Time Spent In Eternal Endings

The Golden Girl and a Waltz

Pansy had started to get ready hours before the ball, which she thought was ridiculous. She was planning on getting ready at 5:00. It gave her enough time to throw on her dress, do her hair, and still have 10 minutes to spare.

But Pansy insisted that she start getting ready with her. Pansy thought she would take around the same time as her to get ready.

Not even close.

The evening took a turn and she took longer than Pansy. She had run out of hair product or lost it. She wasn't sure, but she searched the house all over and flipped the entire thing inside out. She couldn't find her damned hair product. She knew she couldn't walk into the ball with a ginormous fur ball on her head.

"Ha! Granger I think I found it! Greenfield's curl maintainer is that right?"

"Yes!" She ran to where Pansy's voice came from. Pansy's bathroom.

"Why was my product in your bathroom? Do you have some secret head of curls I don't know about?" She gasped "Is this a wig?!" Hermione yanked on her hair.

"OW! What the fuck Hermione! No, it's not a fucking wig! And I don't know why it's in my bathroom. Maybe some sort of counter-reaction to some spell? I don't know. Either way, it doesn't matter, you have it now."

Hermione felt so relieved it had been found. Her heart had been racing from the stress and running around the house like she was about to miss the Hogwarts train.

She slid the product through her curls. Letting her hair fall over her shoulders. Each curl it's own beautiful ringlet. It had been so long since she'd worn it down. She forgot how much she admired her toffee curls.

She quickly walked to her closet to pull the dress out, which she slipped on frantically. She was off schedule which stressed her out. The dress was even more beautiful than she remembered. It was angelic. The pearl white paired with her diamond heels and Theo's generous gift was truly a stunning sight.

Pansy had convinced her to splurge a little for her own sake. Hermione loved the heels at first sight but was bugged that they were out of her price range. Not that she didn't have the money, but spending so much on a pair of shoes seemed preposterous.

But yet again, Pansy convinced her. She had never been more grateful for her friend talking her into something she didn't want to do.

She looked at herself in the gold body mirror that sat in her room. She barely recognized herself. Credit to the mascara for that. She didn't just look beautiful, but she felt remarkably elegant.

No more dirt. No more salt-filled eyes. No more mourning. No cuts. No bruises. No running. 

No war.

"Merlin Hermione, you look— you...wow. I'm quite literally speechless." Theo spoke from her doorway. She glanced at the clock. 5:50 it read.

She wiped her eyes which were on the forefront of tearing up. "This dress really works wonders. I'm starting to think it was woven with threads of magic." She laughed

"That's all you." He sent a friendly smile. "The necklace looks even better than I anticipated."

"Thank you again. It's stunning and way too generous."

"Eh, daddy's money has its perks." He sent her a wink and she rolled her eyes.

"Did you use the Greenfield's curl maintainer?" He asked.

"Yes? How'd you know that?"

"I used it the day I came over to give you the necklace. Your mirror was too tiny so I went into Pansy's bathroom and decided to mess with my hair a little. See if I wanted to switch things up ya know?"