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�Who�re you going with?� [Ron] yelled after Hermione, but she just waved, and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle.
As Hermione crossed the Entrance Hall and started to climb the stairs leading to the common room, she chuckled to herself about Ron�s peculiar fascination with wanting to know who her partner was. It wasn�t of any importance to him, but yet he was desperate to know. But Hermione knew that she had to keep it a secret: it was one of her many loves � surprising people. And boy would they be surprised when they saw her with an international Quidditch player. She smiled as she pictured Harry and Ron�s faces � gobsmacked but impressed.
�Balderdash�, she muttered as she climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room. Parvati and Lavender were waiting by the fire, in excited conversation about the robes they were going to wear.
Hermione sighed. She didn�t get on all that well with the girls in her house. They were alright, she admitted, but nothing compared to Harry and Ron. However, as brilliant as Harry and Ron were, they were not girls, and sometimes Hermione needed girls to talk to, about�well�.girlie stuff, stuff boys didn�t understand.
�Hermione!� shrieked Parvati. �Why are you so late? We should have started hours ago! I have to look my best!� And with that she grabbed Hermione, yanking her up into their dormitory, followed closely by Lavender.
As the girls got ready, doing each other�s hair and make-up, and trying desperately to clear their faces of any zits with the �No.1 Clear Skin� hex, Hermione stared at herself in the mirror. Her long, bushy hair fell to her shoulders, sticking out in all the wrong places. She frowned as she remembered Ron�s comment: �Hey, Neville�s right � you are a girl!� She still seethed with anger at this. Of course she was a girl! What did he think she was, an ogre, a beast, or even worse..a boy? As she looked at herself in the mirror, she realised with sadness, that she wasn�t that pretty, and that boys would not be queuing to go out with her. Unlike that Fleur girl. Irggh! Hermione scowled when she remembered how Ron had drooled over her. She would show him nad everyone else that she wasn�t just an ugly nerd. She was different. She could be a princess for one night. And with this thought, she picked up her hair potion that she had bought in Hogsmeade and sneaked into Hogwarts, and poured it all over her head. The result was fabulous. Every one of her frizzy hairs seemed to straighten in unison, and a shine, rather like lightning rippled over her head, giving her dark, brown hair an intensely shiny, smooth look. Hermione gleamed at the result and imagined the look on everyone�s faces. Priceless, she thought.
Parvati and Lavender crowded round her, staring at her new hair.
�Wow!� they exclaimed, as Hermione grinned. �Let me do your hair! Oooh please let me!� shrieked Parvati as she bounced up and down, staring longingly at Hermione�s shiny locks.
Hermione sighed with a smile. �Well alright, but it has to look good��
About an hour later, Hermione emerged from the dormitory and walked slowly down the stairs to the common room, accompanied by the other girls in her dorm. She stared at herself in the long mirror and saw a beautiful princess looking back. Hermione couldn�t believe it. �They won�t believe it�s me� she whispered, a slight shake in her voice. She crossed over to the window and peered outside. The boys were still emersed in a snowball fight (Hermione rolled her eyes) and she chuckled quietly as she watched Ron tumble over, having been hit by a particularly large chunk of snow. His hair dripped over his face and his cheeks and nose were rosy.
�Hermione!� shouted an impatient voice from behind. Hermione broke out of her gaze and turned around to find an irritated Parvati standing by the portrait hole. �Hurry up! You have to go and meet Krum and you said I could come with you!� she sighed. �My partner is busy fighting,� she said in an irritated sort of voice.
Hermione hurried over to her and they both set off downstairs and off to the Durmstrang ship, where Krum was waiting. The boys had gone in, leaving freshly ploughed up snow behind them. Hermione was relieved: she hadn�t got this far to ruin the surprise now!
In a few minutes they arrived at the ship, where Krum was waiting outside, blowing hot air into his hands.
�You didn�t have to wait outside in the cold!� Hermione said, watching him jump up and down in the snow.
�It is alright,� he said. �In my country punctuality is everything.� There was an awkward pause as Hermione fidgeted with her robes, uncomfortably.
�Right,� said Parvati, breaking the silence. �Shall we take a walk round the grounds? They�ve transformed the front of the school into a mass of fairies � it�s really pretty!�
So the three of them set off on a walk across the snow, Krum taking on a brisk pace, scanning all the lights and Christmas ornaments muttering �Very good� as if they were examination grades. Hermione smiled and nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. She had butterflies in her stomach and she could feel her legs shaking as she thought of her entrance into the Yule Ball. What will they say? What will they do? She thought excitedly. She turned to look at Krum and admitted to herself that they weren�t really suited at all. But he was the only one to approach her, the only one who told her how much he liked her; she just melted. Ron just thought she�d go with him as a last resort, she remembered bitterly. He didn�t even have the decency to ask her properly. Why didn�t he ask her before? Was she so unattractive that going with her wasn�t even an option? Yes, she admitted, Harry hadn�t asked her either, but somehow that wasn�t so important.