Chapter 18! I hope ya'll like this chapter, its about the ball so…I still haven't decided what to make happen still so here goes nothing! Well, at least nothing that's planned…
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 18: The Christmas Ball
Hermione awoke the next morning in her room along with Draco. Harry didn't want to see Ron so he slept on their couch. Hermione looked up and saw that Draco was still sleeping. Yes! She thought to herself. She finally had woken up before Draco. Hermione silently thought about something and gave it a try. She leaned up and gave him a very passionate and deep kiss. As soon as her lips touched his, he started kissing back. He hadn't even bothered to open his eyes to see who it was kissing him, but he knew those lips anywhere.
"What are you smirking at?" he asked as she pulled away with a smirk on her face.
"Nothing…" she said.
"No, tell me, what are you smirking at?" he repeated.
"I've always wondered if it was true that guys wake up to the call of sex…" she said.
"And…" he was a bit confused.
"And you did. You woke up to my kiss." she smiled at him and he smiled back.
"Very clever…" he said and flipped her over so that he was on top of her. He kissed her again.
"I would think so…" she replied. They kissed again, but didn't stop. They'd been there a few minutes when Harry knocked on her door.
"Hermione?" he called. Draco groaned and let her get up.
"Yeah?" she said as she opened the door.
"Dumbledore is in the fire." he told her. She looked back at Draco and he got up. They all went down to the common room to find the headmaster in the green flames.
"Hello." he said cheerfully, "I am just here to remind you that you are supposed to start planning the ball."
"I forgot about that…again." said Hermione. She blushed a bit and Draco smiled.
"Quite alright, Miss Gra- or Malfoy." he said smiling. "I would like you to get started today if possible. It will be on Christmas Eve and this will count as a grade also." he said.
"Alright, we can do that." said Draco.
"Glad to hear it, Mr. Malfoy. I must be going now, tah tah." his head vanished.
"I guess we better get started…" said Hermione and she walked over to the couch. "Do you want to help, Harry?" she asked him.
"Sure." he said and him and Draco sat down on the couch too. All three sat there planning almost ever detail except for some decorations that would already be up for the kids who go home for the Holidays. They sat there for a few hours before Draco had to leave for Quidditch practice. He kissed her lightly and went and got dressed. He kissed her again and then left.
Harry and Hermione saw that almost everything was done so they decided to go down to lunch because they had missed breakfast. They arrived at the Great Hall and walked to the Gryffindor Table. Hermione saw Ginny glaring at her brother. Hermione figured she had found out what happened. Harry and Hermione sat down in front of Ginny and away from Ron.
"Hi you guys, what's up?" she asked them.
"Nothing." they replied together.
"I'm guessing you found out about last night?" Hermione asked Ginny.
"Yup, Mum sent him a Howler this morning. Dumbledore must've told her." she said plainly.
"You aren't upset with us for what we did?" Hermione asked, referring to Ron's bandages and bruises.
"Are you kidding? I want to kick his ass myself, but I don't want a Howler from Mum, especially one that was like his." she said. Hermione didn't reply. Both her and Harry started eating. After a few moments of stuffing their faces, Hermione asked Ginny if she wanted to go with her to Hogsmeade tomorrow to find a dress for the ball.
"I'd love to!" she said cheerfully. "I need a dress too, so we can help each other, okay?"
"Okay." Hermione replied and left for her dorm. She jumped on the couch and thought about the ball. Christmas Eve was only two days away, leaving tomorrow to shop for a dress and set up the Great Hall. She would make the finishing touches on the day of the ball and then have Ginny up in her dorm again to help her get ready again. She'd been thinking of what kind of dress she wanted when Draco came in from practice.
"Hey, how was practice?" she asked, moving over so he could sit down.
"Fine. We have a good team this year." he said.
"That's good. I'm very curious as to who will win the first match…Slytherin or Gryffindor." she said.
"I hope it's Slytherin, even if Potter and I called a truce, I still hope we pummel them." he said smiling. Hermione hit him playfully on the arm.
"Ow, girl." he said rubbing his arm, "What, is there a big target on my arm?" he asked jokingly.
"You'd be hurting a lot worse if there was." she told him.
"I'm sure I would be…" he said leaning over to give her another kiss.
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The next day, Ginny came to Hermione's dorm and asked her if she was ready for Hogsmeade yet.
"Almost, just let me grab my sweater and my money." she told her and ran up to her room. She came back down and Hermione yelled she was leaving for Hogsmeade to Draco, who was up in his room. He came down the stairs.
"I want to walk down with you guys." he said.
"Okay, but we're looking for dresses for the ball so we're going to have to split up at Hogsmeade." Hermione told him.
"Okay, I'll just go find a tux." he said casually walking over to them.
"Okay, let's go then." said Ginny. As they were walking down the halls, they ran into Blaise.
"Hey, I was just looking for you." he said to Ginny.
"Sorry, I went to go get Hermione. We're going to Hogsmeade, do you want to come?" she asked as he gave her a quick kiss.
"Sure, I'm guessing you both are looking for dresses…?" he asked the girls. They nodded. "Than I'm going with Draco." he said smiling. Draco laughed. They all walked down to Hogsmeade, splitting up as soon as they got there. Hermione and Ginny went into a nearby shop to look for dresses.
"Look at this one Hermione." said Ginny, pointing out a very skimpy dress.
"I don't think so Ginny." said Hermione, slightly laughing.
"Me neither, but I wanted to see what you would say…" she said scanning more dresses.
"Hey, Ginny, I think you would look good in this one." Hermione held up a red dress that looked like it would fit Ginny's hair color.
"I like that one…" said Ginny. "I think I'll try it on." she walked into a nearby dressing room. Hermione looked around more while Ginny tried her dress on. She came out and showed Hermione.
"I like it. It's just the right color for Christmas." said Hermione.
"Me too. I think I should just get some red shoes and maybe an accessory or two and then I'll be done, how about you? See anything you like?" she asked looking at Hermione. Hermione looked around and came across a white dress. It had another v-neck and the sides flared out so that if you spun around, they would come out. It had a had a silver ring at the bottom of the v-neck that held the cloth together, but it was more elegant than skimpy.
"That's gorgeous, Hermione. Go try it on." Ginny said excitedly. Hermione tried it on and walked out of the dressing room. She had no shoes on so when she stepped out, she twirled and it flared, it was sort of like the dresses people where when they salsa dance.
"I think that's the best you'll find, Hermione." said Ginny.
"Me too." said Hermione. They both went back into their separate dressing rooms and changed. They came out and found the perfect shoes for their dresses in the shoe section. They'd decided not to get any accessories, so they paid for their stuff and went to go find Draco and Blaise.
They'd been looking around only a few minutes when they saw them coming out of the Quidditch store.
"Hey!" said Hermione and Ginny in unison. The boys turned around and started walking towards the girls.
"Hey, are you guys done?" asked Blaise. They nodded.
"Wow, that was fast. Well, faster than most girls anyways." he said.
"Hey, we got lucky." said Ginny. They decided to go back up to the castle because it had begun to snow and it was already freezing. When they got to the Hogwarts gate, Hermione looked back at Hogsmeade and noticed that everything was lightly covered in snow already and people were starting to clear into shops for the warmth. Hermione smiled, she loved it when Hogsmeade looked like that.
"Hermione, you coming?" asked Draco, turning around.
"Yeah…" she said, turning slowly towards him and he wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked up to the castle.
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Draco and Hermione posted the pairings of everyone in the early morning on the day of the ball. Once again, at the bottom of the list, it read:
Hermione Granger Draco Malfoy
Blaise Zabini Ginny Weasley
Harry Potter Cho Chang
Ron Weasley Pansy Parkinson
Lavender Brown Seamus Finnigan
Parvati Patil Dean Thomas
As everyone looked at the list, some of them whooped and threw high-fives at each other. Hermione watched as Ron glared at her and Draco, while Harry thanked Hermione by winking at her for putting him with Cho Chang, he still had a crush on her.
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Hermione and Ginny were in Hermione's room getting dressed for the ball. They were full of energy and Ginny couldn't wait to see what Hermione, Draco, and Harry came up with for decorations.
"I can't wait to see the Great Hall, I bet you guys did a great job." Ginny said while putting on make-up.
"It's nothing special, Ginny. It looks like a regular party." said Hermione coming out of the bathroom from putting on her dress.
"But still…" said Ginny, "I want to see it." Ginny looked over at Hermione. "Here, let me do your make-up." she said, beckoning Hermione to her side. She put white eye shadow, black eye-liner, and some blush on Hermione's face. Hermione had curled her hair too. Ginny's dress was a spaghetti strap and came to just above her knees. The front hung a little low, but also looked more elegant than skimpy. Ginny checked her make-up after she was done with Hermione. She wore red eye shadow, black eye-liner, some blush, and a light red lipstick. Both girls put on their shoes and walked over to the boys' room to see if they were ready.
"Come on out, you guys, we're going to be late." said Ginny through the door. They heard shuffling and Blaise opened the door.
"You girls look great." he said. Draco came up behind him.
"Yeah, you girls look beautiful." he said and leaned over to kiss Hermione. Blaise did the same. Both couples pulled away and started walking down the stairs. They walked all the way to the Great Hall and pulled open the doors. There were huge trees at each corner of the hall. There was icicles floating in mid-air and lights were drawn across the hall. They had also put garland around all the tables. Overall, it was very…Christmas-y.
"Great job…" said Ginny, looking around.
"Thank you, Ginny." said Hermione.
"You did great…again." Blaise said referring to the Halloween Ball. The couples found a table to sit at and Draco and Blaise went to go get drinks for the four of them.
"Loved how the decorations turned out." said someone behind Hermione. She turned around and was looking straight into Harry's eyes.
"Thank you." she said and told him to sit down at their table. Draco and Blaise came back and sat down. Blaise asked Ginny to dance, so they left for the dance floor. Harry was waiting for his date and saw her arrive at the double doors. Apparently she had told him to meet her down here. Hermione and Draco were sitting alone, side by side.
"Come on, let's dance." said Hermione after recognizing a song that the band was playing. She pulled Draco out to the dance floor and they started dancing. When the song finished, it turned into a slow dance. Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She laid her head on his chest and danced along with his body.
"I love you, Hermione." he said softly.
"I love you too." she said just as soft. They danced to a few more slow songs after that. Then, Dumbledore rose from his seat at the front.
"Happy Christmas to all." he said happily and proudly. "I would like everyone, but the seventh years to clear out and go back to your dorms, please." he said. Everyone groaned, but did as they were told. "Thank you." he said, "Now, I would like the seventh years to get with their partners, please, and stay with each other for the rest of the evening." he sat back down. Hermione and Draco continued dancing.
After about half an hour, a lot of the seventh years had gone back to the dorms because they were tired and wanted to wake up early for their presents. Pansy was with Ron when she cried, "Ron! Get back here!" she said and pulled on his collar to pull him back, it looked as though he tried to sneak off, but failed miserably. Everyone laughed at them, but continued on with their activities. Draco still had Hermione in his arms when all of the sudden BOOM! They heard a crash on the other side of the hall. All their heads snapped up and looked to see who made the loud crash, but Draco was already sprinting out of the hall with Hermione at his heel. He'd almost made it to the double doors when four Death Eaters appeared in front of them and more circled around them.
"Hermione, Run!" Draco yelled to the girl behind him.
"No, I'm staying!" she yelled back and was now back to back to him and throwing spells at any Death Eater she saw. Draco did the same.
"They're after you! Run now, Hermione!" he yelled pleadingly.
"No, they're after you too!" she threw a cruciatus curse at someone who was pointing their wand at her. She learned to fight Death Eaters fairly well when the fight with Voldemort broke out. She watched them yell in agony. She could see Harry fighting some Death Eaters across the hall too.
"Hermione!" he pleaded.
"NO!" she finalized their fight. They fought for a few more minutes, randomly throwing curses around the room when Hermione dodged a Avada Kedavra curse, but was hit with a Cruciatus Curse. She fell to the floor in agony, but didn't go down without a fight either. She randomly killed two Death Eaters with Avada Kedavra. Draco was right beside her and picked her up and ran for it. He held her the best he could while trying to use his wand to shoot spells.
"Harry!" he yelled. Harry looked around. He saw Draco with Hermione and ran to them. Hermione's eyes fluttered open slightly. She didn't faint, but she was in pain.
"Draco, put me down." she said.
"No, go with Harry and hide. I can handle my father." Draco said.
"No," she stood up, "I'm staying too." she said fiercely.
"Fine, but please watch yourself." he said and threw more curses out.
"Hermione! Behind you!" Harry yelled at the top of his lungs. Hermione spun around and kneed a guy in his genitals, he fell to the floor clutching them, but as Draco turned around to throw another curse, someone grabbed Hermione and pointed a wand at her throat.
"Do anything else and she dies." said Lucius. Draco's eyes widened in worry, but his blood boiled. Hermione struggled to get free, but his grip was too hard.
"Crucio!" yelled Lucius at Hermione, she fell to the floor and screamed in pain. Two Death Eaters grabbed Draco, who was just about to lunge at his father. Draco looked around, his blood boiling, he saw Harry fighting more Death Eaters to get to Hermione. Lucius picked her up and walked toward the door leading to grounds outside. Draco tried with all his might to get free, but more were now holding him now. They were holding Harry too.
All of the sudden, the Death Eaters just disappeared, but not by Apparation, they just disappeared. Draco looked around. He didn't see anyone, but Harry. He fell to the floor and cried. Harry came over to him and pulled him up.
"Come on, let's go, we have to find Dumbledore…" Harry was near tears, but tried hard to not to let them come down. Draco wondered what could've happened to Dumbledore, one minute he was there, the next he wasn't. Harry and Draco walked to the headmaster's office and entered after getting off the staircase. No one was in there. They wondered where he could have gone, so they went back to the Great Hall to see if he was in there. They looked around and saw some people at the front of the Hall.
Harry and Draco walked up to them and saw that Dumbledore was on the floor in front of them on the ground.
"What's going on?" asked Harry.
"The headmaster has been hit with one of the unforgivables and too many stunning curses." Madam Pomfrey fussed.
"Is he going to alright?" asked Draco.
"I don't know, a man of his age surely can't take all that at once. We need to get him to St. Mungo's." she said. She levitated him to the back room of the hall and disappeared behind it.
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Hey, I know its funky and weird, but bare with me here….let me know what you think…cuz I have no idea if this was good or not….I totally forgot about Dumbledore so I had to add him at the end…sorry, but I hope you review anyways…ttyl