A Night to Remember

~*~Chapter One~*~

She was nervous.

So nervous she could barely breathe.

Silently she applied the mascara she had seen her mother use so many times when a wand was too awkward. She batted her eyelashes in the small mirror in the bathroom, big enough only to see her face, and someone completely different blinked back at her. She breathed deeply, then let it out. She closed the mascara and took out eyeshadow - light pink, to match her dress robes. Slowly she stoked her eyelids until there was a thin coat of eyeshadow on. Back in the bag. She searched - eyeliner? Why not? She slowly drew a line underneath each eye, where the dark eyelashes began and stopping right where they ended. Then she blinked a few times, grabbed the bag, and hurried back to her dorm. It was empty - her dorm-mates (Emma, Jocelyn, and Natale) were all in the library, sulking because no guy asked them to the dance. She smirked - she felt so grown-up, so beautiful, to be the only third-year Gryffindor girl to be going to the Yule Ball, which happened only every hundred years.

Her hair. Oh God, what am I going to do with my hair? She searched around silently for hairclips and a brush, and suddenly found herself in front of the mirror - full and tall, with intricate ivy patterns carved into the wood frame. She looked a lot older than thirteen - maybe fifteen, sixteen. She absolutely loved her robes (even though they were second hand, they appeared to have never been worn before) - light pink with spaghetti straps, a dip in the neckline, tiny flowers adorned with sequins along the very bottom...if Harry could see her right now he'd be utterly amazed. Extremely. She smiled, self-satisfied, thinking of the look on his face when she walked gracefully into the Great Hall, holding Neville's arm and glanced around like a princess. Then he'd regret not asking her to the ball.

Her hair! What to do with it...? She spotted two lavender hair clips with small glittering flowers at the edge of each of them, a box of red bobby pins, and her brush sitting on her nightstand - perfect!! She made her way over to the pins, picked them up, and laid them on the stand by the mirror. A bun, maybe? She would have liked to curl it, but curling took too long - way too long for her liking. Besides, she and Neville agreed to meet in the common room at 7:30, and it was nearly 7:15. Then an idea struck her - she grabbed her wand and wrapped the front strands of her hair around it, waited for a moment, then let it go. A curl tumbled down, elegant and shiny. She did the same to the other side, then brushed the rest of her hair. Slowly she lifted the straight part of her hair up and crossed it in back, then pinned one side up with a purple clip and a few bobby pins, and then the other side. The curls hung around either side of her face like a red frame and her bun was perfect. She felt like she could fly, she was so beautiful. She twirled around in her robes, batting her eyelashes, when suddenly the door opened.

"Ginny?" It was Hermione! She entered, her hair sleek and shiny and twisted into an elegant knot at the back of her head. Her periwinkle robes were adorned with sequins and sparkles, which shone in the light. She was wearing a pink bracelet and red high heels; her eyes were coated with light blue eyeshadow.

"Oh my God, Hermione, you look beautiful!" Ginny gasped. She wondered what Ron would say if he saw her - over the summer, Hermione was virtually all he could talk about. Even though she was one of Ginny's best friends, the talk got very annoying, not to mention boring.

"So do you," Hermione answered, smiling shyly. "I wonder what Viktor will think..."

"The whole school's gonna be gaping at you!" Ginny said - she had never expected something like this from Hermione. She was always - Ginny hated to say it - plain and original, not one to dress up a lot.

"Don't say that!" Hermione said. She absentmindedly touched her cheek, which was flushed. "Do Harry and Ron believe me?"

"About what?" Ginny headed over to her bed and found her shoes - second hand, as usual, but beautiful just the same - golden flats with little red bows.

"About me actually having a date for the ball," Hermione said tartly.

"Oh...they think you're going alone..."

Hermione looked saddened.

"It doesn't help that Ron has yet to notice that I am, in fact, a girl..."

"Oh Hermione, they're just stupid boys!! Why do you care about what they think so much?" Ginny burst out, standing up.

"Because...I dunno...." Hermione looked away, her cheeks very red. Ginny smirked - she knew Hermione liked Ron - it was just as obvious as him liking her. They were either fighting or shooting each other shy glances across the Gryffindor table at breakfast.

"Don't worry about them. When they realize that you're dancing with Viktor Krum, they'll regret not asking you. And I'm sure Ron will think you're beautiful," Ginny reassured her, patting her shoulder. With heels, Hermione was a good two inches taller than Ginny, but she didn't mind.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked, looking a bit happier.

"Almost 7:25..." Ginny said, checking her watch. "Oh God, I'd look so stupid wearing this thing at the ball." She made an impatient noise, rolled her eyes, and threw her watch on her bed. Hermione watched, looking amused but grateful - obviously knew Ginny did that purposely, to make her laugh.

"Yeah, I think you'd look pretty strange..." Hermione said, smiling. Her teeth were perfectly straight after Draco's jinx (Madam Pomfrey had fixed them while she was in the hospital wing).

"Very. Wonder what Neville would think..." Ginny contorted her face into a kind of Crabbe-grimace and adopted a deep monotone. "'Hey Ginny, why are you wearing a watch?'"

Hermione laughed. "That sounds more like Crabbe than Neville..."

Ginny shrugged. "I promised I'd meet him in the common room right now..."

"And I'd better get going, Viktor's expecting me in the Great Hall in a few..."

"Yeah," said Ginny, suddenly more nervous than ever.

Suddenly Hermione burst out, "I'm so nervous!! Everyone's going to be watching me because I'm going with Viktor!! Ron's going to hate me forever!!"

"Don't worry!! You're beautiful!! Everything's going to be great, I promise!" Ginny said, opening the door to the dorm. "C'mon, hurry up, before Harry and Ron see you. They're going to get the surprise of a lifetime."

"You really think so?" Hermione asked as she picked up her robes to walk down the stairs.

"I know so," Ginny said, grinning, as they walked down three flights of stairs.

Hermione let out a long breath and stepped into the common room; there was a Christmas tree in one of the corners, which was shining in the light with all its tinsel and ornaments; holly was strung above every door way; wreaths hung above the fireplace, which was crackling with a warm fire lit inside. Hardly anyone was there, but everyone who was (a few sixth-years, a seventh-year couple, and three fourth-years) was older than she was. Ginny felt a shiver go down her spine - was she going to be the only third year with a date? Surely someone from Ravenclaw was going...like Luna Lovegood...

"I have to go," Hermione whispered - she was attracting many stares from the sixth-years, who were gaping at her and giggling as if they didn't really believe it was Hermione Granger.

"Okay," Ginny said, squeezing Hermione's hand gently. "Good luck! I'll see you later!"

Hermione nodded, looking slightly sick, and walked out of the common room. The sixth-year girls burst into laughter and beckoned Ginny closer. Slowly Ginny walked over to them, feeling totally exposed.

"Hey," one girl giggled. She had her blonde hair in curls and was wearing light green robes. "Was that Hermione Granger you were just talking to?"

"Yeah..." Ginny said, her muscles tightening and ready to defend Hermione at any moment.

"Wow," another said - her brown hair was pulled into a tight bun and her bangs were curled.

"Yeah," the last said. "She's so beautiful." She had too much eyeliner on but was wearing orange robes.

"Seriously," the first one said. "Usually her hair's so...poofy and..."

"And ugly," the last one added, throwing her dark hair behind her shoulder.

"It's not her fault," said Ginny quietly. "It runs in her family."

"Well excuse us!" the second one said. "God, don't have to bite our heads off!"

"Shut up, Alison," the first one said. Alison folded her arms in front of her chest and glared at the first girl. "Sorry 'bout that. We're all kinda punchy tonight. Name's Samantha." She held her hand out, and Ginny took in grudgingly, her blood boiling. Samantha's hand was cold, and her grip was weak, but all Ginny wanted to do was to get away from her.

Suddenly the common room was quite full - people of both genders were rushing down the stairs, then back up, looking both nervous and excited. It looked like a rainbow - almost every color was in some shade or another on someone's robes. She saw a seventh-year girl wearing bright yellow robes with a bright red fringe around the edge. She saw Parvati walk over to the boys' staircase and hover around it, looking nervous - Ginny knew she was waiting for Harry and wished that, for once in her life, she was Parvati. Then Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, and - thank God - Neville came trooping down the stairs all at once.

"Excuse me," said Ginny coolly to Samantha. "My date" - she put particular emphasis on 'date', trying to prove to Samantha, Alison, and the other girl that she wasn't a baby, despite the fact she was thirteen - "has arrived." This sent them into another fit of giggles but Ginny didn't care. She glided over to Neville, who didn't look all that bad in his robes of midnight blue.

"Hi," she said shyly. "You look good."
"So do you," Neville said, blushing. His face had become less and less pudgier over the years, and right now he looked quite skinny and...and handsome. Ginny felt her own face reddening, and she said shyly, "Thanks."

She realized that this was the first time she had felt uncomfortable speaking to Neville.

With a jolt she knew she was growing up.

This would certainly be a night to remember.