Masquerade
Third Dance
Her dream had been tinged in an icy blue and she had been chased by those eyes of his. Blue was not an uncommon eye color but his certainly was. Never in her life had she seen something this beautiful before. It was not only a light blue but it was very close to white and had small dots of what seemed to be silver in it.
She had been awoken by the twittering of her two roommates who lay together in Lavender´s bed. When Hermione sat up yawning both of them fell silent and separated. This behavior was typical for them. So they had just discussed something secret and Hermione did not care because whenever they had decided to let her in on one of their big secrets it was complete nonsense or boring. In silence all three girls changed into their uniforms and went down into the Gryffindor common room.
Harry and Ron were playing wizard chest like so often while Ginny read a Quidditch magazine.
"Morning. Were you waiting for me?", she asked and let herself plop down next to Ginny on the couch.
"Morning, Mione.", Ginny greeted her and put her magazine away while the boys did not even seem to have noticed her presence.
"Oh, ignore them, they have been at it for quite some time and for once Harry seems to win." Rolling her eyes Hermione sighed and leant back into the cushion.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, anything, anytime.", the redhead answered and grinned.
"Have you noticed something … well … how to say it … not normal about other people´s eyes during the balls?" Frowning slightly Ginny looked out of the window which she usually did when she was thinking really hard.
"No, I don´t think so. Why are you asking?" Somehow the thing about the icy eyes guy was dear to her and she did not want to give it away if she was not even sure that she had not just imagined it. Although she could tell her friend everything Ginny was still a girl and a very nosy one at that who always came up with uncomfortable questions. These questions Hermione feared for the Weasley girl did not give up until she had an answer. Of course she knew that this fear was without cause in this case but still she would not like to be asked stupid questions just to tell the girl that there was nothing special about the guy and definitely no crush. At that point of time of course the thing about the crush was still true but would change faster than she would have liked while she already felt that there was something very special about the guy.
"Ah, no it´s nothing. I´m just writing a list about the features of the spell and thought that the eyes seemed strange but I guess that´s only because they are wearing masks." Ginny raised an eyebrow, a sign that she not really understood what Hermione had just said, but did not ask anything more.
"Well, I guess we should go down to breakfast without these two. Right,Harry,Ron?", the boys heard that they were asked something but obviously had not caught the sentence before that and merely nodded continuing their game.
Like the day before the Great Hall was buzzing with conversations but there were also people who just sat there watching the others or trying to listening in on their conversation. The guessing had begun and there also seemed to be people who had already found each other.
This Hermione noticed when she found Luna sitting next to Neville at the Gryffindor table. Seeing them this lovey-dovey she had to smile for the boy really deserved someone like Luna who truly liked him. Curious as the two girls were they of course sat down next to the new couple and wanted to hear their story and while Hermione listened she realized that the girl that had not returned for another dance might have been her. So the guy in orange and the girl in the beautiful yellow dress had been Neville and Luna. Knowing this Hermione decided to do an experiment.
The afternoon passed way too quickly and soon Hermione was up in her room to fetch her mask where she found Lavender applying perfume onto her wrists and neck. This brought an idea into Hermione´s mind which she would have to test as well. Because she got separated from her friends no matter what she did they no longer waited for each other. This time the swirling sensation did not hit her as hard as the days before and she was lucky because her mysterious guy was nowhere in sight so he would not have caught her.
On top of her list was controlling her first suspicion: Neville and Luna. They were easy to find for they were dancing again as one of the first couples on the dance floor. Disappointed Hermione sighed and went for the punch bowl. She had been wrong about the revealing identity thing. Although she now knew who the two where they were still masked and had nothing in common with their real selves.
"What´s wrong? You look a little down.", surprised at the sudden touch on her shoulder she almost spilled her drink.
"Ah, it´s you." It was the boy she had discovered the areas on the first evening.
"I was just wrong about something." Although she could not see his face she knew that she had made him curious with her statement.
"I thought that as soon as you know who somebody truly is you could see them how they really look like." He snorted bemusedly.
"What are their names?" Watching the two of them dance she tried hard to remember their names and then she realized that she not even remembered how they looked like outside of the area but only that they did not look like what she could currently see.
"I don´t know." Gently, he took the glass out of her hand and poured some more punch into it.
"You have an observer by the way." Baffled by his comment she lifted her eyebrow and wanted to look around for who he was talking about when he continued talking.
"Don´t look for him this obviously. Let´s dance." Only letting her take a short sip from her glass he took it once more out of her hand and guided her onto the dance floor.
"What are you doing?" He did not answer but merely led her so they would not hit any other dancing couples.
"He´s right there. At the back. Standing in the doorway." Now they were dancing so Hermione was practically forced to look at her watcher and it was true. His stare was very intense. It was so intense that she could barely stand under his gaze and shivered. Feeling her reaction her partner turned them and danced off to a further corner of the floor where they were covered by more couples.
After some minutes of swaying to the music she found the courage to speak again: "Is he still looking at me?"
For a split second he partner seemed to gaze into the distance before he shook his head.
"I lost sight of him minutes ago. He must have become tired of watching." Relief washed over her for the blink of an eye because he had been right. The guy had become tired of watching and was not tapping her partner´s shoulder.
"I think occupying the same girl for so long is not within the meaning of this event.", his voice was deep and smooth and yet felt like shivering. Because his words were true her partner left her with an apologetic look. Her new partner had a stronger hold on her and did not keep as much space between them.
"You must be quite the rule breaker when you care nothing about Dumbledore´s will to unite the houses." He shook his head in a mocking way and quickened the pace. Choosing to stay quiet to make her suffering shorter she went along with him.
"And not talking to me does not help either, girl." Again she said nothing and it seemed to work until he bent forward so that his lips were right next to her ear.
"I know something we will both like that will help to better our relationship." Slowly but deliberately his hand moved lower on her back and traced in circular movements over her skin. A gasp escaped her throat at the strange feeling. How could he touch her skin or was it just an illusion. Panic rose in her for she did not know what was happening. Losing control like this felt like falling and once again it was the boy with the bright blue eyes to catch her before she hit the ground. Without her having noticed he had walked up behind her dance partner and put a strong grip on his shoulder.
"I´m sorry but this dance was already promised to me.", he spoke in his deep clear voice. Yet the hold of her partner did not loose and he merely turned his head and said: "Strange, I have not seen her talking to you."
A smirk spread on his lips and he countered: "She promised me the last dance and this is the last dance."
Snickering erupted from her partner´s mouth and she flinched.
"You must be mistaken for this is not the last dance." Victory shone in his eyes as he snatched her hand into his.
"I´m not mistaken. This is the last dance for afterwards she will not dance again." Knowing when to give up the other guy stepped back and murmured something.
"I have to admit, this was well played." He walked off but not without bumping his shoulder against her savior. When the guy was out of earshot her partner frowned down at her.
"You were lucky I was around." Nodding she lowered her eyes silently thanking him for her rescue. After some time she found her voice again.
"I just would not have thought that there were people like him.", she whispered. Lightly her hand was squeezed and she looked up into his icy blue eyes.
"Being here anonymously is quite the advantage not only to forget prejudices so it´s no wonder he uses it. There are always people who use things like this event for their own purposes." At that she frowned deeply.
"I can´t believe that one could fall for his tricks." He looked her deep into the eyes before he snorted.
"Not knowing who the other one is makes you more mysterious and it also gives you safety. There sure are enough girl who will fall for it." The song ended and they stepped back from each other.
"How can you be so sure about this?" With one hand he brushed through his hair, it was long and black.
"I did things quite worse to girls and it worked." Although the next song had started and the couples were moving around them Hermione just stood there and stared at him in disbelief.
"Well, I guess it has been nice to meet you.", he said and walked away.
For minutes Hermione would sit in a corner and sip absent-mindedly on her drink while thinking about the negative side of the event. What he had said was true. This event did not only have advantages. After she had had enough of it she stood up and wandered about until her feet carried towards this one lonely place where she met him again.
"I didn´t think I would see you again this soon or ever again."
"Well, I didn´t know that you would be here." For a second she thought about leaving but decided against it and went to stand at the wall beside him.
"I would not have taken you for a girl who will accept the fact that I have treated other badly this easily." When he had said that she looked away and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I just don´t think you are a bad person." Laughter erupted from him and he shook his head in mock disbelief.
"You have only known me for the short time of this event and already think you know me? What if I just do this to do even worse things than the guy you have danced with?" The thought alone made her shudder and she vehemently shook her head.
"If you wanted to do worse things to me you would not have been so unwilling to talk to me in the first place." A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth and he turned so he was standing right in front of her. In one slow movement he leant in so that their noses almost touched.
"Are you sure about this?" Her eyes did not waver and stayed locked with his.
"Yes, I am." Right after she had said it he pushed himself off the wall and stood at some distance from her.
"You are right." Relieved she breathed in deeply and smiled.
"Yet, I would still like to know why you would do such things?" Slowly he inhaled and exhaled loudly.
"Different reasons. For once it´s just for fun and then I´m bored very often so I made it into a game. Still I know it´s wrong but I just see no sense in stopping. Girls are really one of the few things I cannot just simply have." Silence reigned between them which was interrupted by a short chuckle.
"You know I thought about having you but somehow I decided against it." Contrary to what he had believed to be her reaction she grinned.
"Today you are quite in the talking mood, it´s rather nice." Not one word about him fooling around with girls had left her lips and it stunned him.
"Let me tell you what I think: you are only telling me those things to scare me off because you think you are not good for me. Rubbish!" Her giggle made him smile and she could see it. He shrugged and turned to look at the fountain.
"So tell me, have you made the right decision?" Not knowing what she meant he turned his head towards her.
"Decision about what?" Smirking widely she said deliberately slow, stressing every word.
"About having me or not." Slightly taking aback by her forwardness he clear his throat before he nodded. Her cheek colored a little and somehow she felt very warm inside.
Since he had mentioned being bored very often she wanted to entertain him while she would find out more about him.
"Let´s play a game."
Curious of what she was up to he raised one eyebrow and asked: "What game?"
Satisfied that he had not said no she smiled and told him that they would ask each other questions in turn and the other had to answer them truthfully, like this they would be able to learn more about each other. They started up with things like favorite color and other random things but as the game went on they came to more personal questions.
"What do you want to become in the future?", she asked and had a thousand ideas in mind what he could do really well. Strangely he hesitated, which he had not done with any other question before.
"Do you want to know what I am expected to become or what I really want to become?" Like in some answers before he hinted that there were two sides to it. It seemed like there always were two answers – the expected one and his own choice.
"I don´t care for the expected one." For a split second he looked very grave at her but then he was back to normal.
"An Auror or maybe a lawyer. What about you?"
"I want to work for the ministry or become a teacher here at Hogwarts." The pulling feeling of the event going to an end was there so the time left was short which left only one more question for Hermione.
"Last question: Have you ever been in love?" His icy blue eyes shone with sadness somehow and without saying anything he walked towards a door to exit the area. Just before he stepped through it he turned and slightly shook his head.
/ sorry for the long wait. I hope you liked this chapter and I want you to know that after this story is finished in 3 chapters I will upload one or two short side stories. Lavender´s little secret will be one of them as well as some Ron story.
So the dancing couple from last chapter was Neville and Luna. BTW the evil gossips with the identic masks are not the Patil sister for I think that although they look identic they do not have the same character and therefore have different masks.
I´m such a story few whore and was really down when I uploaded a new chapter and there were no view in the statistics because had some problems.
Review, please?