"Your Joking Right?"
Chapter 18: Happy Christmas, NOT!
Hermione woke up early, she had to pack her trunk before even thinking about getting ready for the evening, she would be leaving for home the morning after the ball. She threw all her things neatly into her trunk then changed and set off for some breakfast in the Great Hall, careful not to wake Ginny. As she exited the portrait hole she was startled to find Harry standing outside of it.
"Morning Mione, thought I would walk you to breakfast" he grinned.
"Sure, and what do I owe this pleasure of being accompanied to breakfast by famous Mr. Potter to?" she giggled.
"What can't I walk an old friend to breakfast?"
"Sure, but what's the real reason?" she asked him.
"Oh, since you asked, Katie dumped me" he frowned and looked to the ground.
"Oh im so sorry Harry, may I ask why?"
"She said I had my hopes set on somebody else?"
"Well,".. She hesitated, "Do you?"
Harry stopped dead in the middle of the entrance hall and turned to face Hermione, who was bewildered but kept her composure. "Hermione, I've known you almost all of my life so im going to be totally honest with you." he paused, Hermione gulped and grinned reassuringly at the petrified guy standing in front of her "Go on Harry"
"Yeah, I do like somebody else, but, she is practically untouchable" he sighed.
"May I ask who?"
"Now hats pushing it Hermione" Harry grinned, with an air that the conversation was over he turned and headed into the Great Hall. Hermione was rooted to the spot, but a moment later nodded her head in understanding and followed Harry's wake into the Great Hall where the smell of bacon and eggs greeted her. She was just about to push open the doors to the hall when an arm circled her waist and tugged her into a nearby broom closet. She heard a silencing charm and a lock click before she felt a familiar pair of lips meet her own, and she inhaled the familiar, spicy scent, of her boyfriend's cologne before she opened her eyes and said
"Good morning to you to Draco" she smiled.
The blonde boy smirked, "Now it's a good morning" he kissed her again, both were momentarily lost in a world that involved just the two of them until Hermione pulled away, remembering what she had said last night, she took a seat on the desk in the empty room,
"Can we talk?"
"Oh, I don't like the sound of that" Draco said, but none-the-less took a seat and gestured with his hand as if to say 'if you must'.
"Well you see, I was thinking.."
"You do that too much" he smirked.
"Maybe you should try it" she grinned."Anyways... I was thinking and well about the ball tonight, im worried about it"
Draco just sat there "Shouldn't you be talking to Blaise about this?"
"Blaise?" Hermione asked, but then it clicked " Oh no, the ball is going to be great, im more worried about ...us" she finished, quietly.
"Us, what about us?"
"Well..er.. Its just, what are we going to do, just show up at the ball together? The school will think were crazy, and my friends!" she jumped, out of the desk and began to pace the room.
"Well yeah, I thought that was the plan" Draco replied, his anger was apparent.
"I don't want everybody mad at me, how about my friends, Gryffindor?" Hermione said, voice raising.
"Hermione, who cares" Draco said, approaching her and cupping her face in his hands.
"I do" she said quietly, looking anywhere but at Draco's piercing silver eyes. "Harry and Ron are like my brothers" she pleaded.
"Oh, of course, Weaselby and Saint Potter" Draco said, storming to a corner of the room, anger etched on every line of his face.
"Draco, please don't make this harder then it is" she pleaded, tears forming in her eyes. "We can't still date, just not go to the ball together."
"Oh, that sounds great" he said, voice dripping with sarcasm "I don't want to hide Hermione"
"Well I don't want to lose my friends just because im dating their mortal.." she trailed off.
"Enemy? You know, why don't you just go to the ball with one of them?" he said, angrily.
"Maybe I will" she fired back.
"Fine, just don't come crying back"
"Oh I won't" she yelled, unlocking the door and stomping her way to the Great Hall, leaving a very angry Draco Malfoy in her wake. As she took a seat next to Harry who asked where she had disappeared to, and Ron, who asked what was wrong., she dismissed them both and grabbed an apple, she bit into it bitterly, her head spinning "What just happened?"
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Almost an hour later Hermione sat outside with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. The girls were watching the guys toss a fanged frisbee through the air. It was amusing when one of te boys got hurt, one time the frisbee hit Ron, square in the face, it had gone redder then normal, but they still hadn't learned there lesson, seeing as they were still tossing it through the air, regardless of there scratched up hands.
"Gin, can we head back up, I really need to talk to you" she turned to the red head who had an amused look on her face seeing as how Ron had just got a fresh cut on his hand and was now complaining like a child.
"Sure Hermione" she stood and brushed her robes off "Oy guys, me and Hermione are going to head up"
"Ok see you ladies later" Harry grinned then headed over to Ron "Its only a scratch mate, can't, hurt..." he trailed off as the girls moved further away.
"They keep that up and both are going to have hands like Professor Moody's face" they laughed.
As they trekked up to the Head's Room, Ginny observed Hermione, then spoke. "Hermione is something wrong? You seemed really down today."
Hermione sighed then turned to her friend "Not here Ginny, just wait a minute"
"Sure" Ginny patted her back, she was a little concerned, nothing, had ever brought Hermione down, ever. As they reached the portrait hole, Hermione said the password ('phlegm' Ginny's idea)
"Not now Gin" Hermione replied, giving a weak smile, "Let's do something"
Ginny's almond eye's lit up with excitement "Call me crazy, but why don't we get ready for the ball?" she grinned.
"Sound's perfect" Dress Up could take a girl's mind off anything.
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"Oh my GOD!" Ginny squealed as Hermione stepped out of the bathroom, to give a more emphasized effect on her dress, she felt like a model in the muggle world. "You look bloody gorgeous"
"That's something your brother would say" Hermione joked, Ginny threw a fluffy pink pillow at her.
"Now you go get ready so I can flatter you"
"If you say so" Ginny laughed, grabbing her dress off the mirror and running into the bathroom.
Hermione stepped into the large mirror in the corner of her room, she gasped as she saw the girl standing in the mirror, "Is that me?" Ginny had done Hermione's hair in an elegant knot for the ball, and her make-up was done already. Ginny had also treated her to a manicure, Hermione looked down at her french tips. "This is sooo not me" she laughed.
As she continued to admire herself in the mirror, she heard a loud pounding on the common room portrait.
"Can you grab that Mione? Seeing as im not fit to go anywhere" Ginny grinned, poking her half-braided head out of the bathroom door.
"Sure thing Gin" Hermione scampered across the room and exited the portrait hole, as she descended the stairs, she lifted her dress so she didn't rip the bottoms. Bang, Bang, Bang.
"Im coming" Hermione sighed. She grabbed the handle and pulled open the portrait hole.
"Oh its you!"
Her best friend, Harry Potter, stood in the entrance way, grinning.
"Hiya Hermione." his eyes traveled over the dress "You look ... amazing."
"Thanks" Hermione blushed. "Come on in, you look flushed, did you run the whole way here?" she asked sternly.
Harry grinned sheepishly "It was urgent."
"Well let's get you a drink.
Hermione led him up the stairs and to the girl's portrait hole,
"Gin you decent?" she called.
"Yea" was the muffled response.
Hermione entered the bedroom, closely pursued by Harry, Ginny was perched on her bed, fully dressed and looking elegant. She beamed at the two, sitting cross-legged in a fancy manner "Do you like?"
"Gin, you look gorgeous!" Hermione squealed.
Harry took a few minutes to take in the appearance of his ex. Before nodding to Hermione and grinning, "What she said"
Ginny smiled at the two, "Thanks guys"
"Now how about that drink?" Hermione turned to Harry.
She led him into their enormous kitchen
"You really have it made Hermione, A kitchen?" his eyes lit up at the possibility of food.
Hermione rolled her eyes and playfully slapped him "Sit down"
She summoned two butterbeers and a few snacks. Harry immediately grabbed the butterbeer and drank some. Hermione laughed at this,
"What brings you all the way across the castle?" she laughed.
"Oh yeah!" Harry began talking, mouth-full. Hermione gave him an appalled look. Harry swallowed and continued, "I have an offer from a housemate of mine actually"
"Oh and..?"
"Er... Seamus told me, to come here, to tell you, that, he would have done it himself but..."
"Oh Harry, just get on with it" she laughed.
"Ok, Seamus wants to know if you will go you the ball with him tonight"
Hermione sat there, stunned for a moment. 'Seamus wants to go with.. Me?' She thought. She pondered this for a moment, Seamus had always been nice to her, treated her well and all.
"Ok Harry, you tell Seamus that if he really wants to go with me, he should get his arse here and ask me himself." she smirked.
"Oh, Ok" Harry grinned, I'll tell him those exact words."
Then they both went back downstairs, Harry headed for the portrait hole, Hermione took a seat o the couch.
As he exited she called to him "In no less then 5 minutes."
She heard Harry laughing as the portrait hole closed.
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Hermione sat on the couch about 3 minutes later, Seamus hadn't shown yet, to tell the truth she didn't know if he would show at all, he would probably chicken out. She stared intently at the fire, it was odd that Seamus would suddenly ask her to the ball, he never seemed the least bit interested in her to tell the truth. She heard a noise behind her, she turned to face the portrait hole, and in came the one person she was hoping to avoid for the rest of her career at Hogwart's, Draco.
Draco stood still for a moment to take in Hermione's appearance, even he had to admit it, she looked bloody gorgeous. But he would never say it to her face, instead he said,
"Oh, its you"
"Oh, its you" Hermione fired up, mocking him and rolling her eyes.
Draco scowled at her and stomped up the stairs to the boy's portrait, as his foot touched the last step there was a knock on the portrait hole and he stopped. Hermione squealed slightly and ran for the portrait hole. She opened it and her face lit up,
"Seamus" she grinned, "What would bring you all the way across the castle?" she asked playfully, she knew Draco had stopped to find out who it is.
"Oh you bloody well know why im here" he said, nervously.
"Do I?"
"Yeah, you do" Seamus grinned. "Now, I know Harry already asked you, for me but im here to do it myself, at your request, Would you like to go to the ball with me?" he asked, stuttering.
Hermione smiled at his nervousness, "Of course Seamus"
"Really?"
"Yes"
"Ok, thanks Hermione" he grinned, hugged her slightly, then stepped back,
"Best be off, loads to do" And he turned and sprinted down the corridor, just as the portrait hole was about to slam she heard,
"You look bloody gorgeous by the way"
Hermione laughed and stepped back into the common room, blushing slightly.
BANG
The boy's portrait hole slammed shut. Hermione grinned,
Victorious, Draco was jealous.
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"Why in the world are you doing this?"
"Because! I don't want to be recognized" Draco hissed, he was sitting in a chair, looking up a spell.
"Draco, nobody is going to recognize you by your hair" Blaise replied. "It's a stupid masquerade ball, who cares"
"I do!" Draco snarled, "Found it" he ran to the mirror, said an incantation then changed his hair color to black. "How's it look?"
"Like Potter" Blaise joked
Draco launched across the room and pointed his wand at Blaise's throat, his brown eyes changed from fear to anger to bewilderment back to anger,
"What's got your knickers in a bunch?" Blaise snarled slapping the wand away from his face, "Is it the fact that my cousin is attending the ball with Finnigan and not you?"
"No" Draco muttered quickly, turning back to look at his hair.
"Sure" Blaise rolled his eyes, "Im off to meet the ladies, you coming?"
Draco sulked out of the room.
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Hermione stood in the entrance hall, Ginny at her side. She snapped her mask in place, fidgeted with her dress, and every few seconds her brown eyes would dart to the clock in the corner.
"Oh where ARE they" she sighed, stomping her high-heeled foot.
"I haven't a clue" the red head sighed, her eyes following the couples into the hall "But when Blaise does get here, I'll kill him"
"Did I hear my name?" Blaise, closely followed by Seamus and a black haired boy that neither of the girls had met before, came around the corner. Blaise made a straight line for Ginny, he picked her small frame up and twirled her around the room, as he set the dizzy, but smiling red-head back on her feet she grinned at him,
"Hullo to you to"
Seamus stepped up to Hermione, blushing,
"Sorry I can't top that" he jerked his thumb at Ginny and Blaise, "But I wanted to say that, if you didn't here me already, you look gorgeous, and I am honored to be you date." he kissed her on the cheek.
Hermione smiled and hugged him,
"Thanks Seamus"
There came a sound, like a gag, from the corner where the black-haired boy was standing, Ginny turned when she heard the noise and gave the boy a sharp look, she studied him for a moment, he looked familiar but couldn't place who he was.
"Shall we go in?" Blaise interrupted her thoughts.
"I think so" she grinned.
((And so it begins, okay next chapter is ready as an apology for the extremely long wait! I know this was supposed to be the ball but I had to break it up, it got tooo long! Hope you all had a good holiday season! Happy New Year!))