The four friends giggled through all the afternoon classes, except maybe for Hermione, who was still mildly upset over the whole Birch thing.

During dinner, however, everything came loose. It was Friday night and many had a waltzing class to look forward to. Only a few people had the nerve to come up to Hermione for her autograph during the meal, for Draco's outburst was still fresh in the minds of the student body. Draco and Zacharias had a drinking contest, and to everyone's astonishment, Zacharias chugged down half a goblet more of pumpkin juice than Draco.

Hermione had briefly feared another argument until Ginny cleared her throat loudly, and then drank four glasses of pumpkin juice without batting an eye. It seemed that after this show, Draco and even Zacharias respected and perhaps feared Ginny even more.

After dinner, there was an hour to spare before the anticipated event. While the boys lounged on the couch plotting ways to incapacitate Birch without getting caught, Ginny consoled Hermione as the latter fretted over what they should wear to the waltz.

"Ohhh, I can't believe I didn't include a dress code on the notice." Hermione wailed, pacing back and forth, Ginny following her, trying to calm her down. Crookshanks watched with what seemed like an amused look while the boys ignored her momentary craze. Draco's reasoning was that if she just rambled long enough, eventually, she would get tired and shut up.

"Hermione, relax. I don't think it really matters. Some will probably show up in their school robes, and others in casual clothes. Some nutters might even show up in some ridiculously low-cut dresses."

"But Ginny, the girls should probably come in heels of some sort and the boys in dress shoes, or else it won't really do much good. Anyone can dance with sneakers!"

"I'm not so sure." Ginny replied quietly, shooting a look at an animated Zacharias, who was talking about sabotaging Birch's Quidditch captaincy. "It's the first one, anyways. Shoes or no shoes, it's still going to a success. Anyways, we four will be wearing the right shoes, and everyone else will catch on and know next time."

Hermione clasped and unclasped her hands. "Maybe you're right, Gin. We look nice enough. It shouldn't hurt to have a little faith in the intelligence of the rest of the student population."

"Yeah. I can't believe you bullied us into wearing this stuff." Zacharias complained from his spot, fidgeting with the collar of his shirt. Hermione had insisted they wear ironed shirts tucked into respectable trousers, as well as wear dress shoes.

Zacharias had cried and whined when Ginny dragged him off to Hufflepuff Basement to change, but when she questioned his "high-class" upbringing, he sulkily slouched up to his dormitory as Ginny timed him in another attempt to taunt him.

Draco, on the other hand, had acquiesced at Hermione's first suggestion as they strolled out of the Great Hall. Hermione secretly thought he wanted to show off his very noticeable build and had gladly taken the opportunity. As she hobbled around the common room to get used to high heels again, Draco had taken quite a while to change in his room. She didn't expect Zacharias and Ginny to be back anytime soon, knowing them to fight over almost anything, and decided to change into a skirt quickly, wanting to show Draco that two could play at this game.

As she sat in her room, she rubbed some Muggle lotion at her now very visible legs. The skirt she had chosen frilly and puffy, easy for dancing. It was a simple lavender color, and clung gracefully to her hips. She had just put the bottle of lotion on her nightstand when Draco knocked politely on the bathroom door.

"I need your advice, Miss Granger. It's about matching colors, and I thought you'd be a better judge on that than I would be."

Hermione's pulse raced, and she stood up, ready to take action. Or so she thought. "Come in." she called, fighting to keep the excitement out of her voice. The door opened, and in stepped Draco, wearing nothing but his boxers. He held two shirts still on their hangers in one hand, and a pair of tan trousers in the other. "Which shirt should I wear?"

Hermione almost fainted clean on the spot. And although she didn't, she did sway slightly. "The right one." were the only words she managed to get out before she sat down suddenly on her mattress. Her mind was torn between wanting to drink in more of this delicious sight of his abdominals, and trying not to drool like an idiot.

Draco's smirk finally changed to an expression of concern, and he cautiously inched deeper into Hermione's bedroom. "Are you alright, Mione?"

Hermione gave a shrill squeak, and said, "Draco! Stop right there! Right now! Do NOT take another step closer to me. This looks incredibly wrong. Just. DON'T MOVE!"

Hermione was panting now, and shying away from Draco, who had found his grin again. "All right, all right. Keep your hair on! Just answer the question."

Hermione looked at the shirts in his hand, and ignored his muscular chest. "The beige one." she said at last. With that, she bolted out of her room, (as fast as one can bolt with high-heels on), as Draco laughed merrily.

In the common room, Hermione slumped into an armchair, and rubbed her temples lightly. So much for my plan. she thought. She wondered how Draco always managed to astound her so, especially when she was trying to get him first. However, she resolved to hold her head high, and act as if nothing had happened. Flirtation had been abandoned.

So when Ginny and Zacharias finally arrived, Hermione was calmly relaxing in her seat, stroking Crookshank's back. Draco came out soon after, and this brought them back to where they originally were: plotting against Trevor Birch and worrying about clothes.

"Don't be such a wuss." Draco replied to Zacharias's complaint. "You'll live through it."

Ginny sighed. "We should get a clock in here. It's always so hard to tell the time. Maybe we can go to Hogsmeade again tomorrow?"

Hermione grimaced. "As long as that Skeeter woman doesn't stalk us, I'm all for it."

"Well, let's get going then." said Zacharias, obviously wanting to get the dance over with, just so he could change out of his clothes. He held out his arm for Ginny, and she lightly took it, and they stepped out of the common room first.

Draco looked at Hermione carefully. She looked at anywhere but him, but he could tell she was fighting a smile. He walked over to her and extended his hand. "Could I have the honor, Miss Granger? I'm awfully sorry about our little encounter in there." Pausing to delight in Hermione's blush, he went on after a moment. "It was very inappropriate and uncalled for. Allow me to make amends?"

Hermione finally looked at his face, and it was all over. The pleading look on his face was that of a begging angel, and she knew there was no way she could resist that. Who could?

Their hands finally met, and Hermione whispered, "Let's go."