The Great Hall doors opened and Hermione walked in with her head high, her gaze sweeping for their reactions, internally preening like a peacock.

'Eat your hearts out!' she thought equal parts vicious and smug.

The icing on her cake was Pansy's face and the cherry on top was Malfoy's silence. She was so alluring that even the most prejudice of the blood supremacists had nothing bad to say about her.

'I don't look like mud now, do I?', she thought at him scathingly.

Tonight was her night. She was going to be poised and elegant, but also vicious. Not many of her fellow school mates had anything nice to say about her for the past 4 years, and now they were all going to eat their words. It was a wonderful feeling and Hermione was sure it would make her patronus so bright it might hurt her eyes.

It wasn't hard to miss Igor's now cold gaze, now that people were staring at her in wonder the way they never stared at him while he was next to Krum. Igor was tenacious to have people stare at him the way they were staring at the mudblood. It was salt in his wound that she was doing so effortlessly. At least to him, it seemed that way.

Once they sat down and started to eat Hermione couldn't help but hear what was so important to Percy that he just had to have Harry sit next to him. Nothing but brown nosing was coming from the red head's face, and Hermione was quite appalled. Not so much from Percy verbally ass kissing someone who wasn't even there (although she knew the walls had ears), but from what he had to say concerning Thimi.

"– a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf"

"– Blinky, or whatever she was called"

"Naturally, he dismissed her –"

"– I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left."

"– no, poor man, he's having a well-earned, quiet Christmas."

Hermione was internally fuming, both at Percy and poor man Crouch Sr. She leaned over towards Viktor for polite dinner conversation to take her mind off the injustice of it. She'd do something about it tomorrow, if nothing active, at least worry it like a dog with a bone.

"Viktor, tell me about Durmstrang please?"

Viktor was more than happy that she had asked a question that wasn't about him and began to tell her what he could in as much detail as he could think of in English. This was part of the reason of why he liked Hermione, she didn't focus on him. She asked real questions that other people would be asked, she treated him normal and he loved it.

It wasn't long though before Igor once again butted in, but was thankfully pulled away by Dumbledore.

Hermione sent a small glare at the Durmstrang headmaster, for once pleased with her own headmaster's subtle manipulations. She was sure at some point she would have to thank him for this or he would rather say that she owed him a favor. Time would tell.

Severus watched the champions come in with their dates. He was quite astonished to see Miss Granger of all people there with Viktor Krum no less. He mentally toasted and congratulated his student. Even he could admit to himself that she cleaned up rather nicely, and vindictively it would seem.

While he knew she was of age now, he noticed that she dressed age appropriately for someone who was in her year rather than her year. The robes were tasteful and modest, her jewelry was simple, her hair wasn't that ghastly rat's nest that it usually appeared to be and she took full advantage of Poppy fixing her teeth. He was surprised, it seemed almost Slytherin.

After the debacle of SPEW he wasn't sure she had it in her, but sure enough here she was. He couldn't help but notice that even Draco had nothing to say to her. The purebloods were eating their words and he was sure that tonight would spark some beneficial doubts that he would be sure to pounce on.

Miss Granger was helping with the war effort before it fully started, she was proving more useful that he thought.

Now that Dumbledore had gotten Karkaroff away from them, she decided to stick to something easy for the night that he wouldn't feel the need to breathe down their necks. Although she couldn't help but overhear how the all-knowing Headmaster of Hogwarts knew where the "Come and Go" room was, but didn't know how to make it work. Although she did catch the headmaster's wink, even if it was aimed at Harry, his prize.

She decided to teach Viktor how to pronounce her name.

"Her-my-oh-nee"

"Hern-own-ninny"

"Nee"

"Ni"

"Together now"

"Herm-own-ni"

"Close enough" she smiled.

It was a hard name for a foreigner to pronounce, so she would take it. She saw Harry staring at her and smiled at him.

Soon it was time for them to dance and Viktor was more than happy that he took those extra lessons so he would avoid stepping on Hermione's small feet. They were so dainty that he just didn't want to hurt her or embarrass himself in front of her. The lanky athlete was also sure that the pretty witch would enjoy dancing.

As soon as they had finished eating and the tables cleared, announcing the end of the meal, Dumbledore stood and asked the students to do the same. Viktor stood and offered his hand to Hermione, who took it gracefully.

It wasn't much after that the Weird Sisters took the stage, and Hermione was more than enthusiastic as this would apparently also be her first wizarding concert. The Weird Sisters were such a hit right now, that even Hermione could admit she liked their music. The first song was a slow dance, and the young witch's heart thrummed with excitement that was expected of the young.

The hazel eyed witch stopped paying attention to her friend, this was her night, and she was going to enjoy it and the first dance was going to be amazing.

Viktor started with a simple waltz that quickly alerted Hermione that her duck-footed date had gotten extra lessons and was trying. She couldn't help the bright smile that burst forth; someone had actually bothered to take extra lessons for her. Hermione would let the wizard have this one.

She was momentarily surprised when he twirled her, but followed his lead and went with the motion making it seem fluid and planned. Viktor smiled at her, noticing her grace, the way she dancing reminded him of water. Viktor took advantage of it and lead with more confidence, pulling the witch closer to him than a waltzed normally allowed.

When the song ended she was pleased to see the wizard flushed from the exercise.

"I shall go get us drinks." He said, taking a polite step back from her. It would be unseemly to be standing so close to one another when they weren't dancing.

"Okay, I'm going to get us seats near my friends over there," she said pointing towards Harry and Ron.

Viktor nodded both his agreement and understanding, and left towards the refreshments. While he was leaving Hermione couldn't help but take a quick look at the athlete's butt, flushing at the sight. She normally wasn't so brazen, but reminded herself that tonight was indeed a girl. Girls just so happened to look at butts. Stereotype was that they liked to look at athlete butts. She gave herself a mental pat on the back, allowing herself to temporarily slip in to the stereotype and enjoying the view.

The young witch walked over to take the seat Pavarti had just left. To anyone who was watching though would have said that she glided, a whole different poise that they were familiar with concerning the bookworm Gryffindor. She sat down and fanned herself, thanking merlin that if anyone were to ask they would all just assume it was because of the dancing, not a cute butt.

"Viktor's gone to get some drinks." She said.

Ron shot her a menacing filthy look, "Viktor? He hasn't asked you to call him Vicky yet?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the red head, quickly shooting a questioning look to Harry, who quickly looked away with a deer in headlights look.

"What's up with you?" she asked instead, knowing it was probably going to lead to a row.

"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you." He replied, sounding like an angry woman, which quickly reminded her of his mother. Sounded just as hot headed with some undertone of being mentally judgmental.

"Ron, what–?" before she could even finish the question he bowled over her.

"He's from Durmstrang! He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You- you're" she could see him fishing for a proper word to spit at her along with the rest of the accusation coming her way, "fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"

Hermione was so flabbergasted she almost laughed.

"Don't be stupid! The enemy. Coming from someone who was over the moon that he came here, wanted his autograph, and has a model of him in his dormitory?"

In typical Ronald fashion, he chose to ignore all of the above. I mean after all¸ that's different.

"I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?"

Hermione blushed, "Yes, he did. What of it? Jealous that he actually wanted to talk to me instead of the other way around?" she shot him a cool glace that contrasted with her heated cheeks.

"Wha- NO! It's just obvious that he's just getting closer to you to get closer to Harry! To get information or near enough to do some harm to or to help him with his egg!"

Hermione looked as though Ron slapped her. Her red of her face changed direction and darkened he voice quivering with rage, "For your information, he has not asked me one single thing about Harry or his bloody egg. Not that I would ever help him work it out, he's smart enough. I happen to want Harry to win. Harry knows that because I've been helping him the whole time. Isn't that right Harry Potter?"

"You've got a funny way of showing it," sneered Ron. His face twisted with an ugly gleam in his eyes.

"Not that you would ever know with your track record, but this whole tournament is supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them." She said, lowering her voice.

"No it isn't! It's about winning!" he shouted, gathering the attention of people nearby.

Leave it to Ronald Weasley to make a scene and not care.

"Ron, I don't have a problem with Hermione coming with Krum…"

Of course Ronald ignored Harry too, because it wasn't what he wanted to hear. While she knew it had absolutely nothing to do with Harry or the tournament, she wanted nothing of the sort from Ronald like that at all.

"Why don't you go find Vicky, I'm sure he's wondering where his date is?"

"How about you not call him Vicky and worry about your own date, Ronald." She hissed through her teeth.

She refused to give him the satisfaction of storming off. This was her night, and the red head could go jump off a broom for all she cared!

"Are you going to ask me to dance at all?" Padma asked, taking the opening for what it was.

"No." Ron seethed at the twin, still glaring at the transformed Hermione.

"Fine," she snapped, getting up and joining her sister with a Beauxbaton boy, who had one of his friends to join them so fast, it was clear that the Patil twins were beautiful to them even with their veela classmates raising the bar.

"Herm-own-ni."

Hermione looked up, the red receding from her face replaced with the light pink it was earlier. There was her date holding two butterbeers, looking at her trying to gauge at what would be an appropriate and acceptable reaction from him, having obviously heard the fight. She huffed a breath at her hair and playfully rolled her eyes and gave him a quick eyebrow wag, letting him know it wasn't serious and didn't ruin her night with him.

The quidditch player quirked his lip at her, something she was beginning to understand was his smile.

She patted the seat next to her, and he slid in, nodding at Harry. Both bookworm and famous athlete gave him the elite cold shoulder. Something a few of the purebloods noticed due to their frequent acquaintance with high society functions.

The bookworm had a whole evening to enjoy herself and the wizard who worked up the courage to talk to her was going to make sure she enjoyed it.