As Draco had said to Hermione in their first meeting about the exchange program, he was only going to the ball mainly for the change of scenery and free drinks. He knew if he stayed at home, he would have either watched television or read a book accompanied by a flow of firewhiskey, or simply just had the firewhiskey to keep him company. Why not drink some free firewhiskey in a place crowded with people that he could watch for the night to keep himself amused. He'd been invited over to Pansy and Blaise's apartment so they could all arrive together but he'd said no, choosing not to be involved in what would no doubt be Hurricane Pansy as the witch organised her things before leaving.
The doors to the ballroom opened from seven o'clock and it was at seven o'clock that Draco got up from lying on his sofa to go into his room and take out his newly tailored olive green suit which he had originally been going to wear for the ball at the Manor but only changed his mind around an hour ago. He took his time in dressing and finding an appropriate tie to match the suit and then find some cufflinks. Not once had he arrived at any sort of function dead-on the opening time as he preferred not to be the first one to anything. It could have been slightly to do with the fact he didn't want to seem too eager for the events, but mostly because he didn't believe he would be 'late' as such because technically there was no closing time. By the time he was dressed and had made sure his hair was sitting properly, his stubble was presentable and he had a spritz of cologne on, it was seven thirty and decided it was about time he should go to the Ministry. He had a feeling that Hermione would already be there and he would never admit it to anyone else, but for the majority of the day he'd been pondering over if they would speak that night and wondering what sort of dress she would be wearing. Even if he didn't speak to her for the duration of the ball, he still knew of several people that were attending that he wouldn't mind talking to if he had to.
He took the floo to the Ministry and the atrium was bustling with people in formal attire heading towards the area of the building that held the ballroom which had only been a recent edition seven years previous. He even spotted a few familiar faces from his department amongst the crowd and was glad he'd decided on arriving at this time. He followed the masses en route to the ballroom and entered through the grand doors into the crowded room. Everyone that worked at the Ministry had been invited with a plus one, and while many people opted out of the celebration for various reasons, there was still a substantial amount of attendees but he knew from previous experience going to the holiday ball, that many people left before midnight with the excuse of going home to children. Draco was forever grateful that he hadn't been tied down with a child in his twenties.
He received a slap on the shoulder as he wandered through the crowd, and turned to see who the deliverer was and found it to be Blaise with his other arm around Pansy's waist. "You're allowed to have fun, you know," the sarcastic wizard drawled. He was wearing a dark suit and Pansy was in a long dark purple dress that suited her quite nicely.
"Doesn't mean I'll obey that," Draco drawled right back and put his hands in his trouser pockets which was a habit his mother always pulled him up on when she was around, but since she wasn't here, he could have his freedom. "Nice dress, Pansy," he complimented his friend.
"Why, thank you," she said and then smirked. "No female hanging off your arm tonight then?" She questioned and Draco scoffed.
"Do you know me at all?"
"We were thinking maybe you'd have a change of heart heading into the new year," Blaise chuckled.
"You thought wrong," he smirked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I do have a date with the bar I have to attend." He turned and headed in the direction he wanted to go and briefly heard Pansy ask her fiancé for a dance. Draco was glad it wasn't him as he detested dancing and it also had a very low rank on the list of things he didn't care about. At the bar he ordered himself a firewhiskey and stood to the side leaning against a pillar while he watched the world go by around him. He observed couples walking hand in hand or arm in arm to the dance floor, some dancing intimately and close and others quite obviously taking the piss and just enjoying the night and the music and it wasn't just couples dancing.
He quietly sipped his drink and paid no attention to anyone in particular but his eyes did scan the area looking for someone. To no avail after several minutes of looking around he gave up his search and went to order another firewhiskey.
"I'll have a champagne too, please."
The familiar voice made Draco turn his head and he was almost taken aback at the sight of Hermione next to him. Her hair was curled in delicate waves that framed her face and was much different to the plain bun or ponytail she sported to work everyday. She wore an emerald green dress with off the shoulder sleeves, that cinched at the waist and fell loosely down to her feet. He was rather speechless for a few seconds and he could tell from the slight smirk on her face that she knew it too. "We're almost matching," he managed to say within a time frame that wasn't considered to be too long of a horrifically awkward silence.
"We are," she agreed and took her glass of champagne off the bar when it was brought over and Draco took his firewhiskey. "This is an unusual colour to see you in," she said, touching the sleeve of his suit as the both of them walked away from the bar together.
"My mother insisted that it would suit me," Draco said and took a drink.
"She was right," Hermione said casually and took a sip of her wine. The comment made him raise a brow and he smirked behind the rim of his glass as he took a sip. "Have you been here long?" She asked.
"Around fifteen minutes. You?"
"Since the doors opened."
"I could have put money on that," he chuckled and put his free hand in his pocket. "Did you come with anyone else?" He asked her and very much hoped she didn't interpret it as him asking if she had a date.
"Yes, I came with Ginny and Harry," she nodded and pointed over in the direction she must have left them. "I couldn't resist seeing Albus and James before they went to their grandparents," she said with a large smile.
"I take it the Potters will be leaving early then?"
"You guessed it," she nodded and wiped a small smear of her lipstick off the rim of her glass. "They're those kind of people," she laughed. "Although I can't blame them, Albus is only a few days old after all. It did take a lot to get Ginny to come tonight."
"Why did he force her to come?" Draco asked and furrowed his brows. He would never have taken Potter to be someone to force his wife into doing something she didn't want to do, and it was one thing that automatically made Draco dislike a man.
"He didn't. He actually told her to stay if she felt more comfortable but she wanted to see his speech and give him support," Hermione said. "They adore each other, there hasn't been one event that they've gone to without the other one by their side."
Draco scoffed and pretended to gag. "Save the lovey-dovey shit for someone else," he drawled.
"Get over it, Malfoy," Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's disconcerting that you act like a child having a tantrum when someone talks about something you don't like."
"I can't help it, it's who I am," he joked. He saw a pair of people leave a table close by and he nodded towards it. "Do you want to sit down?" He asked and she nodded in return. They walked over and sat down, placing their drinks on the table.
"It's really a beautiful setup, isn't it?" Hermione commented as she looked around. The decorations were grand indeed. It was a white theme this year with the tables draped with fine white table cloths and the chairs had some intricate covers on the back. Decorations hung from the walls and white centre pieces adorned every table. Even the instruments being played by the band were white.
"My mother will be glad that her decorations are different," he humoured since he knew that Narcissa had decorated the Manor's much smaller ballroom, in different shades of pale, ice blue.
"Does she always host a Christmas ball?" Hermione asked curiously.
He nodded. "Well, excluding our fifth to seventh year and the year after the war."
"Understandable," she nodded. She then looked away from him and out at the crowd and he knew something was different about her as she always paid complete attention in their conversations and never wandered her eyes unlike what he did.
"Something wrong?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.
She seemed to have forgotten about him completely and jumped slightly at the interruption of her thoughts. "No, nothing," she shook her head.
"That's an insult to my intelligence, Granger," Draco drawled after he'd taken a drink of firewhiskey. "What's wrong?"
She sighed and wrinkled her nose slightly. He hadn't thought she would actually tell him until she opened her mouth and spoke. "Ron wants to try a relationship again."
If he had been taking a drink at that point, he would have promptly spat it out on the table. Luckily his hand was firmly around his glass as it rest on the table and he had a look of shock on his face. "Weasley? Really?"
"Mm-hm," she nodded and sipped her champagne.
"What do you want?"
"I don't want to be back with him," she answered and Draco wouldn't realise until much later, that he released a small breath of relief. "What we had was good when we were both nineteen but that was before we had proper responsibilities. Proper jobs." She took in a breath and sighed.
"You don't have to tell me about this," Draco said and suddenly felt very intrusive on her personal life even though she had willingly spoke of it.
"I won't talk about it, but only because I don't want it to ruin my night any more," Hermione said and he saw her hand raise on reflex to push her fringe away but had nothing to do as it was pinned back. "Would you like to dance?" She asked him since the band had just finished one song and was preparing for the next.
"No can do, Granger," he shook his head. "I hate dancing."
She shrugged one shoulder and then stood up. "Well, I don't want to be sitting around for the entire night," she said and finished her champagne and placed it back on the table. "Maybe I'll see you around?" She asked.
"Maybe."
She smiled with her teeth showing and then said, "Enjoy your night if I don't see you again."
He forced his lips upwards slightly as she left. "Unlikely," he muttered to himself and finished his drink. He cursed himself for watching her walk away and letting his gaze linger on the slight sway she always had when she walked. The dress cinched in at her waist accentuated the curves of her body more than her work outfit did and he physically had to stand from his chair and walk back to where he'd been previous to meeting up with her, just to avert his eyes somewhere else and not have such thoughts in his mind. Minutes later he spotted her in the crowd of dancers dancing with Neville Longbottom, the latter being so clumsily footed at dancing that he and Hermione were laughing in glee and looked to be having great fun. Draco knew that if he wanted to, he could walk over to her group of friends and be readily accepted to spend the night with them all and maybe have a conversation or too, but he hardly knew any of them personally and felt it would be too big of a step that he wasn't necessarily ready to take.
Out of all the people he knew Hermione was still friends with from school, Draco had only spoken to Harry the most. Harry had been the one to testify for Draco on his trial and ever since then, whenever the two had been in a lift together, or bumped into each other in the Ministry hallways, they'd always exchanged a word or two. Not once had Draco found a way over the years to adequately thank Harry enough for what he did in his testifying to the Wizengamot which essentially kept him out of Azkaban and his mother without any sort of sanction. He had even said those words to him once.
Draco was travelling down in the lift after working an hour after he was meant to finish in the Ministry when it stopped and the doors opened. In stepped Harry Potter and Draco moved to the side to let him in. After a few seconds of quiet, Harry spoke. "How have you been fairing?" He asked.
It had been around three years since his trial and while they saw each other regularly, Draco didn't like to stop to talk, preferring to keep his head down and do his new job at the Ministry. "Alright," he answered. "You?"
"Couldn't be better."
The answer would have rubbed him the wrong way in the past but Draco didn't want to take any sort of offence from it and restrained himself from doing so. The lift stopped at the bottom and opened to the empty atrium and both men stepped out in silence. Just when they went to part ways, Draco spoke up. "Potter, wait." Harry turned and looked at him with no expression of annoyance or disinterest on his face which made Draco feel considerably relieved. "I…" He fumbled for words which made him internally kick himself. "I don't know how to properly thank you for what you did for my mother and myself on our trial." It was the first time they'd spoken of the day since it happened.
Harry contemplated his answers for a few seconds. "You don't need to thank me or feel like you need to repay me in anyway," he said. "The war's in the past and it needs to be remembered for the good that became of it. You were misled, Malfoy, that's all. You've proven more than enough times since then that you are sorry and that's all anyone needs — that's all the thanks I need."
Draco had stayed quiet and mulled over his words before nodding. He didn't respond to what the other wizard had said but merely answered, "Have a nice night, Potter," and then turned to head in the direction he needed to go to walk home.
The memory and the associated memories of the trial was enough to make Draco head to the bar for a stronger drink and resume his quiet musing and watching.
—
By ten o'clock, the ball was still in full swing after a momentary pause to listen to various speeches from people like the Minister and Harry Potter, and Draco hadn't left the bar until he decided he needed to use the bathroom. He staggered away from where he stood, leaving his glass on the bar, and managed to walk with enough grace that it didn't look like he was sloshed.
"Where are you going?" Pansy asked and gripped onto his arm as he passed because in all honesty, he hadn't seen her.
"For a piss. Care to join?"
"You smell," Pansy wrinkled her nose and then opened up the clutch purse she was holding and took out a small vial and a packet of mints and gave one to him. "You're bloody lucky I carry these around for Blaise and I," she said and pressed the vial into his hand as well. He looked down at it and recognised the label as a sobering up potion, then popped the mint into his mouth. "Why are you acting like it's the end of the world? Take a reality check, Draco, it's a Christmas party, not reflecting time." Pansy had always been straight to the point.
He made a noise akin to a grunt and, with the vial in hand, headed to the bathrooms. There were two other men in when he arrived and after he did his business and washed his hands, he uncapped the potion vial, took a drink and instantly felt the effects. His head was less stuffy and he could think reasonably again and with that, he left the bathroom to go back out to the ballroom. On his way there he saw Ginny and Harry walking his way. "Going home already?" He asked and slowed down, feeling it was the polite thing to do as they all knew each other.
"We have a newborn to pick up," Ginny chimed in.
"We can't all be the life of the party," Harry chuckled and put his hand on Ginny's back.
"Enjoy your burden of joy… No. Your bundle of joy, forgive me," Draco smirked and gave Harry a nod and carried on his way. He knew the comment went over well as he could hear their laugh and he was positive he would have heard about it if they had taken offence. Once back in the ballroom, he had to stop himself from heading directly to the bar, and instead took a seat at the table he and Hermione had sat at earlier in the night. He was content to people watch for the remainder of the evening and decided he wouldn't have another drink. Somewhere inside of him he knew the reason behind taking drink after drink, but that reason wasn't apparent to him just yet.
As he was scanning the crowds and looking all over at people he didn't recognise, he caught sight of someone he very well did recognise. Thankfully, his eyes only made contact with Astoria's face for a second or two before he averted his eyes and stood from his chair. He could tell that she was heading his way and while they had spoken to each other since their breakup, it had never been intentional and mostly due to bumping into each other. He turned slightly and could see her out of his peripheral vision walking towards him in a dress of shimmering red. He wasn't up for talking to her that night (or any time for that matter) and as soon as he spotted an opening between a group of people, he set off to walk that way.
He walked just slow enough that it seemed casual and the fates were on his side when he turned and had to reach his hands out to steady the person he'd almost bumped into. "Granger," he announced just as she had said his last name also. "Dance with me," he said, not as a question.
"But you said you—"
"People change," he excused and instinctively his hand went for hers and lead her to the dance floor. If he managed to stay occupied long enough, he could avoid Astoria. It was only an added bonus that his distraction was Hermione. A new song had just begun playing and Draco stopped near some other dancing couples and placed his hand on Hermione's waist and her hand came up to his shoulder, their other hands still clasped together.
"You're a terrible liar under pressure, do you know that?" Hermione said with a smile playing at the edge of her lips.
"What are you talking about?" He pretended he didn't know and glanced to the side and when he didn't see Astoria, he turned his attention back to the woman in front of him.
"And you obviously think that I'm oblivious," she laughed and shook her head. "You dated Astoria Greengrass, correct?" There was no point in him lying to her since he knew for a fact there had been some details of their relationship in newspapers when they had broken up years ago, and it had been common knowledge for the years they had been together. "She came up to me about a minute ago asking if I'd seen you."
"Did she now?"
"Mm… I pointed her in your direction and now you've come scampering to me." She laughed and he was glad she could find the humour in the situation. "So now you're pretending you actually want to dance with me so you can avoid your ex."
"What if I told you that I don't mind dancing with you?" He asked and his tone was sincere enough to make her stop laughing and just look up at him with a smile but he recognised the hesitance in her eyes.
"Then I'd ask that we not talk about your ex any longer," Hermione said after a few long seconds.
"That is more than fine by me," Draco responded and his fingers spread across her back as they swayed in time to the music. They danced in silence for the rest of the song and by the time the next one started playing, her head was close to his chest and his cheek was almost resting against her hair. He couldn't help but smell the scent from her hair and at one point he found that his eyes were closing over as they danced.
Her hand moved down from his shoulder and played with the lapel of his suit jacket before her hand rest on the white shirt he had on underneath. "Your heart is racing," she murmured. He didn't say anything in return but hummed slightly in agreement. He could feel her thumb brush against his chest in time to the slow violin from the band. The song being played was the slowest tempo he'd heard that night and a quick glance upwards found the other people on the dance floor were moving just as slow as he and Hermione were.
"You're a good dancer," he told her after a while.
"So are you. When was the last time you danced?"
"At the Yule Ball."
His answer seemed to surprise her because her thumb stopped moving momentarily before regaining the rhythm. Another song had begun by the time she spoke again. "I've never danced like this."
"What is this, Granger?" He asked and tilted his head slightly to look down at her and could see a faint red tint to her cheek that had nothing to do with any makeup she was wearing.
"You know…" She said. "So closely…It's nice."
"It is," he agreed after a pause, finding that it was more easy to say it than he thought it would be at first. Without even realising it, his fingers had begun to move slightly across the small of her back in time to her thumb against his chest. They were in more of a tight embrace than anything else and both were oblivious to anyone that might have been watching and for once, he wasn't quite caring of what the rest of the people in the room were thinking about him. "Are you leaving soon?" He asked her after a few minutes.
"Yes," she nodded and he felt her forehead brush against his front.
"I will too," he decided.
"Don't go home just because I am. Stay and enjoy the party."
That comment made him chuckle and shake his head. "I haven't enjoyed most of this ball."
"That implies you've enjoyed some."
"Yes, I have," he answered easily and knew that this moment was one of two that he'd enjoyed. The other moment had involved her too and the thought startled him a little. "Shall we leave after this song?"
"I think that sounds good," Hermione nodded and for the rest of the song they swayed quietly and in rhythm with the music, her thumb still moving against his chest and his fingers still on her back.
—
A few minutes after the song had ended found Draco and Hermione outside of the ballroom. The two walked slowly side by side and the atrium was quiet, still and void of any people except them. He had told her before he was taking the floo home and they headed to the rows of fireplaces but neither questioned it as they passed each one until they reached the ones furthest from the ballroom. "I'll be apparating home. I don't want to ruin my dress," she said when they reached the end and she turned slightly to stand a little in front of him.
He looked down at her as she was still slightly shorter than him even though she was wearing high heels. "Good idea," he said and glanced at her dress then back to her face. He'd found in the past half an hour or more, that his eyes had not really strayed from hers which was different to any other time he was around someone where he would find an excuse to look away.
Her hands were down at her front as she smoothed the dress slightly and took a small step forward. When she raised her head to look at him, the two were dangerously close. Draco could smell her familiar scent so potently and knew it would linger on his suit and he didn't mind that one bit. "I shouldn't keep you any longer," he said and his voice was quiet.
Her teeth gently caught some of her bottom lip and she nodded before releasing. She seemed to hold her breath when he raised his hand up and used his thumb to push a strand of her hair away from her face where it had stuck slightly to her lipstick. She smiled from the gesture and he returned the smile and didn't have to force it one bit. Their faces were so close now that he could feel her breath on his chin. He didn't know how long had passed since he'd spoken and his thumb was still gently pressed to her cheek. It truly hit him what they were doing just then and he realised how close they were standing and she seemed to hit the same wall of realisation at the same time.
She stood up straighter and took a small step back. "I hope you enjoyed your night, Draco," she said.
"You too, Hermione," he answered and didn't move. She gave him a small wave and then walked in the opposite direction to head to an apparation point. He stood still and turned his head to watch her walk away but he knew something had changed in the last few minutes and something clicked to him. It clicked that he didn't detest her company nearly as much as he'd once thought he did. Why else would he willingly call her by her first name? And why did he wish that she'd stayed close to him so he could have dipped his head a little more and pressed his lips to hers.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I really, really enjoyed writing it! Please leave reviews, they're the biggest help and motivator for me to write more and more chapters. Thanks!