H.
Wow.
Staring at myself in the full length mirror I hardly recognized me. The deep burgundy floor length gown hugged my curves nicely. Somehow it made me look even taller than I was. It was unlike anything I would ever pick out for myself... in a good way. The biggest difference was it had a long slit up to my mid-thigh on the left side. Oh, so that's what he meant by slinky. No. Not slinky, sexy. I must admit, it was a very sexy dress.
Now the hard part was trying to match the rest of me to it, how would I look as good as this dress?
It was weird accepting a gift from Draco. He really shouldn't have bought me this, but I had to admit I was happy that he did. I didn't know what I would have worn if I didn't have this. It was something that had been bothering me since I agreed to go. I had absolutely no idea what to where to a Malfoy benefit.
"Where did that come from?" I saw Ron's reflection in the large mirror, he was standing in the doorway to our room.
I turned to face him. "Oh, just a friend. You know… to wear tonight," I smiled meekly at him. I wasn't lying but I knew I was letting him believe that a female friend let me borrow it. Draco was definitely not who he would assume.
"Oh, it's nice. Not something you usually wear though. Looks expensive," he looked at me funny.
I sighed and gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, but I never go to these things, so I don't usually need fancy dresses."
"Are you sure I can't go with you to this tonight? You made such a big deal about me going to that other party."He was trying to suck up. He did this every so often, after he would be gone for a night or so.
"No really, it's best if you don't," I shrugged. He could not go to this, no way in hell.
"Is it because of how I acted there?" He seemed upset. "I'm sorry about that...even though I'm not sure exactly what I did wrong." He never knew what he did wrong, he always thought his actions were perfectly acceptable.
"No...you just...you just can't." I didn't know what to say.
"Is Malfoy going to be there?" His voice was sharp and his body was rigid. Oh no, I didn't want to deal with this.
"Oh, I don't know Ron" I blatantly lied, shrugging slightly.
"I don't like him," His eyes flashed with hatred. He had always disliked him but ever since the New Years Eve party I swear that he was planning poor Draco's death. Now imagine if he actually knew what had happened in that closet.
"I know Ron...I know."
"And I think he has the hots for you, not that he'd ever do anything due to your blood status, but it's still annoying." I rolled my eyes at him, not this again. "You're mine, I don't share."
Well...actually..."Yeah, Yeah...now can I get ready?"
"Sure, I'll leave you to it. " He walked towards the door.
I finished getting ready and I thought I looked pretty good, compared to what I normally looked like. It was time to leave so I walked into the living room, where I found Ron watching more Quidditch. He really had such an addiction. "Ron, I'm leaving."
"What time will you be home?" He murmured, not looking up from the TV.
I hadn't even thought of that. "I'm not too sure, "I answered honestly.
"Late?" He murmured again.
I sighed, I really didn't know. "Probably."
He turned around to look at me, his eyes got wider as he looked. "You look great Hermione. You look like a completely different person."
That's something I was counting on, looking unlike myself after. I didn't want people to recognize me at all. My hair was tame and slight, my eyes lined in darker makeup than I usually wore. The heels I wore also gave me an incredible height improvement.
I smiled, "thank you."
I was almost out the door when he spoke again. "Stay out of trouble, and don't drink tonight. You know what that does to you."
"Break, remember?"
"And that means I can't tell you what to do?"
No, actually you never get to. I thought to myself but decided not to start an argument. Pick your battles wisely.
I nodded as I walked out the door of our flat. I felt guilty. I really felt bad for lying to Ron. Though I knew he was lying to me…about many things. There were just so many times he would be gone and then refuse to provide a reasonable excuse. He lied to me on a daily basis. He would be gone for hours, even days, at a time and then come home and expect me to be perfectly fine with his disappearance. He would often be in a foul mood when he came home and always took it out on me, like it was my fault that he would be out so late. Maybe it was…maybe he just stayed out late to stay away from me. But what was he doing when he was gone?
I wasn't the only one who noticed. His mother and Harry both questioned me about him regularly. I always made up excuses for the way that he acted. I don't think Harry ever truly believed me though. We were both just content on ignoring the blaringly obvious problem.
Maybe that is why I ended up where I was now.
I walked a block over to where Draco was picking me up. I tried to get my head out of the miserable state that it was in. I was going to have fun tonight. Draco put me on this high where the mess of the rest of my life faded into the back of my mind. Somehow even when I was miserable Draco could pull me out of it. I had always thought it was just because of how good of friends we were but… maybe it was for a different reason entirely. The thought of that terrified me.
"Well well, don't you clean up nice Ms. Granger," he beamed at me. "I really love that color on you." We were apparating again, much to my disapproval.
I returned his wonderful smile and took his arm, forcing my brain to stop over thinking. "Thank you, you like the dress? I got it from this sweetheart that I work with."
"Hey now, don't try to make me jealous," he winked at me before apparating.
Malfoy Manor looked fantastic. It was all lit up and had floating candles all around the front lawn. The building itself was gorgeous as it was, but all done up for a special night it was even better. Mrs. Malfoy certainly knew how to decorate.
Draco handed me a burgundy and silver mask with large feathers. I slipped it on and he did as well. His was fairly simple, it was also burgundy and silver, to match mine I suppose, but it had only small feathers that didn't poke over the edges of the mask. It didn't cover much of his face, just the upper half and part of his nose. Everyone would still easy be able to tell who he was, the blonde hair would give it away automatically. Blonde was a popular hair color, but not Malfoy blonde. Malfoy blonde was almost white, just a hint of color below each strand's surface.
"Ready?" He smiled before taking my arm and leading me up the stairs.
We were barely in there five minutes before girls were fluttering around him, none paying attention to me unless they were giving me dirty looks. Jealous bitches.
"Want to go sit at our table?" He whispered in my ear, causing me to get even more dirty looks from said bitches.
"Sure!" I giggled. I smiled at him as I grabbed his hand. Eat your hearts out, girls.
Our table was, of course, at the front of the room along with his mother's place and some other important people from what he told me. He left me there for a few seconds as he went after a waiter to get drinks.
"I think I'm a little out of my element," I said honestly. I was terrified to be left alone, this wasn't at all what I was use to.
"Oh, you're fine, you fit right in," He winked at me.
Just then a stunning woman dressed in a dark silver floor length dress approached us."Draco, darling!" She kissed Draco's cheek under the edge of his feathered mask. Her own mask was lace the same color as her dress, doing nothing to hide her identity. But why would she?
He flashed her a genuine smile, you could see his eyes crinkle through the holes in his mask,"Hello mother. You look lovely as usual."
"Oh, stop it." She gushed. Then her eyes shifted to me, "And you brought a date! You know dear, I didn't actually think you would. That dress looks wonderful on you." That last statement was obviously directed to me.
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Malfoy." I smiled, still uneasy but liking the compliment.
"May I ask who you are, or is a mystery?" She smiled at me, looking me up and down. She was joking but I stiffened.
Thankfully Draco came to the rescue. "Just a woman I work with. Isn't the whole point of the masks to keep our identities hidden? Don't want to ruin the fun." He smirked at his mother.
She gave him a warm smile back. "Well yes it is dear, but I'm not going to push it anyway. I'm just happy you found someone to bring."
We chatted for a while before she needed to go, apparently needing to make sure the donations were being handled properly.
"Want to dance?" Draco smiled down at me, holding out his hand to me as the slow, soft music played. I hadn't really been paying much attention to the music. It was a classical piece, beautifully played.
I looked out onto the dance floor and saw couple after couple dancing on the magnificent ballroom floor. I wasn't a good dancer, I fumbled over my feet and fell a lot. The graceful couples were rather intimidating.
"Come on Hermione, you know you want to," He said in a sing-song voice.
"I can't dance." I admitted,not looking him in the eye.
He was quiet for a beat and then started laughing. "What? I've seen you dance before. At the Yule ball."
I actually laughed remembering that. "Nah, Viktor was just a really strong leader. I didn't really dance then, I was more just like a puppet and he was the puppet master." I shook my head.
"Are you doubting my abilities to be your puppet master, my dear puppet?" He smiled darkly and then winked at me.
I gave him a "what are you on about?" look.
"Just dance with me," he smiled and took my hand, pulling me on to the dance floor.
He gracefully started us dancing, he was a good leader. He knew how to keep me on my feet, but wasn't as rough as Viktor had been. I actually had fun.
The night went by like a blur. Draco bought some of the artwork that was there, the money for it going to their cause.
I wasn't use to drinks that were of this grander quality. So before I knew it I had drank way too much. Draco tried cutting me off multiple times but I wouldn't have that. I wanted to get tipsy, have it ease the strangeness of the situation.
"You're drunk Hermione," he chuckled. Yeah, I passed tipsy.
"You are too!" I slurred, my brain all fuzzy. Right, this was why I didn't drink.
"No, I'm not. Do you want to go home?" He spoke softly, grabbing my hand.
No. I certainly didn't. Why was that? Oh... "I'll get in trouble...I'm not allowed to drink."
"What? You can do whatever you want, stop letting yourself be bossed around."
"Yeah! You're right!" I did get bossed around… a lot. "Can I come over?"
"To my apartment?" Draco looked shocked.
"Yeah? I need a place to crash, my head is spinning." I was slurring and spluttering. How lady like.
"Okay. Let me say goodbye to my mother, just stay here, I'll be right back." He smiled at me before getting up and walking away.
Then it hit me.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. I was going back to his apartment? Shit, what have I gotten myself into.
He was back quickly, "ready to go?" He took my hand again.
"Yes." An excited and nervous mob of butterflies fluttered in my stomach. "Let's go," I smiled at him.
"Hey there, sleepyhead," Draco smiled at me as he stood in front of me where I had just been asleep on his couch.
"Ugh. What time is it?" I whined. My head was killing me and everything was in slow motion.
"3 am. Here drink this." I sat up and he handed me a potion. It did make me feel a little better.
"Thanks." I smiled at him as he sat down where my head just was.
"No problem, I've dealt with my fair share of hangovers," he smiled at me as I put my head in his lap, still sleepy.
I giggled softly. "I'm sure you have. Thank you for taking care of me."
"It's not a problem. I like doing it." He played with my hair, pushing it out of my face.
We just looked at each other for what seemed like forever. All these scenes from the past few years just seemed to be playing in my head. They weren't just the amazing, wonderful scenes spent with Draco. No, some of these memories were of Ron. The violence, verbal abuse, anger, the lonely nights. The way Ron made me feel so vulnerable, breakable, broken. The way he made me second guess myself on everything I did. The way he made me completely lose control. I needed control in my life ,that's how I had always been. I had been losing who I really was, becoming a weaker person for Ron. I couldn't do that anymore. I was sick of sitting by and letting him do whatever he wanted, playing by his own rules. I had smelled the perfume on him, heard stories from others, even got a few words out of him late at night. I couldn't do this anymore. I was in desperate need of a life with structure. I needed to take back some control, needed it more than anything. And I needed to work out my issues. "Kiss me."
"What?" He looked shocked.
"You heard me, kiss me." I whispered.
And so he did.
At first it was gentle and sweet, but I think the alcohol screwed with my brain because I quickly deepened it. I was never like this. Never was I the one who deepened anything, never was I the one who hinted towards wanting more. Did I want more?
He groaned into my mouth and that just made my decision. More please! I crawled into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck and down his back. It wasn't even thought out any more, simply animal instincts. I started to grind myself against him, easily being able to feel how much this was turning him on. He grabbed my hips and moved against me. I whimpered against his lips before kissing down his neck. Somewhere in my intoxicated state I found the notion that if I did this, did something so crazy, I would have my control back.
"Hermione, stop." He groaned as I bit his jaw softly. I didn't stop, but instead went to work on taking off his shirt. I just kept moving against him. He actually didn't protest when I finally was able to get the shirt completely off of him. Merlin this man was attractive. "Stop. You're just going to regret this and I don't think I could handle that." He groaned again but I shut him up quickly by kissing him roughly. Handle what? And no. I wanted this.
"Shut up." I kissed him again. I didn't want anyone to take away my control again.
"What?" He was shocked again.
I was making the decisions this time, albeit I wasn't making good ones. "Take me to bed with you," I smirked at him.
"Don't steal my smirk," he grinned wickedly and picked me up quickly. I wrapped my legs around his waist. Once in his room he spoke again, "You're sure about this?"
"Yes," I moaned and he smiled at me, peeling off my clothing and what was left of his then joined me on the bed.
I rolled over with a groan. Why was there light shining in my eyes? And why was I so comfortable? My bed has never been this nice.
"Good morning," a voice whispered into my ear.
I turned toward the voice. Draco. I looked around quickly. Yes, I was in Draco Malfoy's bed with Draco Malfoy. I looked at myself, at least I wasn't naked. I was wearing one of his shirts. Well shit.
He smiled up at me, a soft sad smile. He looked guilty. I knew what we had done.
But I had to ask, "Draco, did we...? Did we..you know?"
"Did we what? You'll have to be more specific, unless I was dreaming we did a lot of things last night." That same guilty smile was plastered on his face.
"Did we..." Fearing the answer I decided to just blurt out the question in one quick panicked breath, "did we have sex last night?"
He took a deep breath, "Yes. We did." I looked into his face, he was dead serious.
"Oh."
