Hermione Granger went to the masquerade party with one thought and only one thought. Corban Yaxley might be there. He'd been working a high powered case with Harry and Harry had told her they might not be back in time for the ball. She wasn't giving up, though. She was going to keep her fingers crossed that Yaxley, at least, might make it back. She had put in for a transfer to the Australian Ministry of Magic. She was going to Australia tomorrow to be with her parents. Tonight would be the last time they were in proximity.
Everyone would be in masks. He would never know it was her. She'd finally get to dance with him. One dance. Something to remember him by. That's all she wanted. She wore a tight fitting green dress with silver trimming and a sliver mask outlined in green. Those were the colors he was most fond of. With the help of a bottle of Sleekeazy's hair potion, her hair was conquered into a smooth ponytail, no bushy hair to give her away.
Normally she wouldn't be caught dead at a ministry gala. But this one was honoring the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was possibly the only time he would willingly be at the Ministry for anything besides work. All the high class families and employers would be here. All the English members of the Quidditch league would be here, too. She knew he had quite a few friends who played professionally. Normally she wouldn't have been able to attend but she did work for him. Apparently that was enough to garner her an invitation. It was a good thing because they didn't exactly run in the same social circles.
She walked through the door and paused. On the other side of the room stood a group of masked Quidditch players. They were assessing all the people in the room. Thorfinn Rowle poked Marcus Flint and pointed at the door. "Look! Who do you lot think that is?"
"Not sure. She's damn fit, though. Look at those curves." Flint said.
Pansy Parkinson, wearing a Harlequin mask, came up to them. "That's Granger, just so you know. I think she's hoping to see Yaxley. Ever since she started working for him, she's had the biggest crush on him. I told her to tell him how she feels. She refuses and says he wouldn't want anything to do with her. She won't be around anymore so tonight is her last chance to see him."
"Bloody hell, that's Granger? Are you sure? I don't remember her having that kind of curves in school!" Rowle exclaimed.
"Of course not! She was only a kid the last time you saw her!" Pansy shook her head at him.
Rowle snorted at her. "Well, I'm assuming her leaving has something to with letting us know who she is."
Pansy grinned slyly. "Yes, I do. It just so happens that Yaxley just got here. I know he's been wanting to get to know her as well. I'm hoping that the two of them will dance and she'll change her mind about leaving, especially if he lets her know he's interested. What say we help him?"
"Sounds like a plan but how do we go about it?" Rowle was always ready to help set Yaxley up with some lucky witch.
"Simple. We just make sure they find each other. I'm about to go talk to the band leader. There's a muggle tradition at dances sometimes. Its called a Sadie Hawkins dance. The woman asks the man to dance. We make sure he is the lucky one she asks for a dance." Pansy winked at him.
"Most excellent plan, sweetheart. Why don't you ask me to dance?" Thorfinn winked back at her flirtatiously.
"I just might. But first we have to get the two of them on the dance floor." Pansy turned as she kept an eye on the meandering figure of Hermione Granger.
"How do we even know she'll come over here?" Thorfinn asked, genuinely curious.
"Oh, she'll come over here. She knows you're friends with Yaxley and this is where he's most likely to be found." Pansy told him. "You just make sure that Yaxley is over here!" Thorfinn nodded as he went to collect Yaxley. Pansy went to talk to the band leader before cornering Hermione at the punch table.
Hermione was standing with a glass of punch in her hands. She kept watching the Quidditch players across the room. Rowle didn't appear to be among them. She drooped in disappointment. If he wasn't here, then it was a sure sign Yaxley had dodged out of showing up, too. The bandleader called for everyone's attention and announced that the first dance would be a Sadie Hawkins dance. "Would all you lovely ladies care to choose your dance partners for the opening dance?"
Hermione groaned in frustration. 'Of course! Her one big opportunity to talk to him, dance with him and he didn't even show up!' Just then, Pansy joined her. After the war, the two girls had both joined the Ministry staff. Pansy was an Unspeakable and worked in the Department of Mysteries. Being the same age, they quickly managed to iron out all the antagonism from the school days and become best friends. They often giggled together over Yaxley and his big blond friend Rowle who visited him at work ever so often.
"Hermione, come on! Hurry before the other girls get to him!" Pansy grabbed her arm and led her away from the table.
"Wait, what? Who?" Hermione dug her heels into the carpet. Pansy rolled her eyes at her. 'Of course, the girl would get stubborn right this very minute!' She huffed at her.
"Yaxley, of course! Isn't he why you showed up tonight? I thought you said you wanted just one dance with him. He's here and about to be swamped with witches! Now, come on and beat the crowd. Rowle is right beside him. I'm going to ask him to dance. Hurry!" Pansy rushed Hermione into action without giving her a chance to think about it and back out of the plan.
Thorfinn had wrangled Corban into reluctantly joining him as they watched the women turn to assess the menfolk. Seeing how many women zeroed in on himself and Yaxley had Thorfinn cursing under his breath. 'If Pansy wanted to get the two of them together, she'd best get the young witch over here before the vultures started diving!' He smiled in relief as he saw the two witches walking towards them.
"Oi! Yaxley! Check out this pretty little witch!" he jostled Corban into looking right at Hermione. Corban smiled, not recognizing the witch but liking what he saw. She smiled back as she held out her hand.
"May I have this dance?" she asked him softly. Over the music, Corban couldn't clearly hear her but he didn't have to. The outstretched hand and bandleader's words were enough to clue him in that he'd just been asked to dance. He took her hand and allowed himself to be pulled to the dance floor. Thorfinn was right behind him as Pansy took his hand. The moment Corban wrapped his arms around the young woman and breathed in her perfume, he knew who he was dancing with.
"Good evening, Hermione. I'm glad you were able to make it. I was hoping to dance with you." he whispered into her ear. She shivered as she smiled up at him.
"I'm glad I made it. I'm especially glad that you made it, too. I've been thinking about this for weeks." she admitted. They didn't say anything else but they didn't have to. Their tightly wrapped arms gave away the fact that they didn't intend to turn each other lose anytime soon!