A/N: Thank you again for reviewing and following! I hope you like this one, there's finally some romance in the air ;)

Chapter 10

The day of the ball, Hermione decided that the fireplace she usually used to get to Malfoy Manor would probably be quite crowded, so she chose the second option of arrival the invitation named: She apparated right in front of the wide-open gates and she was glad she had, because when she turned to the Manor it was a sight to behold. The whole place was lit up and in the garden lampions and fairy lights had replaced the regular lanterns she had seen on her walk with Draco. It was beautiful.

Several other guests had chosen that option, either for the view Hermione had just admired or for the same reason she herself had chosen apparition.

She started walking towards the Manor. Today there actually was some snow, but the ways had been cleared, which she was grateful for, because her shoes really weren't meant to walk on slippery ground. Then she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Hermione?"

She turned around and smiled at Daphne Avery, who let go of her husband's arm and came to greet her. "You look amazing," the blonde gushed with a bright smile.

"So do you!"

It was true, Daphne wore an ivory dress with black embroidery, a wide skirt and see-though sleeves, combined with a beautiful diamond collier. The dress was simple and elegant and suited her perfectly.

Hermione wore a midnight blue strapless dress with a tight top and a luxurious ruffled skirt, decorated with silver stars which formed actual constellations and sparkled discreetly. Another highlight for her were the collier and the earrings she was wearing; intricate silver with beautiful sapphires. When she had been in the library two days ago, Narcissa had come to her and asked what colour her dress was and after Hermione had answered, she had left for a moment, only to return with a box containing the precious jewellery. It was just borrowed, of course, but she had never worn anything so beautiful and it went perfectly with the dress.

Daphne introduced her to her husband, who greeted her politely, and together they walked the way up to the Manor. Bimsy was standing at the door, greeting guests, taking their coats, if they had bothered to bring them for the short walk – Hermione wished she had and apparently so did Daphne, because she shivered a little - and explaining the way to the ballroom for those who needed it. She gave Hermione a bright smile.

When they passed the fireplace, she was glad she had chosen not to use it. Another house elf, Dippy, was very busy letting people in.

Hermione had never been in the ballroom, but considering how many people were heading there now, it wasn't hard to find. Together with Daphne and her husband she went up the grand staircase, but then headed for an entirely different wing than the private one where the library, the rooms of the family members and the sunroom were. That wing was closed off today, she noticed.

They went up one more staircase and there it was. It was huge, there was a small orchestra on one end and close-by stood long tables with food and drinks, the dance floor was gigantic, the room was lit by luxurious chandeliers. The decoration theme was wintry woods, but it was subtle and beautiful. The dance floor was huge and around it stood groups of people talking, greeting acquaintances or friends. So early in the evening only a few people were dancing, although the orchestra already played. Someone was taking photos, which didn't surprise her. There was always an article in the Daily Prophet the day after the ball. Other press was not invited. When she had read it last year, she had never imagined she would be invited just one year later, wearing jewellery Narcissa Malfoy herself had lent her.

It wasn't hard to spot the Malfoys. Narcissa was standing with the Parkinsons, Pansy's parents, and she was gorgeous. Her dark green dress with golden embroidery roughly in the form of leaves, hugged her figure perfectly, it was strapless and the skirt wasn't wide like Daphne's and to some extent also Hermione's, but there was a cape around her shoulders, which was obviously enchanted. It moved with her so it wouldn't get in her way, probably not even while dancing.

Draco and Lucius were standing a few steps away, talking to someone else, both dressed in traditional, elegant dressrobes, both black, of course. The day one of them would wear anything but black was the day Hermione would mark in her calendar. But it did suit them. And Draco at the very least wore a white shirt underneath, even if you didn't see much but the collar and ruffles at the end of the black sleeves. He wore his hair combed back, but a few strands fell into his face, it looked rather charming, especially now that he smiled at something the rather old man had said.

"Draco looks rather good tonight, doesn't he?" Daphne teased good-naturedly and Hermione quickly turned her head towards the other woman, who now smiled innocently at her. Apparently, her husband had wandered off.

"Well," Hermione said primly. "Objectively speaking, he does."

"Of course. Objectively speaking." She grinned. "But objectively speaking all Malfoys look good. It's the family curse. But Draco …"

"Wait, you can't just drop a bomb like that and move on. What family curse?"

Daphne's eyes widened, but she looked positively giddy. Hermione had noticed that she enjoyed a good gossip. "You didn't know?" When Hermione shook her head, she continued. "Well, I'm sure you've noticed from the portraits that all Malfoys have a striking and unusually strong family resemblance."

"Yes, I have." Hermione was intrigued. She had noticed and she had wondered about that.

"In the 14th or 15th century one of their ancestors thought his wife was cheating on him. He couldn't prove it and so his solution was to put some kind of blood curse on his family. It's not harmful," she quickly added when Hermione looked shocked. "But no matter what the spouse looks like, a born Malfoy always looks like … well, a Malfoy, hair and eye colour, some features ... you saw it. So objectively speaking, they all look good. The curse can't be lifted and I'm not sure they'd want to, if it was possible. I certainly wouldn't. As Narcissa once put it – there are worse curses in the world."

Hermione let out a baffled laugh and Daphne joined in. "That's a pretty strong measure to ensure fidelity." She felt a little sorry for that ancestor's wife, but secretly she had to agree with Narcissa – there were worse curses.

"It is." Daphne nodded, still grinning.

"What's so funny?" Draco had approached them without them noticing and chuckled as they looked caught. "You ladies look stunning," he said then, including Daphne, but his eyes were on Hermione. She blushed a little. "So, what's funny?"

"I told Hermione why all Malfoys are guaranteed to look good and, you know, the unfairness of it all." Daphne playfully rolled her eyes.

Draco smiled a little sheepishly and shrugged. "Well, at least we are all guaranteed to look somewhat alike."

"Modesty doesn't suit you, Draco. And imagine if your ancestor had been ugly."

Draco, who was still more than a little vain, looked genuinely horrified. Hermione laughed again. "Well done, Daphne, now he's going to have nightmares."

"I'm so sorry." She didn't look sorry at all. But then her eyes fell on someone behind Hermione. "I just saw my parents and sister. I'll go say hello. I see you two later?"

"Sure." Hermione watched her leave and then looked back at Draco.

He smiled at her. "I mean it, you know. You look amazing."

"Thank you." She returned the smile. "You don't look too bad yourself."

He held out his arm to her and she put her hand into the crook of his elbow. "Do you want to go say hello? And then I'd love to have a dance with you."

"Yes to both!"

They walked past the dancefloor and several guests, some of which Hermione knew from work and nodded her greeting to. She would have a chat with some of them later. She also spotted Blaise and Pansy standing together with Theo on the other side of the ballroom and waved them hello.

Narcissa saw them approach, smiled and put her hand lightly on Lucius' upper arm. Although he was in conversation and had his back turned to both Narcissa and Draco and Hermione, he ended the conversation within seconds and turned around.

Hermione would never have imagined she would ever think that, but if she ever found a partner she was as compatible with as these two, so familiar with each other that a tiny little gesture was enough to know exactly what the other wanted and not have an argument because one considered the other patronising or bossy, she would consider herself incredibly lucky.

They met Lucius and Narcissa halfway and Narcissa kissed her cheeks by way of greeting. "I'm so glad you came, dear. You look wonderful."

"Thank you!" To her surprise Lucius took her hand and bowed down to indicate a formal hand-kiss. Immediately, she heard the camera of the reporter click. Her lips twitched into a knowing smile. "Never miss a good photo opportunity, hmm?" She kept her voice low.

"Absolutely not." He politely returned her smile but Hermione saw the glint of humour in his eyes. Then he turned to his son. "Since Hermione doesn't have a partner tonight, I trust you will make sure that she gets to dance now and then."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "What do you think of me?"

"Quite a lot actually, but sometimes you need a shove into the right direction."

Hermione grinned. "Not in this case, though. He already asked me to dance."

"Good."

"You two enjoy yourselves, then," Narcissa chimed in, still smiling. "We shall see you later."

They parted and Draco led her to the dance floor. "I know a certain Weasel who may have a stroke, if that photo makes it into the article. And let's face it, it will."

Hermione laughed quietly. "If he does, it will also be in the paper and we'll find out soon enough."

Still smiling at each other, they began to dance as the orchestra started playing a new piece.

It was incredible to finally dance with someone who actually knew how to. As a child, Hermione had taken dancing lessons, right until she had started going to Hogwarts. Her parents had wanted her to do something sportive and since most sports didn't appeal to Hermione at all, she had chosen dancing and she had grown to love it. Of course, she hadn't been able to continue that particular hobby at Hogwarts, so she had been excited for the Yule Ball in fourth year. Unfortunately, Victor had been a mediocre dancer, not terrible, but not great either – and then Ron had ruined even that for her. Dancing had remained a rare enjoyment even after Hogwarts. Ron had been extremely jealous when she had danced with someone else and he himself had hated it, so even if he had danced with her, it had been very stiff and basic and it had been obvious that he had only wanted it to be over.

Draco, on the other hand, was an excellent dancer. He moved flawlessly and confidently led her over the dancefloor in what Muggles called the Viennese Waltz and he obviously enjoyed it as much as she did. It didn't even occur to them to stop dancing for the next two pieces. When the third was over, Draco stopped and bowed, to which she correctly reacted with a small courtesy, indicating that the dance was over for now.

Hermione immediately missed his hands and arms holding her close, but she pushed that thought away. Yes, she considered the Malfoys as friends now, but Draco was still the heir to a thousand-year-old pureblood line. Developing feelings for him beyond friendship would only lead to trouble. And if the crooked smile he gave her now made her heart beat a little faster … well, that was something she would have to ignore.

"Do you want a drink? A glass of champagne maybe?"

"Yes, please."

"I'll be right back." He went towards the tables and she stood by the side of the dancefloor waiting for him.

Then she heard familiar voices, not too far away, one of them was Lucius. She knew the other one. Thomas Yaxley, whose family was part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, a man in his sixties, as far as Hermione knew. She had met him at the Ministry a few times and he had been somewhat civil, but his dislike had been obvious. His son was in Azkaban after rejoining Voldemort in the Second War, so he was raising his youngest grandchild now. The older two were already adults.

She didn't see him and she didn't look around to not seem nosy, but his almost angry voice carried to her easily. "So you think it's a good idea to let your heir dance with … the likes of her?"

Lucius' voice was perfectly calm, almost bored, but there was steel in it, a subtle tone that would have worried Hermione profoundly, if he had ever used it while talking to her. "If anything or anyone in my home displeases you, Lord Yaxley …," Maybe Hermione imagined it, but the way he pronounced the title sounded like mockery; it was an open secret that the Yaxleys had pretty much run out of money about two generations ago and the only reason they still had their small manor was a somewhat beneficial marriage. "… you are very welcome to leave and never come back."

"You would throw me out over this?"

"Would you like me to call a house elf to accompany you to the fireplace?" That was Narcissa's voice and her tone was polite, but cold.

She heard a huff and hurried footsteps – notably not towards the exit – and supressed a grin. And shortly after Draco was back with two glasses of champagne. He gave her one. "Sorry it took me so long; it was pretty crowded over there."

"It's fine." She took the glass with a smile. "Thank you." The champagne was sweet and delicious.

She spotted Pansy and Blaise dancing, Daphne was standing with her husband and looked longingly to the dancefloor. Hermione felt sorry for her, she knew how it was to attend an event with her partner and not be asked for a single dance. Then she saw Theo, who was standing alone on the other side of the ballroom. Without thinking, she put her hand on Draco's arm to get his attention. "Come, let's say hello to Theo."

He nodded and started walking. "We need to find him a girlfriend."

Hermione chuckled. "So you want to play matchmaker now?" She saw Lord Yaxley standing by a window, glaring at her. She gave him a sweet smile before looking back at Draco.

"Not particularly, but he hasn't been in a relationship since Hogwarts." He shrugged. "And it's not like he doesn't want to, but you know he stayed away from social events for quite a while and he wasn't in public much either. Not the best way to get to know someone."

She nodded thoughtfully. She couldn't imagine how it had been for Theo and Draco. Even for her it had been hard enough after the War, dealing with the trauma of it all and always being in the eye of the public; but she had been treated like a heroine, while they had been the monsters who had gotten away with their crimes. As far as she knew, Theo hadn't even been involved in the War at all, only his father, and it had always been well-known why the Malfoys had not gone to Azkaban, at least most of the reasons. But that hadn't mattered in the aftermath of Voldemort's reign of terror, when wounds had still been fresh. She understood that Draco had preferred to go to France and Theo had decided to mostly stay in his manor.

They couldn't continue their conversation as they reached Theo, who immediately greeted them with a smile. "There you two are. People are already talking and by people I mean Pansy and Daphne. If you're not careful, they're going to start planning the wedding." His smile turned into a grin.

Draco rolled his eyes, of course he did, it was, after all, quite ridiculous and Hermione's smile after that absolutely wasn't forced at all. Truly. "I wish them luck then. If anyone but my mother is attempting to plan my wedding, she is sure to be out for blood," Draco replied sarcastically.

They chatted for a bit and were soon joined by Pansy, Blaise and Daphne, wo apparently had enough of prettily standing by her husband's side.

After a while Draco danced with Hermione again and it felt even better than before. They talked in hushed voices, more than once laughed quietly, while all the while almost floating over the dancefloor. It was so easy, so effortless, something she had never experienced the same way with Ron.

Shortly before midnight, they went outside, listened to a mercifully short speech Lucius had prepared, and then watched the fireworks, which were the most fantastic ones Hermione had ever seen … and when Draco kissed her cheek after wishing her a happy new year, she returned his smile brilliantly. They had spent the last months of this year developing a friendship that shouldn't have come so easily after their shared history, but it had, and she couldn't remember feeling so familiar and safe with anyone after such a short amount of time. She felt like she could talk to him about anything, serious or trivial, and he understood her, even if he didn't always agree with her. And he had shared a lot he probably didn't talk about with just anyone, too, during long hours sitting in the library or his sitting room. He made her laugh when she needed it, but he didn't laugh at her for being bookish or having strong opinions. And right here, on the grounds of the place she had both experienced the worst and some of the best moments of her life, in the first minutes of the new year, Hermione Granger realised that she was falling in love with a man she could never have.

~tbc~