AN: This is mainly based on the movie version of the Yule Ball.

Chapter Three

Hermione was crying.

The Yule Ball had been wonderful enough at first; in her new periwinkle blue robes Hermione had turned heads and been the recipient of many jealous looks. Draco, clearly avoiding her, had looked visibly upset at seeing Hermione in all her dressed-up glory on the arm of Viktor Krum. He engaged in a few awkward dances with Pansy, who was wearing some kind of ugly, frilly pink thing, but on the whole he just looked dejected, and Hermione felt a slightly guilty happiness. Krum had been a fairly good dancer, but he didn't talk much, and he had left the ball right away when Hermione got into a fight with Ron.

The very thought of Ron sent another wave of tears flowing down Hermione's face. He had spent the evening antagonizing her for going with Krum. The worst part was that Ron hadn't even asked her until the very last minute. If only he had asked her before Viktor did, she thought, wiping her eyes and imagining a happy time spent at the ball with Ron. Or if only she hadn't decided to go with Viktor to make Malfoy jealous… she could have then asked Ron herself, and politely declined Viktor's offer…

She sat down on the staircase and took off her heels. They were pretty shoes, but they hurt like hell. She could see happy couples leaving the Great Hall, and in her state of sadness they almost seemed to be mocking her. Speaking of mocking her… she wasn't quite convinced that Draco had been serious when he said he had only wanted her. She couldn't believe he had led her on like that only to tell her he was going with Pansy after all. He had only done that after getting a kiss, too… It was probably some sort of stupid prank, thought Hermione sadly. He was probably dared to kiss the Mudblood or something. No doubt half of Slytherin had been watching from somewhere and it hadn't even been the real Room of Requirement, just a door with a Vanishing Spell on it. Oh, why didn't I see through it before? I'm sure he had expected me not to go to the ball, and was just sulking when he saw that I really was going with Viktor—

"Granger!" a voice loudly whispered from somewhere below Hermione, jolting her out of her thoughts. She looked toward the source of the sound and noticed that a door to an unused classroom near the base of the stairs was open slightly. It was dark inside.

Hermione got up and looked around. No one in the corridor was watching her; they were all too busy saying good night to their dates. She walked over to the door, wondering if the voice really belonged to whom she thought it did.

Sure enough, Draco was standing just inside, wearing expensive-looking black dress robes.

"What do you want?" Hermione asked suspiciously. Just then, a bunch of giggling girls exited the Great Hall and started to make their way down the corridor.

"Get in! Quickly, before someone sees!" Draco hissed, grabbing Hermione's wrist and pulling her inside. He closed the door behind them so that the room was lit only by the night's snowy sky. "I had to tell you… you looked amazing tonight."

"That's funny, because you can barely see me," said Hermione dryly, starting to move toward the door.

"No! Wait! I mean, you're much prettier than Pansy." Draco gave a small, almost bashful smile. "And she can't dance at all. What I'm really trying to say is that I wish I could have spent the entire night with you."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do. Oh, I'm sorry—here," he said, holding out a handkerchief.

"I'll get all my makeup on it."

"It's okay, as long as it's not streaked all over your face like it is now. Besides, I think you look beautiful without makeup anyway." He wiped the tears off of Hermione's cheeks himself. "I'm sorry for what I did the last time we were alone together. I should have told you straight away that I was taking Pansy to the ball. I'm not sorry for the kiss, though."

Hermione shifted her weight. "I'm sorry too. I pretty much went with Viktor to make you jealous, and then Ron and I got in a fight about it. Oh, but he doesn't know that's why I went with Viktor," she added quickly. "I understand why you couldn't take me… it must be hard to go against your family. I know they would disown you if they found out." She peered into his eyes. "But can we have… a future? Say this goes long-term. What will we do when we come of age? How long will we have to keep our relationship, or whatever it is that we have, a secret?"

Draco put the handkerchief in his pocket and stayed silent for a minute. "I don't know. It's going to be difficult. We'd have to stay on the down low until after we're both 17, at least. And… well, maybe you've figured out that my father used to be a Death Eater. I don't want to be one, but If You-Know-Who comes back, well, I don't know what will happen. I could be forced into it against my will. But I'll do whatever it takes to be with you."

"I know your father was involved with that," said Hermione gently. "But I've learnt just recently that you think differently than him. Thank you for showing me that side of you."

There was a brief silence during which they could hear the faint notes of a slow song by the Weird Sisters, and Draco said, "For now, I'd just like to have this dance with you." He pointed his wand in the direction of the Great Hall and muttered a spell that made the music become magically amplified. "That's better." He held out his hand.

Hermione shivered. She frowned and looked around the room. "Hmm. I know… hold on." She took out her wand, too. "Incendio Globulus!" Several small spheres of fire floated out of her wand and surrounded them, creating a cozy glow.

Draco had clearly never seen anything like it before. "Wow, that's perfect," he said softly. He took Hermione's hand and placed his other hand on her waist, and the two danced the final dance of the Yule Ball. Hermione was still barefoot. Several minutes later, the music stopped and the clock tower started to chime.

"It's midnight," said Hermione. Still in each other's arms, the two looked out the window at the softly falling snow. "Happy Christmas, Draco."

"Happy Christmas, Hermione."

They kissed surrounded by orange spheres of flame.

The End