Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, Scotland Room of Requirement Saturday, June 13, 1998 (evening) In the Room of Requirement, the game's twelve participants sat in the designated common area on the cosy, circular couches provided in advance by both Harry and Malfoy's joint efforts. On the coffee table between them sat three stacks of cards, arranged by color, all face down. Each group pile had been shuffled by both team leaders several times to ensure blending and fairness. A fourth stack was separate from the others; it contained all of the cards with the female players' names. It was rather fortunate, Hermione thought, that the spell on the cards would know not to pit Ginny with Ron, as they were siblings. She had asked Malfoy to double-check the rules that had came with the set, and he'd confirmed that direct relations couldn't be paired. Thank Godric! At least the game had some moral values.
Each player waited in silence for the castle bell to chime the seven o'clock hour. Most seemed lost in his or her own thoughts, a few looked about, and everyone fidgeted to some degree.
Hermione used the time to take a good, long gander at the others. Every single player had dressed chic and were done up smart, and there was an undercurrent of sexiness to each outfit – from dipping cleavage to snug trousers, from perfume to accessory choices - as if all of them were somehow eager to use this game as an excuse for some naughty experimentation. Even Hermione had to admit that she had dressed provocatively, not wanting to be outdone by Pansy or Lavender – the two women in the room she most envied for their lovely style.
The ladies, as agreed, had all worn dresses.
Directly across from her, Tracey had on a floor-length peacock-print that shimmered iridescent purple, lavender, and indigo blue. Silver embroidery outlined the feather and fan-shapes printed on the dress, and the cross-over 'vee' neck gave a nice hint of cleavage, but not too much to make the dress seem slaggy. Her silver shoes with the jewel strap, as Hermione could see from how she crossed her legs, accented her pretty arched foot. Her toenails and fingernails were painted purple to match, and her frills consisted of purple marquis-cut amethysts in silver. They tastefully adorned her neck and ears and her right index finger. She looked quite elegant with her long, blonde hair pinned into a French twist, too, and classily applied make-up that highlighted her natural beauty.
To Tracey's right sat Daphne. The woman was a fascinating dyadic of opposites: Fae beauty hidden beneath a pair of sensible reading glasses, which she needed for this game and was too practical, it seemed, to remove them and face discomfort for the sake of fashion – a move Hermione heartily applauded. The witch's blonde hair was left down and curled at the ends, her make-up a little darker around the eyes, but was still rather modest. Her dress was a satin scarf style, flowing to her knees. It was a flower-paisley print in tones of light greens and blues, with black outlines. Like Tracey, her neckline plunged, as the dress was a halter, and her smallish breasts were highlighted well as a result. On her feet was a pair of dainty, matching ballet slippers with flowery designs on the toes. Her jewellery was made up of some light blue stone wrapped in silver – rather Celtic in design – adorning her middle ring finger on her left hand, her neck and on her wrist. Overall, she was the picture of a fashionable wood sprite – which was in absolute contrast to her deeply intellectual personality. Hermione found the resulting dichotomy intriguing.
Pansy's Parisian gothic dress was stunning. Made of velvet, silk and lacy-sheer fabrics, it draped down to her knees, a lovely purple-magenta and black ensemble, pierced by bright silver buttons and draping chains. She wore a pair of matching silk heels with black velvet bows. It was her jewellery, however, that truly captured Hermione's attention: a silver burnished snake ear drape in her left side, a matching silver burnished snake bracelet on her left wrist, and a black velvet collar with silver detail and teardrop black glass beads brought the entire piece together. Her hair was the same as always, softly brushed and shining dark brown, almost black, but unlike her fellow Housemates, Pansy went dramatic on the make-up. Her eyes were smoky, exotic with heavy liner and mascara and sparkling charcoal shadow. Her mouth was lined a very dark colour – near black – and filled in with a matching lipstick. Her pale cheeks had been dusted with blushing powder. She looked almost as if she was dressed for Halloween, but Hermione knew that in the Muggle world, she would have fit right into the Goth scene. Ostensibly, Pansy looked rather stunning.
On her left side of the Gryffindor couch, to Hermione's left, sat Ginny. Like Pansy, she was dressed in a costume, rather than typical dress robes. Of course, Ginny had developed a flair for the thespian style, her leisure clothing reflecting an old-world, piratical theme in general, with flowing shirts and skirts. Tonight's dress and matching jacket was – in a phrase impressive in its originality, vivid and striking in its execution, and held just a touch of romance for good measure. Made of heavy embroidered material that was iridescent orange and red, the outer jacket looked very much like a Regency Era great coat, with flaring, wide sleeves and ribbons. The piece was tied in the centre by a narrow corset that was synched together with another ribbon. Silver buttons – three on a side – adorned the corset's middle. Under the jacket was a simple, black satin dress with spaghetti straps. The whole thing terminated at mid-thigh. In a bold move, Ginny decided to accent her outfit not with tall boots, but with sexy, mid-thigh stockings that had a narrow strip in the back of each that was done up with ribbon. On her feet, she wore black patent leather five-inch heels. Her accoutrements were meant to pull the piece together – a black satin throat collar with a large iridescent rose, red amber rose-shaped earrings, and a red amber and silver ring. Her hair had been tightly tied up into a ponytail at the top of her head, and left to fall down her back. Like Pansy, her makeup was dramatic bright orange and red shadow, heavy liner, dark, cherry-coloured lips. She was absolutely remarkable, exuding a fantasy sexiness that definitely enticed all of the men in the room, especially Blaise, it seemed. The man's eyes had lit up with interest as soon as he'd spied her tonight.
To Hermione's right sat Lavender dressed in, remarkably enough, a satin sheath similar to Greengrass' dress. Like her name, the dress was lavender in colour, accented with brown, light blue and light yellow, in an exotic lotus blossom pattern. A brown satin ribbon tied into a bow at the apex of a tasteful 'vee' neckline, adding a flirty feel to the dress. She wore lavender heels, and dark purple amethyst heart earrings. On her right wrist dangled a very dainty silver bracelet with silver heart dangles of varying sizes and styles. On her left hand, a dark amethyst ring set in a silver heart setting sat on her middle finger. Her make-up was as tasteful as Daphne's as well; lavender shadow, brown liner and mascara, light pink lipstick. Quixotic and dreamy were the qualities she exuded.
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