Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (you're stunned, I know).
Hermione looked at the boy in front of her. He was tall – taller than her – with beautiful dark brown eyes and controlled short black hair. His black and red robe matched wonderfully with hers and for the first time she was happy to have spent all that time for make-up and hair.
While staring at him for what seemed like a good minute, she couldn't help but think that he was handsome. And smart. And funny. And so nice in general. And a top Quinditch player. But the most important thing was that he seemed to like i her i/ . Which was pretty weird. But anyway.
Yes, Victor Krum was perfect.
"Errr…Hermione? Are you ok?" he asked looking quite nervous. "I'm not late, am I?"
His words brought her back to reality and she realized that she had been staring for too long. "No, I'm great. So…shall we go?" she smiled at him ordering herself not to blush.
They walked next to each other, not talking, heading for the Great Hall's entrance where all the Champions would gather with their partners and would be the first to dance. Hermione was now glad that she had taken those dance lessons when she was little. And she would bet anything that Victor was a great dancer. He just…had to be.
Harry was there too, with Padma. Weird, her didn't greet me, the girl thought. Little did she know that neither the boy nor anyone else would recognize her easily. When she was thinking about it later she realized that this was the reason Victor looked at her in so much more amazement than he first did and Ron couldn't keep his mouth closed every time he saw her.
"So, do you know how to dance?" the girl asked giggling.
"Yes. I've been taking dance lessons since I was seven" he answered with his odd accent of his that always made Hermione laugh. Oh how she liked the way he talked.
"Mmm, great. Actually, I've been a bit nervous. You know, I've had some lessons too but I stopped when I came to Hogwarts. So practically I haven't danced for three and a half years."
"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be great" he said and gave her one of the most amazing and encouraging smiles she had ever been given.
Oh he was sweet.
"Thanks" she answered after another little bit of staring at his perfect features, not really believing how lucky she was.
The gates opened and the four couples, Cedric and Cho, Fleur and a tall blonde boy whose name she didn't know, Harry and Padma and finally Victor and herself, entered the Hall. It was so beautifully decorated that for a moment, it took Hermione's breath away. Everything seemed to be made out of ice while little snowballs fell occasionally from the ceiling. There was a huge dance floor waiting for them to dance first.
The girl could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest. Her mouth felt dry and she had to remind herself quite a few times to breathe. Although her footing was certain, she was trembling inside and she dreaded that at some unfortunate moment, she would trip over her own foot or do something even more embarrassing. Oh yeah, she was nervous.
And so they got on the dance floor and began. To her ultimate annoyance, she trod on his toes a couple of times (although he didn't seem to mind) before she got the hang of it, but when she did, the feeling was pure triumph as she grew confident enough to look where she was going rather than her feet.
They danced and danced and twirled around and she became used of following his steps obediently and she was smiling at him all along. Even her eyes seemed to be happy as she stared into his own.
"Thank you" she blurted out almost unconsciously but knew immediately that she did have reasons to be thankful for. A lot.
"For what?" he asked confused. Oh she loved that wrinkle that showed between his eyebrows every time he frowned. It made him look so…grown up.
"For dancing with me. For not caring when I stepped on your foot like a thousand times-"
"It wasn't that many and you're quite light" he interrupted her kindly twirling her around and catching her gently when she came back.
"And for asking me out" she finished feeling her cheeks going on fire. Damn this blushing.
"Well…I quite like you so I didn't really have a choice" the boy answered making Hermione blush even harder.
I must look like a giant tomato in a dress, she thought to herself giggling at the thought even though it should have made her feel uncomfortable. Oddly enough however, she found that she didn't care. Victor said he liked her. And that was all that mattered.
Several hours and drinks later Victor was walking her to the door as did most of the remaining couples as the night was almost over. Having her hand in his made her feel like nobody could ever hurt her. Nobody. She felt safe. And warm. A strange hotness was rising inside of her. Perhaps it was the drinks she had had. Or perhaps it was something else…
They reached the bottom of the stairs and stood there for a moment. Hermione lifted her eyes from the floor and looked at the boy in front of her. She interestingly found out that he was looking at her with expectance. Nervousness even. She may have been the smartest witch of her age but she couldn't get i that i/ look.
"So…thanks for bringing me here. It was awesome. You were…awesome" the last words exited her mouth without her expecting or even wanting to. She just said it and realized right after that it was completely true. "So…see you. Goodnight."
The girl turned around and started going up the stairs a smile reaching her lips not quite believing what had just happened. But that little smile was about to vanish soon.
"Wait!" Victor shouted behind her. He climbed up the staircase where she was standing and dived his eyes into hers. "I…I just wanted to tell you that…ermm…I had a great time too." His stare softened. "An-and that I really, i really i/ like you."
Hermione looked at him blankly taking a moment or two to sink in what he had just said. He really liked her. Victor Krum really liked her. She managed to fight the sudden urge to jump up and down shouting "Yes!" and opened her mouth to talk instead but found out that she didn't know what to say. That she liked him too? No, that would sound too desperate and she always heard Lavender saying that you can never tell a boy that you like him. But he had just told her! Oh she didn't know.
Suddenly realizing that she must have looked like a goldfish she closed her mouth.
"You don't have to say anything, you know" Victor said and turned around to leave. "Goodnight."
Something in his tone though –was it really sadness? – made her ran behind him and turn him around. "No, you don't understand. I like you too. I was just a little…shocked back there."
The smile on his face that moment was simply indescribable. Like he couldn't believe that this was happening to him. Like Hermione was the girl of his dreams and he had finally found her. Funny really. Hermione couldn't quite believe her amazing luck at the moment either.
What happened next, happened so fast that she remembered it all in a dizzy blur, like a dream. He approached her gently and gave her that look of his…
There was a moment when they both realized that he was going to kiss her.
He looked at her lips intensely then briefly her eyes and then her lips again. He cupped her face coming closer to her. Closer and closer while Hermione's mind was screaming like crazy 'oh my, oh my, oh my'.
The words popped uninvited in her head. She didn't want to listen to them but she didn't really have a choice. 'I can't do it'. This couldn't be happening to her. The Perfect Man was standing inches away from her and she couldn't kiss him.
The exact moment their lips were about to touch she turned her face away disappointing both him and herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. His look after that gave away something more than hurt.
"I'm sorry. Really. It's just that-"
"You don't like me. You lied because you pitied me."
"No! Of course not. You're so nice and handsome and kind and you've been wonderful to me all night. You were my first date, you know. I really thought I liked you…that way. But obviously I don't. I'm sorry." God, did he honestly believe that he was so…bad?
"So, who's the guy?" he asked looking straight in her eyes not with aggressiveness strangely enough. She half expected him to punch her in the face and leave her there. His simplicity of the question however scared her. How could he possibly know…?
"What do you mean?" she asked again uncertainly.
"There is someone else, right? I can see it in your eyes. You were thinking of him when I tried to kiss you. I didn't get it then…but I do now."
Well, for one thing, he's clever. "Oh…he's just someone…But he'll never take notice of me. He just realized that I am a girl. He's a jerk really. But for some crazy reason I think I fell for him."
"He must be crazy not to see what's right in front of his eyes" he said making her blush. "You" he added now making her feel guilty for turning down such an angel.
Hermione thought about it for a second and decided that she should be the crazy one not to see what's right in front of her eyes but fall for Ron instead.