This is for July Event Character Versatility!

Characters Used: Draco and Hermione

The Yule Ball

Draco felt as if he went insane.

He swore. At the pace he was moving in, he really was going mad. Leaving Pansy would make his mother grate him alive for such foul manners, following Granger would make his father Crucio him insane if he even found out about it! It was probably because of the damn firewhiskey he was drinking that made him like this, screw Blaise for taunting him, screw Theo for being such an arse. Draco remained silent as murderous thoughts ran in his head when he finally saw a brunette fourteen-year-old sitting down by the edge of the Lake.

Her curly brown hair that was tied meticulously down were now all over the place. She didn't seem to notice him with her hands covering her face. "...Granger," he finally said. Hermione turned to look at him. There was a tiny bit of mascara running down her cheeks, and her amber eyes lost the spark that it usually had. Draco slapped himself mentally at the thought.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she said bitterly. "I'm not in the mood."

Granger stalking off was seen all over the Great Hall, and the Weasel didn't look the least bit sorry when he did what he had just done. Now, she was pretty much the talk around the houses. Seeing her at that state, that might've fueled him with insanity to make him sit beside her with hands on the ground to support his weight. "I'm not in the mood either; so what got your knickers in a twist?"

She scoffed, "Ron," she muttered, not bothering to be defensive like she usually was. "He's a git! Fraternizing with the enemy? Why would he think that?" At her words, her eyes started to glisten with tears once more.

"The Weasel doesn't deserve your anger," he pointed out, his voice now softer than before. He hated seeing people cry. His mother cries all the time whenever his father had hit her because of his blasted temper. Then right now, he found himself staring at Granger who had tears springing from her eyes and he didn't know what to do. She was strong. She didn't cry after his insults like any other girl would. She didn't cry after rumors that were telling the world that she was a slag. No. She was stronger than that. What he didn't understand was that she had to cry for someone as worthless as the prat. Draco sighed. "I don't know about you Granger, but you're a whole lot braver than this. You're a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake!"

"And that's the point," she snapped, and she stood up facing him. Her long pink dress was splattered with dirt, but she didn't seem to notice. "I'm a 'mudblood'. I'm worthless. You know that. Everyone knows that! I have to prove myself;I always need to! Then there's this chance when I could relax. I could finally let go! But that didn't happen, did it?"

Draco smirked, bringing up a hand for her to shake. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, "What?"

"You said this is your only chance of letting go, isn't it," he raised his eyebrow. "Why not make your own identity for yourself? Don't let some prats tell you what to do. Start again. I'm Draco Malfoy. Pleasure to meet you."

"Hermione Granger," she said. This time there was a smile on her face. "Pleasure to meet you as well."

"Would you like to dance?"

"I would love to."

They danced. Draco forgot everything that had happened before. Nothing mattered for now. Be it that she was a mudblood. Be it that he was a Slytherin. The facts were all gone from his head. All he saw were amber eyes staring up at him, glinting happily. And that was all he needed to see. They talked too. They had a lot in common, hundreds of them, even a few muggle books that they had finally shared. "A Tale of Two Cities is quite refreshing," Hermione said, playfully arguing with him.

He smirked again, "That's what you think, Granger. That's as refreshing as Romeo and Juliet, and you know how I feel about that."

The music that they had heard back from the Great Hall was gone, and Hermione stepped back from him with a small curtsy. "I enjoyed dancing with you, Mr. Malfoy."

"Ditto, Ms. Granger."

Draco knew it ended. The smirk faltered a bit, but it was still there. He turned around and started to walk away, "If Weasel didn't notice you in the first place, don't even bother with him. He's not worth your time," he said softly.

"Yeah, and Malfoy?" He glanced back at her; a wide grin was painted on her lips. "Thank you."

It hadn't ended, Draco Malfoy thought as he continued to stroll.

It was only the beginning.