Sort of an Interlude before the dance. Thank you for your reviews!!They helped. =)

I don't own Harry Potter all those rights go to JK Rowling

Timeline: December/Saturday/following Friday late afternoon.

It all started with...

Chapter 8

A Question

Hermione and Harry were having breakfast when Ron came charging in. "Guess what? We're going to the Burrow for Christmas! Dad asked Mum and it's ok!"

"Thank you Ron." Hermione said as she reached for her pumpkin juice. "Oh Ron! Who are you dressing up as?" Ron looked at her confused. "The winter dance?" Ron stilled looked lost. "Next Friday?"

"Oh right...yea' I'm going as a nobleman you?"

"Ron we all have to come as nobles. Mine's a surprise. Harry what's yours?" Hermione replied. Harry quickly swallowed his toast.

"Ginny forced me to get some outfit...The Boy Who Lived will look like a bloody king!" Harry said slightly irritated at Ginny's choice in clothing. Hermione stifled a giggle while Ron looked the other way. "We've all got dancing lessons from our Head of House." Ron whipped round paling at the memory when he had to have dance lessons from McGonagall.

"Oh no!" Ron said sitting down next to Harry. "It took me until your second task in the Tri-Wizard cup for people to stop teasing me about it!" Harry flinched at the mention of it. He had hated his fourth year.

"You'll be fine, just grab Lavender and dance with her." Harry said ignoring Hermione's panicked face.

When Harry had turned his attention to his breakfast, Hermione glanced behind her; Draco was whispering something to Crabbe and Goyle. "I'm going to Hogsmeade later, you?"

"Sure!" Ron said nodding, they looked towards Harry he looked up startled.

"I'm going with Ginny. We're going to..." He trailed off blushing beetroot. "Madame Puddifoot's teashop." Ron and Hermione burst out laughing. "It's not funny!"

"It is! It is!" Hermione said giggling. "Oh Harry the love bug strikes again!" Harry grinned while nudging her.

"Shut up." He said grinning. "Oh Ginny here's! See you later!" He said when he saw the red haired girl smile at him. He got up and hurried to her side until he realised he had forgotten his bag. He hurried back where Hermione and Ron were laughing like crazy, they had never seen Harry in love- it was funny and cute.

"Come on then Ronald." Hermione said jumping up. She grabbed her bag and waited as Ron got up and followed behind her, from the Slytherin table Draco looked as she dragged Ron out of the Great Hall. He shook his head and carried on talking to his friends.

--

As Hermione waited for Ron so they could leave for Hogsmeade, Draco walked up to her. He had his fur hat on and his fur coat, he looked like someone from the mafia not a Hogwarts student. "Granger!" He called out, she looked at him frowning. "So you and Cormac?" Hermione looked away from his pale face. "I mean it seems you only date Quidditch players that are complete shits! Krum then Cormac. Who's next? Weasley?"

"That is none of your business!" Hermione replied back. She pulled her coat up further to stop the cold wind freezing her even more.

"We haven't spoken in a while. Are you mad at me?" Draco said swallowing hard, he stared hard at her.

"Why should I be mad at you?" Hermione questioned looking for Ron, ignoring Draco's hard glare.

"Because me and Pansy were kissing." Hermione blinked and looked at him. "The other night."

"Actually I think she's a pig but then again why should I care about that?" Hermione said matching the same snide tone as he was.

"I don't know shouldn't be a problem." Draco affirmed quickly. Hermione glared at him.

"There's no problem!" Hermione insisted, but the way she had said it made Draco rethink about it. "I really don't care! I really don't care that you and Pansy are back together!" Draco winced at her sharpness. "Look Ron's here. See you around." She stormed off wondering what had made her act like some jealous brat. She didn't have feelings for him other than friendship...right?

"What did Ferret face want?" Ron asked when Hermione approached him. "Hermione are you ok? What did he say?" Hermione gave a shaky laugh.

"No it's ok...he's just being Malfoy I guess." She replied not daring to look back behind her. "Come on let's go! Lavender might get you back on her leash!" Ron chuckled slightly and draped an arm round in a friendly way.

"Honeydukes have got some interesting sweets for their Christmas selection." Ron said as they went down the slippery path towards the village.

--

Ginny was waiting for Harry to come back from the toilets when she saw Hermione and Ron coming out of Honeydukes, their arms filled with sweets. Hermione looked up and waved to her, Ginny waved to her back and with a motion she beckoned them to join them. Hermione tugged Ron inside the shop. "You might be able to pass as the abominable snowman Ron!" Ginny teased her brother. He grinned at her as he took a chair next to Harry who looked surprised but slightly annoyed at them.

"Didn't you tell Hermione what happened at Slughorn's party?" Ron said snatching a mince pie from Ginny's plate.

"No what happened?" Hermione inquired sounding slightly annoyed that he had told Ron but not her. So Harry told Hermione what he had heard minus the part about when Snape questioned Draco about Hermione.

"So Snape was offering to help him?" Hermione questioned. "He was definitely offering to help him?" Harry nodded grimly. "Did Malfoy actually confess?"

"Well... Snape told him to be careful and he replied he didn't do it." Harry muttered slightly embarrassed as his story or his theory lacked the evidence.

"Hn...he could be working with his father's 'friends'...'cause you did say he had friends to help him with some plan." Ron said quietly.

"How can you be sure? All he mentioned was he had friends to help him and Snape replied 'Crabbe and Goyle' and you stopped listening afterwards." Hermione said raising an eyebrow, from what Draco had told her Draco hated his father's friends. But the evidence that Harry had made her doubt Draco's word.

"She's got a point." Ginny added. "We believe you Harry don't get us wrong but if we're going to tell Dumbledore then we shall need proof. We can't use our own conclusions. What if they're wrong?"

"Then we follow him and see what happens." Harry responded like it was a simple task.

"Harry...we did that in Second year. And remember then you said that Draco was the heir of Slytherin and it turned out to be Tom Riddle. After the holidays when Katie's back from St Mungo's we'll ask her who gave her the box." Hermione said bringing up what they had done in second year when a book was controlling Ginny and making her send a giant snake to kill muggle borns.

"Well if he said he'd help...because of his mother then you don't think that they'd...?" Ron said nervously looking at Ginny.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked looking at his girlfriend then to his best friend.

"The unbreakable vow." Ginny said slowly. "It's a promise between witches and wizards and if we break it then we die."

"So you're saying that if Draco was behind the attacks and he happened to get caught Snape would be forced to help him?" Harry drawled out slowly.

"That is correct." Ginny replied. An old glint in Harry's eye caught Hermione's attention. She recognized it too well. It was often seen when they did something they shouldn't.

"How does it work?" Hermione jumped in before Harry could do anything.

"Well...you hold hand with the person you want to make the vow with then someone who's in with the vow places his/her wand over them and a small chain appears on your hands. Then the chain vanishes but the vow is still intact." Ron muttered taking a sip of the scented tea, Ginny had ordered earlier.

"But it's possible that might have happened, I mean the evidence is against him!" Harry said flickering a glance to Hermione. "He's been missing classes, the conversation with Snape and what he had said on the first day back at Hogwarts." Hermione gulped down her remaining tea, she felt uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"So how do we prove it?" Ron asked nervously. Harry grinned at him.

"We wait for Katie to return." He replied earning him a grateful smile from Hermione. "I don't want to spend the holidays following him around." Harry blushed all of a sudden and it wasn't till Hermione realised that she had squeezed his hand.

"Hermione who are you going with to the ball with?" Ginny asked, pleased to have changed the subject.

"Some guy." She mumbled. Tugging a small strand of hair. She looked at her watch and gasped in alarm. "Ginny we have to pick our dresses!" Ginny quickly caught on the act.

"Oh yes! Sorry Harry." She kissed him on the cheek and left Madame Puddifoot's. Hermione picked up her sweets and waved goodbye as she followed Ginny out of the shop. They were only a few metres from the shop when Ginny asked the question she had been dying to ask her. "So who is this guy?"

"Promise you won't tell Ron or Harry?" Hermione asked. "Well I met him through the library. We got talking and I realised that we had a lot of things in common such as reading...you know the things I like. And the other day he asked me...and I said yes." Ginny smiled at her.

"His name?" Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "You don't know his name?" Hermione blushed slightly. "Or you do and you won't tell me?" Hermione brushed off some snowflakes from her hair and made a weird mumbling noise. "I feel like I'm talking to myself!"

"I do know his name; you'll be meeting him at the dance. He'll have a dark mask that ties at the back..." Hermione said blushing at the idea.

"And so many other students won't be wearing the same mask." Ginny said sarcastically. Hermione rolled her eyes at her.

"I'll know when I see him." Hermione said gently.

--

"Professor McGonagall, have you got our dresses ready?" Ginny asked as they approached their head of house. The elder woman lifted her head up from her parchment.

"They'll be with you on the eve of the dance. Now keep this to yourselves, but we've hired the Weird Sister's. You can thank Professor Slughorn for that." Hermione felt Ginny's pinch to stop her from squealing.

"Professor...how is Katie?" Hermione asked dreading the question. "Does she remember much? I mean about who gave her the necklace?"

"Katie is still recovering. All she can remember is a cool voice." Hermione nodded and left the room.

"Ginny I'm just going to the library could you take my sweets back to the common room?" She handed the large brown bag to her.

"Sure...are you going to meet your date?" Hermione noticed the small gleam in her eye and chuckled slightly.

"You know you and Harry are perfect for each other!" The girls started laughing with each other. "No I'm just checking to see if they've got anything new." Ginny nodded and left Hermione alone on the corridor. The brown haired girl turned round and went the opposite way.

--

"You're a liar!" Hermione hissed pushing a surprised Draco towards a wall. "You did those things to Katie!" She slapped him. "You're part of his team aren't you?" Draco put his hands up in defence when she started attacking him.

"I'm not part of any team Mione!"She stopped hitting him. He had revealed both of his arms, there was no dark mark but there were a few scratched marks. "Look! If I was I'd have at least the mark. Wouldn't I?" Hermione looked away suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"But you've been missing classes!"

"I've been in the library with you during those times."

"You shouldn't!" Hermione exclaimed shocked. "But thank you." She added quietly. Draco smiled. He was about to hug her but she shook her head. "I gotta go..."She brushed past him and hurried back to her common room. She felt strange when she was around him but she assumed it was over the fact that Harry had told her he might have been a Death Eater. "I hate feeling so confused!" She yelled to herself. She stared out of a stained glass window, the small snowfall had turned into a blizzard. The students rushing back from Hogsmeade looked like small ants, lost in the white sheet. Letting out a stressful sigh she headed back to the common room.

--

It was the day. The dance had finally arrived! Because it was a masque professor McGonagall had insisted that the girls would change in a large sized room opposite the large staircases that led to the Great Hall. The boys would change in their dormitories. Dumbledore had enlisted several Veela's to help the girls with makeup and hairstyles.

"I can't believe that they've put us in the same room with Mudbloods!" Pansy's high pitched voice was heard loud and clear, Ginny who was sitting next to Hermione while she waited her turn for makeup flushed red. "Next we'll be sharing tables with blood traitors!"

"Hermione say something!" Ginny urged who hated to see Hermione look upset. She also fought off the urge to hit Pansy for her comment.

"Why? She's stating the truth. I am a Mudblood." A small tear cascaded down her cheek as she said this.

"Hermione!" Ginny couldn't deny it, Hermione was right she was what she was. But she wasn't a Mudblood but a Muggle born. Hermione wiped away the loose tear from her chin. "Fight back!"

"Ginny just drop it." Hermione replied weakly. Pansy smirked with victory, she had walked up to them only to have one of her friends to call her back, she whipped the ends of her cloak in their faces.

"That does it!" Ginny hissed seething with anger. "If you won't do anything then I will! OI PANSY PIG!" A loud gasp came from the girls. Pansy whipped round angry at the comment. "Densaugeo!" The spell hit a surprised Pansy. She shrugged for a second and turned to her friends, they squealed when her teeth began to enlarge.

"WEASLEY!" Pansy shrieked. "Immobulus!" Ginny fell backwards frozen. Hermione jumped up and glared at Pansy.

"YOU SELFISH BITCH! Furnunculus!" Pansy now looked a sight. As well as having large oversized teeth she was completely covered in boils. She gave a weird wail and glared at Hermione.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT YOU MUDBLOOD! Impedimenta!" Hermione dodged it by hiding behind a suit of armor. It reflected and hit a Ravenclaw student. Everyone crowded around Hermione and boil face Pansy. "Incarcerous!" With a flick of her wand Hermione casted them aside. Pansy glared at Hermione with a quick glance around the room she noticed that there weren't any professors. "Incendio!" Hermione gave a small cry when she smelt the sleeve of her cloak burn.

"Oppugno!" Hermione yelled a flock of canaries flew out of her wand and started attacking Pansy. Using her wand she turned them into feathers.

"Stup-"

"Expelliarmus!" The two witches immediately felt their wands fly out of their hands and into professor McGonagall's. She stared at the two teenagers with disappointment. "Twenty house points shall be removed from each of you. Miss Parkinson and Miss Granger I am disappointed in you. Behaving like irresponsible children! Both of you shall receive detention! Now back to your corners!" She barked. In four corners the four houses got changed. They had less than two hours to become the beauties they wanted to become.

Seeing as I wanted something big to happen you guys got a duel ok a small duel. So Harry told the others what he had heard,Hermione and Draco have a few arguments. I predict they are gonna have big issues after the holidays, I've cooked up what's going to happen but I just need to write it down also the poll is open and it shall close once the next chapter is up = Saturday

Should Draco tell who M is at the ball?

A- Yes

B- No

C-It's too early to tell

D- YOUR OPINION = what you think should happen