Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter books or the characters
therein. If I could write as well as J. K. Rowling, I'd be a happy woman
indeed.
Hermione Granger stood in front of her mirror in the dorm room she shared with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. In less than an hour, she would be going to her second Yule Ball, and she wanted to look just right. She was very happy with her new dress robes; they were made of a beautiful silky material that was deep-purple in color and which made a lovely rustling sound when she walked. It was her hair, as usual, which was causing problems. She had used Sleekeasy's Hair Potion and had managed to tame its wild bushiness, but she just couldn't decide which style she wanted. Should she wear it up, like last year, or curl it and wear it down? "Funny", she thought, frowning at her reflection, "last year, I was nervous, but not like I am tonight. Tonight is different, and it's all because..."
Her thought was interrupted by laughter from Lavender and Parvati, who had come over to stand behind her. "Hermione, aren't you ready yet?", giggled Parvati, who had, of course, started getting ready two hours before Hermione had even come up to the dorm room.
"Really, Hermione, it's not like you're going to the ball with Viktor Krum this year! Why all the fuss?", added Lavender. "You're only going with Ron Weasley!"
"My sister hated going to the ball with him last year! He completely ignored her! I can't believe you'd go with him, Hermione!", Parvati sneered.
"Oh, and did you see those horrid dress robes of his?! You should have written to Viktor and asked him to come to the ball, Hermione." Both girls walked back to their own mirrors, still giggling and talking about how silly Ron had acted at the Yule Ball last year.
Quietly, Hermione took her wand from her pocket. "Folliculitis chaoticus", she whispered, pointing the wand at Lavender and Parvati. Moments later, she heard Parvati squeal, "Lavender! What did you do to your hair?!"
Lavender turned to Parvati and squealed even more loudly (if that was possible), "My hair?! What did you do to your hair?!" Both girls hurried to their own mirrors and were horrified to find that their once-elegant coiffures now looked like fright wigs.
Hermione turned back to her own mirror with a small smile. Tuning out the squeals and screams of exasperation coming from her roommates as they hurriedly started re-styling their hair, she decided that she would sweep up and pin the sides of her hair with combs and curl the rest and wear it down. As she set to work, her mind went back to the day Ron had nervously asked her to the Ball....
Dumbledore had announced the Ball that morning at breakfast in the Great Hall, to the squeals of most of the girls and the groans of most of the boys. Hermione hadn't been able to stop herself from glancing at Ron, hoping that maybe, this year, he wouldn't be too thick to invite her. And if he did invite her, she hoped it wouldn't be as a last resort--as much as she wanted to go with him, she would have to say no if that were the case. She had no intention of asking Viktor to accompany her--they had remained friends and still wrote to each other occasionally, but she had finally had to tell him that she didn't return his feelings. He had just recently started seeing other girls, and she was glad. Ron hadn't noticed her look, though, as he was deep in conversation with Harry and Seamus-- something about Quidditch as usual. They had gone on to class, and he had not mentioned the Ball to her at all.
In the library that evening, Hermione was deeply immersed in her Potions homework (she had found that Snape's loathing for her was such that she had to always do extra work to maintain her A+ grade in his class). She didn't notice Ron nervously coming over to her table.
"Er...hi, Hermione", Ron said, sliding into a chair across the table from her.
"Hi, Ron", Hermione said, looking up briefly from her parchment. He sat there staring at her, so she finally stopped writing. "Do you need something?", she asked.
"Umm, yeah....I wanted to ask you....umm...would you....would you...let me see your notes from Potions today?", he finished quickly, turning scarlet.
"Honestly, Ron! What would you do if you didn't have me to give you my notes? You should pay more attention in class!", Hermione scolded, digging in her bag for her notes. She handed them to him and went back to her reading.
"Thanks", he said weakly. He looked at the notes briefly, then took a deep breath. "Actually, Hermione....I wanted to ask you....umm...would you maybe...go the ball with me?", he almost whispered.
Hermione sat very still for a moment, not sure she had heard him correctly. She finally looked up at him and saw that he was just sitting there watching her nervously. "Did you just ask me...to the ball?"
He blushed even more furiously, if that was possible. "Yeah. And they only announced it this morning, so you know I'm not asking you as a last resort", he said hurriedly. "Will you go?"
Hermione resisted the urge to jump across the table and hug him. "OK, Ron. Yes, I'd like to go with you." She smiled as she saw him relax and break into a grin. "As long as I'm not your last resort", she couldn't resist adding.
"Good....umm...OK...well...I'd better get back to the common room. Harry's supposed to lose a game of chess to me in a bit. So...I'll see you later." Ron stammered as he stood up and hurried away.
Hermione's thoughts came back to the present as she realized it was nearly time to go downstairs. She put the finishing touches on her hair and straightened her robes. Why was she so nervous? Ron was her best friend, she could talk to him about anything--well, nearly anything--she hadn't been brave enough to tell him that she was starting to have feelings for him that were decidedly more than just friendly, even after he had asked her to the ball. They hadn't really spoken about the ball since that night in the library. Things had stayed pretty normal between them, though when she thought about it, she realized they hadn't been fighting nearly as much. "But we'd probably fight all the time even if we were a married couple", she thought. "We're both too stubborn and proud to admit when we're wrong".
She started toward the door to go downstairs, suppressing a smile at the sight of Parvati and Lavender both hurriedly fixing their hair. She felt a little guilty about what she had done, but hey, they had deserved it. Besides, they had just about gotten everything back into place again. She paused at the top of the stairs and took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing", she thought and started down the stairs.
Hermione Granger stood in front of her mirror in the dorm room she shared with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. In less than an hour, she would be going to her second Yule Ball, and she wanted to look just right. She was very happy with her new dress robes; they were made of a beautiful silky material that was deep-purple in color and which made a lovely rustling sound when she walked. It was her hair, as usual, which was causing problems. She had used Sleekeasy's Hair Potion and had managed to tame its wild bushiness, but she just couldn't decide which style she wanted. Should she wear it up, like last year, or curl it and wear it down? "Funny", she thought, frowning at her reflection, "last year, I was nervous, but not like I am tonight. Tonight is different, and it's all because..."
Her thought was interrupted by laughter from Lavender and Parvati, who had come over to stand behind her. "Hermione, aren't you ready yet?", giggled Parvati, who had, of course, started getting ready two hours before Hermione had even come up to the dorm room.
"Really, Hermione, it's not like you're going to the ball with Viktor Krum this year! Why all the fuss?", added Lavender. "You're only going with Ron Weasley!"
"My sister hated going to the ball with him last year! He completely ignored her! I can't believe you'd go with him, Hermione!", Parvati sneered.
"Oh, and did you see those horrid dress robes of his?! You should have written to Viktor and asked him to come to the ball, Hermione." Both girls walked back to their own mirrors, still giggling and talking about how silly Ron had acted at the Yule Ball last year.
Quietly, Hermione took her wand from her pocket. "Folliculitis chaoticus", she whispered, pointing the wand at Lavender and Parvati. Moments later, she heard Parvati squeal, "Lavender! What did you do to your hair?!"
Lavender turned to Parvati and squealed even more loudly (if that was possible), "My hair?! What did you do to your hair?!" Both girls hurried to their own mirrors and were horrified to find that their once-elegant coiffures now looked like fright wigs.
Hermione turned back to her own mirror with a small smile. Tuning out the squeals and screams of exasperation coming from her roommates as they hurriedly started re-styling their hair, she decided that she would sweep up and pin the sides of her hair with combs and curl the rest and wear it down. As she set to work, her mind went back to the day Ron had nervously asked her to the Ball....
Dumbledore had announced the Ball that morning at breakfast in the Great Hall, to the squeals of most of the girls and the groans of most of the boys. Hermione hadn't been able to stop herself from glancing at Ron, hoping that maybe, this year, he wouldn't be too thick to invite her. And if he did invite her, she hoped it wouldn't be as a last resort--as much as she wanted to go with him, she would have to say no if that were the case. She had no intention of asking Viktor to accompany her--they had remained friends and still wrote to each other occasionally, but she had finally had to tell him that she didn't return his feelings. He had just recently started seeing other girls, and she was glad. Ron hadn't noticed her look, though, as he was deep in conversation with Harry and Seamus-- something about Quidditch as usual. They had gone on to class, and he had not mentioned the Ball to her at all.
In the library that evening, Hermione was deeply immersed in her Potions homework (she had found that Snape's loathing for her was such that she had to always do extra work to maintain her A+ grade in his class). She didn't notice Ron nervously coming over to her table.
"Er...hi, Hermione", Ron said, sliding into a chair across the table from her.
"Hi, Ron", Hermione said, looking up briefly from her parchment. He sat there staring at her, so she finally stopped writing. "Do you need something?", she asked.
"Umm, yeah....I wanted to ask you....umm...would you....would you...let me see your notes from Potions today?", he finished quickly, turning scarlet.
"Honestly, Ron! What would you do if you didn't have me to give you my notes? You should pay more attention in class!", Hermione scolded, digging in her bag for her notes. She handed them to him and went back to her reading.
"Thanks", he said weakly. He looked at the notes briefly, then took a deep breath. "Actually, Hermione....I wanted to ask you....umm...would you maybe...go the ball with me?", he almost whispered.
Hermione sat very still for a moment, not sure she had heard him correctly. She finally looked up at him and saw that he was just sitting there watching her nervously. "Did you just ask me...to the ball?"
He blushed even more furiously, if that was possible. "Yeah. And they only announced it this morning, so you know I'm not asking you as a last resort", he said hurriedly. "Will you go?"
Hermione resisted the urge to jump across the table and hug him. "OK, Ron. Yes, I'd like to go with you." She smiled as she saw him relax and break into a grin. "As long as I'm not your last resort", she couldn't resist adding.
"Good....umm...OK...well...I'd better get back to the common room. Harry's supposed to lose a game of chess to me in a bit. So...I'll see you later." Ron stammered as he stood up and hurried away.
Hermione's thoughts came back to the present as she realized it was nearly time to go downstairs. She put the finishing touches on her hair and straightened her robes. Why was she so nervous? Ron was her best friend, she could talk to him about anything--well, nearly anything--she hadn't been brave enough to tell him that she was starting to have feelings for him that were decidedly more than just friendly, even after he had asked her to the ball. They hadn't really spoken about the ball since that night in the library. Things had stayed pretty normal between them, though when she thought about it, she realized they hadn't been fighting nearly as much. "But we'd probably fight all the time even if we were a married couple", she thought. "We're both too stubborn and proud to admit when we're wrong".
She started toward the door to go downstairs, suppressing a smile at the sight of Parvati and Lavender both hurriedly fixing their hair. She felt a little guilty about what she had done, but hey, they had deserved it. Besides, they had just about gotten everything back into place again. She paused at the top of the stairs and took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing", she thought and started down the stairs.