A Ruined Evening
Summary: Ron has sufficiently ruined the Yule Ball for Hermione, and Draco intends to put the icing on the miserable cake...or does he?
Disclaimer: I am definitely not J.K. Rowling, merely a crazy fan.
"Don't call him Vicky!"
A pair of stormy gray eyes follow Hermione's angry footsteps out of the Great Hall. Ah, finally someone is as miserable as Draco. Straightening his tie and picking up his discarded shoes, he trudges after her to see what all of the fuss is about. He doesn't bother telling Pansy, she'll be a while getting the drinks anyway, the stupid girl.
He hisses through his teeth and stop in his tracks when he hears her angry voice again, quirking an amused brow upon realizing she's talking to herself. "That..complete...arse!" He watches in amusement as she kicks the wall in frustration, cursing and stumbling back a few feet.
To the utter surprise of both of them, a pair of pale, slender arms reach out to catch her before she can fall, holding her up awkwardly by the armpits. Hermione's head whips around so quickly, a bit of her carefully arranged hairstyle falls down. "Malfoy? What the-...what are you doing here?" She huffs and quickly straightens up, tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ear.
Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Draco makes an obvious point of brushing his hands off on his robes and looking her over. "As far as I know, Granger, this is a public corridor." His lips curl into a terrible sneer, but somehow his gaze lacks its usual venom, even as he ventures to insult her further. "You should be grateful, I saved you from snapping your neck. You wouldn't even have that bush on your head to brace the fall, with that new hairstyle you've adapted."
She turns to hide her sudden tears, clutching her handbag close to her chest with trembling hands. "M-Malfoy, please...I...I don't need this right now." He glances around the corridor nervously, stepping closer to her upon finding it deserted.
"What..what are you doing?" His voice cracks a bit. He hadn't been expecting this. He'd wanted her to scream at him, to pull out her wand and threaten him, not cry. With another quick glance around the corridor, he ducks into an empty classroom and closes his long fingers over her wrist, pulling her in as well. He leaves the door open a crack, still able to faintly hear the music from the Great Hall, starting a bit as he turns to find her glaring at him.
"What am I doing? What are you doing?" She wipes her eyes hastily and takes a step toward him, raising a hand as if to smack him.
"I...I just..." He coughs awkwardly and takes a step toward her as well. The Weird Sisters announce that there are only three songs left, and kick off with a slow song. "D'you want to dance?" His lips twitch into the vague form of a genuine smile, but it quickly falters, as though he's forgotten how.
Without either of them thinking about it, they step up to each other and start to sway. At first they aren't even touching, they both seem too disgusted. With a tiny little laugh, Draco meets her gaze and rests his hands on her waist, feeling a strange tingling in his fingers. Hermione's arms automatically wrap around his neck, her fingers curling into his hair at the base of his neck, though she refuses even to look at him.
"Erm, I'm...sorry about...wh-what I said about...y'know, your hair." He bites his lip and looks away, not catching the slightly amused look Hermione gives him.
"Yeah, n-no. It's...It's alright." She blushes a bit and bumps her forehead almost affectionately against his chin. "Just don't...don't do it again."
"Right, yeah...okay." Draco wraps his arms a bit tighter around her waist, pressing his cheek to hers and whispering nervously in her ear, "You do look...l-lovely tonight, you know. Even for a Mu-...Gryffindor." He pulls back with another twitching smile, this one lasting a bit longer.
Hermione's brow furrows and she just stares at him for a few moments, not even remotely sure how to react. Once the silence has reached the point he can no longer bear it, Draco leans in a bit, lips hovering a few inches from hers. "Th-...the song's over."
The moment is over. Whatever they had shared for those few minutes...it couldn't happen again. She knew that, and he certainly knew it as well. Of course, that didn't stop him from ghosting his lips across hers on his way out of the room.
~Fin~
Just a quick fic I did as a twitter request, read and review! It wasn't beta'd or anything, but...well, I hope it doesn't suck. As always, try to be nice.