The next afternoon, Hermione and Rose were in their dormitory. They had finished their lessons for the day, and were now laying on their beds and relaxing.

"Is everything okay with you and Ron?" Hermione asked. "You didn't seem to be talking so much today."

"Yeah, we just had a bit of an argument yesterday," said Rose. "But it's okay."

"What was it about?" said Hermione.

Rose sat up in bed and turned to face Hermione. "Well... do you think I'm like a boy?" she asked.

Hermione looked at Rose thoughtfully. "I suppose you are a bit of a tomboy, if that's what you mean?" she said. "But why do you ask?"

"That's what Ron said to me," said Rose. "He thinks I'm like one of the guys."

"Ron is a bit insensitive, but I don't think he meant that as an insult," said Hermione. "But there's nothing wrong with being a tomboy rather than more girly. That's just who you are."

"Yeah, I guess," said Rose.

"Just be yourself, and don't worry about what anyone else thinks," said Hermione. "When you are comfortable being yourself, then you will be happy."

Rose flopped back down on her bed. "Yeah, I am comfortable being me," she said. "It doesn't matter what Ron thinks."

Hermione smiled. "Oh, I know what Ron thinks about you," she said. "I'm sure he meant it as a compliment really."

"You mean he likes me being a tomboy?" asked Rose.

"Yeah, something like that," said Hermione, then she gave a knowing smile.

Rose shrugged and picked up her book from beside her bed.

"So, umm, has anyone asked you to the Yule Ball yet?" Hermione asked, casually.

Rose put her book down again. "No, why?" she said.

"Oh, just wondering," said Hermione.

"I'm not even sure I want to go," said Rose.

"Oh, you have to go," said Hermione. "It will be so much fun. You'll regret it if you miss out."

"Yeah, I guess," said Rose. "So has anyone asked you to go with them?"

Hermione blushed and gave a coy smile. "Maybe..." she said.

"Someone's asked you. Who?" said Rose.

"Viktor Krum," said Hermione.

"Wow, really?" said Rose. "That's cool."

"Yeah, though I'm not really sure why he would have asked me to go with him," said Hermione. "I'm sure there are loads of other girls that he could have picked."

"Yeah, but he picked you," said Rose. "It's cos he could tell how great you are."

Hermione blushed. "I don't know about that," she said. "Oh, but there was something else."

Hermione jumped off her bed excitedly and rushed over to her dresser. When she opened it, she pulled out a dress. It was a pale pink silk dress and covered in frilly parts made of lace. Hermione held it up in front of her for Rose to see.

"What do you think?" Hermione asked.

"Mmmm, yeah, it looks okay," said Rose.

"You don't sound very convincing," said Hermione. "Maybe if I put it on?"

Hermione laid the dress down on her bed. Then she quickly took off her skirt and blouse. She picked up the dress and stepped into it, then pulled it up over her shoulders.

Hermione looked over her shoulder to where rose was sitting behind her. "Can you zip me up?" she asked.

Rose hopped off her bed and pulled up the zip on the back of Hermione's dress. Then she sat back down on her bed.

While she was still facing the other direction, Hermione did a quick spell on her hair to straighten it. Her bushy hair turned flat, so Hermione gathered it up into a knot at the back of her head.

"Okay, ready?" said Hermione.

"Yeah," said Rose.

Hermione took a deep breath, then she twirled around to face Rose.

Rose gasped when she saw how Hermione looked in her dress. She looked really different from usual. She was so much more elegant and the dress seemed to hug curves that Rose hadn't realised existed before. The awkward girl she had been friends with before had vanished, and in her place was a beautiful woman.

"Wow. You look amazing," said Rose.

"I mean, I've still got to do my makeup," said Hermione. "But do you really think I look good?"

Rose could feel her face getting hot, her mouth getting dry, and her belly felt like it was full of butterflies. "Yeah, you look great," she said.

"I hope Viktor feels the same," said Hermione.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will love it," said Rose.

"Cool. Well I better take it off, I don't want to get it dirty before the big day," said Hermione.

Hermione turned around again to face away from Rose. "Can you unzip me?" she said.

Rose stood up from her bed and stepped forward towards Hermione. She reached out for the zipper, but when she did, she found her hand was trembling.

Rose took a deep breath, then took hold of the zipper and pulled it down all the way. Once she had, Hermione shrugged her shoulders forward, and let the dress slip off and fall down.

Rose turned around and faced the other direction while Hermione was stood just wearing her underwear. "Err, I need the toilet," said Rose.

Rose hurried off to the bathroom as Hermione got dressed again. She sat down on the toilet, though it took a while because she hadn't really needed to go. Eventually she finished and left the bathroom again.

When Rose went back into the dormitory, Hermione was all dressed again and sat on her bed. She was back wearing her uniform, and her hair had gone back to looking bushy again.

She was plain old Hermione again, but Rose kept thinking of the more grown up beautiful Hermione. Now she had seen her, Rose wasn't sure she would be able to see Hermione the same way again.

"Come on, shall we go for dinner," said Hermione. "Ron will be waiting for us in the common room. He'll be moaning that he's starving if we take too long."

Hermione and Rose walked down the stairs into the common room. As they did, Ron stood up from one of the sofas.

"Took you long enough," said Ron. "Come on, I'm starving."

Hermione giggled. "See, told you so," she said.

The three of them walked down to the Great Hall together. Then they went and sat at the Gryffindor table.

There were large plates of roast pork for dinner, along with three kinds of potatoes and roasted vegetables. Ron dived in and took a huge plate full.

Hermione laughed at Ron. Rose watched Hermione smiling and laughing, and she felt herself getting hot and the butterflies came back in her belly. She quickly poured herself a big glass of pumpkin juice and gulped it down.

"Are you feeling thirsty?" said Hermione.

Rose coughed on her pumpkin juice. "Ummm, yeah," she said, awkwardly.

Rose couldn't look Hermione in the eye. Instead she started looking around the hall to all the other children around. She saw Draco sat over on the Slytherin table. He smiled and waved when he saw Rose looking at him, and she waved back at him.

Ron looked up from his food just as Rose was waving at Draco. Ron felt a tightness in his stomach like he had been punched. He couldn't bear the thought of Draco being with Rose. Or any other boys really.

"So, Ron, is there anyone you were thinking of asking to go to the Yule Ball with you?" Hermione asked, innocently.

Ron scowled at her. "No," he said.

"Well maybe you should hurry up and decide. You wouldn't want the right person to get invited by someone else," Hermione said with a wink.

"Eh? Is there someone that Ron likes?" asked Rose.

"Just ignore Hermione, she doesn't know what she's talking about," said Ron.

Hermione giggled, which made Ron glare at her. The sight of Hermione giggling looked so cute that Rose looked away and tried to hide the fact she was blushing.

When Hermione noticed Rose was blushing, she assumed it was because Rose knew that Ron had a crush on her. Hermione shook her head. They were obviously both attracted to each other, but they were both too nervous to make the first move.

So that was when Hermione decided that she would have to play matchmaker for them.