They RSVP'd. Of course they did. He didn't know why he would have expected any different.
The day of the Christmas Ball dawned with a sense of dread. Despite having sent the invitations in the first place, Draco couldn't help but worry. He didn't expect his classmates to come with ill intentions, but trouble just seemed to follow Potter around. Besides that, all the Ball invitations had plus ones, and he couldn't possibly predict who they'd all bring along with them.
That wasn't his only concern. Besides Hogwarts, no one knew what had happened to Hermione Granger. For all intents and purposes, she was still a student at Hogwarts, hidden from the public eye. There weren't reporters allowed at the Malfoy Christmas Ball, but one or two always managed to slide in under the pretense of invitation, or on the arm of some guest or the other. Moreover, all the highest of society would certainly be talking about the little child by his side the entire night. And worse…if she stood up and announced to someone her full name…
He groaned out loud and Baby Granger shot him a weird look. She had no such qualms about the Ball, and was bouncing around excitedly. "I can't wait until Harry gets here! I'm so excited!"
They got ready and spent most of the day reading in the library. A few times here and there, Narcissa would rush by in a flurry, talking to several house elves, magical caterers, designers, decorators, and entertainment managers all at once.
"She looks scary." Granger commented.
"This is her element." Draco replied.
…
In the afternoon, Draco insisted Granger went for a nap. Naturally, that meant that he actually fell asleep first. Eventually, he stirred enough to feel her crawl under the blanket with him and yawn sleepily.
When they woke up, it was to a knock at the door from an exhilarated Narcissa. It was finally time to get ready for the Ball.
All Draco had to do was put on a handsome suit and pull some designer robes over it. He shaved, styled his hair carefully, and after a quick debate with himself, pulled out his wand and whitened his teeth.
As soon as he was out of the bathroom, Granger and his mother went in. He heard her calling for house elves and shouting out spells as the door shut behind him.
Nervously, he sat at his desk. He shuffled through a couple papers Granger had written over. After a couple minutes, he looked at them closely.
Most of the words were carefully sounded out spellings of spells she'd learned. He couldn't help but smile at "Ah-she-o," so carefully lettered. Underneath that, he saw "Drayko" a couple times, and a few "Blayz" and "Hairy"'s. He supposed she'd done it out of boredom.
His hypothesis was proven correct when the next page he found was a story.
"Once upon a time, there was a princess named Dafny. She was also a wizard. She lived in a tower called Hogwarts. She did lots of magic with spells like Ahsheo which she used to get stuff. One day, she met Blayz and Drayko who also lived in a tower called Hogwarts 2. They became friends and then met Hairy and Ron and became best friends together. One day they fought a dragon and won. The end."
The grammar and spelling were as accurate as a five-year-old could be, but he recognized some of the plot from one of the books she was reading. He supposed she must have written the story while he was sleeping or otherwise occupied.
Draco shot up. If he'd been sleeping, then he certainly would have felt her get out of the bed. The only time he could think of that she could have been at the desk was when he was floo calling with Daphne. He'd had to end the call when she'd wandered up to him, so he hadn't given a thought to where she had come from. At the most, she should've been on the bed. But if she'd been at the desk while he was at the fireplace…
That was more than twenty feet.
Could it be? They'd never tested the magnetic attraction between them after she'd de-aged. At first, he'd been too humiliated to even consider it. His gut had said nothing had changed, and he wasn't ready to challenge it. After time, however, he simply thought it would be too difficult to explain to her. He certainly hadn't been in the mood to enlighten her about the whole situation.
He thought about moving further away now, but if she flew at him while his mother still had her in the bath – he didn't think that would go over very well.
At the sound of giggling from the bathroom, Draco sat back down. He couldn't test out his outrageous theory without backlash from someone, and he certainly couldn't do it at the Ball.
Draco closed his eyes and sighed.
"Draco, dear, are you ready?" His mother called from the bathroom.
Draco shook his head and sat forward. He'd just forget about it for now, just try to enjoy the night.
"Dazzle me, Granger." He drawled dryly.
And out came Baby Granger.
She looked like an angel. Literally – his mother had commissioned a white dress, with a shimmery skirt that fell to her knees. In white tights and pretty little silver slippers, she looked a vision. His mother had cleaned her up well, washing away all the dirt that accumulated when a five-year-old bathed herself every day without supervision, and had managed to smooth out her hair. She'd pushed it back with a white band, leaving lovely banana curls down the back. The most wondrous thing of all the costume, however, was the halo above Baby Granger's head. It glowed softly, a golden ring of awe that would melt anyone's heart.
She was what it would have looked like if Narcissa Malfoy had had a daughter. "Mother, it looks great." Draco said hurriedly. "But…don't you think…I mean…it's very white. What if she spills food or a drink?"
"Draco," Baby Granger herself impatiently answered. "That's what we have magic for."
Narcissa nodded proudly, and Draco began to regret coming home for the holidays.