Chapter Twenty Nine Part Two
A/N: I'm not going to let the events of HBP affect my story, so this story is still spoiler-free!
The next couple of days passed in a blur for Hermione. She struggled to put the whole episode of the slashed dress robes out of her mind and she found herself looking over her shoulders everywhere she went - but she stubbornly refused to tell anyone about it, not even Draco because she didn't want people to get worried about her. She was confident that if these people wanted to mess with her, being the smartest witch in the year, she would definitely be able to defend herself.
Fortunately, the situation turned out just as it had after she had received the first letter last week and nothing had happened to her so far - she just hoped that her luck wouldn't run out before the Yule Ball.
Hogwarts was in a frenzy on the day of the Yule Ball with girls frantically gossiping and worrying about the details of the Ball that night - but Hermione was too preoccupied with the thought of seeing Draco and being with him again after being deprived of him for so long to actually bother joining in with the chit chat.
These past few days had been so tough on both of them. When their eyes accidentally met across the dungeon in Potions, Hermione would bite her lower lip and try to convey all that she wanted to say to him in one meaningful look and sometimes he would chance giving her an affectionate wink in return, but usually his mouth would curve into a small smile although he would turn away soon afterwards, leaving her feeling alone and tired again.
Ginny's bright voice suddenly jerked her out of her thoughts.
"Mione! Can you believe it? It's finally the day of the Yule Ball - and that means its D-day for you and…you know who." Ginny giggled faintly.
Hermione gave her a withering sidelong look in response.
"Thanks for mentioning it, Gin. I mean I completely forgot about it, even with all these girls around me prattling on about it." she muttered sarcastically.
Ginny looked taken aback.
"Geez, Hermione…I was just trying to cheer you up a bit. You've been so quiet and withdrawn towards all of us lately and even though I know why you're acting like this, I still feel like you shouldn't take it out on us." Ginny said softly.
It was Hermione's turn to look shocked.
"What? Ginny, I haven't been taking it out on you guys its just that I've had so much on my mind - today's a really important day for me and the pressure's getting to me I suppose. And it obviously doesn't help to have everyone else harping on about it all day as well…" Hermione said with a sigh.
Ginny put her arms around her friend and gave her a warm hug.
"Its okay, Mione. Everything will be fine after tonight." she assured her.
"I hope so, Gin, I really hope so." Hermione murmured.
---
Meanwhile, Draco was also having problems, having woken up with a headache and someone pounding on his door.
"GO AWAY!" He shouted at whoever it was.
"DRACOO!" wheedled the person on the other side.
Draco groaned.
"IF ITS NOT PANSY, PLEASE GO AWAY. IF IT IS PANSY - GET LOST NOW I'M IN A BAD MOOD." he yelled bluntly, pulling his covers over his head.
"WELL TOO BAD BECAUSE IT IS PANSY AND I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU GET UP AND TALK TO ME!" she yelled back at him.
Draco cursed loudly, over and over but she wouldn't stop hammering his door.
Finally he gave up, haphazardly throwing his Slytherin robe over himself and flinging the door open and glaring down at the petite blonde girl that stood before him.
"What the hell do you want, Pansy?" he ground out.
"I want to know why you still haven't asked me to the Yule Ball! It's on tonight and to my knowledge, you still don't have a date." Pansy replied angrily.
"Well too bad Pansy, because your source of information is unreliable - listen to me carefully as I say this: I already have a date for the Yule Ball." Draco drawled, leaning against the doorframe smugly, surveying Pansy's crestfallen expression.
"You're-you're not serious are you?" she whispered, her eyes wide.
"Dead serious." Draco replied cheerfully.
"But we've gone to every Yule Ball together since fourth year!" She burst out indignantly.
"Then does it surprise you that I'm sick of going with you already?" Draco quipped.
Pansy let out a furious growl and slapped Draco hard across the face.
"Fine. Turn me down now, but you're going to be the one regretting what you've done when I turn up with Blaise as my date instead of you - oh, mark my words you're going to be so jealous." Pansy fumed, turning on her heel and storming off.
Draco let out a dry laugh - she couldn't be any more wrong about that…
---
The rest of the day passed in a blur for everybody and classes were dismissed earlier to allow students to prepare for the Ball taking place that night and Harry and Hermione hurried from Charms to the Head dormitories to get ready.
"So are you nervous about tonight, Mione?" asked Harry.
"A little." she admitted.
"Me and Ron definitely can't wait to find out who it is." Harry remarked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Hermione forced out a small smile.
"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." she replied, pushing the door open to her room.
Closing the door behind her, she collapsed onto her bed, realising what a big shock to everyone it would be when she turned up to the Ball with Draco Malfoy as her date. For a moment she actually thought of telling him that they shouldn't do this…it was too rash and so unlike her to actually throw everything to the winds and put herself on the line for a boy.
But she knew it was too late to back out, and she wouldn't want to anyway - this would be the best way to tell everyone about them and besides, she had been waiting for long to be able to be with Draco publicly instead of having to sneak around behind everybody else's backs.
Hermione glanced at the clock on her bedside table which read 4:05 pm and heaved herself reluctantly off the bed. She made her way to her wardrobe and pulled out her dress robes. She fingered the fabric absently as she suddenly had a flashback to that freaky afternoon when she got back from Hogsmeade…
She got distinct shivers down her spine just thinking about it - she had been pushing it out of her mind for so long that now that she was alone, with nothing else to think about, the feeling of apprehension and dread had come back even worse than before.
She shook her head to clear herself of those thoughts and tried to focus on the task at hand - getting herself ready for the Yule Ball. Hermione had almost no idea how to begin - she had so much time on her hands and not that much to do - she wasn't going to perform many elaborate beauty charms on herself or anything.
So she decided to take a shower first.
Unfortunately, she underestimated how long she had spent in the shower and by the time she had gotten out of the shower, the clock had ticked over to about 5:20 and she had barely an hour to get herself ready before Draco arrived…
---
An hour later, Hermione surveyed herself critically in the mirror. She had finally shimmied into her dress robes, which were made of a deep, vibrant shade of red silk and edged with matching creamy beige silk.
It was fitted and flattered her body shape without exposing too much - although the collar dipped into a V, it only revealed her skin until halfway down her chest, which was just enough for her to display the beautiful golden Gryffindor lion necklace that Harry and Ron had bought for her last Christmas.
Hermione glanced at the clock again, slightly impatiently. It read 6:25. The Ball was due to start at 6:45 exactly.
Suddenly there was a knock on her door.
"Who is it?" Hermione called.
"Its Harry." He replied.
She went to open the door and saw Harry wearing a set of sharp navy blue robes, his hair messy as usual but he still looked handsome.
"Looking good, Harry." she commented with a smile.
"You look better, Mione." he responded with a wink, "Whoever you're going with is going to be one lucky boy."
"Thanks." Hermione said softly, reddening slightly.
"So are you ready to go?" Harry asked.
"Um, not exactly…I still have to wait for him." Hermione answered.
"Oh. I see, well I guess me and Ron will see you at the Great Hall later then." Harry said tactfully, giving her a hug.
"Alright, have fun with Padma. Oh and don't forget that you and me have to open the Ball, since we're Head Boy and Head Girl." Hermione reminded him.
"As if I could forget." Harry laughed, walking away.
Hermione waved goodbye to her best friend as he disappeared out of the portrait hole, closed her door and sat down to wait for Draco. She glanced again at the clock on her bedside table and was slightly annoyed to find that it was already 6:30 and he hadn't arrived yet.
She began to fidget, causing her hair to fall out from the bun she had put it in. Figuring that she still had a while before Draco would come to pick her up, she stood in front of the mirror and began to rearrange her hair into different hairstyles. She tried putting it into a ponytail, tried making it curly, tried straightening it, but -
"Nothing looks right." Hermione sighed, letting her hair flow as it naturally does, with soft waves.
Then came a voice from behind her.
"Well I think you look absolutely stunning with your hair like that." murmured Draco, right next to her ear.
She jumped slightly at the sudden contact.
"Relax, its just me." He chuckled, placing his arms around her.
Hermione smiled, and checked him out in the mirror - he was wearing a set of steely and silvery grey robes that seemed to imitate the colour and consistency of mercury and they were held together by his customary shiny Slytherin clasp. His hair fell freely around his face instead of being gelled back and his stormy grey eyes twinkled at her in the mirror.
"Like what you see?" he asked smugly.
"Yes, I do." Hermione replied coyly, turning around to hug him properly. She had missed the feeling of his lean body against hers and by the way he was responding to the embrace, he had missed her too.
She stood on tiptoes and brushed her lips chastely against his, taking in his unique scent - a mixture of mint and cologne.
"I've missed you so much." she said softly.
"Mmm, me too." He answered, dipping his head to catch her lips in a more appropriate kiss. They seemed to pour all of their frustrations and longing for each other in the past few days into that one kiss and when they finally pulled away, Hermione was slightly out of breath from the intensity of it all.
"So, ah do you think that we should go down now?" asked Draco after awhile.
"Yeah, everybody else is already down there, so we're pretty much guaranteed a trouble-free walk down to the Hall." Hermione smiled.
"Alright then, after you, gorgeous." Draco opened her door and escorted her out of the dormitories.
They walked in silence down to the Hall, their hands entwined. They were each lost in their own thoughts, but both apprehensive at what their boldness in going public would result in…
The great oak doors leading into the Great Hall were closed - signalling that the Ball was about to begin.
Hermione hesitated with her hand on the doorhandle, her hand trembling slightly.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Hermione?" Draco asked her softly, placing his hand over hers to steady it.
She took a deep breath and turned to him.
"Yes." she whispered back.
"Okay then, this is it." He announced, turning the handle slightly - but Hermione refused to open it fully, still feeling as though she wasn't quite ready for this moment in her life yet…by entering the Hall with Draco, she was throwing away everything she had been fighting for and had believed in for the past seven years…
"Hermione, look at me." Draco ordered, "Listen to me carefully, no matter what happens when we go in there together in a few moments - I'll be here for you. I'm not going anywhere even if the school hates us being together."
She nodded, forcing out a smile.
"I know. Thank you." she murmured, and Draco put his hand on her cheek and stroked it reassuringly.
"Are you ready now?" he asked and she nodded in response.
"Any last words?" he continued pointedly, looking down into her hazel eyes…
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it abruptly, thinking that now wasn't the appropriate time for it.
"No, no last words." she said finally, beaming at him.
He took that as a sign that she was ready, and so he turned the handle and pushed the oak doors purposely open, exposing them to the whole school at last.
They stood framed in the door way for a few moments, and the chattering in the Hall ceased as they heard the doors creak open. At first there was silence as the students tried to pinpoint exactly who the couple in red and grey were but when realisation dawned on them - pandemonium broke out.
There were various sounds of shock, disgust and even screeching from the Slytherin table (from Pansy, no doubt) and many people stared at the couple in complete disbelief.
Tentatively, Hermione and Draco made their way to their designated table amid whispers and murmurs and a lot of glaring. They felt acutely uncomfortable at the fact that all eyes were on them, and not in a good way, but they tried to ignore it, walking with their heads held high. When they reached their table, they were faced with the equally thunderstruck expressions of Harry, Ron and their girlfriends. Ginny and Seamus were also there, and though Seamus bore a similar expression to Harry and Ron, Ginny seemed composed and smiled at her encouragingly.
Hermione swallowed once, before taking her seat next to Harry and Draco also sat down next to her, gripping her hand tight in reassurance.
"Hey guys." she greeted them softly.
Silence.
"You-you're seeing Malfoy?" Harry exclaimed incredulously when he found his voice. The exclamation seemed to echo around the Hall as there was complete silence now.
Hermione nodded slowly.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" Ron burst out in turn, his ears turning red.
"Nothing." she replied bluntly.
"This is some sick joke, isn't it Mione? Tell me this isn't real." Harry bit out angrily, glaring at Draco, who glared right back at him.
"Yeah, Mione - tell us what he did to you to make you do this to yourself! Did he feed a love potion to you or Confundus you or Imperius you or something!" Ron snarled nonsensically.
"That's enough, you two! You're supposed to be my friends for god's sake. Can't you respect my decisions?" Hermione cried out in response.
"I think Hermione's right. You should respect her choice - she's free to date whoever she wants to." Ginny put in quietly.
The rest of the table rounded on Ginny instead.
"Oh so now you're on their side!" Ron hissed at her.
"No I'm just being rational, Ronald!" Ginny hissed back.
"Ginny, I think you're the irrational one here. Hermione's going out with Malfoy! Don't you understand the meaning of that? She's going out with a DEATH EATER!" Harry yelled furiously.
"Potter, you've gone too far there! I am not a Death Eater!" Draco bristled, his composure disappearing as he joined in the argument.
"Who cares? Its only a matter of time before you become one anyway!" Harry sneered, "And you're not welcome here so don't even bother voicing your opinions."
"Potter and Malfoy! That is quite enough!" came Professor McGonagall's angry voice as she swooped down on their table.
"You should know better than to cause a scene at the Yule Ball, Head Boy!" She continued her tirade and Harry shut his mouth.
"The Ball is about to officially begin -" she pointed to the oak doors which were creaking open again to reveal Dumbledore, who cast a bemused glance at their table, "So I suggest you and Miss Granger put aside your differences and open the Ball with the first dance."
Hermione and Harry both sullenly stood up, each not meeting each other's eyes as the orchestra struck up a waltz. They walked to the middle of the Hall where an area had been left clear for students to dance and she put her hands on his shoulders, gripping them harder than usual, making him wince slightly. He put his hands on her waist, though trying to keep as much distance between them as possible.
As they danced, Hermione took the opportunity to survey the rest of the school and their reactions. Most were still staring at her in astonishment and she averted her eyes from them. Her eyes met Draco's as she scanned the Hall and he calmly smiled her even though the rest of the table (except Ginny) were giving him looks of deep hatred.
"I can't believe you're doing this to us, Hermione." Harry growled suddenly.
"Oh just get over it, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed wearily.
"You're just throwing away our friendship to be with him, you know?" Harry continued sullenly.
"That's not true! I still want to be friends with you all. Can't you just support me? If you get to know him, he's really not too bad." She reasoned and Harry let out a derisive snort.
"Look, it's not that much of a big deal because Draco's not actually a Death Eater or anything. I mean considering you befriended the only Death Eater in Slytherin at the moment -" Hermione responded in clipped tones.
"What are you on about! I've never befriended a Death Eater!" Harry exclaimed indignantly.
"Does the name Blaise Zabini ring a bell?" Hermione asked pointedly.
Harry stared at her in shock once again, but it was a different look of shock…more like a bomb had been dropped on him.
"You're kidding me. Blaise!"
Hermione solemnly nodded as the song came to an end and they stepped away from each other. The school erupted in forced applause as they watched their Head Girl and Head Boy bicker all the way back to their table.
"You have to trust me on this, Harry! I'm not lying!" Hermione said shrilly as they neared their table.
"Well you are going out with Malfoy, so I expect that he taught you some of the Slytherins' dirty tricks." Harry scoffed.
"Stop it! You're acting so immature about this! Look we'll discuss this later after the Ball - but please just don't make any more fuss about it. Let the rest of us enjoy the Ball first and then we'll deal with it." Hermione pleaded.
"Look if you expect me to be nice to Malfoy -"
"I'm not expecting that, Harry but please, for my sake, just pretend that its not Malfoy and instead think of him as my date." Hermione suggested.
Harry scowled at her but then nodded.
"Thank you." Hermione said softly as they took their seats.
Draco took her hand again as she sat down and she smiled at him in return.
"Is everything alright now?" he whispered sardonically into her ear.
She rolled her eyes, but said, "No, but don't worry about them for now. I'll deal with them later."
Then their attention was diverted to Dumbledore, who had stood up at the Professors' table at the front of the Hall.
"Thank you, Harry and Hermione for that splendid opening dance. I have rarely seen such talented dancers at Hogwarts," He chuckled to himself, "Now let us tuck in to the scrumptious feast that the house elves have prepared for us and let the Ball begin!"
As usual, the golden plates in front of them suddenly filled up with all different sorts of scrumptious food and as Hermione watched all of her friends tuck into their food, carefully ignoring Draco's presence, she sighed - this was going to be much harder than she had thought it would be.
---
A/N: Oh my god! Such a long chapter and the Yule Ball's only just started! Sorry guys, I had to compromise this chapter because I promised that the Yule Ball would be in this chapter (which it was) but if I had continued it, it would've ended up being around 20 pages long so you'll have to wait to the next chapter to find out what happens and I sincerely promise you all that you'll be 'pleasantly surprised'.
Thank you all so much for your support especially my wonderful reviewers (wow, the response to the last chapter was amazing) and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!
psychohart
P.S. Argh, I was so upset by the events of HBP! How could JK Rowling have done that! But it was a very satisfying read and I'm excited about the final book…so feel free to discuss your theories about HBP with me through your reviews because I'm eager to find out what you guys thought of it.