Draco put the list on the table after Snape's performance at lunch. "They've started up their list again, so we need to get in gear as well. With the ball being tonight, this is the perfect one to do." He tapped on the list and the two strained to see what he was gesturing to.

Blaise nodded, smirking. "But instead of what is normally done, we should put our own twist and give them something they won't expect."

Theo tapped the table thoughtfully. "What if we use a potion instead?"

Draco glanced between the two of them and then at Hermione. He smirked. "Let's do it. Meet me back here when it's still being setup. As a prefect, I should be able to get us in." Agreeing, they left the table. Draco secretly smirked to himself. They still don't know who my date is.

Hermione was pulled by Lavender and Ginny into the girls' dormitory when she stood to leave the Great Hall. "Hermione, we need to get ready!"

Hermione cast a temporus spell, checking the time. "But we still have over 4 hours until the ball!" She exclaimed.

"I know, how will we all get ready in time?" Lavender worried.

"But the decorating committee-" Hermione started

"Has boys who are under strict instructions. They'll be fine." Ginny dismissed, pulling out their thick bathrobes. "Now, off to the prefects' bathroom before any other girls rush there."

Hermione found herself pulled and pushed down to the massive bathroom, which was empty, to her relief. She wouldn't put it past the two Gryffindors to physically throw any one else out of the bathroom.

"Where's Pavarti?" She asked, looking around.

"Oh, she's getting ready with Padma. This being their last masked ball together, she wanted to spend it with Padma." Lavender explained as she turned on the taps that filled the tub with rose scented water and bubbles. Hermione felt somewhat self-conscious stripping down in front of the other two, but then shrugged her shoulders and went with it. She sunk into the tub to relax, but then realized it wouldn't happen when Lavender attacked her hair.

"I owled my cousin for her new potion, she's a famous hair witch you know, and she sent it to me. It's supposed to calm even the most stubborn of hair and I thought it would be perfect for you, Hermione." She said as she poured hulking globs of it into her hand and smeared it into Hermione's hair.

She grit her teeth, hesitant to let a new potion in her hair, but really had no choice. "Lavender, this had better not make my hair come out in handfuls. If it does, I'm cursing your nose hair to grow longer than your waist."

Lavender balked at the thought. "I promise this potion is a sure thing."

Ginny laughed. "Threatening already, Hermione? We're not even an hour into preparation!" Hermione huffed but allowed herself to be dragged back to the dormitory, where her hair was slowly dried by Lavender running her wand through each strand. She wondered what Draco was doing, but then mentally slapped herself. I have a date, I should be focused on him.

At that moment, Draco was still running around with Blaise and Theo, getting everything ready for his team's prank. They had raided Snape's potion stores and had owled Draco's mother who had sent them everything she could get her hands on, in the spirit of a good Slytherin prank.

Thirty minutes before the ball, the three rushed back to their dormitory to get ready. Running through the shower and almost ripping their clothes in their haste, they were ready with just minutes to spare.

"Meet you at the Great Hall!" Draco called behind him as he left the common room to meet his date.

Hermione stepped out of the dormitory and down the stairs to meet her date, only to find all of the boys staring at her, gob smacked. After looking in the mirror, she couldn't blame them. Her normally riotous hair had been calmed into smooth ringlets, half of which Lavender had pinned up and the rest were left to tumble down her back. Her dress she had chosen on purpose, much like her date, to drive Draco crazy. Her dress was floor-length and a deep, almost black, green. It clung to her, gently flaring out around her hips where the silver embroidery started. It shimmered and sparkled, making her breathtaking. To top it off, she had a delicate mask of the same colored green with silver swirls and black lace around the edges.

Her date recovered himself quickly and started bragging about how great he would make her look by standing beside her. She rolled her black-rimmed eyes, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the common room. Her date prattled on about himself and she grit her teeth, wishing she could hex him, not entirely certain she wouldn't by the end of the night.

They paused at the top of the stairs, surveying the already crowded hall, waiting to get into the Great Hall. She spied a flash of bleach blond out of the corner of her eye and she glanced at him to see him staring at her, heat in his eyes. She turned from him quickly, ignoring him. They strode down, Hermione dragging her date over to where Harry and Ron were standing with Ginny and Lavender. Both of them looked fabulous, Ginny wearing a dark blue velvet dress and Lavender wearing a light pink satin ball gown.

Harry pulled Hermione off to the side. "You look beautiful, by the way, but did you seriously come with Cormac? Cormac McLaggen?"

She shrugged self-consciously. "Yes, I figured with both of us older, he deserved a second chance."

Harry stared at her. "You have met him, right? He thinks he's God's gift to the world."

She huffed. "And I am a big girl and can take care of myself. Do you doubt me, Harry Potter?" She raised an eyebrow as he paled.

"No, just letting you know that you can ditch him at any time and not feel guilty."

She laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

Draco couldn't believe how gorgeous she was. Every male in the hall was staring at her, and he wanted to curse them all. She's mine. He growled when he saw who she had turned him down to go with, and he could feel his blood boil when she deliberately turned away from him. How dare she ignore me!

Blaise interrupted his thoughts by clapping a hand on his back. "You look like you're going to murder McLaggen."

"The thought hasn't even crossed my mind," Draco said innocently, glaring at the imbecile Hermione had chosen as her date.

Theo was unconvinced. "Uh huh. Anyways, it's time. The doors will open any minute now." The words barely left his mouth as the doors opened, revealing the enchanted ballroom. The students stepped through, oohing and ahhing at the changed Great Hall. The normal tables were nowhere in sight, instead with circular tables on one side of the room covered in black linens. Silver and orange fabric was draped across the top of the hall, allowing the stars to twinkle through. Black couches dotted the floor around the dance area and stage, giving alternative seating.

Draco made a beeline to the food table, specifically the punch bowl, and dumped the potions in before anyone noticed. Dumbledore had cast an antispiking charm on the bowl, but it was only targeting alcoholic drinks, luckily not potions. Draco smirked. Now I just need to get a dance with her after she drinks this.

Dumbledore stood on the stage and held his hands out, commanding attention. "Now that you are all here, I wanted to say a few words. Professor McGonagall wanted me to remind students that only fourth years and up are allowed and any others will not be allowed through the door, as some of your classmates have already found out." He gestured to where Filch was pulling away two third year girls who were pounding on an invisible wall that blocked them out.

"She also wanted me to remind you to act with the utmost decorum. Oddish, hinkle, twilkins!" He ended the speech as the students clapped, well used to his barmy tendencies.

It appeared that they had been able to procure The Hippogriffs, an up and coming new band, to everyone's pleasure. As the music started, few couples were on the dancefloor, preferring to mingle and snack. Theo had to sneak over to the punch bowl and add more potions when it automatically refilled itself. The ball was getting into full swing by the time Draco swigged down some punch and took his date on the dancefloor.

Daphne Greengrass sighed in relief. "About time you did something. I think Tracey was starting to feel sorry for me."

He looked down at her. "Is she looking at you?" A quick glance and a nod told him the truth. He glanced up to see Hermione staring at him. He leaned down to Daphne and whispered, "Let's give them a show." She smiled up at him as he started to twirl her around, bringing her closer to him. He smiled genuinely at her, holding her close to make the farce appear real.

After the song ended, they pulled apart and Daphne kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Draco," she said softly.

He smiled at her, putting her hand in the crook of his arm as they strode off the dancefloor. "I didn't do it just for you," he said, his eyes going to the Gryffindor he really wanted.

Her gaze followed his and she smirked. "I know."

Hermione had been laughing with Ginny and Lavender when she saw Draco lead Daphne on the floor. She couldn't help but feel self-conscious because the pureblood blonde witch was so beautiful. Her silver dress shone under the candlelight as she moved gracefully against Draco. Hermione could see him whispering in her ear and she laughed with him. A new feeling filled her and she wanted to march over to the witch and pull her hair out. Her thoughts stuttered to a stop as she realized, Am I…jealous?

Shaking her head, she excused herself and strode off to the table, nearly sloshing the punch over the brim by how forcefully she grabbed the ladle. She gulped down the punch, trying to forget how he looked dancing close to someone else.

She looked up to see him smiling, actually smiling, at Daphne, and red filled her vision. She stomped over to Cormac, grabbed him and pulled him onto the dancefloor. He strutted and bowed with a ridiculous flourish. Rolling her eyes, she took his arm and they started to dance.

His arm kept sliding down her back until his hand was resting on her bum, but she kept moving his arm back up where it belonged. He probably thought he was smooth, but Hermione had to grit her teeth to keep her disgust to herself. The fifth time she moved his arm, he looked down at her.

"You know you want it, Hermione. No one can resist me and I chose you for tonight."

She stared at him. "No, I don't want it."

He pursed his lips, giving her a condescending look. "Come now, Hermione, I know you're being sly. Don't you want me? Why else did you say yes to me?"

She glared at him. "I don't want anything from you. I only said yes to you because I knew it would irritate Dra-" She clamped her mouth shut, unable to believe that she almost told him her secret.

He smirked. "No, you just don't know you want it." He put both hands on her bum and pulled her closer to him, grinding his groin against hers in a lewd manner. She pushed him away and started to walk away, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving. She tried to shake him off, but he pulled her closer to him. "You will want me." He said through his clenched teeth.

Suddenly a fist came out of nowhere and punched Cormac in the jaw. Hermione whipped her head to see a heaving Draco, eyes like steel, staring down her date in disgust. "She said no, and when a lady says no, you listen, you piece of hippogriff dung. Now get out of here before I turn you into a ghost." Cormac glared but then whitened when he saw Draco's eyes flash. Without even glancing at Hermione, he backed up, fleeing from them.

Hermione turned to Draco. "Why did you do that? I had it under control!"

He frowned at her, looking around them. They were starting to gain attention, so he gently grabbed her arm and ushered her out of the ballroom. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and turned to him, only to find him inches away from her, glaring at her. "You looked like you needed help from that poor excuse of a wizard. I mean, McLaggen, really?"

She glared at him. "I only went with him to make you jealous!" She covered her mouth, eyes wide as he suddenly smirked at her. It finally dawned on her. "You spiked the punch with veritaserum!" She accused.

He shrugged. "Slytherin. Plus it was one of our pranks." He stepped closer to her. "You did it to make me jealous? Why?" He wanted to hear her say it.

"Because you didn't ask me!" She spat.

He pushed her against the wall, crowding her space. "I'm getting really tired of you yelling at me, princess. And I wanted to ask you until I saw you accept McLaggen." He stuck his nose in the crook of her neck and sniffed, inhaling her natural vanilla scent.

She glared up at him. "If you wanted to ask me, then you shouldn't have waited until the last minute! Stupid Slytherins don't have the bollocks to do anything."

He glared back at her. "I don't have the bollocks, huh? Then I wouldn't do this, would I?" Suddenly his lips were on hers and she couldn't think. He was demanding, invading her mouth with his tongue, swiping it against hers and tasting her. She found herself moaning into his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist, his arm coming around her back to support her against the wall. He pulled away slowly, breath ragged and lowered her back down to the ground, leaning his forehead against hers. He opened his eyes and stepped away from her. She could see something flicker in his eyes before he swiftly turned around and quickly walked away.

Her brain in a haze, it took a minute to realize what happened. She lifted her skirt and tried running after him, but her silver heels made it difficult. "Draco, wait!" She called, but he walked even faster away from her and the ballroom. She sighed and tottered back to the ballroom, not looking her friends in the eyes as they looked at her, concerned. After only a few minutes, she excused herself for the evening and wandered the castle, hoping to find him but seeing no sign of him on her way back to the Gryffindor common room.

Unbeknownst to the two, the ballroom was in pandemonium. Tracey Davis' date was staring helplessly at his date snogging her girlfriend, Daphne, again. Harry was screaming how much Ron's sloppy habits annoyed him while Ginny was screeching at Dean Thomas how he never satisfied her while they were dating. If anyone cared to look, Professor Trelawney was sobbing into one of the couch pillows, wailing about how she didn't have as much talent as her great-grandmother. Snape walked in from monitoring the students on the terrace, took one look around, and walked right back out. Theo and Blaise exchanged a satisfied high five and left to tell Draco about the success of their prank.

A/N: How's that for turning up the heat? Again, I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. And all of you who have reviewed are awesome! Thanks so much for the love and favorites!