The next morning while Draco was at Quidditch practice, Hermione sat on her bed flipping through i Madam Glenmore's Dresses for all Occasions (Magical and otherwise) /i trying to find a dress later that night. Her studies and her relationship with Draco had left her no time to go shopping for a dress, so now she was relying on the magazine's promise, " i We instantly deliver! If its not there in 9 seconds then your dress is on us! /i " to bring her a dress on time. She had almost finished looking at all the pages and was going to give up hope when something on the very last page caught her eye. Its picture was smaller than all the others, so she imagined that it must not be a very popular dress. She held the magazine closer to face to get a better look. It was a pastel pink dress that had straps about the thickness of her index finger and was tightly fitted on top like a bodice. The bottom flowed out softly and stopped at the knee. "It's perfect!" she thought. She followed the ordering instructions and a few seconds later, a shiny silver box appeared next to her on the bed. She pulled the dress out and put a few Galleons in its place. The box then disappeared with a loud CRACK!. She unfolded the dress then held it up to herself and gazed at her reflection in the mirror.
"What are you waiting for dear? Put it on." Said the mirror. Hermione jumped, startled by its voice. She unzipped the back and prayed that it would fit. The dress slid fluidly up her thighs and over her shoulders. She struggled with the zipper, but after five minutes of tugging and pulling, she was finally able to get it up. She turned and looked at herself.
"Pretty as a Princess my dear. You'll knock him off his feet for sure." The mirror complimented.
Hermione smiled graciously. "Thank you." She twirled a couple times, enjoying the lightness of the dress and the flowing feeling. The soft pink matched perfectly with her skin tone, making it look a tad tanner than it actually was. She decided to wear her tango dancing shoes since they were molded to fit her feet flawlessly.
She was just stepping out of the dress when her bedroom door swung open and Draco walked in, sweaty and flushed from practice.
"Hey 'Mione, I'm back from pra…WHOA!" He stopped dead in his tracks and gawked at Hermione standing there in her underwear. Hermione expected him to advert his eyes and walk back out apologizing, but he didn't. He stood there looking her over. She glared at him.
"Don't you knock?" she spat. "I'm changing here!"
He smirked. "Yes I can see that. You're doing a good job too, keep going."
"OUT!" she yelled. He scampered to the door and let it shut loudly behind him. "Urg! Typical boys! Can't even respect a person's privacy…" she mumbled angrily. She layered on more clothing than she had planned to wear, Draco's interruption left her feeling very exposed. Even though he was her boyfriend, she had never had a guy just stand there looking at her half nakedness. Throwing on a second sweater just for good measure, she went downstairs to the common room. She saw Draco in one of the easy chairs reading, so she took a seat on the other side of the room. Draco looked up at her and laughed.
"Are you planning on going skiing, Love? I think your wearing enough clothes for a week in Aspen." He said teasingly. She shot a nasty look in his direction. He laughed again and stood up and walked over to where she was sitting. He sat down next to her but she turned her body away from him. He pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms securely around her. "Oh come on Hermione, I'm sorry. I couldn't help it, it's in my nature."
"Hmph." Was all that came from Hermione.
"Don't be mad at me. Hey, if it makes you feel any better, you have the hottest body I have ever seen." He said smirking. He pulled her closer to him and she felt his sweat on her dry cheek.
"Ew! Ew! Gross, Draco go shower, your sweating all over me, yuck!" She tried to fight her way out of his arms but he just tightened his hold.
"I'm not letting go until you say you forgive me."
"Yuck! Yuck! Ok I forgive you, now let me go, you smell." She exclaimed. He just chuckled at her sour expression. "Ew, now i I /i need a shower."
"Care to join me then?" Draco asked slyly.
"No." she said firmly. He shrugged his shoulders and trudged up to the bathroom. After she heard the shower turn on, she giggled. As embarrassed as she was, she was comforted by the fact that Draco found her very attractive. Herself, she had never found anything about her body or her personality that was anything above average, but it was nice to know that other people did. Ten minutes later Draco came back downstairs, running a towel through his damp hair. He sat next to Hermione again and pulled her into his lap. She combed through his hair with her fingers and kissed him on the forehead.
"I'm so glad you stopped abusing the gel bottle." She said.
"Yeah? And why is that?" he asked.
"I can run my fingers through it now. Not that I ever tried before, but I imagine it would be like trying to cut a steak with a spoon." She answered.
"Hey! That's mean."
"No." she laughed. "That's true."
"I think I deserve a snog after being so brutally attacked by your insults." Draco pouted.
"Ha! You know perfectly well that what I just said wasn't an insult. All our conversations before this year, now i those /i were insults. It was more like a snide comment."
"Do you always have to be right?"
"Yes. I do." She said smiling proudly.
"Fine then, but I'm all clean now, so does that mean I can snog you?" He asked hopefully. Hermione giggled.
"I suppose, but then I have to go get ready for the ball."
Draco checked his watch. "Hermione, its only 1:30, we still have plenty of time." Hermione gasped and leaped off his lap. "Oh no, what are you doing? Are you serious?" He asked.
"I can't believe its 1:30 already! I'm so behind, I've got to go get ready with the other girls. I'll meet you in front of the Great Hall at 7:30 tonight okay?" She gave him a quick peck on the lips and raced upstairs to grab her dress. She rushed back downstairs and passed a very confused Draco.
"What on earth could she possibly be doing that would take six hours?" He wondered. "Girls…" A few seconds later the portrait banged open again and Hermione ran past him.
"I forgot my shoes." She said over her shoulder. She came down, shoes in hand and bent down to kissed him again but this time he grabbed her wrist and deepened this kiss. "Draco I kiss have to kiss go kiss get ready. kiss Bye!" He let go of her and watched the portrait slam behind her for the second time in the last minute and a half.
Hermione fought her way through a sea of excited girls, attempting to get to Ginny. She spotted flaming red hair towards the back of the room and she began to push her way through. "Hey! Ginny!" Hermione cried.
"Oy Hermione, over here. Come on…just a little bit more…there!" Ginny grabbed her hand and pulled her through the mob of girls into a small but less crowded corner. "Oh hurry up, let me see the dress!" Ginny exclaimed. Hermione pulled it out of her bag and held it up for her to see. "Oh sweet Merlin it's gorgeous! It's going to look absolutely fantastic on you I'm sure. Draco is going to die when he sees you."
"Draco? How do you know about Draco and me?" Hermione asked worriedly. Ginny bit her lip.
"Half the school knows. Dennis said he saw you two holding hands at the prefect meeting and so now everyone is talking about it. A couple of Ravenclaw boys have a bet going to see if you have the guts to bring Draco as your date tonight. I'm really sorry Hermione. You know how these things are, they just slip out. It's really hard to have secrets at Hogwarts." Ginny put her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "But if it helps, I think you two look cute together." Ginny said, trying to cheer her up. "And he's a great dancer."
Hermione looked up at Ginny with an expression that fell somewhere between nervousness and excitement. "I love him Ginny. I do. And I told him already. He didn't say it back but I know he loves me too. There is something that just draws me to him and I can't fight it. I don't want to fight it. He and I, it just feels…right in every way. He even wants me to spend Christmas with him, and he invited my parents too! I just don't know how I can tell all this to everyone at Hogwarts so that they would understand."
Ginny held up a curling iron. "Show them. Don't tell them. You are going to be the most stunning girl at this ball tonight and you are going to walk in proudly, with Draco on your arm and your going to show them. Now go put your dress on and then we can start on this hair of yours." Hermione nodded and weaved her way to the bathroom to change. After waiting nearly thirty minutes for the bathroom to be available, she finally got in and changed quickly. When she got out she was relieved to see that the crowd had died down and people where now waiting in the common room. She found Ginny already in her own dress which was a deep emerald green strapless dress.
Before Hermione could even compliment her on her dress, Ginny pointed to a chair in front of one of the large mirrors. "Sit. We have a lot of work to do with this." She said, referring to her hair.
FASTFORWARD TO 7:15 PM
"Ginny I'm really nervous. What is everyone going to say?" Hermione asked her friend in a shaky voice.
"Hermione, you look beautiful. You i will /i go to this ball and have fun. You i will /i dance until your feet can't take it anymore. But you i will not /i care about anything that anyone has to say about your relationship. It is none of their business anyways. Now you will march your behind out of this tower and meet your date. Got it?" Ginny said forcefully.
"Gin, has anyone ever told you that you are becoming more like your mother everyday?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, now i go /i before your late. I'll see you down there."
"Thanks for everything Ginny." Hermione hugged Ginny before she walked hurriedly to the Great Hall. She paused at the top of the staircase and looked down. Draco was standing there waiting for her. Her breath caught at the sight of him. He was looking more handsome than ever in crisp black robes, with his hair combed back neatly, but not gelled. He hadn't spotted her yet, so she began her decent down the stairs. She was almost halfway down when he looked up. She smiled at him and his eyes went big and his jaw dropped.
Draco had been waiting for Hermione for five minutes when he glanced at the stairs for the millionth time. The first thing he saw was a pair of tango shoes and he knew instantly that it must be Hermione, because no other girl at Hogwarts would wear them to a Ball. The small feet were followed by long, smooth legs, then the hem of a light pink dress, then the toned torso, the breasts that Draco had to admit he stole glances at when Hermione wasn't looking, and finally his favorite part. Hermione beamed at him from her spot on the stairs. Her hair was falling in soft curls around her shoulders, and the only makeup that Draco could see was her peach lip gloss that he was very temped to remove with his own lips. He was pretty sure that he stopped breathing when he first saw her legs, but now he had to remind himself to suck in oxygen or he might pass out. He had never seen her as breathtaking (literally) as long as he had known her. She reached the bottom and he made an attempt to speak.
"Y-you…I like, your…wow ohmygod." Hermione laughed. She touched his forearm and sent a shock through his body.
"Relax Draco. And you might want to…" She cupped her hand under his chin and pushed it up. "There, now you won't catch any flies." He laughed nervously.
"Really Hermione, you look absolutely beautiful. I've never seen anyone so gorgeous." He said earnestly. She smiled graciously.
"Thank you Mr.Malfoy. You're looking quite dashing yourself."
"Shall we Miss Granger?" he asked offering her his arm.
"Yes, we shall." She looped her arm through his and they started for the entrance.