In the next week, the school was buzzing about the upcoming Halloween masquerade ball. Around every corner, there were people debating who to ask, what they would go as, and there was a rumor going around that Dumbledore had some spectacular music for it.
The Friday following the prefect meeting, the first and second years were accompanied to Hogsmeade by the teachers in order for them to acquire their costumes. That Saturday and Sunday were special Hogsmeade dates for the rest of the school. The heads and prefects were permitted to spend the night in the town because of the decorations they had to purchase, as well. Dumbledore had booked them adjoining suites, with five beds in each room.
By Saturday morning, Hermione had done her homework for the weekend (with Draco, of course), and she was all packed. After slipping downstairs to grab some breakfast from the kitchens for her and her roommate, she returned to the room to find all of the prefects with their overnight bags.
Hermione looked down at the measly plate of food she was carrying. "Sorry, I didn't know you all were going to be here," she said as the group, especially Ron, eyed her food hungrily.
Draco barged through the crowd, pulling out his wand. "For Merlin's sake, Granger. Aren't you the best witch in the year?" he said, waving his wand at the food, which multiplied on a table. He said an incantation, and ten chairs appeared around the table as he slipped Hermione the slyest of winks. Hermione forced a disapproving frown onto her face and took a seat at the end of the table near Ron and Lavender as everyone dug in.
The group ate quickly, and Draco magicked the table away. Everyone lifted their bag from the floor and followed him out the tapestry and into the hallway. Hermione ran, trying not to catch anyone's eye, and caught up to Draco.
"So, we haven't had much time alone this week," Draco said, out of anyone's hearing.
"And we won't have much time alone this weekend," Hermione said, pulling her bag up onto her shoulder. Draco pushed the doors open and marched out onto the sunlit grounds, shooting her a sad look. It was a cool day, and the breeze picked up Hermione's scarf, twirling it around her body. It was such a beautiful day...if only it weren't for the prefects behind them.
Ron jogged up beside Hermione. "Is Malfoy bothering you?" he asked, his hands clenched into fists.
Hermione still hadn't told any of her friends about her and Malfoy. Nobody knew. "No, Ron, I was just making sure we were still going to buy the streamers, since Flitwick can conjure them," she said, breaking away from Malfoy, who was quickly joined by Pansy and Blaise Zabini.
Lavender came up on Hermione's other side. "Hey, Hermione! Have you decided what you're going to be for the ball?" she asked energetically.
"I don't know, what about you?" Hermione asked. She wasn't particularly interested, since whenever anyone asked her about the ball, she thought of how Harry had asked Ginny. Of course, she didn't like Harry anymore, but she didn't like that he had gotten over her so fast. And Ginny...Hermione sensed she was becoming bad news.
Ron, Lavender, and Hermione chatted the rest of the way, and Hermione got the distinct impression that Ron and Lavender were over. Maybe that was because they didn't directly talk to each other the entire time.
Hermione checked the group into the Moonlight Inn once they reached the village of Hogsmeade, and they went to their rooms. The girls were in room 910, and the boys in 912. The rooms were enormous, with five queen-sized beds in each. There was a sitting area around the fireplace, and a door that connected the two rooms. The bathroom in the girls' room was nice, although it couldn't compare to Hermione's bathroom back at the school.
When everyone was settled in, the group went out to do their costume shopping. Lavender grabbed Hermione by the arm as soon as they were on the cobblestone lane, and directed her into a trendy store.
"Hold on, I hope they have what I need here," she said as she quickly shuffled through a rack. Hermione absentmindedly spun a rack of masquerade costumes as Lavender searched. "Here!" Lavender said, pulling out a red, sequined mini-dress. It was one of the shortest things Hermione had ever seen, but it was completely Lavender.
She went to pay for the tiny article of clothing, and Hermione sat outside to wait. Across the lane was another trendy shop, and inside, everything was arranged by color. Hermione was intrigued.
"Ok, cool!" said Lavender, now sporting a bag with her new dress. "I'm going to be a devil...I got a mask, too," she pulled out a matching red sequined mask. "Anywhere you wanna go?"
Hermione nodded, pointing across the street, and her friend grinned. "Oh, I love that place!" she said, dragging Hermione across the student-infested lane. She saw Ron down the street and caught his eye. He waved and pointed at a bag swinging from his arm, holding his thumbs up. Hermione smiled and followed Lavender into the store.
She looked at the racks, passing by the red; she didn't want to take Lavender's color. Orange and yellow looked awful on her, so she passed them by. She flipped through the green, pulling out a few costumes of interest, and the same with blue and purple. When she got past the black and white section, she found the most dazzling dress, and immediately put it on her pile.
A saleslady helped her into the dressing room, and she tried on her costumes one by one, saving the dazzling dress for last. As she pulled on the last dress, she realized that it was going to be the one she bought. She went out to model it for Lavender and the saleslady, and they were both amazed.
Hermione stood in a strapless silver dress. It clung to her in just the right places and had a row of sapphires at the top of the dress. She spun, and the skirt swished as she moved her legs. The saleslady handed her a silver mask with sapphires around the edge, and Hermione put it on. She adored it.
"I'll take it," she said proudly, returning to the dressing room to change back into her plaid skirt and green top. She was so excited to dance in the dress; if only she had a date.
Hermione returned to the inn that evening, rosy-cheeked and content. Lavender had ditched her for Anthony Goldstein, the Ravenclaw prefect, and Hermione had wandered around until she ran into Harry and Ron, discussing Quidditch as usual. She was happy joining them, because it seemed as if everything had returned to normal between the trio. Harry had gone back to the castle, and Ron and Hermione had had drinks for a while before going back to the inn for dinner.
After dinner, the students split up to do whatever they pleased, and Hermione, unable to find Lavender, went for a walk with Ron. They walked up the lane towards the Shrieking Shack, and Ron pulled Hermione into a dark back alley.
"Hey, Hermione, you know how you and Harry broke up?" Ron asked, advancing towards her.
Hermione felt odd. "Yeah."
Ron moved closer as Hermione backed up into a wall. "Was it because of me?"
Hermione tried to think about what Ron had said, but before she could reply, he was on her. He forced his tongue into her mouth and Hermione felt helpless to resist. She was trapped between Ron and the wall, and her thoughts ran together as though she had been drugged. Hermione opened her eyes as Ron slid a hand up her leg under her skirt, and she tried hard to resist. A large figure came to the opening of the alley.
"Weasel! Get off her!" a voice said. Hermione felt Ron being pulled off her and she watched Ron fight with the man that had saved her. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and saw that the mystery man was Draco. Ron ran out of the alley in surrender and Draco walked over to help Hermione up.
Hermione felt like she had a bad hangover. "Draco," she said, hugging him. He pushed her away.
"What was that about?" he asked.
Hermione opened her mouth. What was it all about? She had no idea, so she opened her mouth to try and explain anyways.
"Never mind, I don't want to know," he said, turning on his heel and walking away. Hermione ran after him, her shoes clicking on the street.
"Draco, wait!" she called after him.
He turned. "Fine. Just try and explain this."
Hermione sighed. This was going to be hard. "Ok, well, Ron and I went for a walk. And he led me into this alley, and then he asked me if I broke it off with Harry for him—which I did for you, really—and then he was...he was just on me! And my brain felt all messed up and I honestly couldn't stop him."
Draco held her shoulders and turned her so that the light from the street fell onto her face. "Do you swear you didn't want to?" he asked.
"I swear to Merlin. I'd never give up what I have," she said, unwavering.
Draco smirked. "No girl in the entire world would give up what you have," he said, pulling her onto the ground. Hermione glared disapprovingly, so he added, "And no guy would ever give up what I have. It's a sweet deal."
Hermione grinned. "Oh, that's right it is," she said, kissing him passionately.
Draco pulled away reluctantly. "Careful, Weasel might come back."
"Right," she said, shivering at the thought of what would have happened with her and Ron if Draco hadn't come along. Her Slytherin prince escorted her cordially back to her room, and Hermione greeted the other girls that were back before changing into warm pajamas. Pansy was presumably still out with Blaise, and Lavender was doing god-knows-what with that Anthony fellow. Hannah Abbott and Padma Patil were talking about—what else?—boys, and a stack of girly magazines surrounded them.
"Hey, can I see some of those?" Hermione asked, pointing at the magazines.
"Yeah, sure," Hannah said, pushing a stack towards Hermione, who grabbed the one off the top. It looked as though it was a People-esque magazine with the most recent happenings in the lives of the wizarding world's most rich and famous. It was old; the date on the front was August 20th.
She flipped through it, looking at the various pictures and articles. There were two pages dedicated to the wild party that the Weird Sisters went to. Apparently they got incredibly smashed and ended up enlarging everything in sight until most of London was oversized. Hermione giggled at this prospect and flipped the page.
"England's hottest, youngest wizards," read the title. Hermione looked down the page, seeing many attractive wizards, all candid pictures of them at parties. Each man had a short paragraph about him next to his picture, explaining his claim to fame.
As she scanned the pages of the article quickly, an extremely attractive face caught her eye. From the moment she saw the blond hair, she knew exactly who it was. Intrigued, she read the blurb.
Draco Malfoy, son of the wealthy Lucius Malfoy. He is pictured here at a mere 17 years old, partying at his manor with some friends after passing his apparation test. He is well known for playing the field, and when asked what he plans to do when he finishes school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he said, "Whatever floats my boat." Everyone loves a rebel.
Hermione laughed out loud at the article. Hannah and Padma leaned over, looking at the page.
"Oh, yeah, isn't that awesome? We go to school with him!" Hannah said.
"Isn't he so hot?" Padma said, gazing dreamily at the picture of the partying Draco. Hermione closed the magazine, not saying anything, trying hard not to laugh at the short biography of Draco.
At midnight that night, Lavender and Pansy returned, and all of the girls turned in. Hermione laid in her bed, not feeling remotely tired at all. Why had Ron done that to her? And why did Draco choose her over every other girl that swooned over him? And thank goodness Harry was over her.