Harry walked down the steps of Gryffindor tower and had eventually made it so close to the Great Hall when McGonagall stopped him. Apparently it was tradition for the champions to enter together and to be the first to dance.
He had been waiting for a few minutes and Hermione was nowhere to be seen. He had wondered if she was nervous about the whole school (along with two others) staring at her.
Then, suddenly Fleur was standing next to him.
"She lookz beautiful." She said
When Harry looked up he saw Hermione, just how she always was, but different. She was the same to him, except she was more confident than she usually was. And her posture was a lot better now that she wasn't carrying tons of books.
Her dress was absolutely stunning. It was a periwinkle blue and had flowed with each of her steps.
Then, Harry had realized what exactly was happening. Hermione was his date and Fleur had just said how beautiful she looked.
"Yeah, she does." He said under his breath and even though it was barely audible, Hermione still heard him and her smile had grown slightly.
He held out his arm slightly and Hermione wrapped hers around it.
They were entering last, which had probably been a good thing considering that there might not be so much attention focused on them. But as soon as they were seen there were a few small gasp and then a flash of a camera, which was no other than Rita Skeeter for the daily prophet.
The music started to play, signaling the start of their dance. Harry had noticed how nervous she was. "Ignore them." He muttered
"What?" She asked
"Everyone watching...ignore them. Pretend it's only us dancing in the common room."
"I can't Harry." She said "I can feel everyone watching us."
"Well of course we're being watched." He said "Hedwig and Crookshanks wanted to see what was going on."
She laughed "No wonder. I bet they heard you tripping and stumbling like an idiot."
"Maybe they heard you. Laughing as loud as you are now."
"What? Are you calling my laugh obnoxious?" She teased
"No, of course not." He said "All I'm saying is that Crookshanks probably wants to see the charming lad that made you laugh."
Hermione didn't respond. Instead she looked at him, and she had immediately thought of the boy she met four years ago on the Hogwarts express. She thought of him to be charming back then, of course he was next to Ron who had been stuffing his face with sweets and trying to turn his rat yellow with a fake spell, but that feeling never seemed to stop.
"You're supposed to say something Hermione." Ron said
She jumped back in shock. "What are you doing here! You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"The dance ended and now anyone can dance." He said
"So?" Harry asked
"So I'm hiding." Ron said like it was obvious
"Why on earth would you be hiding?" Harry asked
"And why would you hide behind your two closest friends. That'll be the first place they look." Hermione said
"Right." He said, snapping his fingers. "Hold on, call Neville for a moment."
"Neville." Harry waved and he came over with Ginny, who had been his date.
