A/N: Hermione is a 15 year old living her high school dance fantasy with *magic*. Is there plot progression in this chapter? Not really. But let her have this ;)
Hermione and her dormmates returned to their dormitory early, around 4pm, so they could begin to get ready for the ball. This began with everyone wanting to shower, and there was a bit of a scuffle as everybody tried to avoid the stall on the end that only ever seemed to have cold water, and then they were discussing their robes and dates as they charmed their armpits and legs hairless.
"We'll look like Christmas," Daphne was gushing. "My green robes next to his red. I'm so excited."
"Lucky," Pansy sniffed. "Draco went with old-fashioned black ones, the kind with the high collar."
"The ones that make you look like a vicar?" Tracey asked, snickering.
"No idea what that is," Pansy said, shooting Tracey a look, before conceding, "but probably."
Hermione gathered up her things as quietly as she could, but Tracey noticed.
"Going somewhere, Hermione?" she asked, her voice very much teasing.
Hermione flushed as everyone's eyes turned to her.
"I'm—yes," she admitted. "I need to get ready for the ball somewhere else."
"You're going to get dressed with Krum there?" Daphne gasped, scandalized.
"There are girls' rooms on that boat too," Millie snapped. "And I'm sure even if she didn't, Viktor would be a perfect gentleman and leave the room."
While Daphne was busy looking cowed and embarrassed, Hermione took the opportunity to slip out, deliberately not correcting their assumptions. Let them think what they wanted; she had more important things to do.
Hermione typically didn't indulge her femininity very much. She'd been doing so more lately, Tom's lessons on seduction helping her embrace it, but generally, looking very pretty and feminine was a lot of work that didn't really have much practical payoff. But for this, for the Yule Ball, Hermione wanted to make an entrance. And that required getting ready in secret, where no one could see her transformation.
Luckily, the Room of Requirement was happy to oblige her with large mirrors, a vanity, and even a mannequin to drape her robes on while she got ready.
Hermione did her makeup first. It was the hardest part, and she didn't want to risk getting eyeshadow on her robes. Plus, this way, if she messed up, she'd be able to start over again and make up the time elsewhere.
Hermione was careful as she put on makeup, more than she usually let herself use. Her skin, instead of just being improved, became flawless, smooth and even all over her face. She filled in her eyebrows, gave herself a smokey eye, and she managed to enhance her cheekbones a bit, too, which made her quite pleased. She didn't even stick herself in the eye with the mascara wand or end up with any clumps.
She did her hair afterwards. Her curls were usually tight and very curly from being cursed into the root, and Hermione took her time brushing them out, using prolific amounts of Sleakeasy's to do so. She couldn't quite get her hair all the way straightened, but she was left with long, shining waves and loose curls that she decided were pretty enough. It was at least distinct and different enough from how she usually wore her hair for her to be happy with. She pulled the front part of her hair back and loosely clasped it to the back of her head while she let the rest of it hang free, draping her hair slightly over one shoulder but mostly letting it fall down her back.
Once the rest of her was ready, Hermione dressed herself carefully.
She put on a nude-colored undergarment first, one she'd Frankensteined together out of a nude bra, a duplicated liner of a swimsuit, a pair of high-waisted knickers, and the clasp of an old bra. The result was a weird sort of bodysuit with hooks and eyes at the crotch, intended for Hermione to use any time she needed to use the bathroom. It was extremely awkward and bizarre, but there wasn't really a way around it for what Hermione had planned. She cast a Disillusionment charm on the garment, watching with satisfaction as the edges dissolved from sight against her skin, leaving her with what looked like a Barbie body – smooth, flawless, with no nipples, navel, or privates to be seen.
After the undergarment came her robes and cape. Her robes didn't have a zipper or visible opening – Hermione had to cut down the middle and then carefully free-transfigure the cloth back together on her body, watching her magic carefully in the mirror as she worked.
When the robes were finally securely on, Hermione artfully arranged her cape over her shoulders and arms, ultra-aware of the fine mesh the cape was composed of. Rationally, she knew the Acromantula silk was incredibly strong, no matter how fragile it looked, but it was harder to convince her hands that the delicate mesh wasn't actually so delicate at all.
Once she was satisfied with that, Hermione eyed herself critically in the mirror once more. On an impulse, she tried hitting one of the diamonds with Lumos, and her eyes lit up as the gem slightly glowed. Gems were used all the time to hold charms, she remembered excitedly – there was no reason Lumos shouldn't work just as well as the others, right? She spent the rest of her time before the ball enchanting gems all over her robes sporadically, randomly, powering each charm with enough magic to hopefully last through the night.
Her final touch was an unexpected one, but one she couldn't resist the temptation of – Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem finished off the look, the deep sapphire resting in the middle of Hermione's forehead, the metal curling back around her head. Hermione fussed with her hair a minute, fixing it so the diadem vanished underneath the part of her hair she'd pulled back, before she fixed her cape and slipped on her shoes – fancy dancing shoes with a low heel that she'd gotten from a muggle store and bedazzled to sparkle and shine – and departed for the Entrance Hall.
Hermione could hear her classmates already entering the Ball, the buzz of conversation and sound. She felt a jolt of sudden anxiety and nervousness – it was all too much, wasn't it? Nobody else was going to a school dance with diamonds sewn all over their dress – but it was much too late for second thoughts now, and Hermione took a deep breath and steadied her nerves before rounding the corner of the last set of stairs, holding her head high and her shoulders back as she took the banister in her hand.
She saw Harry's messy black hair first. He was lingering outside the Great Hall with Luna and the other champions. Harry seemed to catch sight of her first before the others, his jaw dropping, and a few other people around turned to look as well, curious what Harry had seen; more jaws dropped, and people's eyes widened.
Hermione couldn't help the smile that played around her lips as she slowly descended the stairs.
Hermione had taken the 'yule' part of the Yule Ball as inspiration and run with it. Her robes and cape were a beautiful, soft periwinkle that evoked memories of ice and snow, and she'd made small, spiraling designs of snowflakes all over the bodice and train of her dress, each snowflake made up of small diamonds. The thin Acromantula silk draped from her shoulders down to a deep V on her front, leaving her upper chest and collarbones fully exposed. The silk mesh was draped over her breasts and body to form the bodice of her dress, so thin as to be barely there, barely visible, but serving as an illusion netting that existed to hold up the many beautiful spiraling appliques and glittering jewels she'd decorated the dress with.
The fine mesh was transparent, which was why Hermione had needed the makeshift body suit. The under layer made it so Hermione didn't have to worry about her nipples showing if her dress slipped the wrong way, and part of her enjoyed the thought of people wondering if she was wearing anything under her dress or not, or if they might be so lucky as to glimpse something if a snowflake or applique slipped just the wrong way.
The fabric got richer in color and less transparent as it went down her body. By the time the fabric reached her waist, falling in long, flowing folds from her hips, the dress had transitioned into a beautiful rich periwinkle, completely opaque but still brilliant in color, with diamond snowflakes spiraling and scattered around. The cape itself was similar, but less transparent – multiple layers of thin, gauzy periwinkle blue, with designs of ice adorning it, glittering in the candlelight. The cape had been for courage – Hermione had given the cape sleeves, but her dress had none – once she took the cape off, her back and arms would be gloriously bare, her dress entirely strapless.
Hermione took strength from the dumbfounded expressions she saw on people's faces as she took her time on the stairs, careful not to trip. She'd managed to make some of the diamonds glitter in the Room of Requirement by enchanting other jewels to glow nearby, but under the brighter lights of the Entrance Hall, Hermione could see just how much her dress glittered, the diamond snowflakes and designs sparkling like ice under the sun on a winter day.
A moment later, Viktor stepped up to the bottom of the stairs, bowing and offering her his hand. His eyes lingered on her, drinking her in, and Hermione smiled at him, pleased, letting her own eyes roam over the fine figure Viktor cut in his dress robes.
To put it simply, Viktor looked incredible.
Hermione had done a spectacular job.
Whereas Hermione had wanted to look like an ice queen, she hadn't thought periwinkle would be a flattering color for the older boy, so she'd settled on a royal blue. She'd used thread pulled of silver ingots to weave and free transfigure designs with the Acromantula silk, making elaborate embroidery his cape, with a few moments of deep blue diamond shining out. His doublet was a slightly darker blue, like the night sky, and she'd used the silver embroidery technique she'd figured out heavily here, along with the small sapphires she'd made, and she'd decorated the entirety of the body of his tunic. The sleeves were left a smooth, untouched silk save for matching embroidery at the cuffs, and his trousers were the same dark silk of the doublet.
The crowning moment was the deep V in the front. The doublet came down Viktor's chest in a narrow but deep V, ending just above his navel. Hermione had worked a design reminiscent of a large belt into the embroidery at his waist, making a particularly large, flat sapphire the center of the diamond-shaped design, before the peplum flaps of the doublet resumed their normal wintery spiral design. The deep V revealed just how fit Viktor's torso was, with his chest muscles and faint glimpses of his abs on display, and Hermione felt smug at seeing just how good Viktor looked in the robes. Even if everyone was looking at her tonight, Hermione bet there would be a fair few people looking at Viktor as well, thinking he was the arm candy instead of her.
"Hermione," Viktor said. His voice was low, his eyes dark, lingering on the bodice of her gown. "You look… you are beautiful, Hermione." His voice was raw. "I have never seen before someone so beautiful as you."
"Thank you," Hermione said, rather touched. She smiled. "You look very handsome. Those robes are incredibly flattering to you, if I do say so myself."
At this, Viktor relaxed a bit and laughed.
"Karkaroff was mad," he recalled, a bit fondly. "He said I looked like—not 'playboy', but—"
Viktor struggled to remember the right word, and Hermione watched as his eyes lighting up as he remembered.
"—but like male prostitute," Viktor finished proudly. Hermione hid her smile as several people turned in shock to see who was talking about prostitutes, but Viktor didn't notice. "Karkaroff wanted me to change robes," Viktor told her, grinning at her crookedly. "I said that I had no other robes, and I could not not wear robes you made me. Would be incredibly rude."
"What did Karkaroff say then?" Hermione asked, amused.
"He was shocked, I think," Vitor reflected. He grinned at her. "Most witches not design dress robes with sapphires sewn in. He shut up after that."
He offered her his arm, which Hermione took, and he led them over to join the other champions.
Harry was wearing rather simple dress robes in bottle green, but the color served to bring out his eyes and his dark hair, making him look rather striking despite the simplicity. Luna stood next to him, wearing robes of deep plum and beaming at Hermione, and Hermione grinned right back, pleased. Cedric Diggory stood next to Cho Chang, both of them staring at Hermione in shock, which evoked a sense of annoyed contempt from Hermione – who were they to be so astonished, to think she couldn't look stunning and beautiful when she tried?
Last was Fleur and Blaise, both of whom were also looking at Hermione, but with a different expression – their eyes lingered, drinking her in as if committing her to memory. Fleur was in robes of silver-gray satin; smooth, simple and flattering. She wore the snowflake earrings Hermione had given her earlier, and she did not wear the circlet of osmium. Hermione wondered if she had a hematite amulet hidden on her somewhere to help suppress her allure, before deciding that it didn't really matter – if there was ever a time to look as striking and as beautiful as possible, this was it – and Fleur did look beautiful. Blaise stood next to her in robes of deep violet, his only nod to the holiday a holly sprig with berries pinned to his chest. His eyes seemed dark as he looked at Hermione, almost like his eyes, too, matched his robes, but as Hermione neared, he brightened, giving her a sly grin.
"You look great, Hermione," he told her. "Love the hairpiece."
"Oh, this old thing?" Hermione said dismissively, waving her hand airily with a grin. "It's been around for ages. But thank you."
Fleur descended on Hermione with excitement, giving her kisses to both her cheeks and a quick, intense hug, before pulling back, her eyes alight.
"You are the most magnificent sight I have ever seen!" she declared, clapping her hands. "I have never seen such beauty before. You dazzle me."
"Hermione maked our robes," Viktor told Fleur, pleased. "Hers and mine."
"Did she really?" Fleur said, a mischievous grin on her face. She nodded at Viktor, letting her eyes slowly travel down his body and linger on his chest. "Such a deep neckline. I cannot help but to wonder what she was thinking of when she designed these for you – or what things she was thinking of you."
Viktor choked, his face going red, and Fleur threw her head back, laughing delightedly.
"Hermione is—she is very good at making impression," Viktor said. Hermione couldn't tell if he was trying to defend her, or if he was trying desperately to keep the conversation moving along and away from such insinuations. "She wanted us to look very good tonight. In case press comes."
"That she is," Fleur agreed, her eyes sparkling as they looked back at Hermione, making her flush. "And she's clearly succeeded marvelously."
