Chapter 4-Forbidden

Draco's POV:

Glancing in the mirror at my dressed up figure, I released a slight smile. The robes that I was going to be wearing to the Yule Ball complimented me quite nicely. So it wasn't as appalling as I had previously expected. I wore plain black pants, a white shirt, a neat white bow-tie and black tuxedo-jacket-like robes. Shoving my hands into my pockets, I twirled around on one foot to examine myself from a different angle; ignoring the strip of moonlight that was flooding in through the window behind me and indicating how late I was. Ah yes. This would do perfectly. I ran a hand through my white-blonde hair to make sure that it flopped over my forehead in the way that I liked it. Suddenly the door behind me flew open.

"Draco hurry up! Pansy has just been moaning at me, telling me that you're late and she's not happy." Blaise's familiar voice reached my ears. I turned to face him with an expression of irritation. The subject of Pansy always annoyed me.

"Why didn't she tell me that herself if she's so upset about it?"

"She said that it was 'traditional' for you both to meet there not here. But she also said the same thing about you being there before her so that you could 'greet her like a gentleman' or whatever."

"How is it fair that I should have to wait for her on my own just because she wants to think that I'm a gentleman? I'm not a gentleman and she's being selfish. For the love of Merlin, she shouldn't have asked me to go with her if she didn't want to put up with me." I hissed, following Blaise out of the door. I walked at a leisurely pace down the winding staircase, but Blaise on the other hand was almost running ahead of me.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Pansy made me leave my date to come and get you. And unlike some people I want to actually be with her." He half smiled at me.

"Alright then, you go ahead because I'm not hurrying up for Pansy Parkinson."

He nodded before dashing away and clambering through the secret doorway in the wall. This left me strolling alone through the empty common room. Without all of the other Slytherins stuffed in there, it seemed rather gloomy. Not at all like home. As I passed the underwater window, a lone Grindylow floated past. Turing its head, I was spotted. So it hissed and squirmed backwards whilst still keeping its gaze locked onto me. I bared my teeth back at it before smirking and opening the wall to make the doorway appear. I ducked through the gap and made my way out of the dungeons.

As I strode up the last set of stairs to reach the Great Hall, I caught sight of Pansy and winced. She was wearing a horrid, sickly green dress. The straps on her shoulders were thick and adorned with silver flowers. The dress itself swooped down to the ground to drag along the stone floor and around her waist she had tied a silver velvet belt. Her slick black hair was up in a tight bun on top of her head with a pin stuck through it. As I drew nearer to her, I saw that on the end of the pin was a snake head. Why does everything have to be based around Slytherin for her? Slytherin isn't who we are. It isn't our whole lives. It's just where we stay and what our basic characteristics tend to involve. Sighing, I tapped her bare shoulder gently. She whipped only her head around-as if she was expecting to instantly turn back. Pansy's face is frustrated. Her brow is creased and her thin mouth is set in a hard line. But when she sees me, her features soften. The lines crossing her forehead melt back into her skin and her mouth twitches up into a sickly sweet smile. Even though she appears pleased that I'm here, I can see the irritation twitching in her blue eyes.

"Hello Draco." Her tight smile doesn't fade as she speaks softly. I simply nod. Attending the Yule Ball with Pansy wasn't my idea of fun but she had been the first to ask me.

"They're starting soon, should we go in?" She tried, annoyance seeping into her tone. Clearly she is unhappy about my tardiness but-unlike with Blaise-she won't reveal it to me. I nod again, enjoying the feeling of making her boil with silent fury. Raising my arm to her, she loops her hand through it and we walk through the doors. I'm almost stopped in my tracks by the transformation of the hall. The whole room appears to be expertly slathered in ice as large icicles dangle from the walls and parts of the ceiling. The enchanted ceiling has been altered so that delicate snow threatens to drop onto our heads, but it stops at a certain point and ceases to exist. The bowls that each of the house statues hold-which are placed along the walls-have been filled with sparkling blue crystals. As we saunter in amazement past the hefty round tables filled with drinks and food, towards the dance floor-which resembles a gigantic ice rink-I stare at the three grand trees at the end of the hall. The one in the middle of the three is the largest and holds the most wonder. All three of them are beautifully decorated though with snow and brightly coloured ornaments. Everything appears unreal-as if it were all carved from ice. There was an unpleasant chill drifting through the air that I imagined would be replaced by body heat once the dancing commenced. But at the moment, the cold bit at my nose like a Parana fish. I spotted Blaise in amongst the crowd of grandly dressed students. Worming our way through the clump of bodies, we reached his side. For a while we stood with Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent Bulstrode-who was Crabbe's partner-and two other girls that I didn't know the names of. One was a small, slim girl with flowing golden hair-who clung to Blaise's arm. She wore a grey dress that stopped at her knees and sparkled with tiny silver gems across her chest. The other-which stood closely to Goyle-was quite plump with medium-length chestnut brown hair. Her outfit was a black dress that ended around her ankles with a purposeful ragged edge. Pansy's grip tightened on my arm and she slunk closer to me as she greeted the girls-appearing to already know them.

"Hello Millicent. Jemima it's nice to see you. And Vicky you look lovely!" She attempted to socialise as if she was everyone's favourite person. I knew that she certainly wasn't my favourite person. The tiny golden-haired girl pouted at her.

"Thank you Pansy but I've told you that I prefer to be called Victoria. Not Vicky." Her voice rang like tinkling bells. I suddenly realised who she was. I had heard of this girl on several occasions from Blaise. She was a third year Slytherin and had been desperately trying to lure Blaise in for months. However, it was him that had asked her to the Yule Ball because he had finally decided that he liked her. I was happy that this was the case for my friend. I certainly wasn't happy though. Pansy gave her a fake smile and turned to gab with Millicent, attempting to drag me across the group with her. But I resisted. I wasn't leaving my friends just to stand gormlessly at her side while she spoke to her friends and incorrectly displayed me as her 'boyfriend'. I hadn't even wanted to come with her. Her confused eyes landed on my face as she tried to stop her expression from twisting into frustration.

"Draco stop messing around." She faked a giggle, trying to make it look like we were a close couple after years of her begging for my attention. I shook my head.

"No Pansy, you are capable of talking to people without hauling me around on your arm. You're a big girl now so go on." A smirk lit up my face as hers flushed bright red. Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise sniggered beside me. Dramatically whipping her body around, she was about to storm off with Millicent when trumpets sounded near the doors. In response to the sudden alert she seemed to instantly forget her embarrassment and dart back next to me. Everyone around us shuffled to create a pathway leading from the grand doors to the dance floor. Crabbe and Goyle pushed and shoved their way to the front with us following closely behind. By the time we had reached the front, the double doors had opened and the champions were striding up the pathway. Viktor Krum strode in first with Hermione Granger at his side. My jaw literally dropped at the sight of her. Her usually frizzy brown hair had been tamed and was tied up at the back of her head into a large bun with dozens of complicated loops. The only parts that dangled down were curly and brushed gracefully against her almost bare shoulders. I also noticed her delicate pink earrings in the shape of flowers with a silver rim around them. Her dress was elegant, silky and pink. It was tightly fitted around her upper body but then as it went further down, it flew out in layers of frilly ruffles. Each layer was a darker shade of pink than the one before. The sleeves of the dress looked like transparent pink tissue paper. A beaming smile radiated from her face. And I never thought that I would even think it but Hermione Granger looked gloriously beautiful. As I stood there gawping at her in disbelief, I could have sworn that her brown eyes flitted to me for a second. Even if they did though, they were gone before I could react-or think to close my mouth. A sharp pain in my side dragged my gaze from Granger. Looking down I saw that Pansy's elbow had jabbed into my side. I shot her a slightly annoyed, quizzical look.

"What was that for?" I hissed in a whisper.

"It was to tell you to stop checking out the mudblood." She spat, all attempts of hiding her irritation vanished. I had splendidly ticked her off. Even though it would have caused her great infuriation for the whole night, I still denied it.

"Well apologise because I wasn't 'checking her out' you paranoid idiot." I enjoyed insulting Pansy because she simply took it from me. It was probably because she always tried too hard to stop me from ignoring her. Biting her lip, she looked up at me.

"Sorry." The stubborn mumble was barely audible. Satisfied, I cast my eyes around again to find Granger. I had to look once more. Surely it wasn't her? I must be mistaking her for someone else. When I found her, I shook my head. There was no doubt that it was Hermione Granger.

Hermione's POV:

Walking along the slim pathway and into the dazzling room with my hand resting delicately on top of Viktor's while everyone's eyes were fixed on me, was possibly the worst and best moment of my life. Well maybe not of my life but it was certainly almost there. It was nice to have people looking at me with an expression other than that of loathing, annoyance or just seeming like they wanted to get away from me. Only Harry, Ron, Ginny and a select few others ever looked at me with any sort of love or kindness showing on their faces. But it was also terrifying. At the back of my mind, the thought that people would get the wrong idea gnawed away at me. They might think that Viktor and I were a couple. However, this was incorrect. We were only here to have an enjoyable time together. But I was going to attempt to ignore that thought because tonight I was going to be treated as if I was special by someone who seemed to actually care about me. A genuine smile remained plastered on my face; even when my eyes grazed over the stunned Draco Malfoy in his fancy black robes. Nothing and no-one was going to make me feel worthless tonight. Not even him.

The night had been rather pleasant so far. It had started off very formal-with a calm meal and a traditional dance. The champions, along with their partners, had been instructed to start first. So the eight of us had spread out across the dance floor as the rest of the school watched and cheered politely. Viktor hadn't been the most elegant dancer but I was a little distracted myself so I ignored that fact. I had noticed that Draco Malfoy had been watching me quite a lot, so naturally I had become extremely aware of myself. The majority of the time I had spent trying to check on different features of myself. If Malfoy was staring then it can't have been for a good reason. But after eventually finding nothing obvious, I had given up and decided that I didn't care. And now Viktor and I were dancing wildly to the rock band that the school had hired. Viktor twisted me around and around under his strong arms. We moved our feet swiftly in time to the beat as our bodies swayed and shifted around other couples. Most of the time I was laughing; not just tiny giggles but massive chortles. I was actually enjoying myself with this rather unintelligent sportsman. He grinned goofily in response to my hearty laughter. Then he took both of my hands and we pulled each other backwards and forwards so that our bodies were twisting in unison. I twirled once more away from him-my hand still latched to his-and saw that Draco was sitting down at a table watching us with a scowl. I had just enough time to see that Pansy was with him but didn't look happy either. What could be wrong with the pair of them? They'd probably had an argument considering that both of them were like ticking time-bombs and Pansy had a short fuse. Spinning wildly backwards into Viktor's arms I was pulled from my mind again and plopped back into reality. I let out another chuckle as the song ended. Viktor then released me from his grasp and instead planted a kiss on my hand.

Draco's POV:

I walked away from the boys' toilets and towards the staircases. I wasn't intending to return to the Yule Ball-even though it was still going to continue for another hour. Instead I was going back to the common room. I had no reason to go anywhere else. Pansy had left a while ago due to me boring her. I had sat with her to eat and danced with her when it was formal just like I should have, but as soon the rock band appeared I had sat down and didn't move all night. I wasn't about to humiliate myself in front of the entire school just because she wanted to prance about in her horrid green dress to music that wasn't even good. I was content to sit there and observe. This had quickly caused Pansy to lose her temper and storm out unannounced. I think she had intended to upset me by leaving. However, I had been delighted by her absence. As I turned through the doorway and stepped onto the staircase, I heard raised voices and stopped to stare down at the cause. What I saw surprised me. It was the 'Golden Trio' of Gryffindor arguing on the steps that lead down to the Great Hall-which was only a floor below where I was currently standing. Interested, I leant forward against the railing and listened.

"What do you mean I need to calm down? He was all over you!" Weasley bellowed in outrage, his ears a deep red colour.

"We were dancing Ronald! And we were hardly close to each other at all!" Granger barked back. She was standing a few steps down from Harry and Ron, glaring up at them with fury burning in her eyes. Ron was looming over her and I could clearly see that he was miserable. Harry however, appeared to be taken aback as he stood on the highest step, away from the furious pair. I chuckled to myself. Potter couldn't even face up to his own friends. What I coward.

"Well...well he's way too old for you! And you know what older boys are after Hermione!"

Granger laughed darkly in response.

"Oh sure Ronald, of course Viktor Krum is going to try and 'feel me up' in a crowded room full of teachers and students. He's a nice guy! Why can't you just accept that?"

"Fine, go back to frolicking around with Krum! I don't have time for this." Ron mumbled as he shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged up the stairs; followed by Potter.

"I would if you hadn't insulted him! Ron you've spoilt everything!" Hermione shrieked at their retreating backs, the last part of her sentence ended with a splutter as she sank onto the cold steps and began to weep softly into her knees. Seeing that the drama was over, I pushed myself off from the railing and trotted down the staircase. About halfway down I passed Potter and Weasley. Both of them glared at me as if I was the one to blame for their argument with Granger. With a slight smirk in their direction, I continued past them.

When I reached the bottom of the staircase that I had been descending, I should have turned left to go down another set of stairs that would take me to the dungeons. But at the last second, I turned right instead and walked boldly towards Granger. She didn't lift her head when I stopped next to her-although she would have heard the tapping of my footsteps come to an end beside her.

"I didn't know that mudbloods could scrub up so well." It slipped out and I wasn't sure if I meant it as a compliment or not-but however it came across; it didn't please her in the slightest. Granger's head rose slightly over her lap; enough for me to see the streams of tears that were falling down her puffy, red face.

"Just go away Malfoy." She snapped weakly, all fire gone from her tone. This wasn't like the Hermione Granger that I knew. As I watched her, I couldn't see the gutsy Gryffindor girl that had punched me in the face last year. She was just a blubbering wreck. For unknown reasons, this upset me so I sat down next to her. I watched her shoulders shake as she sobbed beside me. A horrid, sickly feeling began to squirm around in my gut. Guessing that it was guilt, I groaned inwardly. Why was I bothered? I hadn't caused her misery. But whatever the reason for my nagging guilt, I had to end it. Cautiously, I placed a tender hand on her shoulder and decided that insulting her wouldn't be the best thing to do right now.

"Granger, I meant that as a compliment." I muttered, feeling quite reluctant. Her shoulders abruptly stopped shaking. The sniffling caused by her cries also ceased. Slowly and hesitantly, she lifted her head to stare wide-eyed at me-her gaze flickering every few seconds to my hand which was still on her shoulder. I cleared my throat and self-consciously removed my hand. Incredulously, she flashed a tiny smile at me. I was taken aback by her pleasantness so I couldn't muster up anything more to say. Instead I inspected her face. It was still slightly red and puffy from the crying-although it was calming down now-and her eyes looked sore. Occasional tears still trickled down her face as a mixture of water and mascara.

"Do you want to come back into the Hall? There are tissues in there that you could use." I said with more confidence but still feeling put out by the situation. Granger nodded in return. So I stood and-giving it a few seconds thought-outstretched my hand in offer to her. Glancing worriedly between my face and hand, she eventually took it. It seemed as though we were suspiciously dodging around each other, trying desperately to detect any sudden change in behaviour that could indicate a trap. As soon as I had successfully helped her onto her feet, I released her hand and dropped my arm to my side. We walked in silence through the double doors and once we were in the hall, we sat at a deserted table at the back. I found myself glancing anxiously around the room, checking to see if anyone was watching us. But I needn't have worried. There were only a handful of students left around us and all of them were far too engrossed with what they were doing to notice us sitting silently alone. I quickly seized two drinks, one for me and one for Granger, before politely handing her a tissue. She took both from me and began to dab at her eyes.

"Thanks...Draco. I spent ages putting this make-up on and now I've gone and ruined it." She sighed, slightly aggravated.

A strange warmth spread through my stomach when she called me by my first name. It was unusual to hear the word exit her mouth.

"No you've not ruined it. It actually still looks fine." I bit down on my lip as soon as the words slipped off my tongue and sprawled into the air. I hadn't meant to say that out loud. Her surprised face amused me so I smirked quickly as an excuse to cover up my blunder. Regaining my confidence, I daringly stared directly at her and opened my mouth to speak.

"So what was Weasley shouting about?"

Her face flushed bright red.

"Oh, he's upset about me coming here with Krum." She replied, clearly embarrassed.

"And you're annoyed that he was bothered because...you like him?"

"Oh no it's not that. I don't like Viktor, but I just have had a very enjoyable night with him. So I thought that maybe-despite his um...flaws-we could become friends. I tried to introduce him to Harry and Ron but as you saw, Ron wasn't exactly pleased by that."

I stared dumbfounded at her.

"Wait so what's the problem?" I asked, confused as to why she couldn't have just accepted the fact that Weasley disliked Krum. It would have spared the shouting.

"Well Ron insulted him. He called him a troll with a head full of sawdust. And I admit that Viktor isn't the brightest person that you'll ever meet but Ron shouldn't have said that. So anyway, Viktor stormed off and I confronted Ron. But then he started shouting at me and telling me that I had shouldn't even be spending time with Viktor. I just felt like he was trying to control me and I lost my temper." She rambled as if I were one of her friends. Then she looked up from her drink and to see my face. That was when she remembered who I was. Her brown eyes widened.

"Sorry, I'm rambling." The blush once again spread across her face like running ink. I noticed that her features were much improved. Her face and eyes were no longer puffy or sore and the streaks of water left behind from her tears had dried. We sat in silence for a while, but it didn't really seem awkward. It was surprisingly enjoyable. After about ten minutes, the lights in the room-which were floating candles-began to dim. I was always fascinated by those enchanted candles; they could be controlled so superbly. My earlier suspicions about the temperature were proved to be correct as I felt warmth drift over me and tickle my exposed skin. A very slow song began to echo around the room. The only people that were dancing were the devoted couples. Without thinking, I whipped my head around to face Granger.

"Do you want to dance...Hermione?" I smirked at the use of her first name as it rolled off my tongue and sprang into the air. Uncertainty was smothered over her face-probably just like mine-for a second before it was replaced by astonishment as she heard her name. This caused me to grin fully at her. Slowly, she stood up and strode over to the dance floor without looking back at me. I followed her, unsure of what was happening. Surely this was forbidden between us?

When we both reached the crystal white floor, we stood opposite each other and stared; neither of us knowing what to do. I moved first, taking a step forward and grasping her hand smoothly so that she wouldn't scare suddenly. With her eyes never leaving my face, her hand fluttered to my shoulder.

"Well this is...nice." She whispered, looking discomfited. I realised that we were being too awkward. So I dove straight in, forgetting our years of hatred.

"Yes nice, but not right." At this, I positioned my hand on the correct place at her waist. Her chocolate brown eyes flitted downwards to look at my hand. For a moment, we both stood very still and she remained in a tense position. Finally she relaxed. I smirked again and began to sway in a small circle, gently guiding her with me. This was unnatural. This was wrong. This shouldn't ever happen. But it was; and I was enjoying it.

Hermione's POV:

Swaying in Draco Malfoy's arms was surprisingly pleasant. I didn't really understand how we had gotten here but I wasn't going to question it. His mesmerising silver eyes drew me further into him while a handsome smile lit up his face. I liked seeing his smile. It was something so rare and seemed so pure. In my opinion it complimented the rest of his features beautifully. This whole evening had made me begin to question all that I knew about Draco. Was he really as evil as everyone thought? Staring at his blissful face and feeling the warmth that radiated from his body as he held me in his strong arms caused me to think that maybe underneath, there was a golden soul; another side to him that others had yet to see. He lifted his arm above me and twirled me in a circle. My dress floated outwards around me, almost engulfing me in a wave of pink. And I felt beautiful. With Viktor, I had felt appreciated. But Draco made me feel like something more. It was probably caused by the fact that he was my tormenter; the person who constantly made my life quite miserable. But now he had me in his gentle grasp and was swaying expertly with me. And I thought I could see something gleaming in those eyes-something unknown. So as usual, my brain took over. It wanted nothing more than to find out what was going on inside his head. When I was least expecting it, he gripped my hands tighter and dipped my whole body down. In shock, I released a tiny yelp which then gained a chuckle from him. He pulled me back in suddenly and I fell against his chest, my palms resting flat against him as I stared up at his face. He had caught me readily and wrapped his arms around my back. Our faces were very close. Staring into his silver eyes-for what must have been the millionth time tonight-I thought I saw a flicker of fear in them. No doubt it reflected what was in my own eyes. We stayed frozen like that for a while; so long in fact that it was beginning to grow awkward again. That was when I noticed him looking intently at my lips. Instantly, I pushed away from him and stalked towards the door. Not once did I turn to look at him. Not even to see his reaction. How could I have been so stupid? It was Draco Malfoy for Merlin's sake. I had let my guard down and allowed him to melt me with his subtle charms. But it wouldn't happen again. I reached the door and pushed hard. It swung open and I ran up the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room; a mixture of emotions swirling around in my stomach.

When I eventually reached the fat-lady portrait-the entrance to the common room-I whispered the password and clambered through the doorway. On the other side, the room was empty. The fire wasn't on so the welcoming warmth that usually greeted me wasn't there and the room seemed dark without the glow of the flames flickering across the furniture. Taking off my shoes as I walked, I made my way over to the stairs that would lead me to the girls' dormitories. There I would be able to hide under my quilt and never emerge. That was all I wanted. So when I caught the movement of a shadowy figure in the corner of my eye, part of me was startled but another part of me was simply annoyed. I wasn't in the mood for talking to anyone. The anonymous figure stood up and I could see his messy ginger hair. With a sigh I turned to hurry to my room. But Ron shot forward and grabbed my wrist.

"Hermione, what were you doing with Draco Malfoy?" His voice was barley a whisper. Biting my lip and closing my eyes, I stiffened and answered without looking at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I came back to apologize and I saw you with him so don't try to lie to me. You shouldn't have been with him; especially not on your own!"

I whipped my head around at this. So he was going to tell me how to live my life again was he? Glaring at him, I jolted my arm backwards and freed my wrist from his firm grasp.

"Ron don't start that again. You can't tell me who I'm allowed to talk to! It's my life! And if you don't like it then stay away from me." I was about to storm off up the stairs before I thought better of it and faced him once more.

"It was your fault anyway. If you hadn't upset me and then left me there alone then I wouldn't have needed his comfort." I spat. He recoiled as if I had slapped him-which I was considering.

"What do you mean his comfort?"

"You drove me to him Ron so stop shouting at me."

With that, I quickly spun on my heel and hurried up the steps. Everyone else in my dormitory was sound asleep. But I knew that I wouldn't sleep a wink.

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