The Sortinghat's Mission

Chapter 11

"Uh... the Halloween dance?" he said questioningly. "You know, next Friday?"

"There's a dance next Friday? How exciting!" she exclaimed, now putting down her quill.

"Yes, er... why..."

He finally met her eyes and saw that her smile had grown teasingly. Quickly, he shook off his frown and glared at her.

"You tease," he muttered.

"Of course I'll go with you, dummy!" she giggled and playfully hit his arm.

"Really?" he said hopefully, his eyes lighting up.

"Really, Lee. You know, I'd be honored." she said and bowed her head at him which gained her a giggle from him.

"I'm glad. Maybe we could, uh, meet beforehand? Like in the entrance hall or something?" he asked shyly.

"That sounds like a good idea." Hermione said, forced a smile and then put her attention towards professor Yang once more.

Lee had a smile on his lips for the rest of the class. And should she believe the girls, the whole day. Hermione however, felt a bit queasy. Truth be told, that arrangement screamed resemblance of the one she had made with Viktor Krum. And that night had been a disaster. She really wished this one would prove her better.

It was a little weird when you thought about it, being asked out by Oliver Wood's grandfather. But Hermione had decided to stop thinking about such facts, simply because it made her get the ick from every boy and the blues from thinking of the people she knew in her own time. So, she had simply been asked out by Lee Wood. Simple as that. And she had said yes, more for his well being than her own. Nevertheless, she had a date for the dance next Friday. Maybe the girls would finally shut up now.

The girls could never shut up, Hermione concluded. Gosh, they were even worse than the girls in her own time had been. Their dinner, and the lunch before that, and even the freaking breakfast, all they had been talking about were who would attend the dance with who and what dresses they knew someone would be wearing. As well as a few remarks on who they believed Riddle would attend with. To Hermione's great discontent Prudence even suggested he'd ask her. As if. He never even spoke to her anymore. This was of course precisely how Hermione liked it. She didn't want anything with him, not a single thing. But it was a bit odd, wasn't it? How he had just believed her and then stopped pursuing her all together? It wasn't that she missed the attention, not at all. She wasn't a girl who enjoyed attention. But to have both Malfoy's undivided attention as well as Riddle's ripped away after a single night? It was odd.

It was Friday afternoon, she had another history of magic lesson before there was a long awaited weekend before them. Hermione, Alice and Millicent had made plans to go into Hogsmeade the following day to buy the last of what they needed before the big dance. Apparently you weren't just supposed to dress nicely in a dressing gown, you were also supposed to have something covering your face.

"It is Halloween, 'minoe! Of course you need to have some sort of a costume!" Alice exploded when she had questioned the fact.

Truth be told, Hermione rather enjoy a walk around the grounds, following some nice and cozy hours in the library with her favorite book, Hogwarts, a history.

"Oh come now, Hermione. It's not that often that we get to dress up, now is it? Surely you'll give poor Alice what she wants, just this once?" Millicent had pleaded with her, a nice set of puppy eyes watching her.

Hermione doubted this was the only time Alice wanted, or got, her way.

"Alright, alright! I'll come to Hogsmeade." Hermione simply stated with a pout.