Hermione felt like someone was watching her. She glanced around the Great Hall, and found a group of Slytherins assessing her.
"That's weird," Harry commented, looking at the table of Slytherins as Blaise Zabini winked at Hermione.
xxxxx
"So, Draco? What do you say?" Blaise's mischievous grin challenged his friend.
"No," Draco Malfoy's short response was meant to shut them up. It didn't.
Theo Nott started laughing. "You're scared."
Theo and Blaise were pretty sure that Draco Malfoy was intimidated by Hermione Granger. She was the only student who had better grades than he did, and ever since she'd punched him, he'd been a bit wary.
"I'm not."
"Then ask her. I dare you. If you don't, we'll know you are scared of her." Blaise left Draco with no room to argue.
Draco gritted his teeth. "Fine."
xxx
"Granger."
"Malfoy."
In their 8th year, the students in Harry Potter's year had finally begun to act like normal teenagers. The period immediately after the Battle of Hogwarts had been difficult, but by the following spring, a carefree attitude had permeated through the students. Somehow Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger had gotten caught up in a prank war between Slytherin and Gryffindor houses. Draco's friends had dared him to ask Hermione to the ball, knowing that she'd turn him down. However, upon hearing of the invitation, Hermione's friends had dared her to accept it. And now, here they were, forced to attend the Grad Ball together. Hermione wasn't even sure how Draco's invitation and her acceptance made any sense with the prank war, but it was too late now.
"Why are you wearing that?" Draco frowned at Hermione's dress which was wrinkled and out of style.
"I'm not giving them the satisfaction. If I have to go, I want everyone to know it's against my will."
"Nope. That's not how we're playing this. You are going to look beautiful and I will look dashing, like usual."
Hermione snorted. Secretly, Hermione agreed with Draco. He did look dashing. His tux fit perfectly, leading her to think that it'd been made specially for him. She rolled her eyes at herself. Of course it had been. This was Draco Malfoy after all. Despite what had happened during the war, the Malfoys still were wealthy and Draco could afford everything he wanted. While Hermione told him that she'd chosen the dress because she knew it'd look bad, she also didn't have much else to choose from and felt that buying a new dress for a date with Malfoy was a waste of money. This was just some joke that she felt like the butt of.
"Alright, let's work on that dress. What's your favorite color? Actually, never mind, you are going to wear Slytherin green."
Draco pointed his wand at Hermione and her dress began to change from a drab blue frock into a stunning green sequined gown. The dress was slim fitting and Hermione's trim, but curvy figure was displayed. The dress seemed to shimmer with her every movement.
"Damn, Granger."
She blushed.
"But that hair." He stared at her. Hermione's scowl returned. He didn't need to insult her. She knew her hair was bushy.
With a few incantations, Hermione felt her hair being lifted and moved. Once he finished, she felt around her head. She couldn't see it, but her hair had never felt softer. His magic was extraordinary to Hermione.
"Granger, you're beautiful."
Hermione choked out a nervous laugh.
"I mean it. It's surprising," he said grinning. "Who knew?"
"Why are we doing this? We don't have to go." Draco's sudden kindness had felt nice, but she was too suspicious of the man. (Hermione tried not to think of him as a man, but he was no longer a gangly teenager. His tall frame had filled out over the past year and since the war's end, he seemed confident, but no longer arrogant of his place in the world. He wasn't the boy he'd once been.) "This is stupid. I can't believe Harry and Ron made me do this."
He turned and regarded her with narrowed eyes. His gaze bored into hers. He shook his head once, and Hermione knew that she was going to be at the ball after all.
"We're going because they don't expect us to."
"That doesn't even make sense. Why would me going with you be a win for Gryffindor over Slytherin? Or Slytherin over Gryffindor?" Hermione practically growled. The more she thought about this, the madder she was getting. Her friends knew her history with Malfoy and thought it would be funny for her to have to go to the dance with him? Her mind was racing and she could feel herself tense up.
Draco reached out for her arm. "Still here, Granger? Where'd you go?" He had noticed her silence. "Do you think any of these pranks make sense? Everyone's lost their minds because we aren't fighting anymore. We're enjoying life like we should have been all these years and it gets kind of ridiculous."
Malfoy paused. A smirk appeared on his face. His beautiful lips (Hermione caught herself thinking "Beautiful lips?! Since when does Draco Malfoy have beautiful lips?") moved into a true smile.
"Neither Slytherin nor Gryffindor is winning this round. You and I are."
Draco set his plan out. He and Hermione were going to use this to make everyone think that they were dating, that their whole prank war had backfired because Draco and Hermione were together. Everyone would be horrified by that idea.
Hermione felt herself cheer up. This might be fun after all. She caught Draco giving her a once-over. When he saw her, he gave her a wink and nodded his head in the direction of the dance.
xxx
As they walked into the Great Hall, the party was already in full swing. They had decided that they were going to start dancing on their own and not join their friends immediately. Let them realize that the date wasn't going as predicted.
The band finished a fast song as Draco and Hermione stepped in the middle of the dancing. As a slower song began, Hermione realized that she was going to be getting a lot closer to Draco a lot faster than she realized. She momentarily froze remembering that she didn't know how to dance which would be a problem in addition to her nervousness about having to touch him. Draco noticed her pause.
"You don't know how to dance, do you?"
Hermione gave her head a small shake. Draco reached in and grabbed her hand.
"Put your hand on my shoulder. I'm going to hold the back of your waist and we'll hold hands with our other hands."
They fit together very well. Hermione felt a few flutters in her stomach as she felt Draco's hands on her.
"Just follow my lead. I've taken plenty of dance classes and I don't know that anyone will notice you."
As they began moving, Hermione looked up to Draco's beautiful lips. Damn it. What was wrong with her? He was being so patient. He wasn't acting like Hermione was an idiot for not knowing how to dance. In fact, he was doing the opposite. He was eagerly teaching her how.
xxx
Across the room, Ginny watched Draco and Hermione dance. She turned to Harry and Ron.
"Are you sure she didn't want to come with Malfoy?" she asked as she pointed out the couple on the dance floor. The boys turned to see what Ginny was looking at. Before they could say anything, Luna gasped.
"They look wonderful together!"
Ginny and the boys turned to the witch and she continued, "They match so well. I'd never thought about them dating, because really who would have, but it's perfect! They are both so smart and look how he's helping her. Draco isn't often kind. I wonder why he's being so gentle with her. She even just stepped on his foot twice and he's still grinning at her." The woman stopped talking.
"Perfect together? Are you kidding me?" Ron was not amused. "Malfoy is awful."
"I think she's having fun," Luna responded.
xxx
And Hermione was having fun. Despite her lack of dancing skills, Draco had managed to keep her on her feet without feeling like an idiot. Him and his damn beautiful lips. They danced to the point of thirst and decided to take a break for some punch.
"How do you think we're doing?" Hermione asked as they sipped their drinks.
"Granger, I think you're brilliant."
Hermione scowled. She didn't appreciate Malfoy making fun of her, especially when she thought they'd been having fun together. He caught her expression.
His voice was low when he said, "I'm serious." He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Why haven't we hung out before?"
Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Because I'm Hermione Granger and you're Draco Malfoy?"
He laughed. It was a full happy sound. He pulled her down into a chair next to him. They began talking about their potions class.
Harry and Ron continued watching the pair. They hadn't seen Hermione so free in a long time. Since the end of the war, she'd become more relaxed, they all had, but she still never went crazy even though the parties had become pretty wild in their final year. Her conversation with Malfoy was animated and she kept laughing.
"Why'd we make her go with him?" Ron asked.
Ginny responded, "I'm not sure why you thought it would be funny. But it looks like it was exactly what she needed. Come on, Harry. Let's dance."
xxx
On the other side of the room, Pansy leaned against Theo.
"That's interesting," she commented about Draco and Hermione.
Theo nodded. "He doesn't look intimidated by her right now."
Blaise laughed. "Are you kidding me? He was so happy that we dared him to ask her. He wanted to go with her, but never would have asked. You know, he's Draco Malfoy and all that. This whole muggle-born thing isn't really done."
He walked towards the refreshments table. Pansy and Theo watched him go in silence. Then they laughed. It was very obvious that Blaise was right.
Luna was standing by the desserts when Blaise arrived. "You think they belong together too, don't you?"
He gave her a quick grin. "Of course I do. Why do you think I made him ask her to go?"
Luna smiled serenely. "I like you Blaise Zabini."
xxxx
Hermione was enjoying herself so much that she almost didn't feel her painful feet. Her shoes weren't that comfortable and she already had at least two blisters. Draco noticed her discomfort and realized what was wrong. "Hop on." He indicated to his back.
And feeling like she no longer knew who she was, Hermione Granger did hop on his back as he strode to a dark corner. Other students watched the pair with curiosity, but they didn't approach the couple.
For the next few hours, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy sat thigh to thigh and talked about everything. He shared his fears and why he'd taken the dark mark. He talked about hopefully becoming a healer. Hermione cried when she thanked him for not identifying her, Ron, and Harry when they were captured at Malfoy Manor. Draco grimaced at the reminder. Hermione reached for his chin. She held it while she caressed his beautiful lower lip with her thumb. She moved away from those horrible memories and told him funny stories of when she'd been totally clueless by something in the wizarding world. He asked about Muggle behavior. They talked about what they would do in a few weeks, after they were finished at Hogwarts. The time flew by without interruption until they realized only a few professors were left in the room. The dance had ended and all the students had left.
Professor McGonagall called to them. "Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, the dance is over." They began to get up as she continued, "but as this is your last ball, I don't see the need to rush to leave." She gave them a conspiratory smile as she moved away from their corner.
xxx
Up in the Gryffindor dormitories, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Neville, and several other students lay around the common room in their fancy dress clothes.
"You know, Hermione isn't back yet," Neville said what they'd all been thinking.
"She's already in love with him, I think," Ginny commented.
"Malfoy?" Harry questioned. "No."
"As much as I hate to admit it, I think Gin's right," Ron commented.
The room fell silent at his words.
"There's always been something there. Now that they aren't fighting against each other, it's had time to turn into curiosity. She's intrigued by him," said Ginny. "Think about it. They're both extremely smart. He can offer her intelligent conversation the way the rest of us can't always."
"Hey!" yelled Ron. But then he laughed recognizing the truth.
"Do you think she'll even come back tonight?" Dean wondered.
xxx
In the Slytherin dungeons Pansy and Theo lay curled up together on one of the couches.
"How does Blaise do that?" Pansy questioned.
"What do I do?" Blaise said as he walked into the room.
"How'd you realize that about Draco? He likes Hermione? Really?" Theo asked.
"If you two weren't so caught up in each other," Blaise said to the pair, "You would have seen it too. He blushes a little when she's mentioned. He tries to be casual when it happens, but he's hoping for more information."
xxx
As the sun rose over Hogwarts, Hermione finally crawled into her bed. She was so tired she could barely move, but the smile on her face wouldn't go away.
xxxx
She woke up several hours later. She rolled out of bed to find Ginny to tell her about the weird dream she'd had that Draco Malfoy had beautiful lips. As soon as she put her foot on the floor she yelped. Her blisters were still as painful as they'd been last night. Apparently Draco Malfoy did have beautiful lips.