"It might have been special to Harry. I think he'll end up paying for Hermione's dress instead of us, if this is their first dance," Dan added.
"I'm not going to take advantage of the poor boy!"
"Rich boy, you mean," Dan laughed. "And I'm not saying you should, I'm saying Harry will probably do his damnedest to try."
Despite being in the late morning on a Friday, the shops were still as hectic as ever, as there were only two days until Christmas. They went from shop to shop as Hermione tried on many different evening gowns. Harry noted that she only picked dresses with a fully covered back, which quickly limited the selection. Being outside of school, neither of them could re-cast the glamours to hide their runes. Hermione wouldn't dare wear a dress that would let her parents see the scars. Unfortunately, the trends in fashion seemed to be towards revealing more and more skin, especially along the woman's back.
Hermione had also brought along the earrings Harry bought her in Hogsmeade. Feeling that it would be a rather odd combination wearing such elegant jewellery alongside her jeans, turtleneck and beanie while walking down the street, she kept the earrings in her purse and put them on each time she tried a dress. The first few dresses that caught her attention didn't make it out of the dressing room, before she realized she couldn't expose her back. Several more didn't make the cut after she put on her earrings, realizing the colours would clash. Soon enough, they were walking through stores and back out without trying a single one.
"You seem to be really picky about your dresses, Hermione," Emma said to her daughter. "Do you already have an idea of what you want, or are you finding that dresses aren't appealing to you?"
"No, mum, I want a dress for sure. I'm just looking for something with a high neck, and a slim waist, maybe like a corset. Kind of like the old medieval dresses in the movies, you know? But not too poofy or frilly. A little more modern, a bit more flow to it. The less-is-more mantra that a lot of cocktail dresses seem to take, but a lot of these take away a bit too much, and I think wizarding society is still pretty far behind muggles in terms of fashion. I think Professor McGonagall is biting her lip every time she sees one of us girls expose our knees! Oh, and I absolutely adore these earrings Harry got for me," she said, smiling sweetly as Harry tried to make sense of what Hermione was describing. "So I want the dress to be a deep blue, maybe as far as indigo, to match."
Emma nodded. "Well, you've certainly given this a lot of thought."
"I know, but I'm beginning to think that we might not be able to find one. Am I being too fussy? Maybe I should just settle on something less..."
"NO!" Emma and Harry both shouted at the same time, causing all three of them to look at each other in curiosity.
"You first," Emma said to Harry.
"I just... want this to be absolutely perfect for you, Hermione. I don't want you to have to settle for anything. Maybe we can find a seamstress who can make a custom dress for you?" Harry asked hopefully.
Emma shook her head. "No, not at this time of year. They're probably all busy filling out orders for Christmas, and then the shops will be closed on both Christmas and Boxing day, so at best, they'll start on the 27th. You have to head back to school on the 29th. I doubt they could finish it in time, especially since many of them might still have a backlog of orders for alterations to get ready for New Year's. A pre-made one in a shop is our best bet."
Hermione sighed. "Well, we still have a few hours left. Let's keep looking."
The rest of Hermione's scheduled shopping time wasn't a complete waste, as they did manage to find her a pair shoes for the evening. They were a silvery-coloured, strappy sandal with a relatively low, 3 cm heel. Hermione had chosen them because she was unused to wearing heeled shoes at all, but still managed to pick something elegant for the occasion. She went on to buy another two pairs, both slightly different shades of blue with the same heel height but with different strap patterns, just in case they didn't match the dress she eventually hoped to find. It was nearing three o'clock, when they were just about to move on to Diagon Alley to find Harry's dress robes when Hermione stopped in front of a shop.
"What is it? Have you found it?" Harry asked.
Hermione sighed. "No, not exactly. This is... almost what I had in mind," she said, pointing to one of the dresses on a mannequin. It was a two-piece dress, with a soft, curvy corset up top that laced up at the back and a smooth, slim skirt that flared out below the knees. The second part was a long-sleeved shrug that matched the dress, hugging the arms but widening at the elbows. It would cover her back perfectly and ended at the top with a choker collar. In front, it narrowed sharply to the neck which worked with the dress to expose a diamond-shaped keyhole, perfect for displaying a necklace. The only problem with it was that it was a deep burgundy instead of anything remotely blue.
"Why don't you try it on anyways? It's just the colour that's off, isn't it? Maybe they'll have another one inside," Harry suggested. They walked inside the store and asked to try it on. Hermione didn't come out of the dressing room, but asked for her mother to step inside with her. Harry could hear them chattering to each other.
"Well, it would be absolutely beautiful if it were about two sizes smaller. Can't you tighten up it up a bit?"
"That's as tight as it gets, Mum."
"I'm sure a few small alterations would be all it would take to fit..."
"Well, the colour's off anyways. This would be absolutely wonderful in blue."
"Are you sure it has to be blue? This does look elegant as it is..."
"Harry bought me these earrings remember? And sapphire's my birthstone. He really put a lot of thought into these."
"Well, we might be able to find another one like it."
"We've been up, down, and all over London today. It'll take a miracle to find something like this again."
Emma stepped back out while Hermione took off the dress. She and Harry found the store manager. Emma asked, "Do you have that same dress she's trying on in a smaller size and in blue or indigo?"
The lady shook her head. "I'm sorry, that's all we have at the moment. I could put in an order for you, but it won't arrive until the first week of January. We do have a few other dresses over here..."
Harry could tell from a quick glance that none of them were what Hermione was looking for. All three of them glumly left the shop. "Well, we can always go shopping for another two days before you have to go back to school. We'll be able to find something then," Emma suggested hopefully.
Hermione was in a dour mood until they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron and stepped through the enchanted wall into Diagon Alley. After a quick stop at Gringotts, they went directly to Madam Malkin's. Inside, it was even busier than Flouish and Blott's at the end of summer. The shop was filled with boys who needed dress robes, and thankfully there were a dozen new hires working frantically to have all of them fitted properly. Dress robes appeared to be a blend of muggle tuxedo and their regular robes, to Harry's surprise. Apparently wizarding fashion wasn't too far behind muggles- but then again, muggle men's fashion didn't change as dramatically or as quickly as the women's.
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