Disclaimer: I dun own anything.

Chapter 7 – the dance floor

6 days before the ball….

Hermione gobbled down the rest of her fried chicken and cutlet. She tipped the whole goblet of water into her mouth and almost puked as she got choked because she was drinking too fast. Coughing furiously, tears started coming out from her eyes. Harry, who was sitting beside her, patted her back as he watched her trying very hard to speak. Ron looked at her in shock, "Bloody hell, the last time I saw someone eat so fast was when George and Fred cast a spell on their horrible plates of vegetables, making all the food vanish just like that." – Ron snapped his fingers. "and mom actually thought they were finally eating their daily intake of vegetables!"

"I've got to hurry, gonna be a horrible night for me." Hermione managed to say in between coughs.

"But your dance lesson is not until 2 hours later!" Ron stated.

"I know. I need to finish my assignments! By the time the irritating teacher decides to let us off, it may be dawn. To be on the safe side, I better finish my assignments before hand." Hermione said, as if what she was doing was pure common sense.

"aSSIGNments?" Ron watched as Hermione started to leave for the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Yes, and I don't have to repeat myself." Hermione rushed off, leaving Ron and Harry there, eating dinner, "alone".

At 9pm sharp. Venue: The Great Hall.

Malfoy was extremely early. He did not want to be late for his first dance lesson. He desperately wanted to show off during the ball. It would be great to be in the limelight, especially since there would be visitors present, it does not matter to him who he was dancing with. Just then, Hermione rushed into the Great Hall, with her bushy hair bouncing madly behind her. She sat across from Malfoy, not saying a word.

"What are you wearing on the night itself?" Malfoy asked. Hermione stared at Malfoy. Is it me or is he actually initiating a conversation?! Malfoy was not looking at Hermione, he was looking sideways at practically nothing, unless he suddenly found the crack in the brick wall extremely interesting.

"A..a gown?" Hermione replied hesitantly.

"Do I look like an idiot, what else does a girl wear during a ball other then a gown? A Tuxedo?" Malfoy replied sarcastically, still not looking at Hermione.

"I… I'm not quite sure actually. I… don't know where to get one. Maybe I'll just wear the one that I wore for the Yule Ball. " Hermione looked up at Malfoy, seeing no expression on his face at all.

"Are you crazy? Wear that horrible thing you wore during the Yule Ball? " Malfoy turned and faced her for the first time.

"But… I've got nothing else!" Hermione pointed out.

"I… I'm going to get my new outfit tomorrow. My parents trusted me enough to let me get it myself."—Malfoy started looking around the Great Hall, as if there were baby fairies flying around—"You… wanna come along?" he suggested.

Hermione looked at Malfoy, curious and not really wanting to reply at all. Malfoy turned to look at her, not shifting his sight from her either. Finally Hermione said something. "You're kidding."

"Not."

"Yes you are."

"Not."

"What's the damn trick you're trying to play on me this time?"

"Sorry but I really DON'T get you."

"Head Boy, Draco Malfoy, asking Head Girl, Hermione Granger whether she wants to buy clothes with HIM. See how ridiculous that sounded?"

"It sounded totally logical. Head Boy asking Head Girl to get out of this horrible castle for once to get some decent clothes for the darn ball in which they're dancing together."

"Sounded ridiculous."

"Logical."

"Ridiculous. "

"Totally possible."

"Crazy. Are you trying to pull my leg or something?"

"Childish. You've yet to answer my question. Yes or no."

Hermione thought, it was not really a bad idea, since she needed to get a new gown too, and Malfoy would be able to bring her to a sensible shop that actually sold gowns that looked… good.

"Fine, but I'll need to go to Gringotts first."

"Meet you tomorrow before dinner."

"You better not be late, or you'll know what I'll do…"

Hearing foot steps nearing them, they turned and saw Dumbledore walking towards them. "Good, very punctual indeed. Now if you would kindly please follow me…" Dumbledore turned around just as he reached them, leading them to the dance class. After several twist and turns, he came to this dead end that was near his own office.

Standing in front of the blank wall, Dumbledore muttered "Jumping Jellybeans" and the wall started shifting. There was a glass door in front of them. As they followed Dumbledore through the glass doors and into the room, they noticed that it was dimly lit and circular in shape. The walls were covered with mirrors and the floor was of polished oak wood. The ground they were standing on was slightly above the dance floor, a small staircase led them down onto the actual dance floor and they stood there in the middle of the room, waiting for something to happen. Dumbledore called out to the empty room, "Amanda!" At first they did not notice any change in the room, it was as still and quiet as before. However, Dumbledore seemed to have found the person he was looking for. Gesturing towards the air beside him, Dumbledore spoke to Malfoy and Hermione, "Mr Malfoy, Ms Granger, let me introduce you to your dance teacher, Miss Amanda." Malfoy gave Dumbledore a weird look, questioning him about what he was doing and Hermione looked desperately around the room, searching for the "teacher". "Good evening Ms… Amanda, wherever you are now." Hermione managed to say. "I'M RIGHT HERE!!!!!!" someone screeched. Hermione covered her ears and wondered what was the amazing creature that managed to make that noise. It was a low-pitched voice that sounded like a guy who just broke his voice. I thought she was a Miss.Hermione turned towards the direction where the sound came from. It was somewhere near Dumbledore's right. Straining her eyes, she still could not see her teacher. "Erm… where?" Hermione asked, not sure where to direct the question to. "Right in front of you!"came the same voice she heard just now. "But…I…I don't see you." Hermione replied. Malfoy, obviously unable to see the teacher either, looked around the room. With an irritated tone in his voice he declared, "Why don't you jolly well show yourself. This is getting so childish." As soon as he finished his sentence, he felt someone pull his ears, hard, lifting him slightly off the ground. Then came the same familiar voice, but much louder, as if she was right beside him. "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII…….. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEE…….DIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSREEEEEEEEESSSSSSPECCCCCCCTFUUUUUUUUUUUUUL SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she practically screamed Malfoy's ear drums out of his ear. Malfoy shouted in pain, "Let go of me you bloody…."—He was lifted higher into the air,-- "please." He dropped onto the ground. Picking himself up, he massaged his now red and swollen ears muttering curses under his breath. "watch your words young boy…" came the voice again. Grudgingly, Malfoy zipped his mouth up.

Just then, a silvery figure appeared beside Dumbledore. It was the perfect hour-glass figure for a woman. Wearing a pure white gown that extended all the way to her toes, it clinched on to her figure enough to make the whole girls' population jealous. Malfoy stood there staring,engrossed. Seeing this, Hermione gave him a quick punch on his arm, waking him up from the fantasy world. "What did you do that for mudblood?" he hissed. "To prevent you from flying too far away from reality." Hermione whispered back. The woman in front of them slowly became more clear and less transparent giving them a more solid-like impression. It was as if someone was adding colours to a picture, and in this case, to the woman. She was slightly tanned with a great complexion that was smooth and flawless. Her silky black hair was slightly curled at the end and reached all the way till her waist. Her eyes sparkled as if it was made of water. She stood there so gracefully, with her hands by her side and standing with a posture impossible to imitate. She looked so, vulnerable, as if she was floating in the air. There was a certain softness in her eyes that made her look as if she was sick, contrasting the tone of her skin which looked totally healthy. "cool…" Malfoy muttered under his breath.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Miss… Amanda?" she greeted, hoping that she got the name correct.

"Yes, I am your teacher for dance lessons which will last a week I suppose?" Miss Amanda replied with a crisp a clear voice with perfect pronounciation, totally different in pitch from the voice they heard just now. Her expression was one of a young teenage girl, and her actiosn were now much full of energy. "work hard and make sure you put up a show for everyone on that day." She grinned with a twinkle in her eyes and showing her neat row of teeth. She seemed extremely friendly and seductive. Then, facing Dumbledore, who made no comments for the past half an hour, she assured him sweetly, "I'll take care of this pair of young couple, you can go for now."

"We're NOT a pair of young couple!" both of them screamed at the same time. They turned to stare at each other, hatred in their eyes.

"Maybe you should learn to speak your own mind and stop imitating my words." Hermione spat.

"Well then maybe YOU should learn to stop being a copycat too, 'cause I'm absolutely sure I speak my own mind." Malfoy retorted.

"Really? When's the last time you had a mind?"

"If you would like to have a piece of my mind, I'm more than willing to give it to you before you conclude I've got no mind, since yours is so big it's popping out of your head. "

"Sorry but I don't understand your sentence, perhaps you failed your language test?"

"I'm extremely apologetic that you, a brainy nerd don't understand the normal language of the modern generation."

"pardon me but your sentences don't seem to make sense, maybe you should take a look at your sentence structure?"

"Thanks a LOT for the advice but my sentences are not meant to make sense to you."

Hermione turned her back to Malfoy and shouted back "Whatever, ferret."

"NERD. Mudblood." Malfoy turned his head away from her.

"What did you SAY??!!" Hermione crossed her arms, giving Malfoy a deadly stare.

"I said…"

"All yours." Dumbledore said to Miss Amanda. He had a slight twinkle in his eyes as he exited the room, leaving Hermione and Malfoy there, practically in hell.