The Harry Potter universe and its characters are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. By using them below, I am in no way claiming ownership.

Draco. She didn't know whether to be surprised or angry, until he smirked at her reaction. Anger it is.

'Let go of me,' she tried to pull herself free from his grip, but Draco was determined not to release her. Their twirling increased in intensity, his waltzing skills clearly more defined and dominant than Neville's. He pulled her closer at the waist, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

'Hey, I was doing you a favour, getting you away from that bore Neville.'

'So, what? I'm supposed to believe you're my knight in shining diamantes?' He dipped her, and when she came back up against his torso, she could see that he was grinning.

'If that's what turns you on, Granger.'

'Why aren't you dancing with Pansy? You're back together, I know.'

'Why? Thinking of starting a gossip column?'

'If I did, it'd hardly focus on your life. I've got bigger fish to fry.'

'Oh?' Another dip, and this time her torso came into contact with his with more force. She felt like she would have bounced from his chest if he hadn't held her waist so tightly.

'Viktor's been seeing two girls behind Lavender's back,' Hermione nodded towards Fleur, who was spinning around the floor with an older Hufflepuff, 'Fleur Delacour isn't as young as she keeps telling people,' she then glanced in the direction of Colin Creevey, who'd somehow managed to be invited to the ball, 'and Colin's been sneaking into Harry's dormitory and stealing his underwear.'

The young wizard, hearing his name and the accusation, quickly stuffed something back into his pocket and glanced around nervously. Draco laughed.

'I've missed...' he stopped himself.

'You've missed what?' Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

'... the paper. How's it going?'

'Fine,' she replied, disappointed. 'The Christmas Eve edition is just waiting on my review of the ball. It'll then be printed and sent off to any subscribing students not staying over the holidays.'

'And Agorbius?' Hermione smiled weakly.

'You know, I haven't seem him around in quite a while.' She glanced away from him, embarrassed that his charms had broken her cool determination. 'Did you come here just to talk about the paper?'

'Not really.' He spun her outwards, then pulled her back. As she twirled towards him she stumbled, and Draco grunted as her elbow dug into his stomach. 'I think we should stop dancing, too.' He relinquished his grip and the pair stood opposite one another on the dancefloor, panting, while the other couples continued to twirl around them. Draco said nothing and Hermione chastised herself mentally once more, for ever believing he could change.

'Goodbye, Draco,' she said, turning on her heel. He reached out to grab her arm, pulling her back.

'I want us to go somewhere else, where there aren't any prying eyes.'

'Why?' She placed her hands on her hips.

'We need to talk.'

'We can talk here.' Draco was becoming painfully aware that the two of them had begun to attract notice.

'Please, Hermione.'

Hermione had acquiesced to Draco's wishes and found herself trailing behind him in silence. They'd ascended staircases, moved along corridors she didn't necessarily recognise... he seems to know where he's going, she tried to reassure herself. However, she was wearing heels, and had little patience for this game. 'Draco,' she pleaded, coming to a halt. 'Where are we going?'

'We're nearly there.' He stopped halfway along the corridor, paused, then turned back to walk in the opposite direction. Hermione made a displeased noise and turned to follow him, but found that he had turned yet again, moving in the original direction. She pouted.

'Did the glitter go to your head? What are you doing?'

Draco passed by her once more, then moved to stand in front of her. 'We're here.' Gesturing to the blank wall behind them, Hermione glanced back to see that a door had appeared, where previously there had been none. 'Well?' He asked, expectantly, when she made no move to open it.

'... I'm pretty sure my parents told me not to enter rooms which don't exist with strangers.'

'Strangers?' He smiled again, leaning close, and reached towards her. Hermione flinched, but his touch was gentle, extracting an errant pink feather from her hair. He ran the feather slowly down the side of her face and she found her breath catching, her senses driven into hyperdrive by its soft caress. 'You know me,' he dropped the feather to the floor, and Hermione watched its path, blushing.

'Probably from Cedric's costume,' she suggested, trying to fill the tense space between them. 'I think he's meant to be cupid.' Draco held his hand out for hers,

'Do you trust me?'