Innocence Lost and Gained

Disclaimer - I own nothing except for the plot

Chapter 4 - Sleep with me?

Hermione laid on her bed staring at the ceiling with a million thoughts running through her head. She really didn't want to go. Yet, she did promise Pansy and Ginny. They were going to Hogsmeide to pick out their costumes for the Yule ball which wasn't for about 3 months. No one has even thought about it yet except for Pansy of course.
Hermione had asked how they would know which dresses to get if they didn't even know the theme. Pansy planned on being on the committee, which sign ups weren't for another month. She said she would kick and scream if they didn't have it be a masquerade ball, classic but still one of the more enjoyable themes they had.

Hermione got up the strength to get up and get dressed for their outing. The one fun thing about going to Hogsmeide is that it was one of the rare occasions where school robes weren't mandatory. She slipped on a long black shirt with a white button up top. Her first thought was.

'Would Draco like this?'

She then quickly dismissed it realizing this wasn't something that she should be wondering.

She then put on some boots that complimented the skirt wonderfully. She then quickley grabbed her wand and tapped the top of her head letting her hair become less frizzy. It wasn't as frizzy as it was a few years ago since her hair just naturally settled.

Suddenly a knock came to her door and Hermione startled jumped.

"Yeah?" She called out.

"It's Draco, you ready yet, Granger? Pansy isn't patient you know."

"Yeah, I'm ready." Draco opened the door as Hermione went and grabbed her denim purse.

Draco was taken back a bit, she looked absolutely perfect. His breath hitched and his eyes scanned her quickly. Hermione then saw he looked a fit flushed.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Fine." He lied.

"Lets go." Hermione said walking closer to the door and Draco followed.

While they walked to meet up with Pansy they made small talk.

"Why are you going? I mean if Pansy is picking out her dress why would she want you to see what it looks like before the ball?"

Draco stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well, she wanted to make sure my costume matches and besides there is a pretty good chance I'd forget what it looks like by the time of the ball." Hermione laughed.

"At least I'm not the only one who thinks that its to early to buy a dress."

"You're diffidently not the only one, Granger." They laughed. They were content standing right next to each other. When they saw Ginny and Pansy Hermione whispered.

"Prepare to part." They got closer. "Part." They both moved away from each other about 4 feet. Then everyone turned to see them.

"Hey, you two. Surprised after the long walk from your room you two didn't kill each other." Pansy said with a smile.

"You underestimate me." Hermione said as she gave both Ginny and Pansy a hug.

"So." Pansy said talking Draco's hand. "You ready to shop? Hope you brought your walking shoes."

Pansy dragged all three of them into a shop the moment they got to Hogsmeide.

"This is a new shop that just opened a few days ago. It has every dress for every occasion. They have everything from Yule ball dresses to wedding gowns. The moment Draco was out of ear shot Pansy turned to Hermione and Ginny. She then pointed to a dress.

"This is the dress I want to wear when I marry Draco." She said with a huge smile. Ginny giggled and Hermione's stomach dropped before giving a fake smile which she hoped was believable to the other two girls.

Draco went off to get something to eat while the girls shopped. Ginny spotted a hunter green dress and suddenly fell in love. She grabbed it and ran to the other girls.

"Look at this dress, its absolutely beautiful, isn't it?"

Hermione frowned. "It's Slytheryn colors."

"What's wrong with Slytheryn colors?" Pansy said putting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing but I just don't want Ginny getting beat up by both Slytheryn and Gryffindor."

"Well," Ginny started. "It's masquerade they won't know its me and besides its a great chance to be someone else for a night."

Pansy smiled. "Well, go try it on while me and Hermione look." Ginny nodded and went for the dressing rooms. After about a minute she came out .

"So?" Both Pansy and Hermione turned to see her. The dress was indeed gorgeous. It was straight which helped make her look a bit taller. No slits, which was so Ginny. It had straps and a straight cut over the cleavage. It was the perfect dress for Ginny.

Pansy then found a red dress and tried it on. The moment she came out she twirled around to show everyone. "Isn't this perfect?"

"Well it diffidently screams Pansy." Hermione said as she looked at the dress. It had a very low v neck, and was backless with very high slits.

"It's beautiful, Pans. I don't think I would wear something so daring though. Also, it's Gryffndor colors."

"Well, I'm using Ginny's concept and giving it a chance. Now we need to find your dress."

After about 10 minutes of 'no,' 'hell no', what the ...' they finally found Hermione the perfect dress.

When she stepped out of the dressing room was the moment Draco came through the door. His jaw dropped and is breath hitched in his throat. Before something started to grow within his pants he left before anyone saw him.

Hermione's dress was beautiful. It had slits that flashed a bit of thigh when she walked, it was ankle length and it has straps. Also a v neck that showed a touch of cleavage without going over board like Pansy's dress. The colors were genius. It was a dark red underneath and it had a sheer black lace over it.

"Oh my god!" Pansy stared in shock, Ginny then did the same.

"Does it look that bad?" Hermione asked almost about to cry.

"NO!" Pansy yelled. "It's perfect. You have to buy it. It's the perfect dress in the world. It's so you. Buy it. Buy it now before someone steals it right off of you."

"OK. OK. I will, don't be so pushy." Hermione went back into the changing room, put on her clothes and they all bought their dresses.

When they walked out of the shop Draco was there waiting on a bench. They then went to find masks.

Hermione put her dress in her dresser hoping it would still fit by the ball. Hermione then looked at her clock. It was 3 in the morning. She had spent to long on her homework. Thank god it was the weekend. She still had a tomorrow to have fun till classes start and she would have to buckle down again.

She was surprised that Pansy and Draco didn't spend the night together. 'Maybe they had gotten caught in the halls by one of the professors.' Hermione thought.

When that happens they don't visit each other for about a week.

She then slipped on a long shirt and a pair of shorts. She turned off her light and laid in bed with the comforter wrapped securely around her. After about ten minutes and she was just about to fall asleep the door opened. She turned to see Draco. He looked half asleep, he was in shorts and a shirt.

"What's the matter?" She asked with genuine concern.

"Can't sleep." He said walking over to her and sat on the bed.

"What's bothering you?"

"I've just been having some problems is all nothing to concern you with." Hermione didn't question it knowing if he wanted her to know he would tell her. She also didn't question why he had came to her.

Draco's eyes locked with hers and a question was asked with out words being said. Hermione simply scooted over and pulled back the covers. Draco climbed in and they fell into a deep sleep.

Authors Note - Sorry about not updating in a while but I've been trying to get things organized with a lot of different things and plus I got The Sims so I've been a bit distracted. I got tired of the game after about 2 days so I will write more often :)