A/N: Now that Paid Date is over, I have more time to spend on this story. (smiles happily) So, as I was writing this chapter, I suddenly got this wonderful idea that will be told to you later on in the chapter. This chapter is pretty long…well…long to me…I don't know how you guys are going to say. It was 7 pages in my notebook, none of my most recent chapters of any story have been this long, so I am happy. So, enough of my babbling, let's get this party started—err… I should say chapter started huh? Hehehehehe


Christmas was in two days and the whole castle was excited. Hagrid had brought in the traditional twelve trees in two days ago and the teachers had decorated them. The ceiling in the Great Hall told everyone that it was snowing a beautiful white coat outside. Everyone was all in the holiday spirit, except for two people: Hermione and Draco, though they showed their friends they were, but being excited on the outside and in the inside were two totally different things.

Hermione walked behind Harry and Ron, who were chatting cheerfully about Quidditch. They were heading to see Hagrid. Hermione wrapped her cloak tighter around herself and put her hands in her pockets. She stared at the sky, not watching where she was going, but since they had gone to Hagrid's place a million time before, she could go there with her eyes closed.

Ron and Harry stopped without warning and Hermione ran into them. "Oof, sorry," Hermione said softly. "Why'd you stop?" she asked and looked up. She didn't need an answer: Draco and his goons stood in front of them. She met Draco's eyes and looked down instantly. He looked away too. Thankfully, Harry or Ron, nor did Draco's gang notice.

"What do you want?" snapped Ron. His fingers tightly wound around his wand that was in his pocket. Crabbe and Goyle did the same, but no one drew them out. No one noticed that Draco and Hermione were acting a little different. Hermione nervously switched her weight from foot to foot and Draco scuffed a foot into the snow.

"Come on guys," Hermione muttered to Harry and Ron. "Ignore them. Let's go." Hermione steered them away from the Slytherin's and the three continued on their way to Hagrid's. Hermione looked over her shoulder to see Draco and his goons walk off.

"One of these days," growled Ron, punching a first into the palm of his other hand. "I'm really going to beat the living daylights out of them!"

"Come on, Christmas is in two days," said Hermione. "Let's try and act civil?" She got in front of them and walked backward. "Christmas is supposed to be full of joy and warmth."

"Not when it's snowing," laughed Harry, making Hermione smile. That made him happy: to see her smiled like she used to before her parents were murdered. 'How is it that she's still smiling? How can she still get out of bed every morning?' thought Harry and he inwardly sighed. 'If I had known my parents--or Sirius--as long as she knew her parents…would I be able to go on?…So how…?'

They knocked on Hagrid's door and a beaming Hagrid opened it and let them inside. "Hot cocoa?" he asked the trio, who nodded. "So, how are you Hermione?" Hagrid set some water to boil on the fire.

Hermione smiled warmly at Hagrid. "I'll be fine. In time, I'll be the same." Hagrid smiled under his unruly beard. "It'll be hard…it'll be tough going home without them there…even so, I'll be fine. They will always be with me, in my heart and in my memory." Hagrid hugged her, cracking her back a few times in the process.

Once the water started to simmer, Hagrid made the cocoa. He passed a mug to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, then sat down in his huge chair. He stared at the three with a glimmer in his eyes. "You've all grown up so quickly. Far too quickly if you ask me. It seems like yesterday that I picked you up from your aunt and uncle, Harry."

"It was only less than seven year ago, Hagrid," said Harry, grinning broadly. "But, you are right. Everything's moving way to fast." He sipped his cocoa, thinking of all that the three have been through together.

What will happen this year? With Voldemort dead, what big adventure will they have to face? Death? They just faced that with Hermione's parents. Filthy death-eaters…they still think they could create Lord Voldemort's world. What if one of them died? What will the other two do? They had all become so close…like brothers and sister…Will they face falling in love? It's bound to happen…but…what will happen when it does? Will they stick with each other forever and for always? Even if two of them hated the person one of them fell in love with? These questions and thoughts flooded the three's minds as they trooped though the snow back to the castle an hour later.

They muttered the password to the Gryffindor Common Room and walked in to find every Gryffindor reading letters or running around frantically. The trio looked around, confused as to why everyone was running around.

"Neville…what's going on?" asked Ron. He looked around. The students were excited, but they looked angry at the same time.

"You haven't read your letters yet, have you?" asked Neville. He held a letter in his hands, as did everyone else. "They're on your beds. They were delivered about an hour or so ago."

Curiously, Ron and Harry went to their dorm as Hermione went to hers. As Neville had said, a letter lay on the middle of the bed. A rather large package lay at the end of the bed. She frowned at it. Was that delivered to her too? Neville didn't mention a package. She picked up the letter and opened it. Her eyes widen by the second.

Dear Ms. Granger,

On December 25th, we'll be holding our first Masquerade Bal. In the package is your gown and mask. Don't worry, the gown and the mask are absolutely beautiful. The staff and I came up with this as a house unity project that we hope will go well.

As we know that this will not work without a little twist. All the students will be an Angel or a Demon. You, Ms. Granger, are an angel. You'll meet your date in the library near the entrance of the Restricted Section.

For an extra twist, the mask will change your hair color, your eye color, and your voice. It's up to you if you want to reveal yourself to your date at the end of the night or not.

As always, there are a few rules you have to follow:

1. You cannot tell anyone who you are before the ball, after you change into your gown.
2. You can't tell anyone where you are to meet your date. With little investigation, it would be easy to find out who your date is.
3. You also can't try on, or even open your gown until the night of the Ball.
4. Also, have as much fun as you can muster.

We wish you the best,
Albus Dumbledore &
Staff

Hermione stared at the letter and raced out of the girls' dorm and into Ron and Harry's dorm. They looked up at her shocked. "Can you believe this? House Unity! Do you know what that means?" gaped Ron. "Have the professors lost their minds!"

"It's not like we'll know who our date is Ron. The mask changes everything," said Hermione. She sat down on his bed.

"it doesn't change your personality," said Harry. The three groaned. "it says you can't tell anyone who you are before the ball or it'll be easy to tell who're with…" He frowned, looking at the other two. "How do we dress?"

"I'm sure we'll know at dinner," muttered Hermione. "What are you guys? Angels or Demons?"

"Angel," answered Harry.

"Demon," smiled Ron. "You?"

"Angel," replied Hermione. "Let's try and see if we really know each other." Hermione said with a smile. "Let's see if we can pick each other out at the dance." The boys agreed. "Ah, it looked like we can't tell anyone where we're meeting either…the staff really wants this to be a surprise, huh?" The boys nodded. "We can't try on our gowns until Christmas either…what if I dislike mine?" Hermione sighed and looked at the boys. "I think this will be fun!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Girl thing?" asked Ron. Harry nodded.

"Even with the fall of Voldemort, the Slytherin's think they can still push the other houses around," said Hermione. "I bet they won't once they get to know someone from another house. This'll be our chance to build a bridge over that gap!"

"What if we're perfectly fine with no bridge? Slytherins to their owns and the rest together?" asked Ron. Hermione popped him over the head. "Ow!" He rubbed his head. "Do you actually expect them to be nice?"

"No, actually, I don't, but that doesn't mean you have to sink down to heir level," snapped Hermione. "You might not even find out who your date is anyway."

Feeling another argument brewing between the two, Harry decided to add water to the fire before they got on a 'Non-speaking term' again. "How about we go down to dinner?" said Harry just before it got nasty. "we'll get more information about the dance, I bet." Looking at him, Ron and Hermione nodded.

They walked to the Great Hall, chattering about the dance. They sat down on the Gryffindor Table to find the whole hall talking about the dance. Dumbledore stood, raising his arms into the air, waiting for silence. It came quickly for the whole hall wanted to know what's going to happen on Christmas day.

"Students," began Dumbledore. "I'm glad you are all excited for the upcoming Ball." He looked around at the faces of the students. "I bet you are all wondering how you will get dressed without someone figuring how you are once you put on the mask." Most of the students nodded. "You'll do it individually. I know this sounds like it will take all day, but it will be by house and by gender. It shouldn't take long because all you have to do is put on the gown and the mask. The mask will do everything for you."

"It sounds like a good idea," muttered Hermione when Dumbledore paused. She stopped talking when he continued.

"Once dressed, you'll go straight to the meeting place instructed on your letter," said Dumbledore. "Each dressing room has two doors. Once to enter and one to exit."

"How will we know when they leave so the next person can go in?" asked a Hufflepuff girl.

"When you open the exit door, leave, and close the door, then enter door will open," replied Dumbledore, smiling. "It sounds confusing, but I think all of you will make at least one new friend." Dumbledore grinned as the plates began to fill with food and the hall chattering about the dance.

"I honestly think Dumbledore has really gone off his rocker," muttered Ron, filling his plate full.

Hermione looked over at him. "I think it's brilliant." She told him as she filled her cup with pumpkin juice. "It'd be nice to have house unity."

"She's right," said Ginny. "We'll all be able to get along. I know you guys don't like fighting with the Slytherins everyday." Ginny nodded at Harry and Ron.

"It's not because they are Slytherins," Harry told her. "It's because of who they are." Ginny nodded, not totally believing him.


Draco stared at Dumbledore in disbelief. This old man was insane! Draco looked around the hall. He did NOT want to be set up with a Hufflepuff…that was for sure. If it had to be, he would rather go with Gryffindor than with a smart-ass Ravenclaw, but even that sounded repulsive. He looked up and down the Slytherin Table. They all didn't look pleased about this, though, some of the girls were excited about dressing up. Draco rolled his eyes.

Draco stood up and walked to the dungeons alone. He managed to give his group the slip. He walked with his hands in his pockets and his head down. Draco got to the entrance of the dungeons and his desire to go down there disappeared. He rested his arms on his knees in a lazy sort of way. He had left the Great Hall early, so he figured he wouldn't be bothered.

Draco looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes. Even since that night down by the lake, he felt down and ashamed of himself. He couldn't bring himself to torment or even look at Granger. No one noticed and for that he was happy. He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to deal wit the people to pitied him.

'What if I get with Granger? It's not like I'd know…but what if I did? What would I do find out? What if I fall for my date and find it was a Hufflepuff…I think I would know if it's a Hufflepuff or not…they truly are annoying. What would I do if I fell for her and I never know who she is?' thought Draco as he sat against the wall. 'I think that would eat me up inside. To fall for someone I don't even know the true identity of sounds ridiculous, but it can happen I suppose.' Draco opened his eyes. "I think I'm thinking far to ahead in this whole thing…" he muttered to himself.

He picked himself off the ground as he saw people start to leave the Great Hall. He went into the dungeons, muttered the Slytherin password, and went into his dorm. He sat down on his bed and pulled the curtains closed. He didn't want anyone to see him, nor did he want to see anyone. He played with a loose string on his sheets, thinking some more about the dance.

'Damn Granger,' Draco thought to himself, 'look what you have done to me! I can't stand this anymore! Everything I am is turning inside out. Everything I grew up with isn't making any sense anymore. Why! Why the hell do you have this effect of me! I hope it's eating you up inside too! I hope you're suffering just as I am! You're lucky no one's noticed yet!' He pulled the curtain away with fury, ripping them off the bed. Draco growled under his breath and muttered, "Repairo," at them. He went to his backpack and pulled out McGonagall's essay on human transformation.

Once he was finished with the essay that McGonagall had so kindly assigned over the winter break, Draco pulled on his pjs and climbed into bed.


A/N: So…how is it? The last part with Draco wasn't going to be in there. It's not even in my notebook where the story is…but since is both Draco and Hermione, I had to add Draco's third person in here. So, there you go. That was all at the top of my mind….so yeah…umm…I pictured this chapter to be a little longer than it turned out to be. Six pages on word. That's pretty long though, right? I know I've read chapters REALLY long and mine are nothing compared to those.

About the angel and demon thing…if anyone was wondering, I'm currently in a role-play on GaiaOnline ©. It's called Angels Vs. Demons. If you have a gaian character, feel free to tell me your username so I can add you on my friend list. Mine's kiwisan2007..but I'm thinking of changing it slightly. If you want to join this rp, tell me, and I'll give you the link to it when I reply to your review. So, I thought that would be cool for the characters to dress up as angels and demons and their dates would be the opposite.

I'm also thinking about writing my first AU, alternate universe (Right?), story soon. Maybe after I'm done with this one and Harry Potter Idol…probably before HPI because that one takes a long time because one of my judges have to "be in a happy, laughable" mood, so I am told. But I am not going to tell you what it's about yet hehehehehehe. I already have a summary worked out for it too. Hehehhehhee

Well, until I update in the new coming year,
This is Kiwi-san
Over and Out