Where I Found You | Dramione

3. The Bulgarian Bonbon

"I can't believe she's done it again!" Hermione slammed the Daily Prophet down on the table.

"Who?" asked Ron.

"Rita Skeeter," she said as she grabbed the paper and began reading. "Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards. Her latest prey, sources report, is none other than the Bulgarian bonbon, Viktor Krum. No word yet on how Harry Potter is taking this latest emotional blow."

Harry continued eating his cereal clearly unbothered by the news. He didn't care about those who read what she wrote. He was well aware that she was lying most of the time, probably everyone knew it too, so why worry? But he didn't understand why she was messing with Hermione, also Viktor Krum?

"Hermione...why is Skeeter writing about you?"

Her eyebrows knitted. "I told you before! I reported her for demeaning Hagrid and calling him a terrible teacher. Well, he is obviously not the best, but she had no right to refer to him as such!"

"If you mess with Skeeter, you're doomed," Ron intervened and something else caught his attention. "Oi, I got a mail from mum!" Ron turned to his side; a little boy was holding a package almost the size of himself. He was staring at Harry, who was now visibly uneasy. Ron nudged the boy, "Later, Nigel." The boy ran, and Hermione looked at him questioningly. "I promised I would get Harry's autograph for him." Hermione shook her head unapprovingly and told him to open the package.

What came out of the package captured everyone's attention. It seemed to be a ragged coat with laces. Hermione knew exactly what it was, but she just didn't know how to tell Ron. "What is this thing?" He walked up to Ginny."Ginny, I think this is yours."

She looked at it with a disgusted expression on her face. "I'll never wear that."

Hermione could no longer contain herself. "It's a dress robe! And it's not for Ginny, it's for you!" Gryffindor table wasn't the only table laughing at him. Ravenclaws had overheard the whole conversation. "Me?! What will I do with this?"

•-•

McGonagall called all the Gryffindors to an empty classroom and gave them a small lecture about the etiquettes of the Yule Ball. They tried learning the moves, some were already good at it, but the others, Ron for example, were having a bit of a hard time adjusting. Hermione practised with Harry and Fred that day and thought it was enough for now since men would lead the dance.

The trio was out by the lake the next day, talking about the ball. "How about that girl from Hufflepuff?" Ron asked Harry.

"Seamus asked her already." Harry sighed.

"Seamus? Seamus got a date?" Ron seemed sincerely shocked. "I'm telling you, man, we're screwed."

"How about Cho?" Hermione asked, her eyes still focused on her book. If she hadn't encouraged him, he wouldn't just go and ask her to the ball.

"Cho?" Harry played with his fingers. "She's always with her friends, I can't go up to her when she's with them."

"You slayed a dragon! How hard that can be?" asked Ron incredulously.

"I'd rather battle a dragon." Harry chuckled, but his tone seemed like he was serious about this,

Hermione could understand that approaching a girl in a group felt uncomfortable, and yes, Cho was always walking around with a small group of her friends. A much more confident person could easily ask a girl for the ball, but Hermione wasn't sure if anybody would approach herself with her two boy friends at her side. Her thoughts were distracted by the sound of a group of girls' fast footsteps, and she glanced up to see what was going on. Five or six girls were following Viktor Krum as he was running and working out. He was aware of them, yet didn't seem to care at all. It wasn't something they haven't seen before; it had been only a day, but almost all the girls were trying to draw his attention to themselves. Hermione once saw a girl purposefully spilling her pumpkin juice on her breast to catch his eye, but all he did was snatch a handful of tissue, much to her surprise. He turned to look at their direction and Hermione averted her eyes; she hadn't told anyone about her encounter with the Bulgarian seeker. No one would even believe her anyway.