Hermione's Pov
It was finally the day of the ball! Even though it was a Friday, all students had been given the day off to prepare for the Ball which started at 7:30pm. This meant Hermione was able to sleep in to 10:30 which was when she had arranged to meet Ginny in their common room to walk down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione woke up at 9:00 and spent a good half an hour in the shower. The hot water was meant to be so good for stress relief and it seemed to be working. It was so nice not worrying about rushing to lessons or getting all her homework done. Eventually, she emerged from the shower and set about picking an outfit for the day. She contemplated jeans, considered flairs, compared trousers but settled on a navy skirt and a white and black striped jumper.
Draco's Pov
Hermione had spent ages getting ready, Draco had been awake at 9:00 and had taken about 10 minutes getting ready. He had planned to just hang out in the Common Room until it was time to get ready for the ball and maybe chat to Hermione but then the Weaselette had come and asked him if Hermione was ready. Draco shook his head grumpily, realising that Hermione intended to spend the day with her best friend rather than him. The Weaselette sat down and hummed quietly, obviously deep in thought.
Draco decided to try and be friendly, "So are you going with anyone to the ball?"
Ginny perked up, "Yeah, actually, I'm going with Dean Thomas - who I've actually been dating for about a month, as Hermione knows." Draco contemplated this; he suspected that Blaise had a crush on the Weaselette but wasn't completely sure.
"And what about your brother?" Draco asked again, trying to be polite.
Ginny's face fell slightly, "He's going with Lavender Brown, but if you ask me he's always had a crush on Hermione." Draco bristled at this and made a mental note to keep an eye on the Weasel from now on, he couldn't have anyone stealing Hermione from him. He loved her too much. He had even spoken to his parents about her! I mean, they hadn't been happy but they'd accepted that Draco was in love. What could the Weasel give her? A knitted jumper? A shared room in the Burrow? A small bowl of his mother's homemade soup? No, Draco thought to himself, she loves me not him and besides I can provide for her much better than the Weasel can and surely her parents would prefer a rich suitor to a broke one. Feeling reassured, Draco turned back to his book but no sooner had he removed the book mark, he heard Hermione's door close and shot up to see her for the first time today. And wow! She looked gorgeous, wearing a navy skirt that came up to her mid-thigh and an oversized jumper that made him want to leap up and hug her. Ginny spoke first, "You look amazing Mione but we really are running late! We're going to have to run if we want any waffles or my moron of a brother will have eaten them all." Draco chuckled as Hermione's face fell at the prospect of no waffles. Yelping, she grabbed Ginny's hand and dragged her out of the common room, no doubt they would be running in a second. Draco loved Hermione so much he couldn't wait for the ball tonight - he wasn't allowed to see her until they met to go to the ball. Then he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and it all went dark.
Hermione's Pov
"Do you not understand the severity of this situation?" Hermione raged at Ginny who had started to walk slowly, "NO WAFFLES! That may as well be the end of the world!" To Hermione's delight, Ginny seemed to get the message and began to run again. First years screamed and jumped out of their way to avoid being bulldozed over. Their legs were aching when they did get to the Great Hall but it was worth it. They got waffles. Happily, they squirted cream on, poured chocolate sauce and heavily doused it in sprinkles. Waffles were good. Her and Draco's relationship was good. Life was good.
Harry's Pov
He felt so powerful and in control having an unconscious Draco Malfoy at his feet but he didn't have time to savour it. With Ron's help, he dragged Malfoy to his room and laid him on an armchair. It hadn't been easy to get Ron to help him but he had eventually persuaded him to just help with this bit and then he could go on about his day as normal. But Harry couldn't take any risks and he had a feeling Ron would tell Hermione. "Obliviate," Harry whispered, pointing his wand at his best friend who slumped over briefly and then was up again with a glazed look in his eyes. "Go to the Great Hall and act normally, but you do not remember seeing me today apart from when we woke up. If I come up in the conversation, tell the girls you saw me in the fields, practising Quidditch. Understand?" Ron nodded sleepily, and then walked towards the exit, leaving Harry alone in Malfoy's room. He proceeded to tie Malfoy up so he could not interfere with the plan when he woke up and when he was sure he was completely secure, Harry cast the antidote to the spell he had just performed. It had been a wandless one he had learnt from a book in the Restricted Section of the Library. Dazed, Malfoy awoke and realised where he was. Harry chuckled as Malfoy began thrashing about, trying to free himself. "Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy," Harry said slowly, "We could have avoided all this unpleasantness if you had just left my girlfriend alone but no you had to do your best to ruin that too," Harry glared at Malfoy, "Would you like to know what I'm planning?" Malfoy stopped squirming for a second to nod at Harry. "Well, it's simple really, I'm going to leave you tied up in your wardrobe and make Hermione believe you stood her up," Draco's eyes widened, "And when she's distraught because of you, I'll step in and make her realise who she should have picked all along." Malfoy attempted to kick Harry but when that failed, settled for a look of utter loathing.
Harry just chucked ominously, this is going to be great.
