Hermione loved the way the red velvet gown flowed from her shoulders. It wasn't the sort of thing that she would willingly wear at Hogwarts, but it was perfect for the Christmas eve ball that the Malfoys had each year. And since she had turned eleven, she was able to attend.

"What are you wearing?" James asked when she arrived.

"Is it awful?"

"No. It looks so soft. Do you think I could dance with you?"

"You just want to touch my dress."

James smiled. "Maybe."

Hermione rolled her eyes but a smile graced her lips. "Yes. Just not the first dance. Draco would fist fight you over that."

"Yeah. Did you know there's a quidditch pitch in the back yard?"

"Of course I know. That's where I learnt to fly."

"You made it," Blaise said as he walked up to Hermione. "I thought you wouldn't. You never come to these."

"I had made a promise to Narcissa," Hermione said. "That I would bring it up to my parents. And I suppose that was the tipping point. She said we could use the floo to head back to Greece if necessary, but the paperwork was awful."

Blaise flashed a smile he thought was heart melting. "Can't say I'm upset. If you're going to be here the rest of the break will be much better."

"What are we doing in the entryway?" Draco asked. "I do believe that if we aren't careful we might wind up getting a scolding from my mother."

Both Blaise and James shuddered at the thought and migrated further into the ballroom. Hermione laughed a little. She'd not had, at least in her memory, a scolding that was that bad. But Narcissa liked her. Which might not have been the same for Blaise.

"You look wonderful," Draco whispered.

She felt a blush settle over her cheeks. "Just as long as you don't hold it over my head later."

"No, you really do look nice."

"What are we whispering about over here?" Daphne asked conspiratorial.

"Nothing," they both said quickly. Which didn't make Daphne believe them in the slightest.

"You two planning on sharing the first dance?" she asked.

"Of course," Draco said. "Did you want us to get James to ask you?"

"He already did," Daphne said. "Though I did just see him eyeing your dress Hermione."

Hermione shrugged. "He's only interested in you romantically. He just thought my dress looked soft. I guess he hasn't had much experience with finer fabrics."

"Aww," Daphne said. "Poor thing. His muggle family must hate him."

"They're the Dursleys," Draco said with disdain.

"With a name like that they don't sound like they could like much of anything," Daphne said.

"They like their son," Hermione said. "He's a spoilt terror. He's so fat that I don't think they've ever told him no."

Daphne looked from Hermione to Draco and back again. "Like Draco?"

Hermione and Draco looked at each other.

"No. At the very least Draco gets told he can't keep eating."

Daphne shrugged. "I suppose that's true. But flying wouldn't be easy if he did eat himself silly."

There was mingling for a little longer as people arrived. Then dancing started. Hermione found herself having a grand time as she spent the first three dances with Draco, James, and Theo respectively.

"Is that velvet?" Theo asked as he took her by the waist.

Hermione faltered for just a second. "You didn't notice?"

"I was busy trying to get the Greengrasses to talk to me. Other than Astoria. She's always been nice."

"To you."

Theo smiled. "She just dislikes you because her parents don't like you. They think you're competition. Which, to be fair, isn't entirely off the mark."

"Like she's any threat to me," Hermione whispered. "It's not exactly something breakable."

"And as if he'd ever give you up for a and I quote 'subpar replacement.' Though we all know my feelings on the matter."

Hermione shook an errant curl out of her face. "Maybe with a little more stability in her life she'd be more tolerable."

It was a valid thought. Hermione found Astoria to be somewhat desperate. And it was likely due to pressure from her parents. Daphne was the more logical choice in Hermione's mind since she and Draco were already friends. But that may have been part of the problem for the Greengrasses.

By the fifth dance Hermione was determined to take a break. She had fine stamina, but she wanted to sit down for at least one song. Her shoes weren't the most comfortable things she had ever worn.

"Tired already?" her mother teased.

"I don't know how you wear these horrible feet contraptions," Hermione groused. The heels on her shoes weren't even that tall. Maybe an inch or so. But that seemed plenty tall enough to make her feet ache.

"You'll get used to it. Besides, with as tall as Draco's probably going to be, I think you'll come to appreciate the extra height," Mrs. Granger said.

Hermione found that she couldn't argue that much with her mother on that point. She just wanted to take her shoes off. But that would be rude for at least another hour. She just hoped that staying off them for a bit would help to mitigate the ache that was starting to build.

About ten minutes later she caved and took her shoes off. Her dress was long enough that it wasn't like anyone was going to pay much attention to her shoes. And she sighed in relief with the pressure releasing.

The dancing went on for another hour. Then Hermione decided she was tired and she wanted to go to sleep.

"Jet lagged?" James asked.

"A bit," Hermione admitted. "But I also try to go to sleep at the same time every night. Balls usually mess with that."

"Are you staying the evening?" James asked. "Your parents don't look like they're leaving soon."

"Of course," Hermione said. "If we were going to floo back to Greece, here's the best spot to do it from. My parents don't have our house hooked up to the floo network. For obvious reasons. But since we're here to spend Christmas with the Malfoys, staying here seems like the best option."

Draco escorted her up to her room. Hermione wasn't sure how to feel about that. She liked feeling pretty and dainty, but she wasn't sure how much she wanted to give away.

It was a relief for Theo, Blaise, and James to know that she and Draco were betrothed. But she wasn't sure how much she wanted to share with Pansy. And once it got out there wasn't much she could do about it.