Disclaimer: The characters of this story belong to J.K. Rowling. The story is mine.
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Chapter 8: The Birthday Celebration
The Weasleys went all out for their only daughter's birthday celebration. The guest list itself was impressive with members of the nobility from the Kingdoms of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and a fair number of Mage Knights, A good number of Hogwarts trainers, and a number of other names well known to the inhabitants of Magiterran. Although the House of Weasley was one of the less fortunate of the nobility, due to the fall of the Kingdom of Gryffindor, they were still able to throw one of the biggest feasts ever to be served by house elves. They had also hired a large orchestra to play many of the songs that people were to dance to. They mostly played waltzes, but Fred and George managed to pass out some of their music which they were determined to have played: they called it "Latin" and "Swing".
In her room, Hermione was examining herself in the mirror. "You look lovely, dear," said the mirror. Hermione had to agree. She was dressed in an elegant sky blue dress that fit her form perfectly. The skirt flared out below the sash and the straps went around her upper arms, leaving her shoulders bare. Her normally bushy hair cascaded around her face in small ringlets. Her face had just the slightest hint of make up that highlighted her lips and eyes.
"Just perfect," said Ginny from across the room. "You really look gorgeous, Hermione."
Hermione looked towards Ginny who was wearing a similar dress, only hers was gold. "Thank you so much for lending me this dress," she said. "I promise, I'll try not to spoil it."
Ginny waved a hand. "Don't bother," she replied. "Well it is my birthday after all, so I'll go on ahead. You just relax and have fun. I'll see you later." With that, she took off to the feast.
Hermione admired herself in the mirror for a little while longer before heading out. In the corridor, she ran into Harry and Ron. Hermione turned red when she saw their mouths drop at the sight of her.
"You look beautiful," said Harry, a radiant smile on his face that made Hermione's insides melt.
Ron grinned. "Shall we escort you down to the hall, milady?" he said as both he and Harry offered her their arms. Hermione smiled and laced each of her arms through theirs. They proceeded to make their way to the Great Hall where the celebration was taking place. As soon as they got there, Hermione looked around for a number of familiar faces she knew would be attending. She recognized a number of Mage Knights who greeted the trio as they entered. To her surprise, she even saw Sir Draco Malfoy amongst the guests. It was well known that all of the Weasleys disliked Draco Malfoy and that he looked down on them. It was therefore surprising that he had been invited, as well as the fact that he had accepted. Draco did nothing more but simply stare at Hermione, making her a little uncomfortable. Hermione also recognized a number of Hogwarts trainers.
"All righ' there, yeh three?" called Hagrid as they made their way into the Great Hall. Hermione, Harry, and Ron beamed at him as they took their seats: Ron sat with his family at the high table while Harry and Hermione sat with the guests. As they ate, Hermione decided to observe the behavior of the many noble guests whom had attended: she was still a little uncomfortable about being the only common muggle-born at the celebration. She noticed Ron's brothers, Bill and Charlie, whom had arrived shortly after they had, chatting amicably with the Mage Knights. She also spotted Fred and George who were testing some of their inventions on various people, causing spontaneous bursts of laughter as people started to change into canaries or grow five-foot long tongues. One of their favorite targets was Percy, whom seemed really irritated as he was trying to impress various nobles.
Hermione picked up her goblet and took a sip. The drink tasted good and seemed to warm up her insides as it went down her throat. "What is this?"
"Butterbeer, one of the best drinks that exists," answered Harry.
After everyone had eaten their fill, Lord Arthur stood up and called for everyone's attention. "I wish to thank all of you for attending my daughter's sixteenth birthday celebration. I am pleased to see so many faces willing to turn up, despite the ongoing war against the Death Eaters. Now, the dance is about to start and I believe that it shall be opened by the lady of honor herself."
Upon hearing her father's speech, Ginny stood up and made her way towards Harry. "May I have this dance?" she asked him.
"It would be my pleasure, milady." Harry took Ginny's hand as the two made their way to the center of the dance floor. The orchestra started playing a slow tune and Harry and Ginny started to waltz around the dance floor. Hermione looked at them with a sad look on her face.
'They look so perfect with each other,' she thought sadly. 'A person like Harry deserves the best like Ginny. I am only the lowly farm girl who can only see her knight in shining armor find happiness in the arms of another woman, knowing that we can never be together.' Hermione's eyes started to get misty.
"Is something wrong, Miss Granger?" asked a voice right next to her, causing Hermione to jump. She turned around and looked into the face of Professor Minerva McGonagall, one of her Hogwarts trainers. She was a stern looking woman with green robes, oval shaped glasses, and black hair which she never let out of her bun.
"Professor McGonagall, you surprised me," said Hermione, putting her hand on her chest.
McGonagall looked at Harry and Ginny, whom had now been joined by a number of other dancing couples. "And to imagine, he once told me he didn't dance," she muttered. She looked at Hermione and said "You seem to be miserable, Miss Granger. Whatever is the matter?"
"Oh, it's nothing important."
"I see. Well, if you ever wish to talk about it, I would be more than willing to listen and to help."
Hermione gave McGonagall a small smile. "Thank you, Professor." She looked back toward the dance floor. Ginny had switched partners and was now dancing with a different Mage Knight. Ron was dancing with a noble lady. Fred and George were also swinging around the dance floor, purposely disrupting many of the couples. Suddenly, Hermione noticed that Harry was standing right in front of her, with a small smile on his face.
"May I have this dance?"
"Wh...what?" stammered Hermione. "Y...you want t...to dance w...with me?"
Harry grinned. "Come on, Hermione. It'll be fun!"
"B...but, I can't dance!"
"Its easy. Just follow my lead and leave everything up to me."
Harry dragged a reluctant Hermione on to the dance floor and proceeded to waltz with her as the orchestra struck up another slow piece. After a few moments, Hermione found that dancing was indeed easy and was soon managing the steps without trouble. It was absolute bliss to be in Harry's arms, but at the same time, she felt very sad.
"Harry," she said trying to make conversation. "Do you ever think about...love?"
Harry looked surprised by her question. "What brought this up?"
"I'm just...curious."
Harry was silent for a while as they continued to waltz around the floor. Finally, he spoke up, "I grew up without parents, denied of any form of affection what so ever. Sometimes I wonder whether some one would ever love me. But what I do know is that if there is someone who actually falls in love with me, then I will try to love her back every bit as much as so great a woman deserves. Then, we could raise a family, and I will be able to provide my children and my wife the love that I was always denied."
Hermione closed her eyes as she thought sadly 'Oh, Harry. I love you so much. And yet, we can never ever be together.' Tears started to roll down her cheeks.
Harry noticed the tears and frowned. "Hermione, what's wrong?"
Hermione couldn't hold it within herself anymore. She leaned forward and kissed Harry on the lips, completely shocking him. Then, before he could react, she tore away from the dance hall and ran straight to her room. She locked the door and cast a number of spells to make sure that no one disturbed her. After that, she flopped onto her bed, buried her face in her pillow and burst into tears.