"And your fangs drip nothing but poison," Hermione Granger said, her tone dry with humor.
"I'd be wary, little shrew, if I was you," Draco Malfoy's eyes danced, silver, but as hypnotic as any snake's.
"Shrew! Oh, nay, call me not that!" Hermione said, visions of Shakespeare dancing in her head, "Graymalkin, yea, or mayhap vixen."
"Shebitch, rather," Draco Malfoy said smoothly.
Hermione laughed, "If you call me that, you're truly a boor."
"Truth ranges more widely than fiction," Draco Malfoy said, executing a bow.
"Are you a bastard born, or only by breeding?" Hermione Granger asked.
"By breeding alone, or have you not met my father?" Draco Malfoy's smirk was devilish indeed.
"Touche," Hermione said, granting Malfoy the point.
"I'd name you a siren, with all your wanton goals, but that would be a lie beyond even the wildest truth." Draco Malfoy said.
Hermione smirked, waiting for the rest of the line.
"In truth, your voice is that of a fishwife. Virago I name you, and that is clear truth." Draco Malfoy said.
"Oh, what strange days are upon us!" Hermone said, "That a liar tells the bald truth. Has the world gone mad?"
Draco Malfoy said, "The world stands shorn of its beauty, yeah."*
"I should name you a fox," Hermione said with a wild grin.
"Nay, that makes a model of my flawed visage," Draco Malfoy said, imbuing confidence into his maligning of his own self, "Call me a scamp, a rogue, a blackhearted thug."
Hermione could do nothing else but laugh. Nearby, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were exchanging glances, and Draco Malfoy discretely palmed his wand (a difficult feat while dancing, but one that he'd practiced until he knew it well).
"Is that your wand, Malfoy?" Hermione Granger said sternly.
"Yes, the hostility of yon admirers grows tiresome," Draco Malfoy said, spinning Hermione Granger so that she might see Potter and Weasel.
Hermione let out a soft sigh, saying "Boys,"
"Children do as children must," Draco Malfoy said pompously, "With broken toys and shattered trust."
"And yet adults shall break the day," Hermione Granger said, "For war itself is how they play."
They executed a figure, and then a second, Draco Malfoy skillfully moving Hermione Granger away from Potter and Weasley, who thought this was for some malign purpose. Draco Malfoy didn't mind tweaking their noses, for a bit of fragile privacy. In silence they danced for less than a minute, and then the dance drew to a close.
"Adieu and anon, we shall meet again, you wanton hellion." Draco Malfoy said, executing a bow, "Though not, I think, under better circumstance. Time turns against the world, wearing down the noblest of us all."
Hermione Granger said the first thing that popped into her mind, because, of course, Malfoy didn't deserve the last word, "Walk on the ocean, stand on the stone. flesh becomes water, wood becomes bone."
Draco Malfoy strode off, his head held high, and he gripped Blaise's shoulder on the way to heading off the dance floor. "Your turn," Draco Malfoy said softly.
*shaving off one's hair is something that one does as part of mourning.
[a/n: Originally had Draco accidentally dancing Hermione out of the party, but figured him stammering and blushing wasn't what I was going for.
I have been watching too much Shakespeare lately. Do check out Hamlet in Rock - the original words by the Bard, now set in Space and on youtube.
Reviews welcome. If you want more dialogue between the two, I may be persuaded to elaborate.]