"Hermione! MioneMioneMione!"
Hermione Granger turned around, slightly annoyed at having her name yelled over and over down the hallway, but that feeling evaporated when she saw that the owner of the voice was Ginny Weasley.
"Hey Gin. What has you all wound up?"
"Hogwarts is having a masquerade ball!"
Oh.
"A… masquerade ball. That's, that's really exciting Gin." Hermione said, trying to plaster a smile on her face, because really, a ball was more Ginny's thing.
"Oh come on Mione! You've been at Hogwarts seven years, and you've never even had a date."
"And a masquerade ball will help with that. I'm sure Gin." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh Hermione, at least let me have some fun! I want to do your hair and stuff! Just this once! You never let me do stuff like that." Ginny said, trying to keep up with Hermione's fast pace.
"Because there isn't really a reason to Gin," Hermione said. "But really, what would be point be? Are you waiting for a Cinderella thing? I kiss someone and he runs off after me, trying to figure out who I am?"
"Who's Cinderella? Actually, never mind. Hermione, come on, it's a masquerade! That means masks! I mean, you could kiss Draco Malfoy, and he wouldn't even know!"
Hermione stopped abruptly, making Ginny run into her.
"Gin, why on earth would I kiss Draco Malfoy?"
"That was just an example! I wasn't serious!"
Hermione finally felt bold. "You know what Gin. Fine. You can do my hair and all that. And then we'll see if Draco Malfoy cares."
Ginny nodded slowly. "Alright… so if he-" she gasped! "I've got it! If you kiss him at the ball, and he goes all, how'd you say it, all Cinderella? Yea, if he goes all Cinderella on you, and you guys fall in love-" Hermione scoffed at this. "-then you have to get Harry to take me on a date."
"But, you guys are already going out."
"I know, but he hasn't actually taken me on a date date, you know? So, Mione, how about it? Deal?" Ginny held out her hand.
Hermione shook Ginny's hand. "Deal."
XxXxX
"Hermione!" Ginny knocked on Hermione's door in a sing-song fashion. "Ready for the ball?"
Hermione groaned and rolled off of her bed. "Yea Gin. Come in."
"Why do you sound so unhappy? Come on! This'll be fun! You'll look gorgeous. I've got everything all set, so you don't have to do anything."
"Except kiss Draco Malfoy." Hermione sat up. "Wait Gin. We never decided on what would happen if Draco didn't go all Cinderella and all that. What, what are we betting?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. Cause I bet- no, I know! That he will fall in love with you." Ginny smirked. "Why? Oh, I know Mione. You care. You totally care what Draco thinks about you."
"No I do not! I just don't want people to think of me as… as some… I don't know. You know what I mean though, right Gin?"
"Of course! You don't want Draco to think you're some wannabe fan girl of his!"
"No! No no no that's not what I mean at all!" Hermione gasped.
"Of course not. Now sit still!"
XxXxX
"I hate to say this Ginny, but… I love it. I mean, its green, but it looks so… good."
"Of course it does. I picked it out for you!" Ginny laughed. Hermione was staring at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a green dress, her hair sleek against her back, and, dare she say it, she looked really great.
"Um Gin? Where's the mask? It's a masquerade ball."
"What, you don't think I forgot it do you?" Ginny reached into her bag and pulled out a mask, also green, with silver swirls and feathers.
Hermione sighed. "Ginny why are you making me excited for this? Gosh."
"That's my job. Now come on, the ball's about to start!" Ginny ran off down to the common room.
Hermione lingered, staring at her reflection awhile longer. "Well Mione, time to go have fun. And to possibly make a fool of yourself."
XxXxX
"Hermione, just go in! You're wearing a mask! No one is going to make fun of you, I swear!"
"Ginny! They'll be able to tell! They'll be like 'Hermione Granger, who do you think you are?'"
"No they won't! Just go!" And with that, Ginny pushed Hermione into the Great Hall.
The Great Hall, well, it didn't look like the Great Hall. All the tables were gone, and the House banners were replaced with silver ones, with snowflakes. Snowflakes were also coming from the enchanted ceiling. It was much like the setting of the Yule Ball they'd had during their fourth year. Which ended badly. Probably an omen. Oh crap I knew I shouldn't have come oh my gosh-
"Really Hermione. You're barely in the Hall. You aren't even considered part of the party yet." Ginny appeared behind her, gently nudging her deeper and deeper in.
"Ginny!" Hermione hated the whiny tone her voice had suddenly come up with. She cleared her throat. "Gin. I'm fine. Really." Turning away from her friend, she took a deep breath. Even though she had been talking to Ginny, the words were more for herself.
She looked around quickly. Ugh, why had she agreed to this? Or at least made the bet "kiss any boy", not "kiss Draco Malfoy". She spotted him in a corner next to the punch bowl. Using a large mirror on the wall, she made sure her masked covered her face.
Draco wouldn't recognize her hair;; Ginny had put some magical cream stuff in it, so instead of frizzy curls, they were pretty sleek curls. She didn't tell Ginny, but she snuck the bottle into her pocket to use for other times. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was glad Ginny volunteered to do her hair and makeup. It was a good feeling.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Hermione turned on her heel, and started walking towards the punch bowl. Thank goodness he hadn't walked away;; she'd never be able to find him. Hermione could feel Ginny's eyes boring into the back of her head as she ladled some punch into a cup.
Hermione took a small sip. "Mmm. Good punch." She glanced out of the corner of her eye to see if he had noticed.
Draco turned to her, and smiled. "Yea, it's quite good." He looked at her more closely. "Do you go to Hogwarts? I don't think I recognize you… or well, what I can see of you anyway."
"Um… yes. I'm from… Beauxbatons. My cousin goes here though, and she invited me."
"Oh really? Who's your cousin?"
Hermione blanched. "Ahm… her name is… Lavender Brown," she said thinking of Lavender's curly hair.
"Oh, a Gryffindor."
Hermione forced a chuckle. "Yea. If I was sorted at Hogwarts, I'd want to be in Slytherin. Or at least Ravenclaw."
Draco perked up hearing this. "Well, I'm in Slytherin. People always think we're evil and stuff, but I take it you're not one of those people?"
"Oh, no, of course not. I mean, Slytherins are…" she thought back to the Sorting Hat's songs. "They're cunning, ambitious…" she trailed off. She didn't mention pure-blood ancestry.
Apparently Draco didn't notice, and he continued off. "Right! Just because all these bad people are from it… we get this bad reputation. And I just think-"
Hermione never got a chance to find out what he thought, because right there the orchestra struck up a song.
Draco glanced shyly at her. Wait. Draco Malfoy, shy? Hermione nearly had a heart attack.
She also noticed that when he wasn't sneering, he was actually quite decent looking.
"Um, well it's a ball, so… would you care to dance?" Draco actual looked… nervous.
Winning this bet was going to be easier than she though.
"I'd love to!" she replied, and gave him a, or what she hoped was, a dazzling smile. Apparently it was, since he looked slightly off guard as he took her hand and led her out among the other dancers.
They dance in silence for a moment, then Draco quickly turned to her. "I never asked, what's your name?"
"Oh, that's right! Silly me! My name is… I'm Mia."
He chuckled. "Mia what?"
Oh crap. Hermione had hoped he wouldn't ask. "Mia… Anderson." she hoped her mother wouldn't mind her using her maiden name.
Draco nodded, and they continued dancing. Hermione was feeling slightly impatient. She wanted to get this bet over with, even if she was kind of having fun.
Wait.
What?
She'd just admitted she was having fun.
With Draco Malfoy.
Oh, gosh.
"Um, I'm… I'm sorry, I'm feeling a little warm. Would you mind if we stepped outside for a minute?" she said, trying to sound slightly breathless, which wasn't too hard, since her mask's mouth hole wasn't exceptionally large, just barely enough to not cover her lips.
"Of course!" Draco led her quickly through the dancers, and out of the Great Hall. Hermione knew Ginny would freak out, but she couldn't do anything about it now.
Hermione soon found herself on a small balcony she'd never knew existed. It had ivy winding around the stone railing, and a bench under the shade of a tree. It'd be a nice place to read one day.
"Is this better?" Draco's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, yes. It's great. So… how did you find out about this place? If I visit Hogwarts again, I might want to hang out here a little."
"Oh, I was just strolling around one day and found it." he shrugged and looked out at the moon.
Hermione nodded slowly, unsure of what to do in the awkward silence, so she strode up next to Draco at the railing.
What was she supposed to do now? She'd never read romance novels;; that was Ginny's thing. Maybe it'd be safe to put her head on his shoulder?
Thank goodness he was leaning against the balcony, otherwise her head never would have made it to his shoulder.
It was a nice feeling.
Ok, this bet needed to end now.
Hermione decided to look up at him a little;; maybe he'd get the hint. But she almost back away in surprise, because he was looking down at her, his blue eyes intense. Thank goodness she was wearing a mask, otherwise he would have seen her blushing.
Her stomach started flip flopping. Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh! She was freaking out a bit, she'd admit. But it was because she was worried her plan would fail, not because she liked Draco. She'd barely talked to him. Even though he'd been very kind tonight, that didn't make up for six years of name-calling and jokes.
Right?
You know, his eyes really were pretty when not filled with hate. Hermione thought to herself.
Next thing she knew, his lips were on hers. Hermione felt… well, she shouldn't feel this way for a boy who'd hated her for years, yet in the last hour, she'd come to like him.
They pulled away from each other, holding hands. They stood there on the balcony, both grinning to themselves, not looking at one another.
"Um, maybe… maybe we should head back to the party." Draco mumbled.
Hermione smiled at how nervous he was. "Yea, someone is probably looking for one of us."
They turned around and, hand in hand, walked back to the Great Hall, where the last few couples were still dancing the night away.