Hermione left the boys to go get ready for the Yule ball. She scowled at Ron's jealousy. She wasn't to be someone's last resort and most definitely not one of Ronald's last resort. She wasn't even into him like that, and if he was into her, well that was his problem.
Hermione wanted everything to be a surprise and didn't tell anyone who her date was, or what her dressed looked like, or anything of the sort. She was going to blow the whole damn castle away. Frumpy, bushy haired, buck-toothed, swotty blooming know-it-all! She had the teeth part fixed thankfully, Professor Snape's remark still smarted. It was one of her biggest insecurities and he saw "no difference".
Part of her understood it was because he was a teacher and was not supposed to look at his students like that and if he did say something as though he did notice that would have meant that he did pay attention to her. However there was about a 6 inch difference and he could have said something.
Hermione huffed and continued to walk up the stairs, stopping by the tower only to pick up her attire and accessories, which were hidden in brown packages to keep her nosey roommates away from them. She left swiftly and continued going up towards the Room of Requirement.
She walked back and forth passed the room thinking of needing to get ready for the ball from top to bottom. When the door appeared she took a deep breath and then remembered she would be able to have help.
"Thimi." She said mutely, knowing that her elf would come.
Thimi indeed did come noticing that her mistress was alone, appeared like a cloud of smoke, without a sound. She looked clean and soft compared to the haggard, red nosed elf she was a few days ago. She was indeed wearing her uniform, it looked like a little toga with an empire waist, black with a gold embroidered G on the hem. Hermione made a barely distinguishable noise of approval.
"Come." She said, with an air of dignity that she rarely used in the halls of her school.
Thimi followed without a word through the door of the come and go room. Hermione's blunt command soothed Thimi's need to serve, knowing that she did not want her groveling and recoiled at the ingrained need to display her eagerness to serve. It was through her magic that Thimi learned of Hermione's secret status and of each of her family's homes. It was another facet of her new mistress that she loved, more so since it was something familiar to her. Most old families were wealthy, everyone knew that. Most magical people did not know that muggles also had old families. Thimi was quite pleased to find out that her muggleborn mistress was from an old and honorable family.
Entering the room they were greeted with an old clawed bathtub with some modern equipment attached to it, such as a moveable showerhead. About a foot away from the tub was an array of potions and lotions, that thankfully both of the females recognized; one through experience the other through study. On the other side of the room was a vanity with a seat with an array of cosmetic aids and oils, combs, a black swirl designed jewelry holder. There was a clothing rack for obvious use, and one of the walls was floor to ceiling mirrors.
The little elf had shut the door behind them and made it so no one but Dobby could come into the room.
Hermione turned around to face her elf, 'Going to take some time to get used to that…'.
"Thimi, I need to get ready for the ball and I would like for you to help me, please."
Thimi smiled and managed to control herself by clapping her hands eagerly. She had always loved helping her old mistress getting ready for balls and functions. It made her feel important and she loved knowing that other wizards and witches would see how important her family was. Now she had Mistress Hermione and all of the residents and visitors at Hogwarts attending the ball were going see how important her mistress was.
Thimi had been most defensive lately of her mistress to the other elves. They spoke poorly of her for trying to free them, others for her being a lowly mudblood or muggleborn. Most of the house elves at Hogwarts were old enough where blood status didn't matter to them, but others who had recently found work and service there from old pureblood families followed the blood dogma because their old masters did.
The house elves had a network amongst themselves, all being connected magically in an intricate web. When an elf was owned, all the elves knew and who their family was. They were not allowed to speak of it to their own masters unless it was already common knowledge or if their master or mistress gave them permission or if the family was proud to own house elves and freely let it be known.
House elves kept the best secrets, but if asked properly they were allowed to divulge their knowledge. Sadly most of the wizarding population didn't think much of house elves anymore and forgot the wealth of knowledge that house elves could be.
"Thimi would be most please, miss!" she verbally responded in a conversational tone.
Hermione nodded at the little elf aware of the fast progress she made behavioral wise. She hadn't seen or spoken to her elf much, but could tell she had undoubtedly taken Dobby's gracious advice.
"I would like to bathe first, so that my pores open enough to absorb the oils and my hair is amendable to styling." As she was speaking the hazel eyed witch placed her packages on the vanity and began disrobing, having toed off her shoes first.
Thimi quickly, and surprisingly very quietly, began to run the bath. She threw 2 potions into the water as the tub was filling. She was noticeably floating on what could only be described as a wispy cloud of smoke. It looked like steam from a fresh cup of tea, but was thicker yet just as clear.
The young witch soon placed herself in the tub, finding it the perfect temperature and leaned back against the high rim to relax. Hermione enjoyed the water so much, she let herself drift further under the water until it was just her head sticking out. After enjoying the water for 15 minutes Thimi decided it was best time to begin washing her mistress's hair.
She gently leaned her mistress up, tilted her head back slightly, and began to wet the top of her hair (as the rest was soaking in the bath with her). She drained some of the tub so she was able to reach all of her mistress's hair, which was much longer than it seemed since it was constantly bushy. She gently massaged shampoo onto the witch's scalp.
Hermione kept her eyes closed and made the choice to enjoy the treatment. The little elf obviously knew what she was doing and Hermione always appreciated any and all help with her hair. She sighed gently, pleased with how nice it felt.
Thimi rinsed out the shampoo and rubbed on a potion that was the equivalent of conditioner that would leave her tresses silky smooth and healthy. She started from top to bottom instead of from the ends up. Doing so she was able to get the potion evenly through her witch's hair, as she was piling it on top of her owner's head as she went along to keep the potion in her hair. As the potion was soaking into the hair, it was not to be washed out or touch the water.
The little elf snapped her fingers and made sure that the hair stayed up until Hermione was out of the tub and away from water.
"It is time to wash, miss." She said assuredly.
Hermione hummed her agreement and went to grab a container of soap, but was stopped by her little elf.
"No, no, miss! Thimi is to be washing miss! Thimi has potions for miss!"
Hermione looked at her elf as though she had just asked to be handed clothes.
"Thimi, I can very well wash myself."
If Hermione wasn't so shocked she would have caught the somewhat haughty and affronted tone that came from her mouth.
Thankfully though Thimi was used to such things and didn't think twice about it.
"No, no, miss! Thimi is to be doing it a certain way so miss looks her utmost best!" she spoke as though she were speaking to a young child.
"What are you talking about Thimi? I can do it myself." Slowly confusion started to seep into Hermione's voice.
It was just a bath, she was going to wash off the sweat and grime she accumulated throughout the day. She knew she'd scrub off the dead skin and perhaps exfoliate while she was at it, knowing that her skin was most likely dry because of the weather.
"No, miss. Please let Thimi do this for you."
Hermione eyed the elf wearily.
"Okay, but you're going to have to let me wash my… bits, myself."
Thimi's eyes widened. "Thimi will not be touching miss! Thimi will be washing!" the poor elf looked scandalized.
"Oh… okay? Well then, if anything, since I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work, at least leave my pubic hair the way it is. I like to style it myself. I've come to enjoy it."
Thimi pursed her lips, but nodded.
Thimi snapped her fingers and Hermione was lifted out of the tub and was laying down as though she were on a bed. It was only a few inches off the water so Hermione felt safe somehow being able to feel the heat of the water on her backside. The elf picked up what looked like a lotion and began to spread it on Hermione with her magic, evenly placing it on most her body. Thimi was well aware of human hygiene and care, knowing that a woman's private area needed more sensitive care and was not to have soap passed the pubic area.
She grabbed a translucent lotion and magically placed it where elf and her mistress were rightfully scandalized at being touched.
She let them sit on her human's skin for 3 minutes before rinsing her off gently, cupping water and pouring it on her. It left her skin keenly aware of the cold of the room compared to the heat of the water.
"There, now miss is not having any dirt or dead on her."
Thimi gently waved her hand over Hermione's arms, legs, and under arms. Hermione noticed that Thimi's magic was gentler on her skin for hair removal than her own magic. The witch did remind herself though that she focused just a tad bit more when magically removing her hair than she did with her designs, noticing a difference.
The little elf then picked up a potion and proceeded to do the same thing as she did with the lotion (which Hermione now assumed was a special soap provided by the room), avoiding her genitals this time… This time she waited 5 minutes before rinsing it off.
"Now miss's pores are fully cleared and clean." She announced happily as she drained the tub and hovered her mistress in an upstanding position. The hazel eyed was hovering an inch above the ground this time and felt safe knowing she was close to the ground.
Thimi then grabbed another potion and repeated the process, this time letting her skin absorb it instead of rinsing it off.
"Any light scars that miss had are gone now." She sounded a little proud of herself with this one.
Hermione noticed that it smelled an awful lot like cocoa butter and bit on her lip to keep herself from laughing. It was something the wizarding world and the muggle world had in common. Every time she wanted to laugh at wizards for feeling 'superior' because of potions like this. The little elf waved her hands a few times and Hermione noticed that the smell was gone and she smelled like herself again.
Thimi grabbed another bottle, it was a small cute jar in the shape of a large cat that looked an awful lot like a jaguar, dark brown and full. The jaguar was in a sitting position with its tail curled around its feet. Hermione was surprised that it had a stopper on the top of its head.
"The Come and Go room has given you this as a present." She said.
Hermione was startled for a moment taking in the room's sentience.
"The room… gave me a gift?" she asked slowly, as though trying to wrap her head around the concept.
"Yes, miss. The room is happy that you are learning and trying to do great things. Miss Lady Hufflepuff also wanted to do great things for us house elves. The best she could think was for house elves to have good working conditions here at Hogwarts. It's a present."
Hermione's mind wrapped around that tidbit of information greedily. She was glad to know that all those years ago, in a very different era, that someone else was thinking about what to do for house elves. There wasn't much they could do at the time, but at least someone cared. Why it was in the shape of a jaguar though was beyond her.
Thimi opened it and was quite pleased with the smell herself. It wasn't strong or overpowering in the slightest if a bit flowery. It smelled perfectly clean though, quite a natural scent that was most comforting. Lavender and jasmine scent with a tiny undertone of jojoba as a carrier. Thimi raised an eyebrow at it knowing that it was faint enough that humans wouldn't be able to smell it.
"The Come and Go room has given you a signature scent. It is also an essential oil, miss! For multipurposes." The little elf nodded happily as though agreeing with the room's choice.
The elf opened the jar and dripped the oil on different parts of her body, one again smearing it on smoothly, even getting her face. Thimi looked back at the bottle as she replaced the stopper, and couldn't help the happy squeal that came out of her mouth.
"Miss! The Come and Go room has it refill itself! It is eternal present!" she clapped her hands excited for her mistress.
Hermione smiled and blushed slightly at the room's thoughtful present.
'Signature scent indeed. A lifelong signature scent, so I never go without once I leave the castle.'
"That's very thoughtful. Thank you, Room. I'm very honored." She wasn't sure if the room could understand words directed at it, but knew it was the polite thing to do.
She was answered though when the room warmed up comfortably. Hermione almost laughed; she made the room blush!
As her skin quickly absorbed the oil, Thimi lowered her mistress back on the ground. Hermione thought she would be embarrassed by the elf seeing her nude, but she'd be growing up in a dorm with girls and they'd already seen her naked plenty of times, to her dismay. She'd caught Pavarti staring a few times and pursed her lips each time she caught the Indian descent witch.
The tanned color witch padded over to her brown packaged and opened them revealing her periwinkle dress robed. She would have gone with something more daring, but wanted it to be age appropriate and still shock the socks off the conservative purebloods. She picked up the matching underwear set, simple solid colored and slid them on followed by the matching periwinkle slip.
After that Thimi stopped her mistress from putting on the robes right away. She released the magic that was holding the curly hair from the top of the witch's head. The curly tresses fell to the middle of her back.
Thimi went over and floated once again, summoning a wide toothed comb into her hand. She gently parted Hermione's natural curls. They weren't big and they weren't tight, but they weren't ringlets either. Her hair was still somewhat wet, knowing it would take another hour to fully dry.
The elf knew this and figured it would be best to style it now before it dried too much. The hair potion helped immensely, keeping the curly hair smooth and amendable to being moved about. She pulled her hair back gently, allowing some moving space and tied it with a strong elastic that Hermione didn't notice before. She left one curl to frame part of her face, and began to gently twirl and bunch her hair up into an elegant low bun. The curls were still noticeable, casing them in a tasteful way where they didn't look messy. Hermione had a lot of hair, so Thimi let some of the curls drift freely outside of the bun, dangling away from her neck.
The room then provided a few pins that had jasmines placed in a stasis charm, which the elf then expertly started to place in the front of her bun. She added an extra one on the side of her face that did not have hair framing it.
Hermione was shockingly pleased with it, her lips were slightly parted. It wasn't bushy, it didn't have to be pulled back painfully; she didn't have to drown her hair in Sleekeazy's hair potion like she had originally planned.
It wasn't sleek, but it was better than sleek. It used her hair's natural type, it was comfortable, it was simple, it was elegant, and it was beautiful.
"Thimi, this is wonderful. Thank you so much, it's so much better than what I was going to do." Her voice was soft, almost breathless in wonder.
She raised her hand up slightly as though in shock that it was indeed her hair.
"We is not done yet, miss. We has to do your make up and nails, and put on your robe." Thimi reminded her, her insides were glowing, extremely pleased with her mistress's praise while also exalted at receiving thanks. Something that was still very rare in the magical world.
Hermione nodded dumbly, still looking at her hair in the vanity mirror. She got up slowly and turned to put on her robes. Before she could even touch her robes, Thimi softly snapped her fingers and removed any loose hair that had fallen while it was being styled. Sometimes the elf couldn't believe how much humans shed their hair. Hermione pulled her robes on, careful not to touch her hair, unaware that Thimi made it so her hair would stay perfect all night.
Once she was sure her robes were on correctly and looked perfectly immaculate and in place, she sat down at the vanity again to do her makeup. Again Thimi stopped her, this time sucking her teeth at her mistress and magically taking her hands and put them in front of her as though she were at a nail salon.
"What is miss hoping her nails will look like?"
Hermione decided not to fight or ask questions seeing that Thimi very much knew what she was doing.
"I was hoping for something simple, like a French manicure with a pedicure to match. Even some nice thin designs that are black and silver with rhinestone studs on them."
Thimi was partially confused, it must be a muggle thing, and her face showed it.
Hermione smiled glad to know that the wizarding world did not know of this style, meaning that she would be the only one at the ball with it. That was unless some other muggleborn or half-blood thought of it, but she doubted it.
Hermione conjured a magazine she had back home in her room with exactly what she was talking about. It was an older issue, but it helped her get her point across. Hermione wasn't stupid enough to assume someone could conjure just a picture or a painting, or even books. She just hoped that when she banished it, it went back to her room.
Thimi looked at it closely and nodded to herself. It was just another thing she had now to be pleased with muggles.
Thimi snapped her fingers and Hermione felt what should have been paint coat her nails and start to look exactly like a French manicure. The little elf turned the pages to see these designs and 'rhinestones' that her mistress mentioned.
She found them easily enough and started to twirl her fingers in the air in a very precise manner. Thankfully for the elf the room also wanted to help and provided the rhinestones that she would need. Hermione would think more about the room later one, probably more than she intended.
Soon Hermione had the nails that she had been thinking for tonight. She also couldn't help but noticed that Thimi added some flower designs that looked like the jasmines in her hair with tiny dots of silver in the middle.
Thimi snapped her fingers again and the process was repeated for her toes. The difference was that the designs were only on her big toes now, her toes were too small for designs. The witch was still pleased with them.
Thimi then stared hard at her mistress and at the cosmetics that were provided by the room.
"You are to be standing still now, miss." The little elf directed.
"Yes, Thimi." She smiled.
Thimi started to move her hands and the make-up seemed to come alive.
Hermione stared in wonder. Her roommates' make-up never did this for her, but she noticed that some items were the same brand, if different colors.
Thimi moved the eyeliner to make her eyes pop, the mascara to make her lashed longer and more inviting. She added a dark lip stick, accenting her skin well. She added a sort of gloss to her lips to make her lips shimmer pleasantly, but not obnoxiously, just drawing some attention. Although she didn't need it, Thimi thought it couldn't hurt, and added a light bronze eyeshadow, that was barely visible but made her eyes pop.
It wasn't much, but Hermione was naturally beautiful, she had high cheekbones, plump lips, almond shaped eyes. Her eyebrows were defined, but not bushy. People were usually distracted by her hair, teeth, and clothes to really notice.
But Hermione Granger was ready, and she was going to rock the halls of Hogwarts tonight.