The Road

Little Lights

"Granger!" Draco yelled from the living room, "We're going to be late." He glanced at his watch and saw that they had to be there in 5 minutes, and since they were walking it would take about 10. Hermione and the rest of town hall have been planning to recreate the festival that brought the town together so many years ago. It was a way of repaying the town for all the good things it brought in her life. "Granger?" he called out again. Walking into the hallway, he pressed his cheek against the bathroom door and heard heavy breathing. "Granger? You alright in there?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said in an unconvincing tone, "I'll be out in a second."

"You don't sound well."

She was quiet, so he continued.

"You shouldn't be nervous, Granger," he reassured, "Everyone in this town loves you."

"But what if they're disappointed? The festival hasn't been around in a couple of years, and I don't want to disappoint them with anything less than excellent."

"You and the rest of the town committee have been planning this thing for more than a month. I'm sure that everything is just how you picture it."

"Oh what? Disasterous?"

"No, Gr- Just let me in."

"No."

"Granger..." The door opened and he saw the face of a very stressed out Hermione Granger. Stress didn't suit her face. He remembered seeing that expression quite a lot at Hogwarts. "...You're not even dressed?!" he noticed she was still wearing her robe from earlier.

"I have nothing to wear!" She walked past him as Draco rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Your trunk is over there, just find anything," he directed, "Bloody hell, why is it so hard to choose what to wear with girls?"

Hermione gave him a dirty look from over her shoulder and opened the trunk. She scrambled over all her clothes until she spotted something at the bottom of her trunk. "I guess that could do..." she mumbled.

"See, there you go! Now put it on and let's go!"

She ran past him and back into the bathroom. Within minutes, the bathroom door opened. Draco stood and breathed heavily at the sight of Hermione in a red, wide necked long sleeve top and a black skirt that went up to her waist and ended mid thigh. "I bought this when I was younger. It must have shrunk, I have to cha-"

"Don't!" Draco blurted out unexpectedly, "It looks...great."

"Thanks," she blushed and went back to her trunk. She grabbed the necklace from Harry and clipped it around her neck. She let her hair, now a little longer and her roots showing, down and applied minimal make up. Draco was unusually patient as she did this, as he stared intently at her. She opted for black flats and finished her look with red lipstick that matched her top perfectly.

With that, she turned to Draco and gave him a smile. "Now I'm ready," she stated.

They left the house and began walking to the square. As they walked down the dirt path, she began to notice Draco's side glances and was terribly annoyed. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked blatantly. He coughed and looked away abruptly. "I wasn't staring," he denied.

"I didn't say staring. I asked why you were looking at me like that?"

"Same thing."

"Not really," Hermione countered, "You think I look pretty."

I think you look bloody spectacular, thought Draco.

"So what if I do?" he retaliated.

"I didn't say it was bad. I just thought you'd have the balls to say so."