You can't believe your eyes and neither can I, so we're even. The muse chose today to completely overwhelm me and I give you a second chapter in the span of 24 hours. The world must be going mad! So this one finally has some interaction, if that's what you want to call it. It's probably going to get really interesting in the next chapter though! Let me know what you think, lord knows I appreciate it! Now sleep, come to me o.o Bunny out!
She could hear the music, hear the chatter of people through the closed door of her room, hidden by the heavy velvet curtain. For all they knew, it didn't even exist, and neither did she.
The surge of confidence she had felt when she first put on her dress was long gone and right now, Hermione was regretting her decision to attend the party very much. It was loud and the room was bound to be full of people who would judge her when she showed her mask-clad face. She could have just let Draco have his way and spent the night in the Room of Requirements, but now it was too late for that.
Looking in the mirror again and trying to regain some of her lost courage, she was faced with a reflection that was, admittedly, quite beautiful. The gown that she had made in the end was mostly made from a dark midnight blue fabric, except for the bodice that was of a lighter blue colour with a black pattern of French lilies. The straps supporting the dress crossed over each other at the front and fastened around her neck, which left almost half her back and her arms completely bare.
Her shaggy, almost neck-length hair was mussed into a carefully planned state of disarray and the mask she wore was very simple, but its sharp edges added beautifully to the picture.
All in all, she had nothing to worry about, at least not appearance-wise. Even though she had no idea what the people on the other side of the door looked like, she was confident enough in her choice of attire that she knew she'd blend in just fine.
She was more worried about who'd be there.
Seeing as Malfoy was the host, there would surely be a bunch of Slytherins. But Hermione wondered more if it would be Slytherins exclusively or if there were going to be members of other houses too, although Gryffindor probably excluded.
The most burning question though was if Ginny was going to be there too. The brunette had noticed that she had started hanging out with the school's most notorious serpents and it would make sense that Malfoy would invite his closest companions to the party. Somehow, that just added to the tension in her stomach that she could feel being wound tight.
Feeling some new kind of resolve strengthen, she smoothed down the fabric of her skirt for the last time, took a few deep, calming breaths and then marched out the door.
It was a pretty damn classy party, Ginny had to give it to Draco.
When she and Pansy had first entered the Heads' common room, she felt like she left the regular world behind and entered an alternate universe where mystery and sensation were the ruling powers.
The atmosphere was heavy with secrets and restrained scandal just waiting to be spilled forth when alcohol entered the equation. Luckily for them, there was plenty of it and the redhead helped herself to a fine strawberry blend that she sipped on from a cocktail glass.
Her black-haired friend joined her side and poured herself the same cocktail before they both leaned on the counter and looked around the room.
"Red dress over there… Do you think that's Padma?"
She had been informed on their way there that it wasn't going to be a Slytherin-exclusive party, but merely the crème de la crème from all the houses and Ginny's heart stuttered for a moment when the possibility of a certain brunette being there crossed her mind. She quickly wrote it off as a jitter of nervousness because she hadn't seen the girl in such a long time, and she probably hated her anyway.
The two friends stayed like that for a while, playing the guessing game and refilling their glasses very frequently. Ginny was actually getting a little bored when a group of men in crisp tuxedos walked in and got their full attention. Two of them headed straight towards them and there was no mistaking their identities even with the masks; the platinum hair and the rich ebony skin were dead giveaways.
"Look who decided to show! Don't you know it's rude to be late to your own party, Draco?"
Malfoy merely laughed, exchanging a long look with Blaise. "Sorry, I was busy."
Even though the alcohol was good and well in her system by now, something about that look cut through the haze wrapped all around her and Ginny knew one thing for sure in that moment. The Blaise comment Pansy had made a mere hour ago in regards to Draco's sexuality suddenly had a lot more meaning than it had held before and her red-painted lips formed a perfect 'O'.
"Since when are you a fish?" the dark- skinned boy jibed at her, at which she promptly closed her mouth, but the shock didn't disappear. "Since you and Draco are getting down and dirty."
The thing slipped out of her mouth before it even registered in her brain and complete silence enveloped the four of them for a few moments, the music playing in the background seeming like a dull, but constant thumping that was the only thing signalling time hadn't stopped.
"What did you just say?" Blaise now asked with an equal amount of shock that she still felt.
Deeming it futile to try and take the words back and feeling bolder because of the alcohol, she shrugged. "I said… Since you are fucking Malfoy's sweet little ass, that's since when. Now excuse me, I need a drink."
Turning away from the silenced trio, she went straight to the refrigerator where extra alcohol was stored and helped herself to a bottle of vodka. She would need something damn strong if she was going to digest that particular piece of information.
As she crossed the room to one of the more secluded corners, she could see her three friends arguing fervently, but she didn't pay them any heed. At the moment, it was just her and the cold bottle by her side.
With the corner of her eye, she noticed a girl in a beautiful blue gown storming past her right over to the bar, but at the moment, she couldn't care less. She just sat down in an alcove, flipped off the bottle cap and took generous gulps of the burning liquid.
The party wasn't exactly what she had been expecting when she first told Malfoy that she'd totally be attending it.
What she had been looking for had been a wild, dancing-and-hooking-up-all-around party, instead what she found herself in was a sophisticated, upper class soiree.
Deciding immediately that alcohol would remedy her bad decision, she headed straight for the bar Malfoy had set up, but encountered an annoying obstacle in the way.
The famous Silver Trio stood by the counter having a very heated debate, but when Pansy spotted her coming their way, she apparently warned them because they immediately shut up. Parkinson and Zabini were both looking at her with half hostility, half curiosity, probably because they didn't know who she was, but the blonde was a different story.
"Well look who decided to show up! Didn't know you owned a dress like this though! I was counting on you to amuse me with your embarrassing choice of attire, but I guess you have to be boring and disappoint even when it comes to this, Granger."
"Why thank you, Malfoy, it's lovely to see you too! You look as stuck up as usual," she answered him coldly before snatching up a flute of champagne and turning their back on them. The asshole… I never should have come. I don't belong here… She just proved herself even more right when she looked around and put names to the faces behind the masks. She mostly knew the people, but couldn't say they were someone who she'd hang out with over coffee.
Noticing Padma Patil over at the far end of the room, talking to a tall, well-built Slytherin, she headed in their direction but stopped dead in her tracks when the two substituted conversation for making out.
Nopeee… She was turning around in a millisecond, downing her glass and returning to the bar immediately. The trio that was still there sent her mocking looks as she helped herself to more alcohol, repeating the first pattern quite a few times when a very similar thing happened to her with almost all the people that she decided to talk to.
As she was getting increasingly drunk, her choices started becoming worse and worse when she slowly realised that all the people were more or less paired up and making out in some corner. It was almost as if the party had been planned for that sole purpose, to get the elite of the school to hook up with the help of alcohol and corsets.
Some of the couples were getting ridiculously inappropriate and Hermione couldn't think straight anymore as she was practically being surrounded by sex. Very hammered at this point, she went to help herself to some more alcohol to help it go away, she turned to the bar, but the picture that greeted her there got burned into the back of her eyelids.
Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were making out against the counter while Pansy Parkinson was sitting on it, her skirts hiked up and her hand in her underwear.
Wide eyed, the brunette simply couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight, not noticing that she was focusing much more on Pansy and not so much on the gay making out part. She felt blood rush to her cheeks and a tightening low in her abdomen, a delicious tingling that had her gasping from the knowledge of what exactly it was.
Not wasting a second more, she rushed back toward her room but found a drunken Ginny leaning against the door, clutching a bottle of vodka tightly.
"You don't mind if I join you, do you?"
Not waiting for a reply, she flopped down to the floor to the redhead's side and took a long swig from the relatively empty bottle.
"God knows I need it."