Chapter 2

Year Four

"She Looks Beautiful"

Severus Snape was being forced to chaperone the Yule Ball with the rest of the staff and was loathing every minute of it. He lingered outside of the entrance before the dance, keeping an eye out for underage students and any student who seemed suspicious.

He heard it just the same as everyone around him. The awed voice of one of the Patil girls.

"She looks beautiful."

And just the same as everyone around him, he looked up to see which girl she was referring to.

To his surprise, Hermione Granger stood at the top of the staircase in a light dress, hair tamed in a bun, smiling softly.

And she did look beautiful.

He let his gaze wander from Granger to gauge the reactions of others. Most seemed very surprised. Clearly, no one had ever expected Hermione Granger to look like that. Potter seemed to be the only student who wasn't completely baffled by the girl's appearance. He simply smiled brightly at his friend.

His gaze left Potter and found a face he was more interested in. A face that had just turned around to get a look at the Gryffindor. It was the face of Draco Malfoy and he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. Young Mister Malfoy looked to be more in awe than he looked surprised. He began breathing again, but his gaze didn't leave the girl standing on the staircase. He hadn't even noticed Miss Parkinson's snide remark about Miss Granger's "pathetic" attempt to look attractive.

Severus looked back to Miss Granger and noticed that she had begun to descend the stairs. As she reached the bottom an arm was presented to her. The arm of her date, Viktor Krum.

Looking at Draco, he could tell that tonight would be a very long night for the boy. And a very long night for himself as well, since he knew that he would watch the young Malfoy for the rest of the night.

For the first part of the dance, Mister Malfoy seemed to have no desire to do anything but sulk, glare, and ignore Miss Parkinson's incessant chattering. She did manage to get two or three dances out of him, which Snape decided did nothing to help Mister Malfoy's mood. He pitied the Parkinson girl, she really could be daft.

Our professor's observations were interrupted when he was asked to patrol outside for a while. He went with one more backwards glance to his student brooding by the punch bowl where Granger and Krum were having their refreshments. Once outside he had a brief run-in with Karkaroff, but managed to get away. As much as he'd love to discuss the return of Voldemort, he had a blonde Slytherin to locate and observe.

As he entered the entranceway he saw the young Slytherin approach a now-sobbing Gryffindor.

"You know, Granger," he began in a haughty voice, "you really shouldn't cry. You've managed to almost look presentable, but your tears completely ruin that."

The crying girl looked up and wiped her eyes furiously. "Shut up, Malfoy! Just go away! In case you haven't noticed, my night has already been spoiled! You're not needed here!" She dropped her head and began to cry again, not caring if the boy in front of her saw or not.

The Slytherin boy looked taken aback, but quickly composed himself. He looked around as if to make sure no one was watching. Severus stepped sideways so that the staircase would hide him from Draco's view. Draco's voice lost the haughty tone, but was hard when he said, "Weasley's a git, Granger. He always has been and always will be. You should know that." He paused for a moment, losing the hardness in his voice, then added, "I lied. You did manage to look presentable." With that, he turned to stride away.

At his words Granger's head snapped up, her expression one of bewilderment. She shook her head slightly and stood up. Grabbing her shoes, she ascended the staircase still looking bewildered.

Once Severus saw Granger reach the top, he took off in the direction Draco had gone. He caught up with the boy after a minute.

"Oh, good evening, Professor," Draco greeted tiredly as he heard Snape approach.

"Hello, Mister Malfoy. Did you enjoy your evening?"

The blonde boy shrugged. "It wasn't worse than I expected it to be."

"Did you see Miss Granger with Viktor Krum? I almost didn't recognize her with her hair no longer looking like a bird's nest." He wanted to hear Draco's response.

His student gave a laugh. "I agree. Who would've known that she could not look hideous?"

"You didn't think she looked hideous?"

"The Mudblood looked almost presentable," he said easily, giving another shrug. They came to a stop. "I have to go this way. Goodnight, Professor."

Severus muttered a "goodnight" as he watched his student walk down the opposite corridor.

Had Draco said what he said about Granger to anyone else, they would have bought his lie. But Severus had been watching him and his behavior towards Granger all night.

All year.

Two and a half years, actually.

Mister Malfoy may have said that Miss Granger almost looked presentable, but Severus Snape knew what he was really thinking.

She looked beautiful.