The Unexpected Task [H.P.]

Chapter 22- A Date and A Do-Over

The morning of my Hogsmeade trip with Cedric found me pacing the floors at an ungodly early hour, digging through my trunk aimlessly and nearly pulling out my hair in frustration when it wouldn't cooperate into its usual braid. Hermione finally rustled out of bed close to 7:30, and I nearly tore her arm off dragging her into the bathroom to help me control my hair. After a hushed argument, she disappeared, promising to return with someone who could "actually" help me. After a few tense minutes, she returned, tugging a sleepy-looking Ginny Weasley along with her.

Ginny took a moment to wake up, looking me up and down and sighing before ordering me to sit down.

"What are you going to do?" I ask, settling into a chair and frowning at her reflection in the mirror.

"Fix... this," she responded, her voice deep with annoyance. "Starting with this," she adds, picking up my braid with a look of barely disguised disgust. On the other hand, she picked up a hairbrush, and started to untangle the braid.

"What are you doing!" I shriek, grabbing at the hairbrush, "I spent so long getting it to look normal!" Ginny tutted, pulling the brush away from my fingers as she continued to brush it out.

"Here, leave it down today," Hermione added, crouching next to me as she wiped away my poor excuse for makeup, "You hardly ever do it like that, and it looked so nice at the Yule Ball. I bet Cedric will like it..." She teased, pulling a lock of hair over my shoulder and winking at me in the mirror. I squirm away, rolling my eyes and huffing, but I couldn't deny that she was right.

~

An hour passed before Ginny, Hermione, Lavender and Parvati had deemed my makeup, outfit and hair acceptable, and I was finally allowed to go downstairs and eat a scraping of breakfast before Cedric and I were supposed to meet.

Dressed in a pair of Ginny's jeans that went up so high on my stomach that they reached my ribs, one of Lavender's jumpers that hugged my chest a little too tightly, and wobbling around in a block-heeled boot, I finally entered the Great Hall on Hermione's arm, feeling as foolish as I was sure I looked. Fred and George sent me a harmonized wolf whistle from their seats, and I rushed onto our usual bench, flame-red and covering my head in my hands as I groaned.

"Blimey," Ron whispered from behind his orange juice, "You know you don't have to go out with him, right?" I looked up as Hermione smacked him with the day's copy of The Daily Prophet, and noticed for the first time that Harry was absent from the table.

"She's perfectly fine," Hermione chided, opening the newspaper and disappearing behind it with a huff.

"Where's Harry?" I asked, grabbing a plate of fruit and trying to sound casual as I popped a raspberry into my mouth.

"Didn't feel well," Ron said, returning his full attention to his plate of breakfast before him. I shrugged it off and looked around the room, trying to ignore the way Neville, Seamus and Dean were looking at me from their spots down the bench.

"Everyone's looking at me, Hermione," I complained, trying to tug the sweater away from where it was hugging my body. "That's it, I'm going back to change-"

Hermione sighed, shaking her head from above The Daily Prophet, "You don't have ti-"

"Hey," a voice sounded from behind me, and Hermione's voice immediately trailed off, ducking behind the paper once again. I turned to look, and found myself looking up into Cedric's beaming face. My heart quickened its pace in my chest, and the blood rushed to my cheeks, heating me up from the inside.

"Hi," I choke out, my voice tight in my throat.

Cedric seemed to pay no mind to my nerves, smiling placidly as he continued, "Thought I'd come by to see whether you were ready,"