It's Up! Finally! I was having some computer problems last night, and it really anoyed me because this is one of my favorite chapters! Anyways, enjoy!

The Moonlight Glares

Liza Lew

Disclaimer: I don't own any of JK Rowling's wonderful world or characters.

Chapter 14

My Dear Elizabeth,

I cannot believe the news you tell me. It is fantastic that you have found Hermione a prospective fiancée even before her social debut! I shall look forward to meeting her and the young Mr. Malfoy this evening at the Parkinsons'. I have also heard that you are bringing some family friends into society this year, including, if the rumors are correct, the famous Harry Potter. I do hope he lives up to his name. And I have heard the Weasleys finally decided to let their youngest come into society, she is supposed to be most pretty, isn't she? Oh, I will be so excited to meet all these young people, and I am sure my daughter Chels will be glad to have some new acquaintances, as you know her debut is in a few weeks also. She is so refined, like a perfect model, I daresay she might be a leader of society in her time Dear, you must write me back before this evening.

Your Loving Elder Sister,

Lady Serena Copaila.

Elizabeth was very, very pleased with the results. And she even felt like this time- this time- she could beat her sister out in something. Serena, being four years older than her, already had two girls out in society, and a boy just engaged. Chels Arina, her fourth child, was debuting this year. But at this point, Chels did not have a formal beau, as Hermione did. Which meant Elizabeth was on top for once in her life. And she wouldn't be embarrassed by these young people she was introducing this evening- oh no. Hermione, naturally, was perfect, and Draco nearly so. And Mr. Potter, well, Hermione said he was a fast learner, besides, he was the Harry Potter, and the Weasley Girl was quite pretty and level-headed. The Weasley boy she was less sure about, but he was at least passable. Yes, Elizabeth would beat her sister this time. Now to go check on the girls. . .

Hermione and Ginny had been up at six that morning to start preparing for tonight's ball. Actually, Hermione had been up earlier to read. But it was at six when Mel and another maid Elizabeth had hired for Ginny came into the room with breakfast.

As Ginny and Hermione sat quietly eating eggs and toast, Mel was reading out a schedule for the day. It covered everything from waking up all the way through departing for the Parkinson's.

After breakfast the girls were thrown right into it- baths, make-up, dresses, poise, everything imaginable, including a cursory review of etiquette. Apparently, the manners of the young people in society were watched very carefully at the Opener.

At the same time, Harry, Ron and Draco were going through similar, but less long and drawn out, treatment. Most of their day consisted of one of three things: etiquette instructions, specifically aimed at Ron, Ron making faces at Draco, and Draco sneering at the two whenever no one else was in sight.

Finally, at five that evening, the boys were standing in the front entryway waiting for Hermione and Ginny to show up. After about ten minutes of waiting, there was some rustling at the top of the stairs, something that sounded like "get off my dress!" and then the two girls descended.

Harry, who had been looking at the top of the stairs from the beginning, felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw Ginny. Draco, who had been looking out the window, turned and almost fell backwards when he saw Hermione. He, however, regained his balance and usual smirk whereas Ron goggled at Hermione nonstop. Ginny smiled at Harry as she came to the bottom stair, and took his arm. Hermione sent Ron a funny look, and then reluctantly went over to Draco and took his arm.

The two couples exited, and Ron finally closed his mouth long enough to catch up and catch the door as it almost shut, sliding out after them.

You see, after the day of plucking, scrubbing and practicing, the two girls looked magnificent. Ginny's dress was a green that matched Harry's eyes and went floor length all the way around, yet with a top that had only one shoulder. Her hair was straight and red, as always, and she was slightly blushing as she came down/ Hermione's dress was a midnight blue, tightened by a large sash, and matched by arm-length gloves. Tight brown ringlets came loose from her elaborate up-do, magically held together. You could say their beauty simply had stunned the boys- and it probably was true.

The carriage ride over there was quite stunning. Many families would use portkeys, but seeing as the Lanes were in the same neighborhood as the Parkinsons, they preferred the traditional style of arriving in a horse-drawn carriage. Elizabeth and Mr. Lane were in the carriage ahead of them, and Anna and Phe were back home, as they were too young to be at the Opener. At family invitations later in the Season, they would be allowed, but not right now.

This, however, led to the five adolescents being in one carriage the entire time. Hermione, who was next to Malfoy, looked out the window the whole time. Harry and Ginny were giggling about something they were telling each other quietly, and Ron next to them was sulking.

It was twenty minutes later when they arrived in front of a magnificent mansion of grey colored columns and walls. The front wall , which contained an ornate iron gate, was right next to a half-circle driveway where guests were arriving steadily. Hermione saw her mother and Mr. Lane get out gracefully from their carriage, and then the door of their opened, and she was being led by Draco's hand safely off the carriage and into a courtyard filled with fountains, enchanted lights and beautiful flowers.

She didn't have time to admire the beauty, however, as Draco steered her up a walkway to the front door of the main house, which was wide open/ suits of armor lined either wall, and a grand staircase opened up to the ballroom down in front of them. Couples danced in synchronized bars to a waltz floating above them produced by enchanted violins. Draco led Hermione off to the side, through a small door and around several statues to a small room, that had too massive doors at the end.

Draco caught Hermione looking at them, "That's where we enter, when we're announced as a couple." He looked around the room for a moment, at several other young couples, then spotted Ron, who had followed them. "Weasley, you idiot, you're supposed to be back in the ballroom, unless you've magically got a date."

Ron turned a deep shade of red and turned around, quietly exiting. Draco looked around once more. The Weasley girl and Potter were talking about something, "They're coming out as a couple, then?" Draco asked Hermione.

"Yeah," said Hermione, "Harry talked to her earlier today, before you were up."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "A half-blood in pureblood society, eh? This will be interesting."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Just because you don't like him doesn't mean he won't do well."

At that moment, a door in the back of the room opened, and the young people in the room began to quiet down. It was a very stern looking old witch and wizard, in formal, traditional, robes down to the floor. They walked to the middle of the room and all heads turned towards them. The witch cleared her throat.

"I am Madame Parrol, It is my honor to have been named Mistress of Ceremonies this year. As such I am in charge of affairs regarding the new couples this year. Mr. Aaderon" the man stepped forward "Will be in charge of returning couples. Please separate yourselves."

Draco took Hermione's hand and led her over to part of the room where maybe a third of the other couples were. Harry and Ginny followed suit. Mister Aaderon was on the other side of the room, greeting people whom he all seemed to know. Madame Parrol, however, was looking over her half of the room with a tightened mouth as if they were something brown and moldy.

"Well!" she snapped once they had all gotten to the right side of the room, "Get a move on! Out, out! Shoe!" She waved her hands at the group, and they moved out the back door while the other half of the room began lining up in front of the large doors.

Hermione knitted her eyebrows, "I don't remember reading about this. . ."

"You wouldn't," said Draco, "It's a tradition that's not taught until you're in it. They returning couples- the ones back in the room- enter the Opener through the left door after the rest of society is already in the great hall. Then the host family announces the start of the season, and the new couples come in through the doors both opened. In order of least important to most."

"Oh," said Hermione quietly.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, Hermione heard trumpets, and then the rustle of Madame Parrol's skirts as she came over to couples and placed them in line. Hermione, Draco, Harry and Ginny, who were near the door, she shoed all the way back to near the end of the line. Hermione couldn't help smiling as she saw the old woman getting all the teenagers and people in their twenties to the right places in line.

Before she knew it, the line was pressing forward back into the room they had just left. Hermione could heard a voice making a speech about the Season's Opener on the other side of the now-closed grand doors. Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat as the doors opened simultaneously to reveal a sparkling ballroom beneath.

Everything was white marble with dark blue fabrics. A huge, sweeping staircase covered in a runner of velvet blue made its way from the grand, ornate doors all the way down to the ballroom floor, which was massive, closed on either side by floor-to-ceiling windows that showed the moonlight outside. And, the ceiling itself, which had to stand taller than three stories, was beautifully painted in a scene from Shakspere's A Mid Summer Night's Dream. Pillars of grey marble stood from floor to ceiling on either side of the many-paned windows and far across the room one each side of the doors which led to the dining hall.

"Never seen a real ball before, have you Granger?" Draco whispered in her ear, and she felt a shiver go up her spine.

A lone wizard stood at the top of the stairs with a long roll of parchment in his hands. He read, "We now present to you the newly arriving pairs of this Social Season of Europe's Distinguished Wizarding Society."

The man began reading names of couples and their home countries, first three couples at a time (the less important ones), then eventually two at a time (the sort of important ones) and finally, one at a time (the important ones.)

By the time he got down to the one-at-a-time couples, there were only about ten or fifteen left. Hermione heard someone from every notable pureblood family in Europe between the eight or so couples called, that was before she realized she and Draco, Harry and Ginny, and Blaise and Giselle were the only couples left waiting to be presented. Then the herald begin again, "Of the Second-Ranking House of Grenier, from the line of Charlemagne, Madmosielle Giselle Eloise Grenier, and From the Second-Ranking House of Zabini, Mister Blaise Albtrose Zabini"

Hermione could have sworn she saw Blaise give Draco a dirty look, but if he did, it was very, very quick, because all of a sudden Blaise was taking his girlfriend down the long stairway into the crowd. Hermione glanced at Harry and felt her heart beating faster as she realized her name was going to be called soon, and she'd have to walk down in from of all those people, all those people scrutinizing her and watching her every step. . . she turned as the herald again started a long title.

"For the first time in a generation reviving the name of the Second-Rank House of Prewett, also from the Half-Century Buried Fourth-Rank Weasley House, Miss Ginerva Molly Weasley and from the First-Rank House of Potter, descending from Italian nobility, the only known man to have survived the killing curse, Harry James Potter."

Harry and Ginny, smiling, made their way calmly and carefully down the enormous staircase. She could feel Draco next to her smirk.

"What?" she said quietly.

"Well," whispered Draco, "You know what this means. . . we're the last couple to be announced."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but then it hit her. "In order of least important to most" The couples entered in order of least important to most. . . which meant. . .no, surely she and Draco couldn't be. . . but then it was to late to think. Their names were being called.

"From the First-Rank House of Danforth, the First-Rank House of Black, the Second-Rank House of Lane, descended from the line of Merlin, Miss Hermione Jane Granger and From the First-Rank House of Malfoy and the First-Rank House of Black, the esteemed Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy."

Suddenly Hermione wasn't in her body. Or at least, she wasn't controlling it. She was moving perfectly, guided by Draco's hands. Just smiling gently as they descended thousands of the most powerful witches and wizards looking at her, boring through every detail of everything on her. Yet she just kept moving, and she didn't know how. Then, they were at the bottom of the stairs. She curtsied, he bowed, and they walked forth to the middle of the room. For some reason, the crowd was parting for them.

"One more thing," Draco whispered in her ear, "The most important couple opens the dance." He took her hand as they came to the middle of the floor, and then took her waist. A Waltz began playing, and suddenly she was swept off her feet into the dance.

The music calmed her nerves. She saw out of the corner of her eye, Harry and Ginny come out onto the dance floor, then Blaise and Giselle. They entered perfectly to the music, and then more and more of the new couples joined until all of them were there, dancing perfectly in time.

The swirling, the music and the beauty of the place wrapped Hermione up. She looked at Draco to see he had been looking at her. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he said quietly, "It's customary to actually pay attention to your own partner while you dance."

Hermione felt herself blush, and concentrated on the dance for the rest of the song. By the time the music ended, and the clapping of the older socialites began, Hermione did not want the music to end. She looked down at her feet, and Draco lifted her chin up with one finger.

"You don't have to hide here, you know. The spotlight tonight is for us, whether or not we argue normally. Society's a fresh start."

Wow I love this chapter… loooved! Oh, and don't worry, a full explanation of how the social system (ranks, etc) will be explained shortly. Just hang in there for now, and remember, First Rank is higher than Second Rank and so forth. Oh, and I know I went a little crazy on the descriptions this chapter, but I just had to let you know what the ballroom looked like precisely!

Thanks yet AGAIN for the numerous wonderful reviewers! You guys are awesome! Especially when you nag me to update!

And props to the bazillions of fans who got last chapter's question right! Here's this time's question:

How many cats does Mrs. Figg have?

Anyways, toodles.