The Debutante Ball
A fanfiction novel by sizzleberrylicious
Chapter Five
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Hermione sat herself down by one of the shady willows that decorated the edge of the Lake. She had a heavy stack of homework and extra-credit assignments with her, and had taken advantage of the sunny weather and decided to do her studying outside. Clusters of students were milling about in the lush green grass, talking, laughing, and having fun. Only the odd bookworm dotted the Grounds, their noses buried deep in their books.
Hermione removed her shoes and socks and dipped her feet into the cold water of the Lake. She got out a quill and parchment from her book bag and began scribbling down notes.
After half an hour, Hermione had managed to complete her Potions essay, and was working her way through her extra-credit Transfiguration essay, when all of a sudden, she felt a burning in her cheek, like someone was staring at her. She furrowed her brow as she turned around, only to find a group of Slytherins snickering and smirking amongst themselves several feet away from her study spot. Draco was part of the group, but he seemed to be far away from the conversation, and was staring directly at her, unabashedly. Hermione frowned before shaking her head and turning back to her essay.
Several minutes passed, and Hermione could still feel the heat from Draco's lingering stares. It was starting to annoy her, and she couldn't concentrate on her essay properly. Finally, heaving a huge sigh, she clumsily packed up her stuff, deciding that the library would be a better place to study. She stood up quickly, but her History of Magic text somehow fell out of her bag. Hermione reached forward for it and managed to grasp it in time before it met its soggy end in the Lake, but then realised that she was going to fall into the Lake! She let out a shriek as she fell forward, squeezing her eyes shut and bracing herself for the splash, when suddenly, a pair of muscular arms encircled her waist. Her eyes flew open and she whipped her head around, curls askew, to see who her saviour was. Undoubtedly, it was none other than Draco Malfoy. Hermione's hair flew in front of his face and tickled his nose, causing him to sneeze. "AAAAH-CHOOO!!"
Draco lost his balance, and both teenagers tumbled head-first into the icy water. "Aaahhh!!"
SPLASH.
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Draco quickly stood up in the water. It wasn't too deep; it only reached up to his waist. He steadied himself, though, for the sand underneath his feet was loose and slippery. His eyes widened, scanning the dark waters for any sight of Hermione's bushy head. The water rippled, but there was no sign of the self-proclaimed Gryffindor Princess. Draco let out a sigh and was about to crouch down to look for her when suddenly, a hand shot out of the water and grabbed his, pulling him into the water. Draco let out a terrified, "Aiiiee!!" before he went down under.
Shit! It's so much deeper here! Draco thought to himself, panicking. The arm that obviously belonged to Hermione had pulled him deeper into the Lake for some absurd reason. Is she a friggin' St. Mungo's escapist?!! Draco opened his eyes slowly and was shocked to see Hermione staring at him, her face several inches from his. Her expression was startled, but definitely not as startled as his.
Draco stared into her soft honey brown eyes, dumbstruck. Hermione narrowed her eyes in puzzlement. She parted her lips slightly, a stream of miniscule bubbles flowing up to the surface. She shut her mouth quickly, as if she just realised that they were underwater, blushing. Draco brushed a wayward brown curl out of her face, watching it float upwards. He gazed at her in awe. Her corkscrew curls fanned out around her face, giving her a rather ethereal feel. Draco's eyes began to sting from the exposure, but he refused to blink, in case it was all just a dream and this goddess-like Hermione would disappear.
Suddenly, Draco started to feel faint, and alarm bells started going off in his head. Bugger! I can't swim!!
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Hermione's eyes widened in shock when Draco's eyes drifted shut and his body went limp. He looked so very angelic, floating there mere inches in front of her. The little sunlight that streamed into the water lit up his delicate features and muscular Quidditch-toned build. Hermione snapped back to reality. He was drowning!! She quickly swam upwards towards the surface, tugging him along with her. She broke the surface of the Lake and gasped for air, choking. She swam out to the edge, and heaved Draco onto land. The group of Slytherins now wore looks of utter panic. Their Slytherin Prince had drowned?!! Bloody Merlin.. The world is coming to an end!
Pansy rushed over to her best friend. "Good Gods! Is he alright, Granger?"
"I wouldn't know. He must've fainted. I think he forgot to go up for air," Hermione said, a funny look on her face as she stared down at Draco's helpless form.
"Well, then, give him CPR!! Mouth-to-mouth!! The Heimlich Maneuver!! Something!!" Pansy ranted, starting to get worried. Hermione felt for a pulse.
"I can feel his pulse - Wait. Er.. Don't you want to give him mouth-to-mouth??"
Pansy shook her head, her glossy raven locks bouncing. "No, thank you. You have the honour to do so, Granger, seeing as you're the one who got him into this in the first place."
Damnit. She has a point, Hermione grumbled to herself. She kneeled down next to Draco and took a deep breath before pinching his nose shut and dropping her lips onto his. Mmm.. This actually feels quite good..
After several seconds, Draco's eyes fluttered open, and he kissed her back on instinct. Hey, what bloke doesn't smooch a girl back when he wakes up to find her all over him? he reasoned with himself as he sucked lightly on her bottom lip.
Hermione nearly had the shock of her life. She jumped back and let out a small yelp, blushing furiously. "Malfoy!"
Pansy smirked to herself.
Draco tiredly pushed himself up on one elbow, groaning. "Bloody hell.. Merlin, my head hurts.."
"Uhm, Draco, I think you should go upstairs and get some rest. You're going to need it," Pansy said, quickly. She turned to Hermione with a smile. "Granger, would you mind helping him upstairs? I'm worried he might faint again."
"Men don't faint!" Draco said, hotly. "We pass out."
Pansy and Hermione rolled their eyes in unison. "Whatever."
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Hermione awoke with a start. She had had the strangest dream; Voldemort had caught Harry, but then, instead of pulling an Avada Kedavra on him, he had asked - scratch that, demanded - for her whereabouts!
"There is something so wrong with that picture," Hermione muttered to herself. She turned on her side and tried to go back to sleep, but her awful dream kept nagging her in the back of her head. She glanced up at her wall clock, its numbers flashing 2:35AM in neon red light.
After several failed attempts at sleeping, Hermione got out of bed and shrugged on her cloak. "I'll take a walk outside to clear my thoughts," she declared to herself.
Hermione grabbed an elastic and messily grouped her hair into a ponytail before pocketing her wand and heading out the door.
"Going somewhere, Granger?" called a familiar voice as she made her way towards the portrait hole. Hermione grimaced as she spun around to face Draco, who was seated by the fireplace, his beautiful blond head in his hands. He looked tired, and.. sick. She felt a pang of guilt at the memory of the earlier Lake incident.
"Just for a walk, Malfoy," Hermione replied. Draco lifted his head to face her. Hermione frowned. He had red-rimmed eyes, a runny nose, and was unnaturally pale, even for him. "Malfoy.. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Granger," he snapped, dropping his head into his hands once more. "Don't come back too late."
Hermione nodded before exiting the Head Commons and making her way out into the Grounds, oblivious to the intense pair of indigo eyes that followed her.
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Hermione tugged her cloak around her tighter as she stepped out onto the dewy grass. The wind was icy and strong, and large grey clouds were rolling in. A storm was brewing up, but judging by her calculations, it wouldn't drizzle for another hour or so, leaving her enough time to circle the Grounds and make it safely back to her room.
Hermione inhaled the crisp air and exhaled through her mouth. It was a breathing technique that left her feeling refreshed and relaxed.
About half an hour later, Hermione stood silently amongst the blooming rose bushes, taking in their sensual scent.
"Well, what do we have here?" came a slow drawl. Hermione froze, but then relaxed and turned around to face the intruder.
"What do you want, Zabini?"
Blaise shot her a smirk and took a step forward. "Such delicacy such as yourself shouldn't be wondering around outside without an escort." Hermione rolled her eyes and snorted. Blaise came dangerously close to her and whispered into her ear. "Anything could happen out here, so far away from the castle, and no one'd hear you scream."
Hermione tried to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine as Blaise glided his tongue along her ear. She hastily took a step back, Blaise licking his lips suggestively.
She felt a drop of rain land on the tip of her nose and thanked Merlin as an escape plan formed in her mind. She backed slowly away from Blaise towards the castle, smiling apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Blaise, but it's starting to drizzle, so I'd better be going back before.. Well, see you," she garbled helplessly before turning on her heels and racing back to the castle.
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Blaise watched Hermione run back to the castle, smirking. He'd have that girl wrapped around his slender finger within a matter of days. That'd show Draco that Malfoys don't always get what they want. Give him a good kick back into reality, Blaise smirked to himself.
Suddenly, there was a movement behind him, in the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Blaise whipped around, grabbing his wand and pointing it steadily at the area he heard the noise come from. He could roughly make out a human form - undoubtedly a man - standing under the sweeping branches of the arched old Weeping Willow, his body hidden by the night's shadows.
"Who's there?" Blaise growled. There seemed to be something familiar about that man..
Just at that moment, the mysterious figure leaped out at Blaise and tackled him to the ground. All Blaise could make out was a flash of platinum blond hair before he went down. He tried to push off his attacker, which also smelt familiar.
"MALFOY?" Blaise's eyes widened when he realised who his attacker was. Draco gave him a low growl and sprang up, landing neatly on his feet with almost feline-like reflexes. Draco wrenched a dazed and confused Blaise up by his shirt and pointed his wand threateningly at Blaise's throat.
"I told you to back off, Zabini," Draco hissed, pushing his wand deeper into Blaise's skin. Blaise stood stiff. Any false moves could land him on an emergency trip to St. Mungo's with a slit throat. The rain started to pummel down in fat drops, obscuring their view. Draco wrapped his long pianist fingers around Blaise's neck and drew him closer. "Do I need to tell you again, Zabini. She's MINE."
Blaise managed to tactfully wriggle out of Draco's clutches and regain his composure. He levelled his wand with Draco's, even though he couldn't see a thing with the rain falling faster and heavier with each passing second. A flash of lightning lit up their surroundings, and Blaise could make out Draco's robes clinging to him and his sopping bangs pushed away from his flashing silver eyes. A clap of thunder rolled in the distance several moments later.
"I don't want to hurt you, Malfoy," Blaise shouted over the noise. His arm felt heavy from holding up his wand, his sleeve being drenched with rain water and pulling him down. Draco's snort was barely audible, but Blaise heard it nonetheless. "You know I don't."
"Then why'd you go after my girl?" Draco snarled back, his grip on his wand so tight that his knuckles were turning a ghostly white.
"What's with you, man? A week ago you wanted her hexed into oblivion, and now you're so possessive over her. You don't own her, Malfoy, get that in your head!"
Before Blaise knew what had hit him, he was airborne; flying backwards several feet before landing roughly on the muddy grass. He narrowed his eyes as he scrambled up, barely making out Draco's approaching figure.
"Locomotor Mortis!" Draco cried, his wand pointed steadily at Blaise. Blaise's eyes widened as he lost all control of his legs and fell victim to the ever popular leg-lock. He swayed uncontrollably and held his hands out on both sides to regain his balance. He aimed his muddy wand at Draco and bellowed, "Furnunculus!"
Draco let out an ear-splitting shriek as hundreds of large, pussy boils appeared on his face and arms. "BLAISE ARMADEGON ZABINI, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! CRUCIO!"
Blaise squeezed his eyes shut as a piercing sensation overcame his entire body. He let out a scream to match Draco's as he fell to the ground and writhed in pain. Draco's face boils were growing at an alarming rate, and they soon clouded over his vision. In surprise, Draco dropped his wand, and Blaise felt the excruciating pain wear off. Blaise panted, still on the ground, taking in large gulps of air and rain water, spluttering. Suddenly, the humungous boils on Draco's face burst, shooting puss in all directions. Draco immediately bent down and swiftly retrieved his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
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Hermione hurried into the Head Commons, cringing as the thunder boomed overhead. Suddenly, she saw the strangest thing; jets of coloured light bouncing off the trees in the area where she had unfortunately bumped into Blaise. Crinkling her brow, she tentatively walked over to the window and gasped at the sight below. From her height way about the ground, she could easily see what was going on. Blaise and - Draco? - were duelling on the grounds! Hermione stumbled backwards as one of their haywire curses bounced off the wall several inches from her window. She bit her lip in confusion.
"Why on Earth are Malfoy and Zabini duelling.. in such torrid weather conditions?!" she questioned herself. She stood there, pondering, when suddenly, an all-too-familiar jet of sickly lime green light caught her eye from down below. Hermione let out a shriek as she rushed to the window and tried to assess what was going on below. "Bloody Merlin.. What's going on?!"
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Disclaimer: You should know the drill by now.
Author's Note: Well, that's it! Yes, I know, this chapter was terribly short. But I think stopping there would just be overflowing with suspense, eh? Well, the next chapter's coming out in a matter of days, so no worries. School's starting soon, though (eep!), so I might have to lessen my updates to once a week or so, at the worst. I don't expect much homework to be issued on the first week of school (I hope..), so I'm guessing that I can still update every one to two days. Yeah.
Truckloads of thankyou's to my lovelylovelylovely reviewers!! Shego-Lipsky, WinnieThaPoo92, oneamsoundstage, and adeckofcards!!
There's going to be a teeny tiny bit of duelling in Chapter Five and Six. I just couldn't resist the temptation. My bad!! Ohh, and if anyone wants to drop me a private message or an email regarding anything at all, feel free to do so!! I already have one marvellous beta-reader, my buddy Abby, but another couldn't hurt, right? I've got some terrible spelling mistakes every now and again due to my quick typing, so that's probably my ultimate downfall. Ttfn, 'sizzleberrylicious. Muaxx, sweets!! ♥