Disclaimer: Everything is owned by J.K Rowling except for the plot.

Timeline: The war did not happen. All the evil, dark stuff didn't occur. The main characters are in their last years. The characters might be OOC. Ron and Hermione never liked each other.

Ch. 12: Strangely Familiar

She moved to grab the handle of the ladle; then suddenly at the same time, another hand reached over for the ladle, but grasped hers instead.

Her eyes widen in surprise and began to glance up. She then heard a familiar male voice murmur.

"It's you."

Hermione inwardly gasped as she saw the handsome figure in front of her. He wore a dark, navy satin edged notch lapel tuxedo that didn't look cheap. He wore a plain white dress shirt with navy neck tie. The outfit suited the handsome stranger's figure very well like it was made for him as it quite possibly was. He wore a plain black mask which on him, it didn't seem very plain. His hair was a tan brown but for some odd reason, her eyes kept going back to his stromy grey eyes. She furrowed her brows as she felt she had seen them before.

Have I seen him before? I can't place him...Hermione thought to herself. She looked down at their touching hands and she couldn't help but blush.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" She said as she pulled her hand out from under his.

Interrupting his thoughts, he smirked at her. "I'm not sure, but I would like to get to know you. Nice to meet you." He held his hand out for a shake.

Trying to surpress her blush, she looked at him cautiously and hesitantly brought her hand up and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you...Um..." She said as she couldn't help but notice an electric spark when they shook hands and touched earlier. She also couldn't help but think this stranger was very familiar. When they retracted their hands, she felt a bit disappointed.

"You can call me Liam for now." He said to her as he thought of a relative's name.

"Oh, yes. That rule. You can call me Ava." Thinking of a random name, Hermione answered him.

"I-" He started to say.

"Oh, there you are!" A male voice spoke behind him. Hermione looked over and saw a guy in a white dress shirt, a royal blue colored vest, pant suit, and tie. His outfit completed with a matching royal blue mask. Hermione could tell immediately who it was. It was her date. She smiled at his grinning masked face.

When Micheal walked over to her, he whisphered into her ear. "You are Hermione, right?"

"Yes." She chuckled and whispered back to him about his decision on the color of his outfit. "And you are such a Raven."

"Through and through." He smiled and said outloud. "You look beautiful, by the way. Did you wait long?" He asked.

She thanked him as she blushed a little at the compliment. "No, I just got here. Oh, this is Liam by the way. Well, for now anyways. We just met." She spoke as she introduced her new friend to Micheal.

"Hey Liam, nice to meet you. I guess I will go by Max." Micheal extended his hand at 'Liam' for a handshake.

Micheal noticed 'Liam' glare at him and pointedly ignore his offer for a handshake. He frowned at the guy's action as he realized this new guy wasn't interested in anything he was saying as his focus stayed on Hermione. Hearing the band start a new song, he quickly changed the subject.

"Let's go dance." He said as he moved his outstretched hand and grabbed Hermione's hand. He started to pull her gently towards the dance floor.

"Oh! Alright." She said as she was surprised from Micheal's sudden change of topic. "I'll see you later, Liam. Nice to meet you." She dismissed herself as she started to walk toward the dance floor behind Micheal.

Micheal could feel daggers at the back of his head and he was certain he knew where they came from. He was very cautious with this new guy because he didn't seem very affable. As they arrived at the dance floor, he decided to have a nice time and ignore the guy. Spinning Hermione in front of him, they assumed positions and began to dance to the music.

"It's you." Draco murmured as he saw, once again, the mystery girl in front of him. He couldn't find her before no matter how hard he tried, but now she was right before him. And she was even more breathtaking than the first time he saw her. But unlike the first time, this time her eyes were not burning with fury and glaring at him. He stared into her warm honey colored eyes as he sensed a feeling of familiarity.

She seems so familiar. What is her name? He thought to himself.

Her voice disrupted his train of thought. Her voice was also strangely familiar and comforting. When he began to speak to her, he frowned when he heard a male voice behind him. His insides burned with rage as he saw them, what seemed to him, whisper to each other intimately.

Of course, she would have a date. Seems like they are close. He thought with a growl.

When she was pulled away by her date to the dance floor, he had to fight his sudden urge to grab her hand and take her away with him. He looked on as they danced to the music and snarled as he made his way to a secluded corner of the Great Hall with a drink in his hand.

...

Ginny and Harry entered the ball as they looked around in awe at the amazing final decorations in the hall. Harry had on a simple and refine looking black tuxedo. He wore a burgundy color tie and mask to represent his house. Ginny looked amazing with her dress and simple but sleek black mask. Her hair was pulled up into an elegant ponytail that accentuated her neckline. She wore bare minimal make up as it suited her face splendidly. She was pleasantly surprised when Harry was actually stuttering when he complimented her. At least, she knows now he will see her more as a women not as a sister.

When they entered the ball, Harry looked around for someone.

"Do you know what Hermione's wearing?" Harry asked Ginny.

Her heart dropped when she heard him ask for her.

"No. Why?" She lied as she looked up at him with a sad expression. She felt that she had to, but felt disappointed in herself.

"Oh..I just wanted to praise her on a job well done." He quickly made up an excuse when he saw Ginny's expression. He realized he was being insensitive towards her. "I'll just find her after midnight then." He finished as he saw Ginny's sad expression change gradually.

She nodded and smiled softly at the handsome Gryffindor.

Draco stood in his corner sipping on his punch. He was in a foul mood as he look around the Great Hall. He tried to keep his mind off of the 'Ava' girl, but his eyes kept roaming back to her as she danced with her date. He wasn't one to break a couple up. He just wasn't like that, but for some reason he couldn't help but keep his eyes on her. He wanted to know her. Find out what kind of person she was. Find out her likes and dislikes...

He lowered his cup as he smirked when he saw her say something to her partner causing 'Max' to frown. After the song ended, she headed back to the beverage table as she stood silently at the table and glanced around the room. She looked like she was monitoring the dance.

She'a a prefect. Draco thought to himself smiling as he believed he narrowed down the candidates of who she could be. His smile quickly disappeared as he noticed a boy walk up to her. He ignored the drinks and asked her something. She then shook her head refusing him so the boy turned around looking disappointed. Draco smirked at the retreating figure of the boy. The poor guy asked her to dance and she rejected him. He chuckled under his breath. Several others followed the first guy and the answer was all the same. Draco frowned at the number of people asking her to dance, but smiled at their dejected faces.

Draco lifted his cup to his lips to take another swig at his drink until he heard a female voice. He froze as he glanced at the girl next to him. She repeated what she said.

"Draco Malfoy." She said. "You are Draco, aren't you?" She asked him. It was someone from his stupid freaking fan club. He tried to ignore her as he glanced back at the beverage table.

Bugger. She's gone. He thought.

"I know it's you, Draco. You have this cute, tiny mole in the back of your neck near your left ear. Changing your hair color won't help you." She said with a smile.

Hearing her specific description of him, he felt very perturbed and disgusted. "I'm not whoever you think I am. Now scram." He scowled about his failure to be unrecognized and the annoying girl.

"Ah! You sound exactly like him! You are definitely him!" She screamed in delight.

Before she could say anymore, Draco quickly maneuvers around her and briskly walked away hoping she wasn't following him. Spotting the side doors opened out to the gardens, he decided to work his way out to the gardens.

The Prefects and Heads collaborated with Professor Sprout and Mr. Filch to add the gardens to the theme. The bushes were professional trimmed and maintained. Several long benches were placed throughout for people to relax and enjoy on. Placed in the middle of the gardens was the centerpiece: the Fountain of Serah. The fountain was charmed to spout water out in pattern of the music. If no music were played, it acted naturally as a normal fountain.

He quickly arrived to the middle of the garden grounds where the fountain lay. Looking around for the crazed fan girl, he sighed in relief when he didn't see any sign of her so then he chose a nearby bench to rest on. He leaned back and lifted his arms up on the bench as he lifted his head towards the sky. He took in the starry night and sighed to himself. The main reason he changed his hair color was so his stupid unwanted fan girls would not recognize him, but they were even crazier than he expected.

"What the hell am I doing? Why the hell am I here?" He muttered to himself referring to the masquerade ball.

"I don't even know her real name. Was I this shallow? I'm just like those other gits who asked her to dance." He said to himself. Even with these thoughts, he continued to see 'Ava's' smiling masked face in his head and so he slowly began to smile to himself.

...

Hermione looked around the gardens for any misbehavior as she was scheduled to. After the dance with Micheal, she apologized to him because she had to go monitor the ball grounds. He seemed very disappointed, but understood as she excused herself. She felt bad leaving him alone, but she warned him. If she had time, she was going to find him later. Finishing her patrol to the edge of the gardens, she made her way back as she realized she was nearing the fountain as she heard the rushing of water. Approaching the fountain, she stood to admire its beauty. It wasn't too grand but it was magical nonetheless. She watched the fountain's water dance rhythmically to the music coming from the Great Hall. Hermione beamed at the fountain feeling proud of their work in the last few hours. Feeling the soreness on her ankle, she looked around her for a seat and chose a bench nearby to sit on. Sitting down, she reached down to massage her ankle. She now regretted her decision to wear the heels as she continued to massage her ankle. Remembering a spell, Hermione pulled out her wand and muttered the incantation as sheinstantly felt relief on her feet. Sighing in delight, she tucked her wand back to where she hid it before. She sat back on the bench admiring the fountain for a brief rest as she enjoyed the quiet and calm that surrounded her.

...

Draco brought his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose under the annoying mask. He readjusted the mask on his face as he brought his head back down with a frustrated groan.

"It was stupid to come here." He muttered to himself. From the corner of his eye, he saw her. It was the girl, 'Ava'.

"Merlin, don't screw with me." He said out loud. He looked at her as she sat at another bench a few feet away from him. A shiny reflection on the floor near her caught his eye as he noticed it was a bracelet. He immediately stood and made his way over to her as he bent down and picked up the silver bracelet carefully.

"I believe you dropped this." He said to her as he offered the bracelet to her.

Surprising her, Hermione jumped a little from the voice that suddenly spoke next to her. She looked up at saw the handsome 'Liam' again. Looking down at his hand, he had a silver bracelet that strangely looked like hers. She glanced at her wrist and saw it was missing.

"Oh, it must of fallen off. Thank you." She said as she started to reach for the bracelet.

"Let me." He said as he sat next to her and stretched out the bracelet.

"Thank you." She thanked him again as she slowly lifted her bare wrist towards him. He moved the bracelet under her wrist and brought it up on top as he focused to clip the ends of the bracelet together. She secretly glanced at him as she smiled at his focused expression and tried to picture who he was and where she had seen him before. Again, she felt some type of electrical sensation when his fingers grazed her wrist. When he finished connecting the bracelet, he looked up at her and their eyes made contact.

She seemed so familiar to him. He had seen those set of eyes before but couldn't place it. Then suddenly, his ears pricked when he heard someone call his real name. Hoping they were not near them, he listened carefully as his shoulders tensed. There it was again. He heard a closer, but still faint call of his name.

"Bloody hell." He muttered. He heard footsteps draw close. Draco quickly stood and instinctively pulled her up and pressed against him. He looked over his shoulder to check if the coast was clear. Draco turned his head away because he saw someone approach. It was the crazed fan girl.

Bloody hell. Not this girl again. He thought with a grimace.

She walked by and slowed as she noticed there were people there. Seeing the pair in their position, she thought they needed some privacy and quietly walked away as she shyly apologized. She then continued her search as she ventured further into the gardens.

He sighed in relief audibly then he heard a muffled voice against his chest. Shocked when he realized that he had instinctly pulled her up against him, he quickly let go of her gently and mutter an apology as she backed up and fixed her dress.

"So, I'm guessing you are popular with the ladies?" She joked at him referring to the girl who ran by.

"No, not really." He smirked and denied her claim. "People don't really like to approach me. I guess you could say I have a cold personality." He said to her not knowing why he was sharing this information all the sudden.

"Oh, really? You seem perfectly fine to me." She said to him.

He chuckled as they comfortably and casually started to walk deeper into the gardens in the oppposite direction of the fan girl. They continued to talk to each other without asking for information about each other's identity. They chatted about classes, which they liked and which they didn't among other things.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that you love flying." On the topic of hobbies, she smirked and asked him as they continued to walk down the path.

"How did you know?" He laughed and confirmed her guess.

"Instinct." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Not particularly fond of it. Although, I did ride a broomstick just recently." She admitted.

"Oh really? What did you ride? A Cleansweeper?" He asked intrigued as he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure. I think it was the newest one." She answered.

"What?! The Lighting Stream? Isn't it brilliant?" He expressed brightly and then started to describe the amazingness of the new broomstick excitedly as his face lit up like a child's.

She smiled at the way he spoke so passionately about the broomstick and listened quietly.

"Sorry, you don't like flying." Realizing he was the only one talking.

"No, it's fine. Your expression was very refreshing." She said smiling up to him.

They continued their stroll along the garden enjoying each other's company. Their conversation went on as they talked about their future plans after Hogwarts.

"So do you know what you want to do after school ends?" Hermione asked 'Liam' as they talked about graduating soon.

"I know what I don't want. I don't want to live off of my parents. I want to be able to open a business using my own capabilities instead of depending on my parents." He said to her. It was the first time he told someone about this. Having to keep his image, he didn't share his thoughts with his House mates. They would just laugh it off and ask why he would do such a thing when his parents have so much money and status already.

"That's great. I'm sure you will be able to work it out." She said praising his idea. He was pleasantly surprised at her positive reinforcement about his idea. They continued walking along the path as the lights above them glowed brightly along with their steps.

"What about you?" Draco asked her as they walked side by side.

"I've thought about it for a while. I haven't told anyone this. Afraid it might be ridiculous and impulsive, but I would love to travel for a year before I settle down on a job." She said excitedly.

"If you have your mind set on it, you should go for it. You don't want to regret it and think of "what ifs" if you decide not to." He commented.

She turned to him smiling widely as she grabbed his hands with both of hers. "My thoughts exactly. Thank you. That advice means a lot."

He looked at 'Ava's' smiling face as Granger's face suddenly appeared in place of the girl's in front of him. Startled, his eyes widen and he blinked rapidly as Granger's face disappeared and he saw the butterfly mask in front of him again. He inwardly frowned at himself.

Why is Granger's face popping up? He thought with confusion and annoyance.

Suddenly, the five minutes until Midnight warning signal rung throughout the building. Hearing the signal, Hermione remembered her promise to Blaise.

"I'm sorry. I have to go meet someone. I had a great time." She said as she released her hands feeling a bit disappointed that she had to leave.

She started to walk towards the direction of the fountain until Draco grabbed her wrist stopping her.

"When will I see you again?" He asked her hating himself for sounding so desperate.

She smiled. "We will see each other soon." She assured him.

He nodded and released his grasp. Remembering their time together just moments ago, he smiled as he watched her walk away. He felt that he behaved differently than normal today. The reason was definitely the mask. It allowed him to open up more. No one knew who he was and he didn't know anyone else. Like a clean slate, there was no prejudice about him and his family name. He was able to share things he would normally keep to himself.

'Ava' was a splendid girl. Not only was she stunning, she had a great personality. She was charming, insightful, and bright. Not wanting to lose sight of her again, he walked out the gardens towards the same way she went.

Waiting at the Fountain of Serah anxiously, Blaise stood by himself readying himself. He heard footsteps behind him as his heart quickened as the footsteps got closer.

"Blaise?" He heard her voice.

He turned around and saw her in her dazzling dress and mask. When she arrived in front of him, he suddenly out of nowhere hugged her tight as if she would slip out of his arms if he didn't.

"Blaise?" She asked shocked.

...

Draco walked out of the gardens as he looked around for 'Ava'. He spotted her back towards him and smiled as he continued his way towards her. He stopped in his tracks when he suddenly saw a guy hug her tight. He stood frozen in the spot taking in what was happening before him. Not wanting to see anymore, he angrily and forcefully tore his eyes away from the scene and walked away quietly without a word.

A/N: Sorry, I'm a day late! Nevertheless, I hope you all liked it. The next chapter will be juicier so my update might not be on time on the usual Monday morning. My apologies in advance.

Reviews are still welcome! Good or Bad. I welcome all. I would love to hear from you guys for any advice or criticism. I'm always looking to improve! I would like to thank everyone who have read my story up until this point. You don't know how happy it makes me feel. I love that I can share my story with you all! Sorry for the long ramble.

Also, any Tom Felton fans here? I saw that he visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Orlando just recently. On Instagram, there is an adorable clip of his interaction with a young fan. It just melts my heart. You should go see it!

Thank you again! Onneee Punnnnccchh!

Cheers! Have a magical day!

DiagonAlleyorBust