Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Are these really necessary? Fine. I don't own Harry Potter.

Authors warning: This may get fluffy, I can't help it.

So there they were, best enemies and dance partners. Anyone watching the pair would have laughed at their awkwardness. Hermione had her back to the stone wall of the astronomy tower watching him. Draco stood a careful four feet away while he shifted his weight back and forth… and back and forth… and back and forth…

"Stop already!" Hermione nearly shouted. "You're driving me bonkers. Could you just stand still?

Draco's head snapped up and he stopped his fidgeting. "Alright Granger, lets set a time and a place. As much as I would like to put it off until the last minute, I have no idea how long mudbloods take to learn how to dance so we had better start as soon as possible. Does dawn at the lake work for you?"

"Fine ferret," she replied with a roll of her eyes. As much as she would have liked to snap back at him, he might actually be right. Not about the mudblood thing, of course, but about how long she might take to learn to dance. Coordination had never been her strong point and she had never even seen a waltz, let alone tried to dance one.

"Ok, it's settled then." Draco watched as Hermione turned to leave. "And Granger?" She turned around, curious. "Be sure you bundle up, it's going to be cold outside."

She nodded and smiled. "The same goes for you Malfoy."

Hermione had always been an early riser, and was usually up just before dawn anyway. She opened her eyes and saw that it was probably twenty minutes before the sun would make its glorious appearance. She slipped out of bed, being sure not to wake her roommates, and made her way to the closet. Over half of it was packed full of Lavenders extravagant clothing, the other half was divided between the Hermione and Parvati Patil. She made her way to her end of the closet and selected her favorite pair of jeans and a warm burgundy sweater before hopping into the shower. She emerged ten minutes later, squeaky clean and smelling like strawberries from her shampoo. Quickly, she got dressed, pulled on a hat, scarf, jacket, and gloves, and made her way down to the lake.

Draco on the other hand, was rarely an early riser. He liked to lounge in bed as long as was humanly possible, especially during the winter months. Today, however, he jumped out of bed with what one might have called excitement, and nearly skipped to the shower. While rinsing the shampoo out of his silky blonde hair, it occurred to him why he was so happy to be awake this morning. I'm meeting Hermione, I mean Granger, by the lake for dance lessons. I told her to bundle up. She told me to bundle up. She smiled at me. Wait a minute, she smiled at me? The world is coming to an end! The shock of this sudden thought caused him to open his eyes as a particularly large amount of shampoo cascaded down his face, and consequently into his eyes. He cursed under his breath, mindful of his roommates on the other side of the door, as he managed to open his eyes and rinse the soap out.

He finally emerged from the shower fifteen minutes later, smelling like what ever it is guys shampoo smells like. No one could tell you exactly what the scent is, only that it's manly. Draco opted for a pair of jeans and his new green sweater which was so dark a green it was almost black. For no apparent reason, his mother had sent him the sweater during the past week. Maybe for my outstanding grades in potions, he thought cheekily to himself.

He quickly wrapped himself in his coat, grabbed a hat, scarf, and two pairs of mittens, the second of which he shoved into his coat pocket. Just incase she forgets her mittens, I don't want her to be cold, he explained to himself. At the time, being that it was early morning and he wasn't a very coherent thinker in the morning, this was a perfectly logical thought. And with that thought, he quietly closed the door behind him and ascended the stairs leading to the outdoors.

It was shaping up to be a fine day. The air was crisp and clean and the sun was bright and clear as it peaked over the top of the forbidden forest. By the time he got to the lake, he had already spotted Hermione sitting on a large grey rock under a leafless tree. She was patiently watching the sun come up. Her head turned at the sound of his feet crunching in the snow.

"'Morning ferret," were the first two words out of her mouth, accompanied by a slight smile. "Ready to dance?"

"Born ready." Draco replied. "Alright, let's get started." He pulled her up from her rock, and showed her how to stand. Her right hand was in his left, his right hand on her waist, and her left hand on his shoulder. "Ok, this is where the fun begins. Just think 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3 and you'll be just fine."

Hermione nodded and focused her attention on his feet and the pattern her feet were supposed to follow. Front, side, together. Back, side, together, which she kept repeating in her head. Unfortunately, her feet couldn't seem to follow her thoughts. Hermione had never been accused of being coordinated.

Draco could tell she was becoming frustrated. Despite the cold, her face was turning red and tears were forming in her eyes. So he began to whisper "One two three, one two three, one two three…" This didn't seem to be helping much. Try as she might, Hermione couldn't get her feet to go the direction she wanted them too. After fifteen minutes of absolute misery, her attempt at calm broke.

"Fine, you're right!" She yelled.

"Right about what?" Draco replied, utterly confused.

"Maybe I am just a stupid mudblood who can't learn to dance."

Shocked, he could do nothing but stare as he watched her run up to the castle with tears streaming down her face. And with each step she took, his heart sank a little bit lower.

A/N: I know, I know. It's been almost…three weeks? I've had a paper or two due, rather large ones at that, and as much as I wanted to I couldn't stand the thought of writing any more. I'm sure more than one of you know exactly how that feels. Random thought, what would you guys think of adding another couple to this story? If you think it would be cool, who do you think it should be?

Happy Reading, and thank you for all of the fabulous reviews!

Doulos