Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

Hermione couldn't believe that she had to go to this stupid holiday party, except Ginny was insistent on it. Professor Dumbledore decided that in the spirit of promoting solidarity amongst all of the Houses, there should be a grand ball in the Great Hall before everyone left for the holidays. It looked pretty much like it did during the Yule Ball, except there were a lot more jewel tones than simply being blue. It made the Hall look a lot livelier.

She had already attended the Yule Ball two years ago and look how that turned out. It left her sitting on the staircase and crying her eyes on what was supposed to be one of the greatest nights of her life. It was supposed to be the day where she was going to come out of her shell and be more confident in her appearance. Stunning everyone else was secondary.

She was feeling lovely in the dress that she found with Ginny when they went to a dress shop in Hogsemeade one weekend. It was a simple one: It was blue, sleeveless and nipped in at her waist and floated down to right below her knees. It had a tie-front that she arranged into the perfect bow. Unlike the Yule Ball, she opted for matching flat shoes. She also took less time with her hair, taming it so that her normally outrageously bushy hair was in soft curls, and pinned half of it back with a hairclip that she borrowed from Ginny.

Neville wasn't feeling entirely into the party either and so the two of them got into a deep discussion about the merits of using the Devil's Snare as an obstacle back in first year when he paused to pour himself some more pumpkin juice. Hermione nodded and leaned back against the wall and watched everyone else dance and have a good time. As she was drinking her pumpkin juice, she felt something, or rather someone, sidle up right against her.

"Hey there, Granger," Cormac McLaggen said, throwing in what was supposed to be a charming smile for good measure.

"Er, hello Cormac," she replied stiffly. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"I thought I was, and then it turned out I was wrong when I ran into you."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes because only Merlin knew that she couldn't stand how pompous he was sometimes. "That's nice."

"It sure is. What about you? Are you here with anyone?"

"I was just talking to Neville about the merits of the Devil's Snare and how it was probably one of the poorest decisions in terms of preventing someone from reaching the Philosopher's Stone. It's quite fascinating really. The more that you struggle, the faster that it can kill you! If you play dead, then it'll just drop you onto the ground below since it thinks that you're already dead," she explained.

"I remember hearing about that back when we were younger. I couldn't believe that you, Potter, and Weasley were able to get past it!" Hermione was about to open her mouth to say thanks, but he continued, "I bet that I could've figured that out on my own! I mean, I was at the top of my class in Herbology and in Potions that year, and I've beaten so many of my friends at Wizard's Chess, there's no way that I could possibly fail!"

Hermione nodded, feigning interest because she knew that either way, whether she said anything or not, Cormac was going to go on about himself.

"I happen to have a lot of experience with solving riddles. In fact, it's one of many things that I do every day to keep my mind sharp. Helps me stay on top. Well, almost. I'd say you're on top most of the time," he went on, grinning lecherously. Hermione fought to keep the grimace off of her face. She was around the boys often enough that she was familiar with their innuendoes and crass language, so the joke didn't go over her head.

"But oh man, when I heard about how Potter had to fly around that entire room just to grab that key, I thought that he was crazy! Who in their right mind would go through all that trouble for a small stone? I mean I read about it after the fact, but I never really quite got it..."

She was tired of listening to him regale her with his tales and moved to stop him in his tracks. However, she gritted her teeth and smiled politely. "Excuse me, Cormac. I'm going to step out for some fresh air. Alone." She snatched her scarf from the nearby table, wrapped it around her, and bustled until she was outside in the courtyard. She found a piece of wall space in the empty corridor and leaned against it, letting the stone cool her back. She let her eyes slide close and let the music from the Great Hall wash over her.

"Fancy seeing you around here, Granger," a familiar voice echoed.

She groaned and opened them, meeting the piercing gaze of one Draco Malfoy.

"What do you want, Malfoy? Can't you see I'm trying to get some peace and quiet?"

He laughed. "Did you really think that you were going to get any of that out here? I mean, if you really listen, that's not going to happen."

Hermione looked at him confused, but perked up her ears. Sure enough, she heard some rather...interesting noises all around her. They weren't loud by any means but they floated on the breeze, making her shiver. She wrapped herself tighter in her scarf.

"Aw, did mummy and daddy shelter you when you were little?" His silver eyes shone almost mischievously in the moonlight.

"NO. I can assure you that they made sure that I was...properly educated," she said. Why was she even having this conversation with Malfoy? She wouldn't even talk to Harry and Ron about this, lest the boy standing in front of her.

His eyes narrowed at her. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, Draco. My parents gave me the talk of the birds and the bees," she drawled, waving her hand in an offshoot manner to emphasize her point.

"Huh. Never thought that you would be aware of those sorts of things. You struck me as the blushing bride sort of type," he mused.

"Do you honestly think that I'm that stupid about something as boring as sex just because I happen to favor being the top of my class instead of being on...top of some guy? Or did you forget that I'm just a filthy little Mudblood and maybe just happen to know more about this than you?" She couldn't believe that she just said that and silently chided her friends for enabling her to be more frank. But Malfoy had gotten under her skin for too long and she felt like it was time to let him have it.

He stared at Hermione incredulously. "Granger, I didn't think you could be so blunt. What happened to the cute little bookworm I used to know?"

Her brain froze at the mention of him calling her cute, but she went on. "She grew up."

Malfoy took one step closer, his eyes flitting up and down her figure before meeting her gaze again. "You look lovely," he said quietly, no hint of mocking in his voice. The hard edge in his eyes was gone, leaving them with something else.

"...Thank you." She wasn't sure what to think of that. "You...don't look terrible."

He chuckled. "Never thought I'd hear that."

"Really now? What were you hoping to hear? That you were some sort of panty dropper?" She was pleased that his eyes widened. This was quite fun; getting under his skin and turning his perception of her inside out.

"Careful with what you say Granger," Malfoy warned, stepping closer to her until he had her pressed against the wall and she could feel his body heat radiating off of him, "You might not like how I'm going to respond to that."

She inhaled with a shaky breath. "Try me."

He leaned into her and let his lips hover over her ears and neck, not quite touching her quite yet. "As much as you think I'm a prick, and I know you do," she nervously laughed, "my parents raised me to be respectful to women, especially my mother. As in, I never touch them without their permission. If you don't want anything to happen right now, just say the word and I'll leave."

"I...uh, I don't know..." Her mind was stuttering at this strange turn of events.

"What DO you know, Hermione?" He asked.

"I don't want you to back away," she raised her hands in a half-hearted attempt to place them somewhere. She let them drop awkwardly to the side, not knowing what to do.

"What else?" He needed to hear her say something.

"I..." She was at a loss for words, but without even thinking about it, she gently guided his hands to cradle her face.

"Is this okay with you?" He asked, suddenly nervous himself.

"Yes," she replied, letting her face rest against one of his hands. It felt like electricity was crackling under her skin wherever he was touching her. Not that he needed to know that.

Malfoy leaned in until they were almost nose-to-nose and glanced down at her mouth before looking back up at her. "Can I kiss you?"

"Yes." Without a moment to spare, Malfoy grabbed her face brought their lips together, unprepared for the shock that rolled down his spine. He had to steel himself to prevent his knees from buckling.

It was like fire had ignited inside of her that couldn't be put out. Hands were flying everywhere as they tried to grab anything that could ground them to the earth. Malfoy had pressed himself even closer to Hermione and wrapped his arms around her, searing the feeling of their bodies together to his memory. Hermione in return wrapped her arms around his neck and let her fingers wander into that hair that begged to be mussed until it was debauched.

Malfoy nipped at her ears, jawline, and neck, smirking when he felt her shudder. He teased his tongue along her bottom lip and almost groaned out loud when she opened up her mouth for him. For someone who didn't come off as a particularly physical person, Hermione was a far better kisser than anyone he had kissed before.

He kissed along her neck and her collarbone, fighting the urge to lay down a few hickies along that gorgeous neckline. As much as he wanted to, he was almost certain that she would probably slap him or punch him in the face again. Instead, he grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the wall. She was surprised that he was able to turn the tables on her, but deep down, on some small level, she liked this. She wasn't sure how she let Malfoy get the best of her and why she even allowed this to happen in the first place, but she supposed the first time that he part-jokingly/part-not-jokingly asked her to Hogsmeade, there was something there.

She heard footsteps and froze. Apparently Malfoy heard them so because he stopped his ministrations to stare at her.

"Now what?" He asked.

She poked her head around the corner and saw one door ajar. She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers through his and made a beeline for the empty room.

"Snogging in empty closets, are we now Granger?" Malfoy teased. It was really a defense mechanism because he was desperately trying to get his growing hard-on under control before it was apparent, because he forgot the last time that he was this turned on by a girl and of course it would be Granger because the way she took control in any situation was sort of hot. The smile vanished from his face when she pinned him to the door, slamming it shut.

"Now. Where were we?" She asked, her voice dropped down to a near whisper.

Hermione returned to the Great Hall, smoothing her hair in an attempt to get it under control. She sighed and found Neville sitting on a bench. He smiled at her when she sat down next to him.

"Where did you disappear off to Hermione? Ginny was looking for you. Something about Ron and Harry saying inappropriate things to Lavender and Pavarti. I think they had too much Butterbeer," Neville asked.

"Oh, er, I had to step out for fresh air. Cormac was giving me a headache."

Neville laughed and almost had to support himself before he fell off of the bench.

"What's so funny?"

Neville pointed to one spot in the room, where it looked like Cormac was trying to chat up Hannah Abbott. She was clearly not impressed with him and smiled politely at him, waving her hands around in a motion that looked like she needed to go somewhere. She left, letting out a sigh of relief. Cormac looked around the room for another girl to talk to and made his way through the crowd.

"Trust me, you were not the only girl to have been approached by him. I think he's a man on a mission," Neville chuckled.

Hermione snorted. "And he is surely going to fail."

Neville nodded. "So, did the fresh air help clear your head?"

Her eyes scanned across the room until they locked with Malfoy's. He winked at her and she felt her face flush.

"Yes, it definitely helped."