Hey guys, I got a good response to the last chapter so I hope you guys enjoy this one just as much.

Chapter Twenty-One

Draco's Point of View

I'm a lucky bastard.

Hermione looked amazing.

Her dress flowed over her like a golden waterfall; gently casscading down her body. Her hair was in a mess of elegant curls. They were caressing her face and she looked up at me through her eyelashes. I motioned for her to twirl with a smile on my face.

She smiled and did as I asked.

Her dress was backless.

OHH FUCK MY LIFE!

This evening is going to be bloody impossible for me.

And by me. . .I mean my boner that was bound to come at some point during the evening.

"How do I look?"

I smirked at her as I wrapped my arms around her bare back, "Extremely beautiful, just like you always do."

She giggled softly.

It wasn't everyday that you heard Hermione Granger giggle. She didn't seem girly enough for such a gesture.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She whispered into my ear and gave me a soft peck. She twirled my golden tie around her figners. Tease.

A wolf whistle sounded from behind us as Blaise and Daphne Greengrass strolled up. Daphne was in an emerald gown with a deep V-neck. It scraped along the floor and gave her a look of maturity.

Blaise has been in a happy trance ever since he'd asked her to the ball and she'd said yes.

Blaise wore a simple suit, like myself, with a green tie the same shade as Daphne's dress.

"How are you, Blaise?" Hermione questioned with a smile as she gave him a quick squeeze around the middle.

He grinned from ear to ear, "Bloody brilliant."

"Because of Miss Daphne over here!" I accused him as I gave Daphne a peck on the cheek.

Blaise's cheeks grew an unfamiliar shade of red as he looked over at Daphne.

"Yes, it may be because of her."

"Are you lot coming or not?" Ginny yelled down the corridor. "You'll be late!"

Ginny's dress was a skin hugging up top, strapless, pure white with small designs crawling around the bodice, and it could put any man in awe. Her hair was in long, perfectly shaped ringlets and she wore a simple necklace that was in the shape of an H.

I gave her a quick hug as Potter did to Hermione.

"You look fantastic, Ginny." I whispered to her, earning a smile and a thank you.

Potter grasped Ginny's hand as we walked down the corridor to the Great Hall. A series of colors surrounded us as we entered it.

...the lights were being tested.

We had to be in the Great Hall an hour before it started to make sure everything was in order. Our earlier meeting we discussed all the little details that had to be done, but my Ms. Perfectionist of a girlfriend wanted to do another check now.

The votes for the King and Queen were in and the bright orange envelope floated above us in a crystal dome along with the crowns that Ginny and Dean picked out. Professor McGonagal would name the canidates and then, once everyone was on stage, she'd tell the winners.

The rest of the prefects were sitting on the stage talking and laughing...well, except for Pansy. She was in the corner, with a very slutty pink dress that barely reached mid thigh, sulking.

We reached them and I swear they all the guys at Hermione's breasts. I mean they were kind of put on display in her dress, but so were Daphne's!

I cleared my throat and wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist.

"All right." I spoke over everyone. "We need to make sure everything is in order for the ball."

Hermione nodded, "We also need to make sure that the bands have everything they need. I'll put an amplifying spell on them before they perform. Any questions or concerns?"

Everybody shook their heads and Hermione continued, "Okay then. Everybody do your assigned job. The dates of who aren't actually prefects, they can just follow me and I can find something for them to do."

Daphne, Harry, Luna, and all the other dates followed Hermione. I gave her a quick kiss and watched her sexy ass as she walked away.

"Hey, Drake, stop checking out Hermione's backside!" Blaise shouted, causing Hermione to turn her head and give me a seductive smirk.

"She's my girlfriend. I can do what I want." I growled and punched Blaise's shoulder playfully. "I'm sure you do the same exact thing to Daphnie."

That shut him up.

He got real quiet when it came to Daphnie. His face usually turned red and he'd mumble things that you couldn't hear properly.

The ball was bound to be spectacular because, let's face it, Hermione is a genius.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"May I have this dance?" I bowed and held out my hand for Hermione to take.

She delicately placed her hand in mine, "Why yes, you may."

Late Night Reading was on stage with their song Perfection. It wasn't exactly a slow song, but it had meaning. Hermione listened to the lyrics as she swung around in my arms. I sang the song softly in her ear as we twirled together. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against my chest.

"I love y-" She began, before continuing, "your tie."

I chuckled quietly in her ear, causing a shiver to run up her bare spine. I longed for her to say those three little words, but it seemed like it was a battle of stubborness. I was too stubborn to admit the fact that I did in fact love her, but I didn't want to be the weak one and say it first. Hermione, on the other hand, seemed like she didn't want her true feelings interfering with the fact that we were happy right now. Perhaps she thought that if she said those three words that the happy, Draco-Hermione life wouldn't be the same as it was. Because I also worried about that.

What if Hermione began to be uncomfortable around me because I said them first? Then what would I do with my life? I'd be the reason for her weariness and stiffness! That's another item on the "Reasons Draco Malfoy Doesn't Say I Love You First" list.

"Thank you," I winked and kissed her cheek softly, tenderly.

She glanced up at me with a concentrated look in her eyes. "You are so perfect."

That caused me to laugh out loud.

"You can't be serious." I said once I stopped the laughter. "I'm anything but perfect. If anyone is perfection in this room...it's you, Granger. You are so smart and beautiful and you're the most independent woman I know. I adore and admire you. You are so perfect, Granger, not me."

Her plump lips formed into a full blown grin and blush.

"You always know what to say to me." Her eyes wandered down. "It makes me have butterflies inside."

"Is that a Muggle expression because, quite frankly, I don't see how you can have a butterfly in your stomach." I asked, being honestly confused and intrigued.

She laughed and locked her hands in my hair.

"You are adorable! Yes, it's a Muggle expression and it means that you make me feel tingly inside whenever you say something sweet or sincere."

She brought her head down to hers as I said, "Crazy muggle expressions."

She gave me a grin before placing her lips on my own.

Her kissing skills never seized to amaze me. She knew exactly what made I liked: the scraping of teeth across my bottom lip, her tongue sweeping over my own. Her mouth seemed to mold to mine as we swayed there on the dance floor and before long we had drawn numerous eyes to ourselves. Hermione didn't seem to notice the whispers around us.

I pulled back and placed my hands on her cheeks.

"We have an audience." I whispered and motioned to everyone around us. "We are so this school's 'it' couple."

She laughed warmly before shouting, "You all are perverts! Who watches two people kiss?"

"Them." I inserted before completely ignoring them and gathering Hermione back into my arms. Everybody else seemed to resume to their dancing.

Falling in Reverse was on stage singing "Time For Redemtion".

Hermione was staring thoughtfully at the band.

"What's on your mind, love?"

She continued to stare at the band as she replied, "This song's good."

Simple enough, but I could see her thinking still.

"There's more, isn't there?"

"This is how you feel isn't it?" She replied instantly. "You feel like the song's saying, don't you?"

Make up runs down your cheeks

Found that you are lost again

Try to make your way back home

Found that you're alone

Put on your dress and look your best

Let this be your night

We'll laugh and die

So, drink it down

You need this now

Make the pain go away

I can't be saved

"I'll have you know, Granger, that I am not a lady." I smirked down at her. I knew she wasn't implying that part. I knew exactly what she was thinking when she claimed the comparison. I was very familiar with this song, because it was one of Blaise's personal favorites, but it didn't mean that I was going ot confess everything to Hermione now.

She slapped my arm and glared up at me, "You know what I'm inferring, Malfoy." I was surprised to see that her eyes were filling with tears as she glared at me.

I placed my hand on the side of her neck as she let the tears slowly fall down her cheeks.

"What did you expect me to say?" I whispered softly. "Did you want me to say that I feel exactly like the song says? Did you want me to tell you how I used hide in my room when I was at the manor because I was afraid of being Crucio'd by my own father? Did you want me to tell you that I've always felt alone in this word because I never had people who cared about me?"

She looked at me with those tear-filled eyes and murmured, "Actually yes, I did expect you to tell me something that you felt."

I rested my head against the top of hers before replying, "I'm a Malfoy, love. We have a hard time expressing our feelings."

"I've realized."

"Yes, Granger, I feel like that."

She nodded slowly as she moved her head so she could look me in the eye.

"I'm glad you can tell me things."

I gave her a sensitive peck and closed my eyes as I rested my forehead against hers.

"I'm glad that I actually want to tell you things."

She was smiling at me like I was her favorite person in the world. Tears were still leaking out of her eyes and I carefully wiped them off with my thumb.

Right now would be the perfect time to say it.

Right now would be the perfect time to say those three words.

Right now...was it.

"Granger, I-"

"Everybody, it is time to crown our King and Queen of the Halloween Ball!" Ginny smiled into the microphone.

Damn it! Sometimes I want to kill people.

Hermione turned us toward the stage and held my hand as we listened to Ginny get the crowd pumped up. Not that they needed to get anymore rowdier. They were already screaming and yelling with excitement.

"Is everybody ready?" She hollered and ran down the stage. She was quite good at this sort of thing.

She stopped and muttered a spell.

The orb at the top of the hall was floating down and over to the stage where Ginny stood.

"The nominees for King are: Harry Potter, Blaise Zabini, Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, and Draco Malfoy!"

Hermione squeaked and pushed me toward the stage along with all the others.

It didn't seem quite fair that the picks were either Gryfinndor or Slytherin and none of them were Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

Potter took his place beside me a gave me a small smirk.

"You know that you're going to win, don't you?"

I simply shook my head and laughed quietly.

"The nominees for Queen are: Myself, Lavender Brown, Luna Lovegood, Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, and Hermione Granger!"

Hermione threw me and smile before making her way up stage.

The orange envelope zoomed into Ginny's hand.

"And the winner of the King is...DRACO MALFOY!"

Orange and black confetti rained down from the ceiling as the crown was placed on my head. There were cheers and Hermione was whistling for me!

"And the winner of the Queen is...HERMIONE GRANGER!"

She laughed as she made her way over to me and the tiara was tucked into her locks.

Hermione and myself took a bow before she stepped up to the microphone.

"Thank you all for choosing Draco and myself as King and Queen!" She grinned. "I hope you have a lovely rest of the time at this ball!"

They clapped, whistled, and hollered for her as she returned to the dance floor; waiting upon our dance together as King and Queen.

"As Hermione said, thank you for picking us." They clapped, thinking I was finished, but I stopped them. "I'm not quite finished."

Hermione was looking at me curiously as I smiled.

"I was in the middle of telling Hermione something when Ginny here intervened with the nominees." My gaze was locked on Hermione's. "And it was rather important. Would you all mind if I just said it here instead?"

The roar from the crowd was deafening. They obviously wanted to know what was so special.

"I was going to tell her..." The silence was more deafening than the roars. "I was going to tell her that I love her."

Whatcha think? Yes? No? Yes? Yes?

Well I hope you liked it! Please review.

Ohh and make sure to look up...

Perfection by Late Night Reading

and

Time For Redemption by Falling In Reverse

if you aren't familiar with them! They are rather amazing!