DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE, EVEN THOUGH I KEEP WISHING.
"Hey, where've you two been?" Hermione asked slyly as the two boys walked into the Head commons area, both sweaty.
"Flying," Harry said automatically.
"Flying? I didn't know people sweat when they fly. Especially in October," she laughed.
"We were exercising too," Draco said defensively. "We started off flying for about an hour, and we just finished up working out."
Draco and Harry had been going to the Room of Requirement for the last week and a half after dinner and homework every other night. Apparently, they had the room change into a pretty well stocked muggle gym, complete with pool, Jacuzzi, and sauna.
"Ok, whatever," Hermione said, still smiling. "Draco, Daniel Bates is still sick, so he switched his rounds with Amy Trent. I already fixed him into the new schedule, but I thought I should let you know. Also, I think it's time to mix them up; have Prefects from different houses do rounds together."
"You really think they'll go for that?" Harry asked, looking skeptical.
"They'll have to; we make the rules. No, I think you're right. Voldemort's dead, the past is gone, and it's time to start them mingling," Draco said, catching his clothes and towel as he summoned them wordlessly.
"Yeah. I think it's been proven enough times that all stereotypes about the Houses aren't all true. I think we should have a good rotation so they're always mingled," Hermione said.
"I really don't envy you two," Harry said, and then yawned widely. "Ok, I'm beat. See you tomorrow." He hugged Hermione and waved timidly at Draco, who smiled and waved back.
When Harry had left, Hermione started laughing.
"You two are ridiculous!"
"What? Why?" Draco asked, confused, hand still slightly raised.
"Look at you guys! Why don't you just shag and get it over with?"
Draco blushed and murmured something that sounded like, "It's not that easy."
Sighing, Hermione got up. "Ok, I'm going to sleep too. Remember, we have to pop into the Great Hall tomorrow between three and five to make sure everything is running smoothly. You shouldn't need more than an hour to get ready, will you? Ball starts at 6."
"No, I should be fine. I'm going to hit the shower, and then I'll probably crash too."
"Ok, then. Night Draco," she said, and walked to her room. As she nodded off, an odd feeling of excitement came over her, and she fell into a peaceful sleep once again anxious to see what Snape would wear, and a smile on her face.
XXX
"Ms. Granger, shouldn't you be getting ready for the ball soon?" Professor Dumbledore asked amusedly, as he watched her try to help decorate the Great Hall.
"MR. FRANKLIN! STOP ATTEMPTING TO STRANGLE MR. BEWS WITH THE ORANGE GARLAND, OR I'LL STRANGLE YOU BOTH!" she yelled, then looked at Dumbledore. "Yes, Professor, I should. However, I'm finding it difficult to want to leave these Prefects behind in case we come back to find the Hall missing. NO, MS. BARRON! WE HAVE ENOUGH CARVED PUMPKINS, AS I TOLD YOU NOT TEN MINUTES AGO! PLEASE STOP CARVING YOUR INITIALS IN THEM! I DON'T CARE WHO YOU LOVE THIS MONTH, NOR DOES THE REST OF THE SCHOOL!"
Dumbledore chuckled and decided to give her a break.
"Ms. Granger, I'm sure I'm qualified to handle them. I've already sent young Malfoy off to get ready, and I daresay you'll need at least the same amount of time."
"Thank you professor," she breathed in relief, and hurried out of the Hall before he could change his mind, smiling as she heard him say, "No, no, Mr. Henslin! Don't stack that there!" followed by a loud crash.
XXX
"Hermione! Are you ready to leave yet?" she heard Draco call from her door.
"No! Go on without me! I know the way!"
"Like hell I will! You shouldn't be roaming the castle grounds alone! You know that!"
"Oh god, Draco, I'll be fine! If it makes you feel better, you can put a tracking charm on me so you can monitor where I'll be!"
"Nothin' doin' Hermione. So just hurry up!" This came from Harry's voice.
"Hello, Harry! Didn't know you were here!" she said.
"Can we all stop yelling? We know magic for a reason! Or better yet, you can just come the hell out!" Draco said, annoyed.
"Look who's talking," she muttered, using the whisperto spell to say it only to Draco.
"OH YOU'RE HILARIOUS!"
"What? What'd she say? I didn't hear anything," she heard Harry ask.
"Nothing, just being a brat like usual," he replied, and she smirked.
"Alright, I'm coming out now. And don't you dare laugh," she told them as she went to open the door. She held her breath to calm herself, then took a step out.
Both sets of eyes, grey and green alike, widened in surprise as they took in her appearance.
"Wow, Hermione, you look bloody fantastic!" Harry said.
"Yeah, Hermione! I mean, I knew you could clean up decently because you did it for the Yule Ball our fourth year, but even now you've outdone yourself!" Draco said, as his form of compliment.
She now stood almost 5'7" because of the black stilettos she was wearing, also a gift from Severus. Apparently, they were equipped with a cushioning charm as well as a safety charm. She'd already tried them out in her room, attempting to make herself fall; they worked. She couldn't so much as wobble.
Her dress was a soft, crushed velvet material a color so green, it was almost black. The trimming, however, was a brilliant gold. It had a corset style bodice, with a green satin fabric under the strings and designs in the back and front. The satin was only a shade or two lighter than the velvet itself. From the bodice, the dress simply fell down to the tops of her shoes. In the center, starting from the bodice, the skirt part split, revealing the satin once again. By far her favorite part of the dress was the sleeves. They were tight from shoulder to elbow, then just flared out and hung. She wasn't sure how Professor Dumbledore would feel about the amount of cleavage popping from the top of her dress, but felt it wasn't Snape's fault because he didn't know her measurements. She figured he bought them with her 4th year self in mind.
How terribly uncomfortable for him, she thought, and promised herself she'd thank him, yet again, for the dress.
Now that her hair was a little shorter and easier to manage, it didn't take as long to tame. She put half up in a short, mock, beehive fashion, with the rest falling in soft loose ringlets as she had seen in old-time pictures. The finishing touch was to add some Beazle's No-Smear, Never-Smudge make-up and she was ready. She added the half-face mardi-gras type mask.
"Thank you, boys! You both look quite handsome too!" she said, laughing, because you could only see half of both their faces.
Apparently, they had both decided to match, which she thought was cute. They both wore Phantom of the Opera masks, and robes so black you'd think they'd been sewn from shadows. They were extra billowy, which made Hermione laugh at the thought of them asking Snape to borrow some of his. They even had black capes attached. Both had even charmed their hair to grow almost to their shoulders, with Draco's being charmed to be as black as Harry's. Honestly, the only difference was the one or two inch in height, and their eyes. You could still make out a partial part of Harry's scar, but not enough to notice. He had even gotten a pair of muggle contacts just for the occasion.
"Yeah, we both got tired of bitching about how we hate who we are, and how people see us, and blah blah blah," Harry started.
"So we decided to hide ourselves. I still think I look devilishly handsome, though," Draco finished.
"Of course you do, honey," Hermione said gently. "Come on, let's get this over with. And I thought you said you couldn't pull off black hair, Draco?"
"Well, it seems I was mistaken. My fault; I should've known I could pull off anything," he drawled as they rolled their eyes.
They all traipsed out of the Head quarters and headed for the Hall. According to the time, the Ball had just begun less than a minute or two before. She pointed this out to both the guys.
"Good, we can be fashionably late. A Malfoy is never under anyone else's time," Draco said in his best aristocratic voice, making them both laugh reminding them of him as a kid.
"Plus, we could've been there early if you wouldn't have spent forever in your room," Harry said, while Draco nodded. "You do look beautiful though, Hermione. Where'd you get that dress? We didn't see anything like that in Hogsmeade when we went to get ours."
"Oh, Severus got it for me."
"SNAPE? GOT YOU THAT?"
"Wow, the man has taste," Draco said in a bored voice.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, Snape got her the dress. And thank you, Draco; I did rather like it," came a deep voice from behind them.
They were now in the main hall, and they whirled around to see Snape coming up from the dungeons.
"Good god, why are you dressed like twins?" he drawled when he saw them.
His mardi-gras mask was dangling by the string from his hand, but it matched hers: black. His costume was of simple design, also; long, black, crushed velvet jacket with the coat tails, the tight form fitting half pants in the same dark green as her dress, and the traditional shoes. The shirt under his jacket seemed to be the same green as the lighter satin on her dress. All his trimmings and buttons were gold, and his hair was secured in a neat ponytail at the top of his neck. He looked like he just stepped out of the 16th century, and he looked amazing.
Hermione, who inwardly smacked herself to stop before she gaped at him, stepped forward to greet him. "You look quite handsome, Severus. Thank you again for the dress; it's lovely."
Until that moment, Snape hadn't even looked at her, having his attention still focused on the fact that his godson had dressed to match Potter. Now, however, she had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes pop slightly before he schooled his features again.
He cleared his throat. "You're welcome, again, Hermione. And you also look quite lovely. Now, I'm sure we have them all talking. Before we go in, I believe we should go over how this will go; I've just finished speaking with the Headmaster."
"What happened?" asked Draco, business voice back, and cast the muffliato around them.
"Nothing, yet, which is why he's suspicious. We don't know if Lucius is still scared or if he's planning something else. Therefore, the Headmaster has seen fit to take, uh, drastic measures in stepping this up," Snape told them.
"Like…?" Harry asked.
Rolling his eyes, Snape turned to look only at Hermione. "We go in there with our masks on like we were going to. We're going to have to dance"-he made a face of distaste-"off and on all night. You may dance with your other friends, I don't care. However, the majority of your time needs to be spent with me. Around the end of the night, before the younger ones start trickling off, we take off our masks. I don't know if we 'forget' them or not, but the Headmaster wants the masks off for our last big dance. Then the secret is out," he finished somewhat lamely.
"Ok, I can do that," Hermione said. "How will I know what dance?"
"It will be the one where I walk towards you with no mask on," Snape said sarcastically, raising one eyebrow. "I thought that was clear. There's a good chance that most people won't even recognize us. It's amazing what covering half a face does."
Draco clapped his hands together twice, back in party mode. "Alright, let's go. I want to dance without people being afraid I'm going to Avada them!"
Snape rolled his eyes as Harry turned to follow Draco, and he offered his arm to Hermione.
"Very in character, Mr. Snape," she murmured, trying not to smile.
Placing his mask back on his face, he murmured back, "I'm nothing if not meticulous." He gave her a half smile and led her into the Hall.
XXX
After the war, you actually let yourself believe you might be allowed some down time, didn't you? Oh, but of course not. Now here you are, at a Halloween Masque, leading a student of all people onto the dance floor.
As the boys walked in, Snape and Hermione heard the whispers start; it was clear no one knew who the mystery twins were. Then, he led them in, and it seemed like the whispers were louder than the music. Luckily, the song that had been playing before was coming to a close and a slower one was starting.
Well, it's now or never, he thought, and just continued to lead her onto the dance floor. He tried not to look at anyone else, and definitely not see Albus standing there with his benign smile. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they reached the dance floor. He put one hand on her waist, and the next second, they were twirling.
Hermione looked surprised at first that he could dance, but after a few seconds she got over it and just started to enjoy it. Snape was trying to enjoy himself, but his treacherous eyes wanted to look down at the ample amount of cleavage she had protruding from the top of her gown.
Ah, it's not her fault, is it? I got her the dress. How was I supposed to know her measurements? I had to remember what she looked like at the Yule Ball and add a bit. I didn't know I should've added a lot. Not that it looks bad…
Snape shook his head, and thanked whatever god was listening that the mask made it look like he had been staring at her head. She was an awful tiny thing. And quite a good dancer, now that he paid attention. However, her attention seemed to be elsewhere.
"Are you alright, Hermione? The whispers getting to you?" he asked sardonically.
She rolled her eyes and answered, "No. I was just looking around and thinking that someone here is working for a man that wants me dead. It's a bit sobering."
That brought him up short. He felt an unusual feeling of protectiveness surge through him at the thought of someone wanting to harm her. It's because she's your student, he reminded himself.
"Don't fret, Ms. Granger. We're all working to protect you. He won't get through." When she didn't look pacified, and merely nodded, he realized that she'd been hearing the same words over and over from everyone. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry about your cat, Hermione."
He was horrified to see tears spring to her eyes, and then shocked when she smiled a moment later.
"You know, you're one of the first to say that and mean it. Thank you, Severus." She laid her head on his chest as they continued dancing, not bothering to pay attention to the twitters.
Not knowing how to deal with situations such as these, he gently patted her head, then moved his hand down and rubbed her back in small circles. "You're welcome, Hermione," he whispered.
XXX
Close to 2 hours later, Hermione was standing by the long table with the refreshments trying to catch her breath. She had danced with Severus at least 3 times, Harry once, and even Neville, not to mention the huge group dances with her friends. She asked the first year girl making the punch for another glass as she saw Draco approach.
"Thanks, Emily," she told the first year, and then looked at Draco. "So, no one figured out who you are yet?" she asked quietly.
"Nope, still a mystery. Pretty fun actually, even though I've heard some stuff about me I'd rather not," he said, and started drinking. "How'd you know it was me?"
"It was your facial expression, from what I could make out. And is that why you look like someone cancelled Christmas?"
"Funny. No, actually. I can deal with people talking about me behind my back; my family's been raised to deal with that. No, I'm upset because I haven't gotten a dance with the one person I actually wanted to dance with."
"Oh, Draco, I'm flattered. All you had to do was ask, you know," she said sweetly.
"Again, you're hilarious. I noticed you got to dance with him though," Draco said, as he eyed the person in question.
"Of course I did; I'm his best friend. Plus, I'm mysterious, he's mysterious; it just works," she said, smirking as she watched Harry attempt to dance to a fast paced song with Ginny (a cat), Neville (Frankenstein), Seamus (a mummy), and Dean (also a mummy). "I'm just happy he's smiling."
"Well, of course I'm happy he's happy and whatever, but still. And uh…HELLO…I'm mysterious too! In fact, out of us four, I'm the one who looks less like me than you guys do. Although, I don't think I'll be keeping the black hair; I miss my blonde."
"Well, come on then. Let's go dance! If we're near him, then maybe you can snag him for the next one," she decided, putting her cup down and grabbing his arm.
"It can't hurt, I suppose," he said, draining his glass. He let her drag him out to the floor, and Harry looked up to see them approach. He gave the pair a huge beaming smile, perhaps lingering too long on Draco, if you asked Hermione, and then continued to dance.
The song went on for about another minute or so, and then slowly morphed into a slower one.
"Hey, stranger, you want to dance again?" Ginny said brightly, attempting to snag Harry right away.
"Huh?" Harry said, not paying attention, or looking at her at all. He was staring at Draco, who had just opened his mouth to talk.
"Sorry, ma'am, but he promised someone else this dance," Draco said, and Hermione could hear him trying to keep his normal drawl out of his voice. "Me, as a matter of fact, before you even ask." And with that, he grabbed Harry's arm and tugged him, wide eyes and all, into the middle of the dance floor.
Hermione was trying her best not to give into laughter, or happy tears, whichever threatened to come first. Harry and Draco were both openly chuckling now, and had one another in the traditional waltz hold. She watched them start to move across the floor for a few seconds before she realized someone else was walking towards her; someone who definitely did not have a mask on.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione took her mask off as well, and dropped it onto the table nearest her.
"Wow, Hermione! I didn't even think it was you! I never saw you as someone to dress like this!" Ginny said, astonished. Hermione had forgotten she was still standing by her; her eyes were glued to the professor walking towards them. Ginny must've seen Snape as well because she suddenly stopped talking.
"Hermione," Snape said, his deep voice almost caressing her name. "Would you care to dance?" He offered her his hand like a perfect gentleman, and a moment later, they were off.
They were twirling under the lights from the hundreds of candles, and as they moved, Hermione could make out the hundreds of eyes watching. She also saw Harry and Draco, dancing off in the distance. They had somehow gotten away from all the watchful eyes when she and Snape had gotten on the dance floor. Prats.
She looked up at Snape and smiled. "You know, I'm actually enjoying myself. You're quite a good dancer."
He snorted and said, "It's easy when you're dancing with someone who knows the steps. And it's not as bad as I thought it would be." A moment's hesitation, then, "Not to startle you, but I'm going to move my hand down to the small of your back. It's more intimate, and this song only plays for so long. Dumbledore wanted everyone in awe when we're done, so I need to step it up."
"Severus, you don't have to run everything by me. You know what you're doing better than I am; I trust you. Do what you must. Lucius has to believe this beyond reasonable doubt. Or any other doubt." She laid her head on his chest again, as she had done earlier in the night. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Besides, it doesn't feel bad…"
Snape stiffened a little, but then slowly started to relax, knowing that people would notice if he danced stiffly. He cautiously rested his cheek on her head, and heard the gasps from many students.
Smiling slightly, he said, "You're right; this is pretty fun."
They both started laughing at that, and she moved her head to look up at him again.
"I want to thank you, again, for everything. And I know you're going to keep saying 'you're welcome' but I really mean it. Draco and Harry are doing their best to protect me, but I expected it from them. I know you're brave, and that you would've helped protect me if Professor Dumbledore had asked, but this goes above and beyond everything I could have asked from you, Severus."
Snape stared at her for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. Finally, he said, "Thank you, for that, Hermione. I'm glad to be of service, and glad that I'm trusted to help. As long as Lucius is out there, I'll be right here protecting you. Always."
They heard the song swelling in noise and knew the ending would be soon; the end of the song, and the end of the night. Starting Monday, they'd be back to normal again. They stared at one another for a few more seconds, lost in thought.
"So, you trust me, huh?" Snape asked abruptly, an evil glint in his eye.
"One hundred percent. Why?" she asked warily.
"Let's give the spy something to tell Lucius," he told her. He shot one last glance towards where Dumbledore stood, beaming, before he closed the gap between their faces and secured her mouth in a kiss.