The Debutante Ball

A fanfiction novel by sizzleberrylicious

Chapter Eleven

x x x x x x x x x x

"Morning, Hermione!" Ginny called cheerfully when she saw Hermione approach the Gryffindor table the next morning. Hermione had large bags under her eyes and looked tired as she sighed, dropping herself inelegantly into the empty seat beside Ginny.

"Morning, Ginny," she forced a smile as she tapped the rim of her golden chalice lightly with her wand, watching with bored interest as it immediately filled up with pumpkin juice. "Merlin, I don't feel well today.."

"Didn't have a good night's rest, then, I take it?" Ginny inquired, raising her eyebrows as she bit into her heavily-buttered toast. Hermione groaned.

"No, not at all," she mumbled, bringing the chalice up to her lips and taking a big gulp. Her dark eyes bore into Ginny's cerulean ones. "What's up with you lately? You seem to be in a very good mood."

Ginny blushed. "Well.. I talked to Blaise yesterday."

Hermione nearly dropped her chalice, a grin plastered across her tired features. "Really? Wow, Ginny, that's wonderful! What were you guys talking about?"

"Well, nothing in particular. We bumped into each other on the Grounds, so we took a walk. He kept asking about you for some reason, though.."

Hermione's forehead creased into a frown as she knitted her eyebrows together. "Really, now? What did he ask about me?"

"He wanted to know if you were.. 'seriously romanticallyattached'to anyone; in particular, a certain grey-eyed Slytherin blond?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "W-what?! Gin, what did you tell him?"

"I just told him that of course you were serious about your relationship. He acted pretty worried about your welfare after.. uhm, yesterday's.. activities."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort when suddenly, a pair of familiar lips swooped down and kissed her on the cheek. Astonished, she whipped her head around to find a smirking Draco Malfoy staring down at her, his steely grey eyes mirthful.

"Morning, Granger," he greeted simply as he slid into the vacant seat beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist as he filled his chalice and took a sip. Ginny gave them a queer look.

"You know, guys, it's rather odd how you're both still on surname terms, even after you became an item," she stated matter-of-factly. Hermione frowned.

Draco simply grinned. "Very well, Weaslette, let me rephrase," he turned to Hermione. "Morning, Hermione."

"Morning, Mal- Draco," Hermione corrected herself, blushing. Ginny smiled.

"That's better."

x x x x x x x x x x

"Draco," Hermione muttered, nudging him as they walked down the corridor towards the Charms classroom. Everyone they passed shot them dirty, disapproving looks or whispered obscenities behind their palms to their neighbours. Hermione held her chin high as she marched past them. "I think it might take awhile before they get used to it."

"Don't worry, Hermione, they're just jealous," Draco said simply with a smirk. As if to prove his point, he grazed his lips against her cheek, emitting a gasp from not only Hermione, but a group of nattering girls that were none-too-discreetly tailing them. If Draco were to walk even a fraction slower, they'd most definitely step on his robes, judging by the closeness of their proximity. Hermione shot him a look; she wasn't too keen on public displays of affection, after all.

"Dra-"

"See, I told you they were just jealous," Draco grinned, leaning in to kiss her again. "Like I said, Hermione, don't worry. They'll get over it soon enough. Gossip whores, they are.."

"DRA-"

"Hermione, really, I'm quite certain-"

"DRACO!"

The hallway turned silent at Hermione's sudden outburst. Draco stopped walking, causing the group of giggling girls to almost crash head-first into him. In a flurry of hair and robes, they sped off, all the while glaring daggers in Hermione's general direction. Draco snorted in a very un-Malfoy-like manner at their juvenile behaviour and turned to her with a perfectly cocked eyebrow. "Yes, Hermione?"

"Err..," Hermione fidgeted, before leaning in to whisper into his ear, "No PDA, please."

Rolling his eyes good-naturedly, Draco continued to stride, Hermione rushing to catch up. "Whatever, Hermione. As your royal Highness wishes."

x x x x x x x x x x

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione quickly looked up from her Advanced Charms text to see tiny Professor Flitwick frowning down at her as he levitated unsteadily in front of the desk she shared with Draco. She hurriedly put away her text before turning her full attention to the clearly upset Professor. "Yes, Professor?"

"I am very disappointed in you, Miss Granger," Flitwick squeaked. "I expected much better from a student as brilliant and advanced as you are."

Hermione gave him a curious look. "Sorry?"

"Don't say sorry to me, Miss Granger, say sorry to yourself," Flitwick stated oddly as he handed her a scroll of parchment before floating off to Daphne Greengrass. Hermione stared at the tightly furled parchment, her mind still reeling from that confusing conversation with Flitwick. She gingerly picked up the parchment and examined it, realizing that it was her essay. The scroll was tied tightly with a velvet green ribbon, the name Hermione Granger printed neatly on the front in thin black ink. "Why's my essay so short?" she muttered to herself as she undid the ribbon and slowly unfurled the creased parchment. "I'm sure it was at least three feet- Oh, Merlin!"

Draco, who had been watching her with intense interest, nearly fell out of his chair at her exclamation. His chair had been teetering on its hind legs, and he came crashing forward in shock, gripping the edge of the desk to prevent his face from permanently becoming part of the cold stone floors, earning himself several odd glances in his direction in the process.

"What? What happened?" he asked urgently, his eyes darting from the dirty parchment Hermione held between shaking fingers and the shocked mouth-agape expression that was plastered across her face. "Hermione?"

Her large chocolate eyes swiveled up to stare into his own clear grey ones, sending silent screams through their intense eye lock. Without a word, she thrust the parchment in his hands, mouth still hanging open like a fish. Frowning at the possibility of anything having such an effect as to even make Hermione Granger shell-shocked, his eyes scanned the length of the parchment. His brow furrowed together.

It was blank.

He shot her a puzzled look. "Err, Hermi-"

"Look at the bottom," she rasped, massaging her temples in vexation, her eyes shut tight. Draco did as he was told and his eyes widened at the sight of the minuscule black handwriting in the bottom right corner of the parchment, long and spidery, almost impossible to decipher. He narrowed his eyes and brought the parchment closer to his face, examining the font carefully. His mouth fell open. He reread the sentence over and over again, it's full meaning not able to seep properly into his skull.

I'm too stupid for Hogwarts, gimme an F. Hermione Granger.

Draco frowned. Flitwick had done just that, judging by the large circled F at the back of the parchment, a glaring bright red eyesore. But whether it was on Hermione's absurd orders or due to the lack of .. well, everything in that essay, he wasn't sure.

"Her- Hermione?"

Draco glanced up to see Hermione leap up from her seat and stride over to where Flitwick was bobbing about in mid air to some unknown rhythm in his head. Draco watched from the safety of his seat as Hermione shared a rather animated conversation with the diminutive Professor, her hands punching thin air repeatedly as she tried to convince the giddy Professor that there had been some kind of mistake.

He could hear random snatches of the conversation that managed to float over the usual noisy hustle and bustle of the classroom and reach his ears.

"... Three foot long essay ..."

"... There's been a misunderstanding ..."

"... Never sent in blank homework before ..."

"... Have more dignity than that ..."

"... I'm Hermione Granger, for Merlin's sake ..."

Finally, after several minutes, Hermione let out a frustrated growl before marching back to her seat, Draco's silver orbs trained on her every move as she reached into her book bag and wrench out her Advanced Charms text again, slamming it onto the desk in front of her. She fumed as she roughly flipped though the pages and was visibly seething as her eyes darted across the page, her brain soaking up the information like a sponge.

There was an uncomfortable silence, Draco not daring to voice his thoughts and disrupt the quiet, afraid of what Hermione might do to him in her anger. After several silent moments, he finally plucked up the courage to carefully place a hand on Hermione's shoulder. He nearly jumped when her muscles tensed, but then inwardly sighed with relief as they relaxed under his touch.

"Hermione?" he asked, his voice brimming with pure concern. "What happened?"

With a loud bang, she slammed the abused book shut, folding her arms across her chest. "Professor Flitwick," Hermione glared menacingly at the happy Professor, who was too busy zooming about the classroom to notice. "Seems to think that I really am too stupid for Hogwarts. He doesn't seem to believe me that there's been a mistake with my essay. Really! As if I, Hermione Granger, would even think about handing a short assignment, let alone a blank one! The nerve.."

At that point, Hermione began to mutter, her voice so low that Draco couldn't understand a single word, though he was quite sure that they weren't pretty, judging by the evil way Hermione would look in Flitwick's direction. I hope she isn't planning on -

"Whooo!" Professor Flitwick's voice sailed over to them as he suddenly lost control of his levitating and went crashing into the group of girls he had been hovering over. Draco winced.

- jinxing him.

Draco turned to face Hermione, an amused grin playing about the sides of his lips as he spotted the ludicrous smirk that was apparent on her features.

That's a smirk worthy of the Malfoy title.

x x x x x x x x x x

"Aaaargh!" Hermione cried out, frustration clear as her hands flew up to her temples, massaging the persistent veins that were throbbing there. Spread out in front of her was her so-called assignment for Potions. The blank parchment, bearing the same minuscule note in the bottom right corner, was host to a large F that took up most of the parchment's middle. Professor Snape was obviously enjoying her torment as he hovered by her desk, a satisfied sneer marring his long, sallow face. The enmity that practically throbbed between them was evident and Draco wearily kept an eye on the fuming Hermione, who was glaring bloody daggers at her smirking Potions professor.

"There's no need for such loathsome looks in my class, Miss Granger," Snape reprimanded curtly, the tip of his mouth jerking upwards in an insidious manner. "20 points from Gryffindor. Oh, and another 20 points for handing in an unfinished - no, scratch that, blank - assignment."

With one final smirk, the Potions master spun on his heel and strode back down the length of the classroom to his desk, leaving Hermione in a foreboding sense of dread in his wake.

Draco shot her a worried glance. Hermione's face was hidden in her hands, the tips of her fingers digging into her hair. Hunched over and shaking, she was slowly rocking back and forth in her seat, an unintelligible mumbling emanating from her alarming figure. Draco tentatively leaned over and rubbed soothing circles into the small of her back.

"Who would do such a thing?" Hermione choked, bringing her head up from her hands to meet Draco's worried gaze. Her eyes had the slightest rim of red around its edges, and her breathing pattern was irate and sudden. Was she going to have a breakdown in the middle of the dungeons?

No, Hermione Granger had more dignity than that. That is, if she had anymore dignity left after this latest horrifying discovery. Hermione Granger getting an F? No, rephrase. Hermione Granger getting seven F's? It just wasn't logical. She hadn't even gotten a B before, and now from an advanced A student, she had flopped down miserably to a measly F junkie. No, Hermione Granger had to save whatever dignity she had left in her before it all got wiped away like her clean record.

Draco dug through his bag for his schedule and swiftly ran his eyes over the small font. He was relieved to find that Double Potions was the last lesson of the day. His eyes lingered on the thick print before slowly moving backwards on the list, scrutinizing each of the predeceding subjects. In Herbology, Professor Sprout had stiffly handed Hermione a similar blank parchment, announcing for the whole greenhouse to hear that Hermione Granger had received an F. Shocked gasps of horror had escaped from everybody's lips at the revelation. Later on in Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall had lectured Hermione on failing her assignment, issuing more cries of disbelief amongst her contemporaries. Right after lunch in Ancient Runes, their vexed Professor Babbling had unceremoniously dropped yet another blank assignment on top of Hermione's open copy of Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms, stating that he never thought such offending work would ever be handed in by a student as talented as she. In their Double Arithmancy lesson, Hermione had received not one but two blank essays from a tutting Professor Vector, claiming that Hermione had been such a waste of hope. Draco frowned. He wasn't entirely sure who would want to cause Hermione such academic grief, but thought that he had a good idea who would.. A certain bunch of jealous, spiteful students, I'll bet Merlin's beard on it..

"This has got to stop," Hermione snarled, her mouth contorting into a frown, reeling Draco out of his reverie. "Whoever's doing this is definitely ruining my reputation, Draco! Something must be done!"

"Maybe you should go to see Dumbledore," Draco suggested lightly. Hermione's ears perked up.

"Yes, maybe I should! I'll do so first thing tomorrow morning, I'm too tired and stressed out tonight," Hermione scowled. She tapped the scatter of books, parchments and quills that littered her desk, watching as it all packed themselves neatly into her bag. "I need to get some rest, Draco. I think I'll skip dinner tonight. I'm feeling so drained at the moment.."

Draco nodded understandingly. "Alright, then, Hermione. I'll bring some dinner up for you later. The bell should be ringing any moment-"

BRIIIIIIIING.

"-now," he finished lamely over the deafening scraping of chairs as everybody got up and packed their belongings, not wanting to stay in the cold, drafty dungeons any longer than they had to. Hermione miserably hoisted herself out of her seat and shouldered her bag, giving Draco a weak smile.

"I'll see you later, then," she concluded, reaching over to plant a quick kiss on his pale cheek. Blushing furiously, she pushed in her chair before hurriedly making her way past the stream of students that were milling out the door, disappearing from Draco's line of vision.

x x x x x x x x x x

Balancing a silver tray laden with goodies, Draco knocked on Hermione's closed bedroom door. After waiting several seconds, he was greeted by silence. He knocked again, rapping the solid polished wood louder with his knuckles. When he failed to hear a response or stirring, Draco pressed his ear to the cool wood, frowning. He could decipher light snoring emitting from the room and it clicked in his mind that she had dozed off.

He carefully balanced the heavily-laden tray in the palm of one hand whilst turning the doorknob with the other. The tray began to quiver, before tipping slightly, the chalice of pumpkin juice atop it wobbling and nearly spilling its thirst-quenching contents onto the luxurious antique carpet beneath his shiny black shoes. With impressive dexterity, Draco managed to level the tray, breathing a sigh of relief when the amalgam of food it held became still once more.

Using his foot, he quietly pushed open the door, an intricately-decorated red and gold room greeting his sight. He smirked as he made his way over to the four poster bed, its Gryffindor-proud hangings pulled shut, as he noted the stark contrast this room held with his, which boasted the silver and green Slytherin shades. He placed the tray onto the bedside table and summoned a chair, seating himself comfortably as he took in the scene.

The room was rather tastefully decorated, with swathes of brilliant red and gold fabric shielding the large framed windows. Hermione had already given the room her own personal touch, judging by the mess of reading materials that were scattered around the room; textbooks were piled high in unstable columns on her desk, gold-embossed leather-bound tomes were stacked neatly by her bed and dozens of copes of The Daily Prophet littered the floor. Draco raised an eyebrow involuntarily. I never knew Hermione was so messy. Mother would definitely have a fit if she saw this room..

He turned sharply when the bed cloths started to rustle, his shoulders slumping as he dropped his guard when he heard Hermione moan softly. With tired fingers, she slowly pushed apart the gauzy bed hangings, and Draco came face to face with a drowsy Hermione Granger. A dreamy look flitted over her features as she smiled up at him. "Mmm.. Hello, Draco.."

"I brought you some dinner, like I said I would," Draco jerked his head towards the tray of food beside him. Hermione's eyes widened in delight at the sight.

"Oh, wonderful.. Thank you.. I'm feeling so hungry at the moment.. Unghh.. And so tired..," Hermione groaned, before blushing, realizing that Draco was examining her in her most vulnerable state. Quickly, she pulled the duvet high up to her chin and squared her shoulders, her cheeks still tinted a delicate shade of pink. Smirking, Draco levitated the tray closer to her.

"Did a house elf bring these up?" Hermione inquired softly as she fingered a dainty treacle tart, licking her lips subconsciously.

Draco shook his head, causing the tray to jerk slightly at the sudden movement. "Oh, sorry. No, I brought it up myself."

Hermione beamed up at him as she took a bite of the tart. "How thoughtful!"

They lapsed into a companionable silence, Draco gazing at her as she nibbled at the tart. When she had finished it and was reaching for another, her expression turned grave. "Draco, I think I know who would do such a thing to my grades."

Draco's heart fell. "Oh. Yeah."

"It might be this group of third year Slytherins, according to Ginny," Hermione stated. "Apparently, Gin saw one of them, Marchetta Grislen, rifling through Professor McGonagall's student cabinet while she was passing McGonagall's office on the way to the Great Hall. Grislen's friends were all huddled up outside the door and were giggling, and Gin managed to catch a few suspicious phrases like, 'Hermione's gonna pay' and 'her dirty blood won't taint his'."

Draco's eyes darkened to a molten silver, his face contorting in rage as he jumped out of his seat. "Dirty blood, they said? I'll show them dirty blo-"

"Draco, no!" Hermione's arm shot out to grab Draco's, her face pleading. "Don't hurt them. Please. I'm not even sure if they were the ones that created all this confusion. Don't do anything to them until it's confirmed, please."

Submitting reluctantly to Hermione's pleas, Draco withdrew his arm from her grasp as he sat back down, glaring at the patch of empty scarlet-painted wall ahead of him.

"Fine. I won't lay a wand on them. Yet."

x x x x x x x x x x

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable created by the brilliant mind of Joanne Kathleen Rowling, nor do I intend to perform any copyright infringement or receive any profits from the writing of this fiction. Wheeee.

Author's Note: Wheee! ..Again. I'm currently changing my story layout. I decided that the previous one wasn't very nice, so taa daa! New layout:D I'm such a doofus. Okay, okay. Nevermind. Moving on to the IMPORTANT matters at hand. I know, I know. It seems rather.. ingeniously wrong that anyone would even think of spoiling perfect Hermione Granger's reputation by demolishing her straight A record. Oh, well. We've got some pretty cunning minds in Hogwarts, as you have discovered. More disasters and heartbreaks to come, dearies, no worries. Let's just say that the next chapter contains some rather thrillingly.. fatal news. ;) oO"

An ominous thankyou to all my beloved reviewers!! My greatest thanks to all of you lovely readers who've stuck with me all this while. :) It's quite sad, though. I've got over.. well, quite a large number of hits, and yet so few people actually review. :( Anyway, thanks to everybody who DOES review. You make my day, seriously. :)

My lovely lovely lovely reviewers: Danusha, firebirdflame, adeckofcards, Abby, Ranariel, LonelyBeat, littlemeercat, dracoisthesexiestmanalive, Miss Loh, gwen, and Glowing Red Eyes!!

Danusha: Well, Ginny is Hermione's best girlfriend, so yeah. :) You can't exactly expect Hermione to go traipsing up to Harry and Ron and announcing that she was going out with their sworn nemesis, right? They'd probably obliviate her memory or murder Draco in his sleep or something. :D Yeahh, poor Hermione. No, they're still together. She's gotta keep holding on!! And of course those Howler-senders are jealous!

firebirdflame: Great to know that you're loving my story. :D I feel happyy. The haters were the jealous people who sent the Howlers to Hermione. Yeah. Definitely, Draco would stand up for Hermione. No one can harm a Malfoy's private property, right? ;D

adeckofcards: Nuuu! You should review more often, but thanks for taking the time to review the last chapter anyway. :D Glad to know you're still tuning in! Haha, yeahh, thanks. I couldn't really imagine Hogwarts being lenient about their sudden relationship. The girls -and some guys oO" - are probably tearing their pretty hair out trying to get back at Hermione. :D

Abby: ... silence

Ranariel: Thanks! Well, he did try to address her as Hermione, it's in one of the previous chapters, I'm sure. But he found it.. strange. So he just decided to stick with Granger until they got more used to it, I suppose. Good ol' Ginny, easing the name tension. :D Thanks for reminding me, though!

LonelyBeat: Thanks?

littlemeercat: Whoaa!! Heh, thanks for the shower of reviews. :D In response to review #1, you're very much welcome. :) Haha, yeahh. Love-hate relationships are cute, aren't they? ;D In reply to review #2, hee, yeah, that part went a little overboard with my imagination. :D Thanks! Review #3: Hm, Pansy maturing.. too much? Wow. Never heard that coming. :D It can happen, though, can't it? She can't stay the frou-frou whore she was forever, after all. Hermione's had a detention before? Oh, well. Let's just ignore that little snippet, then, shall we? ;) Hee. Thanks! Review #4: Haha! Yeahh, it's amusing. :D My spelling is usually so whacked up, so thanks should be directed at Abby for being such a great, loyal BETA. :D Ahaha. Err, I STILL try to update every few days, it's just the CNY holidays have been holding me back. :) Hee.

dracoisthesexiestmanalive: Haha, thanks!

Miss Loh: Glad to know your computer's fixed. :) I know, CNY holidays can be so hectic! I've got all these long-lost relatives flurrying in and out of my house, I can't even keep track! It's like a mad rush hour. At least they leave ang pows, right:D I'm feeling rich!! Yeah, chapters are longer, and I'm TRYING to update as often as I can. Heh. CNY is my excuse this time for being late. :D

gwen: Thanks!! My writing's been held up by all the hectic rush of the Chinese New Year holidays. Mad relatives and all appearing at my doorstep all the time. There's just no privacy anymore. :D Thanks again!!

Glowing Red Eyes: Thanks very much!!

Yeahhh. Phew. That took a lot of space. oO" Oh, well. Thanks again to everyone for sticking with me, and don't forget to drop me a review! ;) By the way, when you have the time, I've posted up a new one-shot titled Furry Little Problem. It's a RemusxSirius one-shot that I felt like writing earlier on when I was bored, so I decided to post it up. :) Give it a go whenever you have the time, and drop me a review:D Ttfn, su yin. xx