mágoa ( ✓ )

chapter three

SATURDAY AFTERNOON CAME quickly, and Lavender Brown wasted no time in pulling apart Hermione Granger's bed hangings and disrupting her from her studies. The blonde pulled the girl from under her blankets and brought her over to Parvati's bed, where the brown-eyed girl was running a brush through her smooth black hair.

"Hermione, I thought we agreed to no studying today! It's a girls' day out, and we come back from breakfast to find you with your nose in a book... despicable." Lavender sighed, pushing the girl down to take a seat beside Parvati. "For your punishment, you have to allow us to give you a makeover."

The bushy-haired girl's eyes widened. "What? You guys didn't say anything about me studying before we go to Hogsmeade! It was only a couple of pages..."

"A couple of pages doesn't matter," Parvati said. "You're in the books every single day. You're missing out on so much!"

"Like what? Boys? Gossip? Neither of those are really my forte. If I'm ever going to get a job at the Ministry, I'm going to need to stay on top of my studies." Hermione claimed defensively, and it looked as though Parvati was swallowing whatever she wanted to say next, and let out a deep sigh.

"Just close your eyes and face me, will you?"

A half an hour later, the girls had succeeded in making Hermione's hair straight and pretty like it had been during the Yule Ball – minus the elegant knot – and had applied a light layer of eyeliner and mascara to her eyes, causing their color to pop. Lavender coated her lips in a subtle-colored lip gloss, and patted her cheek with pride once she'd finished. "You look beautiful!"

Parvati held a mirror up to her dorm mate's face, and Hermione's eyes widened at what she saw staring back at her. She touched her reflection, disbelieving of what she saw. While getting ready for the Yule Ball, the Gryffindor had admired her reflection fondly, proud of how nice her hair looked, but she hated how long it had taken to get it that way. These girls had succeeded in doing her hair in less than half an hour!

Lavender moved away from Parvati's bed and towards the trunk at the base of Hermione's bed, nose scrunching up as she saw the clothing inside. "These won't do," she decided, walking over to her own trunk and pulling out a pair of dark jeans and a cute pink sweater. "There. These should fit you just fine."

After Hermione had changed into the clothes – having to do so in front of the girls as Lavender insisted she didn't run off with a book or something – the girls cooed appreciatively.

"Look Lavender," Parvati remarked. "She's a girl after all!"

Hermione blushed again, eyeing herself in the mirror. The girls finished getting ready and graciously allowed the brown-haired girl to read while they did so. As soon as they were dressed: Lavender in an outfit similar to Hermione's only with a tiffany-blue colored sweater, and Parvati wearing a gold-colored jumper which made her skin color pop. They slid into their winter boots, put on heavier coats overtop their sweaters, and made their way out of the dormitory and towards the portrait hole.

Harry Potter came walking up to Hermione upon her descending the stairs, following the girls, but before he could get even a single word out to her, Lavender stuck her finger against his lips. "This is a girls only event, Potter."

The black-haired kid frowned, staring after the trio as they left through the portrait hole and descended the many stairs towards the Entrance Hall, where all students were supposed to gather before departing to Hogsmeade. Hermione glanced back towards Harry sadly: he was one of her best friends, after all, and she hadn't talked to him in weeks. Lavender and Parvati giggled over something they'd been talking about, approaching Padma Patil once she came down from Ravenclaw's Tower.