Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for a cute little Honda CR-V.

The Challenge (posted by Ms. Louis Cordice Zabini): Dumbledore wants to lighten up spirits after the war. He does this by making it mandatory for teachers and students to partake in Spirit Week. (Author's Note: I tweaked it a little to make it Deathly Hollows compatible by having his idea carried out by Professor McGonagall, so I figured I was close enough. I also added the dance myself, just to make it so that Spirit Week was leading up to something like it does at my school.)
Requirements: Spirit Week: Monday-Little Kid Day; Tuesday-Social Swap Day; Wednesday-Twin Day; Thursday-Opposite Gender Day; Friday-School Spirit Day. Must be 5 chapters or more. Harry/Ginny, Ron/Pansy, Blaise/Luna, and Draco/Hermione. Draco and Hermione MUST kiss. Must have a happy ending.

One. Spirit Week?

Hermione Granger sighed and settled down on one of the benches at Gryffindor's table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She couldn't help but feel at home in the castle she had gone through so much in. It had become her home away from home from the second she plopped down at this table as a first year. Hermione folded her hands in her lap as her best friends settled in around her. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley took their normal places on each side of her and Ron's little sister Ginny sat down on Harry's other side, taking his hand in her own.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry had returned to finish their schooling since they had skipped their seventh year to hunt down the Horcruxes and defeat Voldemort once and for all. Since Ginny had stayed behind and finished her sixth year, she was now in the same year as the three older students. The seventh year class was only slightly larger than normal, though, due to the large amount of casualties in the final battle. The seventh years from Slytherin were especially few and far between because most of them took the Dark Mark the summer before their seventh year. The closest person Hermione and her friends had lost was Fred Weasley, and Ron's family was still trying to deal with that loss.

George Weasley, Fred's twin, was heart-broken. He had even shut down Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for the foreseeable future. His reality had been shattered with the loss of his partner in crime and other half. The Weasley family was learning to cope with George's loss of hearing on one side of his head, and they mourned Fred's death daily. Even now, on a day that was supposed to be a happy one, Hermione could see that Ron and Ginny were dying inside at the loss of someone had always been a part of their lives since their birth. The look on Ron's face tore Hermione's insides apart, not because she saw him as more than a friend (which she thought she did at one point; thank Merlin that phase had passed), but because he was practically her brother and she couldn't imagine what she would feel like if he had died. And now he and his family had to go through that pain.

Reaching under the table, Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. He looked up at her gratefully before looking back down at his empty plate. She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from the side and leaned her head on his broad shoulder.

"It's going to be alright, Ron," she murmured soothingly. "Maybe not right now, and maybe not next week. Maybe not even next year. But it'll be alright someday. Fred had a great life, and he'd want us to remember the happier times. Remember how he was always smiling? That's how he would want you to remember him. Think of all the happiness he and George brought to the world. That's the way life is meant to be led. And that's the way Fred would want you to live your life."

Hermione felt her throat closing up and willed herself not to cry. Although she and the twins had never been that close, she still hated to see Ron and Ginny in the type of pain they were in. It wasn't okay with her.

Suddenly, a murmur went though the Great Hall. Harry rolled his eyes upon seeing who walked through the doors and went back to his conversation with Ginny, which was much like Hermione's conversation with Ron.

"Bloody bastard," Hermione heard Ron say under his breath. "He deserves to be in Azkaban waiting for the Kiss, not here terrorizing the people who did the right thing."

Hermione sat up straight and ignored Ron. She turned around to see Draco Malfoy striding down the aisle to his seat at Slytherin's table across the room from her own table. Hermione mimicked Harry's action and rolled her eyes before turning back to her own table.

"Ron, you know he earned his freedom," she stated. "He never took the Dark Mark. And he didn't kill Dumbledore. And he changed sides during the battle and protected a group of first years while Harry was looking for Voldemort to kill him. He's on our side. Everyone in this room is."

Ron ignored her and stared at his hands on the table in front of him. Hermione turned around to look at the Slytherin table again and sighed. There were so few of them now that it almost made her sad. They were all ostracized, too. Everyone still held the stigma that if you were in Slytherin, you were a bad person who did bad things and worshipped Voldemort. Hermione knew that had been the case for many of them, but those who were sitting at that table now didn't deserve to be treated that way. Hermione shook her head sadly and turned back to her own table.

"Excuse me, students."

The entire room stopped talking and looked up at the large podium that was kept in front of the teachers' table. Professor McGonagall stood behind it, surveying the group in front of her with sad eyes.

"Thank you. I'd like to start by welcoming everyone back to Hogwarts. I hope you all had a wonderful summer after the horrible events that took place last year," Professor McGonagall said. "Henceforth, I will be acting as Headmistress and also professor of Transfigurations due to the death of the beloved Albus Dumbledore. Now, without further ado, let the Sorting begin."

Professor Babbling, who taught Ancient Runes, carried the stool to the front of the Great Hall, along with the Sorting Hat. The majority of the hall went back to their previous conversations, used to the Sorting process. The younger students started fidgeting, watching as the new first years were brought into the room and slowly sorted into the four houses. Hermione finally looked up when she heard Blaise Zabini's little sister, Libby, called to the Hat. She was sorted into Slytherin and when she jumped off the stool, she booked it over to the table to sit with her brother.

Ron glanced over at the Slytherin table, finally breaking the staring contest he had been having with his hands. He locked eyes with his girlfriend of two months, Pansy Parkinson, and flashed a small smile. She beamed at him before she turned back to her other friends. Hermione had never been sure when their courtship had begun, but it was definitely the beginning of summer. Ron said he had run into her at a shop in Hogsmeade and that she had said she wanted to talk to him about something over lunch sometime. A few days later, they met for lunch and Pansy had apologized for everything that had happened in the last six years. They had started hanging out with each other more and two months ago, he had gotten up the nerve to ask her out. She had said yes and they had been happily dating ever since. Well, as happy as Ron could be given the loss he had suffered.

Hermione didn't begrudge him that happiness though. He seemed to put Fred's death in the back of his mind when he was with Pansy, and Hermione had no problem with them dating if Pansy made Ron happy and vice versa. In fact, ever since the war had ended, the relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin seemed much less tense. There would always be the rivalry, but it no longer branched out into other aspects of their lives. It was merely for fun.

"Welcome to the new students," Professor McGonagall said, demanding everyone's attention at the podium once more. "I would like to take a moment to make an announcement. Headmaster Dumbledore left a list of things he wanted to be done once the war ended, whether he was alive or not. These things are mandatory for all the students and the faculty here, and I'm sure you'll all be up to the task. Those of you that have grown up in a muggle society know what 'Spirit Week' is. For those of you who did not grow up in such a community, Spirit Week is a week of shenanigans, basically. Each day has a theme, and you dress according to that theme. These themed days usually lead up to a large sporting event or a dance of some sort, so this year will be the first annual Back to School Dance. The dance is set to take place next Saturday. That's one week from tomorrow. Spirit Week begins on Monday, which gives you the weekend to get your things in order."

A shocked murmur went through the Great Hall as Professor McGonagall revealed her news. She raised her hand to quiet the students before she continued. "Monday will be 'Little Kid Day', which is self-explanatory. Tuesday will be 'Social Swap Day', where you dress completely opposite to how you normally do on a normal day. Wednesday will be 'Twin Day', so you may want to find someone you can dress up with. School uniforms may not be worn on Twin Day as an easy way out of being imaginative. Thursday will be 'Opposite Gender Day'. I understand that you may be a bit uncomfortable with dressing as the opposite sex, but remember that participation is mandatory. And Friday will be 'School Spirit Day', where House colors are worn and pride in Hogwarts is shown to the fullest. Then on Saturday, the Back to School Dance will take place. There will be posters throughout the school that list the days and their themes. Now, I suggest you start brainstorming as you eat up."

Food magically appeared on the plates in front of the students and their cups were filled with various juices based on personal preference. Harry and Ron looked at each other over Hermione's head, bewildered by the most recent development.

"Well, looks like even when Dumbledore isn't here, he still knows how to make an impression," Harry said, smirking slightly.

"I'll say," Ron replied. "Bloody hell. How are we supposed to have all this stuff ready for Monday? We've got two days! Not to mention that next week we'll have classes to deal with."

"Ron, you sound like me," Hermione said, smiling. Ginny chuckled.

"It won't be too horrible," Ginny offered. "I'm sure we could floo Mum and she would send us anything we might need for next week. Plus I could probably borrow some clothes from the Head Girl." Ginny looked at Hermione expectantly and Hermione rolled her eyes for the second time that sitting. She nodded her approval and Ginny sat back, satisfied the she would make it through the coming week comfortably. But she suddenly turned to Hermione with a scared look on her face. "Hermione. The dance. We don't have dresses!"

Hermione dropped her fork onto the table, where it clanged against her plate and then the other utensils. "You're right! What are we supposed to do?"

"I suppose we could go down to Hogsmeade this weekend. But Merlin, they sprung this dance thing on us rather quickly."

Harry was desperate to change the topic of conversation so that he and Ron could contribute something. He wracked his brain for something - anything - to get the girls to stop talking about dresses. "Did McGonagall say that the teachers have to participate, too?" he finally asked, praying to Merlin it would work.

"Oh my gosh, she did!" Ginny said, her jaw dropping. "Can you imagine Hagrid in a dress?"

The four of them took a moment to picture the large man in a frilly dress with flowers on it, but quickly blocked the image from their minds. Ron shuddered, pushing his plate away from him with a grunt.

"Not hungry?" a sweet voice chirped from behind the group. Ron turned to look at Pansy before he nodded. She slid onto the bench on the opposite side of Ron than Hermione. Harry looked at her, trying to figure out what seemed different about her. Her voice had sounded different, but not just because it was sweet rather than disgusted. It seemed less nasally, as if she had had her face stretched out to where it was normal, rather than that of a pug. He took a good look at her nose, which was decidedly different. It was one of those perfect, ski-jump noses that you would expect to see on a model. It was also less squished into her face.

Without thinking, Harry asked, "Pansy, did you get a nose job?" She looked over at him, shocked that he would actually ask. Harry realized his mistake and quickly backtracked. "I mean, not that it would be bad if you had gotten a nose job. I was just wondering because your voice sounded different and you look kind of different than when I last saw you and -"

Ginny slapped a hand over his mouth and looked at Pansy apologetically. "Sorry about him. He sometimes speaks without thinking. Whether you got a nose job or not, you look great Pans."

Pansy nodded, her dark hair shaking as she moved her head. Ron put his arm around her slender shoulders and hugged her to him. "Harry, I did get a nose job. I had a deviated septum, and if I hadn't gotten the operation it would have hindered my ability to breathe. I figured that I might as well get my dream nose if I was going to get anything done to it. And really, I don't mind people asking. It's not a big deal."

"I think you're beautiful no matter what," Ron said, mushily. It was the first time anyone had seen Ron melt under a girl's spell, and it was a welcome change from his normally sulky self. Hermione and Ginny locked eyes and smiled.

"Gin, do you want to go plan our Twin Day outfits?" Hermione asked.

"I'd love to. Harry, you can come with us so we have a guy's opinion," Ginny said, pulling Harry up from the table. Hermione followed the couple and waved goodbye to Ron and Pansy, leaving the two to talk alone for a while. "Oh, Hermione. I wonder if we could do a Triplet Day instead of Twin Day? We could get Pansy in on it if she wanted," Ginny said loud enough for Pansy and Ron to hear.

"That would be lovely," Pansy called from the table with Ron.

"We'll have your clothes ready for you tomorrow," Hermione replied and walked out of the Great Hall with two of her best friends.