As Hermione had insisted, there was no surprise birthday party for her on Sunday. Instead, there was a small pile of gifts from her dorm mates at the foot of her bed. They had each gotten her what seemed to be a random spell book, with little thought put into what they chose, but Hermione was delighted nonetheless, thanking them each profusely.

Breakfast was a little more awkward. It had started with Harry coming over to the Slytherin table and wishing her 'Happy Birthday' and giving her a wrapped gift before cheerily going away. Hermione had been anxious as she unwrapped it carefully, only to relax upon seeing it was a new wand holster – something that did not count as clothing, to her relief.

"Nice!" Tracey said, examining it. "This is good quality dragon-leather."

The morning mail came soon after, and Hermione was met with a small deluge of packages. After she separated them all out, there were five.

"This is your first official gift-giving occasion since you chyrsalized, Hermione," Daphne pointed out. Her eyes were practically starry. "You might get jewelry!"

Hermione was dreading that same fact.

She first tore open the one from Anthony. She hoped his would be somewhat restrained.

He'd chosen well, getting her new black leather boots with smooth silver buckles. The card enclosed indicated that they were spill-proof and enchanted to stay warm and not scuff or stain. Boots were generally considered functional items, not quite the same as clothes, so even the inclusion of the silver buckles was able to be passed over. It was a courting gift without being a courting gift; Hermione was pleased he'd managed to hold himself back from sending her marriage sheets, as well as pleased that he'd managed to get her shoe size right.

She was surprised to see Theo had sent her a gift. She shot him a quizzical look as she opened it, but he was staring at his lap. He'd sent her three stirring rods for Potions: bronze, silver, and gold.

"It seemed inappropriate to not send anything," Theo muttered, not looking at her. "With my father sending the… you know…"

Hermione offered him a smile. "Thanks, Theo."

Theo looked relieved that that was the end of it.

As she moved onto the next gift, Draco's, it was suspiciously soft. She glanced at Draco, but he looked confident, and she unwrapped it skeptically.

Hermione was greeted with some sort of leather garment, folded up neatly. As she held it up, she saw the label on it, and she gasped.

"Versace?" she demanded. "You got me Versace?"

Draco looked extremely pleased with himself. "Do you like it?"

Draco had gotten her a dress. It consisted of a leather bustier with a black mesh overlay, to cover the rest of her chest and shoulders. There were two decorative straps with gold buckles going over one shoulder and connecting to the waist, which flared out into a wide-pleated leather skirt.

"What is it?" Daphne looked confused. "This can't be proper robes – it's much too short. But it's not small enough for a child's robes either."

"It's muggle clothes," Tracey said gleefully. "It's a dress."

Pansy looked horrified.

"This is a dress?" she demanded. "Are muggles all three feet tall?"

"They do have poor health, don't they?" Daphne said. "Maybe."

"No, it's just short," Tracey said. "Hermione, give it here."

Tracey stood up and held the dress up to her body, explaining.

"See? You wear it like this. Muggles wear clothes that don't go all the way down and hit the ground sometimes." She indicated the hemline. "This one just stops here. You'd wear it with black tights, maybe, or maybe nothing at all."

"I cannot believe you got me Versace," Hermione said, astonished. "Do you know how much that costs?"

"I ordered one of the best things I could find reference to," Draco shrugged carelessly. "I don't know how much muggle money it cost."

"It's muggle clothing," Daphne said slyly. Her eyes were glinting. "So, really, this isn't proper clothing at all, is it? It's more of a costume you'd wear than anything else."

Hermione caught on, and Draco's smirk widened.

"Exactly," he said. "She can't wear that out and around society, of course, but she could with her muggle parents."

Hermione had no idea what kind of events Draco thought her parents took her to where wearing a leather Versace miniskirt would be remotely appropriate attire.

"Not actual clothing, then," Daphne deemed, folding it up and setting it aside. "You will try it on for us later though, won't you, Hermione? I want to see how the muggle costume looks."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sure, Daphne."

Draco's courting-gift-that-wasn't-a-courting-gift set aside, she reached for the next one, a wrapped rectangular box, rather longer than it was wide. Hermione managed not to gasp when she reached inside, but it was a near thing.

"Is that crystal?" Pansy demanded. "Is that a crystal rose?"

It was – a blood-red glass rose made of gleaming crystal, the stem colorless and glittering.

"Is there a clip on it?" Daphne wanted to know. "If there's a clip or a pin, this definitely counts as jewelry!"

Hermione knew Cedric better than that; she was sure there wasn't. While they fussed over the rose, Draco's eyes glowering, Hermione scanned the card. It was a brief plea for forgiveness again for missing the election, with an invitation to meet him in the library after classes on Friday. Hermione glanced across the Great Hall to see Cedric was watching her. She offered him a smile, nodding and holding the note to her chest, and Cedric's face split into a wide, happy grin. He nodded, going back to his breakfast, though when Hermione turned around, Draco was glaring at the Hufflepuffs.

"There's one more," Daphne said. "Open it, Hermione."

Hermione paused.

This package had come not by owl, but carried by a majestically dark raven, head gleaming a blue-black. It was wrapped in a pale blue paper with a brilliant blue ribbon – silk, by the feel of it – and it rattled slightly when Hermione lifted it.

When she opened the lid, she froze.

"Holy shit," Tracey whistled. "Who the hell sent you this?"

Hermione was wordless.

Inside was a jewelry set, composed of earrings and a matching pendant. The earrings had a slight drop inlaid with crystals before holding a smooth bluish pearl in each one. The pendant was similar, a pretty silver chain holding a crystal clasp that came down to embrace a blue pearl. The soft blue color of pearls immediately took Hermione back to the summer, when she'd looked into soft eyes that color for hours.

"There's a note," Daphne announced, holding it up. "It says 'so you might think of me´." She looked confused. "But… there's no signature."

"How are you supposed to know who sent it, then?" Tracey demanded, turning to Hermione. "Wait! Are you blushing?"

"It's not signed," Pansy said, confused. "Who on earth doesn't sign a courting gift? What kind of game is this?"

Hermione's face flamed as she closed the box, cheeks warm.

"Well, it's very pretty," she said. "Even if there is no signed intent behind it."

"Wait, you're just going to accept it?" Tracey said, astonished. "With no name on it?"

"She's not wearing it," Millie said sharply. "So what's it matter if she keeps it for now? It's not like there's a name to send it back to. And it doesn't mean anything unless she wears it publicly, anyway."

Tracey looked decidedly less excited at this, though Daphne and Pansy were still puzzled.

"What's the deal with this?" Pansy wanted to know. "That definitely counts as a courting gift, Granger. But how are you supposed to court them if it's not signed?"

Hermione desperately didn't want to talk about it.

"We can figure it out tonight," Hermione said, her voice strangled. "We'll talk about it then, alright?"

Daphne and Pansy were frustrated by this, but eventually resigned themselves to waiting.

"Well, I don't know who's too much of a coward to sign their gift," Draco said loudly. "I would never do such a thing."

"We know, Draco," Blaise groaned. "Believe me, we know."

"Well, I was just saying," Draco defended. "You can't start courting someone if you don't sign it."

"We know," Theo said, annoyed. "Hermione knows too, Draco."

At that, Draco focused back on his food, his cheeks tinged with pink, which Hermione promptly ignored, lost in her own thoughts.

Fleur…

She'd missed the older girl from time to time, finding she wished she could talk to her about classes, about what magic she was learning now. She wondered how Fleur was doing in school, if she'd managed to make any new friends yet or not. She doubted it, with her Veela heritage, but Hermione hoped she was having an easier go of it now.

She'd have to write her a letter soon, thanking her for the gift and just to chat with her, Hermione decided. They'd decided to keep in touch, after all, hadn't they? It wouldn't be inappropriate – it'd be a perfectly friendly thing to do.

Hermione decidedly ignored the fact that Fleur had somehow remembered her birthday from a passing conversation and stored it in her mind, mentally planning out her letter to her instead.


Hermione was able to deflect all questions over her birthday gifts for most of the day, insistently catching up on her homework and working ahead in the assigned readings, but at the end of the day, her dormmates trapped her.

"You are trying your muggle costume on, aren't you?" Daphne insisted. "I want to see!"

Hermione sighed and gave in. "Fine. Let me put on tights."

The Versace dress fit her figure near perfectly. The bustier was a bit roomier than she needed, but the waist came up to hers, making the flare of the skirt drape flatteringly over her hips, ending mid-thigh.

"That's what muggles wear?" Pansy said. Her eyes took in Hermione's dress greedily, and her voice was envious. "I didn't know that's what they wore now."

"It's what some of them wear," Hermione corrected. "Versace is a very high-end brand. Most muggles wouldn't wear something quite like this, but they wear mini-dresses that are fairly similar."

"It's scandalous." Daphne's voice was thrilled. "Your legs, Hermione! Muggles really go about with their legs showing so much?"

"Frequently." Hermione took off the dress, folding it back up neatly and reaching for her pajamas. "Muggle fashion is a lot more exposed and varied than wizarding."

"So, Hermione," Tracey said slyly. "Who sent you those pearls?"

Hermione groaned and fell back on her bed, holding her arm over her eyes.

"Come on!" Tracey whined. "The boys aren't around anymore! Tell us!"

Hermione sighed.

"It was someone I met in France, all right?" she said finally. "That's why there was no signature. Regardless of wanting to court me, they can't right now given the distance, so it's not signed. But they still wanted me to know that they would court me if they could, so they sent a courting gift anyway."

Hermione heard Daphne's gasp.

"That's so romantic," she breathed. "Your love, bravely carrying on in another country, longing for you and sending you gifts of his heart regardless of the distance…"

"Good taste, at least," Pansy said grudgingly. "Most boys seem to just give a generic bracelet or cloak pin when they finally step up to do the thing properly. Though I'm not surprised – the French have better taste about such things."

Hermione didn't correct their pronouns, and she let them chat idly about the romance of courting gifts and the like until they fell asleep. Once she was sure they had all dozed off, Hermione stole off to the bathroom alone, carrying the box with her.

"Lumos."

The pearl set looked beautiful on her. The soft blues worked well with her eyes and her hair and her coloring in general, and as she looked in the mirror, it was like seeing a glimpse of Fleur still on her, sparkling in the dim light.

"Lovely set, my dear," the mirror purred. "Got yourself a sweetheart, do you?"

Hermione turned slightly in the mirror, looking at it from another angle, admiring the sparkle and the taste of the gift. She sighed, finally reaching back behind her neck to unclasp the pendant.

"Something like that, I guess," Hermione murmured, taking the earrings off and setting them back inside. "Something like that."