A/N: I've finally updated...sorry for the long wait, but I think it's worth it. This chapter has nothing serious in it yet, but it's progressing pretty well. I love Hermione in this one. . This is probably the longest chapter I've written, so, if you can - bear with it. Enjoy.
Chapter 7: Deadly Masquerade
Harry and Ron stayed in their chamber rooms; Harry simply because he didn't wish to see Draco and Ron on the specific orders to stay where he was. Harry had only explained briefly to Ron when he asked 'Why?' that it would be too shocking. Ron's sixth sense told him to stay despite the screaming doubt of curiosity that was plaguing his mind.
At the shrill scream of Draco's voice, or rather, an unfamiliar scream, Hermione dashed upstairs to find the source of its voice. She slammed open the wide doors of Draco's chamber, wondering why on earth the scream was coming from his chamber, but she swore that she heard the words of murdering Harry and who else could possibly make that statement with such hatred? Obviously, Hermione did not suspect the beautiful lady that stood before her now.
The brunette, much like herself, stared at Hermione. The odd thing was, the lady was in men's clothing – Draco's clothing to be exact. She recalled the red dress shirt he was wearing that morning before he left with Harry. The angry lady looked at her and demanded, "Where's that Potter?"
Hermione brought her hand to cover her mouth and gasped, "Malfoy…?"
Draco stomped towards her, pulling up her/his dress pants before she would trip over them. "Yes, it's me. You're buffoon of a friend transformed me into a woman! I'm gonna bloody kill you, Potter!" Draco screamed again.
In Hermione's mind, understanding began to dawn on her.
"Malfoy!" she cried stopping her from trying to pass through the door. As the brunette glared up at her through the words of a man in a woman's body, Hermione couldn't help but feel a little odd. "Malfoy," she said a little softer. Draco looked at her skeptically before straightening. "I'm sure he has his reasons for doing this."
"He better have or I'm tearing him apart!" Draco remarked nastily and stepped aside to avoid Hermione.
"Malfoy! That's not proper lady-like language," Hermione stated grabbing her sleeve before she was gone through the door altogether. "Let me teach you the proper way. We have about an hour to get ready. Come on, let's get to it now," she said dragging the confused woman into her chamber just across the hall.
Draco protested, "Are you saying that I should just stay this way?!"
"Well, why not?" Hermione answered almost a little bitterly and locked her door. "It's a change from the usual cold voice of your previous form. Maybe this will do you some good."
Draco gaped at her and indicated her bulging chest, "Look at this! I am a man in a woman's body. That is degrading!"
Hermione rummaged through her massive step in closet, "Yes Malfoy, that is indeed clear, but degrading I wouldn't exactly agree. This could change your perspective a bit. Loosen up your stiff grip of anit-socialness with us."
(It's difficult switching the gender pronoun around. I'll stick with Draco being a 'him' but only in mind so his body is 100 female, alright?)
Draco was for a moment quiet. She was strangely correct, like usual. Draco was talking to her more than he (she) ever had during his (her) stay here for the past week. "I wasn't trying to be anti-social. It's just odd staying under this roof and everything," Draco admitted. Since I used to hate all of you before Draco added in his head and the truth was, he realized that the trio weren't bad.
Hermione poked her head from the closet and stared at Draco who quickly recovered and asked, "Polyjuice potions only last an hour anyways so why do I have to bother dressing up to some banquet I'm forced to go to?"
Draco's skin crawled as Hermione's lips turned skywards slowly and she returned to rummaging around the closet, "This polyjuice potion lasts six hours and I'll save your breath by answering why it does. Harry and I created the potion together. He suddenly had this idea of a longer lasting polyjuice potion, though he honestly didn't know how to prepare it being the klutz he naturally is. This is where I came in and perfected the potion so that is why you will be a woman for the next six hours. Of course, I had no idea what Harry was intending to do with that potion up until a minute ago…but it did aid him in one of his missions. Brilliant isn't it?"
Draco collapsed on her bed, shaking, "Brilliant…," he answered. "There's nothing to reverse this effect?" he asked hopefully.
Hermione laughed, "You'll have to ask Harry for that though I doubt he'd give it to you… Aha! I found it!" she exclaimed pulling out a deep satin, velvet dress out of the depths of the closet. She threw it to Draco. He lifted the feather-light garment and raised a brown brow. "Well, go on! See if it fits you."
"You've got to be kidding me," Draco said disgusted. He tossed it aside and began to leave. "I'd rather stay here for 6 boring hours than attend the ball in that." The dress was an exceptionally beautiful piece of art with fragments of diamonds mapped carefully out on the surface and a decent V-shaped curve that exposed its wearer's collarbone. "It's so…revealing." Draco stated bluntly gesturing towards it.
"It's perfect," Hermione disagreed roughly. "I chose it myself! Are you saying I have bad taste? Besides, our bodies are almost similar in size. Ask Ron, if you doubt the way you look. He's a got a decent impression for every lady."
Draco stated hotly, "I'm not a lady."
Hermione scoffed and picked up the dress, "Well, if you aren't a man and not a woman, then what are you?"
"I'm Draco Malfoy. I make my own category," Draco said and proceeded to exit the chamber.
"That's it," Hermione said lowly. "You're coming whether you like it or not. I will not allow Harry to go alone…"
"See if I care," Draco snapped and turned the brass knob which leaded him to the hallway outside. A moment after, the door forcefully slammed shut and a trace of wind passed through his hair. Draco stood where he was, stunned and listening to the soft clicking of Hermione's heels on the hardwood floor as she made her way towards him. Slowly, the brunette turned around. The clicking stopped and Draco was met with a pair of determined eyes.
"See here Malfoy," Hermione threatened and pointed a thin wand at his face. "I will not allow you to embarrass Harry by not going to the banquet!"
Draco took a step skeptically. He wasn't so sure why he was so confused and irritated with that statement, Hermione sounded like this entire thing was to be blamed on him when in fact it doesn't matter if he went or not. "Why would you even bother?" Draco questioned irritably. "You're all making this harder and more trouble for yourself. Your first mistake was turning me into a woman-"
"Actually, that was Harry's idea," interrupted Hermione.
Draco rolled his eyes, "I don't give a shit on whose idea it was. The second mistake is assuming I'd go to the banquet in this body."
"Also Harry's idea," Hermione resumed and crossed her arms, "and it would be my wish for you to go as well. If that has to be settled by force, then so be it."
Draco glared at her, "And the final mistake is underestimating my powers." Draco raised a hand.
Hermione simply gave him a sly grin and tapped her heel twice, uncrossed her arm and pointed her wand yet again at Draco, "And what exactly did you plan on doing with that hand of yours Malfoy? You're powers and you're status is incompetent in your new body, just to let you know. I think its best that you should just give up."
Stunned by the new information, Draco huffed and turned sharply away. "I'm leaving!" He heard a sigh from behind and then soft whispers of enchantment. Before Draco could turn the doorknob, he felt his rough clothes dissipating and the silky substance that he had previously discarded, materialize in its place.
"You're coming," Hermione decided and walked away towards her closet. Draco remained where he was, his hands outstretched over the brazen knob, like a still-life in a painting. "I'm going to look for my evening wear now….oh and Malfoy," Hermione added as she walked away, "don't bother trying to take the dress off. I've put a spell on it to prevent you from taking it off as long as you're in that form."
Draco didn't bother with facing Hermione or wasting his breath arguing. It appeared he would be going as Harry's partner whether he liked it or not. Slowly, Draco removed himself away from the door, unwilling to touch himself. He allowed the shivers to run through his body freely. He himself was too ashamed, defiled to even glance down to see how he looked.
"Hermione, what's taking so long? I'm coming in…"
Draco shuffled back quickly but he failed in covering his body as Ron entered.
"Ron!" Hermione yelled from within the closet. Her bushy head a speck from the doorway, but her voice rang clearly across her room. "How many times do I have to tell you to KNOCK before you come in?!"
Ron gaped at Draco, "Who's this hot chick you've got here…?" Ron asked instead.
"She's my date," answered Harry rearing in from behind. He was checking his silver watch before glancing at Draco. Nothing changed as Harry looked at Draco as though he was already familiar with the face. "Hermione…" said Harry nudging pass Ron. "Ron! Move your arse will you?" He snapped and shoved pass Ron. However, his path was then blocked. Looking at Draco, he said, "Enjoy your evening."
The brunette frowned at his archrival and scoffed disapprovingly towards Ron's wide open mouth. "Shut your mouth, Weasley," Draco said curtly before swiftly walking by. "There's nothing to look at…"
"Are you kidding me?" Ron said catching Draco's forearm. Draco winced and threw a nasty look at the red-head.
It seemed that being in the female body made Draco prone to pain more easily. "Let go of me."
Ron released Draco whether it was from his orders or his success in diverting his attention towards him. "Harry's gotten himself a real looker this time."
"You mean he usually dates ugly women?" Draco asked curiously.
Ron grinned, "He has a history of meeting the oddest people, but you – you're normal."
"Ron! Quit talking to him and get over here!" Hermione ordered. "I need your opinion on this dress…"
"Him?" Ron repeated confused. "This woman is not a him, Hermione! Get your eyes checked!"
Hermione shot back, "Get your sexuality checked! That's Draco after he took Harry's polyjuice potion."
Ron turned sharply back towards the brunette. The most feminine woman he's ever seen Harry picked, was really a man – in disguise. So much for being normal.
"Aaaagh, the infamous polyjuice potion," Draco muttered beneath his breath as Ron gasped and slapped himself across the face. "Just tell the whole world why don't you, Granger?" Firmly frustrated once again, Draco stalked back to his bedroom across the hall. He was really going to go whether he wanted to or not.
Half an hour later, the inhabitants left Black Manor and arrived at the Raven Hall banquet (location unknown). After being checked through the list of guests, Draco distanced himself from his partner. He wasn't going to meet anyone for there was no one he wanted to see. The past left him a lot of enemies and during his years as a Deatheater, he even attracted the attention of many proclaimed Aurors, one in which included the legendary Harry Potter. However, their paths never crossed each others'.
Draco slowly rotated his head left and right, astounded by the hall's setup. Glowing lights everywhere and the artificial night sky above complimented the white candles that floated just beneath the ceiling. The walls were decorated with the strangest ornaments Draco's ever seen and portraits of dancing people lined the hall; moving of course. As Draco finally realized, they were moving exactly to the music orchestrated, cheerful, welcoming music to the guests and all their acquaintances. It was awkward. As Draco strolled pass groups of gatherings, he saw many of his enemies, his school professors, friends of his family, the renowned Aurors, and some of his Slytherin comrades; even some of Pansy's friends and relatives. What they were known for, Draco couldn't clearly remember but the chance of her attending brought a slight hope to his heart.
His pale hand unconsciously reached for the pendant around his neck. Strangely, it was colder than ever. Draco sighed.
He didn't belong here because really, these are people who are trying to put him and his organization in prison, or to the afterlife. A frown creased his brow and Draco continued his roaming of the banquet. It didn't matter if he looked like a loner, it really didn't…
Moving quickly through the masses of body, he was sure no one could move completely through without bumping into another; that was exactly what happened to Draco. He didn't see them coming or he did but assumed they'd move away because they looked at him, but they did not and instead, one of them suddenly blocked his path. It was an action uncalled for and Draco couldn't stop himself as he collided against the other. The group of men he was surrounded by laughed humorously, with their glass of drinks in hand and the other in their pocket or wrapped around a woman.
As soon as Draco balanced himself, he looked at his blockade, "Watch where you're going!"
"No, watch where you're going, Mudblood."
Draco glared at the man for a while and recognition dawned him. He was a fellow Slytherin that Draco never really liked because of their bloody history in the past. What was his name…Draco couldn't recall. He almost couldn't recognize the face either because of their years spent apart. Now that their meeting again, Draco was now the Muggle and this much struck him hard. They were both purebloods and despised the non-magic folk, but here he was in a body that could do no magic and in the gender they looked down upon.
The brunette sighed as he came to this important factor. He could not harm the man of course. He'd be down in seconds, but if Draco was here now with his full body, his blockade would be down faster than he could blink. So what to do if he had no magic? Clenching his hands and then unclenching them, he walked sharply towards the man who insulted him.
"You know," said the wizard looking down at Draco, "you're a pretty little lady. Makes up for your incompetence with magic." Draco shivered in disgust but allowed no trace of it to travel to the surface as the man traced his shoulder with a thick hand. Draco felt the rough callous fingers scraping against his skin and forced his protruding urge to snap the man's fingers in two.
He smiled smugly at Draco and Draco returned it with an equally sweet smile. However, confusion swept over the man's face as he watched the smile creep into a line and the face of an angel turned to that of an angry devil. The tall woman yanked the man's tie downwards until the male was at his knees, clawing to loosen the noose around his neck. An audience, mainly composed of the man's rich friends, merely watched amused Draco stomped the man's hand with his 3-inch heel (which took him an hour to master), "Call me a 'Muggle' or touch me again and I'll bloody beat your arse inside out," Draco hissed.
The crowd around them snickered but none dared step forward to avenge the young wizard. Respect for the non-magic folk (and the ones who learned magic) was recently established by a young Muggle witch doctor. Draco released the tie as soon as the man nodded his head and slowly raised his heel.
"I'm glad we can agree," Draco said and walked away.
It wasn't until after a couple steps and a couple 'gasping' that Hermione appeared before Draco's eyes. He looked at her skeptically as her expression was very alarmed. "Get down!" she cried as she lunged for Draco and knocked him off his feet. A violent streak of green flashed over their heads and exploded with a muffled bang. Angry exclamations roused on every side as the Hermione and Draco clambered to their feet. Draco immediately charged towards the wizard who had cast the silent spell, thinking If I was only in my original form, I would have read his thoughts – I would not have been caught off guard...!
Although, to his great surprise, Draco felt Hermione's firm grip on his shoulder telling him to stay back; he let her through and watched. Everyone's head followed her sleek form as they watched the petite woman storm by. Her almond brown hair trailed behind her in waves and her navy sea blue dress danced around violently, like a sea storm. The wizard sneered as Hermione neared him, "Your kind asking for help, I assume?" He scoffed, "I can take you on…" and lifted his un-injured hand.
"I don't think you know who you're up against."
"Mudblood."
Hermione gave him a hard stare and crossed her arms, "Let me remind you of you're place, Wellington (yes, this is the man's name, an almost completely useless OC character). Who was the pathetic one who got dumped by a Mudblood? You were. And who was the fellow whose family fell into debt because their idiot of a son spent all their money away on some tramp?" Hermione continued to bombard him with other humiliating facts. Draco couldn't help but notice she must have dealt with Wellington previously a lot in the past. The crowd murmured and a few began to laugh and agree with Hermione
Wellington looked about him, realizing the party was in Hermione's favor. "Look-" he choked as Hermione yanked the tie down. Their eyes were leveled and for a moment it was silent between them.
"One last thing: Who was the one who saved you when you were in trouble? Which hospital?"
Wellington gagged and tried to pry her firm hands away. "Your hospital!" he choked out.
"That's right," Hermione agreed and satisfied she let go of the tie as if nothing had happened. "And don't make me remind you yet again why you're here. You owe me." The last three words were emphasized. She then pivoted sharply on her heel and walked away, "I thought you'd know better, guess my expectations are too high. Disturb this banquet again Wellington, and you'll find yourself landing more than a public bruising."
Hermione left a trail of claps in her wake as Draco looked at her with a new light. As she neared him, Draco commented, "You handled that well."
Hermione grinned, "I've dealt with him more than once so I know where to hit the spots to hurt."
"Without resorting to magic."
The pair walked along side each other. "Of course not! Foul play here is not looked upon and why resort to magic when I can handle it myself? Words that don't end up being curses are sometimes more damaging to the emotional soul than the physical body." Hermione passed then said, "You didn't do so bad yourself, Malfoy."
Draco looked straight a head, "If I had my wand, he'd be dead."
Hermione shook her head, "That's not lady-like Malfoy."
"What's with you and 'lady-like'?" Draco questioned exasperated.
"Think of your position at the moment, Malfoy. A woman is grace and power. Knowing you, you can portray that easily, but making decisions such as death over something so trivial is pure stupidity. And when you're woman, at least act like a lady. We aren't men's better half for nothing. Even without magic, you are a strong person, if at least hot-headed at times," Hermione praised.
Draco was quiet and blinked slowly. Women, he thought, are so hard to understand. "Erm, thanks…"
Hermione only nodded her head slightly to acknowledge the phrase.
"Granger, you've changed a lot."
"Well, you can't expect me to stay the same for the rest of my life considering what I deal with everyday." Her eyes looked disheartened for a moment, but they reverted to their original fierceness.
Draco mentally disagreed. He didn't realize, but the pair had entered the dancing floor and it was the perfect atmosphere for romantic couples. Wizards and witches alike scattered themselves along the brazen floor, dancing beneath the artificial night lit sky.
"Hermione!" Ron called from the side. "Over here!"
Hermione eyes lit up and she strolled towards him, however, she paused and turned to Draco, "Malfoy, it may not seem apparent now but," she pointed towards Harry who was walking in the centre, searching for a certain body, "please give Harry a chance. Don't let your past tie you down. Whether you believe it or not, people change over time."
Draco scoffed, "That's bullocks."
The brunette's eyes shifted to a more firm and frightening face, "Go to him and you'll see."
He watched as she left him for her young idiotic lover, watched, as she threw her arms around his neck and he swung her lightly around. All her formalities and her strong aura melted away to nothing as Hermione let loose herself on Ron. Taking her hand, Ron lead her into the crowd and from there, Draco lost sight of them. He could recall a time when his parents would dance with each other like that, their bodies close and moving to each other's rhythm – under a dimly lit room with soft music drifting around them and the only world they were in was their own.
Draco shifted on his heels before he turned his head slowly away. His eyes tiredly gazed upwards; he was tired of looking up so much. A man stood before him, dressed in a crimson red dress shirt and a black suit. Crisp green orbs captured Draco as he tried to smother his surprise. Wasn't he way back there?
Harry extended a hand towards Draco and bowed slightly, "May I have this dance..?"
Naturally, Draco would turn away from the invitation with spite and disgust. But that was if he was Draco, and right now he is portraying a lady.
'Give him a chance.'
The brunette breathed carefully and replied, "It would be my pleasure…"
Once again, please review! I worked hard on this chapter and actually felt dedicated...about updates: that will not be kept. I'll update at least once every one to two months. I wished I had limitless time on my computer... Thank you.