Hermione was one of the very few Gryffindors who did not join the snowball fight.
After all, in Gryffindor, being a girl was certainly no compelling reason to sit out a snowball fight. Girls like Angelina played even more wildly than the boys.
Patil was another feisty girl, steering dozens of snowballs straight at Harry's head.
Apart from Hermione, Lavender seemed to be the only one who had not joined in. Well, Lavender had disappeared somewhere after lunch. This made Ron a little nervous, afraid she would stand him up at the last minute.
Because he was distracted, he took an unusually large number of snowballs.
A little after four, Hermione went back to the Castle, saying she needed to get ready for the ball.
"Doesn't the ball start at eight?" Harry asked incredulously. Then Seamus hit him in the head with a snowball.
How could Harry let that slide?
He immediately waved his wand and charged at Seamus with more than twenty snowballs, forgetting all about girls actually needing three or four hours to get ready.
Hermione rolled her eyes and ignored her two best, but rather dim, friends. She went straight back to the Castle.
Harry and the others kept battling until nearly six.
By then, almost all the girls had left. Clearly, even Gryffindor girls needed time to dress up for a ball.
"Does getting ready for a ball take that long?" Ron asked dubiously. "Don't you just take a shower and change?"
Harry looked just as dubious. Clearly, he did not understand what was going on either.
"So... Harry." Ron looked around, making sure no one else was nearby before asking cautiously, "Do you think Lavender's been getting ready all afternoon?"
"The whole afternoon?" Harry thought about it, but could not be sure either. Still, he