I realised that I may have made a slight muck up with the ages and have decided that it would be more sensible if Hermione were 17 as opposed to 12 (for plot sake.) Can I do that?

The warm morning sunlight flickered through the gaps between the giant curtains and Hermione Granger slowly awoke from her slumber.

"Morning Hermione," said Ginny as she wrestled with a dwarf who had stolen one of her socks.

Her eye adjusted to the bright red and gold room, a happy reminder that she too had been sorted into Gryffindor house.

Giant crimson coloured curtains hung from golden lion shaped curtain holders and magnificent paintings were scattered randomly along the red and gold walls of the circular dorm. She and Ginny had been assigned a dorm on the fifth floor of the great Gryfinndor tower and the two had quickly set to work to make the place more "homey." There were various pieces of Irish décor sorted around the room, a moderate sized statue of a silver Dragon, a Romanian omen of good luck, and a dozen empty gummy bear packets littered across the floor.

"Hurry up Hermione, you don't want to be late for the first day of school right?" Said Ginny who finally had her sock from the dwarf and was now scavenging around the room for her textbooks and quill.

Hermione reluctantly separated from the softness of the Egyptian cotton, and dragged herself unceremoniously to their shared bathroom, all whilst bumping into various pieces of furniture on her way.

By the time the two had made their way down to the great hall they discovered that most of the school had already finished, and that breakfast had apparently started at six in the morning.

Nevertheless, with rumbling tummies and man sized appetites the pair made their way gracefully towards the stupendously sized buffet table where their senses were overwhelmed by the delicious smells of a million different foods.

"Am I in heaven?" She heard Ginny whisper.

"How on earth are we suppose to act civil when they present us with all this!" Said Hermione.

"Do you think we're allowed seconds? Or fifths?"

Once breakfast had finished and the pair had stuffed themselves with enough food to feed a village, their timetables were distributed and they discovered that the whole of Gryffindor house had been placed in all the same classes.

"Ugh I can't believe our luck," Said Ginny as her eyes skimmed over her timetable, "We've got ballroom dancing first up."

"It says here that we need to change into our gowns" Replied Hermione, dreading the very idea of the class.

Sir Dobby had taught her ballroom dancing once before, but quiet unsuccessfully as she was someone who would be described as having two left feet. She remembered one incident where her left heel managed to catch onto the frills of her gown, which resulted in a painfully twisted ankle.

"I don't think I can fit into my gown after all that food" Said Ginny gripping her protruding belly as emphasis.

"Yeah me neither." Said Hermione "Do you think they'll believe us if we say we got sick from last nights food?"

"Hmmm, worth a try."

It unfortunately turned out that neither of the two girls had the guts to skip the first class of the year, no matter how dreadful it was bound to be, and it was evident that they were both too scared to find out what happened to those who were caught skipping classes.

So, after stumbling down the various corridors of Hogwarts castle the two eventually found their way to a large chapel-like classroom. The class had already begun and Professor McGonagall was at the center of a circle of dull looking students. Hermione noticed that the Gryffindors were all on the left half of the circle and Slytherins on the right and they looked as fi they were having an odd sort of face off.

"Ah, Ms Granger and Ms Weasley" Said the elderly woman. "So glad you could finally join us."

All eyes seemed to turn to them. "U-uh sorry ma'am. We got lost," She said in a trembly voice. She heard snickering from her Slytherin cohorts.

"Well, as you should know the first rule of any respectable prince or princess is to never be late. Now, hurry along and come join the rest of your house. And do not let this be an incident to be repeated."

Hermione's head was down in shame as she quickly made her way to join the rest of her house, trying her hardest to ignore the disappointed looks her housemates gave her.

"The first school ball will be held in three weeks time and you will all be required to bring a partner. To build school spirit I would like you all to partner up with a student of another house."

A ball in just three weeks time? There was no way she would be able to learn to dance that fast, she could barely keep herself from stumbling as she walked along the corridors, and those were flat surfaces!

There was a minute of tensions as the two sides sized each other up, then, seeing no progress Professor McGonagall took the initiative and sorted them into pairs.

"Pansy and Neville, Ginny and Zabini, Hermione and Draco." Her head snapped towards the blonde prince the professor had pointed out and to her uttermost discontent, she suddenly realized that it was the same blonde who had passed her on her way to Hogwarts; the one who had called her a peasant.

He seemed to recognize her too for his face contorted into a kind of wicked smirk. "If it isn't the peasant's daughter" Said Draco haughtily, " It seems that you're lost after all, classes are only to be taken by those of pureblooded heritage."

She felt a strong urge to slap him across the face.

"Yes it seems you're right, if I had known that I would be paired with an insufferable git such as yourself I would never have come." She retorted.

"Hmph, well it's a shame you had to grace us with your presence then."

"Enough!" Shouted the shrill voice of Professor McGonagall, "You will treat your fellow school members with the respect they deserve, 10 points from both your houses. " Her eyes hovered over the both of them with a look that inflicted trepidation.

"Begin," Said Professor McGonagall to the rest of the class and a classical composition echoed throughout the room.

All around her students began to awkwardly come together and position themselves into the starting position, beginning the first set on Professor McGonagall's signal.

She looked over to Ginny who was already dancing merrily along with Zabini. Their movements were jarred and clumsy but the two of them seemed to get along well enough- at least they were talking.

The blonde prince made no effort to advance towards her and she had too much pride to be the first one to make a move; so instead they just stood there in the middle of the classroom locked in a battle of wills as their fellow classmates danced around them.

Draco POV

The girl in front of him was an enigma. Never in his life had someone his age actually dared to stand up to him. He was a Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy and the first in line to the British throne. It was practically ludicrous to breathe the same air as he did- but the girl had defied him, the girl had called him an . . . insufferable git?

By this stage they were still in a heated death stare and he felt as if her chocolate brown eyes had the ability to see right into his soul and elect the thoughts running through his mind.

He seemed to notice, in that exact moment, that she was indeed very beautiful- far prettier than any of the French women his father had attempted to betroth him to- and he had a feeling she would be much less dim-witted.

After prolonged intense eye contact, it was he who eventually looked away. And with a huff of indignation, and a warning from McGonagall, he made his way somewhat reluctantly towards her and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.

He was a foot taller than she was which was lucky, as he didn't think he could stand the intensity of her eyes again.

As a child his father had forced him to take a great many dance lessons and by now he was practically an expert. This was lucky, as it was so unmistakably evident that the brown-eyed beauty before him must have never danced in her life. It had barely been five minutes and his big toe had been trodden on so many times he was certain it would be swollen, bruised and flattened beyond recognition.

She at least had the decency to say sorry the first six times, but she soon focused so completely on keeping in step it seemed as though the world was lost upon her. In step or not, it didn't help Draco's big toe in any way.

The longer they dance the more plans seemed to form in his head of ways to humiliate the girl who had dared defy him. And almost immediately, an idea struck him.

If he could lure her into the middle of the classroom where everyone would see her, he could trip her right over and she would not only be the laughing stock of their ballroom dancing class, but be known as the clutz of Hogwarts. It was genius- and half true from what he had experienced. He would be saving big toes all over Hogwarts.

They danced on and he soon maneuvered them to the center of the classroom; step to the left, step to the right, and on the second spin he swiped his foot smoothly under hers, knocking her completely off balance- not that she had balance in the first place- and she fell unceremoniously to the ground.

It was unfortunate for him however, that she had been gripping onto his shoulder so tightly that she managed to drag him down along with her.

He landed right on top of her, her face mere inches below his own. For a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes. She smelt of cranberries and vanilla, sweet and intoxicating. Her breathing was slow and she seemed just as stunned as he was. He had an urge to kiss her in that exact moment.

" Ahem," It was the voice of Professor McGonagall.

It snapped him out of his daze and he hurriedly stood up, not bothering to help her up.

The whole class had turned to stare at their little display and he could hear the whispering; it was no secret what kind of rumors would surely circulate after that.

The class formed back into a large circle around Professor McGonagall as she gave a short speech about the origins of the Waltz they had just been taught and reminded them to practice for the upcoming ball.

Then, class was dismissed.

He hung back with his Slytherin counterparts as the rest of the students rushed towards their next class. He learnt that the pretty brunette he had been dancing with went by the name of Hermione. A name he couldn't quiet place an origin to.

Right before walking out she made her way nervously towards his group of Slytherins to speak to him, "I'm really sorry for tripping you up." She had said sincerely. "I can be such a clutz sometimes and I can't dance to save my life."

He chuckled at that, who would've thunk' there'd ever be a princess who was not able to dance? But fully aware and now slightly guilty of the fact that it had been he who tripped her in the first place, he decided to keep his mouth shut in case he said something to give himself away.

"Oh, and I'm really sorry for stepping on your toes so much." She continued, taking his silence as a cue to sink further into guilt.

"Uh no it's okay." He replied awkwardly, not quite used to someone sincerely apologizing for something.

But she seemed satisfied with that and walked back to her red headed friend, the Weasel.

Hermione's POV

"Wow you sure are smooth Hermione," Said Ginny as they made their way to the Great Hall for dinner.

She looked at the girl with an expression of confusion, unsure of what the other was talking about.

"The way you whipped up Draco Malfoy, nicely done."

She blushed a deep shade of red at that comment. "I don't know what you're talking about. And if you must know, I still think he's an obnoxious, pretentious, git."

Ginny only smiled at that, "Whatever you say."

The Great Hall was wild with chitchat and the two girls made their way to the large Gryffindor table where Ginny was expecting to find the rest of the Weasley clan.

"Ginny!" Shouted a voice from across the hall, "Over here!" They looked over to where the voice had called and saw a trio of red headed princes sitting on the far side of the Gryffindor table. They quickly made their way over.

"How was your first day sis?" Asked one of the twins, "And who's your stunning friend over here?"

Hermione felt her cheeks blush with embarrassment, "I'm Hermione Granger, it's a pleasure to meet you," She said a little to quickly.

"The pleasure is all mine, I'm Fred, this is George and this is Ron," He said as he pointed to each of the brothers. "Thanks for looking after Ginny, she can be quiet a handful, right Ginny."

Fred ruffled Ginny's hair in a big brother-ish way. "Stop it! I'm seventeen for heavens sake, stop treating me like I'm twelve." Groaned Ginny.

The whole family seemed to erupt in laughter. "No Ron's seventeen, you will always be our little baby sister," Retorted George.

Ginny aimed a punch at his elbow "No I will not, and you will treat me as if I'm a womanly woman."

" A womanly woman?! Tell that to Mom, you know she would kill us if anything happened to you. You're her precious and beloved daughter" Said Fred over the laughter of his brothers.

Hermione listened into the entertaining quarrels of the siblings while she enjoyed the delicious roast pork in front of her.

"So what year are you all in?" She asked Fred.

"Ah, me and George are both finishing our third and final year at Hogwarts. And, Ron over there is in the same year as you and Ginny. " He said as he pointed to Ron who was busily devouring a chicken leg.

"Hey Fred, looks like Angelina and Katie have just arrived, I'd imagine it would be quiet chivalrous if we went over there to walk them in." He raised his eyebrows suggestively as he said this.

Both Ginny and Hermione were left giggling as the two twins walked flamboyantly up towards the group of girls and gave great low bows.

Ron finished up with his chicken and moved in to fill the gap in the table across from Ginny and Hermione. "Hey Ginny, have you seen my soccer ball anywhere? I remember packing it in my bag but when I went to go and find it wasn't there" Said Ron sheepishly.

"Yeah" Replied Ginny, "It somehow ended up in my room, we must've accidently mixed things up when we rushed out the door this morning. You can come get it right after dinner if you want."

"Oh okay, thanks Ginny"

There was a peaceful silence as they ate their desserts and Hermione was fascinated with the range of dishes placed before her. There were about a million flavors of ice cream from the ordinary vanilla, chocolate and strawberry to some exotic creations such as Higgly Jam, Sea Shell Supreme and Cinnamon Bell. Ginny had recommended the Dragons Breathe as it was said to give you extreme vanilla brain freeze.

She looked over to the Slytherin table where Draco Malfoy was surrounded by a flock of gushing princesses. Zabini was talking animatedly about something to do with a rocket- from what she could see- and the girls seemed to hang on his every word. A pang of jealousy went through her as she observed the beautiful Pansy Parkinson run her slim fingers through Draco's voguish blonde hair while starring dreamily into his eyes.

"He sure is full of himself isn't he?" Said Ginny as she looked over to the Slytherin table.

"Yeah," Replied Hermione a little breathlessly, embarrassed that she had just been caught staring.

"I mean look at how they drool over him as if he's some kind of god. Sure, his beautiful chocolate skin may be the thing of heavens, but that doesn't mean that we should all blindly throw ourselves at him. That only boosts his already oversized ego." Said Ginny with a look that made if obvious that she would like nothing better than to walk on over and worship him as the others did.

Hermione was stunned by her friend's outburst and although she kept it quietly to herself, she secretly thought that the two would make a smashing couple.

Dinner soon ended and the two had quickly made their way back up to their dorms. They had been so engulfed in conversation that they had once again missed the peculiar set of green eyes that had been fixated on them ever since they set foot into Hogwarts.

"What are you looking at Harry?" Asked Luna.

"Nothing really, just observing my next snack."