Chapter Eight

Hermione had been sitting for about three hours now. Narcissa not only talked her into buying that dress, which she was know starting to second guess, but she talked her into also getting ready with her at Malfoy Manor. Narcissa was already dressed in a stunning high necked, midnight blue, dress robe that fell to the floor in a sheet of liquid blue. She wore a simple diamond necklace and matching diamond earrings. Her light blond hair was pulled back into an elaborate up-do with lots of braids and curls. She was now standing back, critically looking at Hermione. She finally smiled.

"Perfect. Now we just have to get you into your dress." Hermione groaned as she stood. The blood suddenly rushed to her feet, making them tingle painfully, and her right buttock was numb. The dress floated down onto her magically, and was carefully fastened by Narcissa. She helped Hermione slip on a pair of heels and stood back and sighed. "You look…." She seemed speechless.

Hermione finally caught a glance of herself in the mirror and whispered, "Beautiful."

The dress was a light pink material. The top was a strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. It came with a matching quarter-length sleeve jacket that had some beading around the neck and sleeves. The material floated lightly around her hips and came down to the ground in a cloud of pink.

The back of the dress was stunning. With out the jacket, it revealed the backless aspect to the dress. Her back was completely exposed, showing off her creamy complexion. The skirt had a slight train with iridescent beading. Narcissa strung a strand of pearls around her neck and threaded pearls into her ears. Her hair was done up in a light chignon with a large white peony behind her ear. Her make up was done to make her brown eyes glow, and her complexion rosy and bright.

Narcissa glanced at a clock and laughed. "Right on time. I would say to make Draco wait dear, but this is a big night, and he needs to be on time."

Hermione nodded and swallowed her nerves as Narcissa handed her a small white clutch. She gave her a small smile for thanks, not trusting herself to speak yet. Narcissa floated out of the room and Hermione took a deep breath and followed. She could hear Lucius exclaim his appreciation of Narcissa as she turned the corner. She slowly came down the stairs, noticing one blonde was missing.

Lucius looked up. "Hermione my dear, you look lovely. Draco received and owl that said he had to be there an hour early and said he would meet us there. It's frankly his loss, and now I get to escort the two prettiest witches to the gala."

Hermione felt her stomach drop in disappointment. Did Draco despise her that much that he would blow her off? She quickly chided herself that she didn't care what Draco did or thought. She looked like a princess, and tonight she was going to act like one.

Meanwhile, at the Ministry

Draco was surprised to find almost no one when he arrived. The Minister gave him a blank look when he walked in. "Draco, what are you doing here?"

Draco looked confused, "I got this letter from you telling me to come early."

The Minister looked concerned, "Do you have it with you?"

Draco wordlessly turned it over, the Minister frowned more. "This is obviously a woman's handwriting. Not my undersecretary's either. I wonder who sent it. While you are here, you might as well sign a few documents. Let's pop up to my office for a brief moment."

Draco followed the Minister and signed the papers formally accepting his position, and other such employment things. Draco came downstairs with fifteen minutes until he was announced.

He could hear quite a few voices from the inside of the ballroom. Hermione was probably in with his parents waiting for him. He smoothed his hair back and straightened his black robes. He had upgraded since his ones from school and these were crisp and tailored, making him look dashing instead of like a vicar.

He felt guilty, however. He didn't mean to make Hermione wait like that, he hoped that this wouldn't cause them to be at each other's throats all night. He was about to go in and look for her when he heard a high pitched voice. He winced and knew exactly who it was.

Pansy Parkinson was coming towards him in hideous green dress robes. She wore red lipstick, a horrible amount of mascara and eyeliner, and had her black hair up in a way that reminded him of a peacock. She resembled a pug made up to look like a clown.

"Drakie! I never got an invitation to be your date! My said that you probably forgot, so I wrote you that letter to meet you here." She clung to his arm and simpered, "I'm so proud of you Drake!"

Just as Draco was about to shake and tell her off, he heard another familiar voice. "I would appreciate it if you kept your hands off of my date, Pansy. I don't want your whorish perfume or makeup to rub off on him or on my dress."

Pansy whipped around to find Hermione standing there with her hands on her hips. Draco couldn't say anything, he was simply staring at this vision in front of him. He knew that her looks had improved drastically since their first year of school, but he had no idea she could look like this.

Finally Draco took notice to Pansy's nails digging harder into his arm. He snatched it away and said coldly, "You heard my date. Kindly remove yourself from our presence because I have you removed and tell the Minister that you were forging letters. That is an offense punishable by six years in Azkaban. Your choice."

Pansy moved her mouth wordlessly and finally flounced off. Draco turned towards Hermione and softly said, "You look wonderful."Hermione smiled, "Thank you."

Kingsley stuck his head out. "They are going to announce you in a moment Draco, Hermione."

Draco nodded and offered his arm to Hermione, who took it softly. She lifted her chin and stood ready to face the world. Draco looked at her. "Are you ready?"

She beamed at him, "The question is, are you ready Draco?"