The next day, Hermione took her time getting ready. It was Saturday and being a little tardy didn't matter, so when she came down to breakfast later than usual, all her classmates were already there.

When Tracey turned to say hello, she squeaked and nearly dropped her juice. The others turned toward the squeak, saw Hermione, and did a collective double-take. Hermione was secretly pleased, and took special vindication in Blaise's appreciative gaze and Draco's astonished stare.

"Hermione? What did you do?" Tracey asked reverently, reaching out to touch her hair. "You look so pretty today."

"This? Oh," Hermione said, tossing her hair casually. "Some of the first years are going to take each other's pictures today, so I thought I'd make an effort to look my best."

Hermione's hair, for once, was not a mess of riotous, furious frizz. She'd slept with it in braids after a shower to keep it calm, and then with a heating charm, had used her curling iron to create full, gorgeous ringlets that she'd gently separated and smoothed into soft curls. For the first time, she'd been grateful her mother had pushed her to learn such frivolous things, "just in case". Just the look on Theo's face made all the tedium worth it – his eyes hadn't moved from her since she'd gotten there.

Hermione had also done her makeup – but very, very carefully. She'd shied away from bright colors and liquid eyeliner – the entire point of this was to make herself look beautiful, but naturally beautiful. If anything about her looked artificial, the game would be up.

So it was with great care that Hermione, following the diagrams she had drawn in her notebook, used a light foundation to hide her skin's flaws, highlighted her face, carefully used neutral eyeshadows to make her brown eyes pop, curled her lashes, and used a mascara that lengthened and darkened her eyelashes - but not too much. She'd kept her lips a matte, complementary nude color, and when she was done, even she was taken aback and astonished at the results.

Hermione had felt a wave of disgust that she had bothered to do this. Her own vanity revulsed her. She had to sternly remind herself that this wasn't for her – it was for her plan, for the others, for them to see.

And see they did.

"You look so pretty, Hermione!" Millie said, her eyes wide. "You look different! But… still like you. What did you do?"

"Oh, I just made sure I got a good night's sleep and took the time to take care of my hair this morning," Hermione said, serving herself breakfast. "I'm usually up so late studying, you know? So I always have dark circles under my eyes."

Hermione most certainly did not have dark circles under her eyes on a daily basis, but it seemed a valid enough excuse that Millie slowly nodded and returned to her food.

"There are first years taking portraits today?" Daphne said abruptly.

Everyone looked up.

"Just a few of us," Hermione said slowly, doing her best to hide her surprise that Daphne was speaking to her. "Neville Longbottom was sent a fancy camera from his grandmother, and we thought we'd all take pictures of us to send home and keep of each other."

"Who all will be participating?" Daphne asked, and Hermione could hear the hidden jealousy in her voice.

"Neville, Harry, Ron, Hannah, Ernie, and me," Hermione said, counting them off on her fingers.

"You're friends with Hannah?"

Hermione turned to look at Gregory Goyle, surprised. He'd never spoken to her before.

"We're acquaintances," she told him. "Neville's friends with Hannah and Ernie."

For the first time since she'd been in school, Hermione saw Greg's face soften from a scowl to something almost a smile.

"I know Hannah," he said. He gestured around the table. "She used to go to dancing school with us."

Hermione tucked that little tidbit away to ask Millie about later.

Conversation slowly resumed, allowing Hermione a chance to actually eat, but she was highly aware of all the side glances she was getting from the others. Both Theo and Draco were sneaking looks at her, their faces unreadable, while Blaise didn't even try to hide his appreciative glances. Pansy and Daphne looked torn – Hermione figured their emotions were made up of one part jealousy, and one part desperate longing to know how she did it – and they kept trying not to look, before their eyes were inexorably drawn back.

Hermione gained a slow a sense of satisfaction and confidence during breakfast, at the others' reactions. Her plan was clearly working. There was also, though, a sense of injustice and anger. This is what it had taken, to get the Slytherins to look at her? Looking pretty?

Hermione controlled herself, making sure to breathe and look utterly uncaring, keeping her confidence and poise.


After breakfast, Hermione excused herself to the library, where they were all meeting up. Neville had thought that photos in an academic setting would please his grandmother, and they could take others outside later, if it wasn't raining.

Harry, Neville, and Ron were already waiting when Hermione got to the back of the library, away from the hawkish eyes of Madam Pince. Neville was nervously fiddling with his camera, while Harry looked uncomfortable in his best robes and uniform. Ron was slouching against the stacks, bored, but he looked up when he heard her arrive, before his eyes went wide.

"Bloody hell, Granger," he said, standing up fully. "What did you do?"

"Language, Ronald," Hermione snapped, otherwise ignoring him as she joined the group. Ron continued to stare at her, but Harry offered her a smile.

"You look good, Hermione," he said as he moved to stand next to her, between her and Ron.

"Thanks," Hermione said, smiling back. "I tried."

"Wish guys could wear that sometimes," Harry said quietly, but his eyes were still sparkling. "I'd love to be able to hide this stupid scar."

Hermione offered him an understanding smile.

"You probably could?" she said, shrugging. "People in the wizarding world don't really use makeup, so no one would know that it's generally a 'girl' thing."

Harry made a face. "I would know, though," he admitted. "I think I'd still feel weird about it."

When Neville came back after setting his camera up on a magical tripod, his eyes bulged.

"H-H-Hermione," he said, a blush slowly creeping up his face. "You- you look really pretty."

"Thanks!" Hermione offered him a smile in return, and Neville's blush deepened.

Hermione's satisfaction in her plan slowly grew as Hannah and Ernie reacted with surprise, but then almost a reverence. None of the Purebloods present had any idea what she had done, and only Harry, who had grown up in the Muggle world, seemed to know how she had managed to look so subtly, yet extraordinarily, different.

Ernie ended up largely in charge of the camera, directing each of them to pose in different ways, and in a multitude of ways Hermione hadn't considered. There was the head-on shot, the three-quarters profile, the casual-faked-candid shot, the lounging on the window seat looking outside broodingly shot, the reaching for a book shot… Ernie was creative with it, and Hermione was surprised to realize she was having a lot of fun watching and adding suggestions.

Ernie did the boys first, then the girls; Hannah, then making Hermione go last. Hermione wondered if it was according to some sort of order, or just because he didn't know her well.

Once it was her turn, though, Hermione realized that it was a lot harder than she'd thought. It was hard to give a genuine smile for the length of the exposure, and hard to not start to laugh when she was supposed to be brooding out the window. Reaching for the book and looking through it like she was genuinely researching was difficult. Hermione had forgotten that wizarding photos would move, and she'd only expected to have to hold a pose for a moment – but all Ernie's instructions made a lot more sense, now.

Ernie was having to work a lot harder with her, too. Hermione was embarrassed, but grateful he was hiding his aggravation with her struggling. He had her try a lot more poses than the others, and Hermione could only hope and pray that at least some of the photos came out okay.

Finally, hers were done, and they all gathered together for a final group photo. They pushed Neville to the front (as it was for his grandmother), and Hermione was pleased that she ended up nestled right next to Neville on his left, with Harry on his right. It was a place of honor, showing that she was one of Neville's best friends, and Hermione felt smug that she had beat Ron out for it.

Afterwards, they all stretched, the boys taking off their ties and fancy robes.

"I'll have it developed," Ernie said, nodding to the camera. "I'll give you all a full copy of the photos, and I can give you back the original film too, Neville."

"How long do you think it will take?" Neville asked, and Ernie shrugged.

"Only a couple of weeks, I think," he said. "It's not hard to develop photos, but with classes, I only have so much time, and I want to make sure that they all come out really well."

They broke up to leave the library, drifting off into smaller groups. Hermione went to get her bag, but Ernie caught her wrist, holding her behind. She looked at him with a questioning glance.

"Your parents aren't magical, are they?" he asked. Hermione fought the urge to tense at the question, but Ernie looked genuinely curious.

"No, they're not," she told him, and he nodded, expecting the answer.

"If you want, when they finally give us flying lessons, I can take some pictures of you on a broomstick." He offered her a half smile. "Your parents might like it."

"Oh! Yes!" Hermione's face lit up. "Can we do them so I can send them in time for Halloween? When are flying lessons, anyway?"

"Next week, on Tuesday and Thursday," Ernie told her. Hermione grinned at him.

"This will be great! Thank you so much!"

Impulsively, Hermione threw her arms around him in an impromptu hug, causing Ernie to blush.

"Anytime… Hermione," he told her, with a grin of his own. "My pleasure."