(A/N) Another new story. This one is going to be a lot of separate drabbles. I'm thinking of going up to 50, but if I can't manage that, then I'll stick with whatever number I think is best. I have NO beta. Please excuse mistakes. I DO NOT own Harry Potter or the songs I use. The title is from an Ingrid Michaelson song: A Bird's Song. Listen to it, it's excellent!

I am very willing to take requests on pairings. I will write basically anything: slash, het, femslash, etc. I'm going to take pairings, and put a song to them, as a little inspiration.

I recommend listening to all the songs I use, because they're all awesome.

This next drabble is Hermione/Draco. I had a few issues with it, because I haven't ever written Dramione. Still, it was quite fun, and I really enjoyed it. I also really enjoyed getting out of my usual writing style, and trying somethig new.

Dustland Fairytale – The Killers

She was not happy. She didn't expect that, which made her even more upset. Hermione liked things to go as planned. She liked everything nice and orderly. Especially things as planned as this.

The Yule Ball was the night her dreams were supposed to come true. She was supposed to be the happiest witch at the dance, but instead, she was sitting on the bench. Alone. That was the most important bit. She looked down the lit path of bushes, watching other blissful couples holding hands and kissing. That could be me, she thought. But it wasn't.

Three weeks ago, had someone told her that she would be going to the ball with him, she would have hexed them for teasing her. Ron was the man of her dreams, and she had thought he would never like her the way she liked – loved – him.

But now, sitting here on this bench, she realised that she definitely did not love Ron Weasley. She had, once, loved the idea of him. Or (and this was more likely) she loved the idea of having someone there, someone who liked her more than a friend. But she did not love him.

It had been going well, the dance, for a while. Soon, though, Hermione noticed Ron wasn't looking at her very much. Instead he was eying up other girls. Most of the time, his gaze returned to Fleur Delacour. Hermione did not appreciate this at all.

Hermione had eventually suggested drinks, and Ron had very eagerly taken up the task of finding them. He had not yet returned. She had been waiting for a while, and the time allowed herself to flit through a wide array of emotions.

At first, she was miserable. She had been stood up. It was awful. Quickly after that, however, she had become angry, then impatient, then sad again, but she had at last settled on resignation.

There was still lingering hope, however. She looked nice tonight, and she hoped that someone would notice. There were so many people here; couldn't at least one ask her to dance?

So, when Draco Malfoy asked her to dance, it didn't occur to her to say no. She wasn't desperate, not really. If, say, Ernie McMillan had asked her, she probably would have politely declined. But Draco was not Ernie. He was handsome (as much as Hermione was loathe to admit it) and there was just something about him that attracted her.

He wasn't awful. The past year, he had been positively nice. Ever since Buckbeak's escape, Draco had acted different. He wasn't as mean to the Gryffindors, and he didn't prance about Hogwarts as if he owned it. Another factor in his new attitude might also have been Lucius Malfoy's death over the summer. Suicide, most likely, and it was actually quite awful. Draco didn't seem incredibly upset, but there had been rumours that Lucius had a more...physical way of dealing with punishment.

Hermione didn't even think, she just accepted. He was a very good dancer, and for that she was glad. Ron had stepped on her poor toes one too many times that evening. They didn't speak for a while: the song was almost over when she finally looked directly into his piercing grey eyes and asked, "Why?"

He didn't need her to explain, understanding what she wanted to know. He leant in toward her, and murmured in her ear. "Because I like you. Is that so hard to believe? Because you looked lonely, and because Pansy is a clingy slut, and because..." He couldn't think of anymore reasons, but that was enough for her. "Why did you say yes?"

Hermione grinned. "Because I was lonely. Because Ron is the biggest ass to walk the Earth. But also because I like you, too." Draco nodded. That was enough for him, as well.

So maybe they didn't hate each other anymore. They didn't love each other either. But it was a start, and a good one at that.