"You look beautiful," he said sweetly as he reached her, grabbing one of her hands and kissing it gently.
Elaina had started blushing uncontrollably, "Thank you! You look very handsome."
Charlie smiled at his date before escorting her back to his group of friends. Then, a group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which in Charlie's opinion, made him look like a vicar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them, had managed to find a partner.
The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, without a date on his arm — she must not be here yet. Over their heads, Charlie saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a grotto full of fairy lights in attempt to brighten up the yard while also, trying to stay on theme.
Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Everyone in the Great Hall except for the Triwizard champions and their partners!"
Charlie, Elaina, Harry, and Parvati bid a farewell to Ron and Padma who walked forward toward the Great Hall doors, the chattering crowd parting to let them through. Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan, told the champions to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down.
"Charlie," Elaina called, "I'll be right back, okay? I'm just going to say hello to Fleur."
"Alright," Charlie said simply as his date moved across the Entrance Hall to engulf her friend in a hug.
The brown eyed boy turned back around to Harry and his date, but to Charlie's surprise, Harry's focus wasn't on Parvati at all, but instead, on Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory across the Hall. Charlie sighed, nudging his friend's shoulder slightly, in attempt to tear his gaze from his obvious crush. Harry blushed slightly when he realized what was happening, but thankfully Parvati didn't seem to notice, she was too preoccupied gawking at someone descending the grand staircase over Charlie's shoulder.
"Wow, she looks beautiful," Parvati gasped, and almost instantly, Charlie turned.
His eyes fell on the girl on the stairs, and his jaw dropped. Suddenly, his heart began to beat out of his chest as potentially the most beautiful girl he had ever seen became the only thing his eyes would focus on.
It was Hermione, of course.
But she didn't look like the Hermione everyone normally saw her as...
She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy, but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, light pink and purple material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow — or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back. She was also smiling, rather nervously, as suddenly everyone's eyes were on her.
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