Author's Note: Harry and Hermione are twins. James survived that night and raised Harry and Hermione with Sirius and Remus at Grimmauld Place. Italics = flashbacks. James and Harry are slightly OOC.
I finally asked you to dance
On the last slow song
Beneath that moon that was really a disco ball
It as the night of the graduation ball, a ball that was just for the graduating seventh years, and Draco Malfoy hadn't been able to take his eyes off of Hermione Potter. She and her fellow Gryffindor seventh year girls—Lavender and Parvati—had decided to wear basically the same dress, just in different colors. The dresses were tight from the waist up, before flowing down to the ground; the top of the dress was beaded extravagantly. Lavender's dress was in a light purple, Parvati's in an orangey-pinkish color, and Hermione's in a shade of blue that went beautifully with her ebony hair and emerald eyes.
Draco had spent the whole night looking at her, his friends trying to convince him that this would his last chance to take action because after tomorrow she would be swept off and put into an engagement with Weasley—and everyone could tell it would be unwilling. It was clear that she had a dislike for the red head since she had met him, but James wanted to unite his family with the Weasleys and since Ginny looked too much like Lily, he figured that Hermione could learn to love Ron.
"This is the last song of the night; so, hold that someone special close." The DJ announced.
Draco looked over and saw Hermione subtly trying to keep out of Ron's reach. With a rough shove from Blaise and Theo, he made his way over to her.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, holding his hand out to her.
She spun around at the sound of his voice, her shock only showing in her eyes, before she smiled softly at him and nodded, "Yes, you may."
The two laughed lightly as he lead her onto the dance floor.
"The decorations are really nice." He told her, looking at the various disco balls set up around the Great Hall.
"Thank you," Hermione smiled, "Lavender, Parvati, and I spent half the day setting everything up."
"What else did you do?" Draco had no idea what possessed him to ask her that.
"Got ready," Hermione replied, her small smile showing him that hardly anybody ever asked her what she did during her days, "three hours of Lavender and Parvati doing my hair and make-up so that I would look perfect."
"You always look perfect." Slipped out of his mouth before her could stop it.
Hermione blushed lightly giving him that same small smile, before resting her head on his shoulder as they continued to sway.
I can still feel my head on your shoulder
And hoping that song would never be over
Not a day went by that Hermione didn't think about that dance, about what could have been if her dad had let her let her live her life. On days like today—when she and Ron had a huge fight and he stormed out of the house, or when he said that practice was going to run late but she knew that he was really seeing one of his many quidditch groupies—she would relive that dance over and over again; the memory so vivid that she could still feel the elegant fabric of his robes against her cheek. Merlin, how she wished that that song had never ended; that Harry had had enough sense to keep Ron from pulling her out of Draco's arms right as the song ended. She still hear the song—Somewhere Out There—and it was constantly stuck in her head; which was yet another thing that Ron hated.
I haven't seen you in ages
Sometimes I find myself
Wondering where you are
For me you'll always be 18
And beautiful and dancin' away with my heart
There had been many people that Hermione hadn't seen since graduation because of Ron's need to control her life. They had been married for almost two years and Hermione had—thankfully—managed to come up with excuses for why they couldn't sleep together. The most popular one was just staying at work. As the Ministry's top prosecutor, she could work all night and still be behind. It was days like today when she already knew she wasn't going back to the flat where she and Ron lived; the flat that she had never—and would never—be able to call home.
A knock on her door brought her back to reality. Blinking rapidly and turning away from the window to see her twin brother—her partner on the Auror side of things—standing with a folder that was obviously just filled with blank sheets of paper.
"Yes, Harry?" she asked, attempting to sound like she wasn't thinking about what she had been thinking about.
"Are you ready to go?" Harry asked, coming into the office and sitting down in one of the chairs on the other side of her desk after closing the door.
"No," Hermione replied, "tell dad that I have a lot of work I need to get done."
"Mione, you have spent that past week in this office; you're caught as far up as you can be with what you have. It's Friday night, which means dinner with dad, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks. Come on, Ron's meeting us there." Harry told her, trying to convince her to come.
"Then definitely not." Hermione's features hardened.
"What is going on with you?" Harry inquired, giving her a look, "Ron says you've been cold , treating him like shit; he thinks you're cheating on him."
"Right," Hermione scoffed, "that coming from the man who will call me from a bar telling me he's still at practice even though I can hear the bimbo hanging on his arm."
"Hermione—"
"You don't understand, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, "I'm not happy! I hate my marriage, my life! Do you know what it's like to be in love with someone dad wouldn't even let you look at?"
"What's this about?" Harry sighed, not thinking that Hermione could possibly be as unhappy with Ron as she said she was.
"Draco." Hermione replied, looking down at the file in front of her.
"You're not in love with him, Hermione." Harry scoffed, continuing, "You had one dance with him."
"No, that dance confirmed the feelings I already had." Hermione looked up, "He gave me all the feelings a guy should give me. I had crazy butterflies and I when he kissed me, I felt like I was flying. Ron never gives me those feelings; Harry, I can't even let him touch me. I never want to be around him because when I do he either treats me like I'm only there to do everything he asks or we're fighting. I'm not happy, I have never been happy. The tears on my wedding weren't from anything close to happiness. I just want out…"
"I'll talk to dad—"
"No," Hermione shook her head, "just tell him I'm swamped at work."
"Mione—"
"Just go." Hermione sniffled, turning her chair back around and staring out the window, thinking about the 18 year boy who had manage to steal her heart two years ago.
I brushed your curls back so I could see your eyes
And the way you moved me was like you were reading my mind
Draco slowly brought his hand up and brushed her hair gently out of her eyes; her beautiful, sparkling, emerald eyes that had captivated him since the day he had first met her.
The two swayed in perfect unison, doing a dance that only they knew.
"You really do look beautiful." Draco muttered into her hair as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"You said that already." Hermione giggled, a sound Draco decided that he really liked.
"I just wanted to make sure you knew." Draco replied earnestly, "You looked so shocked when I told you earlier."
"Well, it seems you're the only one who has been looking at me the whole time instead of parts of me." Hermione replied, looking into his stormy eyes which were filled with warmth.
As the last few notes of the song began to play, Draco said, "What would you do if I kissed you?"
Hermione looked coyly up at him before replying, "Why don't you see for yourself?"
Draco laughed softly before leaning forward. Before either of them knew what happened, Ron had pulled Hermione roughly away from the blond right before he could kiss her.
As Ron dragged Hermione out of the Great Hall, Hermione and Draco never broke eye contact.
I can still feel you lean into kiss me
I can't help but wonder if you ever miss me
As Hermione watched the rain fall outside her office window, she could have sworn that she could feel his warm breath against her cheek. She disillusioned the picture she kept on her desk and picked it up. It was a picture of her and Draco dancing that Lavender had taken that night that she had enchanted to appear to be a picture of herself, Harry, Sirius, James, and Remus.
She sighed as she watched herself and Draco spinning around in the world of the picture frame. Hermione lightly touched the picture, closing her eyes and humming along with the song that was playing in the memory.
Every time she looked at this picture, she could help but wonder if he thought about her as much as she thought about him; if he ever missed her even for a moment. She often thought about writing to him, but knew that if Ron ever found out, her marriage would become even worse than it already was.
I haven't seen you in ages
Sometimes I find myself
Wondering where you are
For me you'll always be 18
And beautiful and dancin' away with my heart
Draco walked into the Ministry, his mind set. He hadn't seen Hermione since graduation; he hadn't had the chance to talk to her since that dance. He found himself looking though all the newspapers for her name or her picture. She had stolen his heart the first time he looked at her; the first time she blushed when she caught him staring, he knew she was it. Whenever he saw her picture, he still saw the girl he danced with.
Even though it had only been a few years since graduation, she looked different to those who cared enough to notice. The light was gone from her eyes, her smile was forced, and she went out of her way not to be photographed with her husband. But she still looked beautiful to him.
"How can I help you, sir?" the lady at the front desk asked him.
"Hermione Pot—Weasley's office." Draco replied, hating how her beautiful name was soiled by that oaf's name.
"She was supposed to have left hours ago," the lady looked around before leaning forward, "but, between you and me, she hasn't left that office all week. I think she's avoided her husband. Her office is 2415."
"Thank you." Draco nodded, trying to hide his delight that she was still there. He went over to the elevator and pressed the 24th floor button and waited. He found it humorous that, with her fear of heights, her office was on the top floor of the Ministry.
Once there, he walked down the hall and stopped in front of her office, taking a deep breath before knocking.
You headed off to college
At the end of that summer and we lost touch
I guess I didn't realize even at that moment we lost so much
After graduation, James had enrolled her in an accelerated law school plan. She had spent all her summers in this same program and would be graduating a certified lawyer that September. After that, she was practically given the job she had; proving that next week that she would have gotten the job anyway.
Draco had, once again, begun thinking about what could have happened if he had had the time, the courage, to act on his feelings. He had since realized the reason he couldn't find it in himself to marry any of the beautiful Pureblood girls his mother kept bringing him to meet, was because this girl had stolen his heart. She had had it since first year, but after that dance, it was completely hers. When she was dragged off she took it with her and he hadn't even noticed.
He knocked on the door and heard a faint, faraway voice say, "Come in."
He took a deep breath and opened to door.
I haven't seen you in ages
Sometimes I find myself
Wondering where you are
For me you'll always be 18
And beautiful and dancin' away with my heart
Hermione spun her chair around when the door opened, preparing herself for a battle with Harry or her father, or a "discussion" with Sirius, Remus, or Tonks. Nothing prepared her for seeing Draco Malfoy standing in her doorway.
She didn't say anything, just shot out of her chair and flung her arms around him. Draco let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and wrapped his arms around her waist.
They stood like that for what felt like hours until Hermione pulled back, "What are you doing here?"
"I had to see you." Draco replied earnestly, looking into her emerald eyes that had definitely dulled in the time since he had seen her.
"I'm married now." She replied, looking at her feet.
"I know; and you're miserable. I know I'm not the only one who sees it."
"My family, Molly, Ron, and Ginny are probably the only ones who don't see it."
"I came here tonight to tell you that I love you."
"Draco—"
"Run away with me."
"You know that I can't."
"Then let's find a way to send this marriage of yours because I hate seeing you like this." When she gave him a confused look, he replied, "You used to glow, your eyes used to sparkle. But, now, there's none of that. It's only been two years and you look like you've been in an unhappy marriage for fifty years."
"I hate being married to him." Hermione sniffed, turning around and looking out the window. As Draco wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder, she said, "I never stop thinking of that dance; of how you made me happier in five minutes than Ron ever did in the seven plus years that I have known him. I love you, Draco."
"I love you, too, Hermione."
Suddenly, Hermione turned around in his arms, "I'm going to talk to my dad. With his position and everything that Ron's done, I have the very likely possibility of being able to get a divorce."
"You would do that?" Draco raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yes." Hermione nodded, "Ron cheats on me, treats me as his property, and doesn't really know me. I have been miserable for the past two years and I don't know how much longer I can make excuses for not sleeping with him."
"You two haven't…"
"No." Hermione blushed, "the very thought of him touching me that why…"
"So, you're still…"
"No!" Hermione shook her head, "Me and Seamus hooked up a few times."
"Oh…"
"It didn't mean anything and it was years ago. I have always like you, Draco Malfoy."
"So," Draco smirked, "do you want to go talk to your dad?"
"Let's go." Hermione pulled on his arm, "It's family dinner night, so everyone will be at Grimmauld Place."
Draco smiled and followed her out of her office.
Nah nah nah
Nah nah nah
Nah nah nah
Away with My Heart
Nah nah nah
Nah nah nah
Nah nah nah
It had been five years since Hermione broke the news to her dad. Neither James nor Harry were happy about it, but Tonks was over the top ecstatic about it. Even before James could start thinking about, Tonks had whisked Hermione off to start planning the wedding. A few weeks later, Harry managed to convince Ron to sign the papers; and a few days after that, Hermione married Draco.
Now, after five years of marriage, Hermione was happier than she had ever been. She was smiling and laughing again; her glow and her sparkling eyes had returned. But the best part was that she had married her soul mate and had had three beautiful boys—Leo, Scorpius, and Aries—with him, all looking exactly like their father but with Hermione's eyes.
She couldn't have been happier than she was now; especially, if she had had to stay in her sham of a marriage.