I do not own Harry Potter or any other characters; J.K Rowling does! The plot, however, is mine.

Ch.10

Alone in their bubble, Hermione and Draco didn't notice the hush that fell over the room when the music ended. Draco found himself lost within the honeyed depths of Hermione's eyes and without knowing, he stopped moving, cutting their dance to an end. "We should stop," Hermione said breathless as she stared into his eyes.

"We have stopped," Draco murmured as his face moved, unconsciously, closer to hers. Draco didn't relinquish his hold on Hermione, rather his arms tightened around her. Hermione moved closer into his hold and tilted her face towards his. The pair continued to moved towards each other at a tortuously slow pace until the clearing of a throat jolted them back to reality, well this version of reality. "Mr Malfoi, Miss Granis, I believe I've found the areas in which you require improvement. If the both of you could please follow me into the training rooms I shall have my assistants help you," Albus said as he began to walk towards the oak doors they had entered through. The pair exchanged a glance before following after him quickly. "Mr Malfoi, please enter the room on the left and Miss Granis please go to the room on your right. My assistants will be with your shortly."

Albus waited for the pair to enter their rooms before taking out the enchanted mirror from his pocket. "Albus! You don't have any assistants," Esmeralda said as she looked between the two doors, "Who are you going to send to them?"

"Ah my dear, it appears you underestimate me," Albus chuckled with a gleam in his eyes. "We have seen the spark between the two but who's to say that wasn't due to the dance. It's time to see if there's really something more between them."

Esmeralda narrowed her eyes, "Don't you think we've pushed them enough for today? Anymore and they will begin to suspect our plot, Miss Granger and Mr Malfoy are the brightest of their year after all."

"A little more couldn't possibly hurt. After this I swear I'll leave them alone for a few days," Albus reassured her, his face trying to remain solemn.

Esmeralda scrutinised his expression for a few minutes, "Very well, do what you will."

Albus laughed and with a wave of his wand and a muttered spell, two figures popped into existence, one went to the room where Draco was and the other to Hermione's room. Albus smiled at his handiwork before transporting Esmeralda's mirror and himself into a room with a view into both the rooms.

"Let the fun begin."

Draco examined the room as soon as he entered it. He had a sneaking suspicion that their dance teacher had been none other than their headmaster. Walking, around the room he noted the mirrored wall and the hardwood floors. He concentrated on the flow of magic surrounding him as he tried to sense any other magic, but to his dismay he felt no foreign magic. Draco was startled from his inspection when he heard the door open softly. He turned around and to his shock came face to face with Astoria Greengrass. "Tory? What are you doing here?" he asked as he stepped closer to her.

"Mr Malfoi, my name is Astrid. Master Fleetingress has sent me to assist you with your dancing. He said he noticed that your timing was slightly off. Would you like to begin?" Astrid said as she strode towards Draco.

Draco nodded as his mind began to play back memories of Astoria and himself. They had dated before the Great Battle and it had gone well. They had broken up the night before the Great Battle, neither of them sure if they would survive. Afterwards, he had felt his feelings stir towards someone else and she had seemed to be happy on her own. They had remained friends but for a period there had still been feelings towards them. Neither of them had acted on it and they had eventually faded away. Looking at Astrid, he was hit with a wave of nostalgia as he remembered the rest of his friends at Hogwarts. Would they have noticed his absence or had the headmaster covered it up?

Shaking his head free from his thoughts, he nodded and extended his hand towards the girl, "Shall we?"

Hermione walked into the room and immediately noticed her surroundings. There was a mirrored wall and wooden floors that gleamed. She closed her eyes as she tried to center herself once more and when she opened them there was a boy resembling Ron looking at her. "Good day. My name is Byron. Master Fleetingress sent me to help you with your footwork. "

Hermione narrowed her eyes at 'Byron' but nodded and took his outreached hand. Contrary to the belief of most of Hogwarts, she and Ron and had never actually dated. They had had feelings that were formed from years of being friends and the close quarters during their time on the run had not helped, but there had just not been enough time. Once the war was over, she and Ron had settled into their friendship and nothing else had bloomed from it. Looking at the boy who resembled Ron caused an ache in her chest. She missed her friends very much.

"Well Albus, have they passed your test? Neither looks to have taken a great interest to your 'assistants', " Esmeralda said smugly.

"There is but one more test my dear Esmeralda," Albus said. His voice tinged with mischief.

"Oh dear," Esmeralda said as she covered her eyes, as if afraid to witness the chaos about to happen.

"You have improved," Astrid said as she put the music off, "It is time to show the Master your progress and then the lesson will be over." Draco nodded and followed her out of the room. They entered through the oak doors again and Draco was unsurprised to see the master waiting for them.

"Shall we begin Master Fleetingress?" he asked as they came to a stop before him.

Master Fleetingress tutted, "patience Mr Malfoi, we must wait for Miss Granis." Draco nodded and went to stand next to Astrid, her resemblance to one of his friends helped to fight the sudden pang of homesickness he was experiencing.

Hermione looked up from her feet when she felt Byron release her waist. "It is time to show Master Fleetingress your progress. The lesson will end after." Hermione nodded and followed after him. She had started to feel a bit hungry, it had been hours since breakfast and she hadn't eaten much, her head still spinning with the new information she had obtained during the ball. Hermione felt her stomach churn and began to regret her decision. Soon, she told her stomach silently, just a little while longer.

Hermione walked through the oak doors and was surprised to see Draco standing next to someone who bore a striking resemblance to Astoria. She had heard the rumours that the pair had dated for months before the Great Battle and they had looked happy together. Hermione felt a twinge that had nothing to do with her hunger and more to do with the sight of the two of them together. A small part of her mind reminded her that most of the characters in this realm did resemble their classmates but most of her was annoyed by the way Draco had loosened up from the stiff posture he had kept from the time they had seen each other. He had only been that comfortable when they were dancing but Hermione attributed that to the years of lessons he had had that trained him to be effortless in dance. Hermione was mature enough to admit that she felt jealous looking at the pair but she would not… could not admit to herself why.

She was pulled from her inner thoughts by Master Fleetingress, "Shall we begin?"

The pairs moved to face each other and they began dancing.

Draco felt his gut tighten as he watched Hermione face the boy who looked a lot like the Weasley. He knew that it wasn't Weasley but it still annoyed him that Hermione seemed more relaxed in his arms. He glared at the back of the red- haired boy's head as he felt the years of dance lessons kick in and he moved effortlessly with his partner. He had never felt more grateful for the lessons that made dancing instinctive for him. It left him with more than enough time to glare at the boy and simultaneously devise a plot to trip him. He attempted to clear his thoughts and focus on the music but it was to no avail, all he could hope for was that the dance would soon come to a close, before he did something irrational; like tripping the boy.

To Draco relief, the song eventually ended after what felt like an eternity and Hermione's dance partner let her go. Draco lifted his partner's hand and kissed it before straightening up and turning to face the dance teacher.

"Both of you have improved, however I expect to see you again soon," Albus said with a nod of approval. "If there is nothing else, I will call the end of this class. I hope you both have a pleasant evening," and with a nod to Draco and a shallow bow to Hermione, he was gone. Their dance partners followed after him and soon it was only Hermione and Draco left in the room.

"You seemed very friendly with your partner," Hermione said with a sniff. Draco hid his gasp of surprise with a soft cough. "I was only dancing Granger," Draco shrugged, "and if you want to talk about being friendly, I'd say you and your partner seemed very close."

Hermione grumbled," that's none of your business Malfoy."

"You're the one who brought it up," Draco said with a smirk.

"Yes…well," Hermione said, her voice flustered, "let's just go."

Unbeknownst to either of them, the pair walked in sync with each other until the door. Draco stepped forward and held it open for Hermione who walked past with pink cheeks. They walked in silence and exited the building without a word, only exchanging a glance before departing in their respective carriages.

"I hate to say this but I told you so," Albus laughed as he watched the pair leave. "There was near tangible sparks during the dance."

"Don't get too happy just yet Albus, those two are nothing if not unpredictable," Esmeralda reminded with a shake of her head.

"We shall see," Albus said with a smile.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I have an idea that's been wondering around in my head for a side chapter or two about Harry and Pansy, I'm not certain about it. Let me know if you would like to read more about that couple.

Ps: sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors.

Arriva deci!