Chapter 4

He gracefully slid his hand into hers as he fell into her chocolate brown eyes; eyes he could get lost in. And at that particular instant, the music began to play.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" He whispered, unable to speak louder. His breath seemed to have seeped out of his lungs into the air around him.

"Indeed you may kind sir," she replied in turn with a smile that made her eyes twinkle.

He had a good look at his dancing partner. A stunning periwinkle dress with a beautiful sweetheart neckline and silver accents flowed gracefully down her gorgeous willowy figure. Perfect. Even Father wouldn't be able to say no to her. Not that it matters what Father thinks, he will have nothing to do with this. With a genuine smile that lit up his stormy grey eyes, he led her to the dance floor to waltz. He felt as though his feet were no longer on the floor…

"DRAKIE! Oh come on Drakie, you can't possibly be sleeping still. Uh… Drakie?" Suddenly a hint of fear gleamed in Pansy's eyes. Her Drakie did not look happy. In fact, he looked a tad violent….

Only with the greatest of self control did Draco Malfoy resist the urge to take hold of her neck and throttle her into oblivion, although such on attempt would surely be unsuccessful, due to Pansy's "sizeable" advantage. I mean, needless to say, his hands wouldn't really fit around her neck. Ah well, it was the thought that counted.

"Pansy, I swear, if you ever even touch me again it will be the last thing you ever do on this earth."

"But, Drakie... I just wanted to congratulate you on getting Prince Charming. I mean, I'm devastated I didn't get Cinderella but we all know Lavender Brown is Trelawney's favorite brownnoser. But they did give me the part of the lead lady mouse…" Pansy rambled on cheerfully. In fact, she was almost too cheerful.

"Come on Hermione, wake up! WAKE UP!" Lavender yelled forcefully into Hermione's ear. "Transfiguration starts in 15 minutes. We're going to be late!"

With a yelp Hermione quickly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sprang out of bed feeling slightly disoriented. Like she wasn't where she thought she should be. Why am I so tired? I'm really going to need a nap this afternoon, maybe during free period if possible. With that thought she hurriedly scampered off to get ready for class.

"Wow Hermione, sleep much?" asked Ron as an extremely disheveled Hermione slipped into class just as the bell rang. Her hair was even bushier than usual and she had unnaturally large bags under her eyes. She had the haunted look of someone who rarely slept.

She put her hand in front of her mouth to stifle a yawn. "Oh, I'm just a little tired today is all," she replied distractedly as she opened her most recent roll of parchment. "What on earth…" Her page was filled with her handwriting and covered with notes and figures she didn't even remember writing.

"What, only five weeks ahead of schedule? Shameful really, falling behind on your schoolwork like that. Where are your priorities?" Harry said with a laugh. "You know Hermione it really isn't a sin to be under two months ahead of the rest of us. After all, you're only human. Or mostly human that is." To his complete surprise his head remained bruise-less after that particular comment. That reply would usually earn him a slap upside the back of the head.

"No, that isn't it. In fact I'm three months ahead of schedule. The only problem is I don't really recall writing these notes…." Then it hit her. She was staying up late to catch up on school work because she couldn't sleep. Why was it that I couldn't sleep? Only things that make me nervous keep me awake at night. What have I been anxious about?

"The auditions!" she gasped. "Guys, I totally forgot about checking the cast list this morning." She sighed exasperatedly at the blank look on their faces. "Cinderella…?"

"Oh!" they both said in unison with a look of comprehension dawning on their faces.

"Oh yeah, Ginny mentioned something to me about that this morning. Something I was supposed to tell you if I saw you…" Ron sat and pondered for a moment with his fingers thoughtfully stroking his chin. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "By Jove I've got it! She told me to tell you that you got the part. Yes that was it." He found himself suddenly surrounded by a pair of surprisingly strong arms seemingly trying to choke the life out of him.

"I got the part, I got the part, I got the part!" She kept repeating with the eyes of the entire class on her back.

"Miss Granger that is quite enough. Honestly, that kind of behavior out of our very own Head Girl. Five points from Gryffindor." Professor McGonagal said with a look of mild surprise.

Then, suddenly, she looked at Hermione with a strange glint of pride in her eyes. "On second thought Miss Granger, I think congratulations are in order. Ten points to Gryffindor." She smirked in an almost Snape-like manner at a gaping class.

"Alright, back to business. Please open your books to page 182…"

A/N (because I know you guys love 'em...):

School has officially started for me :-( so my writing style might improve a bit. Hopefully. Please let me know what you guys think about the story so far, like if it's going too slow, or whatever. Flame me if you feel like it. I am also open to any ideas you might have and might even incorporate them into the story, so please please please review! Now for the shout outs...

cReAtIvE-tHoUgHtS : I'm glad you like the story! And for your guessing effort I will give you a virtual high five and an eyebrow wiggle (not sure why...) but unfortunately you aren't right. Good effort though. And watch out for those boats.

mysteriouscharm : thanks for the review!