The day of the yule ball arrived in much the same way the day before had. Classes were finished. Exams had been taken. But the nerves that filled the air were different than they had been the night before.
Hermione sat at breakfast, eating in much the same way that she did every morning. Neville was beside here, talking animatedly about how nice Padma had been. Padma had managed to talk her twin into going with Ron, even though she was fairly certain it was going to be a disaster.
Since he had a date, and one that he couldn't find fault with, Ron was in a much better mood. But he was still asleep when the other three ate breakfast. Weekends, holidays, and any other excuse Ron could find to sleep in meant that he did.
"Morning," Harry said as he sat down. He wasn't much of a morning person, but he knew it was easier to get up when one stuck to the same schedule.
"Are you excited?" Hermione asked.
"About the ball? A bit. About dancing in front of everyone, not really."
"Uggh," Hermione moaned. "Don't remind me."
She leaned her head onto the table, trying to shut out images of failure from her mind. It was all too easy to imagine herself pitching headfirst to the floor.
"There's no reason to worry Hermione," Neville assured her. "Your muscles will remember what you're supposed to be doing, and everything will be fine."
"Besides," Harry added, "I'm sure your date won't let you fall."
She had to agree with that. In spite of her clumsiness, Viktor hadn't ever given her a reason to fear falling. She hadn't managed it once with him. But she supposed that practicing with Neville, who had let her fall a few times, had helped some.
Breakfast was over quickly, Ron arriving at the last minute and shoving food into his face as if there wouldn't be a tomorrow. Hermione was glad that didn't last long.
After breakfast, the four of them went up to the common room to open presents. Harry got a pair of socks from Dobby. One was green with snitches. The other was red with broomsticks. They were beautiful socks.
Hermione, Harry, and Ron all got the traditional Weasley sweaters. Neville got a much more tasteful sweater, black with cable detailing, from his gran.
There were the traditional presents from acquaintances and family. And then it was time for them to exchange gifts.
Neville had gotten Harry and Ron quidditch memorabilia. Chudley Cannons for Ron, and a few assorted teams for Harry who hadn't had the chance to pick a favourite. For Hermione, his present was a shawl that reflected the night sky from wherever the wearer was standing. It was beautiful.
Harry had gotten them sweets. Honeydukes chocolate assortment for Ron. Sugar quills for Hermione. And Neville had gotten a collection of fudge.
Ron had gotten Harry some of Fred and George's products. He gave Neville a set of potion ingredients he had found since Neville had a tendency to blow some of his up. And he gave Hermione a book on the newest charms theory.
Hermione had put a lot of effort into her presents. She had gotten Ron a signed picture of Viktor, which had probably been the easiest thing to track down. She couldn't even deny the glances that the other two boys were giving her.
Harry had gotten the complete history of the triwizard tournament, and a compilation of notes that she thought would help him through the next semester. He was going to be so busy, and she wanted to ease some of that burden.
Neville had been the hardest person on her list to pick a gift for. She had thought about getting him some nice trouser socks, but that seemed like it was not quite enough for the boy who had become her friend.
She wound up getting him a couple boxes of his favourite specialty blend tea. It had been hard to find, and she hoped she had done well. Neville jumped up and hugged her when he opened it, so she guessed it wasn't too bad.
"Thank you," he said. "No one's ever gotten me this much."
She laughed, hugged him back, and they relaxed for a few hours. Eventually, she went upstairs to get her stuff. Padma was helping her get ready for the ball.
Padma had a potion that helped ease the bushiness of Hermione's hair. After application, they were able to pull her hair into a knot at the base of her head, and gently curl a few strands around her face. Hermione was in awe at the reflection in the mirror.
"Is that me?" she whispered.
"The same you that's always been there," Padma told her. "You've just been hiding under hair aggravated by the humidity."
Hermione couldn't argue with that. She pulled on her dress robes, and then sat still as Padma did her makeup.
When everything was done, Hermione felt like a vision. The robes were periwinkle, and clung to her upper body before flowing down her legs. The slim fitting sleeves and overlay were lace, in a slightly lighter colour than the rest of her robes. It was beautiful.
She could hardly recognize herself.
She also thought that Padma was stunning in a cherry red robe that had gold swirls around it. It complimented her dark skin and eyes incredibly well. And her hair was intricately braided, hanging down her neck and back in a beautiful black ribbon.
"Aren't we a couple of heartbreakers," Hermione joked.
"You are," Padma said. "I'm not so sure about me."
"You're going to make Ron cry that he didn't get the pretty twin," Hermione said. "I know you two are identical, but you look stunning."
Padma smiled. "Thanks Hermione. We should probably go. You don't want to be late."
"Not for the biggest dance of my life. I swear, when this is over the first dance at my wedding will look like a piece of cake." She shook her head softly.
They walked down to the great hall, where the ball was being held, Padma meeting Neville. Hermione saw Harry before she stepped out into the crowd.
"You look amazing," he said.
"You don't look so bad yourself."
He was dressed in bright green robes that matched his eyes. He was rather distinguished if she did say so herself.
He met Cho at the bottom of the stairs, and they got their picture taken by the photographer. Cho looked beautiful in silver, that matched Harry nicely.
She took a few steps down the stairs, and her eyes landed on Viktor. If Harry looked distinguished, then Hermione thought that Viktor looked like a god.
He was dressed sharply in a red tunic and black trousers. He had a cape on, and he actually wore a small smile. That was, until he caught sight of her.
He didn't wait at the bottom of the stairs for her, he almost ran up them and met her halfway.
"You look beautiful," he whispered to her as they descended.
"You look amazing yourself," she said back.
Around them she could hear the whispers wondering who she was. "Is that?" "It can't be." "That's Hermione Granger."
She walked into the hall with Viktor, up to the champion's table. There she was seated between Viktor and Harry. A little thing that she was immensely grateful for.
The dinner went well. She found herself talking to Viktor quite a bit, even making small comments in Bulgarian. She knew her accent was horrible, but it was amusing to see the looks on the teachers' faces.
The first dance was the opening of the ball section of the evening, and Viktor led her to the floor with the other champions. Fleur was dancing with Roger Davis, and Warrington had some girl from Hufflepuff with him.
The band struck up the waltz, and Hermione found herself gliding across the floor. She probably wasn't the most graceful dancer, but she found that she wasn't the worst. She even managed to ignore everyone else and just dance.
She enjoyed herself so thoroughly that she didn't even catch up with Ron and Harry until half of the evening was gone. Viktor had gone to get punch and she had decided that it would be a good idea to at least say hello to the boys.
"Isn't this amazing," she gushed to the boys. "Viktor's gone to get drinks."
"Oh, so it's Viktor now?" Ron snapped. "That's why you wouldn't come with me! You asked Krum!"
"Ron, calm down," Harry said.
"I'm pretty sure he asked her," Cho added.
"You think he's so cool because he's a champion! You traitor! You're fraternizing with the enemy!" Ron bellowed.
"We haven't talked about the tournament much at all. Mostly we talk about simple things. Classes, how our day has gone. If we read any good books recently." Hermione was desperately trying to keep her voice calm.
"Ron. If he asked her first, and she said yes, she couldn't have reasonably gone to the ball with you," Harry attempted to reason.
"You know he only wants one thing from you then," Ron switched tactics.
"You'd know all about that!" Hermione abandoned her composure and raised her voice. "You know, if you wanted me to come with you, you should have asked me! And not after you had eliminated just about every other girl in our year!"
"Well then, I guess it's good that I don't ever want to go to a ball with someone like you!" He stormed off, unable to control his temper.
It was probably for the best. Hermione looked like she was ready to hex Ron. And it took a lot to make Hermione that angry.
"Come dance with me," Neville coaxed her away from the situation. Padma took the opportunity to sit down and put her feet up.
She danced with Neville for a song, smiling as she accidentally stepped on his feet. But her laughter really erupted when Neville broke into a tap routine. He managed to save her from her anger with laughter.
She danced the next song with Harry. It mostly consisted of them swaying to the beat of the music so that they didn't step on each other's feet. Neither of them were particularly graceful dancers.
After that, she and Viktor sat down for a few songs. Her feet were starting to hurt, partly from the dancing and partly from her shoes. And Viktor was reluctant to leave her alone again.
Harry danced the night away with Cho. They were smiling, laughing, and talking until they disappeared into the gardens. Hermione assumed they were attempting to get some privacy snogging.
Padma and Neville danced as much as she dared. Padma had discarded her shoes, and was dancing in stockings, but it only made her seem even more beautiful as Neville led her across the dancefloor in the most graceful way anyone could move.
Hermione was even surprised to see Cassius Warrington sneak out of the great hall with Cedric Diggory. That was something she hadn't seen, or even considered.
Hermione and Viktor danced a few times, but spent most of their time watching the other people, and talking. They talked about their hopes and dreams, and what they thought could happen in the next year.
They both admitted that they wanted to keep in touch. And they had confessed, one right after the other, that they were eager to see where things might go with their relationship.
They walked through the halls, uncaring of who saw them, and cemented the fact that they were dating. And it was all too soon that they reached Gryffindor tower.
"I guess this is my stop," Hermione said. She nervously fidgeted with a lock of hair while staring at the floor.
"I don't vant to let you go," Viktor whispered.
Hermione gave him a hug. "I don't want to go. But I think sleeping in the halls would cause some problems."
He pulled away slightly, keeping a firm grip on her waist. He glanced at her lips, and Hermione slid her arms around his neck, pulling them back together.
The kiss was sweet, soft, and more wonderful than either one of them had expected. Neither wanted to pull apart, but Hermione could feel herself starting to yawn.
She broke the kiss, yawned, and then blushed profusely.
"Don't vorry," Viktor said. "There vill be plenty of time for kissing later."
She blushed even more at that comment, and turned to go into the common room. With one last glance at Viktor, she went to her dorm and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
A/N: This chapter came much faster than I had originally thought. But I have been writing more than I had originally planned as well. And it's wonderfully long. I hope you guys like it. I really don't like how Ron acted in this chapter, but he's just mad. He'll get over it faster than he got over Harry putting his name in the cup. He's just jealous of the attention his friends are getting, and wants someone to pay attention to him. Also, since he spent half the ball sulking, Pavarti did wind up dancing with anyone who asked her.