It was finally THE day... the ball had arrived and the entire school was buzzing with excitement. Hermione had been given prefect duty until seven and the dance started at eight. She ran into the common room flushed and puffing at 7:20. Most of the girls in her dorm were almost ready. They all looked so beautiful, their hair to perfection and their faces made up to look like they were ten years older. Lavender looked over at Hermione.
"Oh my gosh, Hermione, you had better hurry up! You've only got forty minutes to get ready."
"I know, Lavender." She ran across to the boys' dorm and knocked.
"Ron, listen I'm going to be late so just go ahead without me... I'll be down a little later ok?"
Hermione heard his muffled reply through the door and ran into the dorms. She took a quick shower to wipe away the sweat she'd accumulated on the run up and to tame her now wild hair. By the time she was finished, all of the other girls were ready and meeting their dates in the common room or the Great Hall. Hermione had the dorm all to herself to get ready.
Twenty minutes later, she was ready to go. She patted herself on the back as it was just now eight o' clock and she wouldn't have to miss too much of the ball. She took her time getting to the Great Hall, not wanting to mess up what she had worked on. As she opened the door, she looked around the hall for the one person she was most excited to see.
Draco was feeling very miserable. He finally asked Blaise Zabini to the ball with him and she had put so much makeup on he was sure she had applied it with an icing spreader. She was nearly falling out of her dress in every way possible and she had not so smoothly hinted to him that she was not wearing much underneath the gown. He merely nodded his head. It was all he could do to keep from vomiting.
He entered the Hall and immediately set to looking for Hermione, but she was nowhere to be found. Figuring that she wasn't going because of the Ron situation, he set off towards a table as far away from the dance floor as possible. He sat at the table by himself, telling Blaise to go dance with someone else. Draco propped his legs up and leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed across his chest. He sighed heavily, not believing how bored he was. A few minutes later, the door to the Great Hall opened and Draco's feet fell back to the floor with a thud as he watched Hermione enter.
She was a thousand times more beautiful than any girl in the school. Her curly brown hair was half swept back, held in place by sparkling pins. She had worn makeup but it was minimal, accenting her best features and making her eyes look even deeper than normal. Her gown was simple, a deep scarlet gown with lacy cap sleeves and rhinestones scattered down the dress. It was plain on its own, but when she put it on it became something earth-shatteringly gorgeous. Hermione's eyes were scanning the room, managing to skip over a stunned Ron and a proud Harry as they fell on Draco Malfoy. She smiled nervously and waved.
Draco felt his whole body stiffen as he sat up straight in his chair. Their eyes met and the room disappeared. The floor fell out from Draco's feet and the people who crowded the halls suddenly vanished. He finally let go of every qualm, cut himself free from every string holding him back. He felt himself falling hard, but not the fall that he experienced months ago from his broomstick. Draco felt no fear as the realization finally hit him.
He was completely in love with Hermione Granger.
Hermione felt her heart lurch. Draco was just staring at her with no response. He was so drop dead gorgeous in robes of plain black, his silvery blonde hair loose for that evening. She had wanted so badly to impress him; did he think she looked stupid? She decided to find out.
Ron and Harry looked on in pure horror as Hermione waved at Draco. They nearly fell over when she walked straight over to his table. Then she was pulling up a seat! They looked at each other wide-eyed and in disbelief.
Draco didn't know what to do. There she was, sitting at his table looking like a goddess. There he was, head over heels in love with her.
"Hey, Silver. Why are you sitting by yourself?"
"Oh, I came with Blaise and I didn't feel like dealing with her." She chuckled.
"Yea well, I was on Prefect duty until seven, so I was running behind. I look horrible, I'm sure."
"No, you look absolutely radiant." He looked into her eyes, mesmerized by the velvet brown color and the sparkle that was back in her eyes. Hermione felt her stomach drop and her breathing pause. She was excited that Draco thought she looked good. She blushed.
"Oh but all those other girls had hours to get ready, they look so much better than I do."
He took her hand. "Hermione, you are the most beautiful girl in this room."
She looked down at their clasped hands and felt her heart stop at his words. She looked back into his eyes, finding that she never wanted to leave them. Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, 'Mione," Ron said through clenched teeth. "Come on, we're all sitting over there, you must have missed us."
"Oh, alright. Hey, Silver, I'll see you later, Ok? It was great talking to you." She just managed to get those words out before Ron was pulling her away from the table. Draco was confused. He was sure that the two had broken up.
"Ron?" Hermione wanted to ask him something on the way to their table.
"Yes, 'Mione?"
"How do I look?"
"You look just fine, Hermione." She sighed. Always the romantic, Ron was.
An hour or so later, Hermione was left by herself at the table while Ron twirled Lavender around the dance floor. Draco decided this was his opportunity.
"Would you like to dance?" He held out his hand for Hermione. She turned around in her chair, obviously startled by his sudden appearance. She grinned.
"That would be brilliant." She took his hand and he led her to the dance floor as a slow song came on.
They began to sway. "Hey, Hermione...I thought you and Ron had... you know... split up?"
Hermione felt somewhat uncomfortable.
"Ah, well... we got back together." Draco wished he had his wand, because he would have Aveda Kevadra'd himself right there on the dance floor.
"Oh... well... you know what I think about that, Hermione."
She sighed and nodded. "I know."
They swayed in silence for a while. Ron was searching the hall for Hermione wondering where she could've gone to. His eyes rested on the pair. In their opinion, they were dancing too far apart. In Ron's opinion, they were dancing entirely too close together. He nearly ran over and tore them apart.
"Hermione, can we talk?" She gave Draco an apologetic look before being pulled away by Ron.
Draco watched the couple. Ron was gesturing at the door and Hermione frowned at him. She shook her head and he got upset. He could see Ron starting to raise his voice and Hermione flinched. She looked upset as she tried to calm him down but by now he was waving his hands around wildly and his face was a deep angry red. Draco watched as Hermione fled the Hall and Ron stormed out soon after.
Draco was pissed. How could Ron be such a prick? He left the Hall a few minutes later not wanting to look suspicious. He turned towards the open doors that led outside; maybe that was where Ron went. Draco had every intention of beating Ron until there wasn't enough left to transfigure. He stormed towards the Quidditch pitch and came to an immediate halt upon what he found.
Hermione had her knees pulled up into her chest and her head resting on her knees. She heard Draco approach and she looked up to see his angry face. He wanted nothing more than to wipe away the tear that was trailing down her cheek. Instead, he unclenched his fists as his face softened.
"Are you ok?"
"I'll be fine." Draco sat down next to her, unsure of himself, and looked up. Storm clouds rolled across the night sky, preventing any light from breaking through. He looked back at Hermione.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head. Remembering the previous week, he put his arm around her shoulder and she relaxed into him. She wasn't crying anymore. There was a break in the clouds and a beam of moonlight hit the pitch where Draco and Hermione sat.
They looked at each other, trying to read the other's eyes. They were being pulled toward each other as if there was a portkey between them. Their faces drew closer and closer as Hermione shut her eyes, waiting for their lips to meet. Their breath met in hot puffs and Draco's breath quickened as he smelled the sweet vanilla scent of Hermione. Their lips were a mere centimeters apart and Draco shut his eyes.
A crash of thunder caused them to jump apart as the moon was once again shut behind clouds. Rain started pouring from the heavens as they mourned the lost moment between Draco and Hermione. They both ran inside as the rain came down harder. Neither looked at each other as they murmured their good-byes and departed to their respective common rooms.