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A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed my last chapter - foxer, emeraldgray, and XxXtAP-daNCiNg-sPIdeRsXxX (hehe, the name sounds cute). Please keep on reviewing =)

Chapter Three: Perfect Disguise

"I ask myself could this be love

Or just a fantasy

Could this be love

Or just a memory"

It was the night of the Winter Yule Ball, and everyone was rushing around to get themselves ready. The girls were spending many hours dressing up, putting on their best makeup, and talking excitedly about their dates and the dance. The boys, however, could care less about having so much time to prepare, and instead spent their hours, to the very last minute, playing games or sleeping.

Hermione and Ginny spent their hours preparing themselves as much as possible. They tried their costumes on and made sure the dresses look absolutely perfect before moving on with their makeup and hair. After a long time, it suddenly dawned on them what time it was.

"Omigosh! We're late for the Ball! Oh, I hope Harry isn't mad at me for waiting so long" exclaimed Ginny.

"You can go on first. I just need to fix my hair before I head down." Hermione said.

"Ok then. See you there!" Ginny then left in a hurry, leaving Hermione alone in her dorm. She fixed her hair using a special spell and put on her mask which hid half of her face, except her hazel-coloured eyes. She took one last look in the mirror, and feeling satisfied of her appearance, went down to join the rest of the school at the dance.

The Great Hall, where the Winter Yule Ball was taken place, was so beautifully decorated that everyone who entered were left speechless. The ceiling was bewitched to show the night sky filled with many bright stars. Snowflakes were lightly falling, but only halfway, so that it wouldn't create so much snow on the ground. Beautiful white flowers, and lights, were hung all around to create a stunning glow in the room. Of course, mistletoes were hung in several different places as Christmas ornaments.

Hermione was rushing down since she was terribly late and couldn't wait to have a good time with her friends. She opened the heavy, large doors slowly and stood at the entrance for a few seconds mesmerized by the wonderful decorations that the organizers, that is Draco and herself, have done for the Ball. The view of the ornaments when they, or rather Hermione, were arranging was much different than the view when she entered the Great Hall during the dance. It just had a certain warmth to the room that she hadn't noticed before. As she stood admiring, and absorbing the atmosphere, everyone else in the room gazed at who had just entered.

Draco could not stand another minute with Crabbe and Goyle. They've been arguing for a long time over a piece of dessert, which was just ridiculous since there were plenty of other sweets at the table. He glanced around the Great Hall, trying to see if he could escape to some other place where he doesn't have to hear them disagreeing over silly things. That was when his eyes fell upon the most stunning thing he has ever seen. She was wearing the most eye-catching dress that seemed to be designed only for angels; her luscious brown hair was beautifully done in long wavy strands, which left Draco thinking that there could be absolutely nothing wrong with her. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should go up to the angelic beauty, but suddenly remembered the horrible time he is having with the two idiots beside him and decided to take his chances.

When Hermione took her eyes off of the decorations, she suddenly noticed how many people were looking at her. The boys were all wide-eyed and surprised at how beautiful this mystery girl could be since they could not see who she was due to the eye mask. The girls were mostly jealous because their dates suddenly turned their attention away from them, leaving them wondering how she can attract so many people. However, Hermione's eyes were fixed on the dark, mysterious person who was slowly walking towards her. He was dressed all in black, which included a long cape behind his back, an eye mask, and a black hat, making him stand out a bit from the rest of the crowd. When he got much closer until he was standing just in front of her, she saw that he had the most magnificent gray eyes she's ever seen which made her knees weak and her face a little crimson from blushing.

Oh gosh, I wonder who he could be, Hermione thought as she stared, hypnotized by his eyes. He then held out his hand to her, as if saying May I have this dance?, to which she accepted. She put her hand on top of his, and instantly, felt a rush of chills running through her body. Nobody had caused to her react this way before, which only made her all the more curious to know this person.

They gradually made their way towards the middle of the dance floor, unaware of everyone else in the room looking and circling around them. The spotlight was on them, but they didn't care since they were too much into the other person to notice. They danced to the slow, romantic rhythm of the music where they were later joined by other couples. They weren't even aware when the song had ended and replaced by a faster, more energetic beat; they were still gazing at each other's eyes and dancing slowly.

"Do you want to go outside for a walk?" Draco asked. She nodded her head, and hand-in-hand, they both exited the Great Hall and went outside to the grounds.

Once they got out, Draco wanted to know more of this mystery girl and decided to be the first to start a conversation.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You already did", she said with a smile on her face, "but continue on"

She's beautiful AND she has a sense of humour. I love her already! Draco thought.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

She smiled and pretended to think. "I'll have to get back to you on that."

They both grinned even more, which made them relax a bit. Hermione glanced up at the dark, caped man and saw that he was looking back at her, which made her blush.

"Do I make you nervous?"

"No, it's just..." she hesitated to say.

"Just what?"

"It's just that I'm captivated by your eyes. Something tells me I've seen them somewhere before but I just can't remember", Hermione confessed.

"Well, we both go to Hogwarts so I wouldn't be surprised if I already met you. You might even be in one my classes!" Draco exclaimed. Little did he know that, that was actually true.

Hermione blushed and looked away. She certainly hoped that was true. This masked man could be in one of her classes, and she was overwhelmed with excitement wondering who he could be. She was tempted to ask him just that, but decided not to, since she liked having this aura of mystery between them. She looked up at the night sky, which looked similar to the ceiling of the Great Hall, but far better with its shimmering stars.

"Aren't the stars beautiful tonight?" she commented.

"None lovelier than you"

She glanced back at him, flattered, and noticed that he was looking at her. He leaned closer to her until their faces were merely inches apart. At this very moment, her heart was beating rapidly, her knees were beginning to tremble, and her mind was racing. She held her breath, and closed her eyes, awaiting the touch of his kiss. Sure enough, she felt his lips gently brush against hers, which was truly exhilarating even though it was only a soft kiss. It ended quickly, much to Hermione's disappointment.

"What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?" Hermione asked, a bit worried.

"No, no it's nothing like that," he smiled and said, "I don't mean to sound rude, but you haven't told me your name." When she didn't answer, he continued on. "I just want to know who this beautiful girl I'm kissing. Do you mind if I at least take your eye mask off?"

Hermione didn't say anything as his hands slowly reached up to her mask. He was about to steadily take it off when they were suddenly interrupted.

"Oh, we didn't know anyone was out here. Sorry if we interrupted anything."

Draco looked up to see who it was, but only saw two other people walking away. He couldn't tell who they were since they were in disguises anyway. He was irritated that they had to disrupt him when he was so close to finding out who the girl in front of him was.

"I probably have to get going too," a small voice hesitated to say. Draco turned back to the girl, wanting to protest for her to stay, but it was already too late as she was running her way back inside the castle. He sighed to himself, and thought, I hope to see you soon.