Disclaimer: Blaise is all mine, I tie him up to a chair and have my wicked way with him (then play with Draco). Ok, so that was all a lie, but can't a woman dream? JK Rowling gets to do all that stuff, lucky duck.

Chapter 7: The Prom

The first day back from Christmas break came and went with only one incident. Towards the end of the day, Blaise and Hermione were heading towards their last class of the day. As they were walking, chatting away, Hermione ran right into Draco Malfoy, with his girlfriend Pansy clinging onto his arm with all her might, the both of them being followed by a hoard of football players.

"Oh, so sorry." Hermione said apologetically, looking up finally to see whom she had collided.

"Watch where you're going, freak." Draco said bitterly.

"Maybe you and your girlfriend shouldn't take up so much space then." Blaise spat at his ex-girlfriend.

"What are you implying Blaise?" Pansy sniffed, her flat nose automatically shooting up into the air, hands going to her hips.

"Oh it's nothing really, just that you and your boy toy here need to get your fat asses out of the middle of the hallway. This school isn't called Malfoy High, you know."

"Well, maybe you and the Sped person here need to pay more attention to where you're going. Why do you always hang around her anyways? Volunteer work?"

"She's not sped, Pansy. It's called an accent from her home country. You know, her native tongue. She's from Eeeeenng-laaaand." Blaise replied slowly as if explaining something simple to a two-year old.

"Then why would you want to hang around her?" Draco said as his famous smirk formed on his face. "What is she? Your girlfriend?" He sniggered, joined by his team mates' thuggish guffaws and Pansy's banshee-like laugh, as he looked back and forth between Blaise and Hermione. Blaise noticed this and followed suite, then smiled.

"Yes, Draco, she is." Blaise smirked at the stunned looks on everyone's face but Draco's. Blaise knew, however, that Draco hadn't expected that answer either.

With the end of that discussion past, Blaise grabbed Hermione's hand, interlocking fingers and pulled her in the direction of their physics class, pushing past Draco and his posse of onlookers, causing Hermione to laugh out loud.

"That was amazing, Blaise!" Hermione exclaimed as they walked hand in hand into the classroom.

"Thanks. I knew that he would do something like that. You could see it in his eyes, so it was only a matter of time before he actually said something."

"Well, I'm glad that you were there with me. Calling him a ferret doesn't always work, and it gets kinda old fairly fast."

"When have you ever called him ferret? And where was I when you did?"

"Did I just say that?" Blaise nodded. "Wow, I have no idea where that thought came from."

"Oh well, it was awesome anyways. I'm just glad that I got to say it. I've wanted to bring him off his pedestal for years." Blaise said as he turned his attention towards the front of the room as the teacher began his lesson of the day.

As Hermione had suspected, Molly had indeed told everyone she knew about Hermione's trip with Blaise. Even with the news of her trip spreading through the student body like a wild fire, Hermione told herself that, no matter what, nothing was going to bring her down. Bring fire, bring locusts, or hell on high waters, but nothing was going to get to her. This time…

The only thing that she knew and cared about was her feeling for Blaise. Those feelings only blossoming like flowers as the winter months passed, signaling for things to start anew. Winter turned to spring, signaling the flowers to bloom, baby animals to be born and the Roseburg High school prom at the end of April.

Hermione was growing more and more anxious as the prom got closer. The tickets were purchased, her dress was hanging in her closet, tux was rented and dinner plans were made and finalized. Everything was all ready, yet Hermione couldn't rid herself of the overwhelming feeling of impending danger.

"Blaise, something doesn't feel right." Hermione said one day as she and Blaise were studying in her room after staring at the same physics problem for the past twenty minutes.

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. The closer we get to the prom, the worse this feeling gets."

"What feeling is that?"

"That something big and horrible is going to happen."

"Has it got something to do with those strange dreams you've been having?"

"Possibly. Last night that snaky guy was back and firing red and green lights from his wand at a bunch of people who were fighting, shooting bolts of the same color lights at everyone else."

"Hermione, Hun, I don't think you need to worry too much about safety for the prom. Scuba Steve's going to be there, and you know or have heard about what kind of a tight ass he can be."

"But…"

"No buts. Everything will be great! Last years prom was wonderful, so this year can only be even better than the year before. The theme this year is "A Night in Paradise" and I heard that the metal shop is erecting a giant replica of the Eiffel Tower over the entrance."

Hermione let out a defeated. "I hope you're right, Blaise. I just wish that I could get rid of this horrible gut feeling."

"It will go away, just stop worrying. If you don't, you'll just end up giving yourself an ulcer." Blaise replied as he leaned in for a kiss.

"Wake up, Hermione. We need to start getting everything and everyone ready. Dinner is in six hours. We have to get going."

"Mum, dinner is six hours away, you just said it yourself. Lemme sleep!" Hermione groaned groggily as she rolled over and away from her mother.

"How late were you up talking to Blaise last night?"

"Early enough in the morning to allow a lie in mother."

"Okay, I'll let you sleep for two more hours, but you still need to get ready. That means shower and shave, too, dear. You don't want to be late for your hair appointment. You worked so hard getting this one with Palo, I'd hate for you to miss it because you decided to sleep in too late…" Mrs. Granger paused, thinking that she had gotten to Hermione enough that she was in the process of getting up, only to be disappointed that her goading and bothering had only caused her daughter to fall asleep again.

"David, were we ever like our daughter and her new boyfriend when we were their age?" Jane asked her husband as she sat down at the kitchen table, exhausted after her failed attempts at getting Hermione out of bed.

"Yes, dear, we were. I would even go so far as to say even more so. It was back in the '80s after all…"

They both lapsed into stunned silence, both sets of eyes growing wide and looking directly at each other, vivid memories of wild childhood years surfacing.

"Do you think I should talk to her about the birds and the bees, or would you like to do the honors?" Mr. Granger asked his wife nervously.

"I will. It'll be less awkward if I do it." Jane sighed.

Hermione's parents just sat there until Mrs. Granger went to wake Hermione an hour and a half later.

"Wake up Hermione. We need to talk about something while you start getting ready."

When six thirty came around, Hermione was more nervous than she could ever remember being in her life. Yes, she was still thinking about her disturbing gut instinct, but she was bound and determined not to let that bug her at her first and last Prom.

"Hermione, are you almost done? Your guests are arriving any second and the table isn't' even set." Her bathroom door notified her, sounding an awful lot like her fathers voice.

"Just a minute! It takes more time for girls to get ready than guys do." Hermione called back in an irritated voice from the other side of the door.

"Alright, alright. I'm going back downstairs to finish helping your mother. When I gets here, I'll send him up…"

"NO! Have him wait at the bottom of the stairs I want to make an entrance."

"Alright. Just don't forget to come down."

An exasperated sigh could be heard as Mr. Granger walked down the hall and down the stairs with a smile on his face.

"When is she coming down, Mr. Granger?" Blaise asked as soon as Mr. Granger was at the bottom of the stairwell.

"She said to let her know when you got here. But I conveniently forgot to tell her that you have been here for twenty minutes."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"More fun for me? And besides, we wouldn't want to rush these things. Women get very touchy when you rush them."

"Yeah, like when we were on one of our dates, you rushed me, so I left a bright pink hand print on your cheek." Mrs. Granger said as she came out of the kitchen.

Blaise laughed meekly. "So, should I go up there and get her?"

"No, she told me she wanted to 'make an entrance'." Said her father as he moved to the stairs. "Hermione, Blaise is here!" He called up the stairs.

The three of them jumped when they heard a loud crash of several items falling onto a floor upstairs, followed by a long line of loud cursing, surprising them all.

"Coming!" Hermione called back out the door.

Composing herself as much as she could, she moved to the top of the stairs, glad to see Blaise waiting with anticipation on his face as she walked slowly and dramatically down the stairs. Blaise could instantly feel heat coming to his body in two different places as Hermione came down with a smile on her face.

Hermione looked like a goddess from a Greek tragedy in a cream-colored, strapless gown that cascaded down and swept the floor. Up around the top edge of her dress, there was intricate embroidery in gold thread. At her waist, there was a look of excess fabric gathered on her left side. Hermione's goddess status was only supported further by her hair that was half up in a fancy, messy bun, random tendrils escaping the bun, scattered with little rhinestones. Hermione laughed at Blaise when she saw that he had a look on his face of someone who had been struck dumb.

With a nudge from Hermione's father, Blaise went over to meet Hermione as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Blaise, dear, close your mouth. You're drooling." Hermione whispered as she reached for his open hand. Closing his gaping mouth, he smiled at her.

"You look gorgeous, Hermione." Blaise said as he took her hand and linked it through his bent right arm.

"Thank you, Blaise. I'm glad we went with the cream vest instead of the gold. Cream goes much better with your skin tone, making you ever so dreamy. How long have you been here?"

"About," he looked at his watch. "Half an hour."

"Half an hour?" She repeated, giving her parents a sarcastic smile. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, my parents failed to tell me that you had arrived."

"It's alright," Blaise chuckled, noticing this look. "Seeing you walk down the stairs with so much…finesse, definitely made it well worth the wait."

"Has Molly gotten here mum and you haven't told me?"

"No dear. She's not to be here for another half an hour with her date."

"Alright, so what are we going to do while we wait?"

"Pictures, duh." Blaise said in the best Valley Girl imitation he could muster, making them all laugh.

Before they knew it, Molly arrived with her date, more photos were taken by both girls' parents, dinner was over and they were being ushered into their awaiting limo, heading towards the Prom.

At the most waited-for event of the school year (other than graduation for seniors), there was a lot of food, a lot of music and a lot of double takes as Hermione and Blaise made their way to the dance floor after stopping at the entrance to hand over their tickets.

"Why did they give us these?" Hermione asked as she held up the black garter belt that her Economics teacher had just handed to the two of them, along with everyone else that was in the line behind them.

"It's just a fun memento to look at later and remember how much fun you had at that prom. Last year, they had keychain picture holders that were magnetized to stay shut."

"Oh, I see. But why garter belts?"

"For fun. Not many people intend on actually using them later. I personally plan to put it around the rearview mirror in my SUV, just for kicks and giggles." He stated, looking at the sensual item that was in his hand. When they were finally down the long archway, they moved directly to the coat check, dropping off her shoes and purse and his jacket before moving to the dance floor.

"That's an interesting place to have put your garter belt, Blaise. Aren't they usually supposed to go on a leg?" Hermione asked as they began dancing to a very upbeat song.

"Hermione, putting it on my leg is: 1) not easy with pants on; and 2) not very masculine. So my arm was the only other option, unless you would rather I try to put it on my head. You should put it on your arm too."

"Good points and excellent conclusion. One would never want to lessen his masculinity less he should be made a fool of by his 'manly' peers." At Hermione's mock attempt at being serious, Blaise's smile turned into a loud, melodic laugh.

Sobering, Hermione looked right in Blaise's eyes. "Blaise, I'm still worried about that feeling I've been having for months and months. I really don't want it to come true."

"You've answered your own worry. It's just a paranoid feeling that most likely won't come true. Don't let that ruin your fun tonight."

"You're right. Will you help me have as much fun as humanly possible?" She replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Of course, it would be like a goal for me, and you know how I am about my goals." He answered, getting a laugh and a bright smile in return.

The Prom was definitely a good time to be had by everyone who was there. Vigorous dancing to a variety of music by the DJ and several intimate moments both on and off the floor when the slow songs came around.

What made dancing more memorable was the stunned look on Draco and Pansy's faces as Blaise and Hermione danced near by during the first slow song.

"Is that Granger dancing with Blaise?" Pansy whispered in Draco's ear.

"I don't know." He whispered back before turning away. "Hey, Granger."

"Yes Malfoy, what do you want?" Hermione said when she heard his bellow.

"Nothing that you could ever give me." He hollered back. "Yup, that's Granger."

"Wow, I didn't know a sped could look that good."

"You look better though."

"Good answer."

"I wonder what that was about." Hermione said as she turned back to Blaise.

"Probably making sure that it was you I was dancing with because you look more beautiful than usual, if at all possible, so people didn't recognize you. Have I told you yet that you are looking exceptionally beautiful tonight?"

"Many times, but I don't know if I will ever tire of hearing it."

"Hermione, can I ask you something serious?" Blaise asked during a slow dance towards the end of the evening.

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"I know we haven't talked about this much, but how do you feel about love?"

"Well, it depends on the context of the reason behind your question. Why do you ask?"

"I ask because I have something to tell you." Blaise made a very audible gulp and sighed before continuing. "Over these past five months that we've been together, I've come to realize that I…" but Blaise couldn't finish that thought, for just then, from one side of the room, there came the sound of rapid gunfire into the crowd, followed by deafening screams.

Many students took action and charged the gunman, pinning him to the ground. In the chaos that had followed the first gunshot, Blaise had let go of Hermione as they all hit the floor. When they saw that the gunman was pinned, people started getting up and hurrying to any exits that they could without getting hurt. When the crowds had dispersed to the exits was when those who had stayed could see people on the ground, including Draco Malfoy.

"Hermione," Blaise said frantically. "We need to go get help! We need to call 911. We need to…" Turning around to find her, he paled when he saw Hermione lying on the ground, a deep red blossoming from a wound in her lower abdomen.

"Oh my God! Hermione!" Blaise yelled at no one as he fell to his knees next to her, picking up her head and supporting her on his lap as he placed his hand on the wound to stop the bleeding. "Hermione, come-on baby. Don't leave me! Please stay awake for me, it will be alright." Blaise said to her as he started crying.

"Blaise," she whispered weakly.

"Shh, save your strength. You need to relax. Everything will be ok baby." He croaked as people started coming back in to help those who had been wounded.

"Blaise? Why is it so cold in here? And I'm so tired, can I close my eyes?" Hermione asked thickly, fear evident in her tone.

'Oh, no.' Blaise thought to himself. "Hermione, you'll be ok. Just stay calm. I need you here. I love you." He cried as he cuddled her head close to his own.

"Is…is that what you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes."

"I love you, too." She said as she lifted a hand to his face, wiping a tear away from his blue eyes. "I'll never leave you."

"Hermione, I'm going to go get my coat to keep you warm. Stay awake." He said, tears still choking him. He gently laid her head down and, luckily, only had to go a short distance to the coat check and find his coat. When he got back, he noticed that her eyes were closed and it looked as if she wasn't breathing. He rushed over to her, fear gripping at his very soul. When he arrived at her side, she was…

I hope that you all liked this chapter. This story needed drama, so I used an event that had happened recently and kinda morphed it into working at Prom. By the way: Sped, as noted above is short term for Special Education. This term is commonly applied to those who have a mental retardation or any other learning disabilities. It is the rudest name for someone in that situation. I only put it in here to keep up with Draco's "I'm better than you" attitude. I hope that I didn't offend anyone. REVIEW! Please?