Disclaimer – See that big I own nothing…?? No? Well, I OWN NOTHING!
Author's Note – Wow… WOW!!! Are these reviews for… for me? *check* YES!!!! Oh, thank you so much!!!!!! You really are the best guys!! *big toothy grin* Your support means a whole lot to me… THANK YOU…
And btw, I'm so sorry I took so much time to update, I was somewhat… busy. And yeah… HAPPY NEW YEAR!!… It's tardy, I know but hey, better late than never!! (ö,) with lots of luvies, huggies and uh… kissies… hihi…
On with the story…
Wonder what Draco will think about me… I questioned myself on my way to the Great Hall. Then another little voice answered, why should you care? He's your friend. I'm sure he won't even notice the change in you.
He won't notice? The first voice retorted. How can he not? I mean my transformation is very… sort of obvious. He isn't blind, is he?
I walked into the Great Hall and gasped. The decorations were simply incredible! Just like in the Prom pictures my American cousin showed me during the holidays, in better. I think I'd never seen the Great Hall look this great…
I took in each detail of the room, from the colouful decorations to the large dance floor. Then I looked around looking for Draco. He was nowhere to be seen. All around me, the seventh-years were walking in pairs. I noticed the several lewd looks I got from the guys and I was feeling quite uneasy. I wasn't used to getting so much attention. I walked around, looking for Draco.
I saw Harry walking hand in hand with Ginny and I went to chat with them.
"Hey you two!" I said.
My two friends frowned at me. "I'm sorry do we know you?" Ginny asked.
"Of course, it's me!" I said. When they still looked blankly at me, I exclaimed, "Hermione!"
"Hermione?" Harry said looking around. "Where?"
I had to laugh. "I'm right in front of you, idiot! I am Hemione!"
Ginny gasped and Harry gaped at me.
"Mione!" Ginny cried. "Man! What happened to you?"
"Well, nothing much, except that I decided to look pretty for tonight," I told her.
"You look really great!" Harry said, and Ginny nodded wildly to prove the point.
"Thank you," I said. I wasn't inured to getting so much praise about… come to think of it people never praised me.
"You're alone?" Ginny asked me.
"Uh, no, I mean yeah," I said. "Wait… I am alone right now but Draco's supposed to be with me, so…"
"I see," Ginny said.
"Ron's coming," Harry warned. "He's still a bit touchy about the Malfoy issue, so avoid the subject."
We nodded as Ron appeared at Harry's side.
"Hey you two!" he grinned not noticing me. "I've got something important to tell you!"
"Hey Ron," they said in unison.
"Hello Ron," I said in quite warily.
"Not now Hermione," he said impatiently, casting one single glance and returning his attention to Harry and Ginny… Then he looked at me again, "HERMIONE??" he cried.
"Yeah I know I look different." I said.
Ron stared. "You look… you look… you look pretty."
Ginny slapped his shoulder. "Ron!"
"Ouch! I mean, uh, you look… better than usual," he corrected rubbing his shoulder.
"Thank you," I smiled.
"What was it you had to tell us?" Harry asked.
"Well, uh I'd like you to meet Crystal Parker," he said gesturing towards a pretty brunette, whom I had not noticed. But by the look of it, she had been there for quite a while. "She's a fifth-year Ravenclaw. I think you know her Gin?"
"Yeah," Ginny grinned at her friend.
"Hello," Harry told her. "I am – "
"Harry Potter," she said, her eyes flicking towards his scar. "I know."
Poor Harry, I thought. I wouldn't have liked being him. No way in hell would I have been able to bear all these looks and whispers.
"I'm Hermione Granger," I told her. "Glad to meet ya."
I talked to them for a while and then told myself I'd better go find Draco. I left my friends and continued looking for him.
Where is he? I asked myself for the millionth time.
At last, I spotted him near the refreshment table where there was a large fountain-like bowl and Butterbeer was spilling out where water should be pouring out. Quite impressive.
He had his back turned to me, but I saw that he had company. Pansy Parkinson was in deep conversation with him. And I also understood that she was in full flirting mode, 'cause she made sure she flipped her hair every now and then, she also did not leave out touching his arm once or twice in a while and each of her sentences were punctuated by a stupid giggle. How absurd, I thought.
I was dying to be able to see Draco's face or better – hear his thoughts.
And I had told him that Parkinson had a thing for him, I thought triumphantly.
I waited for some time, watched and stifled a giggle when I saw him run a hand over the back of his neck. He always did that when he was fed up. Time to save Malfoy, I told myself marching up to them. It's a shame he's so bored considering the fact that they're supposed to be friends.
"There you are Draco!" I said cheerfully. "I've been waiting for you at the entrance for hours!"
Pansy and Draco swiveled their heads towards me and both their jaws dropped to the ground.
"Granger?" Pansy croaked.
"Yes?" I pressed.
"Merlin's Beard! It's really you!" Pansy said. "How did… When did… Who…?"
I frowned at her. " 'How did? When did? Who?' Unless you expect me to read your mind, I'm sorry I can't answer your questions Parkinson."
She scowled at me. "Just drop it. Just because you've changed appearance doesn't mean you're not the crank Know-It-All. Want me to tell you something? Just stop hanging around Draco, your company's had bad influence on him. When you two hated each other, life was better."
"I don't recall answering 'yes' to your question, so just go to hell," I spat. "Just admit it: you're jealous."
"Me? Jealous? Of you?" she spat.
"Obviously," I retorted.
"Listen you grubby little Mudblood," she spluttered, seemingly having lost her calm. "I – You – "
I sensed that Draco stiffened and I smiled inwardly. A year ago, he was the one treating me like that.
I looked at Pansy contemptibly and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" I provoked. "I'm waiting for you Parkinson."
From the corner of my eyes, I saw her clench her fists. Draco must've seen it too 'cause he interfered between us.
"Come on Pansy, just drop it. Okay?"
Pansy glanced at him. "She's changed you too much Draco. I can't believe you are siding with her. I can't believe you let her change you. You've become as worthless as her."
Draco glared at her. "You don't even know her, so stop being such a child and grow up. I can tell you that she's worthwhile. More than you anyway," he spat.
Pansy's face contorted with rage and she let out a cry of frustration that caught the attention of several by-standers. "BUT SHE"S A MUDBLOOD DRACO!! HOW CAN YOU EVEN – "
"You call her that word again and I swear that you'll be sorry you even thought about it. Caught that?" Draco said dangerously through gritted teeth. I could tell he was fighting not to punch her.
Pansy was so surprised by that threat that she was speechless.
I guess Draco didn't want to make his old friend feel… rejected so he said in a softer tone. "We talked about it Pansy and you know how I feel about it. I choose my friends, neither you, nor Snape, nor… my… father will stop me from being friends with her."
"Fine," she said, stomping off. "Just fine."
I watched her walk angrily away. "I told you she had a thing for you…"
"The hell with Pansy, Mione!!" He told me. "We have more important issues. What happened to you? And your hair? And your face?"
I was taken aback. So, he didn't like it? … "You… you don't like it?" I asked in a small voice. "I… I well, I'll just have to… I don't know, I won't u-use that thing Parvati gave me and… I won't ever use makeup again. I – why are you smiling?"
He chuckled. "You thought I had a problem with your look? I was just… surprised, I guess. Sorry if I was tactless. You… you look gorgeous Hermione." His fingers ever so lightly touched my cheek and I couldn't stop that thrill from going down my spine.
"Thank you!" I told him breathlessly. "You look gorgeous too. Umm, you know, in a man kind of way."
He laughed and I relaxed. "Thanks. So you want something to drink? There's Butterbeer, Butterbeer and let's see… Butterbeer."
"Butterbeer sounds good," I laughed.
Pretty soon, Pansy was well forgotten. Several couples were slow dancing on the dance floor, including Harry and Ginny and Ron and that Crystal girl. Harry was whispering sweet nothings in Ginny's ear making her smile with delight and Ron… well, Ron seemed incapable to utter a single word and he and Crystal were dancing in silence.
I guess I was kind of staring hard at the two couples 'cause…
"Er… do you want to dance?" Draco asked me.
"With you?" I asked surprised. Oh stupid me, I immediately scolded myself.
"No," he replied sarcastically, "with that fat guy over there, you know, near the window?"
I laughed. "I'd love to dance with you."
He grinned at me and got up from his seat. He took my hand sending my heart beating at a hundred per hour. I let him lead me to the dance floor and I was too nervous to even think about anything. Oh, it's just a dance with Draco, I thought. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck. There you've done it, I'm taking it lightly, I reassured myself as I felt my blood popping and fizzing in my veins as he placed his hands at my waist. Very lightly
I breathed in steadily to calm down my stupid, uncontrollable nerves expecting fresh air. But what I smelled was more like his oh-so-good-smelling cologne, which made me feel giddy.
Why am I feeling like that? I asked myself. We are buddies.
"I bet Pansy would kill to be in my place," I said, blurting out the first thing that came into my mind. I guessed starting a friendly conservation would make this friendly dance feel more like a… friendly dance.
He laughed. "I'd rather be killed by her than dance with her."
I chuckled, loosening my tensed nerves. "Are you sure you were friends?"
"Well, she's changed a lot since I started seeing you and I think friends are supposed to respect your decisions and all. She didn't."
"Right."
"I can't believe it's our last week at Hogwarts already," he told me.
"I thought you wanted to 'get out of here as soon as possible'." I teased.
He smiled. "Yeah, but I guess I came to… sort of… like school." He told me.
"Yeah, you like school 'cause you're this sort of… Evil Guru everyone's scared of and who is venerated by everyone. Huh?" I smiled.
"Yeah, that's part of it," he told me.
"And the other part is because despite the evil part, all the girls find you hot and handsome and are helplessly attracted. Am I right, or I am right?" I grinned.
"Yeah." He replied complacently. "My life is just that. Getting the top grades. Being worshiped by everyone. Having hordes of girls after me. Waking up and finding out how handsome I am over and over again…"
I made a face. "Does vain, overconfident and conceited tell you something?"
"Yeah…" he said thoughtfully. "Sounds a lot like… why, it sounds a lot like you!"
"I'll get you one day for that one Malfoy!" I told him laughing.
"I'll be waiting for you on two firm feet!" he replied.
"Seriously, I think I can't believe that our school days are already over too. I wish it could last longer. Like a journey that never ends." I told him, glancing around at the Great Hall. "I'm gonna miss all this so much."
I returned my eyes back on him and for a moment I forgot to breath. I found myself staring back into Draco's blue eyes. But I don't really know if they're blue, really. There's something so mysterious about those eyes of his. Tonight, were blue, really light blue with almost a touch of silver. Come on, I urged myself, inspire! Breathe! NOW!!
I took in a deep breath and forced myself to look away. I had to look away. If I continued to stare like that, I'm afraid I'm gonna faint. I closed my eyes unable to think of what was happening to me.
"Hermione?" he whispered.
I opened my eyes and found Draco's handsome face millimeters away from mine. My heart helplessly failed in my chest and all the air rush out of me. Man, those eyes are incredible, I thought in complete awe, for a moment forgetting that we were just friends. "Hm?"
"I am going to kiss now," he said quietly.
My mind went blank and I couldn't have answered even if I wanted to. So instead, I closed the distance between us and touched my lips with his, completely forgetting the friends rule. The moment I did, I felt my knees give out under me and I'm sure that if Draco hadn't been holding me, I would've fallen.
For the first time in my whole life, I understood what an out-of-body experience meant. I was leaving myself. Floating somewhere between bliss and ecstasy.
And as far as I was concerned, I didn't really care if I never came back down.
Author's Note – So? What do you think? Hope you liked it… let me know!!=)