Disclaimer: We own nothing but the plot.
A/N: Luna and Star creep out slowly form behind a wall uh…hi guys…we're really sorry that we have taken so long to update. There's been a lot of stuff that's happened that prevented us from updating. They should be coming faster now though. Enjoy!
Applause erupted from the great hall as the students welcomed their head boy and head girl. Cheers were coming especially loudly from the Gryffindor table and Slytherin table cheering for their own respective friends.
"Wow, looks like they are happy to see me." Draco commented to Hermione softly.
"Don't flatter yourself" Hermione said simply and rolled her eyes as they walked up to where Dumbledore was.
"Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger have beautifully organized and decorated the great hall I myself did not recognize it when I came in. I would like to thank you for your wonderful efforts. Now, let's eat!" Dumbledore announced and then sat down.
The food appeared instantly and the students ate ravishingly. The great hall had been decorated with orange and black streamers and floating jack-o-lanterns and all kinds of Halloween things. Instead of the normal four tables, there were smaller circular tables that sat about four people. Harry and Ginny sat with Ron and Sarah and Elena, Orion, Kat, and Chad sat at a table right next to theirs. Hermione and Draco sat together at a smaller table near the staff table.
As everyone ate, they talked softly if they even talked at all. The food was so good that barely anyone really talked beside the needed small talk to be polite. Hermione laughed silently and held her napkin over her mouth so Draco wouldn't notice but he did anyway.
"You know, in some countries, laughing at nothing would be considered insane behavior." Draco commented softly.
"I'm not insane." Hermione retorted just as softly.
"Coulda fooled me." He smirked. " Mind telling me what you were laughing at then?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. " I was laughing at the fact that no one is talking because they are to busy eating."
"I still think you're insane." Draco took a bite of his apple pie.
"I think I'll go for a second opinion on that." Hermione flicked a small piece of bread at him. It hit his cheek and she giggled softly.
"Hey!" He exclaimed a little too loudly and everyone turned to him. "Umm…go back to your food. Nothing to see." Everyone turned back to their food clearly more interested in their food than in Draco.
Hermione's shoulders were shaking as she tried to hold in her laughter. Draco was blushing as he took another bite of his apple pie. He looked at her and gave her an icy glare.
"That wasn't funny." He said.
Hermione nodded her head. "Yes it was." She managed to say.
"I thought that there was a no bread flicking clause in our agreement to be friends."
Hermione shook her head. " Sorry Mr. Malfoy, there was never such an agreement. I can flick bread at you anytime I like."
"I'm going to talk to my lawyer about that."
"You're not getting a dime out of me and I'm keeping the summer home."
Draco chuckled so cutely it made Hermione smile. Draco noticed and raised an eyebrow.
"What are you smiling at?" He asked.
Hermione finally realized she was smiling and blushed slightly. "Oh, Um…nothing. Just felt like smiling."
"Uh huh…" He looked at her skeptically. "You are an oddball Granger."
"Takes one to know one." Hermione said and before Draco could come up with a come back the food had disappeared.
Dumbledore stood back up and addressed everyone again. " I believe that now is the time for the dance portion of this ball to begin. Everyone please stand up."
Everyone did and with a wave of his hand, the tables and chairs disappeared and were replaced with chairs lining two of the walls and a long rectangular table that had desserts along with punch. The middle of the great hall had now been transformed into a giant dance floor. The DJ was Just below Dumbledore and the speakers were set up.
"Now, let the party begin!" He said happily and music began to play. "Would the head boy and head girl please take the floor and start off the dance with the traditional first dance." He turned to Draco and Hermione.
Draco placed a hand on the small of Hermione's back and led her to the middle of the dance floor. As Harry and Ron watched Draco lead Hermione out, they gave him cold glares.
"Who does he think he is touching Hermione like that?" Ron commented to Harry.
"I know, he could give her a disease or something all we know." Harry agreed.
Ginny rolled her eyes and rounded on the both of them. "Don't get started. For the last time, they are friends! They have managed to put their differences behind them and be friends. Something you gits wouldn't be able to understand. Now drop it and don't let me catch you two at it again or else." She warned them.
"Yes ma'am." Harry and Ron said in unison. They didn't want to get on Ginny's bad side and end up being hit with one of her bat bogey hexes.
"Good. Ooh! Look! They're about to dance!" She turned her attention back to Hermione and Draco.
The DJ put on a moderately slow song and the two danced. Hermione had to admit that Draco was a good dancer and Draco also had to say the same thing about her. Both of them were a little nervous about being so close together.
"Um…you dance good. I mean you're a good dancer." Draco told Hermione awkwardly for some reason.
"Yeah, you too." Was all Hermione could say.
The song finally ended and they went their separate ways. The DJ played faster paced song and everyone was out on the dance floor. Elena, Kat, Chad, Orion, Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron formed a big circle and danced together. Sarah left Ron to go dance with some other guy. Ron was a bit upset at first.
"Ron, don't worry about her anymore. She's changed than when you first met her. She's not the same. She's a bit of a bitch now." Kat had told him.
Ron had laughed at that. "thanks Kat. I feel better now."
Ron was now Hermione's dance partner although everyone changed and switched partners. During the middle of the dance, some of the professors had walked around with clipboards. Mcgonagall tapped Ginny on the shoulder and pointed to the DJ booth. A look of realization came across her face and she made her way through the crowd.
"Um…Hello? Can everyone hear me?" She had pointed her wand at her throat and done a voice amplifying charm so everyone could hear her.
The great hall quieted slowly until either Kat or Elena had shouted be quiet. Then, the hall quieted immediately and Ginny smiled.
"Thank you whoever that was. Kat, Elena. This year we decided to do a costume contest and a dance contest. Our very own professors are the judges and as some of you figured out, they were walking around writing things down on their clipboards. They have come to their decision and the winners are…"
Professor Flitwick handed the envelope to Ginny and she opened it slowly to add to the tension. She had a slightly evil look on her face as she opened the envelope knowing that everyone was waiting for her to do so.
"Open it already!" Someone in the back shouted and everyone agreed.
"Alright, alright." Ginny opened the thing and announced the winners. "The winners of our costume contest are…Kat and Chad for their wonderful costumes from titanic!"
Everyone cheered and Kat and Chad went up to get their small trophy. Kat was about to give a speech when Chad led her back to where the others were. Ginny and a couple others laughed.
"The dance contest hasn't started yet but everyone be on your toes!" Ginny finished and changed her voice back to its normal volume.
The dance continued and everyone went back to dancing. While Hermione was having fun with her friends, Draco on the other hand was not. All night he had been avoiding Cynthia and Pansy. When he would escape one he saw the other and etc. finally he was able to escape outside to the gardens but found that it was being occupied with several couples who were busy making out. He found a secluded corner and stared at the bright moon. Nothing really ran through his head, he just stared at the moon that seemed to know something he didn't.
"Draco?" a familiar soft voice broke his thoughts. He turned his head to see it was Hermione. "It's almost time for the final dance and I would hate to dance by myself."
Draco chuckled, "actually that would be quite funny." He fully turned around and leaned against the garden wall.
Hermione leaned her elbows on the wall facing the moon and rested her chin in her hands. "No that wouldn't. Then everyone would think I was insane."
"Hate to tell you but…I told you so." Draco smirked.
"Told me what?"
"That you were insane. I already told you that. What's with a few other people knowing as well?"
"Ha ha, you're so funny." She said sarcastically. "And I told you that I was going to get a second opinion."
"You know, for being my date I didn't see much of you at all. I had to spend the entire time running from Cynthia and Pansy."
"I bet that was loads of fun and I didn't see you at all either so you're at fault too."
"Well I can't exactly walk over there with potty and weasel around you all the time."
Hermione hit his shoulder. "Don't call them that. They are nice once you get to know them."
"If every time I try to approach them they don't hex me into oblivion."
"I'm trying to work on that. I can't exactly go over to where you are either. All the Slytherins would try something and don't even deny it."
"Yeah you're right. Seems like we would have to meet in the middle, all secret agent like."
Hermione laughed as he pretended to talk in to his sleeve and look around. "You are not nearly as handsome or suave to be the next James Bond so just give it up."
He gave her a mock hurt look and said, "that hurts…that really hurts you know. Here I have all these ambitions to be a secret agent and you just stomped on them, completely stomped and ruined my plans for the future! I am going to be a hobo begging for money. Thanks Hermione. Thanks for nothing." He said dramatically and pretended to sob into his arm.
Hermione rolled her eyes. She laughed and pulled his arm away from his face and found he was laughing as well. "Where did this sense of humor come from? I never would have expected that you of all people would be funny."
Draco shrugged and simply said, "I've always had a sense of humor just that you can't really joke around like this with the type of people I had to hang out with. Can't exactly be all buddy buddy with that lot."
Then Jordan came into the gardens and told them they were needed back inside. She had sort of a knowing look when she told them and walked away. They followed her and when they arrived at the great hall again, they saw that Elena was holding the dance competition trophy and doing a dance with Kat. The music ended and Dumbledore spoke again.
"Well, I have to admit that this ball has been the most exciting so far. Thank you again Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger for organizing such a fun event. Alas, it is time for the closing dance and then, time for bed. If the head boy and head girl take the dance floor for the last dance please." He looked at Hermione and Draco who were at the punch table. Hermione was drinking punch and Draco had a piece of cake stuffed in his mouth.
Hermione led him away from the cake and told him to swallow the giant piece that he currently had in his mouth. He almost choked doing so but it went down. They took their place and "Crazy" by k-ci and jojo started to play. As the music went on, more and more people led their date onto the dance floor and danced along with Draco and Hermione. Eventually they were lost in a sea of people. No one was really paying attention to them or anyone around them.
Draco felt a little weird having Hermione in his arms. It felt so wrong and at the same time, it felt right. It felt very comfortable having her there. The same with Hermione. She couldn't believe that this was the same Draco Malfoy that had tormented her for seven years. He was so different than how she thought he was.
The end of the song came and Draco had the unexplainable urge to kiss her. He couldn't explain it but he didn't fight it either. When she looked up at him, he kissed her lips softly. Hermione was surprised at first and then she kissed back slowly. It felt good kissing him and then she realized that what they were doing was so wrong.
She pulled away from him and out of his grasp. She had a look on her face that he couldn't decipher. "We shouldn't have done that." She said softly and then ran out of the great hall. Everyone seemed to notice this and turned to him.
The song finished when Harry, Ginny, and Ron walked over to him and proceeded to ask him what had happened. Actually, Harry and Ron demanded and Ginny asked.
Frustrated, Draco just said "I don't know!" and ran off after her.
He arrived at their dorms and went in. he went up to her room and saw that she wasn't there. He went back to their common room and waited for her. He waited all night until he eventually fell asleep and that was when Hermione went up to her room. She had been up in the astronomy tower and had been thinking about what had happened between and was so confused.
How would that kiss change them when they were finally friends?
A/N: whoa…well how will that kiss change everything that they ever knew? Guess you'll just have to find out! The next chapter should come soon. I promise that it will this time though. Well review please!