A/N: There WILL be ooc just a warning. This is a Dramione fanfic. There will be other pairings but the main couple is dramione. I do not own Harry Potter (of course) but I wouldn't mind owning Draco Malfoy (if you know what I mean ;) I know the yule ball doesnt take place during sixth year, but suck it up. it needs to take place around this time for future actions to be considered appropriate and ive always wanted to write a fanfic taking off at the yule ball.

Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini stepped through the doors of the Great Hall for the Yule Ball; however they stopped short when they saw the decorations that decked the Hall. It was literally an ice palace; giant icicles trimmed the sides and giant ice figures at each corner of the room and a smaller version in the punch bowls. The sky was snowing, but of course inside was completely snow-free. Decorating the walls were the House banners on the walls and the Hogwarts banner was at its usual place behind the High table. Twelve Christmas trees decorated with tinsels, ornaments, and acorns stood along the walls and beautiful sweet-smelling wreaths were more added decorations to the walls. Hundreds of small tables for six dotted the Great Hall instead of the usual four long House tables. Even the people who walked and danced around the Hall looked beautiful. The boys were dressed in nice dress robes that fit their bodies nicely. The girls wore beautiful long sweeping dresses of every color imaginable and their hair were styled elegantly. Each and every one of the students, however, wore similar masks because the Yule Ball this year is a Masquerade Ball. But this wasn't the best part of the magical night. The students of Hogwarts, fourth year and older, wore casual clothes before entering the Great Hall as they were told by their Head of Houses, but the moment they stepped inside, they were instantly adorned with handsome dress robes, beautiful ballgown dresses, glistening jewels, and silk masks. These masks prevented anyone from recognizing another and tongue-tied those who attempted to mention another's name. However, Draco knew who Blaise was because they entered the hall together. Neither of them bothered to look for a date, and it was encouraged to arrive without a date to add some "flair" to this magical and mysterious night.

"This is amazing. The teachers sure have outdone themselves this year. And who came up with the idea for a masquerade? It's brilliant!" Blaise told Draco.

"I agree. It is quite amazing. I don't think my father has decorated our ballroom to look amazing like this before," Draco admitted looking around him, "And I would like to know who came up with the idea of the masquerade, too."

"Oh look. Teachers are recognizable. Guess they did that so students won't try to misbehave, huh? Boring." Draco was laughing at Blaise's comment and they walked over to the buffet table. Turkey, barbequed pork, stir-fried vegetables, different varieties of soup, salads, steak, Christmas pudding, apple pie, mounds of cakes, truffles, fruit punch, pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and more covered every inch of the tables, which were set up on either end of the Great Hall. Students were stacking their plates with food and quickly went to find a table to sit at. Everyone thought the masquerade was definitely an interesting idea and probably an easy way to make new friends unexpectedly. Draco did like the decorations and the idea of a masquerade, but thought that not knowing who anyone is was a pain. He had no intention of trying to be friends with anyone new, just in case they were mudbloods. Blaise and Draco got their food and found two seats at a table that already had a boy and a girl sitting there.

"Hey Draco, those girls that just walked in don't look bad at all."

"I have no intention of befriending anyone, especially, God forbid, that mudblood Granger."

"But you can't tell and what do you have against her anyways."

"Exactly and I just hate her. I'm going to be safe and not get too friendly with anyone."

"Well, we can talk to them. It doesn't mean being friends. I'll invite them over."

Blaise stood up and walked over to them quickly so as not to lose them in the growing crowd. Draco saw him say something and point at their table. The girls nodded and went with Blaise to get their food.

The moment Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley stepped through the doors of the Great Hall, they gasped in awe. Hermione wore a dress of dark blue that had a corset type bodice. A cluster of diamonds designed into small flowers gathered part of her skirt together to emphasize her small hips. Ginny wore a flowy white halter dress that showed her petite figure nicely and clashed beautifully with her long red hair. Hermione and Ginny headed to one of the buffet tables until Blaise, unrecognized by both Hermione and Ginny, stopped them and asked them to join him and his friend at their table. They gladly obliged. Hermione and Ginny got their plates of food and followed Blaise. The couple had already left the table to dance by the time Hermione and Ginny arrived with Blaise. Hermione took a seat beside Draco and Ginny sat next to her. Passing Draco, he bent down and whispered, "The redhead is really cute. I'll sit next to her. Have fun talking with the brunette. She's quite pretty, too," then went and sat down next to Ginny.

"Hello."

Draco ignored her.

"Hello."

Draco glanced sideways at her.

"Geez, you're quite rude. Can't you say hello?"

This time, Draco looked Hermione straight in the eyes. "Hello."

Hermione's breath was caught short when he looked into her eyes. She had never seen such beautiful silver eyes, but she also had never seen such sad and lonely eyes either. "Thank you," she said finally, breathlessly.

Hermione and Draco ate in silence. Blaise was talking nonstop to Ginny and Ginny was listening intently to Blaise's every word.

"I'm going to get something to drink. What do you want?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Butterbeer."

"What?"

"Get me butterbeer."

"Okay. I'll be right back." Hermione smiled to herself as she headed to the drinks. By this time, the food had been cleared and only fruit trays and different drinks dotted the table as refreshments during the dance. Hermione got two glasses of butterbeer and headed back.

"Here." Hermione placed the glass down next to his plate.

Draco took it and took a sip of it. Hermione started to laugh.

"You've got a mustache!" She took a napkin during Draco's pause of slight surprise. Hermione reached over and wiped away the butterbeer from above Draco's upper lips. Draco jerked suddenly facing her. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Draco looked away.

"Uh, sorry," Hermione also looked away blushing. What was I doing? I don't usually act like this! That was mortifying! She placed the napkin down on the table and stared at her glass of butterbeer. She silently took small sips of her butterbeer and slowly fell into a small daydream. She was sitting next to the Black Lake with a blonde boy. She couldn't see his face, but she felt safe and comfortable wrapped in his strong arms. The sun was blanketing them softly in the beautiful spring weather. The giant squid was gliding lazily along the surface in the middle of the lake. "It's beautiful here. I don't want this to end," she told the blonde boy. "Me, too." He was leaning down, inching closer and closer to her face. Their lips were mere millimeters away and…

"Hey!"

Ginny woke Hermione from her reverie. She looked around wildly.

"What?"

"Geez. I called you like five times. You sure were in a deep daydream. Come on. Let's go dance?"

"I'm sorry. I was daydreaming. Uh… you go ahead. I want to finish my butterbeer."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Have fun."

"Okay. Bye."

Blaise grabbed Ginny's hand and went onto the dance floor. Hermione looked sideways at Draco. He was still sitting there, also sipping at his butterbeer.

"So, don't you want to talk?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I said so."

"Well, I want to talk. What House are you from?"

"Slytherin."

"Oh. Gryffindor here."

"Your friend is Gryffindor, too?"

"Yeah."

"Well your little friend just went to dance with my Slytherin friend. Will he be in for a surprise when he finds out the ginger is a Gryffindor."

"He knows."

"What?"

"He knows."

"I already heard what you said. What do you mean by 'he knows'?"

"That was the first thing they talked about. I overheard them."

"And you don't care?"

"Well, he seemed like a nice guy. And not all Slytherins are bad, I think. The House just has a bad reputation."

"You're a weird Gryffindor."

"I don't care." Hermione smiled, "So what do you like to do during your free time?" Hermione found it quite difficult to talk to Draco at first, but after around fifteen minutes, Draco was a bit more comfortable talking to Hermione. They talked about their likes and dislikes, Hermione not mentioning how sad she feels when a certain Draco Malfoy bullies her and Draco not mentioning how much he didn't like mudbloods. Hermione talked about how much she loved her parents and Draco talked about how much he loved his mother and didn't mention his father. Hermione didn't question his lack of mentioning his father. They talked about classes and about teachers and the Houses. Both Draco and Hermione each thought to themselves, "This feels great, talking to someone else who has the same thoughts as me. I can have an intelligent conversation about certain difficult subjects now." After awhile of talking, Draco remembered something he had wondered when he first entered the Great Hall.

"Oh, I have a question, do you know who came up with the idea of a masquerade? It's absolutely brilliant, although the anti-recognition charm is a pain."

"I did."

"What? Really?"

"Yes. I haven't told anyone except my best friend and she hasn't told anyone. This was a secret amongst the teachers. And plus I didn't want to be bombarded with questions or any of that sort of thing."

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"Thanks," Hermione said blushing a deep shade of pink. Draco smiled.

They continued to talk about everything and at 11:50, Professor McGonagall announced that the last dance would be played in a couple minutes before the masks were removed at midnight and everyone's eyes would be "opened."

"Um… You want to dance with me?"

"What?" Hermione looked at Draco in bewilderment.

"Do you want to dance with me?"

"I heard the first time. I'm just… surprised. Sure I will dance with you."

They stood up and Draco took Hermione's hand, her slender fingers fitting perfectly in the palm of his hand. They went onto the dance floor with the rest of the school. Hermione place her arms around his neck and Draco placed his arms around her waist. Moving slowly side to side in time to the music, it was as if time had stopped for Draco and Hermione. Draco had never felt this way about a girl, and especially a girl he didn't know. He had sworn that he wouldn't befriend anyone at the Yule Ball, but now he's fallen in love. Hermione, for the first time, felt like a woman dancing with this boy an she knew she had feelings for him. She could just stare into those eyes forever and wished with all her heart that she could heal him of the sadness and loneliness in his eyes. Neither of them knew that they would fall for someone of their respective rival House or fall in love with an unknown person. And neither of them expected to see the other when the masks disappeared at the strike of midnight.

A/N: hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review please! I have like 2 or 3 more chapters written right now. so they will be loaded up real soon.