Disclaimer: The characters and canon situations in the following story belong solely to JK Rowling. I am not making any money from the publishing or writing of this story.

Lying Never Helps Anyone

She scanned the crowd and found Draco stood to the back of the room near the bar area again, Pansy and Blaise on his left hand side, she tried to manoeuvre around the gathered people to get to the trio of former Slytherins.

"It's with the greatest pleasure I wish my granddaughter a Happy Birthday" Cecil beckoned Hermione on stage. "Hermione Granger" gasps went about in the audience from those that didn't know that's whose birthday they were there to celebrate.

Draco eyes snapped up to the stage, and the girl in the green dress, 'Granger?'

"My gift to you Hermione is this" she signalled around the room, "What should rightfully be your mother's I now give to you… you shall be the main and only benefactor in my will, my estate will become yours." Cecil smiled as she hugged Hermione; her lost and then found Granddaughter.

"Speech" Fred and George's voice shouted from the audience.

Hermione smiled as she took the microphone off her grandmother, "Ladies and Gentlemen, firstly thank you all for coming to this special occasion of mine" 'Even though I don't know half of you' she added mentally. "You've all made this an enjoyable night, I thank you for your gifts and I hope you have a fantastic night" her eyes caught the cold grey of Draco's and she swallowed hard, "Now, on with the celebrations" she declared, raising the glass she had in her hand.

She began making her way to the patio doors leading outside and Draco when someone else picked up the microphone; "You know…" they hiccupped, "I've known 'Mione for the last ten years or so" another hiccup, Hermione glanced sorrowfully from Draco back to the stage and a swaying Ron. "And all I'm going to say is I'm glad you had your nose in those books a lot, because me and Harry wouldn't have survived had you not" he raised his glass. "To Hermione and books" he gulped his drink down in one before Molly jumped on stage pulling him off before he made a bigger fool of himself; the rest of the guests lifted their glasses in tribute to Hermione.

By the time Hermione had turned back to the doors Draco had gone, practically running out of the door she couldn't see Draco anywhere, and so began walking down the garden. When she made her way to the swing he still wasn't around and she sat down removing her mask from her face as she did so.

"If you were trying to make a fool of me congratulations" Draco voiced sounded wounded as he stepped out from behind the tree.

"I have no idea what you mean Malfoy" she stated as she looked towards the shadows.

"Don't you? Leading me on to believe you were someone else"

She laughed, "I didn't do that… you did that… I didn't even know who you were before you said your name."

"A likely story" he stated blowing her off.

"Seriously I didn't know, we are at a masquerade ball, we're both wearing masks- if you had known it was me what would have changed?" she challenged.

"Everything" he stated aloofly.

She shook her head "No Malfoy not everything, we both felt the pull towards that kiss. And you know what, I may regret this later, but I enjoyed it." She stood and began walking back into the party, her party. She'd be damned if Draco bloody Malfoy was going to destroy her day. She stopped at the door though, looking back towards him, "It shouldn't matter that much to you that it was me, one thing you can be certain of is that I don't care that it was you and in that moment earlier neither did you." She walked inside with a more confident stride, leaving a thoroughly confused Malfoy outside.

-Twenty minutes later-

Draco had sat outside for twenty minutes after Hermione had left, until he felt the undeniable chill reach his toes through his shoes; once that happened he knew he needed to get some warmth in his system and where better to start than a glass of Ogden's Old Fire Whiskey. So once inside he got a glass before wandering to one of the darkened corners of the room where he could see all, but one would have to be seeking him to find him.

He scanned the crowd and found Hermione laughing with a few of her friends dancing as she was spinning around or they were. Her surprising happiness seemed to be draining his off, and he began to feel lethargic, increasing his already bad mood. And thus he began brooding in a very Malfoy way, staring daggers to the back of Hermione's head he thought of all the nasty names he could call her, starting with the inevitable: 'Mudblood, Bookworm, Cock-tease,' the list continued until he was red in the face, his anger had far from drained and he was on his second bottle of Fire Whiskey by the end. He saw her laugh at a joke one of the Weasley 'Twits' had said and saw red, she was now laughing at him. 'How dare she laugh at me!' his hand twitched towards the wand lying in his over coat, he'd show her, nobody laughs at a Malfoy. He retrieved the strip of Hawthorn wood out of his pocket, and narrowing his eyes for aim pointed it towards the ex-Gryffindor intent to do some damage. That was until his line of sight was blocked by a bodily mass of someone else.

"Lower your wand" a female voice hissed snatching the wood out of his loose grip. He looked up to the brown eyes of his long time friend Pansy Parkinson, "What would your mother think if you got arrested at her friend's party for performing magic on the birthday girl?" Pansy asked a slight squeak in her voice.

Draco cold grey eyes wandered to the girls, "Give me back my wand" he suddenly roared in a voice that would have most people recoiling in terror but not Pansy.

She shook her head slipping the wand into her opened handbag, "Not when you're like this" she said evenly as she shook her head. "You know I can't even leave you for a few minutes before your getting yourself in trouble. Where have you been?"

"You're not my mother Pans, so back off" he snapped, he wasn't in the mood for one of her high and mighty speeches.

"No, I'm not Draco, but you are my friend and I will not have you arrested by twenty or so Aurors who all happen to be present today because you feel victimised for kissing someone."

Draco narrowed his eyes at the raven haired girl as he was thinking 'How the hell does she know?' he looked about ready to say something but she spoke regardless "I saw you, don't try to deny it." He snapped his mouth shut, "You didn't know it was her" she stated softly, and Draco decided that he needed to say something, anything.

"Yeah but she knew it was me, she made a fool out of me" he looked to Pansy expecting her to have an angry fire in her eye but she simply stood with her head shaking it from side to side a pensive look on her face.

"I'm sorry to say she didn't Draco," she seated herself in the seat next to him, "That's why she left so quickly after, she was afraid you would be cruel to her about it... I spoke to her pretty much right after she was definitely in a state of shock, I told her she needed to tell you and she finally relented and was on her way to talk to you but Cecilia seemed to have other ideas." Pansy took hold of his hands in hers, the action bringing his sight back from Hermione to her.

"Why are you trying to defend her?" Draco asked with a curious glint in his eyes.

"I'm not it's just she..." Pansy heaved a sigh through her nose, a slight hesitant chuckle at the end "I'm not; I just don't want you to make a mistake because of who and what she is." At his look of confusion she explained- "I saw that look in your eye when you kissed her... I don't dare to say what I think it means, but if it is what I think it is, I think you should pursue her." She paused, "That doesn't mean I'm happy about it" she clarified.

Draco chuckled, a smirk gracing his features, "Courting? Me?" Draco asked dryly, "The last girl I courted was you Pans and that was over three years ago, most girls just like the image of being with me... Granger just doesn't want to be with me, so I'm happy that you wouldn't object but it's not going to happen."

Draco unconsciously or consciously drifted his eye sight back towards Hermione who was dancing with a rather burly man in a red cape, he whispered something into her ear and her head flew back as she laughed. Draco felt his anger stir again, truth be told he was jealous, of what he wasn't one-hundred percentage sure but what he was certain of is the fact that if that man didn't unravel his arms from around her waist he would make sure he was unable to- the Muggle way.

His hand twitched at his side as the man's arm slackened ever so slightly around Hermione's waist meaning the hand at the end of the soon to be incapacitated arm was touching her arse. Hermione soon lifted the arms ever so slightly and Draco chuckled to himself.

That little laugh made Pansy attention shift from her boyfriend sat next to her to Draco; she noticed his eye line was directed to a certain Gryffindor princess.

-Thirty more minutes later-

Once another thirty more minutes had passed Pansy noticed that Draco had given his full attention to a particular Witch she decided to do a rather sneaky thing on her part, playing right to Draco's personality traits, she whispered a quick something in Blaise's ear before she turned to Draco speaking in a sickly sweet voice, "Is dear Drakey scared of the big bad lion princess?"

"Yeah mate you scared she'll get Potter and Weasley on your case?"

Draco looked affronted as he looked from one friend to another, "Of course not... I could walk straight into the Lion's den and come out unharmed."

Blaise looked between Pansy and Draco, "Bet you couldn't walk up to her and start dancing cut in between her and that other bloke?" Draco had never been one to back down from a challenge.

"That's hardly a challenge Blaise" Draco laughed.

"Wager, bragging rights to the winner, you have to seduce her." Blaise stated in a way that clearly showed he had done this many times in the past.

"Easy" Draco laughed as he stuck his hand out for Blaise to shake.

"No" Pansy suddenly said, both men looked towards her mid shake.

She glanced between them biting on her lip as she did so, sure she could easily send Granger to the slaughter but after what the other girl had confessed could she?

"What Pans?" Draco asked seeing her look he knew she only bit her lip when she was in the throes of an internal battle.

"You can't Drake, don't" he looked around confused.

"Don't what?" she didn't answer instead she signalled for him to follow her, stopping Blaise as he attempted to follow them.

The pair walked out of the manor's large ballroom, and Pansy began walking up a flight of stairs, "Pans where are we going?" She ignored him continuing to walk.

He reached out for her arm swinging her around; "Tell me what's wrong" she looked once at him before walking to the closest door and through to the room.

Perching herself on the edge of the bed she looked towards Draco at the door, breathing heavily through her nose before she attempted to speak. "Drake you can't do it" she looked towards him before looking away.

Draco watched as his usually flamboyant friend seemed to shrink before his eyes, "Pansy?" he said, before he toned it down to a softer call, as he walked towards her, "Pans?" kneeling in front of her.

She patted the bed next to her, "Please tell me you won't do it"

He kneeled on the floor straightening his back so that his face came on level with Pansy's, before he leant back onto his heels, and ran his right hand through his dishevelled hair.

"I don't understand" he finally admitted.

"Nobody deserves to be used Draco, nobody, and by doing that you would be using her" she turned away from her friends gaze.

"But its Granger?" he shook his head, "I don't understand why you don't want me to do it? It's a wager, I can't back down."

"Fine" Pansy retorted, "If winning a stupid wager is more important than making me seem like a liar, then go ahead Draco, add another notch to your belt, bed another one of our classmates, get one over on Potter and Co. Do whatever you like, I don't care!" she angrily stood up.

As she reached the doors however, Draco had stood and grabbed a hold of her arm.

"How would you be a liar?"

"I said you were trying to leave your playboy ways behind you" she decided not to face him as she said this, so when he let go of her arm and turned her around to face him, before pushing he backwards until her knees hit the bed, she was surprised to see the look on his face.

"Who did you say this to?"

"Granger"

A look of shock crossed Draco's face before it was quickly changed for a look of understanding, "Thats why you don't want me to go through with mine and Blaise's wager? Because you told her that I wasn't like that anymore?" he needed to make sure he understood his friend's motives.

But something in the way she nodded, diverting her eyes from him told Draco that she was lying, if only partially. "And the rest?"

When Pansy snapped her attention back to the blond he nodded at her to explain, "The look Draco, that kiss showed you what your Father meant didn't it? What you've been looking for, for the past few years, she's been staring you in the face, but because of who she is you never got the chance, so with the masks on you had the chance, and you finally found the answer you've been looking for." She paused as he knelt down in front of her as she pulled his lapel, "Granger, she felt it to, but because the masks have been lifted, you both think it won't work. But think logically Drake, Cecilia's Granddaughter, the smartest Witch of our generation, probably for many generations- who would object?" She carefully ran her thumb down his jaw, leaning in to whisper in his ear "It's only you that is objecting Dra-"

A/N: Right chapter 3, I once again hope you enjoy, and please review. This will be the last update for a while so please bear with me. :)

Thanks to the previous reviewers, and all those that have added it to their alerts/favourites, but please if you do this, leave a review, I like to know what you think.

Scorpio219 -x-