�Herm-own-ninny?�
�Yes, Krum,� said Hermione, a slight irritation in her voice.
�You do not haff a boyfriend, do you?�
Hermione looked into his nervous eyes. She thought of all the friends-who-are-boys that she had, and as she did, she saw through the window, Parvati dragging what was presumably her sister over to Harry and Ron. Hermione looked Padma up and down. She was wearing robes very much like her own � a turquoise colour. She watched her as she greeted Ron, who was looking very pleased to have her as a date. Hermione frowned as she watched them, only to be distracted by Krum.
�Vell? Do you?�
�Oh!� said Hermione, startled. �No, of course not.� And to her relief, the Durmstrang students led by Karkaroff arrived.
�Hello Krum. How are you tonight?� said Karkaroff in an emotionally-unattached voice.
�I am vine. This is Herm-own-ninny.� He gestured to Hermione, who smiled quickly and said �Hello!� Karkaroff muttered �Hello� coldly and proceeded quickly to the front, as he led the gathering inside.
Hermione took a deep breath. In a few seconds everyone would see her, the new her, perhaps even Ron will tear his eyes off his date for one second, she thought.
As they walked in, all the students turned and stared at Hermione, fans of Krum narrowed their eyes at her as she walked past. But Hermione didn�t care about them, she was looking out for Harry and Ron. Suddenly she caught sight of Harry, but he looked at her absent-mindedly and carried on looking around the hall. Hermione grinned. She was right, they wouldn�t recognise her. She continued to look for Ron, but couldn�t see him.
Soon Professor McGongall called for the Champions in one corner as everyone else filed into the Great Hall. Hermione and Krum nervously walked over to the crowd of Champions who were standing by the door. She walked over to Harry and stifled a giggle as his jaw dropped, when he realised it was her. He continued to stare at her, unable to speak, so Hermione spoke instead. �Hi Harry! Hi Parvarti!�
Parvati was also staring at Hermione as if seeing Hermione stand there proudly with Krum by her side was something even she had bot anticipated.
Hermione looked over to the people passing her: Pansy Parkinson, looking as gobsmacked as Harry, and Malfoy, who very unusually did not insult her, in fact he said noticing as he stalked past.
This is brilliant, thought Hermione. If only I could find Ron. The out of nowhere, Ron arrived by her and , to Hermione�s amazement, simply walked right past her, not acknowledging her existence. Hermione stared after him. Had he just completely ignored her for no reason at all or did he in fact just not see her? She decided on the latter, and proceeded into the Great Hall on Professor McGongall�s command.
Everyone clapped as they walked in over to the Top Table. Hermione felt like a real princess as she sat down next to Krum, all eyes on her and the Champions.
Soon they were placing orders and tucking into a magnificent feast.
�So, what is your school like, Viktor?� Hermione asked, in high spirits.
�Vell, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking�� but Hermione wasn�t listening. Instead she was looking at ron, who was seated on the other side of the Hall. She was pleased to see he wasn�t talking to Padma (Hermione had decided she didn�t like her very much) but was concerned to see that he didn�t appear to be enjoying himself at all. He had a sulky look on his face and he was staring down at his plate. This wasn�t at all like Ron, Hermione thought. But her thoughts were interrupted by Karkaroff who was telling Viktor off for something.
�..Or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us.� Hermione frowned, wondering what they were talking about, but he then became emersed in conversation with Dumbledore, so Hermione went back to her chicken. She suddenly realised that Krum was muttering into his fork.
�What are you saying?� she asked, chuckling at how silly he looked.
�Herm-own-ninny, Hermo-ninny, Hermion-ninny,� he said to himself. �You mus teach me how to say your name.�
Hermione sighed. Was it that hard? Everyone else seemed to manage it.
�Her � my � oh � nee,� she said slowly, praying he�d understand.
�Herm � own � ninny,� he replied.
She sighed. �Close enough.� She caught Harry�s eye � he was sitting along from her at the Top Table � and grinned. He grinned back. �He�s a good friend,� Hermione thought. I�m lucky to have him. But unfortunately he does find it hard to see things from someone else�s point of view. She had found it hard when he and Ron had fallen out. They wouldn�t speak to each other and Hermione was like the �middle-girl�. But in a way, it was nice, spending time with each of them on their own. They were such close friends that she sometimes felt like the outsider, and this time she became closer to them. Especially Ron. She remembered how they had sat on the grass together and talked for hours � he had opened up to her about his jealousy of Harry and how he felt under pressure to be like his brothers. She understood him, perhaps even more than Harry, because they were both in the same position � both known by many as �famous Harry Potter�s friend�. They didn�t mind, but sometimes it got on top of them, and she liked talking to Ron about it because he understood her, he knew her like no-one else did.
As soon as everyone had finished their food, the Weird Sisters appeared to loud applause and started playing a slow dance tune. Hermione felt nervous again as Krum took her hand and led her to the dance floor. Everyone was staring at them again, as the Champions were the only ones dancing, but Hermione smiled and enjoyed the attention. She wasn�t the old school nerd tonight.
She saw over Krum�s shoulder that Harry had gone to sit down with Ron and Padma. Hermione didn�t look at Ron: somehow she didn�t want to watch him flirting with Padma.