It was the night of the Yule Ball. Draco Malfoy was completely miserable. Pansy Parkinson was hanging to his arm, whining in his ear about one thing or another. It was true that he had had feelings for her previously, but lately she just didn't seem to be right for him. He wished her hair had more volume. Her teeth were a bit too straight, they almost looked fake. Her voice didn't fluctuate enough when she spoke. She never made a smart comment without insulting another individual. She could never be happy with anything. All in all, she wasn't quite like Hermione Granger, and he hated that this bothered him. He sipped a glass of punch quietly, trying to ignore Pansy's high pitched whinings, when he happened to look up. He almost dropped his cup in shock. There was Granger...descending the staircase, and she looked beautiful.

"Oh heavens, Draco!" Pansy whispered with a sharp giggle. "There's Granger. She's so frightful looking normally, I wonder how many enchantments it took her to achieve that." She giggled again. "Looks like she finally put her nerdiness to use."

"You know what Pansy?" Draco said, not caring about how she was going to take it. "Shut up."

Pansy stomped her foot. "Draco Malfoy! You are my date! Now be a gentlemen." she looked at Hermione with rage and jealousy. "I can't see why you're defending a mudblood."

Draco couldn't either.

"Come on," Pansy whined. "Let's go dance," she linked her arm tighter through Draco's and dragged him to the middle of the floor.

Hermione had never felt so beautiful. She couldn't believe how wonderful things were turning out. Victor seemed so smitten with her and he had actually asked her- Her!- to the Yule Ball. She had spent such a long time getting ready in front of the mirror, she wanted to look perfect. When she finally came down the staircase, she felt that there was no more she could do. She smiled shyly as she realized people were looking at her, some gawking, some smiling, others had expressions she couldn't read, but they didn't matter. She scanned the crowd for the face of her date. Who she saw instead was the person she had trying to rid her mind of, especially now that she and Victor were a sort of thing. As soon as she saw Draco's face she cursed her eyes for always being drawn to him. Draco looked stunning. Then, he always did. So refined and regal and well put together. And while he still looked sophisticated, he looked stunned. She knew he was looking at her. Her heart jumped and she forced herself to break eye contact. This wasn't fair to Victor. Turning her head and telling herself she was not joining to look back at Draco, no matter the temptation, she spotted Victor Krum. She smiled and met him at the bottom of the staircase.

"Herm-own-ninny. You are beautiful," Victor told her. She took his offered arm and murmured a thank you. They danced, and it was enjoyable, but every time Hermione tried to talk to Victor about anything he just seemed confused. He would either cock his head at her, indicating that he didn't understand, or would give three word answers, or would just stare at her. The attention was flattering, but Hermione wasn't having quite the perfect evening she had been expecting.

She broke away from her date for a time, seeking out her best friends. She was nervous for the encounter. Boys could be awfully fussy sometimes, getting weird over things that didn't seem important. In short, in Hermione's opinion, there were many times when boys acted altogether like girls, and it was beginning to grate on her nerves. She took a deep breath and greeted her friends but they seemed to want nothing to do with her, Ron especially. Ron... Hermione didn't want to think about that either. There were times that she suspected he liked her, and there had been times, many times, she had suspected she liked him too. But lately her attraction for him just wasn't there. The way he fumbled with words no longer seemed quite so endearing, and much as she hated to admit it, there were just times his hair seemed a little too red. She knew that Ron had noticed the change. It wasn't like they had ever been together. Truth be told, they argued just as much, they had basically the same relationship they'd had previously. But Hermione couldn't act towards him with quite the same passion she had before. She was just too confused. She felt flustered but she knew that if she didn't speak first they weren't going to say anything to her.

"Hey guys," she began lamely, finishing with some comment about the warmth.

"Where's Victor?" Ron asked scathingly. "Or has he gotten you to call him Vicky yet?"

"What," Hermione asked. "Is your problem?"

Ron launched into a tirade about her flaws at being a friend, spewing a load of ridiculous logic, saying she was fraternizing with the enemy. Hermione couldn't believe this. And she had honestly had feeling for the boy in the past. Oh, how she felt foolish now.

"Are you going to say anything Harry?" she asked, getting upset.

"I don't mind that you came with Krum," Harry said quietly.

"Well, I'm glad you approve!" Hermione replied sarcastically.

"Well if we all love Vicky so much, why don't you go find him?" Ron spat.

"Don't call him Vicky!" Hermione was done. She half ran, angry and confused, away from her supposed two best friends. She didn't want to see Victor either. She didn't need people judging her any more. She didn't need him to call her Herm-own-ninny and attempt small talk about things which really didn't matter. All she needed was time to herself, to figure out her feelings. She ran down the hall and crashed into an empty classroom, relieved there wasn't a snogging couple inside, and she broke down. She fell to the floor, sobbing. The door opened and she heard a footstep behind her.

"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Hermione cried, expecting Harry, Ron, or Victor behind her. What she wasn't ready for was the cool voice which sent an unwilling shiver down her spine saying, "I didn't mean to interrupt you."

She whirled around and found herself caught in that silver gaze again.

A/N: I liked this chapter! :) oooh. sorry that its getting a little out of canon now but that kind of needs to happen a tad doesn't it? Because Canon doesn't equal Hermione and Draco-ness does it? REVIEW! I need revieeeews. :) It'll give you brownie points, I promise.