Chapter 20
After Draco experienced the Legilimens lesson with Granger, he felt more relaxed in her presence. She hadn't mocked the memories she had seen. She was quick to learn how to search his mind without direct eye contract. They were comfortable as classmates, he supposed.
The weeks passed quickly and by the end of the month the Gala event had arrived. Draco was dressed in the typical dress robes attire for men. Black outer robes, shoes, slacks, white long sleeved button up collared shirt, a forest green vest and bow tie. He didn't even know why he had decided to waste his time with this dance. Perhaps it was to get Pansy to stop giving him that longing look of reconcile she was mustering more and more.
Reluctantly, he ventured with other Slytherins to the Great Hall. Professor Flitwick was hosting. Several other professors in their formal best were on the side lines as chaperones. It was apparent how much mingling the houses were doing. A couple of young, brave Slytherins (probably first years) were talking to a group of Ravenclaws. The rest were in their own horde around the round tables scattered throughout one half of the hall with food and beverages. The other half of the hall was a dance floor, with decorations of spring time and blooming flowers. The ceiling oddly enchanted to portray a nice warm day.
It was obvious that they wanted to encourage hope and student unity. It could be seen that the other three houses were mingling a bit better. Professor Flitwick projected his voice and announced, "Good evening everyone! Welcome to our Spring Gala. We shall begin the festivities with a formal dance." With a wave of his wand the orchestra students began to play a waltz song and Headmistress McGonagall was escorted by her brother Professor Malcolm McGonagall to the dance floor to begin.
"Draco, would you care to dance with me?" Pansy asked. She wore a low neck swoop dress that ruffled bunched up on the bottom that showed an excessive amount of leg, though still within the parameters of policy, much to his surprise. "Just one dance." He agreed and led her onto the floor.
Neville donned in classic black dress robe attire offered his hand to Hannah Abbott to the dance floor. Dean Thomas asked Ginny to dance and she reluctantly declined. She was dating Harry and dancing with Dean (her ex boyfriend) even as a friendly gesture wasn't entirely appropriate, or so she felt.
"Has anyone seen Hermione? I thought she was coming?" Ginny asked their group that had Luna, Seamus, Dean, and a few others. "Luna, would you like to dance?" Dean asked and the blonde Ravenclaw brightened. "I'll certainly dance with you Dean Thomas. Although I can tell you regret not having a successful relationship with Ginny before she committed to Harry Potter." She said being her usual honest self as they walked onto the dance floor.
"It was so strange, first I was standing on top of the astronomy tower kissing…Er, someone I can't remember, but then the bloke turned into a giant snake or something and was going to eat me, I think. But that's when I woke up." Lavender explained. It was the morning of the Gala, and she had just awaked from a nightmare. One perhaps influenced by Hermione.
"Oh Lavender, don't worry. It was just a dream. I'm sure a nice breakfast will help you forget all about it." Hermione consoled her dorm mate, urging her to get dressed for breakfast. Although she promised to herself that she wouldn't manipulate dreams in such a way, she couldn't help but get a bit upset when she saw who Lavender was kissing in her dream. One could only guess whom.
After Draco's lessons, Hermione decided to practice dream manipulation. She feared that something irreparable might happen if she started on someone else, so she looked into lucid dreaming. Then manipulated her own first, just to get the hang of it. It took her a couple of weeks to do so, getting into a deep enough sleep so that she couldn't wake herself once she finally became lucid. It took much effort at first, but quickly became easier and more fun as she practiced every night.
The third week, she decided to try manipulating someone else's dream. She chose Ginny, because if something were to happen, Hermione was sure her friend would understand and forgive her. It just so happened that Ginny was dreaming about playing quidditch against the Hollyhead Harpies, her favorite team, but losing horribly, since she was the only one on her team. Hermione was sitting in the furthest seat in the stadium full of people booing her friend. "Well this just isn't right. Go Ginny! You can do it!" She shouted over the crowd. If it was easy to change her own dreams with a simple thought, the same should be true for someone else's dreams. She concentrated hard, and then suddenly Harry, Ron, Fred and George all appeared in their quidditch gear and joined Ginny on the pitch. At that point, Hermione decided she had done enough and left.
In the morning, Ginny told her about the most amazing dream she had. After breakfast with Lavender, Hermione retreated into the library for more dreams and memories research. She had been doing so for the majority of her free time as of late, learning everything that might help her in her venture.
The clock struck four o clock in the afternoon when she had just finished her notes on something about dream psychology before she realized what time it was. "Oh no! If I don't hurry, I'll be late for the Gala!"She ran up to her dorm room. Everyone else had already made their way to the Great Hall.
"Just in time." She sighed as she entered the Great Hall while professor Flitwick gave his introduction to the Gala. The dress she wore was similar to the one she had worn for the Yule Ball during her fourth year. But this one was a darker shade of pink to match her necklace that Ron gave her that she now wore. She turned a few heads as she looked for her group of friends, not nearly as many as when she took the Polyjuice potion awhile back, but still noticed. She had to perform some heavy duty magic on her hair to get it to cooperate in such short time. She had it straightened, braided, and wrapped around like a tiara around her head.
"There she is! Hermione, we're over here!" Neville called out and waived her over. "We thought you weren't going to make it." He chuckled. It was in that moment when Hermione caught a glimpse of a flash of familiar blond hair. She had grown…accustomed to Draco's hair. How he styled it and the way it shimmered when light hit it at certain angles. But now how Pansy had her fingers intertwined in it at the moment. She couldn't help but scowl at the girl.
Draco had every intention to keep Pansy at a distance on the dance floor. It was inevitable that she leaned closer and closer to him, eventually wrapping her arms around his neck. He estimated the song to be half over at that point, and was practically counting down the seconds. "Relax, Draco. You used to like this, remember?" Pansy chided, as her fingers played with his hair, sensing his urgency to be done.
Part of him longed to take solace and comfort in the once familiar gesture of her fingertips playing with the locks of hair. But there was no comfort in her touch. No spark. Nothing. Just maybe irritation at messing with the locks he had taken care to adjust to look their formal best. "That was a long time ago. We are different now. With different…views." He reminded her.
Pansy caught a glimpse of Hermione talk to Neville and the others, temporary distracting her from Draco."Looks like 'Little Miss Fame' decided to show up after all. Of course she had to come in at the last possible moment and still be on time so everyone could see her. She didn't even cover up the scar on her arm, suits her right I suppose. She is a filthy mudblood after all." Draco stopped dancing and reached up to Pansy tilting her chin with his left hand so she was directly looking at him. "Lay off the insults Parkinson. If her scar on her arm defines her, then so does mine. Am I nothing more then what the scar on my arm represents? I will not tolerate your chuffer attitude anymore. It makes you meager despite your physical attributes." He said releasing her and walked off the dance floor just as the song ended.
"Draco…" Pansy called out but he ignored it. He almost made it to the exit when Zabini blocked him. "Come on, whatever Pansy did to get your goat, just let it go."
"Move Zabini this was a stupid idea to come." Draco snapped about to shove the guy out of the way.
Professor Flitwich announced once more. "Ladies and Gentlemen it's time to mingle with students from other houses. Ask someone not of your house to dance."
Draco turned around reluctantly and his eyes caught a glimpse of Granger. She was wearing a ruffled dress similar to the gown from years prior, only it was a few shades darker than he recalled. In the spur of the moment he felt his feet move on their own accord, while his mind was still racing at what exactly did he think he was doing. He made his way across the room. When he approached Granger he stopped within arm's length, bowed slightly with a nod of his head, extended out his open hand palm up.
"May I have this dance, Granger?"
Time seemed to stop around Hermione when Draco asked her to dance. It seemed out of the blue and caught her off guard. At first she looked around just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. Sure enough, Neville and Ginny were just as shocked as she was. "Er, of course, Malfoy." She gracefully took his hand and he led her out to the dance floor. She was highly confident in her dancing ability and hoped he was as well.
Draco's hand flexed gently around her own as she accepted and he led her onto the dance floor. In that moment he was grateful for his mother insisting he knew how to dance properly. 'It's a practice that is becoming obsolete among the common population. The upper class must uphold tradition, my son. It is another display of how superior we truly are.' were the words he had been told.
He was confident enough in his dance technique to lead her through a Vietnamese waltz routine, instead of the basic square waltz step that most of the students were accustomed to doing. His right hand slipped behind her upper back, conforming to her shoulder blade for leading purposes. While his left hand kept a hold of her right hand. He could tell she knew how to follow well enough. She didn't miss or stumble through any of his subtle dancing cues as to what moves he was leading her through.
"I am surprised Granger. I figured you to be too stubborn to let me actually lead." Draco remarked, once they were in a comfortable rhythm of movement along with the music.
A slight shiver ran up her spine as he placed his hand on her back. She could tell out of the corners of her eyes that they were being watched by a good number of the students, dancing and not dancing alike. 'This is good.' She thought. The whole point of the Gala was being displayed for everyone to see. Two people who were known to despise one other, coming together and dancing. Mingle without aggression; be civil despite the past and their differences. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside, like she was helping the cause, brining unity to the school.
She couldn't help but chuckle at Draco's comment. "I thought I'd let you take the lead, since you've helped me out so much recently." She said looking up at him. She locked eyes with him for a moment; His piercing grey, almost silver eyes. Suddenly she realized the she once had those eyes and his hair color as well, and how popular she became with them. They were attractive features, but somehow she felt like she was appreciating them to their fullest now upon him in this moment. "Besides," She said, snapping out of her deep thought, "you are a great lead. Who taught you?"
Draco thought he would never see the day Granger and him having a civil conversation in public. She even released a chuckle at his commentary. It was a pleasant sound. Their eyes locked for a moment. His mind reflected on the Polyjuice potion incident. His eyes and hair on her had been beyond attractive. But now he was able to see that her chocolate brown eyes and hair had their own set of beauty he had never cared to notice before. Between their scholarly interactions, his enlightenment on her appearance, and her compliment on his leading skills, he suddenly came to an understanding why Viktor Krum was enthralled with her.
Her asking a question brought him back to the present. "My mother. She believed proper dance technique is a tradition worth upholding. It's nice to dance with someone of the same skill caliber." He answered, leading her through a spin and out then back to closed form. Their bodies had relaxed enough in each other's presence to lessen the gap between their torsos. The song came to an end. Removing his hand from her back he kept a hold of her other hand and led her off the dance floor, back to her gaggle of friends.
"Thank you for the dance, Granger." He said cordially, as he released her hand. He departed feeling the plenty of eyes that had been on him and her the moment he had asked her to dance. It was an unusual sense of satisfaction he felt within his chest. This dance had been about house unity. He and Granger could be civil and display so in public. Nobody else in the entire school had any reason to keep a hold of any sort of grudge. Not anymore. Rivalry was okay, healthy even. But enemies, they did not need to be any more.
Draco walked past several of the known individuals with blood prejudice who opened their mouths. He gave a sharp look silencing them. "Bugger off and go hug a Hufflepuff or something." He snapped and exited the Great Hall, this time no one stopped him.
Dancing with Draco felt strangely wonderful. Hermione couldn't help but giggle again when he twirled her, making her dress billow around her. She felt disappointed when the song ended. When Draco led her off the floor and thanked her for the dance, Hermione kindly bowed, "Thank you, Malfoy." She watched as he walked away back to the Slytherin group's area before she turned to her own group. Everyone was still gawking at her. "What? Like it's so strange that happened during an event which sole purpose was to bring forth unity between houses." She scolded.
Neville stepped forward, "But Malfoy of all people? Don't you think he's a bit far gone for—"
"I for one believe that he's finally matured enough to make his own path in life." Hermione interrupted, "He's not been nasty even once to any of us this year, has he? A vast improvement, I'd say." Just then Luna and Dean stepped off the dance floor, cutting between the two groups. Luna kept twirling around as though caught in a slow motion whirlpool. "Isn't dancing lovely? Like speaking with our bodies, a language of motion, sometimes intimate." She said in her airy, nonchalant way.
Dean flopped own in a chair next to Hermione, clearly out of breath, "It's hard keeping up with that girl, Merlin bless the bloke she ends up with." The group heard professor Flitwick announce a more upbeat song was to follow as the dance continued, appearing to have proved itself and its goal obtained.