10. Never Again

Author's Note: So, just a warning: this is a really long chapter. In fact, it's the longest I've ever written. According to my MS Word, the word count on this chapter is 7,191 words, excluding author's notes. That's almost like 3 whole chapters of my last story, all put into one. :D Anyway...so yeah, it's long - yet surprisingly, some parts of it may seemed rushed to you. I just wanted the Yule Ball to be all one chapter, intead of breaking it up into 2 chapters (hence the fact there is no present-day scene). But this whole scene, which I thought was going to be easy to write, was actually very tiring and it took me longer than expected. I guess I will not have a chance to write and upload the next two or so chapters before Christmas. Oh well - I tried, honestly! Okay, I'll shut up now.

...right after I thank all of you wonderful people for the reviews, of course. So...thank you!

Disclaimer: If I owned the Harry Potter series, I so totally would not be wasting my time writing fan fic. You know?

"Wow, this place looks so beautiful!" Pansy gasped as they entered the Great Hall.

Draco rolled his eyes at Blaise and said, "Girls are so easy to please. Just add decorations, and it's the best thing they've ever seen."

Blaise snorted; Pansy playfully hit him on the arm. "I'm not that easy, Draco."

"That's not what he told me," Blaise muttered under his breath. He smirked over at Pansy. She proceeded to hit him on the arm too, but a little harder than she'd hit Draco.

"Jerk," she mumbled, but a smile remained plastered to her face.

"Be nice to Pansy, Zabini," Draco mumbled.

"Yeah, Zabini, be nice to me." Pansy giggled. "Oh, look! There's Millicent!" She pointed over to where Millicent Bulstrode stood with Goyle, over by the refreshment table. She grabbed Blaise's date, a sixth-year Slytherin, by the arm and hauled her off. "We'll be over there," Pansy informed Draco as she and the other girl scampered off.

"Mmhmm," Draco responded absent-mindedly. He glanced around the ballroom, looking for Hermione. However, there were too many students there already, and it was hard to pinpoint anyone in particular. He was starting to get nervous that she wouldn't show.

"Looking for someone?" Blaise asked, glancing over at Draco.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Granger."

"Granger?" Blaise said, unable to hide the disgust in his voice. "What possible reason could you have for looking for her?"

Draco sighed. "We've been over this, Zabini. Granger and I have to share the first dance. It's a tradition for the Head Boy and Girl."

"Fuck tradition," Blaise said. "I wouldn't dance with Granger if she were the last female on earth, and my life depended on whether or not I danced with her."

"Well then it's a good thing you're not Head Boy, jackass," Draco snapped.

Blaise looked taken-aback. He narrowed his eyes and said, "What has gotten into you, man?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes you do, Draco. Crabbe and Goyle have told me -"

"Why are you listening to what Crabbe and Goyle tell you? They are dolts, Zabini. You know that."

"Sure, they're idiots," Blaise agreed, "but you've practically been confirming everything they've been saying about you."

"Oh yeah?" Draco said, finally turning his full attention to Blaise. "And what exactly have they been saying?"

Blaise opened his mouth to answer, but froze when he caught sight of something beyond Draco's shoulder. "What the hell?"

Draco stared blankly at Blaise for a few seconds before realizing that the entire ballroom had fallen silent. "What's going on?"

Blaise's gaze flickered back to Draco and he said in a low voice, "Well, I guess you've just found what you were looking for." He pointed over in the direction of the Great Hall's entrance.

Draco turned around and faced the direction in which Blaise was pointing, and in which everyone was staring. At first, he wondered what the big deal was– it was just a girl walking into the Great Hall. But then it slowly began to register that the girl was not just any girl – it was Hermione Granger.

He had to blink a few times, to make sure it really was her he was staring at. But there was no doubt about it – Ginny, Lavender and Luna had done what they had told Hermione they would do: they made her look absolutely beautiful.

"Hey, you dropped your jaw on the floor," Blaise joked, but Draco barely heard him.

He watched as Hermione entered the Great Hall with Neville, who looked absolutely ecstatic to have her on his arm. When she noticed that everyone's eyes were on her, she smiled slightly, blushed, and then lowered her head.

She was dressed in a white satin gown that clung nicely to her curves, without being too tight or showy. The fabric flowed smoothly all the way to the floor, trailing slightly in the back. Wrapped lightly around her shoulders was a sheer shawl that sparkled every time she moved and the light hit it just right. Her hair had been tied loosely into a bun at the back of her head, with a few wavy tendrils poking out here and there, framing her face – which appeared to be just a little more colorful than usual. Apparently, Hermione's friends knew a few things about the art of makeup – at least enough to know that a little goes a long way. While Pansy and her friends had gone out of their way to pile the makeup on, Hermione's little helpers opted instead to go lightly on the blush and eye shadow and lipstick, putting on just enough to show that it was there, and that was all. However, the girls did appear to have paid special attention to Hermione's eyes, darkening them with eyeliner and mascara just enough to make them appear big and bright. Even from far away, Draco felt he could have gotten lost in those eyes.

She looked like a goddess. Or perhaps an angel. Or maybe even a bit of both. No matter what, she looked positively radiant, and Draco – along with every other male in the room – was having a hard time taking his eyes off her.

"Don't forget to breathe," Blaise muttered in Draco's ear.

His friend's voice broke him out of his trance as he realized that he had been holding his breath since the very moment she had entered the room.

Blaise smirked. "And you say nothing's gotten into you." He glanced over at Hermione. "Don't let her appearance fool you, Draco. Underneath all of that is still a filthy mudblood. It's important that you remember that."

Draco had to bite his tongue before saying something he would regret. But it didn't matter anyway, because Blaise was already sauntering off to join his date and Pansy on the other side of the room. He frowned as he watched him go; as he realized that Blaise was a spitting image of what he used to be – arrogant and prejudiced. He never knew until that very moment how unpleasant people like that were.

"Hey," a feminine voice said as someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

Draco spun around to find himself face-to-face with Hermione. Up close, she was even more beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that he had to avert his eyes away from her immediately. "Granger." He mumbled the greeting, trying to sound as disinterested as possible.

"I hope I'm not too late," she said, not even noticing his indifference toward her. She smiled. "Well, it's not as if the Ball could start without me anyway, right? What's the traditional Head Boy and Girl dance, without the Head Girl?"

"It sounds like a dance I would like to try," he replied with a smirk.

She glared at him. "Charming, Malfoy." She sighed and rolled her eyes.

He grinned just as Professor McGonagall's voice echoed through the Great Hall.

"Young ladies and young gentlemen," she said, "I would like to welcome you to the Yule Ball. Before we begin, I would just like to remind you all that there will be absolutely no tomfoolery of any kind. Whoever breaks this rule will be asked to the leave the Ball for the remainder of the evening. Now, when I say no tomfoolery, I mean no fighting, no pranks of any kind, and absolutely nothing more than dancing and handholding with your dates. Am I understood?"

All of the students in the room groaned and mumbled "yeah" in unison.

"Very well, then. Let the Ball begin. Now, where are Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger?" McGonagall scanned the crowd looking for them.

Hermione raised her hand.

"Ah yes, there they are. Will the Head Boy and Head Girl please proceed to the center of the room for the first dance?"

Draco nodded and took a step forward. Realizing that Hermione was not following, he turned around and said, "Come on, Granger." He held out his hand to her.

She glanced around the room at all of the students, her eyes wide with trepidation. Obviously, she did not like the idea of dancing in front of a large group of people, and Draco couldn't really blame her. He wasn't exactly looking forward to it either, but it was tradition. They had to do it.

"I don't bite, Granger," he said, with a bit of urgency in his voice. "Unless you'd like me to."

Hermione smiled slightly as she reached out and took his hand, letting him lead her to the center of the floor. Before she had a chance to react, he quickly pulled her in close to him, so that their bodies were touching. He grasped her hand with one of his hands while his other arm snaked around her waist. "Relax," he murmured into her ear. "Just pretend we're practicing alone in the common room. No one else is here."

He could feel her shaking slightly as she nodded. He took a deep breath, breathing in the light scent of her perfume, before pulling away slightly and looking at her. He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll lead," he said.

They began to move the second the music began. It was just like their dance practice in the common room, only this time with real music, which made it easier to stay in step. And although Hermione faltered a few times in the beginning, she quickly got the hang of it and became more confident. About halfway through the song, when all of the other students began to pile onto the dance floor, Draco said, "See? This isn't so bad."

"I guess," she said with a slight shrug.

They glanced at each other uncomfortably as they continued to move across the floor. Draco cleared his throat and said, "So your friends…they did a decent job on you. You look like a girl."

"As opposed to before," Hermione said, "when I looked like a house elf."

"Exactly," Draco said, grinning. "I guess miracles can happen."

"Would you like me to step on your foot by accident again?"

"Why would you want to do that, Granger? I was giving you a compliment."

"Oh right - another backhanded compliment. I keep forgetting you consider those to be actual compliments, that deserve a 'thank you'."

"Well, a simple 'thank you' would be nice."

"Why are you such a git?"

"Because me being a git right now is helping to take your mind off the fact you're dancing with me in front of half of the school."

"Thanks for reminding me," Hermione mumbled, glancing around at all of the other students. "Even though everyone else is busy dancing, I keep getting the impression that everyone is staring at me. I had that same feeling the second I walked into the room. Probably because when I did, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me." She sighed. "I'm being paranoid, aren't I?"

Draco gave her an incredulous look. Judging from the confusion in her voice, she honestly had no idea why everyone was staring at her. He could help but chuckle. "Oh Granger, you are so stupid."

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't mean to say you are stupid," Draco said quickly. "I just cannot believe you can't figure out why people are staring at you."

"It's my hair, isn't it? It looks weird. I told Ginny it looked terrible -"

"Granger, your hair is fine," he assured her. "In fact…it looks nice. That's why everyone is looking at you, Hermione – because you look positively gorgeous."

Hermione blinked and missed a step. So did Draco, when he realized that not only had he just called Hermione by her first name, but because he called her gorgeous in the same breath. Apparently, it had shocked her, too.

She began to giggle only a few moments later, though, and said, "Good one, Malfoy. You almost had me there."

Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "You think I'm joking, Granger? Did you even bother to take a look at yourself in the mirror before you came here?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," she replied, "and I thought I looked weird."

"Yeah, well, you're the best looking weird I've seen in a long time," he muttered, avoiding her gaze. "I can't believe I have to spell it out for you, Granger, but all of the guys in here are staring at you because they think you're hot, and the girls are staring at you because they are secretly hating you for making their dates think you're hot, while at the same time they are wishing they looked like you."

Hermione stared at him in disbelief. "How do you know all of this?"

"Because in case you haven't noticed, Granger, I am a guy. And because of that, I know what guys are thinking right now when they look at you."

"Oh yeah?" she said. "So what are they thinking, then?"

Draco fell silent. There was no way he could tell her what they were probably thinking – it would make her blush. And there certainly was no way he could tell her what he was thinking at that very moment…

A tap on his shoulder saved him from having to quickly think of something else to say. Draco turned his head to the right to see Neville standing there.

"The first dance is over," he informed them, glancing warily at Draco. "May I have my date back?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah," Draco said quickly, letting go of Hermione immediately and stepping away. Neville was right – the first dance was long over, and neither one of them had noticed. "She's all yours, Longbottom." He gave the boy a pat on the back, to which Neville responded with a fearful squeak.

Draco began to laugh at the boy's reaction, but immediately stopped when he noticed Hermione glaring at him.

"Draco!" Pansy called to him as she made her way through the crowd to get to him. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "It's my turn, now." She scowled over at Hermione and said, "Nice dress, Granger. Reminds me of something my family's house elf used to clean with."

"Pansy, retract your claws," Draco warned. He gave Hermione a look that said, see what I mean? All the girls are jealous of you…

Pansy pouted. "Why are you so defensive over the mudblood?" she asked as she led him far away from Hermione and Neville.

"I'm not defensive," Draco said. "I would just prefer to spend the night having a good time, not listening to you insult Granger."

"I remember a time when you thought insulting Granger was a good time," Pansy said quietly as they began to dance.

"Yeah, well now, insulting Granger could lead to me losing my place as Head Boy," he said as he took Pansy into his arms. She did not feel the same in his arms as Hermione did; she did not fit quite as well.

"I guess that would not be a good thing," Pansy said thoughtfully.

"Gee, you think?"

Pansy smiled seductively. "What do you say we engage in some tomfoolery? You know…get ourselves kicked out of here and go back to your common room, where we can be all alone?"

"Ah, tomfoolery. Yet another thing the Head Boy should not do," Draco said. He glanced over Pansy's shoulder at Hermione, who looked miserable dancing with Neville – not because it was Neville she was dancing with, he figured, but probably because of whom she wasn't dancing with.

"Well then, maybe after the Ball, then?" Pansy asked, beginning to sound a bit desperate.

"Yeah, maybe," Draco mumbled as the song ended.

Three songs later, he let go of Pansy and said, "I'm going to go get something to drink and maybe sit the next dance out."

Pansy pouted again. "But I still feel like dancing," she complained.

"I'll fill in for Draco while he takes a break," Blaise said, appearing out of nowhere.

"What will your date think of that?" Draco asked.

Blaise shrugged. "I have no idea. If you see here, why don't you ask her?"

"You've lost your date already, Zabini?" Pansy said.

Blaise nodded. "Apparently, she likes members of the opposite sex a lot. One member in particular – some Sixth Year, I think. I dunno, I saw them sneak off together two songs ago. Probably to go conduct some tomfoolery in the bushes outside."

Pansy giggled. "Poor Zabini, you must be heartbroken."

"I'm getting over it quickly," he said. He glanced over at Draco. "So, do you mind if I steal your date while you're away?"

"Go right ahead," Draco said, hoping for Pansy's sake that he didn't sound too fine with it. But honestly, he couldn't have cared less if Blaise danced with her for the rest of the evening.

He turned around and began to head for the refreshment table just as the next song – a nice, slow one – began, and he stopped in his tracks when he saw what was happening across the room: Harry had approached Hermione and Neville and was saying something to Neville, who nodded and promptly walked away from them. Harry then said something to Hermione that made her blush and smile, and before Draco realized what was happening, Harry was pulling her into his arms. The git had asked her to dance, and she had accepted!

Fuming, Draco continued over to the refreshment table where he served himself a goblet of punch. He made his way over to one of the empty tables, keeping his eyes on Harry and Hermione the entire time. He hadn't seen her looking this happy in a long time – it was obvious she was positively glowing with contentment. It figured that Potter would be the only one who could make her look like that.

He sat and watched them dancing and smiling and laughing for what seemed like forever, and he started hating Harry more and more with each second that passed.

"They look lovely together, don't they?" a sarcastic voice said from behind him.

Draco looked over his shoulder to see Ginny standing there, staring intently at Hermione and Harry on the dance floor. She shifted her gaze to him and said, "Is this seat taken?" She motioned to the chair beside him.

He shook his head. "Be my guest."

Ginny plopped down beside him and went back to watching her boyfriend slow dance with her best friend.

"You know, I don't think he's taken his eyes off her once since she arrived," she said with a frown.

"Well what did you expect?" Draco snapped. "You turned your best friend into the most beautiful girl at the Ball. You should have thought twice about that if the fact your boyfriend is flirting with her bothers you."

"I just wanted to help her!" Ginny exclaimed. "Until just a couple of days ago, she didn't even have a date, and I could tell she was feeling lousy about it. I mean, she's always hanging around me and Harry, and Ron and Lavender, and I know she feels left out. I just wanted to make everything perfect for her tonight. I figured if we made her look beautiful, she'd feel better about herself, and – oh, just forget I said anything. Why am I even telling you any of this?"

Draco sighed. "Because, Weaslette, you're angry at her. Right now she is dancing with your boyfriend, and they are looking quite cozy together, and it bothers you. So, you thought you would gripe about it to her worst enemy, hoping that maybe I would join in and we could have one big Hermione bash fest. But to be completely honest, I'm not really in the mood right now."

Ginny gaped at him. "That is not why I came over here," she said defensively. "And besides, since when are you Hermione's worst enemy? I thought those days were long gone. I thought you two were friends now."

"Who told you that?"

"Hermione did. She said you'd agreed on some sort of a truce with each other."

Draco chuckled. "Yeah, well, that certainly doesn't make us friends."

Ginny glanced sideways at him. "Oh. Then are you…more than friends?"

"Granger?" Draco sputtered. "And me? Hell no!"

"Well then why is it that when you look over at her dancing with Harry, you look about as terrible as I feel?"

Draco opened his mouth to argue with her, but no words came out. Was it really that obvious to everyone that he couldn't stand the sight of Hermione and Harry dancing so close in each other's arms?

Finally, Draco mumbled, "You're a clever one, Weaslette."

Ginny smiled slightly. "Have you told her how you feel?"

Draco groaned. "Tell her how I feel? I don't feel anything for her. She's my roommate, nothing more."

"But you just so much as admitted that you're jealous of her dancing with Harry!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down!" Draco hissed. He glanced around to make sure no other students were near enough to hear their conversation. He leaned in closer and said quietly, "Look, Weaslette, I know you think you're pretty smart, but I do not – I repeat do not – have feelings for Hermione Gra -"

"Watch out! Coming through!" a voice behind them yelled. Quickly, Draco pulled away from Ginny, just in time for Peeves to make his way between them, and to knock over everything that was on their table.

The music stopped abruptly, and everyone stopped dancing. A few of the students cried out as he whizzed by them, while others whistled and motioned for him to come over to them.

"What the hell is he doing?" Draco mumbled. Ginny shrugged.

"Peeves!" Professor McGonagall yelled as he passed by her, practically destroying everything in his path. "Peeves, you stop right this instant!"

Humming a Christmas tune as he floated around the room, he held up his hand to reveal what looked like some sort of leafy plant. When the poltergeist finally stopped moving, Draco was able to focus on the object more, and he quickly realized it was mistletoe. Suddenly, Draco understood why so many of the students wanted Peeves to fly over them – they wanted a good excuse to kiss their dates without getting reprimanded by the teachers. He couldn't help but smirk.

However, his smirk immediately vanished as Peeves made a beeline for the couple standing in the center of the dance floor – Hermione and Harry.

"Potter and Granger!" Peeves squealed. He floated above them and held the mistletoe directly over their heads. "You must kiss beneath the mistletoe!"

Everyone in the Great Hall - save Draco, Ginny, Harry, Hermione and all of the professors - let out a collective "oooh!"

"PEEVES!" McGonagall yelled as she made her way over to him. "I am warning you!"

"'Tis tradition, madam. It would be bad luck for these two to step out from beneath the mistletoe without a kiss!" Peeves said with a smirk.

Draco sat up straight in his chair and stared intently at Hermione, who appeared to be positively humiliated. Her cheeks had turned a bright shade of pink, and though it somehow made her appear even more beautiful, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

He glanced over at Ginny, who stared blankly ahead; her lips pursed together firmly. She appeared to be holding her breath.

And then he glanced back over at Hermione and Harry, who both looked quite uncomfortable. He stared at Hermione, silently willing her to look his way. But she didn't. Instead, she kept sneaking sheepish glances at Harry, who looked like he wasn't quite sure what he should do.

"Kiss her, Harry!" a voice called out from the crowd. The voice sounded suspiciously like Colin Creevey's.

Students all over the room cheered and whistled, while a few others repeated, "Kiss her! Kiss her!" over and over.

McGonagall looked quite perturbed – probably because a kiss under the mistletoe went strictly against part of her no tomfoolery rule, but at the same time, it was tradition to kiss whilst under a mistletoe and, well, she was a stickler for tradition. She gave a short nod to Harry and Hermione, as if to say, go ahead and do it, but get it over with quickly.

At least, that must have been how Harry had interpreted it, for he immediately leaned in toward Hermione…and kissed her straight on the lips.

Draco and Ginny both inhaled sharply at the same time, and Draco held his breath, waiting for the two to part.

A few seconds passed, and he couldn't wait any longer. He had to get out of there. "Fuck this," he said, his voice drowned out by all of the squeals and whistles of his fellow classmates. He pushed his chair back, stood up, and stormed off, bumping into Pansy in the process.

"Draco! Where are you going?" she asked as he brushed past her and Blaise. He ignored her completely and continued on his way, heading for the exit.

The second he was outside in the hallway, he stopped and thrust his fist into the wall, pretending it was Harry Potter's face. The pain shot up his arm, but he didn't even flinch. He didn't even notice the blood that was running down his fingers, from the gash the wall had caused. He just swore a few times and slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, but it wasn't really helping much. It was all he could do to just sit there, and not go pull Potter away from Hermione and beat the shit out of him.

"Draco? What's wrong?"

He looked up to see that Pansy had followed him out. She stared down at the wound on his hand. "What's gotten into you?"

"Just leave me alone, Pansy," he muttered through clenched teeth.

"You're hurt," she said, taking a step toward him.

Draco shot up from the floor and took a step away from her. "I said leave me alone, okay?"

"But -"

Draco turned on his heel and began to walk away. "Don't follow me," he ordered, without even glancing back at her.

He wasn't sure where he was going; he just knew it had to be somewhere far away from the Ball. Seeing Hermione lock lips with Harry was more than he could handle, and he knew if he stayed, he would attempt to kill Harry by the end of the evening. That would not be a wise thing for the Head Boy to do, either.

Fortunately for him, Pansy did not follow. He couldn't blame her. Why would she want to, after he had just ditched her without so much as an explanation?

He headed straight for the Head students' tower. When he arrived home, he grumbled the password to the portrait, which gave him a quizzical look.

"Why aren't you at the Ball?" the knight asked.

"Go to hell," Draco snapped, disappearing through the portrait hole the second it opened up.

"Fine, be that way!" he heard the portrait huff as the door closed behind him.

Draco stomped into the common room. His hand began to throb. He took a look at it – it had already turned a dark purple color from the bruise, and it was still bleeding – though not as bad as before.

"Shit," he mumbled as he noticed he'd gotten blood on his white dress shirt. He quickly removed his robes and his bowtie and headed for the bathroom to clean up. The first thing he did was rinse his wounded hand with some soap and water, and then carefully bandaged it up. Then, he removed his dress shirt and tried scrubbing out the bloodstain, but to no avail. After about five minutes, he realized he could just do a quick, simple cleaning spell on it, but opted not to. It wasn't even worth it. Instead, he grasped both sides of the shirt with his hands and pulled on it until it ripped in half. It wasn't really the best thing to do, but it sure did feel good to do it.

He crumpled up both pieces of the shirt and threw them into the trashcan. He then glanced up at himself in the mirror, and was shocked to see just how angry he looked. It was one thing to feel the anger deep down inside, but it was quite another to be able to visibly see it. He had to admit it frightened him a bit.

He wasn't sure how long he remained in the bathroom, but it was quite a while before he left for his bedroom, to change into some casual clothes. By the time he was dressed, he was feeling a little better, though a bit foolish for acting like such such a git. He wondered if this would be the first time Pansy would not forgive him.

Exiting his bedroom, he was shocked to see that Hermione was just entering the common room, a dreamy smile plastered on her face.

"Oh!" she said in surprise when she saw him. "Malfoy – you're home early."

"And you're home late," Draco said coolly, leaning up against the wall.

Hermione shook her head. "Late? What are you talking about? The Ball isn't even over yet."

"Yeah, well you told me that you'd be leaving soon after our dance," Draco reminded her. "What changed your mind?"

Hermione frowned slightly. "Nothing changed my mind. I said I'd be leaving early, so I left early."

Draco pushed himself off the wall and took a step closer to her. "Yeah, but not before you had a chance to dance with Potter."

The distaste in his voice made her flinch. "I didn't stay just so that I could dance with Harry," she said defensively.

"Oh, so then you stayed so that you could kiss him, then?"

The familiar blush crept up in Hermione's cheeks. "N-no," she stammered.

"It's okay, Granger, no need to be embarrassed," he said with false sincerity. "You got to kiss the love of your life. Good for you! You should be floating on cloud nine right now. And I'll bet you are."

"Malfoy -"

"But please," he continued, interrupting her. "Spare me the details, alright? A mudblood making out with Boy Wonder is not exactly a picture I'd like to have painted for me. No offense."

Hermione opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. She looked genuinely hurt by his comment. But instead of crying – something that the old Hermione from their first and second years would have done – she scowled at him and said indignantly, "We were not making out."

"Oh yeah?" Draco said. "Try telling that to the Weaslette."

Hermione's features softened a bit. "Ginny understands. She was fine with it."

"Was she, now? Really? Because the last time I saw her, she looked anything but fine. In fact, she looked like a girl who had just witnessed her boyfriend kissing her best friend."

"It wasn't our fault. She knows that! We had to kiss under that mistletoe - and it was a chaste kiss, at that! If Ginny wants someone to blame, she can blame Peeves. But I'm pretty sure she was okay with the whole thing. She knows there is absolutely nothing going on between Harry and myself."

Draco burst out laughing. "Good one, Granger. I take it you've never told her of the feelings you've been harboring for Harry for the past few years, then? I guess you've failed to tell her how hot and bothered he makes you, every time he enters the room. I guess you've never shown her your diary, which I'm sure is just chock-full of all sorts of sexual fantasies you've had about him. I'm betting if she knew all of that, she wouldn't be as fine with that kiss as you seem to think she is."

Hermione glared at him. "What do you even know about anything, Malfoy? You know nothing of how I feel about anyone, and you have no idea of the types of things I write about in my diary. How dare you presume to know how I feel about Harry? And since when do you care about Ginny's feelings? You hate her – like you hate Harry, like you hate Ron…like you hate me. So don't pretend like this is of any concern to you."

Her defensive tone somehow seemed to make him even angrier, and when she pushed past him toward her bedroom, he was unable to let her leave just yet.

"Don't you find it funny at all, Granger?" he called after her, before she had a chance to open her bedroom door. She stopped and turned around, glaring daggers at him.

"Do I find what funny, Malfoy?"

"Well, you know…you show up at the Ball looking like…like that -" He motioned to her attire. "You put on a pretty gown and you fix your hair and you put on the makeup, and suddenly, you're attractive. Suddenly, not only does everyone at the Ball notice you, but he notices you as well. Imagine that! Potter noticed a beautiful girl, and suddenly he wants to dance with you, and flirt withyou, and kiss you. Meanwhile, you eat his attention up and you enjoy every second of it, not even once stopping to realize what is really going on. You've been in love with Potter forever, Granger. And he has never noticed it. He's never noticed you - until tonight, of course. He looked at you tonight, and he saw a beautiful young woman standing in front of him. But he did not see Hermione Granger – he did not see the real you. He saw the person he would like you to be. But you're not that person, Granger. You're not ball gowns and hair and makeup, or other superficial things. To him, you are nothing if you're not that person. Do you understand that? Tomorrow, you're going to go back to being boring old Hermione Granger, and he's going to go back to his beautiful Weaslette girlfriend and never give you another romantic thought ever again. Isn't that funny, Granger? Don't you just find the whole thing hilarious?"

Hermione tried hard to blink back the tears that had begun to form in her eyes, but it was impossible for her to hold them back. When Draco had finally stopped talking and noticed how upset he'd made her, he instantly felt like an asshole.

"Fuck you, Malfoy," she said through clenched teeth, though she spoke calmly and softly. "Thank you so much for ruining my perfect evening." She turned around, opened the door to her bedroom, and slammed it shut behind her.

Draco stood there for a moment, feeling numb. He hadn't actually planned out that whole speech before giving it to her. If he had, he would have decided not to recite it. What he said was harsh - he knew that. He knew what he'd said had hurt her, and he felt bad. But he felt hurt as well. He was hurt that she devoted so much of her time to pining over someone who didn't love her. He was hurt that she had appeared to enjoy dancing with Harry much more than dancing with him. And as usual, the only way he knew how to deal with that hurt was by hurting her.

He paced back and forth in front of her room contemplating what to do. Part of him thought he should apologize to her immediately, but another part of him thought he should give her the rest of the night to calm down first. But eventually, the first part of him won out, and he found himself knocking on her bedroom door.

It took her a few seconds to answer. When she finally did, she swung open the door and stood there, staring at him.

She was a mess. She had already changed out of her gown and into her usual comfortable muggle clothes. She had taken her hair out of the bun, and it now hung loosely, but uncombed, past her shoulders. Beneath her eyes were dark smudges from where her mascara and eyeliner had run, due to the fact she had been crying. Draco wasn't sure how it was even possible, but even in her current distressed state, she still managed to look beautiful.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Draco finally said, in a voice barely about a whisper, "I'm sorry."

Hermione gave a slight nod, as if she were silently accepting his apology. Maybe she would have voiced her acceptance too, but Draco didn't even give her the chance. Before he could stop himself, he leaned over and kissed her.

He could sense her hesitation the second their lips touched, and for a brief moment, he contemplated pulling away. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He had wanted this for so long, and the fact that she hadn't pushed him away and slapped him yet encouraged him to continue.

Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She did not object; in fact, she reached her own arms up slowly and wrapped them around his neck as she finally began to kiss him back.

Draco's heart began to pound in his chest. What were they doing?

His grasped tightened around her waist as he lightly brushed his tongue up against hers, hesitantly – as if testing the waters. He was almost certain that would be enough for her to break away, but he was wrong. In fact, she responded by allowing him to deepen the kiss – something he wasted no time in doing.

The sudden intensity of the kiss drove Draco wild. Before he knew what he was doing, he was shifting her so that her back was firmly pressed up against the frame of the door. He pressed his body up against hers, needing to be as close to her as possible.

The kiss went on for a few more brief moments before suddenly, Hermione gasped and pushed him away as hard as she could.

She immediately brought her hand to her mouth as she stared in shock at him. Draco stared back, trying to catch his breath...trying to prevent his heart from leaping out of his chest.

Her shocked expression soon turned into a mortified one. Slowly, she moved out of the doorway and into the common room, never once breaking eye contact with him.

He wanted her to say something. Anything would have been better than the awkward silence and the look she was giving him. But when it appeared as though she wasn't going to speak, he took a step toward her and said, "Granger -"

She immediately took a step back and shook her head slightly. He wasn't sure whether it was her way of telling him not to say anything, or if she was just doing it because she was in disbelief over what had just taken place. He was not about to find out which one it was, however, because immediately after, she turned around and ran - ran out of the common room; out of the portrait hole, leaving Draco alone in the common room, asking himself what the hell just happened...

The next morning, Draco waited as long as he possibly could before exiting his bedroom, in hopes that Hermione had already left to go do something with her friends. She hadn't arrived back home last night by the time he had finally gone to bed, and he stayed awake half the night wondering where she was. He spent half of the evening worrying about whether or not she was okay, while he spent the other half (after he'd heard her return home) worrying about what would happen when he encountered her in the morning. He was not anxious to find out.

However, he knew he wouldn't be able to wait all day for her to leave, for there was always the chance Hermione would never leave the vicinity that day. So, he took a deep breath and made his way out into the common room and headed toward the bathroom.

Unfortunately, Hermione was coming out of the bathroom just as Draco neared it. She smelled like strawberries again. He did his best to avoid her gaze, but it was nearly impossible to do so when she nearly plowed into him. Obviously, she had been too distracted to notice he was standing there.

"Oh!" she cried out when she saw him. Quickly, she stepped out of his way to clear his path to the bathroom. "Good morning," she said politely.

"'Morning," Draco mumbled as he continued on his way. He didn't like ignoring her, but he didn't know what else to do.

"Wait, Malfoy," she said, just as Draco was about to shut the door behind him.

He stopped and looked at her expectedly.

"Look," she said, lowering her gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry. You know, about last night…the way I just ran off like that. You see, I -"

"Granger," he interrupted her. "You don't owe me an apology, and you don't owe me an explanation either, okay? What happened last night was a mistake, and I would like it if we could just forget it ever happened."

Hermione's face fell. "Oh," she said quietly. "It was a mistake?"

"Well, yeah," Draco said, even though deep down he knew it hadn't been. "We'd had an argument…there was tension...one thing led to another...It just happened, all right? It didn't mean anything."

"Right," Hermione said. "Yeah, I know that. I just…no, you're right. It was a mistake, and it will never happen again."

"Never," Draco agreed.

"Never again." Hermione nodded. "I just don't want things to be awkward between us, because of it."

Draco sighed. "Well it will be awkward if you keep bringing it up. Let's just forget it ever happened, agreed?" He held his hand out to her.

She took his hand in her own and shook it. "Agreed."

Their hands remained clasped together for a moment longer, before Draco quickly let go and said, "Well, I'm going to take a shower."

"Right. Yes, good idea. And I'm going to go meet up with Ginny."

"That's a good idea, too," Draco said. "I'll see you later." With that, he shut the bathroom door in front of him, separating him from Hermione. Gently, he banged his head up against the wall, silently regretting everything he had just said to her.

He actually did not end up seeing her later. They both stayed out with their friends until late that night, and they both arrived home at different times and immediately proceeded to their own bedrooms. As much as they didn't want things to be awkward between them, it could not be avoided. That kiss had changed their relationship – whatever their relationship had been beforehand - and Draco figured it would most likely be a long time before things were back to normal for them.

If only he had known what little time they had.