Transfiguration was the usual affair as normal. Professor McGonagall always treated the class always the same as ever.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were starting off easy by turning tarantulas into spiders(Ron fearfully hid in the closet and refused to come out).
Good thing the Slytherins aren't in this class, thought Harry. If they found out that Ron's afraid of spiders, I don't even want to think about what they'll do to him.
After an hour and a half of boredom, they were free to go. Ron immediately told Lavender, Seamus, Dean, and Parvati to get the common room ready.
"We're going to the kitchens to get food." He told them.
"Us?" Harry asked.
"That's right."
Soon enough, they emerged in front of the fruit bowl portrait. Ron tickled the pear until it changed into a doorknob, which Harry twisted and went in.
The kitchens were also decorated by the house-elves, and Harry supposed that they had extra time to do the task themselves.
"Maybe it adds to their self-confidence?" Harry muttered. Ron grunted.
Sooner than they had expected, Dobby found them, and hugged Harry very hard.
"Now, now, Dobby...Harry gasped, unable to breathe. The house-elf let go. "Dobby, could you give us some food? We were planning to throw a party in our common roo - "
No sooner than he had spoken the words than no fewer than a score of elves bearing trays of food strode into sight.
"Oh," Harry said, mildly suprised by the amount. "Well, er...no offense, Dobby, but how're we going to carry all this?"
"Harry Potter does not need to carry, sir! We can do it ourselves, sir!"
Ron was curious. "How?"
Dobby pointed to a set of miniature staircases, built just for elves.
"Oh, there are passages that lead out all over the castle?" Ron said.
"Yes, sir. We elves found it easier to move around Hogwarts that way."
The house-elves bowed as best as their loads would allow them, and one by one, disappeared into the pasageway.
Ron turned white. "Hermione."
"What? Oh, no - "
He and Ron's eyes met fearfully. If she saw what the house-elves were doing, she would raise an almighty row at Ron and Harry.
Ron raced out of the portrait. Harry followed, yelling his thanks as he went.
"We n-need t-to warn the o-others to g-get Hermione out of the way." Harry panted as he and Ron pounded up the stairs.
"Hopefully the e-elves aren't as fast as w-we think they a-are." Ron replied.
They reached the common room. Hermione was sitting comfortably in a chintz chair by the hearth-rug.
"Hermione, I-gotta-show-you something." Harry panted, as Ron and Harry rushed in, making several timid second-years jump.
Hermione frowned at them over Jinxes for the Jinxed. "What?"
"Ron, you stay behind, and get-the-others-ready-for-the-party." Harry babbled. Ron nodded, he got the message. And with that, Harry seized Hermione's hand and dragged her toward the boy's staircase.
"Harry, what is thi-"
Harry didn't answer.
As soon as he reached his door, he pinned her against it.
"What are you - "
"SHHHH!" Harry whispered urgently, pressing his back to her.
"Harry, I can't breathe!"
"Sorry." He gave her a bit of breathing space.
He could hear squeaky voices from below. Hermione also heard, and craned her neck over Harry's shoulder.
"What's that sound?"
"Er..." Harry thought lightning-fast. "One of Fred and George's new inventions...they make your voice seem tiny, you know..."
To his utter amazement, Hermione accepted his story.
"Hmm, and is that why you were trying to hide me from?" She asked bemusedly.
"Er, yeah. yeah, I did."
"Well, I'm not exactly disappointed in them, to tell you the truth. At least they've got something to do with their lives. Can we go donstairs now?"
"Er...sure." In his heart he fervently wished that Ron had gotten rid of the house-elves.
To Harry's immense relief, there was not one sign of a house-elf when he led Hermione downstairs.
"What did he do to you?" Ron asked her. "Look's like your hair's bushy again."
"Harry? He smashed me into a wall."
Ron gasped mock sympathetically.
"Shut up, Ron." Harry snorted, wiping sweat off his forehead.
Everyone was gathered in the common room, and someone had bought in a WWN musical transmitter, and cranked the volume as high as it would go. The music was blasting at Harry's ears, and he was most relieved when their Head of House stuck her stern contenance around the corner, and snapped at them to turn it down a notch.
Ron and Harry were playing American Blackjack, using a deck of Exploding Snap cards.
Ron reached for a card. "Hit m -"
The deck exploding, scorching Ron's hand.
"AHHH!"
"You all right?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
It was now three o'clock in the afternoon, and both of them looked around. "Where's Hermione?"
But she was nowhere to be seen.
Ron wasn't remotely worried. "Ah, no matter. The formal dinner starts in three hours. She's probably getting ready in her dormitory."
They listened to a light song on the WWN, which was left on at normal volume.
By four o'clock, all the girls had gone, leaving the males to fiddle around.
"Has Luna told you what color she's wearing?"
"She's a girl, mate. Girls like suprises. What about Hermione?"
When he and Hermione were in Hogsmeade, Hermione had walked in the wizarding tailor and forbade him to follow her. She had even ordered Parvati and Ginny to hold him in place. He relayed this information to Ron, who just shrugged helplessly.
Harry's green dress robes had been several inches short at the legs and the sleeves, so after Hermione came out of the tailor's, he had went inside, and bought a set of comfortable sapphire-blue dress robes.
Fred and George had, on Harry's request, taken Ron to another Wizarding Robes Shop. Ron had chosen a ruby-red set.
When it was an hour and a half before the formal dinner was to begin, the males also trudged upstairs to change, as not one single girl had finished preparing yet.
Harry amusedly watched Ron admire himself in the mirror. "You look like you're wearing your Quidditch robes, from a distance."
Seamus was wearing robes of turquoise, Dean a warm orange , and Neville was pulling on sky-blue robes, slightly crinkled.
They sat and chatted after changing, which took very little time. Harry had no need to flatten his hair; Hermione had done it for him.
Ron was pointing accusedly at Dean. "Now, if you play my little sister-"
"Relax, mate...I swear my intentions are honourable." Dean held up his hands disarmingly, and grinned.
Harry's watch's alarm went off; it was now five-thirty, time to go to the Great Hall. However, it was much more stylish than ordinary Muggle watch alarms, as it came with several hundred stored different sounds. A sound like a small gong went off.
Seamus leapt to his feet. "Time to go downstairs!" He shouted, and tore down the winding staircase.
Harry, Ron, and the others followed.
The common room was very crowded, and clean; Harry supposed Dobby had convinced some elves to hastily clean up.
Seamus was talking animatedly to Parvati, in her old robes of bright pink. Neville was sitting with Lavender, and there were a whole bunch of other couples. They were sitting on the hearth-rug, squeezing into armchairs, and seated by the window. The room was a riot of colour.
However, Harry was looking anxiously around for his own partner. Someone waved at him. Harry walked closer, and it was then he saw his first glimpse of Hermione.
She was beautiful.
Hermione had tied her hair into a stylish ponytail with plaits on the end. It was no longer bushy, not even a tiny hint. Her robes were pure, gleaming gold, and was matched by a sparkling necklace, and twin bracelets.
She had matured into a fine, well-spoken, young woman, with a body to match. How Harry had missed that, he did not know...maybe it was because her back had been bent trying to lug books around, or maybe Harry had never seen her standing properly...
It was a while before Harry realized that he was staring at her.
Hermione noticed; she laughed, and waved her hand furiously in front of his face. "So, how do I look?"
Harry snapped out of his reverie, and said. "Fabulous. And I can give you no higher praise than that..."
She beamed at him. Something twinkled near her earlobes...
"You got pierced?"
"That's right."
"How come I've never noticed that?"
"It was meant to be a suprise..." She tilted her head at him comically, and Harry caught a flash of a gold headband.
"How much did you spend on your outfit, Hermione?"
"Loads, trust me." She grinned rather mischeviously.
Ron had noticed, and had the same reaction as Harry.
"Wow, Hermione!" Ron whispered.
"Thanks, Ron. Shall we go now, Harry?"
"What? Oh, yeah..."
Hermione took his arm, and led him out of the common room. Everyone else followed.
The Gryffindors arrived in the great hall. Luna was waving at them, smiling at Ron. She was wearing amethyst-violet robes that sparkled now and then. Her hair was glittering madly, and she had dyed it silver.
"How are you?" She asked Harry, and Hermione.
"Good." They chorused.
"Oh, that's good. Daddy took me on the trip this summer, but we didn't manage to catch a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
"Aw, that's a shame." Hermione said.
Malfoy came over, and gawked at Hermione, just as Harry and Ron had. Hermione did not take long to notice.
"Get a grip, Malfoy...my face is up here." She snarled nastily.
Harry laughed, out of relief more than anything. It was still the same old Hermione that he had know for five years and counting.
Malfoy walked away angrily. His partner Pansy Parkinson, shot a look of deep hatred at Hermione, which was promptly returned.
AUTHOR'S OWN REPLY- I got myself a spare. Might as well loose off the creativity joint.
Even if people didn't know who Harry and Hermione was, they still pointed at them. Or more specifically, Hermione.
"Wow, look at that girl..."
"Where?"
"Next to the guy in light blue. See her?"
"Oh, yeah...wow, she's pretty."
Harry suddenly felt very proud of her.
There were some who were considerably braver, and delivered personal compliments; Hermione accepted them all with graciously.
Harry supposed that if it was he, he would have stammered worse than Neville.
"Are you used to this or something? You sure act like it."
"I do?"
Harry nodded. His neck prickled as if he and Hermione had stepped into a very bright spotlight.
"Come on...could we please sit down now?"
"Of, fine..."
Instead of the four house tables lined up in four, they were arranged so that it was almost like a square.
There was a raised dais, like a stage; sets of instruments were already placed there. Most of the instruments appeared quite normal. However, there was a very complicated set of drums, with more than fifty different types of drums.
Harry sat down between Hermione and Luna.
Remember when I made Hermione's middle name Emma? Sounds about right, too; has a nice flow to it. Hermione Emma Granger. Say it out loud. You'll know what I mean.
The golden plates sat gleaming, yet no food appeared on them. Nor were there menus, that had appeared in the Yule Ball to recive orders.
Everyone seemed to be staring curiously at Professor Dumbledore, no doubt hoping to get a clue how to conjure food.
Dumbledore had quickly noticed, and said, "Oh, I believe you are wondering how to satisfy your appetites? I will tell you all this: Just have a little chat with your personal plate, and food will come out."
Everyone continued to stare at the headmaster, not comprehending. All but one.
Ron started talking to his plate.
"Hmm. I'd like a medium-sized turkey sandwich. Oh, spiced dressing would be nice...turkey should be moist, but not mushy. I'd like the bread to be country parmesan...lettuce should be crisp, but not dry. Oh, and I'd like a soft crust. Hard crusts make me choke."
The sandwich appeared.
Ron gingerly picked it up, took a bite, and chewed measuredly. Finally, he gave the headmaster of Hogwarts a thumbs-up, which was cheerfully returned.
Ron grinned at Harry. "Good service!"
Luna patted his arm affectionately and smiled, while Hermione looked torn between amusement and disapproval. The rest of the Hall started ordering from their plates, also.
Harry told his goblet to simply fill up with cold pumpkin juice, with a twist. It appeared.
Hermione ordered buttered mashed potatoes, with savoury dark gravy.
"Mmmm..." She bit into a spoonful, and the gravy nearly dripped down her chin.
Harry could not help but snigger. "You reminded me of Ron's manners, there. And you're a girl...don't you care about calories, or, or...things?"
Hermione gave him a shot on the arm, and grimaced exaggeratedly.
"I've been around boys too long, anyways."
"Yeah, that's pretty true." Harry swigged out of his goblet, and politely told his plate to fill up with a tender steak, with a small rubbing of ginger and mustardseed, and garnished with parsley. Every time a dish was finished, the plates would clear and await more orders.
Harry ate his steak blissfully, and requested a block of Strawberry Daquiri ice cream.
Ron was eating with his usual manners, but Luna did not seem to mind. In fact, she was giggling, and mopping Ron's chin off with a flowery napkin.
There were still murmurs about him and Hermione. Once, Ernie Macmillian had abandoned his pompous mood and yelled happily,
"Hey, Harry! Be sure to invite us to your wedding!" The hall rang with laughter.
Harry, of course, had blushed, and Hermione had smiled and waved, like
a very famous movie star.
"Don't eat too much, Harry." Hermione whispered to him.
"Why not? I can't eat much more anyways..."
"Because we're supposed to dance!"
Harry shook his head frantically. "I've told you, I can't dan-"
"I'ts OK, I'll teach you."
Harry was inclined to smile a bit. "You, teaching me how to dance?"
She slugged him on the shoulder, hard. "You think I can't dance?"
"I take it back." He said, rubbing his sore shoulder.
A half hour later, after everyone's appetites were satiated, Dumbledore stood up again.
"Ahem...It is my great pleasure and honour to introduce to you..." Here Dumbledore gestured at the stage.
Several wizards, and one witch strode out, waving.
"...the Weird Sisters, and the Demigods!"
There was a round of wild, over-enthusiastic applause.
The Weird Sisters were wearing their band robes, which were artfully torn. However, the Demigods were so contrasted from the Sisters that it was hardly possible that they shared the same passion.
The Demigods were young(the oldest one couldn't have been more than twenty-eight), and they numbered fewer than the Sisters. They were wearing rainbow-hued robes, and all of their hair were spiked, including the smiling witch, who was picking up one of the guitars.
Harry felt a tug on his robes. It was Hermione.
"What?"
"Don't you want to dance?"
"No." Harry said firmly.
"It was a rhetorical question, Harry...oh, come on - "
Many people and their partners had already walked onto the dance floor, including Ron and Luna.
And Hermione dragged Harry beside them.
"Hermione, I can't dance." Harry was starting to panic.
The music started.
The drummer of the Demigods started hammering away at the drums closest to him, and Harry caught a brief glimpse of several other pairs of drumsticks drumming away merrily of their own accord.
It was a very fast song, so fast that Harry very nearly tripped on his robes as Hermione pulled him into a whirl.
All of the guitars seemed to be sound-concentrated, and let off into a big blast of sound that was suprisingly reminescent of Muggle electric guitars. What was more, the music seemed to be coming from everywhere; from behind Harry, either side of Harry, in front, and even underneath him. The music possessed a rough, yet delicate touch that penetrated to Harry's very soul. Harry felt so full of happiness when this happened, that he absolutely had to bleed it off somehow, and that was by dancing.
Harry had a strange unique grace when it came to dancing that even Malfoy was astonished, as he swung by, with Pansy Parkinson. Hermione laughed, grabbed his hands, and threw them around her waist playfully.
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Jan 5th, 2005 03:32 AM
