1994 – Fourth Year
Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room, eyes transfixed on the crackling fire, contemplating how she was going to tell Draco about her date to the Yule Ball. Completely switched off to everything around her, she had almost missed Harry taking a seat beside her. Her eyes flickered between Ginny and Harry and she immediately picked up on the bad vibes, however unbale to pin point exactly who or where they were coming from.
"Did she laugh?" Ron asked, only then did Hermione realise he was sat close by too. She gave her head a slight shake and focused her attention entirely on her friends in attempts to understand the situation happening around her.
Harry shook his head, moving his eyes to stare at the same spot Hermione had been lost in for hours. Ron sat back in his chair and crossed his hands, his eyes never leaving his friends hurt face. Ginny, on the other hand, glared at Harry without a single world leaving her mouth. With her friends emotions being plastered so clearly on their faces, it didn't take much more for Hermione to figure out that Harry has had asked someone to the Yule Ball, that someone wasn't Ginny, and that same person had said no.
"She's going with Cedric, and that's that." Harry said before he sighed in defeat and fell back into the sofa. Ginny stood up with a huff and walked quickly towards the girls dormitory, her cheeks red and her eyes damp, although only Hermione spotted this.
"So, what're you going to do now?" Hermione asked, she had thought to enquire as to who the person was that Harry had asked, when she remembered she had over heard Cedric talking with his friends about asking Cho Chang to the dance, she realised he must've beaten Harry to it.
"Not go?" Harry questioned, hopeful that his friends would tell him that outcome would be acceptable, but even he knew with the position he was in, nonattendance was not an option.
"I can't believe its this close to the ball and none of us have a date." Ron groaned, his fingers moving up to his temples where he began to massage them, as though their predicament was important enough to cause a headache.
"Erm…" Hermione opened her mouth to tell her friends that she had in fact, already secured herself a date to the Yule Ball, when Ron looked at her over his hands, his green eyes wide as they locked onto hers, she panicked and closed her mouth again.
She struggled with the idea of telling Ron and Harry, mostly because she was pretty confident she knew how they were going to react. Ron would begin calling her a traitor and see it as her fraternising with the enemy, Harry would lecture her on how it was likely all a rouse as Hermione's blood status isn't something the likes of Victor Krum would have an issue with, evidently not.
She sighed to herself and stood up, gaining neither a look from Harry or Ron before she headed towards the dorms after Ginny. With every step she took she weighed up the consequences of telling Draco before the ball or just letting him find out on the night, no matter how appealing staying silent sounded, she knew she had to tell him, sooner rather than later, perhaps that night.
The second she pushed open the door to the dorm room, Hermione heard the familiar sniffles of her best friend. Opening the door further, she spotted the youngest Weasley curled up on her bed, her face was red and puffy as he hair fell forward, covering her face slightly. Her arms were wrapped around a pillow that she hugged even tighter as her eyes looked up to Hermione walking into the room.
Hermione gave her a small smile as she took off her cloak and kicked off her shoes before climbing into Ginny's bed to sit beside her. She wrapped an arm around her friend and pulled her closer, pulling her hair away from her face as the long ginger locks stuck to her tear sodden cheeks. Ginny cried harder as she felt Hermione's arms wrap around her before she fell completely into Hermione's lap, wresting her head on the pillow she had drenched with her tears.
Finally Ginny had managed to stop crying, her breathing had become normal once more and just a few stray tears remained as she focussed on Hermione stroking her hair away from her face. With a slight shift in her position, Ginny moved herself on Hermione's lap so that she could now see her face.
Hermione, completely oblivious, hadn't realised her friends' movements beneath her as her eyes remined glued on the window looking out onto the quidditch pitch. Seeing the quidditch grounds had caused herm mind to wonder back to her current issue between her professional and non professional quidditch players. Everything, it seamed, could always cause her to find her way back to thinking about Draco.
"Mione." Ginny said, causing her friend to jump slightly when she realised Ginny had moved and she was no longer stroking her hair and instead was stroking her face, nearly poking her in the eye.
"Sorry! I hadn't realised you'd moved. How're you feeling?"
"I'm fine." Ginny lied, "How did you know?"
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused as she looked down at her friend who was now comfortably sprawled out across the bed, her head still remining in Hermione's lap.
"How did you know I would be upset? Do you even know what I'm upset about?"
"Ginny, you're one of my best friends. I knew you were upset the second I realised what they were talking about."
Ginny said nothing in response, she nodded and lifted her hands to her stomach were she began to pick at her nail beds, a sign Hermione knew meant she was still upset and likely over thinking.
"Boy's can be very naive, oblivious even… in fact, they can be outright stupid to what is going on around them. I wouldn't take it personally Gin, I think perhaps he just doesn't realise what's in front of him."
"Do you think he will ever realise?"
"Of course! He might need a little more than a subtle hint though, he isn't the brightest when it comes to this kind of thing. Maybe he thinks you had a crush when you were younger and that's it, that's all it ever was, just a crush."
"It's a little more than that."
"I know that Gin, but he might not. Have you considered speaking to him about it?"
"No… absolutely not."
"Then until you do that, maybe don't beat yourself up about him not asking you to something like this?"
Ginny nodded and sat up, for a moment she left her back to Hermione before she moved to the end of the bed to face her once more. She wiped away any remaining tears from her face and tucked her hair behind her ears before taking in a deep breath and focusing on Hermione, desperate for the subject to change.
"So, who are you going with?" She asked, a small smirk danced across her lips and Hermione's cheeks flamed at the question.
"If I tell you, d'you promise not to tell anyone?"
"Ouch, the fact that you even have to say that!" Ginny pretended to be shocked and wounded before she held out her hand in a closed fist towards before Hermione, her little finger sticking out, waiting for her to react.
Hermione smiled her friend and her Muggle gesture before she raised her hand and met Ginny's little finger with her own to complete the 'Pinky Promise', something Hermione had taught her when they were 11/12 years old and Ginny had first told her about her crush on Harry.
"Victor Krum." Hermione said quickly before she hid her face behind her hands, flitching slightly at the gasp that shot out of Ginny's mouth and immediately felt the bed shift beneath her as Ginny jumped from it and onto the floor.
"You let me moan and wine for over an hour, babble on about silly Potter, whilst you sat on news that you're going to the ball, with VICTOR KURM!?"
"Hey! You needed me, I was just being there for you!" Hermione wined in her defence.
"Yes, and thank you," Ginny said in a much softer voice as she lifted her hands to her chest and held them there for a split second as she smiled sweetly at Hermione, before quickly switching to being excitably outraged once more.
"This is Krum though Hermione! This is HUGE news! Have you told anyone else?" Ginny asked as she paced the room.
"No, you're the first person I've told, and probably the last. I was thinking of just letting the rest find out on the night."
"Oft, you sure about that? What if someone else asks you?"
"Nobody else is going to ask me." Hermione shook her head and laughed, causing Ginny to scowl and move back onto the end of the bed.
"You don't know that. You could get asked and then what, are you just going to say I'm going with someone else?"
"Pretty much." Hermione shrugged, hoping that answer was good enough, apparently is was as Ginny nodded and continued to stare at her as she processed the news a little more.
"So go on, how did it happen, how did he ask? Tell me everything."
"There isn't much to tell," Hermione answered, gaining a disapproving look from her friend, she knew Ginny wouldn't be satisfied until she knew every detail as though she was there and lived it.
"It was after the tournament. He came and found me, told me he'd made a promise to himself that if he made it through the task, he was going to ask me to the ball. So he did, and I sort of just said yes I'll go with him. He smiled at me and nodded before running off to join his friends in the celebrations."
"Wait a minute… after the tournament? But that was nearly a month ago!" Hermione nodded at her with a look of embarrassment, "You've been sat on this for nearly a month, I can't believe it."
"I was trying to find the right time to tell you, it hasn't really sunk in for me yet. I've been more concerned about other people finding out and how I'm going to tell him."
"Him?"
"Them." Hermione said quickly as Ginny smirked at her, clearly not believing her correction and focusing only on what had been originally said, continuing their mutual understanding on not questioning it any further.
"My best friend it going to the Yule Ball with non-other than Victor Krum. I cannot wait to see the look on everyone's face." Ginny said through a grin.
Hermione smiled and averted her eyes from her friend, she wasn't as keen to see the look on everyone's face, the most she thought about it, the more appealing the idea of pretending to be ill became.
"Have you decided what you're wearing yet?"
"Not yet, I was thinking of heading to Hogsmead tomorrow."
"Its in 4 days! Honestly woman, you're a nightmare!" Ginny joked, throwing a cushion at her.
Hermione smiled and picked up the cushion from the floor, as she sat back she jumped slightly as she felt the heat from her necklace against her chest.
"You feeling better now?"
"Yes of course, why?" Ginny asked.
"Just thought I'd check. I'm going to go for a walk." Hermione said as she pulled her cloak around her more and started fixing her hair.
"Mhmm, sure. You enjoy your walk and I'll see you in the morning, bright and early for our shopping trip." Ginny smirked as she climbed back into bed.
Hermione rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself before grabbing her wand and heading towards the door. It should have been easy, she should've been able to openly say where she was going and who she was going to be with, one day, she told herself, one day she would.
~X~
Draco sat sprawled out across the window seat, one leg crossed over the other, his shoes and robe discarded along the way to the seat, his tie remained lose around his neck and his hair ruffled with a few stray pieced falling down across his forehead.
He held a book in his left hand, his thumb propping open the page he had grown too distracted in his own thoughts to continue reading, whilst his right elbow rested against the window, his thumb just below his chin with his finger stretched up along the length of his face whilst his middle finger rested just below his nose above his top lip.
He sighed deeply to himself before he turned towards the doorway, dropping his hand away from his face before he spotted Hermione stood at the entrance, leaning against the wall as she looked at him.
"How long have you been there?" He asked, the sound of his soft voice travelled slowly to Hermione's ears and caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.
"Long enough. Was just admiring the view." She smiled at the blush that danced across his cheeks.
Draco stretched his arm out, gesturing her to move towards him. She pushed herself off the wall and took off her cloak, kicking off her shoes for the second time that evening before she climbed over him and tucked herself up into his side.
"What're you reading?" She asked as she pointed at the book in his lap, Draco picked it up quickly and discarded it beside them.
"Nothing interesting." He said before shifting himself, pulling Hermione closer towards him as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Ok, well you haven't read to me in a while, so tell me a story."
Draco pondered over her words, scattering around inside his head for a story that would entertain her, something she hadn't heard of before, when he remembered he had something he needed to talk to her about, so he decided to improvise.
"Ok. There was this boy, he grew up in a pretty shitty household. His father was one of those arrogant men that thought he was right about everything and anyone who disagreed with him was wrong, there were no opinions as far as he was concerned, it was either his way or the wrong way. His mother was one of these high society women that lived for her image and everything she did was to secure their families status."
Hermione chuckled as she heard him talk about his parents, curious as to where he was going with his story and why he had chosen to talk about himself of all things.
"They were the sort of people that planned out their children's whole lives even before they were born, so after a difficult time, when they were finally blessed with the best child they could ever ask for, they had already mapped out his future between them."
"The best child they could ever ask for?"
"Shh, you'll ruin the story." Draco pressed the tips of his fingers into her ribs slight, tickling her and causing her to squeal before she settled and mimed zipping her lips shut as he continued.
"So one of the things this boys parents had decided on was who he was going to marry in the future."
"This gets decided before you're born!?"
"If you're not going to listen to the story, I wont tell it." Hermione huffed and settled back down against his chest, fighting the urge to ask more questions before he continued.
"They had already spoken with the parents of the child they wished their boy to marry one day, both families agreeing the perks that this set up would bring to both households. However, the boy grew up with his own thoughts and his own beliefs, although it took him a long time to figure out what he wanted and how much that differed from his parents, with the help of some crazy hair know-it-all, he got there in the end."
Hermione squirmed beneath his grip, smiling greatly against his chest as she revelled in the mention in his story.
"The world this boy grew up in wasn't so forgiving to his knew outlook on life. Although he knew exactly what he wanted, it wasn't so easy to obtain. It would require a lot of fighting and a lot of uncomfortable situations, maybe even the loss of friends and family, but he knew he wanted it regardless, however he'd agreed to wait until the time was write to have that battle. The boy attended a strange school, filled with a wide variety of students, where he fell into a very judgmental crowed, a member of which belonged to the family his parents had set up the agreement of marriage before he was born. Although the boy made it very clear to this girl that they were not his intentions and it was so far from what he wanted, a small part of her still believed she had a chance." He paused for a moment, long enough for Hermione to pick up on his quickened heart beat and pick out the nerves in his voice.
"This boy had a friend, we'll call him Flame."
"Flame? Really?"
"Yes, Flame. He had a crush on this girl, who we will call Viola,"
"Draco, you're killing me with these names."
"Shush, let me continue. So Flame had a thing for Viola, always had even though he'd never admitted it. The boy could always tell."
"Does the boy have a name?"
"Scorpius."
"Scorpius?"
"I've always liked the name."
"Ok, continue."
"So, Scorpius and Flame were close friends, the kind of friends that would have each others back when needed, but would fight all the time and argue like they were brothers. Sometimes, Flame really knew how to push Scorpius' buttons, but he never let it go to far. One night, Scorpius sat with his group of friends and Flame decided he was going to take a turn at pushing said buttons and tried to imply that Scorpius was having a secret relationship with another student, one of which wasn't ready for the world to find out that such accusations were true. This was something Flame liked to tease Scorpius on quite regularly, and instead of letting it blow over him like it usually would, or even teasing him like for like and mentioning Viola's name, Scorpius instead turned to Viola and asked her to the school dance. To which she said yes…"
Hermione froze on his chest, processing his words and translating them into real time. Draco felt her stiffen beneath him, knowing she would likely hear it rapid beating against his chest so he continued.
"Scorpius didn't want to go to the dance with Viola, in fact he wanted to go to the dance with the very person Flame had just teased him about. But he knew that wasn't an option, and momentarily forgot that the one person that girl would likely be displeased with the most for Scorpius to attend with, he reacted on impulse to piss off his friend."
"Tell me," Hermione said as she rose from his chest, he was almost reluctant to loosen his grip but he knew it would make things worse. He looked at her directly in the eyes, the hurt evident as she stared at him and breathed deeply before continuing, "How far would Scorpius have gone to piss Flame off? Had there been alcohol involved, would he had kissed her to piss off his friend!?"
"What!? No! Of course not! I just panicked, I was going to have to ask someone anyway, we spoke about the fact that we were going to have to go with other people."
"Yes, and as you pointed out in your little story, she was the one person I would feel most uncomfortable with you going with! You started this little story with a tale about how you're supposed to marry this girl! She's tried to kiss you Draco, the girl likes you, and you expect me to be ok with you going to the Yule Ball with her!?"
"I know, I know. It's a really shitty thing I've done, I don't know what to do. As soon as I did it and the word yes was coming out of her mouth, I went in on myself and didn't know what else to say. It had the desired effect where Blaze is concerned but it didn't matter because I saw your face, the face you're giving me now."
"When did this happen?"
"Last Saturday."
"A week ago! You asked Pansy to the dance a week ago and you're telling me now, in the form of a story!?"
"You asked me to tell you a story, it seemed like the best way to break it to you!"
"You're insufferable Draco Malfoy!" Hermione said as she climbed over him and off the window seat, pacing the room as he sat up and rested his hands either side of his legs as the dangled over the end of the seat.
"I'm sorry Hermione, if you want, I can tell her I've changed my mind."
"No." She said as she stopped and glared at him, "You will do no such thing. I don't like the girl, I mean I really don't like the girl, but I will not be responsible for you telling someone 4 days before the dance that they have to find another date."
"I'm sorry, I knew she was the one person you didn't want me to go with, I even put myself in your shoes and thought if you stood there telling me you was going to the dance with Krum how I'd probably lose my shit."
Hermione stopped in her tracks as her heart sunk as her body turned cold. She couldn't bring herself to look over at him. Her eyes remained fixed on the floor in front of her as she began hearing her heart beating inside her ears, unaware that Draco had left his seat and had made his way over to her.
"Hermione?" He asked, in front of her now.
"Hmm?"
"I mentioned my asking Pansy to the ball was the equivalent of you saying yes to Krum and you went quiet..."
Hermione stared up at Draco through her lashes, dumbfounded and unable to respond. She watched as the colour drained from his face and his emotions turned from guilt to anger.
Draco took a step away from her and shook her head as he crossed his arms.
"When did he ask you?" His voice shook as he spoke. Hermione mumbled the answer under her breath, although too quiet for him not to hear.
She watched as his arms flew in the arms and he scoffed, walking back to the window seat and sitting down with a look of disbelief on his face.
"So, you just spent the past 20 minutes, making me feel like shit for having asked Pansy to the ball, a week ago and not having told you when you said yes to Krum almost a MONTH ago!?"
She had never, in the years she had been friends with him, heard him raise his voice to her even once. His voice grew louder as he spoke, confirming everything with himself, hearing it out loud almost helped it register better inside is head. He shook his head slightly, annoyed he'd allowed himself to get so angry as to raise his voice even a fraction to Hermione.
"I don't want you to go with him." He said, his voice lower now and uncomfortably calm.
"Draco..."
"I know, I'm just saying. I don't like it, I don't want it to happen, I'm not happy about it."
Hermione took a step forward towards him and stopped as soon and his eyes moved up towards hers. She saw the look of anger in his eyes, the argument would be far from over if she stayed the night with him. She didn't want to leave on such an unhappy note, but she knew her jealousy over his decision to ask Pansy combined with her acceptance to Victors proposal and his annoyance in the situation would mean they'd be in for a long night of uncomfortableness and passive aggressions.
With a heavy sigh she walked towards her shoes and slipped them onto her feet, when she reached for her cloak she knew from his silence he felt this was there right decision too.
"I'm sorry, just as I imagine you are too. We both agreed we wouldn't get angry when it came to the inevitably of us attending the dance with someone else, but it seems it was harder to achieve than we thought."
Draco scoffed as he continued to look down at his feet before speaking once more, his eye brow raised as he glanced at her.
"Would you have told me? Or would you have waited till we got to the dance, after giving me such a hard time over going with Pansy?"
"I would've told you before." Was all she said before heading towards the door. Something stopped her as she reached the handle, and she turned to face him quickly. He stared at her, his face showed how torn he was between needing her to leave and wanting her to stay.
She moved quickly towards him, giving him no time to react and move away from her. Her hands cupped either side of his face as she pressed her lips firmly against his. She kissed him hard, leaving no room for thought, allowing no time to think about how angry they were with one another as she felt him kiss her back. As quickly as she moved to kiss him, she'd moved away from him and left the room without a second glance back.
Draco remained seated as he stared at the doorway he'd just watched Hermione leave from. His lips tingled from the kiss they had just shared and his had moved towards his face, his finger tips brushed across his lips as he hung onto the memory of the kiss for a while longer before his mind wandered back to the imagine of Hermione walking I to the great hall, her arm looped around Victors arm as they entered the ball with one another.
With a deep groan he flung himself back on the window seat and lay with his eyes wide open at staring at the ceiling, his arms raised and his hands behind his head.
He could think of a million other ways he would want to spend all night awake in their secret room.
X
"Mione, come on! You have to be a little more enthusiastic about this!" Ginny wined as she walked around the dress store in Hogsmeade, picking up dress after dress as Hermione shook her head each time.
"I'm loosing the will here." She added, before Hermione mumbled about the feeling being mutual under her breath.
Ginny sighed and wandered off deeper into the store, leaving Hermione to look for herself. Nothing jumped out at her, nothing looked appealing, there wasn't any part of her that was enjoying the experience or wanted to dress up for the ball.
"Right, I've just found a selection of dresses, 3 to be exact, that are all hung up in the dressing room." Hermione groaned at her friend who simply waved a dismissive hand at her and continued, "you will try them on and you will choose one of them. If not for me, and not for Krum, then for whoever else it is that you want to impress."
Hermione's ear pricked at Ginny's speech, she looked over at her friend who was now smirking as she realised she had finally gotten through to her stubborn older friend.
Reluctantly, Hermione wandered over to the dressing room and entered, closing the curtain behind her. She looked up at the first dress, it was long and floaty, a deep shade of blue with sequins around the low-cut neckline. She noted that the dress didn't have straps and immediately dismissed it as an option.
Her eyes glanced over the second dress, it was much shorter that the first, however where there blue one made up for the no straps in length, the red one made up for the lack of length by having long sleeves and a neckline that stopped just above her collar bone. She considered this dress for an brief moment, although she knew it wasn't her at all, she reached out and held the material between her fingers, with that she decided to dismiss this dress also.
With a heavy sigh she looked around for the final dress, almost missing it completely when she spotted it already on the bench ready for her to try on. Hermione laughed through her nose as she realised what Ginny had done. She has hung two dresses Hermione would never go for, the complete opposite ends of everything she would hate, so that when she finally looked at the dress Ginny actually wanted her to wear, she would see it properly and love it.
Hermione stripped down to her underwear and pulled the light pink material over her body, slipping her arms through the thin fabric that made up two short sleeves. This dress was long and had a slightly low neckline, but it had a sleaves and enough light ruffles that she didn't care for neckline.
She used her wand to zip up the back of the dress before she turned and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was beautiful, there was no denying that, she almost felt offended for the dress that she was trying it on whilst her hair still remained wild and her face bore evidence of a restless night.
"Hurry up, let me see it." Ginny said impatiently from the other side of the curtain.
Hermione laughed and let her friend stew for a moment longer before she turned and pulled back the curtain. Ginny gasped before she squealed and clapped her hands excitedly.
"I love it! It looked amazing, you're so beautiful Hermione!"
She blushed as Ginnys words and looked down at the dress, fidgeting with all the ruffles. As she stared at the dress for a moment longer she decided that there was something missing but she couldn't quite put her finger on what.
"Whats the matter? Do you like it? Please tell me you like it because I don't think I can handle another-"
"I like the dress Ginny, there's just something it's missing."
"Oh... a bag maybe? Gloves?" Hermione shook her head at ever suggestion Ginny came out with before the shop owner joined the pair.
"Perhaps the colour?" The owner suggested, Hermione's eyebrows raised and nodded.
Hermione felt herself being guided towards a very large mirror towards the back of the shop, a stand positioned in front of it that she voluntarily stepped on. She watched as the owner of the shop waved her wand and the dress changed from various different shades of pink and multi tones. Each one Hermione shook her head at.
"Do you have a colour in mind?" The shop keeper asked, growing impatient. Ginny threw her an apologetic look her she followed it with a stern one aimed at Hermione.
"Green?" She stuttered, cringing inwardly at her outburst as she spotted Ginny's eyebrows raise in the corner of her eyes.
The shop keeper nodded and waved her wand one last time before Hermione watched the dress transform into everything she had wanted it to be. Her eyes widened as she looked over the dress in the now dark green dress in the mirror, a small part of her knew she was doing this for Draco. He had promised her a dance at the end of the night and for that, she wanted to be wearing his favourite colour.
With a quick nod she stepped down and ran towards changing rooms, for the first time since she heard the rumour of the Yule Ball, she was actually excited. Something about her finding the dress made her realise that she didn't care for who Draco was going to the ball with, just that he ended the night with her.
X
The day of the Yule Ball came around quickly, Hermione watched from her seat in the great hall, all of the different group of students chattering excitably about what the night would have in store for them. She glanced around the hall and wonder with all the magic in the world, how the hall would be transformed into something worthy of such an event.
She had mentally prepared herself for the past 3 days on the fact that she was going to have to perform and opening dance with Victor and the other champions at the start of the ball, something she felt was greatly out of her depth. She had discussed with her date prior to the day of the ball and he assured her that he could dance well enough for the both of them.
She repeated his words in her hand, relax and let me take care of everything, and she planned to do exactly that. Her mind became too focused on the fact that she hadn't yet told Harry or Ron who she was going to the ball with. A day before Ron had asked her as a last resort and despite the telling off she gave him for thinking nobody would have asked her already, a small part of her felt guilty that if she had told him before hand, he wouldn't have embarrassed himself so much.
The fact still remained, they didn't know who her date was. Hermione had convinced herself that she had waited until the day of to tell them that she may as well wait until they see for themselves, a cowards way out.
How un-Gryffindor of me she thought to herself as she forced the remainder of her homemade breakfast down, her nerves churning away in protest.
"Hermione let's go and get ready!" Ginny shouted across the table to her, with a puzzled expression Hermione looked up and swallowed the last bite of her food.
"Now? But the ball isn't for about 8 hours!"
"Yes, but it's going to take at least 3 to do something with your hair," Ginny joked as she pushed herself away from the table and walked towards the exit for the great hall.
"It's Christmas, and she wants me to spend all day getting ready for a ball."
"What else are you going to do?" Harry asked her and laughed.
"Good point."
Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up from the table before she joined Ginny in their traipse back to the common room.
"Why did you really want to start getting ready so early?"
"I was getting tired of listening to Harry talk about his and Ron's dates to the Yule ball. Beside, I wasn't kidding about your hair. With a dress like yours, it can't be anything less than perfect."
Hermione shoved Ginny playfully in her shoulder before they walked through the portrait to the Gryffindor common room and headed towards their dorm room.
With a flick of her wand, Ginny had summoned light music to play around the room as she pulled out a bag from under her bed and placed it on top of her sheets, the familiar clink of potion bottles hitting off one another filled Hermione with dread.
"I'm going to get Harry to dance with me at least once tonight." She said without looking at Hermione.
"You sound determined."
"I am." She said with a faint smile before looking over at Hermione.
"Good. I believe you will do it then, maybe you'll even get two."
Ginny's eyes lit up with excitement at the idea, it warmed Hermione to see her friend so happy, even if she was concerned she may be setting herself up to fail.
The hours flew by and Hermione realised she was grateful Ginny had suggested starting to get ready so early. Her hair had taken hours to charm with countless potions to make each curl sit exactly where it needed to be. Hermione sat at the shared vanity table and stared at herself in the mirror, marvelling at the person stairing back at her.
Ginny had done her makeup to look as natural as possible, with very little colour but just enough to make her eyes pop and her cheekbones stand out. A few curls were set to fall strategically around her face as the top half of her hair was pinned up, the bottom half fell down her back in lose curls that Ginny had gather to the side and draped them over Hermione's right shoulder.
"Its time to get dressed." Ginny said cheerfully, for the first time in what felt like an hour, Hermione turned away from her own reflection and nodded as she wandered over to her bed and grabbed her dress.
"Have got a strapless bra?"
"No?" Hermione responded, confused by such a question.
"Well in that case, I suggest you don't wear one at all. When you tried the dress on I could see your straps and the one across your back kept riding up ever so slightly, so I think if you don't wear one, the dress is tight enough to support you without one. Nothings more of an outfit killer than an exposed bra." Ginny said casually as she climbed into her own dress.
Hermione nodded with a blush as she thought about not wearing a bra in public, she had never looked down at her chest and considered herself to have big breasts, but they were big enough that she would be very away in not wearing a bra.
After she pulled the dress up to her stomach, she removed the bra and threw it in the bed before pulling the dress over the rest of her body and using her wand to zip it up at the back again. Brushing down some of the stray ruffles, she turned to face Ginny.
"Oh my... you look absolutely amazing!" Ginny squealed.
"You look beautiful Ginny,"
"Shut up, I already know this, this is about you and how bloody amazing you look. Whoever this mystery person is you won't tell me about is going to die when they see you looking like this, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone else's date had the same reaction tonight. You're going to piss off a lot of girls tonight, Mione."
"Hush Ginny, you're embarrassing me. Thank you though, shall we get going?"
"Most definitely, I cannot wait for people to see you looking like this. I'm going to grab my bag and we will get going."
Hermione lifted the bottom of her dress up and clipped her wand to a strap she had placed around her thigh before neatening her dress back out again. She had already started fidgeting as her stomach flipped at the thought of people seeing her like this. Although Ginny saw it as a positive, Hermione didn't want people to look at her, she didn't want to be noticed.
Both girls stepped out of the dorm room, fashionably late as most other had left early for the ball, despite it not starting until 6 oclock. They walked through the corridors together, the sound of students getting louder as the grew closer to the hall, Hermione had switched off to Ginny's ramblings before they had even left the common rooms and she grew overwhelmed by nerves.
As they reached the final corridor leading to the stairs just outside the great hall, Hermione froze, causing Ginny to stop abruptly and throw a confused look her way.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing, I just need a minute."
"Hermione, you look amazing, stop fretting."
"Go ahead without me, I'll be there in a second, I just need a few minutes to catch my breath." Hermione told her.
Ginny nodded giving her a reassuring smile before squeezing her shoulder and turning around the corner.
Hermione let out a sharp breath and pressed herself against the harsh cold wall of the castle, the temperature bringing her crashing down to reality.
It's just a ball she told herself. With once last confident nod she pushed herself off the wall and walked with much more determination around the corner to the top of the stairs. As she slowly started to descend the stairs, she felt the room go quiet. After focusing for too long on where each foot should land and how she should walk in heals, she finally looked up and noticed almost all eyes were on her.
She felt her cheeks flame and made a mental note to thank Ginny for the numerous layers of makeup she'd added to her face, shielding the blush from being visible to everyone who was looking her way.
Eventually she reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around to find her date. Her eyes landed on Harry first, a mixture of surprise and pride splashed across his face before she moved onto Ron who looked equally surprised with a hint of red across his cheeks, looking similar to how she currently felt.
She continued to glance around the room, until she finally locked eyes with Draco. He stared at her with a powerful gaze, his eyes filled with passion as the burned into her, he jaw tensed as they travelled the length of her body before reaching her own once more. She felt her heart beat aggressively beneath her chest under his gaze, she wanted nothing more than to walk across the room to him and enter the hall with him.
All the while he watched her, she glanced over his own appearance, drinking every inch of him in. His decision to wear all black had been a good one, Hermione approved completely in his choice of robes. The thought of wearing all black had sounded like something to do at a funeral until he stood not 20 feet from her, in all black, looking more grown up and handsome than she'd ever see him.
Before she could make a decision that could change things for the both of them, her vision was blocked by a figure wearing a red dress coat. She took a Moment for her eyes to adjust to the person in front of her when she realised her date had found her before she had found him.
Smiling down at her, Victor gave her a gentle and courteous bow before holding out his arm for her to take. She smiled politely back at him before reaching for his arm and joined him in walking closely towards the entrance to the hall. As if on cue, the doors open end revealing the great hall for the first time since breakfast, glistening with Christmas decorations.
"They have really gone to great lengths on this place." Victors voice startled Hermione, as though she forgot he was there.
"Its breath-taking." She said before he stopped in the centre of the room with the other champions, turning Hermione to face him and taking her hand, pulling it upwards ready to participate in the opening dance.
"No, it's aesthetically pleasing."
"Although that sounds like you're still impressed by it, it still managed to make that sound like an insult."
"I just have a very different idea of what's I'd consider breath-taking."
"Oh really, and what might the famous Victor Krum consider to be breath-taking."
"You are, Hermione." He said before the music started and he stepped back from her to take a bow before moving back towards her and pulling her in closer than she had been before.
The whole way through the first dance, Hermione's eyes never left Victors, she didn't know how to respond to his compliment and the longer she left it, the more difficult a response became so instead she decided to focus completely on dancing with him, oblivious to the many eyes burning wholes into the backs of both of them as they spun around the dance floor.
Hours passed and the ball drew closer to an end, Hermione had danced with each of her friends aside from Ron, who refused to dance with anyone and remained seated throughout the duration of the ball with a face to match his mood.
Hermione decided to ignore Ron's negative attitude and continued to enjoy herself, although somewhat surprised at how much she had enjoyed herself. She found herself panting as she leaned against a chair in front of Harry, trying to catch her breath back after all the dancing she had done. Her eyes travelled across the room in search for Draco when she spotted him amidst a crowd of Slytherin's, with a simple nod towards the exit, Hermione gave a slight nod in response and turned to say her good byes to her friends.
"You're not leaving already are you Mione?" Fred voice tickled the side of her face as he walked closely around her before joining the group, "you haven't even given me the privilege of a dance."
"I've danced all night, I'm very tired so I do plan to leave yes."
"Just one more dance, for me?" He gave her his best impression of puppy dog eyes and her heart melted, she was used to seeing Fred so carefree and full of jokes, the second he started to get serious she was never sure how to respond.
"Just one, and then I'm going." Fred grabbed her hand quickly and lead her onto the dance floor before she had chance to change her mind.
The music had slowed down a considerable and Hermione became very aware of the kind of dance this would be. Fred moved to place his hands in the middle of her back as Hermione hesitantly placed hers on his shoulders, maintaining some distance between themselves, causing him to smirk down at her when he realised what she was doing.
"Do I make you nervous Hermione?"
"I just don't want anyone to get the wrong idea."
"By anyone, do you mean Malfoy?" His eyebrow quirked along with the corner of his lip as he watch her squirm instead of responding.
"I would've asked you y'know," He paused slightly and watched as a confused look washed over her face, "to the dance. I figured you'd use this event as a coming out ceremony, rather than live your lives in secret."
"It's not the right time."
"Will it ever be? Something tells me you'll be telling yourselves that excuse until it breaks you, until you're lying on your death bead one day thinking about what could have been."
"You sure know how to lower the mood."
"Sorry. My point was I would've asked you, I was surprised to see you with Krum tonight. It's all becoming clear to me now."
"Do tell, what is clear to you now?"
"You have a type of course. Dark wizards."
"I do not have a type for dark wizards," she laughed, swotting his arm before returning it to his shoulder, "I don't have feelings for Victor, he asked me to the dance and I said yes."
"You have a troubled soul kink Hermione, just admit it."
"Fred Weasley!"
"Hey, there's no need to be ashamed, clearly I have a thing for girls that don't want me."
Hermione's face softened at his words, all she could offer him was an apologetic smile as she squeezed his shoulders lightly.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, if you had've asked, I would've said yes."
"I think its supposed to make me feel better, but it doesn't," he said quietly before stepping away from her and bowing, he gave her one last smile before turning on his heals and leaving her alone on the dance floor.
Hermione's eyes scanned the room as she looked to her date to say farewell, after a few moments of searching and being unsuccessful she decided he must've already left without saying anything for her and she seized her opportunity to leave without being noticed.
She finally reached the other side without being stopped, once she passed through the doors to the great hall, she spotted Draco leant up against the wall at the end of the corridor, an impatient look on his face. She started to walk towards him as he pushed off the wall and turned the corner, she knew he was leading the way instead of running away. As she walked down the corridor she spotted more and more couples wandering off together between the cracks of the castle, a blush crept across her cheeks as she thought about how similar she was to them.
Her steps quickened as she realised they were heading outside, the cold December air crept up on her until she was completely surrounded by it, for the first time that night she regretted wearing short sleeves. Upon stepping outside she searched her surroundings and couldn't spot Draco anywhere, she pulled her arms up to her chest as the wind rustled and wrapped its self around her body.
With a huff of frustration she turned on her feet to head back inside when she noticed Draco leaned against the entrance, staring down at her with a serious expression on his face. Without a single word he stepped forward, walking past her whilst grabbing her hand in the process to guide her alongside him.
They eventually reached the edge of the forest, a spot Hermione recognised to be the place they had almost shared their first kiss. Draco let go of her hand as he stepped closer towards the edge of the bank overlooking the lake.
She remained silent as she looked at his back, waiting for him to speak, say his first words to her that evening. They had exchanged serval looks throughout the night, looks of jealousy between dance partners, looks of longing from across the room, towards the end of the night she glance towards the end of the night she felt her heart skip a beat when he winked her from across the dance floor.
After a moment pondering, he turned to face her. Hermione struggled to gage his expression and mood when she decided to take matters into her own hands. She slowly lifted the hem of her dress and watched as his eyes widened, she smirked herself when she stopped at the strap around her thigh and released her wand, dropping the dress to the floor. Draco caught his breath and his shoulders visibly relaxed as he watched her wave her wand in the air to form over a hundred small lights that hovered above their heads, glistening in the night sky.
"Interesting place to keep your wand." He said quietly as he started moving towards her, his own wand in his hand. With a swift flick of his wrist, a faint sound of slow music surrounded them.
Hermione smiled up at him as he stopped just a few inches before her, removing her wand from her hand and kneeling down in front of her. He very slowly started to lift the hem of her dress, all the while his eyes fixed on hers. Her chest grew tight as her breathing halted and she let him continue to ride her dress up the side of her leg, his fingers stoking the inside of her leg along the way.
Eventually his hands stopped and he placed the wand back in its holster before letting the dress fall back down around her ankles and stood before her once more, his signature smirk plastered across his face as he watch her cheeks glow in fluster.
Without another word he reached for her hands and placed them around his neck before placing his own around her hips, pulling her body closer to his before he started to move beneath the twinkling lights she had set out for them. Their bodies moved as one to the sound of the music, their eyes never parting from one another as they danced for hours before finally the slowed to a near stop and held one another in their arms.
"This was the night I wanted," Hermione was the first to break the silence.
Draco pulled away and smiled down at her with a nod.
"You look stunning Hermione, I didn't think it was any more possible for you to stun me with your beauty, but yet again you've proven me wrong."
"I like to do that."
"I'm aware." He said sternly, causing her to chuckle.
"Thank you."
"No, thank you for giving me the best ending to this night I could've asked for. Also, for providing me with a lovely mental image that will help me get through any further restless nights." He said suggestively as his eyes wandered down below her waist, hinting at her wand holster.
"Draco!" She said playfully as she shoved him, knowing the double meaning behind his crude words.
"I love the choice of colour."
"I thought you might, I chose it especially for you."
"Very brave, bold even. Considering the recent accusations, I was surprised to see you choosing Slytherin green,"
"Let them talk, let them make assumptions, only you and I know what the truth is."
Draco hummed at her before bending his face down slowly to meet her lips with a soft kiss. All the people she had danced with, the feeling of jealousy and rage of their situation as he watched her from afar all night, all of that was forgotten as they danced through the night together. He took a step back whilst pulling her arms from his shoulders and spun her around before him, he watched in marvel as her laughter filled his ears before he pulled her back into his chest and held her closely to him, a perfect way to end a not so perfect night.
AUTHOR NOTE
Hey everyone! New chapter finally, really happy people are still following this story and enjoying the content. As far as I'm aware there is no way for me to post images on this platform, so I have created an Instagram where I will display any commissioned pieces of artwork for my story! So if you want to see the most recent piece, hope on over to Daisyjanee94 to Draco and Hermione all dressed up for the ball!
Thanks again for the support!n