December 31st had arrived quickly, and the topic of all conversations was tonight's ball…

"Pansy, you heard professor Dumbledore…we have to go alone…who knows? You might end up with a Gryffindor…" Draco placed a fake, disgusted expression on his face, and watched as Pansy flinched with the idea.

"Since when did you listen to the old muggle loving fool?" She sneered.

"Just shut up Pansy, we can't go together, and there isn't a way around it." Thank God.

Pansy huffed and skulked, while Blaine (who was being unusually quiet) turned to Draco and said abruptly, "I need to talk to you. Privately"

Draco nodded absently and followed Blaise into his room, his mind still on Hermione. Tonight no one will recognise them…and they could dance together…

"…Draco? Did you hear what I said?"

"Oh sorry mate, what?"

"You were thinking about her then, weren't you?" Blaise accused.

"Thinking about who?" Draco body suddenly stiffened, he thought he knew what Blaise was talking about.

"That Gryffindor mudblood. Granger"

Draco's mouth went dry, "I don't know wha-"

"Don't pretend Draco, you only made it a masked ball so you could go with her, and no one would know it's you two. You've been with her all year, haven't you?"

"I- oh fine- yes, I have, but you can't tell anyone, please Blaise. No one can find out," Draco pleaded with his best friend. To his surprise Blaise burst out laughing, and smirked at Draco.

"I didn't know you could be with a girl for any more than a week. Congrats for lasting 2 months" Blaise snorted with laughter, and eventually Draco joined in.

"Thanks Blaise"

"I don't bloody understand why there's a stupid ball anyway, all Lavender wants to talk about is her bloody dress." Ron complained to Harry, who was also rather uncomfortable with another ball. He had enough dancing at the Yule ball in his fourth year. "At least we don't need dates this year…"

"You think I'm happy to see Ginny dancing with some other guy?" Harry winced, as he imagined his girlfriend dancing with a Slytherin.

"Can you stop that? She's still my sister" Ron told his best friend.

"Sorry"

"Bet Hermione's glad that she doesn't need a date. Poor girl, her secret admirer doesn't seem to have the guts to ask her out after all" Ron said bitingly. He hadn't told Harry about that night by the lake.

Harry remained silent; he never talked when Ron talked about Hermione. He didn't want to take sides in their temporary (he hoped) argument. However, it was Ginny (who had come down the stairs in Harry's silence) who answered.

"For your information Ronald, Hermione does have someone who asked her, even though you're meant to go alone. Just because Hermione dumped you, doesn't mean you have to be horrible to her, or ignore her. I can't take it anymore!" Ginny snapped, and stalked out of the portrait hole.

Ron stared after her for a few minutes, before shrugging and muttering under his breath "Bloody New Years'."

At half past 6, Ginny had brought all her things up to Hermione's room and they had begun getting ready. Hermione had asked Ginny to help her, because she knew she would be completely confused without her help and advice.

"What in Merlin's name am I going to do with my hair? No one can recognise me" Hermione complained to Ginny, pleading for help.

Ginny smirked and told her, "Close your eyes and don't open them until I say you can. Or there will be trouble" Ginny threatened.

Hermione obeyed and closed her eyes. She felt Ginny gently lifting, pinning, muttering spells, and styling her hair. For over 20 minutes, Hermione kept her eyes tightly shut, until she heard Ginny say "Okay, you can open your eyes now Hermione"

Hermione did, and she gasped as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her normally nut brown bushy hair had been magically changed to be a gentle wave of beautiful golden locks. Ginny had gathered her hair and piled it into a soft crown on top of Hermione's head. The purple butterfly sat once more atop the pile, the stunning purple and silver contrasting wonderfully against the sea of gold.

"Ginny…you are absolutely amazing! I look…wow!" Hermione smiled at her reflection and turned to look at Ginny. "You should probably get ready too…"

Ginny told her that she had placed a freezing charm on Hermione's hair so it couldn't come undone, and then started fixing her own hair.

Hermione watched as Ginny sat down and twirled her hair into a loose bun nestled at the base of her neck. The flaming red was streaked with a golden glitter, which matched the rhinestones on her dress. Hermione shook her head in awe, then giggled when Ginny rolled her eyes and said, "We should probably get into our dresses. Draco shouldn't be waiting super patiently"

The two girls slipped into their dresses, Hermione stunned slightly by the elegance of the gown, even though she had seen it before. Hermione attached the amethyst necklace around her neck, and applied her almost-clear lip gloss. She had magically lengthened her nails by a few millimetres and painted with a layer of shiny, clear nail polish. Ginny studied Hermione and then sprinkled some silver glitter on her eyelashes. Then the girls walked slowly down the common room.

"Finally" Draco breathed, and turned to face them, "I wa-" Draco froze when he caught sight of Hermione, standing behind Ginny, blushing slightly and looking at the ground. Draco saw her hair had been transformed into a beautiful honey blonde colour, which was piled elegantly yet stunningly on top of her head, with a few stray strands framing her face. He crossed the room, ignoring Ginny, who was giggling silently while watching them. The dress showed off her curves perfectly…and Draco had to control his thoughts before he let something slip with Ginny in the corner.

Hermione finally looked up and saw his sexy grey eyes looking at her, taking in the dress, hair, necklace, eyes, and face. She noticed for the first time that his hair was a darker blonde, hinting on the side of brown, and was clearly styled with a wet comb, to give him a dashing look of handsomeness and sexiness. He was wearing perfectly tailored black robes (which emphasised his muscular build), with a hint of bottle green at the collar. "You look very handsome Draco" she teased, flashing a smile at her boyfriend, while he rolled his eyes and resumed staring at her.

"Why would you say that when there are more beautiful things in this room? Like you…you look absolutely amazing tonight love…" This made Hermione duck her head and blush a magnificent pink. She leaned into his chest and smiled. Tonight was going to be wonderful.

Ginny cleared her throat, and stifled a giggle. "Do you guys want to be late? Malfoy, you should probably go before us, so no one suspects anything. Just in case you know…" Draco nodded, and turned back to Hermione. He reached for his pocket and pulled out a shining silver mask, with purple and white feathers on one side. Draco adjusted the mask on Hermione's face, so her beautiful chocolate eyes shone through the holes of her mask. She looked stunning.

Smiling, Draco put his mask on (it matched Hermione's in colour and design) and turned for the doorway. Ginny and Hermione gave him a few minutes head start before going down themselves.

Ginny and Hermione walked down to the great hall together, Hermione still thinking about Draco. He looked beautiful in his black dress robes, and she couldn't wait until they were together again. "Please Hermione…you'll see him in a few minutes…can you focus on not ruining your make up and dress?" When Hermione apologised and blushed, Ginny added with a sigh, "He does look rather handsome tonight doesn't he?" She giggled and said goodbye, before departing into the crowd to look for Harry.

As Hermione walked into the great hall, the chatter suddenly died down a little… and all eyes turned to focus on Hermione's slender figure. There were whispers and mutters as people pointed her out to their friends, and Hermione was sure her face was a flaming colour.

Draco had walked into the door, only to be stopped by a smug looking Pansy. "Draco, I can tell that it's you under that ridiculous mask…why don't you take it off and come dance with me?" She said in a sweet voice. Draco shrugged and shook her off, and looked around for Hermione. He spotted her walking away from the crowd, and he saw all the girls shoot jealous glances at her, and every once in a while, a boy would look over hopefully and eye Hermione with interest. Draco felt a twinge of annoyance and jealousy.

"What's the point of coming to the ball if you're going to hide away from everyone?" Draco slid into the empty seat beside Hermione and waved his wand. Two glasses of butterbeer appeared in the air in front of them, and they each took a glass.

"Draco…" Hermione gave him a dazzling smile, which faltered as she lowered her voice, "I saw Pansy talking to you earlier…did she recognise you?" Hermione glanced around nervously, just in case someone was watching or listening to them.

Draco sighed. "Yea she recognised me. You did way better job at hiding your true identity," he teased, "nobody here seemed to know who you are, except for Blaise, Ginny and myself." Draco chuckled. "Blaise confronted me about us earlier. He's more perceptive than I thought…"

Hermione whipped her head to look at him with wide eyes. "Blaise knows?"

"Yea, but he isn't going to tell anyone. He's my best friend, and I trust him." Hermione nodded and looked down at her dress.

"So, would you like to dance?" he offered his arm out to Hermione, which she took while giggling, and together they walked onto the dance floor. The other couples stared, and most of them recognised Draco, but not Hermione. She moved gracefully, without the heavy burden of her school books, and danced with Draco until it was almost midnight. Neither was aware that Pansy was stalking Draco's every move.

Soon, the countdown until midnight began. 10, 9, 8, 7 Hermione looked up into Draco's storming grey eyes, and they shared a special, private moment, just with their eyes… 6, 5, 4, She was perfect, Draco looked down into her honey brown eyes and the couple seemed to stare at each other for eternity. 3, 2, 1 screams erupted around them, but Hermione and Draco had leaned in towards each other, and pressed their lips into a passionate kiss. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, while his hands were placed on her back. People whispered and giggled around them, but they didn't care, this New Years' kiss was the best they've ever had.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BOYFRIEND!" a blood curdling shriek reached Hermione and Draco's ears as Pansy Parkinson marched towards them, her eyes flashing dangerously.

The whole hall had turned to watch, as Pansy reached the couple and shoved the girl off her boyfriend. Hermione, stunned, hadn't had time to react before Pansy lifted her right hand and slapped the unknown blonde across the face.

Hermione gasped as she crumpled under the force of Pansy's slap. Draco shrieked as Pansy drew her wand. But Hermione was faster; she raised her wand and crying, "IMPEDIMENTA!" the spell sent Pansy flying a few feet back, and she fell to the ground, most likely knocked out.

Harry and Ron, who had been close by, focused on the girl who had just yelled a spell from the ground. The voice sounded oddly familiar… Harry stared at the girl, and looked into her shocked, chocolate brown eyes.

"…Hermione?"

A/N so what do you think of this chapter? Personally, it's one of my favourites! PLEASE leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter….and I promise chapter 8 will be up soon! Thank you for following this story, and I try and update as soon as possible! You just have to wait until it validates Thanks for reading! Remember to leave a review! I try and keep all the chapters roughly the same length…