Our Second Chance (Dramione)

Chapter 25 Dress Mess

  Pansy was correct. Christmas didn't take long to arrive. Professor Filtwick had set up the tree the day before Christmas Eve, and it looked even more beautiful on Christmas Eve. A lot of people were enjoying the feast in the Great Hall once they were done with their last class before break.

  The house elves worked on the feast for several hours, and even though Hermione was completely against it, they enjoyed serving the children at Hogwarts. There were so many different types of meals at the feast. Such as, Chicken, Turkey, and Dragon, mac and cheese, mash potatoes, and coleslaw; cake, pie, and ice cream.

  However, some of the tables were partially empty because a few students were at Slughorn's Christmas party.

  "You've got to be kidding me", Hermione whispered to herself as she looked in the mirror. Since Hermione had forgotten to bring a dress to Hogwarts this year, she decided to go to Ginny for help. She was finally realizing her mistake. She expected Ginny to have an extra normal dress that was as simple as it could get, but no. "Forgot to bring a dress this year? You're just in luck. My mother has been teaching me how to sew like the muggles do, and this is the perfect opportunity for you to wear my latest piece", Ginny told her when she arrived at her dormitory, asking for help.

She was now staring at the dress in horror. Well, if you wanted to call it a dress. It was more like the loudest pieces of material that has ever been put together. Hermione was deeply regretting this decision. "I could match Ron at the Yule Ball", she told herself in a hushed voice so Ginny wouldn't hear. She kept turning from a hundred different positions in the mirror to see if there was any good part of the outfit, but she ended up hating every single inch of it.

  "Wow, I think that I've outdone myself this time."

  "I look like something you drink when you're nauseous", Hermione once again whispered to herself. The top part of her dress was like a fancier version of a collared shirt with loose sleeves, and a black rose around the collar. The skirt part was black, very puffy, and stopped about mid-thigh with a pink ribbon around the waist. She also had on cheetah tights with low cut black leather boot heels. "Can't wait to see some of your other pieces", said Hermione with a believable fake smile.

  "Hermione, tonight you look like a Pureblood, and the cheetah tights are the perfect way to show off your Muggle side."

"Is it?", asked Hermione with doubt, but she quickly tried to cover it up. "I wish I would have thought of that." She may be able to boss Harry and Ron around, and yell at Malfoy until his ears bleed, but she couldn't hurt her best friend's feelings.

  When they were both done getting ready, Ginny and Hermione walked down the corridor to Slughorn's party. Hermione was trying to cover her face as much as possible, but suddenly a realization came to her. "Ginny! I forgot to get a date."

  "Oh, don't worry. I got that covered." Her heart started racing in her nervousness as they reached the door to Slughorn's party. There stood Cormac McLaggen in his dress robes. "There you are", he said, looking at Hermione. That's when she knew she had to fight the urge to hex Ginny to oblivion. First the horrible dress, and now the horrible date. It was turning into one horrible night. Her glare was already deadly enough. "Let's enjoy the Christmas party."

"Actually, will you excuse me for one second?"

  Most people looked at her with weird faces, and she wasn't sure whether it was about the fact that Cormac, tentacle, McLaggen was her date or if it was about the outfit she was wearing. There was always the possibility of the mixture of the two. Either way, she was not having fun at all. To be honest, she looked and felt like a daughter who was forced into a Beauty Pageant.