Chapter One … The Five Step Plan

The days just seemed to drag on and on. Every day it was the same damn thing, get up eat breakfast, go to classes, do homework, do the boys homework, then go to sleep and start all over. Hermione Granger was sick of the monotony. She was sick of doing the same thing day in and day out just to hear the others call her a stick in the mud for it. Damn it she could be fun and spontaneous, after all she was a Gryffindor, hell she was the Gryffindor princess and although she enjoyed the post war world and all the quiet and peacefulness that came with it, she wasn't boring and she would prove it.

She supposed it all started when Harry and Ron began making snide comments, of course they didn't mean them to be hurtful, they just didn't understand the pressure everyone placed on her. For instance, they would all be in the common room talking when Seamus would appear with a bottle of Firewhiskey and offer it around. The boys would of course accept and when she opened her mouth to remind them to finish their work they shrugged their shoulder and simply stated "awww Mione we know you can handle it". It wasn't that she didn't want to have fun with them but they just assumed she would pick up the pieces while they goofed off.

The way Hermione saw it she was the one who had her work finished weeks in advance so if anyone should be slobbering over a bottle of Firewhiskey it should be her. She pondered these things while she wandered around the lake one evening, and could only come up with one conclusion. It was her seventh year and she was damn determined to have a bit of fun for once. Harry and Ron will just have to buck up and manage their own work from now on, after all if you couldn't become an Auror after you vanquished a Dark Lord then a couple of NEWTS were not going to make a difference. With her resolve steeled properly she threw her shoulders back to find herself a coach in the ways of fun. Ginny Weasley would do nicely.

It took her little time to locate the redhead who was notorious for visiting Professor Lupin after dinner to get help with her DADA class, which she conveniently had an outstanding in. Hermione walked towards Remus' classroom and knocked swiftly. She entered when they called to her and smiled at the scene in front of her. Remus was sitting upon his desk with his legs dangling over giving him the look of a charming schoolboy sneaking a chat in detention. Ginny had of course perfected the art of nonchalance leaning against the student work tables with her chest subtly pushed out. She was beautifully understated in her green tank top and khaki skirt.

Hermione greeted Remus with a small kiss on the cheek and graced Ginny with one as well before announcing her intentions.

"I am terribly sorry to interrupt your study group, but I was just intending to impose long enough to ask Ginny if she would be so kind as to meet me in my room when you two are done flirting… I mean studying." She took a moment to smirk at Ginny who looked completely unperturbed at Hermione's statement then turned to leave after securing an affirmative from the red headed beauty.

It was around two hours later when Hermione heard the knock at her door. She swung it open to reveal her best friend wrapped in her robe and carrying her school things with her.

"You looked in need of some girl time, so I decided that since you have the advantage of being our most illustrious head girl I would spend the night in your chambers, we would eat chocolate, and you could vent about what an ass my brother and the idiot who saved the world as we know it have the ability to be. You don't mind do you?" Ginny rambled off quickly.

"Oh Ginny, you read my mind, if I weren't strait as a board I believe I would be in love with you. Please make yourself comfortable and we can get to the business of venting. And then maybe you can tell me how long its going to be before you wiggle your way into Remus' bed" Hermione replied with a giggle as she motioned Ginny into the room and patted the bed.

The girls made themselves comfortable on the large bed then quickly got down to the task of chatting the night away. Hermione told Ginny all about her plans to be a bit more free and just how she wanted to do it. Of course Ginny was all for this new idea and together they came up with a comprehensive five step plan to create a brand spankin new Hermione Granger. Step one would begin that evening.

The girls worked tirelessly until around one thirty in the morning making Hermione over. Ginny began by taking a look into Hermione's wardrobe and picking pieces to shorten and tighten and casually throwing other articles of clothing out completely. She was blur of transfiguration activity and when she finally seemed satisfied with her work, she turned to Hermione with a pair of low heels dangling from her fingertips. They were after all a girl's best friend. The next hour was spent teaching her to walk gracefully in heels and with her head held high.

Next came the plucking of eyebrows, shaving of legs, smoothing of curls, trimming of bikini areas, and finally the spreading of goop onto her face to smooth and tone or some other nonsense. The fact was that though she was a bit rough around the edges, Hermione Granger was the epitome of understated beauty. She had smooth clear skin, stood at a statuesque 5'9'', and though her hair was a nightmare normally, when it was properly cared for it fell in silken waves down her back. Ginny in one final pampering move, transfigured two cold eye masks and after handing one to Hermione, slipped it over her eyes and snuggled on her side of the bed.

The next morning the alarm went of half an hour early to allow the dangerous duo to dress and apply their makeup. Hermione woke with a full heart and for the first time in a long time she was excited about facing the day. Today was the day she would get to try out step two and she would be damned if she wouldn't have a blast doing it. The girls dressed, and even though they were boring and all the same, they were glad for school uniforms because it certainly took the guess work out of their morning ritual during the week. Ginny showed Hermione the basics of applying makeup without looking like you were wearing makeup and soon the girls had donned their robes which they left hanging open over their uniforms.

After all, Muggle or Wizard the school girl look was totally hot and hard to ignore. The hard part was getting noticed as the naughty school girl in a castle full of them. When Hermione pointed out this flaw to Ginny, using Lavander and Pavrati as example, Ginny was quick to point out the difference between naughty and trashy causing Hermione to giggle. After all she still hadn't forgiven Lavander one hundred percent for getting her claws in Ron. The silly idiot just had no idea how to handle anyone from the opposite sex besides shoving her tongue down their throats and the red headed moron fell for it in a snap. Oh well, that was over and done with and Hermione hadn't carried feelings for Ron in awhile, even her and Harry had given it a go once. That was more like kissing her brother then anything she could have imagined and although she was a bit sad that the opportunity to be with Harry wasn't going to work out, she was glad they were still friends. He was still an idiot a lot of the time though.

When the girls made their appearance at breakfast they were greeted with catcalls and whistles and for the first time since the Yule Ball it seemed that a good majority of the male population had stood up and taken notice that Hermione was in fact a member of the female species. In fact her giant brain could indeed fit inside a pretty little head and speaking of heads it seemed there were a great many of them turned in her direction at the moment following her progress to her seat between the boys.

Breakfast was spent convincing the boys that she wasn't after anyone in particular, but that she was just a little sick of being the resident bookworm and only that. Her new goal in life was to be the resident hot bookworm and by the way she had plans this evening so they would have to handle their own assignments for the evening. They looked at her sheepishly, but said nothing in reply other then a quiet murmur that they could handle their homework themselves for once. It seemed step two was well underway by the time breakfast was finished, which was to finally stand up to her friends.

Looking back through her history, Hermione was startled to find that she was one tough cookie when it came to standing up to her enemies, but more then a little lacking in saying no to her friends. All Harry and Ron had to do was wiggle their bottom lips a bit and widen their eyes and she was a sucker to their schemes. After all, they appreciated it she knew, but no more would Hermione allow herself to be puppy dog eyed into doing mounds of their homework or covering for them sneaking off into the kitchens, or hell even making Polyjuice potion illegally in a bathroom and turning herself into a cat for them. Yes, step two was very nicely underway and it seemed that Hogwarts was in for a bit of shock treatment where Hermione was concerned.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading this and I will hopefully be able to update regularly. I fired off a one shot earlier today and it just couldn't keep me sated. So here it is and hopefully you will enjoy reading about Hermione's journey into womanhood as much as I think I will enjoy writing it.