A/N Are you ready to go to the Yule Ball, everyone? Enjoy!
Fourth Year - Part Five
"Ugh, can you believe the gall of that disgusting bitch?" Pansy hissed across the table as they took their seats in the Great Hall for dinner. Theo automatically held out the chair for Daphne, his date for the evening, but his mind was very much focused elsewhere.
"It's shameful," Blaise sneered. "I mean, the mudblood's obviously out for all she can get but I honestly thought he had better standards than that."
Draco shook his head then said, "Yes, I'd heard that Durmstrang was much more inclined to our way of thinking about matters of blood. Perhaps he's been exposed to the seedier aspects of the magical world on his international trips with the Bulgarian quidditch team."
Pansy pulled a disgusted face. "Ugh, please, don't even think of saying that all mudbloods are good for is easy sex - I know none of you would be willing to stoop so low."
"Pansy, please, we're about to eat," Blaise said, looking revolted. "I wouldn't touch one if my life depended on it."
"Obviously some people aren't quite as picky," Draco said, his gaze still resting on Granger and Krum as they took their seats at the head table.
"Or he just doesn't know," Millicent suggested after taking a sip from her goblet. "Maybe no one's told him that she's a mudblood."
Pansy gasped and then giggled in delight at this possibility.
"Well, if that's the case then he's a fool for not checking first," Draco declared. "I would never dream of making such a humiliating faux pas."
"Daph, I'll give you the new necklace my parents bought me for Christmas if you reveal the truth to Krum tonight," Pansy offered, eyes glinting at the chance to humiliate Granger.
Daphne didn't even seem to consider it. "It's not worth it, Pans. I'd just look like a vindictive bitch trying to stir up trouble, wouldn't I?" Pansy scowled at her but Daphne appeared unconcerned and sighed, shaking her head in wry amazement. "Who'd have thought Granger could scrub up so well?"
"Please," Pansy scoffed, her pug nose raised sniffily in the air. "She looks like a complete tart painted up like that. I bet she had to spend a mountainful of galleons to try and improve that rats-nest hair of hers. Maybe she is putting out for the money."
"Whether she's truly a whore or not, she'll always be a filthy mudblood regardless," Draco reminded them all with contempt.
"Exactly," Millicent agreed haughtily. "Everyone knows that blood is all that counts in the end."
Daphne raised her goblet, amusement still pulling at her lips. "Well, here's to us then because we're certainly the winners of that particular jackpot," she announced grandly, nudging Theo in the ribs when he was slow to join in the toast.
"Cheers," he muttered, letting his Slytherin housemates clink their goblets against his, but he couldn't bring himself to drink to Daphne's words. Couldn't they see how ridiculous they all were in letting their hatred and jealousy blind themselves from the truth: Hermione Granger was better than all of them put together. He cringed to think that he'd been just like them twelve months ago. Thank Merlin that he knew better now, even if he did have to sit silently through ignorance like this on a daily basis both at school and at home. It was, quite frankly, exhausting. Still, it was suitably distracting from the feelings that had plagued him since he'd caught sight of Granger on the arm of Viktor Krum shortly before the doors to the Great Hall were opened.
He'd had the better part of a month to get used to the idea of Granger and Krum attending the ball together, and he'd managed to convince himself that he was absolutely fine with it and he'd be able to set his own feelings for her aside and enjoy the evening. However, seeing it play out before his eyes was akin to some sort of cruel torture.
Although lots of people had struggled to identify Krum's date, Theo had recognised her at once before he'd even seen the Durmstrang champion next to her. Her hair was smoother and arranged in an elegant bun with a few curls delicately cascading down to frame her face. She wore a small amount of make-up to enhance her pretty features and her posture was more like the Granger that he danced with than the studious bookworm that everyone else saw. His breath had caught in his throat at the sight of her, and his heart clenched painfully as though it was reminding him it was still there so that it could mock him for trying to deny the feelings that came sweeping back in an instant.
When the doors opened, the champions and their dates stood to one side and the rest of the attendees filed past them to take their seats. As he'd walked by with Daphne, Theo had seen that Granger was wearing blue, floaty dress robes that he knew would move and sway with her so beautifully when the dancing started, and his fingers twitched with regret that he wouldn't be the one to dance with her.
She looked happy though, smiling nervously and talking quietly to Krum, Potter and the others. Theo told himself that her happiness was more important than his. After all, what he wanted would never come to be. It would be easy for him to want her to be as miserable as he was, but that wasn't fair to her - she had done nothing wrong and that wasn't the sort of person he wanted to be anyway. Besides, Merlin knew there were enough people like Pansy and Draco around that would leap at the chance to ruin the night for her if they could.
Theo made sure to take a seat that looked away from the head table and prepared to spend the evening ignoring the ache in his heart and its foolish desires.
On the other side of the Great Hall, Hermione had admitted defeat in trying to get Viktor to pronounce her name properly and accepted being called 'Hermowninny' for the rest of the evening.
It was the only disappointment in what, so far, had been a wonderful occasion. The castle had never looked so beautiful and to see everyone dressed up was a real treat. Hermione knew that she often gave the impression that she didn't care too much about how she looked but the truth was she was as insecure about her appearance as most other girls. Her ballet classes had helped her find some poise and grace within herself but there were no steps or positions to hide behind now and, for once, she found that she actually felt quite pretty. All right, so she didn't match up to Cho or Parvati and certainly not to Fleur Delacour, but she didn't look like an out-of-place troll either.
Hermione had been nervous about conversing with Viktor. They'd only had that shy encounter in the library before this evening after all, but she'd been pleasantly surprised to find that he was much more talkative than he let on. They spent most of dinner telling each other about their upbringing and schooling, which she was very interested to hear about. She was surprised to find out that one of his grandmothers was muggleborn, and also a little relieved. She had never felt the need to point out to new acquaintances that she didn't have magical parents and, as she hadn't known Viktor's views on blood, she had felt a little anxious that he would want nothing to do with her should he be a supporter of pureblood supremacy. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. He hadn't even batted an eyelid when, in response to his question, she told him what her parents did for a living.
Other conversations bubbled pleasantly around them. Harry sat close by on the opposite side of the table with Percy and Parvati, while alongside Hermione sat Cho and Cedric. On Viktor's other side sat Fleur and her date, Roger Davies - Tam's brother. Hermione had entertained the thought of asking Roger how Tam was getting on but others would find it strange for her to enquire after a Slytherin. Besides, Roger had barely taken his eyes away from Fleur all evening and Hermione doubted he'd be able to actually provide an adequate response.
"Tell me, Miss Granger, how did your meeting in the kitchens go?" Professor Dumbledore enquired as the dinner began to wind to a close, startling her so much that she very nearly spilled pumpkin juice over the table. "I hope everything was satisfactory."
Unused to being addressed by the headmaster so directly, not to mention in front of all the other dinner guests at the top table, Hermione was on the verge of giving an effusive response but she managed to catch herself just in time. "Well, sir, the Hogwarts house-elves seem happy and well looked after, and I thank you for allowing me to meet with them. However, I still think the current system leaves all elves very vulnerable."
"Elves?" Madame Maxime repeated curiously.
"Hermione has recently started a movement to promote the cause of house-elves," Professor Dumbledore explained to the occupants of the table that were listening. "I'm afraid the campaign name has momentarily slipped my mind." He looked to Hermione. "If you'd be so kind as to remind me."
"It's called SPHERE - the Society for the Promotion of House-Elf Rights and Education," she replied. There was much she could say about the cause but she was mindful of Nott's previous advice about toning down her passion so that she didn't alienate people. She took a deep breath and then said calmly, "We seek to give house-elves more of a say in their own lives because, despite being intelligent beings capable of their own magic, they currently have no rights whatsoever and are merely the property of their owners. SPHERE primarily aims to put safeguards in place to protect house-elves from witches or wizards that might abuse or mistreat them."
To her surprise and delight, a number of faces looked interested in what she had to say.
"You'd think some legislation would already be in place to protect house-elves," Cho commented thoughtfully.
"Alas, I suspect that many in our society take house-elves for granted and do not give them a second thought," Professor Dumbledore added sombrely before looking at Hermione with an approving twinkle in his eye. "I commend you for taking up the cause, Hermione. What does SPHERE intend to do next?"
Hermione focused on keeping her eyes on the Headmaster because her instinct was trying to get her to glance a couple of places to her left. "We'd really love to get in contact with someone in the Magical Creatures Department at the Ministry who'd be interested in helping the elves."
"My father works in that Department," Cedric said. "House-elves aren't his main area of responsibility but I'm sure I could find out a couple of useful names for you."
Hermione tried to hide how thrilled she was about his offer. She had been meaning to talk to the Hufflepuff champion for a couple of weeks now but had struggled with the time and opportunity. She had also been a little concerned that he would assume she was asking him to take her to the ball if she approached him on her own. She'd already pondered over whether to broach the subject with him during the evening, but had ultimately decided that it probably wasn't the most appropriate time to bring up SPHERE. However, she wasn't about to ignore the opportunity that had presented itself. "That would be fantastic - I'll definitely take you up on that. Thank you."
"Splendid," Professor Dumbledore commented, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses. Hermione tried not to let on that she knew the exact reason why Harry was frowning as Cho smiled at Cedric in response to his offer. Whether Cedric had offered to help the elves because he was interested in the cause or was merely attempting to impress Cho was of no interest to Hermione. As long as SPHERE moved onwards with its aims, that was all that mattered. She glanced over her shoulder, instinctively looking for Nott because she knew he'd be pleased at the progress.
"Who are you looking for?" Viktor asked her.
"Oh, just a friend," she replied casually. She was about to turn back to Viktor when she spotted the back of Nott's head at a table of Slytherins. Her eyes quickly took in the girls sitting on either side of him and she wondered whether he had asked one of them to attend the Ball with him. He'd probably asked Greengrass, Hermione decided, because they always danced together in class and she was sure she'd also seen them rehearse tonight's choreographed dance together. Hermione had never thought about Nott's relationship with Daphne Greengrass before and she wondered if they were actually a real couple. It would come as something of a surprise to her but, then again, Nott often kept himself to himself - only opening up over time. Would he tell Hermione that he liked Greengrass? Probably not. And it wasn't as though the Slytherin girl was an unattractive prospect - she was certainly one of the prettiest girls in the year and she had that air of aristocracy that Nott had surely been brought up to admire. If Hermione didn't know Nott as well as she did, Greengrass would be exactly the girl that she would've expected him to date. But Hermione did know him, and so she found the prospect of their relationship hard to swallow. Did their shared background and Greengrass's good looks cancel out her discriminatory attitude towards muggleborns in Nott's eyes? Hermione wasn't naive - she knew that a pretty face and good figure was certainly enough to attract most men (muggle or magical) but she'd thought Nott was better than that. Or was her inconvenient crush on Nott making him seem more than he really was in her eyes? Her feelings for him were definitely part of the reason for her disapproval of the two Slytherins being in a relationship. Yes, she was jealous, but also, the Theo Nott that she knew was far too good for someone like Daphne Greengrass. After the journey they'd gone through over the past months, Hermione held her friend in very high regard - how could she not? But, he was a teenage boy after all. If he wanted to go to the ball with pretty Greengrass then that was none of Hermione's business. It wasn't as though she could have gone with him and she didn't want him to spend the evening alone.
With an unconscious sigh, she turned back to the head table and saw that the remains of the meal had been entirely cleared away. She glanced guiltily over at Viktor as she realised that she'd left him to sit in silence for a minute while her mind had been focused on Nott. It was hardly courteous behaviour when on a date, and she resolved to keep Nott from her thoughts - it wasn't fair to Viktor to think about someone else when they were attending the ball together.
Theo was relieved when the dinner began to disappear from the tables. The conversation amongst the Slytherins had long moved on from Granger, but he was still eager to be away from his so-called friends and their snobbish, prejudiced comments.
It was only when people began to stand up and move towards the outskirts of the area reserved for dancing that Theo remembered that the champions and their partners would open the dancing. A wave of despair crashed over him as he watched Krum escort Granger to the floor. His view became obstructed as the crowd stood in front of him. He was tempted to stay there and save himself the pain of having to actually watch them dance, but Daphne grabbed his arm, hauling him out of his seat so that they could get a good view before they took part in the choreographed dance immediately afterwards. A waltz started to play and Daphne soon started to giggle over Potter's poor technique and obvious mortification at having to dance at all. Theo was pleased that there was someone else who wasn't enjoying the evening - especially if it was Potter. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies met with Daphne's approval, which she put down to Tam obviously passing on tips to his younger brother.
"Diggory and Chang aren't bad for a couple of quidditch players," Daphne murmured grudgingly, continuing to appraise the different couples. "Speaking of - Krum's not too bad either, is he? I mean, we know Granger can dance but Krum's holding his own, isn't he?"
Theo couldn't argue with her. Krum was a surprisingly capable dancer, and a lot less awkward-looking when in a proper hold. Years of compulsory dance tuition at Durmstrang was undoubtedly responsible.
Theo found himself closely watching Granger's expression during the dance. She wasn't showing the nervous concentration she'd displayed when dancing with Longbottom last year, nor the practised performance-ready, fixed smiles she'd shown with Boot recently. No, these were genuine, shy smiles. However, Theo was relieved to see that they were nothing like the contented smiles or joyful beams she would sometimes send his way when they were dancing together. That observation might actually be meaningless but at that moment it meant everything to him.
There was polite applause from the gathered students and teachers when the dance ended and Theo's former feeling of relief was shattered when Krum shyly kissed the back of Granger's hand, causing her cheeks to clearly redden even in the dim lighting. His former feelings of despair returned and his heat beat painfully in his chest.
Much to his alarm, Daphne suddenly shoved him forwards, but he quickly realised that this was because signor and signora Vittozzi were ushering their pupils into position for the choreographed dance. He tried to push his unhelpful feelings for Granger aside in order to focus on Daphne and the dance. This was an incredible opportunity for him. As far as he knew, there had never before been an occasion when students from the three magical schools had performed a routine together. He should appreciate the moment.
Luckily, the dance the Vittozzis had choreographed was actually quite technical and intricate with the other couples, so it required all of his concentration to make sure he didn't make a fool of himself in front of the rest of the guests. Theo saw the occasional glimpse of Granger's blue robes as she twirled past with Boot, but he didn't let that distract him. He enjoyed the dance but lamented its conclusion because that meant that his mind was free to return to matters that he'd rather keep it away from. The dance floor became crowded with the arrival of the other students and he was pleased that this meant that Granger was once again out of sight. The classically-styled ball music would continue for the first hour of the evening before a band - rumoured to be The Weird Sisters - would take over for the last ninety minutes.
"I know you're not the most talkative person, Theo, but you've barely said ten words all night," Daphne told him as the fifth dance of the evening ended and they broke apart to politely applaud the enchanted orchestra. Theo noticed for the first time that Daphne looked quite put out and guilt crawled through his gut. He might not be in the best of moods but that wasn't Daphne's fault. He had asked her to attend the ball with him and it was extremely discourteous of him to spend most of the evening ignoring her.
"I apologise," he told her. "My mind's been elsewhere."
She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "I see."
Theo's eyes widened in alarm as it became clear that Daphne had taken his words as some sort of personal slight. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to imply - " he said hurriedly but the music for another waltz started up and Daphne, despite her clear annoyance, grabbed his hand to pull him into hold so they could dance. "It's nothing to do with you," he told her honestly as they began to move to the music. He couldn't reveal more than that but he knew she wouldn't be satisfied if he just left it there. "I- I'm not looking forward to going home tomorrow." This was true, but it wasn't the reason for his distress. Fortunately, Daphne's cold demeanour melted into curiosity.
"Why not?" she asked.
Theo paused. "It's not the most cheerful of places since my mother died."
All traces of Daphne's bad mood completely disappeared at those words and she looked at him sympathetically. He felt a little bad for playing the 'dead mother' card to get out of trouble but, again, what he'd said was a form of the truth - a Slytherin specialty.
"Oh, yes, of course," Daphne murmured, momentarily biting her lip. "But at least you have other family there, don't you?"
"Yes," he said shortly, his tone showing that this was little comfort. He loved his family as any dutiful son or nephew should do, but he held little affection for anyone other than his crup, Carenza. She was one of the few positives about spending the next week back in Cornwall.
There was an extended moment of awkward silence and then Daphne smiled and said, "I could write to you while you're there, if you like?"
Theo realised that there was only one acceptable answer he could give without offending Daphne and ruining her evening. "Thanks - that would be a welcome distraction."
Her smile widened and he noticed that she lessened the gap between their bodies as they danced. He decided the best thing would be to ignore it - at the end of this dance he'd propose that they take a break to go and get a drink. As the waltz came to a close, Daphne nodded eagerly at his suggestion and immediately looped her arm around his. Theo tried not to read anything into it.
It was busy around the refreshments table as those less comfortable with the formal style of dancing used the opportunity to socialise in wider groups away from the seated areas.
"I think we should go full snake-mode to get through this lot otherwise we'll be here for an hour," Daphne told him as they approached the crowd of people.
Theo's smile was much more natural this time and he nodded. "Good idea."
Daphne's expression shifted from mischievous amusement to haughty disdain in an instant and he followed her lead. She turned to a group of Hufflepuffs that stood in their way and simply commanded, "Move." Despite the fact that most of them were a year or two older than her, the group were forced to shuffle aside as she barged her way through with Theo bringing up the sneering rear. This process was repeated a few more times until they got to the front of the queue. As all Slytherins quickly learned, the benefit of having a reputation for arrogance was that you could play up to it when it suited you. Daphne winked at him as she handed over a cool glass of butterbeer and he grinned at her before they stalked back through the crowd to find somewhere less crowded.
Theo could see that she was heading to where a few of their housemates had congregated close to the dance floor, but he couldn't stomach the idea of having to listen to Pansy, Draco and the others bitch and moan so soon after he'd had to endure it during dinner. He reached out for Daphne's hand and tugged her in a different direction. "Let's just keep it you and me for now, yeah?" he suggested.
Her eyes swept over his face for a second and then she nodded. "Alright."
It was only as they came to an awkward stop a little distance away that it dawned on Theo that he would now have to try and maintain an actual conversation with Daphne. This wouldn't be a problem were it not for the fact that they'd never really spent much time alone together. They'd been in each other's company plenty of times over the years but there had always been other people present. And while they might be dance partners, that didn't automatically make them conversational experts as his bad showing on the dancefloor had proved. His main hope to avoid the next few minutes being distinctly uncomfortable was that Daphne was much more assertive than he was, and that she would be able to conjure up topics for conversation.
Initially, they simply stood and took sips of their butterbeer, eyes sweeping from each other to the dancers a few yards away. Theo could feel a self-conscious heat creeping up his neck and he tried not to squirm.
"My sister is absolutely dying with jealousy that she's too young to come," Daphne suddenly said, and he turned to her eagerly, grateful to be rid of the silence.
"I can imagine," he said. "I haven't seen Astoria recently - did she go home for the holidays?"
Daphne nodded. "Yes, thank goodness, she would've been a complete misery to have around otherwise. Don't need her glum face around to bring everyone's happiness down."
"Do you normally get on well with her?" Theo asked. He wasn't particularly interested in her response to the question - nor to any of the others he posed about her family life - but it kept Daphne talking and the silence at bay. He felt a little bad for the tactic, but the truth was he didn't feel like he and Daphne had anything in common apart from their house and their friends. When he compared it to how easy it was to talk to Granger… But, then again, that hadn't always been the case: they'd had plenty of uncomfortable silences at the beginning, hadn't they? Maybe he wasn't giving Daphne a fair chance. It was unreasonable to expect to have an instant, easy camaraderie. He was bound to have shared interests with Daphne. It would just take time. And would making an effort to get to know her really be such a terrible thing? Daphne was easy-going, reasonably bright and very pretty. Yes, she had a mean streak and was blood-prejudiced, but those weren't exactly unusual traits in Slytherin. Getting to know Daphne better might also help in regards to his distracting feelings for Granger.
Theo's eyes automatically swept the Great Hall for his friend. He couldn't see her on the dancefloor but, when he turned his gaze towards the tables, he noticed her sitting and talking with Potter and Weasley. He was about to revert his attention back to Daphne when he noticed that the conversation between Granger and Weasley looked quite heated.
"Did you see that they've decorated the lawn outside the front doors?" Daphne asked but he wasn't really paying attention. "It would be nice to have a look at them - it'd give us a bit more privacy. I'm sure Pansy and Millie are gossiping about us."
"Right, sure," Theo replied hazily. Weasley had a particularly nasty look on his face as he sneered at a clearly hurt and bewildered Granger. Potter, meanwhile, just sat between them looking like he would rather be anywhere else at that moment. There was no sign of Krum.
Unaware of his distraction, Daphne regained her former mischievous air as she continued, "And, just so you know, I'm completely comfortable with giving them something to gossip about."
Theo was jolted from his observation of the quarrelling Gryffindors when Daphne took his hand in hers. "W-what?" he asked, startled.
Daphne laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "I'm telling you that you can kiss me later, Theo - if we find somewhere quiet in the grounds that is."
He blinked at her in surprise. "I…"
"But no getting handsy," she said, pointing a finger at him. "I am a lady after all," she concluded with a wink.
"I…" Granger had jumped to her feet, screeched something at Weasley, and then disappeared into the crowd looking extremely upset. Theo's heart raced rapidly in his chest. Before he even really knew what he was doing, he said, "I've got to go," and then quickly followed Granger's path.
Hermione couldn't remember the last time she'd been this angry. How could one of her best friends have said such hurtful things to her? Accusing her of betraying Harry - as if she'd ever! Claiming that Viktor could only be interested in her because of her intelligence - just because he only saw her as nothing but a walking, talking brain didn't mean that others couldn't spot that she was more than that! She honestly thought she might have hit Ron if she hadn't walked away at that moment.
She was so upset by what had happened that she'd stormed off with no destination in mind, and she realised that despite her anger she was actually in danger of starting to cry at any moment. She was damned if she was going to let anybody see her make a spectacle of herself. All she needed was a couple of minutes alone to compose herself. Gratefully, she remembered the room behind the staff table where Harry and the other champions had gone when their names had first come out of the Goblet of Fire. With fresh determination, she strode there quickly and kept her head bowed to avoid making eye contact with anyone. Mercifully, the door was unlocked and she slipped inside.
A few paces behind, Theo hesitated for a moment before following her.
Immediately his heart clenched at the sight of her slumped shoulders and the hand she held up to her eyes to prevent tears from falling. Anger for Weasley and Potter swirled in his stomach. The red-headed idiot might have been the one to actually upset her, but Potter had just sat by and let her walk away in distress. Not for the first time, he wished she'd chosen her friends better.
"Hey," he said softly, giving the door a slight push so that it was all but closed behind him.
She started in alarm but, when she saw it was him, she relaxed. "Nott," she breathed, taking a couple of steps towards him. She found the sight of him hugely comforting. "What are you doing here?"
"You looked upset," he replied.
Hermione grimaced and looked down, blinking quickly to make sure any wateriness disappeared from her eyes. "Oh, you saw that." When she was reasonably confident that she didn't look so tearful she looked up at him and sighed. "Ron was just being an idiot - it was nothing."
Theo frowned. "It didn't look like nothing."
"It was just a misunderstanding," she insisted. "It's not worth going into, I swear - not that I don't really appreciate you coming to check on me." She put a hand on his arm. "Thank you, Theo."
Both sets of eyes went from her hand to each other's face, and their gazes locked.
"Anytime," he told her sincerely, enjoying that he could feel the heat of her hand through the sleeve of his robe.
Hermione was quite sure that her heart literally skipped a beat at his words. It was both wonderful and painful: to have him be such an important part of her life and yet know that it would never be anything more. She took her hand back and tried to ignore how handsome he looked in his well-tailored robes. He'd been a suitable distraction from how cross she was with Ron, but now she found she needed something else to distract her from her feelings for him. "Er, you and Greengrass looked like you were having a pleasant evening," she told him in as pleasant a tone as she could manage despite the stab in her gut. Although she'd certainly not been trying to, her gaze had strayed to the two Slytherins a few times that evening and she'd felt a ridiculous twist in her stomach when she'd seen Greengrass with her arm looped through his.
Theo instinctively gave a soft scoff. "I wouldn't go that far," he replied honestly and then frowned when he realised exactly what he'd done a couple of minutes ago. "I mean, I guess it was OK, but I kinda ditched her just now without an explanation."
A range of emotions tumbled over themselves inside of her at his words but she clamped down on them all. "Oh, I see."
Theo sighed. "I guess I'll have to try and make it up to her." Though in truth he wasn't sure that she would forgive him for abandoning her mere seconds after she made it quite clear that she wanted to kiss him. What a mess. He cast around for something to say. "And, er, you and Krum - everything OK?" He regretted it as soon as he asked - he did not want to think about her with Krum.
She nodded shyly. "Yes, thank you." And it had been. Viktor had been a perfectly lovely partner to the ball - better, in fact, than she had been expecting. She'd enjoyed conversing with him and finding out about his life, and he'd been attentive to her all evening. In fact, she should probably return to the Great Hall because he was most likely wondering where she was, but she found herself reluctant to leave.
"Good, I'm glad," Theo replied, and he mostly meant it. While the prospect of Granger falling in love with Krum caused him great despair, he certainly didn't want her to be miserable either.
The sound of polite applause filtered through the partly closed door as another dance came to an end. Theo's heart leapt at the realisation and he formally held out his arm towards her whilst simultaneously gesturing to the room's small floor space with his other hand. "May I have the honour of the next dance?" he asked, with a slight bow of his head.
Hermione's breath hitched in her throat as a thrill raced through her. "Of course," she replied with a beaming smile and a small curtsey.
She slotted into his hold so easily, so naturally. They kept their gaze on each other's face, ignoring what they'd been taught last year about looking over their partner's shoulder as they waited for the music to start up again.
Neither spoke lest they ruin the feeling of having the person who held their heart so close to them. They had danced together many times before, and they would no doubt dance together again, but it would never be quite like this.
The first few notes of a slow waltz floated towards them. Hermione had enjoyed the music all night but the sweetness of this new melody was so beautiful that it made her feel like she was in a wonderful dream. Theo led her with gentle tenderness, their steps naturally rising and falling with the music. He didn't need to think about the moves at all but just let the dance flow through him instinctively.
Hermione's heart was fluttering madly in her chest and her body tingled pleasantly. She felt him shift the positioning of his hands and allowed him to guide her into a semi-shadow hold. Her body was now facing away from him, one of his hands on her hip, the other still holding hers. She looked over her shoulder so that she could still see him and continued the waltz steps.
Theo had been right about how beautifully her dress robes swayed with her movements and he felt a spark of joy and faint disbelief that this moment was actually happening. He lifted their joined hands and helped her spin under his arm a few times, still following the melodic rise and fall of the music. He could feel the crescendo coming and he put his hands on her waist, lifting her into the air. She laughed in delight as he spun her round and round.
Theo placed Hermione down gently, her hands on his shoulders, his still at her waist.
The dance was abruptly forgotten.
The music played on but neither of them moved apart from the simple rise and fall of their chests as they gazed at each other. The moment seemed to stretch on and on, like they were under a spell.
The kiss was over almost before it had even begun.
They stared at each other in shock, each wondering if they had been the one to initiate it, before instinctively leaning in once more.
A/N Did any of you see that coming?
It was an absolute blast to write my version of this important evening so I really hope you all enjoyed it. The music that Theo and Hermione dance to at the end is inspired by the light music 'Dusk' by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs. It's a very sweet piece that quite suits the innocence of first, young love. Apparently it was a favourite of the young Queen Elizabeth II (that's not relevant but I found it interesting when I discovered that afterwards).
As I said, I hope you enjoyed this. Let me know!
Happy holidays.