Story: New Events

Author: LadyLissaLight

Summary: "The Tri-wizard Tournament is to be held again" - "I could get any girl." "Even Granger?" "Yep." "I dare you to seduce her." "Done." - "Hermione, who are you going to the ball with?" "... Draco Malfoy." "WHAT?" Please read!

Hermione's nails had been shorn down to bumpy little nothings by the time an hour had passed. She was sitting with Blanche, Ron and Anthony in the stands, Draco's letter burning a hole in her pocket. She was still confused about that, yes, but his safety was more important. She hated him, yes, but she loved him more. She'd seen Blaise over the other side of the stands earlier, and had had to resist the urge to go over and sit with him. That was their 'thing' after all; sitting together and worrying about Draco. But, she reminded herself, she was angry at Blaise too. It had been his idea for the bet that had caused Draco to even go near Hermione.

She was dragged from her thoughts by the screaming of the crowd, which had suddenly erupted around her. She glanced up, heart beating frantically, and saw Draco standing on the edge of the forbidden forest, holding the Triwizard cup, looking victorious.

She gasped and rose in her seat as everyone cheered and Madame Maxime, Dumbledore and Krum made their way over to Draco. Ludo Bagman was screaming something in his heightened voice, but, as with the first task, the rush of adrenaline at seeing Draco safe drowned out his voice and she was momentarily deafened. She stared at him, his blonde hair was mussed and in his hand he carried what looked like a couple of limp purple flowers, but other than that, he seemed perfectly fine. His eyes scanned the crowd, obviously looking for something or someone. Blaise, maybe, she thought, before his eyes suddenly met hers.

They stared at each other. Hermione, in that moment, had no idea how she felt or what to do. The silver of his eyes bored into the brown of her own and her heartbeat seemed to increase. Furious with herself, she broke his gaze, turning away, only to have her eyes lock with someone else's darker gaze.

"Blaise," she gasped, as she saw him standing next to her seat. Blanche, on the other side of Hermione, rose, glaring at the Slytherin.

"Do you want me to send zis boy away?" she asked Hermione, not moving her freezing gaze from Blaise.

Hermione considered it as Blaise continued to look at her calmly. "No, it's alright, Blanche," she decided eventually.

Blaise's expression turned surprised. Blanche gave him another icy look before sitting back in her seat.

"Hey," the dark Slytherin said uncomfortably.

"Hi," she muttered nervously.

"So, er, Drake won…" she'd never seen Blaise look so un-Slytherin.

"Why are you here?" she asked pointedly.

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Are you?" she doubted him, folding her arms.

"Yes… I never meant to hurt you, Hermione. Well, I did, but…"

"Not once you actually knew me." She snorted. "Right. You Slytherins are all the same."

Blaise was about to reply when people around them began to rise and forward out of the stands. Edging around a group of giggling girls, Hermione continued, "You'd do it again in my opinion, Blaise. You don't really care."

He stared at her, "Fine, Hermione. If that's what you want to think of me, go ahead. But you should stop punishing Draco. Blame me entirely."

"I can't blame you, Blaise," she relented with a sigh, her anger vanishing. "Because of your stupid little dare, I fell in love with Draco."

"Well then maybe you should remember that if you love him, you'll forgive him."

XXXXXX

Hermione was sitting in her room, a nervous wreck. There was a formal presentation that night where Draco would be presented with his winnings and awarded the official title of Triwizard Champion. The next day they'd return to Hogwarts. Everything Draco had said on his letter had been true, back at Hogwarts she'd be the Gryffindor Princess and he'd be the Slytherin bad boy. Any connection that they'd had would disappear.

This was the end of anything that they could have been.

Hermione stared glumly at her reflection, all of a sudden wishing she'd never found out about the stupid bet, and that she and Draco had gotten together and just made the rest of Hogwarts accept it.

She left the dressing table where she'd done her hair and makeup, her tresses now done up in a sweep of curls over her right shoulder, and her lids painted a light peach, with her lips a soft pink, and went into the closet to select the dress she'd wear that night.

At first, Hermione spotted a red dress that was very Gryffindor, and certainly attractive, but her eyes were drawn to an emerald green dress hanging in the back corner. It would be risky, wearing that colour in front of not only her friends, but Draco and Blaise. Something inside her told her that to take a risk now was the best thing she could do, so without another thought, she slid the dress off the hanger.

She donned the dress before turning and fixing herself up in the mirror, and checking her appearance. The dress felt wonderful against her skin, it was soft and silky and clung to her body until the waist, where it flared out ever so slightly till it hit the ground, and had a deep V neckline. When she examined herself, she felt beautiful.

There was a knock on the door just as she finished getting ready, and Anthony's voice called through the door, "What are you wearing, Hermione?"

She strode out of the closet and opened her bedroom door, feeling rather nervous about Anthony's reaction. Upon seeing her, Anthony's eyebrows shot up and a grin appeared on his face.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I think that's the happiest you've looked in a while, so you look beautiful," he told her, still grinning. "Let's go, Hermione." He offered her his arm and she took it.

They left the head dorms and made their way to the dining hall, chatting about how it was their last night. Hermione was about to complain that she didn't think all her new clothes were going to fit inside her suitcase, when Anthony gave her the tiniest nudge. She glanced around and saw Draco standing near the dining hall doors, staring openly at her.

"You know," Anthony murmured, "I've heard nothing about him going back to his womanising ways… I guess he still has feelings for a certain someone."

She glared at him before gracefully pushing him through the doors of the hall, avoiding Draco's eyes.

XXXXXX

He'd won, yes, but that wasn't important. What was important was that his Hermione was wearing Slytherin green and she'd never looked more delicious, or gorgeous.

But she'd been walking with Goldstein, as usual, her arm even linked with his. The jealousy he often felt when thinking of her with other men arose and he glared at the Ravenclaw's back.

XXXXXX

The ceremony took place; Draco was presented a thousand galleons. What shocked her, though, and everyone else in the room, was his speech.

"I'll be donating every galleon of my winnings to S.P.E.W, or the society for the promotion of elfish welfare, run by Hogwarts Head Girl Hermione Granger. House elf rights are very important in this day and age, and are an issue I feel most strongly about. Miss Granger has inspired me to finally do something about the lack of rights that these creatures have. Thankyou."

Everyone who knew her stared at Hermione. She blushed, why had Draco done that? Ron was staring at her accusingly. Burying her head in her dinner, she avoided joining in with the conversation around her and ate her meal quietly.

After dinner came the dancing. Hermione had to admit, that part was fun. Having Anthony whirl her around in dramatic moves and Ron do silly, childish, fun dances with her and even having Herbert formally dance with her, made her night so much more enjoyable.

But it was nearing the end of the night, when she was tired and dancing less buoyantly with Anthony, that there came a tap on her shoulder and she turned to see Draco.

She drew in a sharp breath, and Anthony squeezed her waist briefly before letting her go, his eyes asking her if this was what she wanted. She nodded slightly, and he stood aside as Draco stepped towards her.

His arms slid around her, holding her completely formally. There was no implication of anything more between them than was shown, yet his arms felt unnaturally good and the places where his hands touched grew warm. She opened her mouth to say something about his house elf speech, but he cut her off.

"Are you trying to tease me?" he murmured in her ear, sending goosebumps down her spine.

"No," she whispered back.

"You're wearing my necklace, and that dress on you… in that colour… so tempting… you're trying to undo me." His voice was husky and she shivered in delight at it, missing him.

"Excuse me if I happen to find this colour attractive," she retorted, her voice slightly uneven . His smirk suddenly appeared and she realised what she'd said could have rather flirtatious connotations.

"Maybe the colour finds you attractive too," he breathed in her ear, and his thumb began to draw circles on her waist.

She stifled a gasp at the suddenly intimate contact, and his words. "You're too forward," she muttered.

"Surely I don't have to worry about that with you," he replied easily.

She stifled a smile, before she realised what was happening. She was falling back into their old ways much too quickly.

"We aren't friends." It was to remind her as much as him.

His eyes flashed a brief, glorious silver before he nodded curtly. "We aren't." He seemed to hesitate. "Will you walk with me?"

She paused, knowing it was a terrible idea. "Yes," she decided. He offered her his arm and they left the hall together.

Outside, they stood among the flowers and trees that lead to the lake, and Hermione saw Draco's expression soften and fill with previously hidden emotion.

"You got my letter?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"What did you think?"

She studied the ground at her feet before replying. "I'm not sure."

He took her hands. "Hermione, look at me." The note of desperation in his voice caused her to look up into his face. "Tonight is the last night I'll ever have the chance to be with you properly. So, really, this is the last and only chance to tell you properly. Hermione Granger, I love you, and I think I will forever." His eyes blazed as he said it, and Hermione felt as if her whole world had been lit up.

She felt weak, yet stronger than ever before, and she responded, knowing she held no anger towards him anymore, "and I love you, Draco. Forever." Her voice had died to a whisper, but he still caught it.

In one moment, his arms swooped around her and his lips were on hers in a kiss that was different from any they'd shared, for it was both glorious and sad. A realisation and a goodbye.

Then they broke apart, and when Hermione opened her eyes, Draco was gone.

XXXXXX

"I will miss you so much, 'Ermione." Blanche sniffed tearfully as she hugged the English girl.

Hermione, for her part, felt tears spring into her eyes at leaving behind her best friend. "Me too," she said, her voice croaky.

Blanche then turned to Ron, who was pale and sallow looking. Words seemed to fail both of them, and they embraced, tears now falling freely from Blanche's eyes.

Hermione felt an ache of sadness for the couple. Although it would only be just over a month before Blanche came to England to visit them, Hermione knew that the Veela bond was so strong that it would seem an eternity for Blanche and Ron.

She turned away, giving them some privacy, and happened to glance across the grassy area to see Draco and Blaise chatting quietly together, their bags at their feet. Feeling a rush of overpowering loss at the sight of Draco, she turned back to Blanche, giving her a last hug and promising to write, before she was confronted by Herbert.

"'Ermione," he purred. "I know zat our relationship was only just beginning, but I do 'ope zat you will keep in touch." He kissed the corner of her mouth before strutting back towards the castle.

Hermione wrinkled her nose, and quickly looked over at where Draco and Blaise were standing. Draco was staring at her, and upon meeting his eyes, she shook her head. Then her heart sank as he slowly looked away. She knew what he was telling her; it didn't matter if she started something with Herbert, because the two of them couldn't be together.

Soon enough, the crowd spotted the huge dragon swooping down from the sky, Charlie Weasley on its back, and then it was time to say the final goodbyes.

Nearly 15 minutes later they were airborne, and as Beauxbatons faded into the distance, so did Draco and Hermione's chance.

A/N So – after a few phone calls and many angry words on my behalf, the taxi company gave me my phone back, and to thank you all for being so kind and all reviewing and telling me you hoped I got it back, I'm publishing this!

In my opinion, it's honestly not a very good chapter. I'm not very happy with it, but I'm honestly too tired to change anything that will affect the future chapters that have already been written.

And I know I said at the beginning, or round abouts, of the story, that Blanche was Persephone's younger sister. Well, I'm changing that, they're now twins, because I need Blanche to be their age.

Please review, even though this was a sucky chapter.

Lissa