Author's Note: I feel bad about making you guys wait so long, but I've been sincerely enjoying my spring break. Anyways! This is an incredibly fluffy chapter (yay!), but it introduces a plot point as well, so it's not completely useless. Hehe. Please read, review, and above all, enjoy!

The Effects of Anonymity

Two awkward weeks passed and Halloween had now descended upon the school. Giant pumpkins were scattered about the halls, nearing ten feet in diameter thanks to Hagrid's honed craft. While undoubtedly festive, they were a bit inconvenient at exchanges: students literally had to crawl over the great orange vegetables. The professors smiled wryly at the sight of their seventh year students gamboling and giggling over the pumpkins like first years, but did nothing to alleviate the inconvenience. They realized that a few pumpkins could truly brighten the atmosphere, especially in the dark times that were looming at every dawn.

Hermione skirted one of the oversized vegetables and stepped into a nearly-empty courtyard. She slid her bag from around her shoulders and placed it on the ground. Sighing, she reclined on the bench and looked up at the clear blue sky. A stiff wind came from the east, detaching dead leaves from their tenuous holds. They swirled and danced in the air, falling on either side of her prone form, some brushing her cheeks lightly, sending shivers down her spine. She stretched luxuriously on the bench, relishing the tensing and subsequent relaxing of her cramped muscles.

"I love the autumn," she said quietly.

She serenely stared into the sky, making shapes out of the pristine white clouds that dotted the bright blue heavens. When she tired of her game, her visage lost its contented demeanor, turning into one of contemplation. 'This has been a very weird two weeks,' she thought.

And indeed they had been. Ever since their rooftop scene, the tension between Hermione and Draco had increased exponentially. Their fights were fiercer, their silences more brooding, their laughter sharper and more strained.

'We're both obviously thinking of what happened…well, what almost happened, but neither of us wants to confront the issue…' Hermione blushed as she imagined how that conversation would go. 'I'm happy we haven't. Hopefully we never will...'

Slowly, the courtyard filled with more students. Realizing that class must be over, Hermione got up from her bench and walked to her dormitory. She passed Ron and Ginny on her way there, attempting in vain to make eye contact. This turned her mood quite suddenly.

'I wish they would start talking to me again,' she thought sullenly. 'Harry gave me quite a lashing via letter. You'd think that would be enough for them…' Hermione crinkled her nose slightly at the memory of Harry's harsh letter. He did not outright tell her that she was a traitor and a bad friend, but both were most definitely implied. Neither insinuation was appreciated or, in Hermione's opinion, valid.

Because of their prolonged frigidity towards her, Hermione had debated whether or not to attend the first-ever Halloween Masquerade Ball, which was all anyone had been talking about the entire week. All of Hogwarts was buzzing with costume ideas, nearly pushing Hermione to the edge. In a moment of spontaneity earlier in the week, she had ordered a costume and a mask – something in which she would be absolutely unrecognizable. The costume arrived within two days, as did her first bout of indecision. She grappled with it ever since.

'I might as well just go,' Hermione thought, walking up the stairs to her room. 'I bought a costume, I have everything all planned out…it'd be a shame to waste it. So what if I'm not with Ron and Ginny and them? The point of a masquerade is anonymity anyways!' She smiled at her logic. 'It's settled then – I'm going.'

XOX

'I can't believe I'm actually going,' Draco thought as donned his costume. He had been debating about the masquerade ball for the entire week. In the end, though, he decided to attend, if only for a little while. 'I need some amusement right now,' he thought while buttoning his shirt. 'I'm sure it's going to be ridiculous…I'll probably won't even stay for more than half an hour.'

Draco tied the black mask around his face and put on the authentic black fedora. He regarded himself in the mirror and smirked: his Don Juan costume looked perfect. His legs were encased in fitted black pants, over which was a tunic that was slightly opened at the neck, exposing a decent portion of Draco's pale and toned chest. His mask and hat sufficiently disguised his face and hair. The only telling part of him was his eyes. And though Draco knew he could change their color if he wanted, he decided against it; he rather liked his eyes.

He straightened the coiled leather whip at his side and made sure his belt was secure. With one last roguish smirk into the mirror, Draco stepped out of his door. When walking down the stairs, he noticed that Hermione's door was shut.

'The Ball started half an hour ago,' he thought, glancing at the wall clock. 'I would have heard her leave. Perhaps she's not going.'

Not knowing how he felt about this, Draco shook his head and maneuvered through the passageways towards the Great Hall. He scoped out the crowd before entering the fray.

'Some people obviously missed the point of a masquerade,' chuckled Draco. Many of his peers were still identifiable, their telling features clearly displayed. Ron's vibrant red hair was not contained at all. It had a slightly windblown look to it that completed his violently orange Chudley Cannons costume. The Patil twins did not bother to dress too out of the ordinary, opting for traditional Indian garb. Even Luna, who usually participated in such events with some zeal, was recognizable under her odd silvery veil and…unique headdress.

Draco spotted his old Slytherin gang and scoffed. Each was wearing a long black robe, their hoods covering their entire faces. 'Death Eaters,' he sneered. 'How completely original…'

Then, appearing from seemingly out of nowhere, came beauty incarnate. It was a girl Draco recognized vaguely, as if she had appeared to him once in a dream. 'Such an appearance would have resulted in an amazing dream,' he thought. He involuntarily shuddered as he checked her out.

Her hair was a mass of chocolate brown curls adorned with black jewels that sparkled in the candlelight. Her mask was simple and stunning. It covered her forehead and most of her cheekbones and was mostly white, swirled with black and silver. The wisps almost looked as if they had been stolen straight from a Pensieve and somehow transferred onto the white porcelain. Her dress…her dress was incredible. Long black gloves reached her elbows. The top was corseted, pushing her stunning breasts up and out. Like her mask, the black fabric was delicately swirled with white, accented with silver. The rest of the dress fell to the floor in a semi-full wave. She seemed to glide instead of walk.

He reluctantly tore his eyes away from her. As his gaze hopped from person to person, he discovered that all eyes were on her: women with green-eyed envy, men with not-so-subtle desire. 'No doubt they'll all want to be dancing with her at midnight,' Draco thought. Like a traditional masquerade ball, dance partners were required to reveal their identities at midnight. 'Too bad she's going to be in my arms when the time comes.' He smirked and sidled out of the passage and into the crowd.

He weaved his way in and out of the punch-sipping students and towards the goddess who had just graced them with her presence. He observed her for a while first, watching her delicately flirt with the large group of guys surrounding her.

'She looks like a professional,' Draco thought as he watched her interact. 'Maintaining eye contact, laughing at their stupid jokes…' He saw her elegantly gloved hand alight on the lower arm of one of the boys she was talking to. 'And initiating physical contact,' he thought, impressed. 'She's good,' he smirked. 'Too bad I'm better.'

Music started to play and almost simultaneously, the group surrounding her moved two steps closer, no doubt asking her to dance. Draco saw her shake her head and smile coyly, as if saying, 'If you want to dance with me, you're going to have to work for it.'

The unworthy left and now a group of about five remained, asking, no, begging her. She shook her head no once more and two more boys left. Then something happened that made Draco jump. One of the guys put his hand around her waist and pulled her close against him, subtly grinding his hips into hers. Control of the situation quickly shifted. She looked a little frightened and put her hands up against his chest, pushing herself away. But the boy was insistent. She discreetly struggled her way from his grasp and stepped back as he approached once more. He attempted to seize her again. He would have succeeded if Draco had not then captured the girl's elbow in his gentle fingers.

"There you are. I was looking all over for you," Draco said in deep voice that was still loud enough to be heard by all the other guys. The girl's eyes looked up at him in fear, an expression with which he was somehow intimately familiar. She was about to say something when Draco cut her off.

"You promised me a dance," he said seductively, stroking her elbow with a long finger and smiling. While his face was the portrait of charm, his eyes conveyed his true purpose. 'Come with me,' they said. 'Come with me and don't ask questions.'

By some sort of miracle, his ocular communication worked. Her eyes lost their frightened quality and something flashed through them that made Draco's breath catch in his chest: recognition. It disappeared quickly, so fast that he may have imagined seeing it in the first place, and she nodded imperceptibly in understanding. Her hesitation vanished and she smiled radiantly. "I'd love to."

That was all Draco needed to hear. He placed his hand on her lower back and looked back at the annoyed group of boys left standing in their place, smirking devilishly and earning glares from all. He chuckled quietly, earning a curious look from his dance partner. To the middle of the floor he steered her. Settling one hand on her waist, he began to lead her.

"Thank you for that," she said, flashing that same radiant smile, making his heart jump.

He played it cool. "You needed help. What was I supposed to do? Besides, you look amazing tonight."

She blushed and bit her lip in charming embarrassment. "Thank you," she said.

The rest of the dance was spent in silence. When another song started, the girl was snatched from his arms by one of the boys surrounding her. Draco was about to say that she would not dance with him when he felt her hand on his arm.

"Thank you, but I can take it from here."

Draco nodded silently and walked off the dance floor. He grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice (which tasted like it had been heavily spiked with Firewhiskey) and silently studied her. Jealousy filled him as she glided around the dance floor in another man's arms. He nearly screamed when he saw Ron clumsily steer her around the floor. Two dances later, he cut in, smirking as he took her from Ron's gangly grasp. They danced under Ron's angry stare for a minute, but neither noticed.

"Back again?" she teased with a coquettish smile.

"Nothing could keep me away," Draco said smoothly. He placed his hand lower on her back and pulled her in slightly. He suppressed a shudder as he felt her body heat mingle tentatively with his. Unbidden, scenes from a fantasy exploded into his mind, making his stomach drop uncomfortably again for the second time that evening.

A delicately embarrassed silence came between the two, so the girl spoke up. "I debated even coming to this," she admitted.

"Me too," Draco said, for he truly had battled with the decision all week. "But I decided yes in the end. The point of a masquerade is anonymity after all, isn't it?"

Her brown eyes lit up and she smiled. "Exactly," she said happily. "Not knowing who you're dancing with heightens the experience dramatically."

"Indeed it does," Draco replied. "Imagine a Slytherin and a Gryffindor dancing together and not even knowing!" He laughed quietly, not noticing her slightly uncomfortable chuckle. "But at midnight that will all change," Draco said as a not-so-subtle reminder. "We'll all remove our masks and then there will be no more secrets."

"And what if you find that your partner is not to your satisfaction?" she questioned carefully.

"Well, since that partner is going to be you, I'm sure I won't be disappointed."

She narrowed her eyes and grinned playfully. "So confident," she observed. "How do you know I'll consent to dance with you, or that I'll even still be here at midnight?"

"I don't," he admitted. "But I know that if you are, you'll dance with me," he said, giving her a twirl.

"And why is that?"

"My dashing good looks, disarming charm, and impeccable dance moves." He dipped her low and brought her back up slowly, gracefully. He silently thanked his mother for those dreadful ballroom dancing lessons.

She laughed beautifully, earning a genuine smile from him. The song ended with a flourish and Draco saw another guy approaching out of the corner of his eye.

"Why don't we get something to drink?" he suggested. She nodded and together they walked off the dance floor, leaving in their wake a downtrodden-looking boy, his hand outstretched towards her.

'Amateur,' Draco thought while serving his dance partner a glass of spiked pumpkin juice. They sat down together at a table and watched the other dancers in silence. Draco could not help but to compare her with all the other girls in the room. There was no contest – she was definitely the most stunning. And she was with him. It was quite the ego boost.

Draco sighed and peeked at her from the corner of his eye. 'She's familiar for some reason,' he thought absently. She sipped her pumpkin juice slowly, furrowing her brow at the unfamiliar taste of alcohol, and placed the cup delicately, discreetly, onto the table. The gesture had a restrained kind of charm to it; with each moment, Draco wanted to know her more. 'Until midnight, I suppose.'

He asked her to another dance, to which she readily agreed. The waltzes, however, were finished for the evening. In their place were fast-paced songs with hard beats, specifically designed for swaying hips and grinding bodies. The floor was packed as Draco and his mystery woman worked their way to the middle of the crowd.

'Now is the time to make my move,' he thought and smiled mischievously. She was already close, but with his hands on her hips he pulled her closer. He moved his hips with hers, into hers, letting the music guide his body. Luckily for him, she had good rhythm and moved perfectly in sync.

Sweat soon dripped down Draco's back and the girl's face was glistening sexily in the faintly-lit room. His hands were on her hips, shoulders, neck…anywhere that they could be. Her hands seemed to follow much of the same trend, to Draco's obvious pleasure. He snuck a glance at the clock.

'Twenty to midnight,' he thought. He stopped the rhythm, making her open her eyes. He took her by the hand and wove her out through the crowd.

She took a deep breath once she was released from the mob's clutches. "It's hot in there," she said fanning herself. Draco nodded in agreement.

"Do you want to go outside where we can cool off?" He was trying not to smile like a maniac, but with the way things were going…It was too perfect.

She smiled, knowing exactly to what activities such a secluded location would lead. "Sure."

Draco's heart nearly flew.

Suddenly, a thunderous crack shook the walls of the Great Hall. Something shattered and people started to scream. A ferocious gust of warm wind came from behind, knocking Draco and the girl onto their stomachs. Draco rolled himself atop her protectively and hissed as a shard of glass cut through his shirt, slicing into the skin of his back. He could feel warm blood seep across the wound as he scrambled to his feet.

"Come on," he yelled, grasping her hand. He looked back and immediately wished he had not, for what he saw made his blood run cold.

The Slytherin group who had come dressed as Death Eaters had cast the Dark Mark within the Great Hall. They stood triumphantly upon the tables, casting Stunning Spells and countless other jinxes into the confused fray. The Great Hall was a disaster area. Masks and dates were abandoned as students scrambled for their dormitories.

'I've got to do something,' Draco thought. He turned to the woman at his side. In one smooth motion, he captured her face in his hands and placed his lips upon hers. Time slowed for a moment and the confusion dissipated. In the short time that they kissed, the world disappeared. Draco's very soul soared.

He broke their embrace. "Go!" he demanded. Her brown eyes opened blearily and she looked confused. "Go now, before you get hurt!"

"What about you? Your back – it's bleeding!"

"I'll be fine. Quickly, leave!"

He kissed her fiercely once more then shoved her away. Only once Draco was sure she was safe did he turn back towards the confusion. Without a thought, he launched himself against the crowd, intent on destroying the Slytherins if he was fortunate enough to reach them.