"…I hate you because I can never have you."
"You…what?" I whispered. My mouth was slightly open and my eyes were abnormally large. I was mentally incapable of wrapping my brain around the fact that Draco Malfoy actually liked me.
I mean, I did change, but…still, all those things he said about me were not only just now. Me being better then him at all the classes him had been throughout the entire time I've been at Hogwarts.
"Granger, you might want to stop looking like a dead fish." Malfoy said staring at me with amusement written all over his face.
"Now, my turn to ask. What did you ask me?" he inquired.
"I…I asked you why you hated me." I said. I had been previously staring at my feet, but as I said this slowly my eyes ran up his body and met his eyes.
Immediately the small smile that had been on his face disappeared. His eyes that had seemed to always open up around me, even if only for a second, had rebuilt a barrier on them, excluding everyone but him from the numerous thoughts around him.
It was almost as though he was afraid of what he had answered. Wait…was he?
"Draco…why do you shield yourself from everyone?" I asked, but never received an answer, because at that moment Snape dismissed class and Draco disappeared.
I walked up to the Charms corridor, but it was a useless cause. All I could think about during the entire class was Draco. Halfway through the lesson, I decided the best thing to do was write a note to Ginny. Seriously, what else's a girl to do in this situation? I took out parchment and a quill and began scratching away. As soon as I signed my name and folded the parchment into a square, Professor Flitwick dismissed us.
As I made my way down to the Great Hall for dinner, I looked for a redheaded female, who happened to be sitting at her usual seat in the middle of Gryffindor table.
"GINNY!" I yelled as I walked in. She spun around with a smile on her face and beckoned me unnecessarily towards her.
I handed her the note and ate my food while she read. It looked like she had re-read it at least 4 times, as if she thought I was joking. She looked up at me as I finished eating, but before she could comment, Professor Dumbledore was standing behind me, requesting my presence.
I grabbed my overfilled bag and followed him, only then noticing Draco Malfoy walking next to me. My knees felt like they were giving way, so I turned my head a looked at our headmaster. Needless to say, I regained my balance quite quickly.
"Teddy Grahams." Dumbledore said as we approached the entrance to his office. Draco, not knowing what Teddy Grahams were, made a face of confusion, which only made me smile more.
Walking up to our headmaster's office in an awkward silence, I could feel Draco's eyes penetrating my senses from behind.
"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, please take a seat and make yourselves comfortable," said Dumbledore.
We did as ordered and he continued telling us why he brought us to his office.
"When I made you both head boy and girl I mentioned that one of your duties would be to organize the dances. Now I wish to call upon you both to create a winter formal. Hermione, I presume that you are familiar with what this dance is, so I'll leave it to you to inform Draco of what the details are. The dance will be for 6th and 7th years only, and that is the only detail I am contributing. It will be up to you two to come up with the theme, what type of dressing is required and whether dates will be required or not. Also, needless to say, the dance should be before winter break. That is all. Any questions?" Dumbledore asked as he finished, his eyes twinkling as if he knew something both of us were oblivious to.
"No, sir. But, if we think of anything I'll be sure to come and ask you." I answered for both of us.
"Very well. In that case, you are dismissed. Have a good evening."
I walked out of our headmaster's office first and leaded the way to our common room in silence.
"Scarlet Pixies." I said in a bored voice.
The portrait swung open to admit Draco and me. For the first time in what seemed to be an eternity, I turned to Draco and spoke to him.
"Umm…I was thinking that since we have the dance fresh in out minds we might be able to brainstorm a bit. Would that be okay with you?" I asked timidly.
What the hell was wrong with me? Since when did I ask for permission from Draco to do something, timidly?
"Yeah, sure." He replied.
I went in my bag, grabbed a quill, inkbottle, and a spare piece of parchment, and went to go sit be the fire.
As I titled my notes, I felt to couch sink as Draco sat next to me, and for some unknown reason, I started to blush. Hopefully he didn't notice because of the fire.
"So, umm…what is a winter formal?"
I turned to him and looked into his eyes. Relief washed over me as I saw, once again, his emotional barrier from Potions lowering while he stared intently back at me. I soon realized that I wasn't breathing, and sucked in a breath of oxygen before pulling my gaze away from him.
"A winter formal is usually a dance in muggle high schools where girls dress up in pretty, flow-y dresses and the guys dress in tux's. If we were to change it over to have a winter formal at Hogwarts, I suppose the guys could wear dress robes, but I'd like the girls to wear muggle dresses. I think they would have fun shopping for them."
"Sounds good to me. Now, for a theme." He said, his face scrunched up in concentration.
"Hmmmm…." I was at a total loss. What would a good theme be?
"What about dancing in the moonlight?" he said, his voice questioning as though he was, for once in his life, unsure of himself.
"I like that. A lot." And I really did. It was ingenious. It would have taken me forever to come up with a theme as good as that one.
"We could have red rose petals on the tables in the Great Hall, and then we could have white rose petals falling from the enchanted ceiling, as to make it look like large snowflakes." He said, his voice slowing gaining confidence as he threw out continuous ideas. "We might be able to make the enchanted ceiling have an enlarged moon, without actually modifying the real moon. It could be the only light in the Great Hall, making it seem more like we were outside, that way it would be more appropriate with our theme."
By the time he was done, we were both sitting there smiling, thinking about how perfect this "ball" was going to be.
"That's a wonderful idea!" I exclaimed. "I never knew that you had it in you to come up with ideas like that."
I began writing all of his ideas on my pieces of parchment, as I felt him looking over my shoulder.
"Now for the date. Would it be okay if we made the dance on December 13th?" I asked hopefully.
"Sure. Why'd you pick that date?"
"It's my birthday," I said, smiling.
"Oh, okay."
"So that gives us about 3 weeks to get everything together." I said, double-checking on my calendar.
"Okay. One last issue, does everyone need a date in order to go?" He said with a glint in his eyes, which I couldn't decipher.
"Yes. I think that would be best. It's kind of a tradition to bring a date to winter formals." I said, making sure I had written everything down on the parchment, so I didn't forget it when it was time to inform Dumbledore of our plans.
He was once again looking over my shoulder, but it seemed as though he was much closer than when we had originally started.
My heart started to beat faster in my chest as I slowly turned my head and met my eyes with his.
He was so close, I could feel his warm, sultry breath on my face. I closed my eyes, no longer able to look deep into his intoxicating eyes.
When I reopened them, he was still staring at me, as though he had never seen me before. Finally making up my mind, I started to lean forward, and slowly he did the same.
We met in the middle, our lips touching softly together. Soon, our kiss started to become more passionate, neither of us seeming to get enough of the other. I dropped my quill and my hands made there way up to the nape of his neck. I ran them through his silky hair, treasuring each moment and making sure to store them in my memory forever.
As we slowly broke apart, due to a lack of oxygen, both of our faces flushed to a rosy tint, but we maintained eye contact.
I broke eye contact once again after we had both caught our breath, and began to pack my things back into my bag. Not knowing the thoughts that were streaming through Draco's mind, I threw my bag over my shoulder and glanced at him once more before heading to my dormitory.
"Wait!" Draco called out to me just as I has said my password and was stepping into my room.
"Yes?" I questioned, anxious to hear what he stopped me for.
"I just wanted to say, umm….goodnight…Hermione." he said, fumbling over his words.
"Goodnight Draco." I returned as I closed my portrait of Tiffany.
I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed, thinking about tonight. I had never been so happy in my life, because for once I felt complete.
As I fell asleep, I thought of how he had said my name, consciously. I thought about how wonderful his kiss was. But most of all I thought about the last line in the note I wrote to Ginny –
I think I'm in love
A/N:
Okay not as long as last time but hopefully it was still okay. The following is a list of important-ish notes so if u don't feel like reading all of them at least read the last one.
I KNOW Ron is OOC. I think some of you are forgetting that I wrote the story and therefore I don't realize that I made ron ooc. Trust me. I've read all the HP books like 50 times and I know ron doesn't act like that. (and heather this isn't directed 2 u!)
someone mentioned in the review that they thought I was American, which I am, but no1 else seemed to have a problem with it, so idk wut the problem was. Mayb I was making them too American, so I apologize if that's the case.
I may be changing my name thinger to something else soon, but I will make sure to put it in my next update so you all will kno.
I thank everyone who reviewed. U guys are the best and hopefully within the next 2 updates u guys can get me over 100 reviews! Thatd b totally fab! Okay right so update now
HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!
tehe…couldn't help myself…
