Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Hmm…well, not too many reviews on the last chapter, but we shall press on. I also got a couple of people who were a bit disappointed at how the Hogwarts part of this is going, and I'm so sorry that it's not as interesting! I just find it a lot harder to write within the bounds of Hogwarts than in my own, made-up setting. But still, I hope you will enjoy this, the last chapter. Thanks so much for your support and your reviews!

Disclaimer: I (oops) haven't written one of these in a while, but none of the characters, nor Hogwarts, belong to me!! And you would do well to remember that!!

"Oh Hermione," Lavender sang. "Hoooogsmeade time!"

"What?" Hermione snapped. "What are you going on about? Why would I want to go to bloody Hogsmeade?" She was rather irritable because of all the goings-on about the ball. Her roommates had been talking about it all week, and talking about their dates (Parvati was going with some boy in Ravenclaw, and Lavender was going with - well, Hermione wasn't quite sure whom, but someone, anyway), and of course they had been talking about their dresses, as well. Hermione didn't have a date, and therefore didn't have a dress.

"Language, my dear Hermione, language," Parvati chirped, chuckling when Hermione rolled her eyes. "We have to go to Hogsmeade to pick up our dresses, and you, little missy, are going to buy one."

"Why do I need a dress when I'm not going? Only losers go to balls without dates."

"Au contraire, my friend. Only cowards don't go to the ball. Plus, you're Head Girl. You have to go." Lavender smirked triumphantly. There was no way Hermione would be able to get out of this one. Oh boy, would Ron owe her (here her mind delved into more, erm, mature scenes, so we won't go there).

"Damnit!" Hermione swore. "You're right. And I have no idea about a dress, or anything…"

"Calm down, Herms," Parvati soothed (fully aware that the 'Herms' part would serve to annoy her roommate, not calm her). "Lav and I took the initiative and did a bit of planning. And this is the first part of our plan. So up you get. We're going to Hogsmeade."

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"Oh my god, you guys. How have I lived with you for almost seven years and not realized what Nazis you are?" Hermione asked, exasperated. Lavender and Parvati (and Ginny, who had been recruited to their ranks) were extremely serious shoppers, and very tough with the clothes, muttering things like "No that makes you look fat," and "Now you looks like Moaning Myrtle," at every dress she tried on. The only response she got, however, was a pair of blank looks.

"What's a Nazi, Hermione?" Ginny inquired politely, obviously thinking that her friend had cracked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Nevermind, it's a Muggle thing. The Nazis were…" she trailed off, realizing it was hopeless. "Let's just get this over with."

"OK, Hermione whatever you s -" Lavender gasped and cut off her sentence as her eye caught on something. "Oh. My. God. It's perfect!" She gave an excited squeal and ran over to a rack.

"Lav, what are you going on abou -" Parvati cut off her sentence as she, too, caught sight of the dress. She took it off the rack and held it up for Hermione and Ginny to see.

Hermione's sharp words died on her tongue when she saw the dress. Her jaw dropped as she wordlessly held her hand out for the dress so that she could try it on.

Needless to say, it fit.

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Finally, the Saturday of the ball arrived. Most of the Gryffindor girls were in their dorms already, making final adjustments to their gowns and doing other primping activities. Hermione, however, had a different idea. She was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace with Harry. Their conversation consisted mostly of dry comments about the questionable necessity of primping, and chuckles at the various comments that occasionally floated down the stairs ("Damnit Beth, did you take my underwear again?" and "OMG I hope Harry Potter will dance with me" were the two favorites so far).

When Lavender's voice rang out "Hermione! Get your arse up here! There's only an hour until the ball!" neither was very irked. Hermione just wanted to escape the tension, and Harry was excited for the ball - not to mention Hermione in a dress.

"See you in a bit, Harry," Hermione whispered, kissing him on the cheek before trooping upstairs. Harry smiled a little at her retreating back and decided that he may as well go upstairs, as well. If nothing else, he could groom his Firebolt again.

"Hermione!" Lavender scolded. "Where have you been? You should have come up at least an hour ago - we have to tame your hair!"

"Relax, Lav. After the fiasco that was an entire bottle of Sleekeazy's in 4th year, I looked up a few hair spells." Hermione pulled out her wand, muttered a few words under her breath, and suddenly her usually bushy hair was straight, ending in soft waves at the middle of her back. Parvati and Lavender cast her an appreciative look before bearing down on her, brandishing various eyeshadows and lipsticks, etc.

Finally, Hermione's make-up was complete, and her hair, which Lavender and Parvati decided to leave down, was brushed and anti-frizzed, it was time for Hermione to put on the dress. She carefully stepped into the ice blue, floor-length, strapless dress and Parvati zipped it up for her. She stared at herself in the mirror, amazed at how she looked, and thought that even if she didn't have a date, at the very least she looked damn good. She hooked a simple silver chain around her neck, stepped into her matching blue stilettos, and decided that she was ready.

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"Ladies and Gentlemen of Hogwarts, welcome to the Snowflake Ball! The Head Girl and I would like to welcome our musical guests, the Weird Sisters!" The Great Hall, which was now decorated with hanging icicles and had large snowflakes falling from the enchanted ceiling, burst into cheers at Draco Malfoy's opening words. The Weird Sisters began playing, and Draco took a hold of Hermione's hand and led her out into the middle of the dance floor. After a few moments, other students began to trickle onto the floor. The two heads took this as a cue that the dance had started, and drifted off to find their own dates. Well, Draco went to find Ginny, and Hermione went to go stand by the refreshment table.

"God," she thought. "I'm such a loser." There was Lavender dancing with - was that RON?! No wonder Lavender had been so secretive about her date. But, Hermione had to admit, they did look rather good together. And there was Parvati with her Ravenclaw bloke, and Draco and Ginny (the two had been going out for a couple of months now), and Harry and…wait, no. Where was Harry, anyway?

"Looking for me, Hermione?" a voice breathed in her ear. Hermione jumped and turned around wildly, swatting Harry on the arm when she realized who it was.

"Harry, you prat. You scared me!" Her only response was one of those insufferable smirks. "Where's your date, anyway?"

"I don't have a date, Hermione. Not yet, anyway. See, there's this girl I like, and it turns out that she likes me too, and she's been sending me these love notes…" Hermione gaped.

"Wh-what are you talking about, H-h-harry?" But again, she received no spoken answer. Instead Harry bent his head and captured his lips with hers. This, oh Merlin, was even better than the dream, Hermione thought. Just as the kiss was becoming heated (perhaps too heated for a public place - people were beginning to stare), Hermione pulled back.

"Harry, what is this about? Is this some sort of sick, elaborate prank that you and Malfoy set up?" Hermione asked, her eyes filling with tears. How had this happened?

"No, Hermione. Never! No, Malfoy told Ron, who told me, that you were the one who was writing the notes to me." Hermione turned around to glare at the two boys aforementioned, and found them staring in her direction. Of course, as soon as they saw her death glare, both of them turned back to their dates and became deeply immersed in conversation. "And I - I hoped that you meant them, and so I devised this whole thing with Ron, and now…I can see that you didn't mean it or whatever, so I-I'll just go." Hermione faced him again, an incredulous look gracing her made-up features.

"What are you talking about? Of course I meant what I wrote!" Harry's face, which had looked crushed before, lit up with a bright smile. He leaned down again to kiss her, but this time it was he who pulled away.

"So, d'you wanna dance?" he asked, taking her hand and leading her onto the dance floor when she nodded.

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For his part, Harry was ecstatic at how everything had turned out. When he had come into the ball and caught sight of Hermione in that dress, he had felt all the blood in his face rush to - well, rush out of his face. He had taken a moment to compose himself before going over to talk to her. And now, he was holding her in his arms, and her head was on his shoulder, and he could feel her breath on his neck. He would have to remember to thank Draco someday (after his ego had deflated a little from his success). Ron, too, if he could pull him away from Lavender.

"Hermione," he whispered. "You know I love you, right?" She lifted her head to meet his gaze, her eyes shining.

"I love you too, Harry."

And now, Harry thought, everything was perfect. So perfect, in fact, that it all felt like a dream.

FIN

A/N: OK, well that's the end of that! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Thank you so much to everybody who's read and reviewed! It really means a lot to me! Perhaps someday I will write another story…

Oh, and if you want an idea of Hermione's dress, go here: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=185449&CategoryID=7757.

Much MUCH love from,
Kaye