Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, who might not approve of how I'm reworking the world but oh well. Still, credit to the creator.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Even though the rational part of her mind knew that Neville had not been enjoying Romilda's attention, Heather still found it hard to force her way through breakfast the next morning. Her sleep that night had been dogged by nonstop images of the dark-haired harlot climbing all over him in the common room, becoming more and more exaggerated with each viewing.
To her relief, she was spared having to spend much time around him that day during lessons, particularly charms. Now that they had all mastered the basics of the Ascension Charm, Professor Flitwick led them out into the windswept grounds to practice it. There he split the class into two groups. On his signal the first group would launch into the air, then land safely again using Aresto Momentum. Meanwhile, the other half of the class would be waiting around the periphery with their wands ready in order to catch anyone who lost their nerve mid flight.
Not eating much breakfast turned out to be a blessing. If she had, then there was every chance that Heather would have decorated the ground with it after her first turn. To her relief, she was one of the few who did not collapse onto shaking knees when she landed safely on the lawn. Since first attending Hogwarts she had flown broomsticks, a car, hippogriffs, thestrals and even a dragon, but nothing had prepared her for the sensation of being thirty feet in the air with nothing whatsoever to support her.
It took her group nearly fifteen minutes to sufficiently recover enough to move to aside and allow the second half to take their turn. Heather decided it had been a good thing that she had been in the first group as she watched several people lose their nerve before even casting the spell.
As the day wore on and morning turned to afternoon, the sky began to clear and patches of blue appeared through the thick grey clouds that had not broken in weeks. The windows of the castle glistened as the sun made its appearance, raising everyone's spirits for the trip to Hogsmeade.
At dinner Heather was finally hungry enough to eat about half of what Hermione shoveled onto her plate and move the rest around enough to make it look like she'd eaten more than she really had. She had just pushed her plate away and was planning on excusing herself to reach her dormitory before the common room filled when someone forced their way onto the bench between her and Ginny. Susan's Hufflepuff robes contrasted so strongly against the scarlet of Gryffindor that Heather didn't need to look around to identify her. When she did glance around though, she saw that Ginny had gone as white as a sheet.
"W-what's up?" Ginny stammered at Susan, her fork suspended in midair between her mouth and her plate.
Because of how she was turned in her seat, Susan's face was hidden from Heather's view, but if her voice was anything to go on, she was smiling broadly. "Oh, nothing," she said in the same sort of innocent voice Ginny was known to use that implied anything but innocence. "That is unless you want to go to Hogsmeade with me." She asked the question quietly enough that it probably only carried a few seats down in either direction, but that was more than enough for Ginny.
"You…you mean like together?" Ginny asked. Her hand, which had not moved, began to shake, threatening to shower Susan in food.
Gently, Susan reached out and extracted the fork from Ginny's tight grip. "Yes, I do," she said clearly.
Ginny's gaze snapped from Susan's face to find Heather's, just past Susan's shoulder. The panic welling up behind her eyes was clear to see. As subtly as she could, Heather nodded once.
"Umm, sure. Why not." Ginny replied at last, her eyes darting back to Susan's face and looking a fraction less terrified.
"Wonderful. I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall," Susan said cheerily before swinging her legs back over the bench and standing up. After blowing Ginny a kiss and winking, she sauntered back to the Hufflepuff table with more than a few eyes watching her progress.
Heather waited for Ginny to start breathing again then counted to three. "Did you know she was going to do that?" she asked in low tones, leaning across the empty space left by Susan's abrupt departure.
"No," Ginny hissed back. "Well, I mean we agreed to stop hiding it as much. But I didn't think…I mean I wasn't prepared for…"
"Were you two going to meet up in Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked quietly, catching on to the situation without needing any further information.
Ginny nodded. "Yeah, but not like officially or anything."
Her hand began to shake again, and it was Heather's turn to tightly clasp it in both of her own. "You alright?"
Ginny blinked slowly several times before responding. "Y-yeah, I think so. Just a shock that's all."
"Do you still want to go with her?" asked Hermione intently, "you don't have to."
Ginny nodded. Then, to Heather's amazement a small smile broke out. It grew quickly until it was a broad grin that made Ginny's eyes light up. "She's the worst, isn't she?" she asked, giggling.
"The absolute worst. It's why you two work so well. Now," Heather replied mock seriously since it seemed the worst of Ginny's fit was over, "you know what this means, don't you?"
"What?" Ginny asked hesitantly, pulling her hand out of Heather's grip, and wringing it in her other hand. She looked ready to bolt from the hall again, but Heather refused to relent. This too good of an opportunity for some well meaning payback and she wasn't going to let Ginny get off that easily.
"Excuse me?" she asked, playing up her shock. "Are you trying to say that little miss 'makes me turn out my entire wardrobe three times in one week just to meet the bloody Minister for Magic' has suddenly forgotten that she's going on a date tomorrow?" Red splotches broke out across Ginny's cheeks only to drain again at the word 'date.' Seeing this was more than Heather could manage and she broke out laughing to be joined moments later by Hermione. "Come on you," she said, taking pity at last and grabbing Ginny's hand again and hauling her along in her wake.
In no time they were in the seventh year girl's dormitory after making a brief stop to collect every item Ginny owned. They toted the assortment of clothes upstairs and now their dormitory could easily have been mistaken for a used clothing shop. Both Heather and Hermione's beds were covered in garments of all kinds. As they worked through every possible combination, a growing pile of discarded options ended up on the floor. Everything was tried from shirts to jumpers to jeans. One after another each possibility was considered and summarily discarded. Finally Heather, who had by now lost most of her enjoyment at Ginny's predicament, pointed out, "these are your clothes, you know. You chose to buy them and bring them to school."
"I know," Ginny moaned plaintively, holding a pale yellow long sleeve shirt with a plunging neckline up against her in front of a mirror hanging inside Hermione's wardrobe. With a shake of her head, she dismissed it and tossed it onto the small mountain of rejected clothes. "But it wasn't like I had a date in mind when I packed my truck!"
Heather's eyebrow rocketed upwards. "You mean to tell us that you weren't planning on dating anyone this year?" she asked disbelievingly.
"Well, I mean…you know what I mean," Ginny snapped, her eyes darting around looking for anything she hadn't already said no to.
"Try this," Hermione said soothingly, picking up the shirt Ginny had just discarded and handing it back to her with a pair of black jeans. Ginny, who had apparently forgotten that she had just eliminated the combination as an option, quickly snatched them from Hermione's hands and returned to facing the mirror. "You mean that you weren't planning on going on a date with a girl," Hermione reasoned as she and Heather watched their friend turn this way and that. Heather had crossed her fingers behind her back.
"EXACTLY!" Ginny screamed in frustration loud enough to make Heather's ears ring. "Do you think this looks good," she asked, her voice lowering to a more tolerable volume.
"It looks amazing Ginny," Pavarti said gently. When she had arrived Heather had no idea, but she was standing near her own bed and was surveying the disaster area before her with an entertained smile. "I've got a necklace that will go great with that. It'll knock her dead." She opened the drawer of her bedside table and extracted a small jewelry box. It took her less than a minute to find the silver pendant and handed it to Ginny.
"Try it on, the whole thing," Heather insisted before Ginny could say no. Without waiting, she snatched up something from the floor and pressed it into Ginny's arms before frog marching her towards the bathroom.
"Was that a push up bra?" Hermione asked when the door was closed, already scooping clothes from the floor and dusting them off with her wand.
Heather smirked. "Yup. Revenge is fun, isn't it."
Ginny emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, looking pleased. To everyone's relief, she agreed on the outfit after only ten more minutes of reassurance that she did look amazing in it. "Next time I'm just going to let you wear a sack," Heather grunted as they carried the rest of Ginny's clothes back down to her dormitory.
"No you won't," Ginny teased. "Because if you do then I'll make sure you look hideous for your first date with Neville."
"What date?" asked Pavarti with wide eyes. She had volunteered to help clean up the mess, as much to get her dormitory back if nothing else.
"She's joking, Pavarti," Heather replied quickly, sending Ginny a scathing look that was pointedly ignored. "Neville and I are just friends."
"Right, so why were you two walking together when you caught Susan and I last night? You're going to tell me he didn't ask you to Slughorn's party?" Ginny asked more loudly than Heather would have preferred. She was sure their voices were carrying clearly down into the common room.
"No, he didn't. And he isn't going to. He said we're friends and isn't trying to change that," Heather growled. She didn't need to look to be able to feel Hermione's silent exasperation behind her.
The process of returning Ginny's clothes to their homes brought a temporary end to this line of conversation. Heather hoped that it might just last the rest of the evening, though without any real conviction. Sure enough, Ginny refused to let the matter drop for long. "Listen, he still likes you," she said more genuinely than her earlier teasing. "It doesn't matter what he said. Besides, it's not like you and he can't go to Slughorn's party as friends. You and Luna did that once."
Heather lapsed into silence while she tried to refute Ginny's reasoning. "Well, it doesn't matter because he didn't ask me," she said for lack of a better response.
"He's going too," Ginny smirked matter of factly. "No, I haven't talked to him about it, but everyone saw the way Romilda was all over him. If he's smart, and he is, he's going to ask someone. At the very least he'll do it just to get her off of him."
Ginny's confidence didn't entirely sway Heather, but it did give her a modicum of peace that night. In the morning she stood in the Entrance Hall with Ginny and Hermione while they waited for Susan to arrive. It was a mark of just how nervous Ginny was that she insisted they stay with her. It had taken twice as long as normal for them to come downstairs and several times one of them had been forced to corral an anxious Ginny. Even now Heather and Hermione stood on either side of her so that she couldn't bolt back upstairs. From only a few inches away, Heather could feel her vibrating with nervous energy.
Ginny did look amazing. She had brushed her long red hair back over her shoulders and pinned it in a way that allowed it to flow without getting in the way of her face. The bra Heather had insisted on was doing its job perfectly and would give Susan a visual she was going to enjoy. Or at least, it would once Ginny was free of the castle and had removed the jacket she was wearing to avoid the stinging wrath of Professor McGonagall who would certainly disapprove. Even from the back Susan would have something to look at, as the jeans Ginny wore clung to her body in all the right places. "It's no leather mini skirt," Heather had teased during their final check before leaving the tower, "but it'll do."
Ginny was just on the verge of attempting another bid for freedom when the door leading down to the Hufflepuff common room swung open, emitting a long stream of excitedly chattering students. Towards the end, following immediately behind Ernie, Hannah, and Justin was Susan. She too was dressed nicely without being too formal, although she had opted for a skirt instead of jeans. In her arms she carried a large cloak that looked big enough to cover both of them. Her eyes doubled in size as she caught sight of Ginny and only continued to widen the closer she got. When she was a few feet away, Heather took a few steps forward and whispered into her ear. "She's feeling really nervous."
Susan nodded without breaking stride. "You look amazing," she said gently, cupping one of Ginny's cheeks in her palm. Heather watched as Susan's eyes worked their way down, up, and back down Ginny several times.
"You two going to be alright?" Heather asked with a cough, aware that she and Hermione had been completely forgotten.
"Yeah, I think so," Ginny replied softly, now smiling at her date.
"Absolutely," Susan said at the same time. She slithered her hand into Ginny's and intertwined their fingers together. Together they walked off towards the front doors to join the queue that had formed for Filch's inspection as though they were the only two people in the hall.
Heather and Hermione waited so that they would end up several places behind the happy couple in the line. While they lingered, several of the fellow Gryffindors passed on their way towards the front doors. Some waved, some didn't. When Neville, Dean, and Seamus came down the Marble Staircase, Heather ducked back out of sight, allowing them to pass without seeing her.
Filch's examination with aa probity probe took only a few moments and elicited no reaction other than a grunt of disappointment from the caretaker. "Be off with you," he growled, jerking his head out towards the grounds and gesturing the next in line forward.
"You'd think he wanted me to be smuggling dragon eggs or something," Heather chuckled as she and Hermione meandered down the sloping grounds towards the gate. Susan and Ginny were quite a ways ahead of them now. Neville, Seamus, and Dean were laughing with Ernie and Hannah about twenty feet behind the two lovebirds. Justin was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was still remembering the last time he and Neville had been close to one another and had made himself scarce.
"You know you're not going to be able to avoid him forever, right?" Hermione asked patiently as they walked.
"I know," Heather replied. After another few minutes passed, she asked, "Do you think Ginny's right and he'll ask me to go to Slughorn's party as a friend?"
Hermione eyed her. "I think the real question is do you want him to? The last thing you told me was that you wanted to be friends. But now that he's said that's all he wants too, you seem to want more than that."
Heather's mouth opened and closed several times in rapid succession. "I…I don't know what I want," she replied honestly.
"I think you do, but it's up to you to figure that out. Personally, I think he'd be smart to ask you, even if it's just as friends."
"Do you think he still likes me?" Heather blurted out before she could stop herself.
"I'm not going to answer that. You've made it very clear that you want both me and Ginny to stay out of it. She might not respect that, but I will."
Heather groaned internally. "What am I going to do?"
Hermione patted her on the back. "You should do what feels right to you, not anyone else. If that means asking him out, then do it."
Neither of them spoke again the rest of the way to the village. Heather was too lost in thought to speak and followed along in Hermione wake as they wended their way through the growing crowd. Their first stop was the Three Broomsticks where Ron had said he would meet them. Already the pub was full of students, though it had not yet reached bursting point. Several former students who had opted not to return for their seventh year were already present, but Ron was not among them. They secured places at a table close to the front door where he would be able to easily find them, and Hermione wandered off to get their drinks after reminding Heather of her promise. She was allowed three butterbeers on the condition that she would stop if she started to feel any effects.
When Hermione returned with two tankards brimmed in foam, she resumed their conversation as though there had not just been a twenty minute interruption. "There's no way that he's going to fall for a girl like Romilda, so if that's why you're worried then don't be. She's too…" she stopped midsentence, apparently not willing to voice her real feelings about Romilda Vain in such an open setting.
"Too much of a bitch?" Heather supplied after her first sip of butterbeer, not caring about being circumspect.
"Something like that," Hermione replied tactfully. "He's too good of a guy to fall for that."
"Too good of a guy to fall for who?" Ron asked, arriving out of the throng suddenly with Padma and Katie following close behind.
"Ron! No one, no one," Hermione blurted, caught off guard by his appearance. She got up and exchanged hugs with Katie and Padma before sharing a handshake with Ron that was only slightly strained.
When it was Heather's turn, she opted for a hug. Ron's hair was even longer than it had been two months ago and had taken on a shaggy appearance that she knew risked earning the ire of Mrs. Weasley. A fresh scar he hadn't had the last time she'd seen him slashed upwards from his jaw and across his left eye. "Good you see you, mate," she said.
Upon releasing him, she saw that Padma had sidled closer, certainly nearer than she had been when the hug had begun. Even as Heather wondered she watched as Padma's hand snaked into Ron's and clasped it tightly.
Following Heather's line of sight, Ron grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right. Blimey I guess I haven't written much lately."
Heather rolled her eyes. "You never write. Sit. How long's this been going on?"
Ron had to think about it for a moment. Padma, looking exasperated, cut across his mental calculations and answered for him. "Since September. I asked him out and he said yes.
"Well good on you," Heather said, raising her glass to them and taking a sip and savoring the taste. Over the rim she saw Hermione watching the couple warily with a closed expression. Ron and Padma shared a mischievous look between them that prompted Heather to ask, "What?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Padma replied quickly.
Seeing Heather's arching eyebrow, Ron added, "It's just…she asked me out right after she got me with another one of her pranks."
"Pranks…wait…THAT WAS YOU?!" Heather exclaimed as realization dawned. Frustration and a determination to get revenge over a transfigured bra burst into life inside of her.
Padma beamed. "Yup, I figured no one would ever suspect the bookish Ravenclaw, and it worked." She shrugged, looking so proud of herself that Heather had no other choice but to laugh.
"Yeah, and the house is downright unbearable now ever since these two got together," Katie complained loudly. "Can't walk into a room without declaring yourself in case someone isn't wearing pants."
"So, a lot like how it was when you and Seamus were living there," Ron retorted in a way that suggested this was a long standing argument.
Rather than dignify this with a response Katie asked Heather and Hermione, "Speaking of my boy toy, where is he?"
"B-boy toy?" spluttered Hermione around a mouthful of butterbeer.
"Boy toy, man friend, hot and sensuous-" Katie said over howls of laughter. Under this Ron excused himself to get everyone another round of drinks.
"We get the picture," cut across Heather. "He'll be here later. By the by, have you told him that's what you call him?"
Katie winked. "Now that you mention it, I don't think so. No need to bother him with details like that, you know?"
Ron returned with five butterbeers and set them on the table. "Speaking of guys, who were you two talking about when we walked up? Got your eye on someone, Hermione?"
For a second Heather thought she was imagining the veiled interest she detected in Ron's question. It only lasted for a moment and she wasn't sure if either Hermione or Padma had noticed. Hermione flashed Heather a quick glance before replying. "Neville. It looks like Romilda is trying to sink her hooks into him.
"Romilda Vain?" Katie asked thoughtfully. "Saucy little thing with an arrogant streak wide enough to swallow the quidditch pitch?"
"Yeah," Heather glowered in a louder voice than she had intended, earning her interested glances from the rest of the table.
Katie shook her head knowingly. "Hermione's right, Neville's too smart to fall for that slag."
"Unless she uses a love potion," Ron supplied quickly. "She isn't one to cross."
Ron was right and Heather wondered just how she'd forgotten that. It would certainly be a play right out of Romilda's playbook to spike something and give it to Neville just to have her way with him. Knowing Neville, he was probably too smart to trust anything she gave him outright, but there was always the chance she had expanded her already prodigious ability for duplicity.
"Ooh, I remember you telling me about that," said Padma to Ron before glancing quickly at Heather. "You'd better warn him."
"I will," Hermione said for Heather which saved her from having to speak again. Already the pub was feeling warmer than she would like and continuing this conversation was only making it worse.
Ron drained his glass and looked around excitedly. "Should we see the village then? By the way, where's Ginny?"
There was a monetary silence before Hermione said as casually as possible, "She's on a date, Ron."
As Heather had both expected, Ron's expression darkened noticeably. "Who is he?" he asked.
"That's none of your business," Hermione replied stiffly.
"She's my sister," Ron protested, rising a little in his seat.
"Exactly," Heather replied evenly before Hermione could. She decided that it wasn't her place to inform Ron that his sister was on a date with a girl. That would be up to Ginny to do. "Which means that by now you should know better than to try and interfere in her love life."
Ron didn't look happy about it, but he let the matter drop long enough for them to agree on one last round before they left the pub. While he was gone getting drinks, Heather and Hermione listened to the events of the wider world since school had begun. Neither of them had chosen to renew their Daily Prophet subscriptions and so felt more than a little out of touch. From the sound of it, things were finally quiet and the war was actually over this time. "Oh there are still a few holdouts here and there trying to cling onto whatever they've got, but they aren't really much of a threat," Katie was explaining. "Honestly most of our time is spent catching up on old paperwork and guarding various people and places. I just got done working a two week stint at Azkaban and it was about as exciting as listening to Binns go on about goblin rebellions."
"There's still some excitement, that's how Ron got his scar. But nowhere close to how it was during the summer," Padma added. "Still, wouldn't give it up for anything. The house does feel empty without you though."
"Has anyone else moved in since we left?" Heather asked interestedly. She was curious how open her friends had been with her hospitality in her absence.
"Nah, not yet anyway. There just isn't anyone cool enough. Well, hey there, cutie," she exclaimed, catching sight of Seamus walking through the door with Dean and Neville. To the entertainment and slight disgust of the rest of the table, not to mention those close enough to see and hear, Katie snaked her arms around Seamus' neck and smothered his face in a very warm greeting. Before he was able to catch his breath, Katie dragged him off towards the bar where she had a brief conversation with Madam Rosmerta. A key was handed over and the next moment they had vanished up the stairs, pursued by at least a dozen cat calls and whistles.
"Ahem, coughed Ron, breaking the silence that had fallen over the table. "Right then, I think that's our cue to get out of here." No one argued. Half of them still hadn't processed what had just happened enough to be aware that they had risen to leave. The only thing they all silently agreed on was that there was little chance of them seeing either Seamus or Katie for the rest of the day. Neville and Dean took their table and ordered a fresh round.
The village of Hogsmeade was crowded with students and a handful of visitors who had come up for the weekend. Every shop along the high street, from Honeydukes to Zonko's, which had reopened since the end of the war, was crammed with people. Even Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop was packed with couples enjoying the supposedly romantic atmosphere. As they passed, Ron glared through the brightly lit windows, probably trying to see if Ginny was inside and who she was with.
For Heather, the village itself didn't really hold much interest anymore. She had been here too many times over the years for it to still be exciting. In fact, the longer she walked along the more she wondered why she'd even come. She could have still gotten out of the castle and been by herself, walking along the lake or around Hagrid's pumpkin patch. But it was nice to see Ron again, and that made the trip worth it. His new relationship with Padma however, no matter how pleasant of a development it was, did put something of a pall on the reunion. Hermione said little as they wandered, something Heather recognized as a potential danger sign.
About halfway through the morning, a question had begun to form in Heather's mind. They were perusing the shelves at Zonko's. Ron and Padma were laughing at some story Ron was telling about dungbombs, and Heather caught Hermione watching them darkly. Was it possible that Ron had brought Padam along just to make Hermione jealous? Could that be why he was dating her in the first place? In all fairness it was probably not a tactic he would have come up with consciously. As smart as Ron could be about other things, self-awareness of his own feelings was far down on his list of strong suits. That was one of the reasons it had taken him and Hermione so long to get together in the first place. The more Heather watched Ron and Hermione's behavior around each other, the more she became convinced that she was not the only one not being entirely honest about her feelings.
After Zonko's the suggestion was made that they stop by Honeydukes. Once inside she dragged Hermione off to the chocolate frog display, to get her friend away from Ron for a moment if for no other reason. Over the shelf was a sign advertising that a whole new line of Famous Witch and Wizard cards had come out now, celebrating the heroes of the war. Among the listed names were Heather, Hermione, and Ron. "Oh no," Hermione moaned. Heather picked up a stack of frogs, hoping she would find one of each of her friend's cards.
When they regrouped outside again, no one had any idea where to go next. Suddenly Hermione turned to Heather and asked, "I almost forgot, did you need to find something for the party?"
"Party?" Ron asked quizzically.
"Slughorn's party," Heather explained dejectedly. "He's restarting the Slug Club." She was more irritated at the implicit reminder of the Neville situation than at attending the party itself. "No, I don't need anything. I'm not dressing up," she told Hermione flatly.
"Are you sure?" Hermione pressed, "Don't you want to look nice?"
Sighing, Heather replied with a flat "no."
"Well," Hermione huffed, sounding a lot like Ginny when she didn't get her way, "I'm going to Gladrag's to find some things for me. Are you really going to make me go alone?"
Knowing that she was being boxed into a corner with no real way out, Heather gave up. "Fine," she grumbled. "Padma, want to come?"
"Oh no, you two go on," Padma replied. She had probably been very aware of the subtext and had no intention of being roped into whatever was happening. She patted Ron's arm and began to lead him away back towards the high street.
"Who're you trying to look nice for?" he asked, not budging and inch.
Padma tugged harder on his arm. "Come on, I'll explain later. Buy me a drink at the Hog's Head for old time's sake?" They vanished into the crowd even while Ron was still trying to ask questions.
Heather shook her head at their retreating backs. "He'll figure it out one day, I hope."
Hermione shook her head. "Whether he does or he doesn't, he's Padma's problem now. Come on."
Going by the scene of chaos that greeted them when they stepped inside, the mob had already come and mostly gone. Heather wouldn't have been surprised to learn there had been dueling in the rows going off the carnage that surrounded them. Here and there groups of girls prowled the shelves, picking through the remainder while two harried looking witches did their best to restore some sense of order to the shop.
"What happened in here?" Hermione asked, gazing around with wide eyes. "This many girls can't seriously be expecting to go to Slughorn's party, can they?"
"Maybe there was a sale on shoes or something," Heather speculated half seriously. "And it's not like it matters whether they think they're getting invited or not. It's not going to stop them from trying. Come on, get what you need and let's get out of here.
Hermione wandered away into the wreckage, working her way up one aisle and the next, looking at everything and picking up nothing. Irritated, Heather also began to look around. Just as it happened every time she went shopping, no matter how many times she told herself beforehand that she wasn't going to get anything, clothes magically found their way into her hands before being draped over her arm. First it was a shirt she thought she would look good in, then a jumper that look extremely comfortable. Seldom did anything she picked up end up being put back on the rack. There was just something about clothes shopping that made it impossible not to spend money. Long after she realized that this had been Hermione's plan all along, Hermione had still not picked out anything for herself, Heather continued to browse. On the last row she walked down she found a set of dress robes in a deep red that she decided to get, even though she resolutely intended not to wear them to Slughorn's party.
"Ooh, that's pretty." Hermione's chesire grin gave her away the moment she saw Heather armful of clothes. "Does this mean I can stop pretending to look now?" she asked as Heather dumped her new purchases on the counter to be rung up.
"I hate you," Heather bit out without any conviction. She paid a handful of galleons for the clothes and accepted the bag from the lady behind the counter. Her new dress robes had been carefully folded into a box that she carried under her other arm. If she went on too many more shopping sprees like this, then before long she was going to need Hermione's help magically expanding her trunk to fit everything.
As they walked towards the door, two figures in the street outside caught their attention. Neville and Hannah were walking side by side very close down the lane towards Gladrag's. In a flash Heather saw that they were holding hands. Just outside the front door, Hannah gave Neville a quick peck on the cheek before dashing inside, her face looking extremely flushed.
"Woah," she exclaimed, coming to a stop before she plowed right into them. "Hi Hermione, Heather."
"Hi," Hermione replied, looking more at Heather than she was at Hannah.
Heather's attention was entirely on Neville's back as he wandered away in the direction he had just come from. She could be wrong, but he almost looked like he was skipping. "So…you and Neville?" she asked as her consciousness returned to the shop.
Hannah had likewise been distracted, though in her case it was by the state of the shop. "What? Oh, yes. He just asked me to Slughorn's party." Her eyes moved quickly over the racks, eagerly hoping there was something left she could wear.
In that moment, listening to Hannah and Hermione prattle on about dates and dresses, Heather was rocked by a single, all-important truth. She was a complete and total idiot. How had she been so dense not to realize it until now? Could she really be that blind, as Ginny had once put it? No, she hadn't been blind, not really. She'd been scared, justifiably scared it was true, but still. And now it didn't matter. Neville and Hannah were going to Slughorn's party together and if that kiss had been any indication, Heather had missed her chance with him completely.