See past chapters for disclaimer, please. And now, Chapter 5. Finally.

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It was the day of the ball, and the Hogwarts seventh year students hadn't been this unfocused since the Weasley twins had turned part of the castle into a swamp. Girls were chattering excitedly, making plans to get ready together; boys were making plans to sneak in firewhiskey. Hermione felt quite proud as she surveyed the Great Hall. One wall was covered with pictures from all seven years of school, along with the class picture from every year up to the current, and beneath them was a table filled with an extravagant layout of food and drink. They had all kinds of dessert, along with a few different main dishes and enough of pumpkin juice and butterbeer to last the class a week. The ceiling was left as is, and it was sure to be a beautiful night, perfect for seeing the stars. The floor resembled ice (though not slippery), transparent in order to see the multicolored lights that they had placed underneath. All in all, it looked fantastic. It was going to be an interesting night.

It hadn't been easy, of course. The last week had been a whirlwind of decorating, making sure everyone knew the rules, the times; making sure the band would be able to find the castle, making the gift bags, finding pictures for the wall. McGonagall had been breathing down her and Draco's neck all week, but had finally given them the seal of approval and bade them goodnight at ten the previous night.

Bed… Just the word made Hermione's heart flutter. She and Draco had been sleeping together every night all week, and it was wonderful. The only time they were able to be together was in the privacy of the common room, and in order to keep up appearances- mostly on his end- they weren't usually in the common room until after dinner. Hermione was fine with it, though; she had been catching up with Harry, Ginny, and Luna lately. Ron was always there as well, but they didn't say much to each other. She had learned, however, that he and Luna were having problems. Apparently, he wanted to take their relationship to the "next level", and she didn't. It made Hermione uncomfortable to hear about; had that been her and not Luna, it would have been much the same situation.

As it was, she was lucky. Draco had, shockingly, not tried even once to do anything she wasn't comfortable with. He slept in pajama pants; she slept in shorts and a tank top. They kissed and touched, but nothing too intimate. He seemed okay with taking it slow, and she was grateful. She had had her doubts at first, but he had immediately reassured her that they would go no further until she was ready.

"Granger, everything is perfect," came an exasperated voice from her side. Speak of the devil. Hermione winced mentally; it was strange, being so close in private and having to pretend they weren't in public. But she understood the need; she herself wasn't quite up to dealing with the rumors and stares. "The ball is in three hours. Go get ready."

"I was just making sure," she replied defensively. There was no one else in the hall, but she kept her tone even anyway; people liked to eavesdrop at Hogwarts. "Now that you mention it, though, I'm supposed to meet Ginny…," she muttered, glancing at her watch.

"Like I care. Meet in front of the hall at seven thirty. No one should be arriving before then, and we need to greet people," he sneered, then dropped his voice to a low murmur and stepped quickly to her side to speak softly into her ear. "I'll see you later, beautiful."

She smiled and brushed his hand before he pulled away and stalked off. Okay, so it was kind of fun.

--

"There, Hermione, you look gorgeous," Ginny said smugly.

It was thirteen after seven (Hermione had been checking the clock every ten seconds), and Hermione was relieved when she heard those words. Finally. She didn't want to be late to her own ball!

"Thanks, Gin," she said gratefully. "I never in a million years could have done this without you!"

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, well," she replied airily. "What are friends for?"

Hermione smiled back. "I'd better get going. You look perfect, Ginny. You can hang out here as long as you like. See you later!"

"Bye! Oh, and Hermione?"

Hermione stopped at the portrait, turning back to Ginny. "Yes?"

"Draco is hot. Enjoy him, okay?"

"Oh, Ginny." She rolled her eyes and left the common room. Ginny was the only one, as far as Hermione knew, that was aware of her and Draco, and she never missed a chance to make some sly remark about it.

As she approached the entrance to the Great Hall, she was once again impressed. The doors were thrown wide open, and through them you could see the wall with the pictures, the table of food, and an area set up with tables and chairs. You had to enter the hall in order to see the dance floor and the band.

Draco was waiting outside the hall, as he said he would be. He looked stunning in his dress robes. They resembled a muggle tuxedo, and he had an emerald green tie to match her dress. She realized once again how Slytherin he really was.

"Hermione…wow." He smiled at her as she approached, and she mentally thanked Ginny for talking her into buying the dress. The alterations were perfect; the back was still nonexistent, but there was no longer a slit up the leg, and the v-neck had been turned into a sort of cowl; the extra fabric hinted at an appealing chest in a classy way. The straps were made of silver beads (also very Slytherin, Hermione realized with a grimace), and by the look on Draco's face, it looked good.

"You too," she replied, though "wow" was an understatement. If anyone was born to wear black tie, it was Draco Malfoy. He looked perfect.

He quickly looked around to see if anyone was looking, then tugged her into the shadows and kissed her urgently. She returned the kiss with fervor, being careful not to run her fingers through his hair like she so desperately wanted to. His hands, as well, stayed at her back, though they did their fair share of roaming.

He pulled away all too quickly, straightening his tux and backing up to his post at the door, smirking at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes, once again grateful for Ginny; it had been the redhead's idea to use a minor sticking charm on the lip gloss, "for when you get thirsty", she had said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Hermione then went to the other side of the doors, and settled in to greet people and hand out the goodie bags.

--

"And now, the Head Boy and Head Girl, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, will share a dance to kick off the night!," said the lead singer of the band they had hired, The Enchantments, and gestured to his band to begin the music.

Hermione looked around; she didn't see Draco anywhere. But her worries disappeared as he came up behind her, put his hand on her back, and led her to the middle of the dance floor. She placed her hand on his shoulder, the other hand in his, met his eyes, and then everything around them dissolved.

His eyes, so shallow and flat at first glance, now held a depth she never before would have expected them to be able to hold. The grey color was flecked with bits of blue; they were really quite beautiful. They seemed to light up from within when he smiled or laughed, and she loved the way they creased when he did so. He gave her a small smile just then, as if he could read her mind, and she blushed in return.

Sudden applause rang out around them, and it broke the trance. Hermione was disappointed; now she would have to leave his arms. He squeezed her hand and dropped it slowly, replacing his smile with a smirk as he walked off the dance floor to join his friends. Hermione followed suit.

She went to Ginny's side as the band struck up another song, this one much faster and more upbeat. Ron and Luna were fighting as she approached; something about him wanting to sneak off for a snog session.

"Annoying, aren't they?" Ginny muttered to Hermione, dragging her to the middle of the floor. "They fight all the time now, he's such a pig… Anyway, let's dance! You and Draco looked amazing together, by the way. I realized I've never seen you two together; not fighting, anyway. It's quite attractive," she added with a smirk.

Hermione blushed again. "Thank you," she muttered, unsure what else to say. Truthfully, it surprised her that Ginny was taking the whole thing so well. Apparently it paid off to have a friend so interested in good looking men.

She followed Ginny to the center of the dance floor, glancing around sneakily to see if Draco was around. She couldn't find him, so she focused on dancing instead, letting her hips sway and her arms raise above her head. Hermione had fallen in love with dancing at the Yule Ball, though admittedly the whole experience had been lit up by everyone's shock and envy, and then she had been able to spend time with her date. The more she thought about it, the more she had half a mind to just find Draco, drag him to the center of the dance floor, and kiss him in front of everyone. Knowing she couldn't do so made her somewhat sad, and she moved a bit slower, her gaze dropping to the lit floor, following its colors and wishing she were graduated.

Hogwarts had been her home away from home- well, actually, just her plain home- for seven years now. The thought of leaving its magnificence and mystery made her heart clench. At the same time, she was ready to get out into the real world and make something of herself. She was already somewhat famous, of course, having been in the papers numerous times as Harry Potter's best friend and love interest (ha!). But it was time she broke away from that and did something more meaningful.

It wouldn't hurt to be able to see Draco whenever she wanted, as well.

"Hermione?," came Ginny's voice from her side.

"Hmm?," Hermione replied eloquently.

"I said incoming!" Ginny jerked her head in the direction behind Hermione, and for a split second the brown-haired witch hoped it was Draco, come to tell her that Harry and Ron had approached him and said that if he didn't kiss Hermione straight away, they would hex him into next year.

But it wasn't Draco, it was Cormac McLaggen, one guy who would just not take a hint. Ever since gthey had gone to Slughorn's party together in sixth year, he has been approaching her regularly to flirt, tell her jokes, and just generally be a thorn in her side. Hermione sighed, put on a small smile, and said a simple hello as he approached her.

"Would you like to dance?," he asked, sounding more confident than Hermione thought he needed to be.

"Sure," she replied, trying not to feel as reluctant as she felt. Thank Merlin it was an upbeat song, so she wouldn't be forced to touch him and give him any ideas. Although, she now realized, this was an excellent opportunity to make Draco jealous. In fact, it was perfect. Draco didn't know she disliked McLaggen, and she did love to watch him squirm. It gave her a boost of confidence to know that she could make Draco Malfoy, Head Boy and possibly the most intimidating boy at Hogwarts, lose his composure, even if for a moment. He had dated Pansy for two years and she hadn't ever seen him blink an eye at the guys she hung around.

With this in mind, she moved her hips a little slower, and smiled a little wider at McLaggen, who responded enthusiastically by snapping his fingers and moving his feet in what she assumed was supposed to be some form of dancing. Her smile grew even more as she watched him; it was quite pathetic, really, but of course she would never tell him that. At least he was trying.

Cormac reached for Hermione, taking her hip in his hand and managed to pull her about four inches closer before there came a flash of white blond hair and suddenly McLaggen was a foot away, Draco scowling between them.

"McGonagall wants to see us out in the hall. Now," he growled. Without offering an explanation to poor Cormac, he tugged Hermione away, who could do nothing more than throw the poor boy and apologetic glance before turning away and trying to keep up with Draco.

He walked quickly out of the Great Hall, but McGonagall was nowhere to be seen. "Dr- Malfoy, I thought you said-"

But she was cut off by his lips, closing urgently over hers as he backed her into the shadows once more. He kissed her passionately, and she sensed a hint of anger in the way he- albeit sexily- pinned her arms above her head and moved his lips down her throat, sucking at her pulse point. She gasped in shock, confused as to what had made him so angry and needy. It felt amazing, though, so she let him finish whatever he needed to get out of his system. His mouth moved back up her neck, circling around to kiss her ear and returning to her lips before he finally pulled away, though he didn't release her hands.

He was looking deep into her eyes, and in his she saw fury, exasperation, lust, and raw jealousy. Was that what this was about? Had that simple little dance evoked this reaction?

He was silent for a moment, searching for words. Finally he spoke. "I didn't like seeing you with him," he admitted. It seemed to make him even angrier, having to say that. "I don't get jealous, and it doesn't make sense that I did. This is supposed to be a secret, after all. But…I just wished we could be like that. Able to be that close without a crowd watching and wondering. They'd probably think I'd slipped you a love potion," he added bitterly.

Hermione smiled sympathetically. "If anything, I should I would be the one needing to slip the love potion. But who cares? Who cares what they think? I…like you. Very much. I just want to be with you; secret or no. I can deal with it."

"But you don't deserve this," he said quietly, finally releasing her arms and dropping his to his sides helplessly. "You should be with someone who can give you what you deserve; McLaggen, maybe. At least with him you wouldn't need to sneak off into the shadows to touch each other."

Hermione was more than a little surprised at this violent mood swing; she preferred the sexy snog against the wall, if she was going to be honest, but it upset her to see him like this. Did he not realize how much she had grown to care about him? She grabbed his wrists and pulled him close again, so that they were nearly nose to nose. "You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. If it means I get to be with you at all, well, I'm taking what I can get! Once we graduate we can do whatever we like, whenever we like," she said teasingly, smiling and raising a hand to his soft cheek.

He seemed a bit mollified, and leaned into her embrace, catching her lips with his once again. This kiss was different; still needy, but in a more…caring way. She didn't know how to explain it properly, but it was nice. It made her tingle all over. They broke apart and she rested her head against his chest, his 

arms going around her. They stayed that way for several moments before a gasp behind them caused them to jump apart.

They whipped around, meeting the eyes of none other than Cormac McLaggen.

--

Yay, that only took me four months. Ah well, let's just say I had a rough summer. And a rough start of school. It left me little time to write. Actually, the entire time I was writing this, I was peering out my window, watching for TPers. Yep, it's Homecoming again. sigh Ah well. Special thanks to Mallory Monroe for inspiring me to finally finish this damn chapter. Check out her story, Pulse, set in the wonderful world of Twilight. It's amazing!

Oh, and as for Hermione's ball gown, think Keira Knightley in atonement. I actually didn't make that connection until after I had written it, but Hermione's dress is of course without the v-neck. Anyway, if you haven't seen Atonement (or read the book), I suggest you do one or the other, or both.

Thank you and good night.