AN: A 1000-word ficlet that was bugging me, so I wrote it down. Disclaimer - characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing them.

Hermione sighed, and turned around as the door opened. Ginny Weasley stood in the doorway, looking ravishing in her emerald green dress.

"Hurry up, Mione! You can't be late for your graduation ball!"

"You go ahead and meet Blaise, I'll be there soon."

"I'm not leaving 'til you do, Hermione Granger. Because otherwise, you'll just mope up here all night instead of showing my prat of a brother what he's missing. You look gorgeous, by the way."

Hermione had to admit, the dress looked pretty good. Dark red, for Gryffindor, since it was her last night at Hogwarts. Even her hair was being well-behaved, for once. But Ginny was right, she really didn't want to face Ron tonight. He'd just ruin the ball for her – she'd prefer not to go.

Realising that Ginny was being totally serious, she slipped her feet into her shoes.

"Let's go then, before I come to my senses."

As she entered the Great Hall, she could see that almost everyone had paired off – she was going to be the only one alone.

"I shouldn't have come here. What was I thinking?" she murmured.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing. Why on earth shouldn't you be here? You're the one who graduated top of the year, after all."

Hermione was startled to hear the soft voice in her ear, and even more surprised to see who was talking.

"Why would you even speak to me? I'm a Gryffindor, and…"

"Shhh. I'm not as prejudiced as you seem to think I am. May I have this dance?"

So Hermione drifted out onto the dance floor in the arms of someone totally unexpected, and many people stopped to stare at the unlikely couple. After all, it wasn't often you saw a Gryffindor and a Slytherin even being civil to each other, let alone friendly. And as for these two, well, Hermione Granger and Pansy Parkinson had been enemies since practically their first day at Hogwarts.

Over in a corner, Ginny elbowed Ron hard in the ribs, and pointed to the two girls on the dance floor.

"She doesn't look too broken-hearted to me, Ronald."

"That's a…a… Slytherin! How dare she! I'll sort this out…"

Ginny, Harry and Blaise Zabini all grabbed hold of him and pulled him back into his seat.

"Firstly, Ronald, Hermione is no longer your girlfriend. You made that quite clear when you slept with Lavender. Secondly, Blaise is a Slytherin, and my boyfriend, so you can shut up about that. Thirdly, she's just dancing. I think she has the right to do that, don't you?"

"And even if it was more than just dancing," cut in Blaise, "it's entirely up to her, and it's none of your business whatsoever."

"When will you learn that you can't control Mione?" asked Harry. "She can do whatever she wants, and always has done. You shouting at her won't make any difference."

"I think your friends are talking about us," murmured Pansy.

Hermione glanced in the direction she indicated, and shook her head.

"Let them. It looks like Ronald has seen us, and isn't happy for some reason. Not that it's anything to do with him."

"Ronald? I thought you two were friends. Part of the "Golden Trio" and all that."

"Long story, don't really want to go into it right now."

"OK. Let's just dance then."

At that moment, the music changed from a slow waltz into a seductive tango. Pansy looked at Hermione, who smirked back in a very Slytherin way.

"If you can, I can."

"Let's show them what we can do then."

Half-way through the dance, Ron managed to escape the clutches of his sister, her boyfriend and his so-called best friend, and stormed over to the couple. He grabbed Pansy's shoulder, trying to pull her away from Hermione.

"May I cut in?" he growled.

"As I understand it, Weasley, she doesn't want you to. So the answer is no," was the immediate reply.

Pansy brushed his hand off her shoulder like she would a fly, and resumed dancing.

"The nerve of some people…" he grumbled as he stomped back to his corner.

"Thank you," whispered Hermione.

"You're going to have to explain this to me, you know."

"OK, but not here. Let's go down by the lake – it'll be quiet there."

And with that comment, they drifted out of the castle and down the grassy banks to the lake.

"Ron and I were a couple, had been for almost a year. Then I came back to my room after doing rounds one night to find him in my bed, not wearing anything. He, um, wasn't alone."

Hermione paused. The memory of Ron and Lavender doing, well, that still upset her. Even now, she couldn't sleep in that bed – she'd been using a sleeping bag on the floor.

"Go on," urged Pansy. "Who else was there?"

Taking a deep breath, Hermione replied. "Lavender Brown. I told him there and then that we were through, and then ran to find Ginny. I needed to talk to someone."

Pansy reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of Hermione's face, tucking it gently behind one ear.

"You deserve better than him. I'm amazed you let him live after that; I thought you'd have hexed his balls off at the very least."

"I nearly did. Harry talked me out of it, said he wasn't worth the bother."

Pansy laughed, then pulled the other girl into a hug.

"He's not worth it."

Hermione hugged her back tightly, slightly surprised by the Slytherin girl, but decided not to comment. Instead, she brushed her lips gently against Pansy's, wondering what the response would be. The kiss soon turned passionate, and they tangled their hands in each other's hair, drawing closer to each other.

In the shadows of the castle, someone stood watching, then, satisfied that they were going to be fine, turned to head back inside. Ginny Weasley smirked, and wondered what Ron would say to all this.

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