Magic was Arthur Weasley. "Mum had all sorts of ideas on what animal I should be. I considered a doe, but let's be honest doe's aren't particularly fetching." Hermione nodded in agreement, as the two of them made their way out of the castle.
"What did you settle on?"
"A fox." From Ginny's devious smile Hermione knew the girl had a sinful dress. "Just for the night I'm going to darken my hair up, and whiten the tip." Ginny had never been one for dresses and such, much like Hermione, but there was something about getting to play dress up, pretending to be someone you're not, it appealed to both of the girls.
"Hermione." Ginny's stern voice made the girl pout. "We can't pick out a dress or a mask for that matter if you don't have an animal in mind that you would like to go as." Hermione looked at Ginny pitifully. She just couldn't decide, even though a wolf sounded like a good idea, Hermione wasn't so sure. Looking at all of the masks that Madam Lumoar hard Hermione stopped. Why hadn't she noticed the blue one or was it green?
"Ginny." Hermione grabbed the mask tentatively, as if she were going to break it, as if the very mask was as delecate as the animal she'd chosen. "I think I know what I'll be going to the masque as." Ginny turned, putting down the mask in her own hands a smile radpily growing on the the pretty girl's face.
"Yes, that's definitely the one. Not exactly what I had in mind but, I think that'll look better on you than a snow leopard. It might be a littel too tacky." Ginny giggled holding up a snow leopard mask that did, indeed, look tacky. Ginny looked at the mask that Hermione held for a long moment. The grin never fading from her face.
"It's the one Gin." Hermione took the mask up to the counter to pay.
"Yes, it is indeed the one. Now, we just have to find you the right dress to match it, and I wouldn't be damned if I didn't see a good one around here." Digging through the dresses Ginny left Hermione to get them both a coffee. When Hermione returned she nearly choked on the gulp of coffee she had swallowed.
"What the bloody hell is that?" Hermione asked looking at the dress. It was long, it was low cut, and it looked expensive.
"This Hermione dear, matches your mask perfectly and it's the dress that you will be wearing to the mask in a few days time." Hermione shook her head playing the pumpkin spice lattes down on a table. "Don't you dare try to tell me no Hermione Granger!" Ginny could see the look of protest on her friends face from a mile away.
"Ginny, I won't deny that this is a very pretty dress." Hermione touched the material, it felt like gossamer. The material shined, the bell shaped bottom of it littered with thin, black outlines in the patter of wings, or viens, Hermione wasn't sure which. It seemed to change in Hermione's very hands, from a cerulean blue, to a sea foam green. The dress darkened toward the bottom though, ending in black. The mask was similar, the beautiful blue's and green's ending in a marvelous black.
"What's the problem then? You can afford it, you know you can afford it." Hermione pursed her lips, she had been trying very hard to save all of the money that she had been given by the city of London. Even the Queen of the Muggles had rewarded her, Harry, and Ron, muggles had been getting killed as well. "It's okay to spoil yourself every now and then 'Moine." Ginny wasn't egging her on this time, instead her words were soft, kind.
"You know what Ginny, you're right." Hermione smiled looking at the dress. "This is the perfect dress and the perfect mask. Let's get it." Ginny clapped excitedly as Hermione made her decision. Even if the girl hadn't bought the two things, Ginny had every intention of buying them for her.
"Now! What about shoes?" Ginny asked. Hermione immediately began shaking her head.
"No, no, don't worry about that. I've got the perfect idea for shoes." Ginny looked at Hermione, the girl hadn't been a big one for fashion. "Black ballet shoes, that I'm going to charm them to up turn the toes, ending them in little balls."
"Yes. I like that better than any high heels I could have picked out for you. Now we just have just have to decide on how you're going to wear your makeup." Hermione felt her stomach drop as the girl drug her out of the shop and into a different one. Hermione barely had time to pay for her dress and grab her coffee.