Hermione and Draco return to Hogwarts in the aftermath of the Second Wizarding War to complete their education. Hermione has hope for the future, but must cope with the loss she has faced in order to build the future she wants for herself, and learn...
*Before you read* this is what I'm envisioning when I describe Hermione's dress, just fit reference <3
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That's all! ————————————————————————
The days rolled by very quickly, and before she knew it Hermione found herself discussing plans with her friends the night before the Halloween ball, all of them eager to slow dance to a romantic song with their significant others and have a memorable night with each other. They sat together at the Gryffindor table, conversing over a large buffet-style dinner of turkey legs, steamed vegetables, butter rolls, and mashed potatoes.
"Do you reckon I'll have to wear my heels all night? Because I can barely walk on them and they hurt my feet if I keep them on for too long." said Ginny, face full of mashed potatoes.
"I don't think so, but you could always just transfigure them into flats when you want." Luna answered.
"Yeah, you could keep them as heels for your big entrance and then just turn them into flats after the first dance. Besides, the extra height will make you like three inches taller than Harry." giggled Hermione.
"Blimey, I didn't even think about that. Great, now I'm gonna overthink that during pictures." Ginny groaned, slightly exasperated. "Speaking of pictures, what's the plan for tomorrow? Are we all getting ready together?"
"We could do that," Hermione said. "We can give Luna the password to the common room and then we can all do hair and makeup for each other."
They all nodded their head in agreement. Hermione had convinced them earlier to get ready without magic, the muggle way because she felt they would cherish the memory more if they spent more time on it. Besides, no amount of beauty charms equate to makeup by hand.
"Can I get a few pictures of us for the article my father is writing for The Quibbler? He's doing a piece on Hogwarts' first ever dance outside of the Yule Ball." Luna asked.
"Sure, in fact we can all take pictures on the steps outside of the Great Hall. The dance doesn't actually start until 7:00, so we should start getting ready at around 3:30."
The fourth years sitting diagonally from her got up to leave, leaving her a perfect line of sight to the Slytherin table. She could see Astoria sitting with Theo, Draco, Pansy, and a few others she didn't know by name. Theo seemed to be in the middle of a very animated story, throwing his hands in the air as he spoke, while Astoria was absorbed in picking the skin off her turkey leg before taking a bite.
Hermione listened as her friends continued discussing the game plan for tomorrow, when she came to a decision.
"Would it be okay with you guys if I invited Astoria to get ready with us? I'm not sure what her plans are for tomorrow but I think it could be fun." Hermione asked as they all turned to her.
