A/N: Wow! So many reviews for the last chapter, I'm still shocked. Well, yes, everyone got their wish, Zabini got a little of what was coming to him, and even though I must agree that he got off a little easy, there is still a whole story ahead of us, remember that, ::grins evilly:: Though I might be updating less frequently now due to things going on, but I shall not try to be any later than two weeks.
Warning: OotP spoilers from now till the end of the fic!
Disclaimer: Slytherin Diva: Hey look! Its Harry Potter!
Harry Potter: Hi.
Slytherin Diva: Harry could you tell us who your creator is please, for all the lovely readers out there.
Harry Potter: My mum and dad, Lily and James Potter.
Slytherin Diva: ::sweatdrop:: Uh, no, Harry, who is the creator of all of you.
Harry Potter: God?
Slytherin Diva: ::falls on head:: No Harry…not…god.
Harry Potter: Sorry, don't know then mate.
Slytherin Diva: Just…go play Quidditch Harry…go…go on.
Hermione Granger: I know I know our creator! Couldn't help over hearing!
Slytherin Diva: Ah, yes Hermione, please tell us.
Hermione Granger: It all started back when the earth was very young and there was this thing called the primeval soup or something and-
Slytherin Diva: NO!!!!!! NO AND NO!!!!!!
Mr. Sock: J.K Rowling! I learned that the hard way.
Slytherin Diva: ::falls on head::
Credits: To the blonde lady across the Atlantic.
Thanks Too: Chach-A-Lot, Blue-Dreamz, CeLeStIaL bEiNg, SickGirl42, xxbabysparklesxx, starlightz6, Paranoia-shouijo, Pampers, hpgal186, FuMan Skeeto, hP fAn Fo LyFe, Reiji, sweet-77-thang, Crazper, Tristanlover59, wildmage101, blondiebabs, tomsgirl4ever, Raye-Rei, ToOtHpIcK, Cute-Kitty, Earthako, Genevieve Jones, DanceChic0869, Relena Potter, SnOgFeSt, Angels INC, super sycoh, Pannygirl, bad-ass-angel, un foolished, Chyld of Black Fire, noisyamie, Jenie, love2045, Kalariah, Lavender Brown, darnell's daughter, ~*~Lisha~*~, Arwen1011, Jo, Junsui Chikyuu, scotty's angel, crazy azn angel and Daydreamer4495 for the kick ass reviews!
Chapter 13: Dancing with the Devil
As the music began to play Draco lead Hermione to the center of the dance floor, Draco took her hand in his and raised it up and he put his other hand on her waist. Hermione slightly nervous grabbed her gown and lifted the side of it up with her free hand, as she heard Draco say, "You ready?"
Hermione nodded, "Yea."
Then slowly Draco began to lead her into a dance of twirls and spins, to everyone that looked on they could've been floating on air with each graceful step.
'He seems so different tonight, so gentlemen like…why is that? And why am I starting to like it? Maybe its those eyes of his that are staring at me like a hawk, they make me feel so strange and weak, I'm struggling to work my legs despite it. Imagine if he knew what he's strangely managing to do to me? He'd laugh much like I'm trying not to,' she thought almost dreamily.
'Did I actually beat up on Zabini cause of her? What the hell was I thinking? I must not have been thinking. Its my lack of sleep, its screwing with my head. Yet, she'll be fine now I suppose. I wonder if she'll start insulting me again now? I can take it if she did, it would be a nice trip back to normalcy,' he thought as he had her twirl under his arm, just then the music stopped and the prefects came on to the dance floor and joined them.
Music that was a bit more rhythmic began to play; he recognized this music. It was a ballroom dance he saw done as a child and then was taught…by force. He used to hate dancing to it, perhaps cause every partner was either Pansy Parkinson or Millicent Bulstrode or some other daughter of a Death Eater who was a total turn off. Yet right now, as he looked at the masked girl in scarlet and gold, he became rather fond of the dance.
They took a step back from each other then a step towards each other; they walked around each other never looking away from the other, their eyes stayed locked onto each other. Their hands connected and as they moved in they raised their arms up as they pulled back their arms went down, then up again as they came close. He then spun her one way and then another, he spun her away from him and then right into him, he then slid away from her then he slid to her right then back again and then to her left, and then he slid in steps all around her till he was back in front of her again. He then held his hand out to her, she took it and then they took a step out then turned around switched hands and took another step out, then he grabbed her waist and lifted her up and spun her in the air, she raised her arms up like all the other girls did and she for the first time in a week felt happy and almost free. He then put her down and their hands pressed up against each other and they stepped into each other then away from each other, he then spun her around and let her fall into his arm ending the dance.
She looked into his eyes, they were shining bright, 'If only I could see his face,' she thought, 'its so hard to believe I'm dancing with the same git I share a room with. I feel as though I'm dancing with the devil in disguise.'
"Now everyone, please…dance! At midnight we will unmask our partners," Dumbledore said happily, as Ron and Ginny raced to their dates. It was obvious they didn't like having to dance such a dance with each other.
Hermione and Draco continued looking at each other, "And hear I was thinking you had two left feet for seven years," Draco said suddenly.
Hermione smirked, "And here I was thinking you'd make me trip."
Draco shook his head, "I think you can only suffer so much in a week, don't you think?"
Hermione froze, 'What did he mean by that? He doesn't know about Zabini does he? No…I'm being silly, he was just saying that cause of the Veritaserum project, he knows I have been working very hard on it with Millicent.'
"Yea I guess so, Snape's projects are never easy to finish," she said.
Draco nodded, 'Let her think I don't know. Bet her pride wants it that way.'
Then they just stood their in front of each other as a very awkward silence came over the two of them and they were just standing there not knowing what to really say, should they part ways?
"I guess, I'll go then since our job is done, no point in standing around here any more," Draco said suddenly as he turned and began to walk away.
Hermione saw him go but she felt like something needed to be said or done before she could part ways with him, "Wait!"
He turned to her, mask and hood still on only the glint of his silver eyes could she see from where she was, "Did you tell Lavender, that you were going to look after me tonight?"
Draco looked away from her for a moment, 'I did say that didn't I? Shit.' He thought as he then looked over at Zabini who kept on taking off his mask every so often to make sure the bandage Madame Pomfrey had put on his nose was doing its job. Draco smirked, 'Serves the bastard right, though I still think I should've killed him. There I go thinking madness again…dammit…am I ill?'
He then faced her again and not really knowing what else to say simply said, "Well, do you want me to?" sounding annoyed with his own question.
Hermione looked down at her hands as she fidgeted her fingers and bit her lip nervously, which Draco couldn't see her do since her mask covered it, "No, there's n-no reason for you to do that."
Draco didn't say a word, 'You don't want me to know, I guess you'll sleep easy thinking that,' he thought.
Draco shrugged, "Fine."
He then walked away and Hermione let out the biggest sigh of her life, she then sat at a nearby table, 'Merlin, does he know? Did…did Lavender tell him, or Ginny? Why else would he offer such a thing, how else would it explain Lavender saying so? No…they swore not to tell, I trust them.'
Dumbledore had enchanted the food and drinks so that they would pass right through the masks whenever someone had wanted to eat, so that no one could have a chance to take off their masks, except for Blaise that is. He continuously kept on checking his healing broken nose. He also never ate.
As the night went on, Draco kept to himself. He took a place in a dark corner where he stood and watched Hermione and Zabini while leaning against the wall. He could still watch out for her without her knowing and he was looking for an excuse to break Zabini's legs anyhow.
Many girls kept on coming up to him and asking him to dance and he turned them all away, he had no interest to dance with them. Just then Pansy came up to him, she took off her black mask and looked up at him.
Draco merely looked down at her in a rather bored fashion, Pansy then spoke, "You want to dance sexy?"
Draco rolled his eyes, "I'd rather dance with Snape."
Pansy frowned, "Oh come on," she said moving in closer to him, Draco simply stood and watched her come closer, "How can you resist me…you didn't used to."
"I decided that I prefer to be with the non-easy type, the kind that aren't below me and worth something a bit more then just a cheap thrill or dance," he replied darkly.
Pansy went to slap him but he grabbed her wrist in mid air, "Where was that hand of yours going by the way?"
Pansy pulled her hand away, "No where."
"That's what I thought too, cause I know you're not dumb enough to strike me, are you?" He asked smoothly.
Pansy put her mask back on, "Well the little mudblood Hermione Granger managed a shot at you, I guess that's enough shame for you isn't it?"
Draco smirked, luckily Pansy never knew, "Care to leave before I give you enough shame to last you your entire life?"
Pansy huffed and walked off.
"Stupid girl."
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It was ten minutes till midnight, Hermione had had a marvelous night dancing with Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Ernie and even Colin Creevey and Dumbledore. She hardly caught a glimpse of Blaise the whole night and it just made the night even better, little did she know she had a secret bodyguard watching her from a dark corner.
Hermione, Ron, Harry, Lavender and Ginny all sat down at a table talking and laughing when suddenly Ron said, "Have you seen Zabini tonight?" he began with a laugh, Hermione suddenly frowned at the mention of Blaise, "He apparently has a broken nose. You should see how stupid he looks with that bandage on his nose and him checking it every so often, he's even thrown up a few times."
"How come?" Hermione asked suddenly overwhelmed with curiosity.
"Don't know really, rumor has it…Malfoy went to go see Zabini in the Slytherin common room a short while before the ball was to start," Ron began as Lavender and Ginny gave each other nervous glances, Lavender started to slink down into her chair to avoid being too noticed, "After Malfoy left, Zabini had a broken nose, a knife pinned pretty deep into his wall and he could hardly breath from a blow he took to the gut…oh and he has a nice cut along his cheek and a broken wand. I say Malfoy did it."
Hermione was terribly confused, "But why would Malfoy do that?"
Ron shrugged, "Have no clue."
Hermione then looked over at Ginny who was looking at Lavender. Lavender was twisting a napkin nervously not even realizing Hermione's curious stare. Lavender told her that Malfoy would watch over her during the ball, she must have spoken to Malfoy…she must have told him Zabini raped her.
"Lavender," Hermione began in a controlled voice that prevented her from screaming.
Lavender's eyes looked up at Hermione through her white mask, "Yea Mione?" she asked nervously.
"Can I see you a moment PLEASE?" Hermione said getting up from her seat and grabbing Lavender by the arm, and the two walked off to the other end of the room.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked curiously.
Ginny sighed, "Have no idea," she said lying nervously.
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Hermione and Lavender stopped at the wall, "Lavender, please tell me that when you told me Malfoy said he'd watch over me tonight, you were lying?"
Lavender bit her lip nervously and began fidgeting her with her hands and she looked in every direction except Hermione's. Hermione saw Lavener's eyes wander and she almost knew Lavender was hiding something.
"No Hermione, I wasn't lying. He did tell me," she said in a low voice.
Hermione looked at her in total disbelief, "So then I'm guessing the only reason he would say that is because…you told him Zabini raped me. Didn't you?"
Lavender nodded, "I didn't know what else to do, you wouldn't leave the bathroom cause you were afraid Zabini would do something. So I went to Malfoy."
Hermione shook her head not understanding, "Why? Why go to Malfoy over such a thing? What made you think he would care?"
Lavender sighed and leaned back against the wall and watched the other students dance, "Well he is my project partner and during our sessions you came up in the conversations. Yesterday he started asking me why you cry every night; he asked if he could help you stop crying. So he basically tried to make me tell him."
"Yet you waited till tonight, cause I was locking myself in the bathroom?" Hermione asked still a bit confused.
Lavender nodded, "He sounded concerned about you, so I thought if I told him what was going on, then he might actually help you like he said he would have. To be perfectly honest after I told him he ran down the hall towards the dungeons," Lavender began as Hermione felt like she was about to hear something she never thought she'd hear in a million years, "Ginny and I believe that he was the one who beat up Zabini like that. We're assuming he did it cause of you…for you, really."
Hermione didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to think. Malfoy did that for her? Draco Malfoy, the bane of her existence? The boy who always made her life and the lives of her friends unbearable at times? He beat up and practically killed Blaise Zabini for her? Cause of what Blaise did to her? No way in hell.
"Lavender tell me you're lying?" Hermione asked nervously.
Lavender shook her head, "Not this time Mione…I told him and he ran off towards the dungeons, very angry might I add."
Hermione felt so stupid, 'He's known since the ball opening…that's why…I think…I owe him a thank you…or something…Merlin what do you say to your worst enemy in a situation like this?'
"Do you by any chance know where Malfoy is?" Hermione asked Lavender.
Lavender shrugged, "Don't know really."
Hermione sighed, "Alright well…if anyone asks, I went to the bathroom alright?"
"Ok…but where are you going?" Lavender asked curiously.
"To find Malfoy." She said as she began walking off.
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Hermione walked quickly around the Great Hall looking for the tall figure in green and black velvet, she then saw him leaning against a wall in a dark corner. He was looking right at her, she saw his eyes piercing through her again.
'Right Hermione, its now or never. Just go and say thank you.' She thought to herself as she then approached him.
Draco watched her walk over towards him, 'What's this?' he thought.
Hermione paused in front of him and looked up into his eyes, "I-I need to tell you something."
Draco raised a brow of interest, "Oh you do? Like what exactly?"
Hermione looked around the area, there were just too many people that might hear the conversation, "Can we go outside?"
Draco shrugged, "If we must."
Hermione lead Draco to a bench by the main stairway behind a big bush. She sat down; Draco stayed standing.
"Would you please sit down?" She asked nervously.
"No…I'd rather stand…why are we out here?" He asked looking around to see if anyone was in site.
Hermione looked down at her hands, suddenly she felt so ashamed that Malfoy knew what Zabini had done to her. She felt so dirty, so embarrassed, but she had to say thank you, "I just wanted to tell you that…I know you know what Zabini did to me," she began, her voice beginning to quiver as if she was on the verge of tears, Draco watched her feeling a strange feeling of guilt or was it pity? He felt pity cause he knew if it had been up to her she would've still been a virgin right now and would've had all her dignity and self worth busting inside her…now she was just a ghostly image of that. His eyes landed on hers making her unable to look away from him for reasons she couldn't explain.
"I just wanted to say…thank you…for…what you did. If you meant to or not don't tell me…but I just had to say thank you…Lavender told me everything." She said as you saw the tears glisten in her eyes.
It was five minutes till midnight.
"Now I know why Brown is known as the school gossip queen, she can't keep her trap shut can she?" Draco said, not comfortable with having to be in this situation, with Hermione being in the state she was.
Hermione shrugged, "I guess so…but…well…I don't know…just don't tell anyone about what happened. Only Lavender, Ginny and you know about it…I guess I want to keep it that way. I couldn't bear it if Ron or Harry found out. Its bad enough you found out."
Draco scoffed, "Sure, can't have precious Potter and Weasel finding out about this. Merlin knows what they might say right? Like it should matter…if they're your bloody friends…they won't care about it anymore then I do now."
Hermione frowned, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Draco shrugged, "They'll, look beyond that and still see the same girl they met back in first year."
'Was that a compliment? No, that was the simple truth…THE SIMPLE TRUTH. I was not being nice…she'll still be the same insufferable mudblood know-it-all,' he thought angrily. This girl, Draco didn't like how he acted around her…the Zabini crisis is dealt with, he can move on and sleep better nights, its over. He can walk away now and never look back, sadly he helped Granger in the process but there are some things that he was just lucky enough to not have ruin his reputation, no one need know ever.
"So you don't see me as some slutty whore? You're not going to rub this all in my face?" Hermione began, as she then seemed to be thinking, "You know, you had warned me about Zabini before didn't you? A day or two before it happened…yet look…you said if I slept with him I'd be a slutty whore, guess that's what I am now then."
Draco clenched his fists, 'She's right, I did warn her…but…I should agree with her just to be an ass right? Yes, let me agree.'
"No you're not," he began, 'Oh shit! No! That came out wrong! Wait I can fix this', he thought frantically as he continued in the same smooth tone, "What he did to you wasn't your fault, now if you had slept with him intentionally like Parkinson, THEN you'd be a slutty whore and I'd have to agree with you…but in this case you're off the hook of that title."
'Bloody fucking hell!' He thought, 'I need to get out of here. Or just get away from her.'
Hermione thought she was dreaming, was Malfoy really saying these rather nice things? He still sounded like Malfoy, his mannerisms where still the same, yet there was something different in him now too.
Hermione then got up, "Guess we should go back in."
She then began walking away but she felt him grab her arm, she turned to find herself looking right into his eyes again, something she both liked and hated, "One thing you have to promise first."
Hermione frowned, "What?"
"Don't tell anyone what I did to Zabini, I can't have such things being said about me," he said.
Hermione sighed, "Yes cause Merlin knows we can't have anything good being said about you Malfoy."
Draco shrugged, "Who said I did anything good?"
"It's midnight! Unmask your partner!" They heard Dumbledore shout from inside the Great Hall.
Hermione and Draco looked at each other, "Guess we should get it over with, just like we did everything else," he replied coolly.
Hermione shrugged, "I guess so."
Draco placed one hand on the bottom of her mask, Hermione's heart began to race a little, Draco hadn't seen her face all night…she rather liked it that way…she didn't really want her mask taken off, but before she knew he used his other hand to pull away the string behind her head. He then gently pulled her mask off…'Granger? No…fucking…way! She's…well…beautiful,' he thought surprised beyond all reason. Now that Draco has seen her face, he appreciated her dress and hair and just everything about her a lot more then he had before, cause when people got right down to it, if an ugly face was plastered onto a pretty dress, you still were left with an ugly face no matter what.
Yet Draco was looking at a very beautiful face, making everything else stand out a whole lot more.
Hermione feeling a bit uneasy about how Draco seemed to be staring at her through his mask she then said, "Alright, my turn."
Draco took in a breath; he didn't want the mask to come off…what else would he have to hide behind?
Hermione gently pushed back his black hood, revealing his platinum blonde hair which fell loose and un-gelled to the sides of his face, making his hair look like he had just gotten out of bed as a few strands of hair fell over his eyes…Hermione thought it looked rather nice natural. Draco grew a bit nervous; the mask would be gone soon. 'Dammit,' He thought.
Hermione then gently placed one hand on the bottom of the mask and she moved the other hand to the back of his head and untied the string, she then gently pulled the mask away, revealing the angelic face of Draco Malfoy.
'He's so handsome…you'd never think someone like him could be.' She thought amazed.
She, like Draco with her, quickly appreciated the rest of him once she remembered the handsome face behind the mask, but beyond the handsome face, Hermione could see deep down a handsome heart…or at least she hoped she did. Not that she would say so…not to him. ********************************************************************
Just then Lavender appeared by the entrance to the great hall.
Hermione and Draco looked her way as she cleared her throat to get their attention, her mask was now off, "You better get in, Dumbledore is going to make an announcement."
Hermione nodded and went to look back at Draco, but he was gone.
Hermione frowned and looked back at Lavender, "Where'd Malfoy go?"
Lavender put on a curious face, "I only saw him for a second, I don't even remember seeing him leave."
Hermione shrugged, "It must be a Slytherin thing."
"Come on Hermione, or you'll miss the announcement."
Hermione walked with Lavender back into the hall, Hermione felt her racing heart slow down a bit, as she casually scanned the hall for a sign of Draco, but she saw him no where.
Lavender and Hermione joined up with Harry, Ron and Ginny as Dumbledore began speaking.
"Tomorrow begins the School Tournament. We will have an opening ceremony, followed by the first event. Your parents have been notified and will be here tomorrow to greet you and watch you; there are five events in the tournament that will last throughout the year. Each round, students will be eliminated until we are down to four students from each house. Only sixth years and up may participate in the Tournament, now go to bed, get plenty of rest for tomorrow will be a long day."
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Draco heard from nearby the entrance of the hall, 'Just bloody wonderful, father will be here tomorrow. I doubt he'll be here for support,' he thought with absolutely no interest.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender and Hermione were walking out when suddenly Harry felt a sharp pain in his scar; he got down on his knees and put a hand to his head. Lavender and Ginny knelt beside him, suddenly as Lavender put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder Lavender cried out in pain and fell to the floor.
Hermione and Ron went over to Harry and Lavender.
"What is it?" Rona asked Harry.
"S-scar." Harry seethed.
"Lavender…Lavender, what is it?" Hermione asked worriedly.
Just then Harry's scar stopped hurting and Lavender stopped moaning from her pain.
Several students caught sight of what had happened, including Draco who watched from by the staircase.
"What is going on?" Said McGonagall who came from the great hall.
"Nothing," Harry said immediately as he got up from the floor.
Hermione helped Lavender back up to her feet.
"Nothing? I heard a commotion," McGonagall said looking around at everyone.
Just then Dumbledore came out from the Great Hall and said, "Mr. Potter, Ms. Brown, please come with me to my office."
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Hermione walked lazily towards her room, thinking about so many things. Her dancing with Malfoy, their conversation, how she was going to look him in the eye now after everything, the whole episode with Lavender and Harry which left everyone in a worried state.
Hermione then went into her room to find that Draco wasn't there.
She then had a desire to open the window, as she did she looked down below towards the lake and saw a tall figure with platinum blonde hair walking by the lake and looking out towards the moon above the mountains.
"Malfoy," she said softly to herself.
Just then she saw him turn around and look right at her with a blank yet intense stare almost as if he had heard her say his name, Hermione didn't budge or move an inch as their eyes locked. She wasn't even really breathing as she looked at the angelic god-like face of perfection as the moonlight cast a blue hew upon it, he then looked away from her and kept walking.
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A/N: Alright, tomorrow starts the school tournament. Did you guys forget about that? Wouldn't surprise me since I nearly forgot about it too. So, what happened to Harry and Lavender? How will Draco and Hermione be with each other now? Also daddy Lucius is coming! That spells trouble! The love seeds have been planted, now we will get to see them grow, slowly but surely. So please review tell me what you thought about the chapter etc, and I'll review later!
Questions/Comments readers had:
Jenie- The part I had written for a month in the last chapter was the fight scene between Draco and Blaise. I really love that scene, lolz.Paranoia-shoujo- There will be increased tension coming now that the tournament is starting; I'm just the type of person who draws things out very slowly.
darnell's daughter- Draco and Hermione never will make out, either they go all the way or no way, lol, j/k. Don't worry, things are coming!
Jo- Your review was awesome. You DID NOT bore me to tears. I really and truly appreciated the time you took to write the review and the things you had to say in it. You really helped me see my fic in a brand new light, I noticed things I never noticed before and thought of things I never thought of before. I really have to thank you for that very insightful review, it meant a lot to me all the things you said and I cannot wait for your next review, to see what new things you have to say. Muchas Gracias (Thank you very much).
And thank you to all the other reviewers, every review means a lot to me! ^_^