The Festival Ball
Friday night came faster than a snitch. All the students who had to demonstrate a class were trained, all the other students were taught how to behave in front of the ministries and the castle was cleaned. The whole situation could be compared with the Yule ball last year, only worse.
All the students, except for the demonstrants, were asked to line up in front of the castle. This year they didn't wear their schooluniforms, but dresses and dress robes because the ball would start immediately.
Hermione looked down from the Gryffindor tower. From where she stood, the students looked like colourful spots. "Hermione, close the damn window, it's getting cold in here!" Ginny Weasley said, "And please, stay seated for five minutes, so that I can do your hair."
"I'm sorry, Ginny, I'm just so nervous." Hermione said, biting her nails. "Anyway, shouldn't you be down there?"
"I won't be missed by anyone...except for one boy." Ginny grinned. To everyone's surprise Harry hadn't asked Cho Chang, but Ginny.
"How did he ask you?" Hermione asked smiling.
" To make a long story short: I went to the quidditch pitch to see my brother and Harry practice, apparently Harry had seen me and became too excited. He fell of his broomstick, tottered towards me and asked me." Ginny laughed.
"There you go Hermione, I'm ready! Now you can go dancing with my brother and your favourite Slytherin." she smirked.
"That's not funny, Ginny." Hermione sighed.
"Don't pout, Hermione, it's not attractive. Now rise and let me see that beautiful white dress of yours!" Ginny grinned, "Looks like you're getting married!"
"Oh stop it, Miss Weasley!" Hermione said with a hard face, imitating McGonagall. They both burst out laughing and left the common room.
They waited at the top of the stairs until all the other students were in the Great Hall. The students were followed by the teachers, then the headmaster who leaded the ministers the way.
"Oh there's Cornelius Fudge, and there's the Bulgarian minister from last year, remember him from the Quidditch World Cup?" Ginny whispered, " Look at all those ministers, there must be hundreds of them! I recognize France, Germany, Belgium,... oh and there's the vice-president of the USA!"
"The vice-president? But he's a muggle!" Hermione said.
"Yes, but he and the president know about our existence."
"And how do you know so many ministers?" Hermione asked.
"Believe me, Hermione, if your father would work at the Ministry of Magic, you would know them too." Ginny said.
When everyone was inside the Great Hall, Ginny pinched Hermione's hand and said. "It's up to you now!" She descended the stairs and joined Harry, who had been waiting for her. He looked up, waved to Hermione and mouthed "Good luck!"
They went inside and the large doors of the Great Hall closed behind them.Soon all the demonstrants arrived, all darkred with a tricorn hat and white with a braid, and they lined up in pairs.
Hermione looked around and saw Malfoy, feeling her heart beating faster. She looked at him and saw that he was observing her. "Ginny was right." she thought, "I am feeling like I'm getting married."
When she descended the stairs, Malfoy came her way. Hermione wished she could make jokes about his tricorn hat, but she couldn't. Instead of looking silly, he looked...handsome. Darkred seemed to suit him. "Don't go there, girl!" she thought.
When she took the last steps, Malfoy suddenly took her hand and she looked at him agape. "Don't look that way, Granger. You also have to dance with me, remember?" Malfoy smirked.
When they stood in line she wanted to toy with him a little, and she asked: "Do I look alright?"
He bend over to her, whispering in her ear: "You look wonderful tonight."
Hermione, expecting a nasty remark, looked at him to see if he was serious. To her surprise, he was.
The doors to the Great Hall opened, and they went inside. An orchestra started to play a romantic song -"How can I not love you" from Joy Enriquez- and the demonstrants dispersed. All the students, teachers and ministers were looking at them, leaving a big spot open to let them dance.
"There must be a thousand people in here." Hermione thought, "Dumbledore must have magically enlarged the Great Hall to get everyone inside."
She was ripped from her thoughts, when she felt a hand on her waist. Her breath caught when she looked in Malfoys grey eyes. "Shall we?" he said softly.
She put one hand on his shoulder and with the other she took his free hand. "Yes." she said, trying to stay calm.
But that didn't work anymore, when he pulled her closer. Seeing her expression, he smiled: "I'm sorry, but we can't dance properly when there's a three foot gap between us, can we?" She nodded, feeling nervous.
They started to dance and Hermione felt like she was in heaven. Malfoy sure knew how to dance.
Trying not to look into his eyes, she scanned the Great Hall. The High table was not removed and Dumbledore sat in the middle of twenty important wizards and witches, his eyes twinkling more than ever. On the right of him sat McGonagall, and on the left of him...Lucius Malfoy?!?
He glared coldly at her, thinking it was an outrage that his son had to dance with the filth of the earth. Hermione diverted her gaze and saw Pansy parkinson glaring knifes at her.
"That cow has to stay away from my Draco!" Pansy hissed at her friends. A few feet further stood Ron, looking like he was ready to curse Malfoy here and now.
And Hermione? Strangely, she didn't care at all that those people were glaring at her. She felt safe in the arms of her enemy.
When she dared to look at him, she saw him flinch."What's wrong?" she asked concerned,"Those wounds I gave you still hurt?"
" No, not your wounds." Malfoy bitterly said. They danced further in silence letting Hermione wonder what he was talking about.
When the music stopped, Ron and Pansy were already standing next to their dance partners.
Hermione and Malfoy looked at each other for what seemed an eternity. Then they let go of each other and each went their way.
"Did he hurt you? Offended you?" Ron heared Hermione out. "For God sakes, NO Ron! It's the fifth time you ask me this tonight!" she said angrily.
"Don't get all upset, Harry and I just want to make sure that Ferret Boy stays out of your way." Ron said.
"Where is Harry anyway?" Hermione asked, "Ginny sits there all alone."
"He just had to take care of business..." Ron blurted out. "What business?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing, no really, it's nothing!" Ron quickly said.
Hermione looked at Ginny again and then turned back to Ron. She scared herself to death when he suddenly kissed her.
What is wrong with you?" she almost shouted.
"What? Can't I kiss my date?" Ron asked angrily to the great indignation of Hermione.
"No!" she said angrily.
Needing some fresh air she ran from the Great Hall and headed for the gardens.
She slowed down after a few minutes and took a seat that overlooked the lake.
She jumped when she heard someone shouting: "Yeah that's right, go for a swim!". The voice came from somewhere behind the trees and it reminded Hermione of someone, but she was probably mistaken.
The silence returned until Hermione heard someone coming from the forbidden forest. She couldn't recognize the person because it was too dark, but the person didn't wear a dress so it had to be a he. It also looked like he was very drunk. The figure tottered to the edge of the lake, and before Hermione could do something, he fell in it. Hermione sprinted to the lake and dove after the person.
When she came up again, she didn't see the person anymore. She went back underwater and explored the bottom with her hands. When she felt someones robes, she grabbed them and pushed the person to the surface. Hermione pulled him to the shore and examined him.
Fortunately, she felt a hartbeat and he seemed to breathing. When she took a closer look, her eyes nearly popped out of her head: It was Malfoy!
He opened his eyes and asked: "Who are you?" Before she could reply he babbled: " Wait! I know who you are, you're.. Fluffy!" Next, he started to laugh like a madman.
"Someone must have plyed you a lot of liquor." Hermione thought. She wanted to pull him to his feet but he pulled too and she fell on top of him.
"Hello my love!" Malfoy babbled. Now Hermione knew for sure that he was drunk, 'cause that was the last thing he would say to her. "Come on!" she said and pulled him to his feet, this time succesfully. She put a hand under his arm and started to drag him towards the castle.
She opened a gate at the back of the castle, not wanting to let the whole school know that Malfoy was drunk. Luckely no one passed her way and she reached the blank stone wall, that led to the Slytherin common room, safely. Only one problem: she didn't know the password.
When Hermione heard a noise after ten minutes of talking to the wall, she quickly hid Malfoy and herself behind a statue. It was a first year Slytherin who looked very sleepy. "Filthy little mudblood." he gasped and went inside.
Waiting another twenty minutes to make sure the student had gone to bed, Hermione said as calm as she could (the password had infuriated her): "Filthy little mudblood." The wall opened itself and she dragged Malfoy inside.
After she had found the fifth year boys dormittory, she pushed Malfoy on his bed.He fell asleep immediately. She wanted to leave first, but then remembered the unhealthy wet robes he was wearing.
Her hands shook a little when she unbuttoned his robes. "As long as you stay away from the pants." she thought to herself.
Hermione was in shock when she opened his robes: Malfoy hadn't been exaggerating when he had flinched during the dance. As far as she could see, his body was completely covered with deep cuts and bruises. All of a sudden, Hermione felt the urge to touch him. And she did.
She carefully stroke her hand over the pale soft skin of his arm. Then she noticed a burn.When she looked closer, she recognized it. It was a Dark Mark.
Authors note : In case you want to know, I chose the song -"How can I not love you" from Joy Enriquez- because I think it fits in this story. You should listen to it someday. It is ,by the way, from the movie 'Anna and the King' where our young Draco-player Tom felton has a role too. ;-)
Friday night came faster than a snitch. All the students who had to demonstrate a class were trained, all the other students were taught how to behave in front of the ministries and the castle was cleaned. The whole situation could be compared with the Yule ball last year, only worse.
All the students, except for the demonstrants, were asked to line up in front of the castle. This year they didn't wear their schooluniforms, but dresses and dress robes because the ball would start immediately.
Hermione looked down from the Gryffindor tower. From where she stood, the students looked like colourful spots. "Hermione, close the damn window, it's getting cold in here!" Ginny Weasley said, "And please, stay seated for five minutes, so that I can do your hair."
"I'm sorry, Ginny, I'm just so nervous." Hermione said, biting her nails. "Anyway, shouldn't you be down there?"
"I won't be missed by anyone...except for one boy." Ginny grinned. To everyone's surprise Harry hadn't asked Cho Chang, but Ginny.
"How did he ask you?" Hermione asked smiling.
" To make a long story short: I went to the quidditch pitch to see my brother and Harry practice, apparently Harry had seen me and became too excited. He fell of his broomstick, tottered towards me and asked me." Ginny laughed.
"There you go Hermione, I'm ready! Now you can go dancing with my brother and your favourite Slytherin." she smirked.
"That's not funny, Ginny." Hermione sighed.
"Don't pout, Hermione, it's not attractive. Now rise and let me see that beautiful white dress of yours!" Ginny grinned, "Looks like you're getting married!"
"Oh stop it, Miss Weasley!" Hermione said with a hard face, imitating McGonagall. They both burst out laughing and left the common room.
They waited at the top of the stairs until all the other students were in the Great Hall. The students were followed by the teachers, then the headmaster who leaded the ministers the way.
"Oh there's Cornelius Fudge, and there's the Bulgarian minister from last year, remember him from the Quidditch World Cup?" Ginny whispered, " Look at all those ministers, there must be hundreds of them! I recognize France, Germany, Belgium,... oh and there's the vice-president of the USA!"
"The vice-president? But he's a muggle!" Hermione said.
"Yes, but he and the president know about our existence."
"And how do you know so many ministers?" Hermione asked.
"Believe me, Hermione, if your father would work at the Ministry of Magic, you would know them too." Ginny said.
When everyone was inside the Great Hall, Ginny pinched Hermione's hand and said. "It's up to you now!" She descended the stairs and joined Harry, who had been waiting for her. He looked up, waved to Hermione and mouthed "Good luck!"
They went inside and the large doors of the Great Hall closed behind them.Soon all the demonstrants arrived, all darkred with a tricorn hat and white with a braid, and they lined up in pairs.
Hermione looked around and saw Malfoy, feeling her heart beating faster. She looked at him and saw that he was observing her. "Ginny was right." she thought, "I am feeling like I'm getting married."
When she descended the stairs, Malfoy came her way. Hermione wished she could make jokes about his tricorn hat, but she couldn't. Instead of looking silly, he looked...handsome. Darkred seemed to suit him. "Don't go there, girl!" she thought.
When she took the last steps, Malfoy suddenly took her hand and she looked at him agape. "Don't look that way, Granger. You also have to dance with me, remember?" Malfoy smirked.
When they stood in line she wanted to toy with him a little, and she asked: "Do I look alright?"
He bend over to her, whispering in her ear: "You look wonderful tonight."
Hermione, expecting a nasty remark, looked at him to see if he was serious. To her surprise, he was.
The doors to the Great Hall opened, and they went inside. An orchestra started to play a romantic song -"How can I not love you" from Joy Enriquez- and the demonstrants dispersed. All the students, teachers and ministers were looking at them, leaving a big spot open to let them dance.
"There must be a thousand people in here." Hermione thought, "Dumbledore must have magically enlarged the Great Hall to get everyone inside."
She was ripped from her thoughts, when she felt a hand on her waist. Her breath caught when she looked in Malfoys grey eyes. "Shall we?" he said softly.
She put one hand on his shoulder and with the other she took his free hand. "Yes." she said, trying to stay calm.
But that didn't work anymore, when he pulled her closer. Seeing her expression, he smiled: "I'm sorry, but we can't dance properly when there's a three foot gap between us, can we?" She nodded, feeling nervous.
They started to dance and Hermione felt like she was in heaven. Malfoy sure knew how to dance.
Trying not to look into his eyes, she scanned the Great Hall. The High table was not removed and Dumbledore sat in the middle of twenty important wizards and witches, his eyes twinkling more than ever. On the right of him sat McGonagall, and on the left of him...Lucius Malfoy?!?
He glared coldly at her, thinking it was an outrage that his son had to dance with the filth of the earth. Hermione diverted her gaze and saw Pansy parkinson glaring knifes at her.
"That cow has to stay away from my Draco!" Pansy hissed at her friends. A few feet further stood Ron, looking like he was ready to curse Malfoy here and now.
And Hermione? Strangely, she didn't care at all that those people were glaring at her. She felt safe in the arms of her enemy.
When she dared to look at him, she saw him flinch."What's wrong?" she asked concerned,"Those wounds I gave you still hurt?"
" No, not your wounds." Malfoy bitterly said. They danced further in silence letting Hermione wonder what he was talking about.
When the music stopped, Ron and Pansy were already standing next to their dance partners.
Hermione and Malfoy looked at each other for what seemed an eternity. Then they let go of each other and each went their way.
"Did he hurt you? Offended you?" Ron heared Hermione out. "For God sakes, NO Ron! It's the fifth time you ask me this tonight!" she said angrily.
"Don't get all upset, Harry and I just want to make sure that Ferret Boy stays out of your way." Ron said.
"Where is Harry anyway?" Hermione asked, "Ginny sits there all alone."
"He just had to take care of business..." Ron blurted out. "What business?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing, no really, it's nothing!" Ron quickly said.
Hermione looked at Ginny again and then turned back to Ron. She scared herself to death when he suddenly kissed her.
What is wrong with you?" she almost shouted.
"What? Can't I kiss my date?" Ron asked angrily to the great indignation of Hermione.
"No!" she said angrily.
Needing some fresh air she ran from the Great Hall and headed for the gardens.
She slowed down after a few minutes and took a seat that overlooked the lake.
She jumped when she heard someone shouting: "Yeah that's right, go for a swim!". The voice came from somewhere behind the trees and it reminded Hermione of someone, but she was probably mistaken.
The silence returned until Hermione heard someone coming from the forbidden forest. She couldn't recognize the person because it was too dark, but the person didn't wear a dress so it had to be a he. It also looked like he was very drunk. The figure tottered to the edge of the lake, and before Hermione could do something, he fell in it. Hermione sprinted to the lake and dove after the person.
When she came up again, she didn't see the person anymore. She went back underwater and explored the bottom with her hands. When she felt someones robes, she grabbed them and pushed the person to the surface. Hermione pulled him to the shore and examined him.
Fortunately, she felt a hartbeat and he seemed to breathing. When she took a closer look, her eyes nearly popped out of her head: It was Malfoy!
He opened his eyes and asked: "Who are you?" Before she could reply he babbled: " Wait! I know who you are, you're.. Fluffy!" Next, he started to laugh like a madman.
"Someone must have plyed you a lot of liquor." Hermione thought. She wanted to pull him to his feet but he pulled too and she fell on top of him.
"Hello my love!" Malfoy babbled. Now Hermione knew for sure that he was drunk, 'cause that was the last thing he would say to her. "Come on!" she said and pulled him to his feet, this time succesfully. She put a hand under his arm and started to drag him towards the castle.
She opened a gate at the back of the castle, not wanting to let the whole school know that Malfoy was drunk. Luckely no one passed her way and she reached the blank stone wall, that led to the Slytherin common room, safely. Only one problem: she didn't know the password.
When Hermione heard a noise after ten minutes of talking to the wall, she quickly hid Malfoy and herself behind a statue. It was a first year Slytherin who looked very sleepy. "Filthy little mudblood." he gasped and went inside.
Waiting another twenty minutes to make sure the student had gone to bed, Hermione said as calm as she could (the password had infuriated her): "Filthy little mudblood." The wall opened itself and she dragged Malfoy inside.
After she had found the fifth year boys dormittory, she pushed Malfoy on his bed.He fell asleep immediately. She wanted to leave first, but then remembered the unhealthy wet robes he was wearing.
Her hands shook a little when she unbuttoned his robes. "As long as you stay away from the pants." she thought to herself.
Hermione was in shock when she opened his robes: Malfoy hadn't been exaggerating when he had flinched during the dance. As far as she could see, his body was completely covered with deep cuts and bruises. All of a sudden, Hermione felt the urge to touch him. And she did.
She carefully stroke her hand over the pale soft skin of his arm. Then she noticed a burn.When she looked closer, she recognized it. It was a Dark Mark.
Authors note : In case you want to know, I chose the song -"How can I not love you" from Joy Enriquez- because I think it fits in this story. You should listen to it someday. It is ,by the way, from the movie 'Anna and the King' where our young Draco-player Tom felton has a role too. ;-)