Professor McGonagall was waiting for the two pairs of students as they stepped into the foyer of the castle. Seeing them show the familiarity they were displaying made her smile. Although it was very thin and small, it was a sign of approval nonetheless and probably concealed her greater joy that was buried inside.
"You all look splendid. I don't know how you did it, but somehow, you managed to convince the other students to dress nicely for once, instead of in those ripped and tattered shreds they call 'clothing' these days."
She motioned towards the closed double doors of the Great Hall with a slight flick of her head, where, indeed, stood a mass of well-dressed students, chattering excitedly.
Hermione beamed. Oh, what was I worrying about. she shook her head at her foolish fretting. Zacharias led Ginny behind Professor McGonagall as she headed towards the crowd of students, and Draco led Hermione behind them.
As soon as the queue saw the five people glide towards them, a hush fell over, and a path was immediately made so they could get to the doors. Hermione saw that many of the boys had started to offer their arms to the girls around them to follow Draco and Zacharias's examples. Although she was pleased that they were making an impression, her thoughts fell slightly when she remembered that most couples would have to be split up so that the Houses would be mixed.
Professor McGonagall waved her wand and the doors to the Great Hall opened. She headed up toward the High Table and took her seat, announcing that she would stay to observe the first class. The boys went to fetch the harp as Ginny and Hermione stood observing the room, which was clear of all the House tables and looked very enormous with the vacancy.
As Draco and Zacharias set the harp down in front of their pair of tables on the second level, Ginny pointed her wand at it and set the necessary volume and speed for a tune that was perfect for a beginner class of waltzers.
Hermione looked at the double doors, and saw that several students were deliberating about coming in or not, with some students having one foot inside the Great Hall and the other foot still in the foyer. She went towards them, and they all backed out shyly.
Holding out her arms in a gesture of friendliness, Hermione called, "It's all right. Come on in, everyone!"
In the next second, she wished she hadn't said that. The mass of students started pushing and shoving to get in, and when they did, they poured in so quickly it was as if a human river was flooding the Great Hall. Hermione barely escaped with her life as she sprinted back as fast as possible (as one can when in high-heels) to where the rest of the group was standing.
Draco and Zacharias snickered at her rather adorable hobbling, while Ginny glared at them and gave the panting Hermione a hand to lean on when she had reached safety. Patting her on the back, Ginny remarked, "Can you believe it? It's half an hour early to when we should be starting, and these people are at each other's throats already. Unbelievable."
"Let's just hope they don't dance like they enter a room." Draco drawled, amused at Zacharias's exaggerated shuddering. Already, the room was being divided into four separate quadrants: one for Gryffindor, one for Slytherin, one for Hufflepuff, and one for Ravenclaw.
Hermione groaned inwardly when she saw Trevor Birch with a group of girls drooling over him standing in the Ravenclaw group. His golden blonde hair was gelled and teased up, and maybe to some that looked dashing and attractive, but to Hermione, it was not.
She thought this new fashion was useless and even a little hideous. His hair was basically in spiky points that looked almost dangerous to touch, and she preferred the naturalness of Draco's smooth, pale blonde hair. Although it was like a haystack when he woke up in the morning, after he had changed and brushed up, not a strand was out of place.
"You know," Ginny mused, suddenly remembering. "We never picked up the Slytherin sign-up sheet."
Zacharias laughed. "I think Drake's intimidation of Harper basically filled up the sign-up sheet in less than an hour. Look at all the Slytherins! I'm almost positive that there are a several more of them than any other House."
"Or maybe it's because some of them look like they're part troll." Ginny whispered into Hermione's ear, who had to purse her lips in order not to laugh, for Draco's sake.
"Anyways, I don't think we'll be needing to take roll, since we don't have Slytherin's sign-up sheet and I don't think Hermione brought the other Houses' sign-up sheets either, did you, Mione?" Draco asked.
When Hermione confessed she hadn't, it was agreed upon that they would just go with the flow and make it up as the evening progressed. Hermione, who actually hated unorganized and unplanned events, decided to take a step back and let someone else take charge for now. Ginny and Zacharias likewise felt the same way, and looked at Draco expectantly.
He was prepared, and as Hermione was soon to find out, he was really a great leader, almost on the same level as Harry. Once all the arrogance and disdain melted away, he was the epitome of charisma and charm itself.
He didn't even need to magnify his voice to command the attention of the room. He simply called out in his normal speaking voice, and silence ensued. Maybe it was because he had used to be feared by all in the school for being that untouchable, unattainable, infamous, and groomed boy, Draco Malfoy, but now, Hermione was almost sure that it was because of the respect he had garnered for becoming both Senior Boy and Slytherin Captain, as well as his pleasing countenance, graceful manners, and well-behaved conduct during classes, breaks, in the hallways, and at mealtimes.
"All right now, listen up! Each person will be dancing with someone of another House for the evening, so you will be split up right now and paired with your partner. Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, start pairing up. Slytherins and Ravenclaws, do the same. Go!"
Although slight grumbles could be heard, especially from Draco's own House, the students grudgingly started merging the groups, with many boys carefully eyeing the opposite House's girls as if they were cattle, and after selecting who they believed was the best-looking girl, carelessly offering their arms to her. Hermione felt disgusted by such narrow-mindedness, and even nauseated when she saw the pouty looks on some girls after their boyfriend or date had to leave them for a girl from another House. Merlin's Beard, it's just a class, not a party!
When all the couples had been formed, Draco became suspicious, as there seemed to be a perfect balance of boys and girls and some of the couples didn't look completely disturbed by touching someone of another House, as was to be expected.
He went down personally to inspect each pair, and Hermione was impressed at his knowing exactly who belonged to which House. Even she didn't, and she made mental note to ask for House rosters from Professor McGonagall later. After a few moments, she also added to her list to make separate columns for boys and girls on the sign-up sheets for next week so there would be even amounts of both genders and no awkwardness from a case of being partner-less. In addition, she remembered that she needed to add points to each House for each attendee they produced, and pick up Slytherin's sign-up sheet after the event.
She walked down off their platform to ground level, and called for everyone to stand still and not move around for a bit, so she could count how many people there were. The total number was divisible by four, and after Draco affirmed that each couple had followed his instructions (maybe Ginny had a point, for the Slytherins were not more numerous than the other Houses), Hermione called out clearly for everyone to hear, "I will now add five points to each House for each person that came here tonight. Hufflpuff, one hundred points! Ravenclaw, one hundred points! Slytherin, one hundred points! And Gryffindor, one hundred points!"
With that, she pointed her wand at the double doors as Professor McGonagall had done earlier, and closed them. No one's leaving early now. she thought, satisfied.
Suddenly, a girl's whiny voice rang out, full of confidence and wit, "Shouldn't Gryffindor get ten points extra, and Hufflepuff and Slytherin five points extra?"
Every head in the room turned towards Romilda Vane, who was looking smug from the attention. Her friends in the couples surrounding her giggled quietly, reveling in Romilda's triumph.
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny coldly. It was plain that she still resented her for trying to slip Harry a love potion, which, in her book, made a girl desperate and lower than dirt.
"Well, you and the Senior Girl are in Gryffindor, the Head Boy is in Hufflepuff, and the Senior Boy is in Slytherin. Therefore, there are twenty-two attendants for Gryffindor, twenty-one attendants for Hufflepuff and Slytherin, and twenty attendants for Ravenclaw."
A murmur went around the room, positive from three Houses and negative from the other. Romilda positively glowed as she heard people advocating her proposition. On the other hand, Trevor Birch looked murderous, and all the Ravenclaws protested as well, saying it was not fair.
As the room erupted into loud yells and violence seemed forthcoming, Hermione groaned, and looked at Draco, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as she was: All this for ten points?