29 October 1977
Hermione's dress was perfect. It was a soft velvet material in a deep teal colour - so deep that it looked black under certain lights, until she moved and the colour shone through - with a high neck and long sleeves. It didn't have a thigh split, and it wasn't as tight as what Lily had probably imagined, but Hermione thought it was perfect.
"Absolutely not."
"What!? But -"
"Hermione, come on! The fabric is nice and the colour is gorgeous, but that dress is a sack on you!"
"I couldn't find anything else within my budget that I was comfortable in, and this is fi-"
"Don't say 'fine' Hermione Granger!"
"But it is fine!"
"Yes, but do you want to look fine on your date or do you want to look stunning?"
Hermione sighed, frustrated as she turned in front of the floor length mirror that Lily had enlarged from her muggle powder compact.
"Okay."
"Okay? Okay, what?"
"Have at it then!"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm pants at long-term transfiguration and I don't have the same taste as you, so..."
"So I can alter it? Really!?" Now Lily was excited. She knew she could take this dress to the next level, and she really wanted to work her (literal) magic.
"Really," she agreed, continuing quickly when Lily began to squeal. "But! But I expect it to cover the important parts and I don't want to require a coat by the end of the night, okay? That means sleeves and -"
"Yes, yes and yes! You won't regret it, H! Now close your eyes and let me work," insisted Lily, plucking her wand off the bed and casting wordlessly.
The two girls got ready together, giggling and gossiping the entire time. It was a strange experience for Hermione, who'd never really had any girlfriends. She'd had Ginny of course, but that was... different. Lily and Hermione clicked on a different level. They were both Muggle-born, both intellectual and both very opinionated and passionate. Hermione had initially been concerned that they'd clash horribly - being two head-strong, competitive young women - but she needn't have worried. It seemed the stories were true. Lily was just a wonderful person.
By the time the sun had set, the girls were putting the finishing touches on their outfits for the night. Hermione hadn't peeked at her dress since taking it off after the alterations, instead letting Lily play dress-ups with her hair and makeup. She ended up with her hair in a loose up-do, curls softly framing her face, and just a splash of makeup - a little kohl eyeliner and some red lipstick. Lily had left her hair down but had curled it for the occasion, and wore some neutral brown eyeshadow to make her eyes glow, as well as a light dusting of shimmer on her cheekbones.
As they slipped into their gowns, each young woman grinned a mile wide. Lily looked elegant in her backless satin gown - a beautiful olive green colour that offset her red hair spectacularly. She wore some plain beige heels on her feet (which were hidden by the dress) and some dangly earrings with a matching bracelet. She was stunning.
Hermione's dress, on the other hand, was sinful. Lily had really outdone herself. The previously shapeless dress now fit like a glove. She hadn't gained back all of the desired weight yet, but the shape of the gown was flattering and the textured material was forgiving on her still-too-thin frame. The sleeves had been completely transfigured into black mesh, so that her skin could still be seen, and when she turned in the mirror Hermione could see that the see-through material extended across her shoulder blades and all the way down to the small of her back. The velvet covered her breasts completely, but came up to a high halter-style neckline, leaving her collarbones exposed under the same mesh as the sleeves.
Thankfully, Lily had decided against a split in the leg and instead opted for a mermaid-esque flair at the bottom of the gown, allowing the dress to be form-fitting but still comfortable to move in. Hermione's small faux-diamond stud earrings shone brightly against the contrast of her dark hair and dress, and her simple black pumps completed the look.
As they opened Lily's bedroom door, James and Peter, who had been waiting in the common room for them, were struck speechless at the young women. Vaguely thinking that this was like a muggle romance film, Hermione stepped towards Peter, smiling shyly as he complemented her.
"H, wow," he stuttered, "you - you look beautiful!"
"Thanks Peter, you look very handsome yourself." And he did. Peter Pettigrew scrubbed up nice. Hermione still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that this was the same man from her time, so she had stopped trying to. Instead, she admired the young man that was her date for the evening. Peter wore plain black dress robes - they really didn't change much for men over the decades - with a vest and bow tie that could be charmed to match her gown. Performing the spell wandlessly, Hermione changed his bow tie as Peter presented her with a beautiful corsage of miniature begonias and snowdrops to wear on her wrist.
"Thank you," she breathed quietly, as he helped to adjust it properly. "It's lovely."
"You're welcome."
Smiling at each other, Peter offered his arm to Hermione as they turned toward James and Lily. James was sporting similar robes to Peter, although he wore the Potter House crest on his left collar and had provided Lily with a floral hair pin instead of a traditional corsage. With a quick charm on James' bow tie, the four were ready to leave and so James offered his arm to Lily, and the pair led Peter and Hermione from the dormitory towards the Great Hall.
As soon as they entered the hall, Hermione could feel hundreds of eyes on her. It immediately made her feel on edge, something that Peter noticed right away.
"You okay?"
She looked around and nodded towards the edge of the room, gesturing for Peter to lead the way. "I'm fine, thank you. It just makes my hair stand on end... y'know, with everyone watching me... it makes me uneasy."
"You know you're safe here though right? Nobody would try anything tonight, and I'll be with you the whole time - or one of us will be anyway," Peter blushed, embarrassed for presuming to spend the entire night with her.
Hermione squeezed his arm where her hand rested in the crook of his elbow. "Thanks, really."
"No problem. Want to find our seats?"
"Sure. Lead the way."
The pair walked leisurely around the perimeter of the Great Hall, admiring the decorations that Lily, James and the Prefects had put up earlier. It looked just like an American street, with the dance floor running down the centre of the room, and different 'lawns' on either side of the hall. Each 'lawn' had a house front with cobwebs, tombstones, carved pumpkins and other Halloween decorations. Hermione didn't want to know what was behind each door, but from the ominous sounds coming from them, she imagined that they were something of a 'haunted house' exhibit. It was really quite clever. If one stood at the entrance to the hall or at the Professor's table on the main dias, one would almost believe they were looking down a real street ready for trick-or-treating. The only thing that was out of place were the round tables with black tablecloths that were scattered around the room.
Peter lead her to a table that was already almost-full, and they joined their other friends for dinner. Remus had asked Mary McDonald to go with him ('Just as friends guys, don't get too excited'), and Sirius had decided to go stag ('And deny all of the beautiful women a chance to dance with me? Never!'). Lily and James also joined their table, as well as Alice Brown, a fellow Gryffindor who's long-term boyfriend, Frank Longbottom, had already graduated the year before. The eight friends chattered happily as they ate dinner, letting the butterbeer and elf-made wine relax them further.
After dinner came dancing, and the friends paired up with their dates and Sirius with Alice, to open the dancing. It looked to everyone like the typical Halloween Ball, complete with first dates and drama, spiked punch and chaperones. That was, until Hermione excused herself part-way through the night.
"Lily, can you tell Peter I'll be back in a minute?"
"Sure, where are you going?"
"I'm just ducking to the bathroom quickly. I just don't want him to think I've bailed on our date."
"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Lily, looking distractedly through the crowd for James, who was with Peter getting the two girls a drink, after a particularly quick foxtrot.
Hermione snorted, shaking her head at the lovestruck redhead in front of her as she was already turning toward the exit. "I can manage on my own Lils, thanks."
"Okay well hurry back! The band will start back up soon!"
Hermione barely heard her friend as she made her way towards the ground floor bathrooms, eager to re-tame her hair and have a moment to herself. She was feeling a strange anxiety in the pit of her stomach - like this night was too good to be true. After all, her date with Peter was going really well. He was intelligent and handsome and funny... And he could dance! She knew logically that he must have been at least some of those things at some point in time, to have been part of the Marauders, but it still seemed so strange to her. Not only that, but she really felt like she was a part of things here. Like this was her time now. It was a good thing, she thought, that she was adjusting well and was accepting of her situation. She knew she'd never go back to her own time - it didn't exist anymore. It would be a waste of a second chance to get caught up in her own mind and wish away the time she had before getting back into the thick of things. Hermione made a mental note to set up another meeting with Professor Dumbledore, as she exited the stall. She needed to find out where he was at with the Horcruxes...
So caught up with her thoughts, Hermione didn't realise she had company until it was too late.
"Well well well, look who we have here..."
Hermione's eyes snapped up, looking over her shoulder in the mirror, as she continued to wash her hands.
"Rookwood. Rosier. I didn't realise you were female. Although judging by the state of those dress robes I should have guessed."
"The Mudblood thinks she's funny then, Gus."
"Tsk tsk tsk," Augustus Rookwood clicked his tongue, drawing his wand casually as he leaned against the wall of the girls' restroom, blocking the exit. "I though you were smarter than that Muddy. Making fun of your superiors..."
"I hope you don't mean yourself?" she asked casually, turning around as she subtly drew her wand, a vague memory of those same words being said in her past life.
Rosier snarled, losing the sliver of composure he'd managed to hold, throwing out a quick disarming charm while Rookwood sealed the door.
It all happened very quickly, but in Hermione's mind she saw every detail as though time was moving in slow-motion. The disarming charm struck true, her wand flying through the air, landing on the ground near the stall she had just vacated. She didn't allow herself to feel even an ounce of panic, quickly dropping into a battle stance and shielding her mind, as though she were back on the run with her two best friends, fighting for their lives. As the two junior Death Eaters moved towards her, feeling overly-confident at her lack of wand, Hermione flung her hands up and shot off two simultaneous non-verbal stunners, knocking them to the ground unconscious.
"Pieces of shit," she huffed, straightening her dress as she summoned her wand to her. Checking her surroundings quickly to make sure the boys hadn't brought backup, she debated on what to do. Did she leave them here to be found by someone else or call a teacher? But, she knew she'd just drawn a huge target on her back by displaying such advanced magic for a muggleborn who had supposedly been home-tutored. Chewing on her lip, she decided to modify their memories before she left to get a teacher. Shivering slightly as she remembered the last time she had needed to use such magic, Hermione twisted her wand and altered their memory of the last few minutes. In their minds, Rookwood and Rosier had followed her from the hall in the hopes to corner her alone, but hadn't been quick enough. When they got to the bathroom to find it empty, Rosier had pulled out a flask and the two boys drank themselves silly before passing out on the bathroom floor. It wasn't perfect, but Hermione hoped it would be enough to delay another confrontation, and vowed to discuss it with Dumbledore as soon as he agreed to meet her.
Tired from her spontaneous use of wandless and non-verbal magic, Hermione threw herself into the first vacant seat she could find, resting her head in her hands.
"Well well well, look who we have here..." came a smug sounding voice.
Hermione's head snapped up so fast she almost put her neck out, sighing inaudibly when she realised it was just Sirius, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Remus as they nursed goblets filled with what was surely spiked punch.
She snorted in response and reached out to snatch Sirius's cup, throwing back the rest of his drink as she looked around for Peter and the others.
"What's wrong, H?" asked Remus. He was definitely more observant than his dark haired friend who was already heading back toward the closest punch bowl.
"Nothing," she forced a smile. "Do you know where Peter went?"
He didn't look convinced, but stood and offered his arm. "No, but lets take a walk and find him yeah?"
Smiling genuinely now, Hermione slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow as they made their way slowly around the edges of the hall, carefully avoiding the swaying bodies of their classmates. She couldn't help but notice how Remus angled himself between her and the crowd, as though shielding her with his own body. Peeking out of the corner of her eye, she took note of the strong way Remus held himself. He was so similar yet so not, to the man she knew in her past. There was no defeated slump to his shoulders, no worry lines on his forehead. There were some fine pink scars scattered over his skin, but nothing as obvious as when she had first met the grown man in her third year. He was handsome. It shouldn't have been a surprise to her - she had always thought Remus to be a kind-hearted gentleman - but she was having the same problem with Remus (and Sirius for that matter), of letting go of the men she thought she knew from her past and their futures. A voice in her head - that sounded suspiciously like Ron - was shouting at her that this was bloody Remus Lupin! Professor Lupin! Werewolf and husband to Tonks, and the father of baby Teddy. But ex-professor or not, Remus was fit.
"Knut for your thoughts?"
"Hm? Oh," Hermione blushed, realizing she hadn't been as subtle in her observations as she'd thought. "I was just thinking about something."
"Oh? What about?" Remus pried, resting his other hand on top of hers, still tucked into his elbow.
She considered whether or not to tell him. "I'm just still trying to come to terms with the past and the future," she said. It was true, but Remus didn't have to know exactly what she had been thinking. "It's strange to see people I used to know, and they're the same but so different at the same time."
"I can imagine. If you want to talk about it, I'd be happy to lend an ear," Remus offered as they came to a stop at the edge of the dancefloor, still not having found Peter. As Hermione smiled her thanks, he threw caution to the wind, hoping Peter wouldn't be mad if Remus danced with his date, and pulled Hermione towards him as he stepped onto the dancefloor.
"Wha-? Oh!" she squealed with delight as Remus spun her quickly into him, their chests crashing together as she hurried to gain her footing. Face to face, smiling wide and breathing heavily, their eyes locked, and something changed.
Sliding his hand snugly around Hermione's waist, Remus pulled her tight against him as they danced.
It wasn't until much later, long after the night was over, that Hermione realized she might just be in trouble.
Boy trouble.