Masquerade

Fifth Dance

The spell had just separated them in time. One moment more and she would have confessed her theory. Her heart was quickly pounding in her chest and she could feel that her face must be red from the blush that had crept onto her cheeks. That had been a close call.

She could have easily fabricated a plausible reason but none of them would come across her lips. She had not been able to lie to him.

One more dance. It was possible to avoid him, to hide from him and escape his questioning eyes. It could all be over as quick as it started. Up to this moment she had no clue who he was outside of this spelled area.

Did she want that? No. No. A thousand times no. That was not what she wanted but she feared what would happen if she revealed her reason for her interest in his lips.

She still was not sure that him being able to see hers as well meant that he wanted to kiss her. What if he had different reasons to want that than her? Why did this have to be so complicated? When the spell was lifted after the last dance … What if he was not who she thought he was?

Or even worse: what if he rejected her? There were plenty of people who did not exactly like her. Not only because of blood status but also because of her personality. Everything was hanging in the balance until the last dance was over.

Hermione shook her head to get a clear thought and forget the endless what-ifs. Tomorrow would show if she and her mysterious stranger were meant to be. Until then she had not noticed where the spell had taken her. She must be somewhere near the potions classroom but the lights shed by the torches on the wall was not very bright.

Now that she knew where she was she realized how cold she was. Protectively she wrapped her arms around her.

"Well, if that´s not Gryffindor´s princess. You seem a little lost." Out of the shadow of a corner Blaise Zabini emerged and winked at her.

"Oh no, you must be feeling cold." Hermione shrunk back as his hand touched her arm.

"No worries. I am here now." Casually he placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She could smell alcohol on his breath. How had he been able to smuggle alcohol through the spell?

"You know, I do not care very much about blood status. But I sure know how to appreciate certain qualities in a woman." With the last words his eyes trailed down her face and neck and halted on the buttons of her blouse. The corners of his mouth lifted into a smirk and she felt his grip on her shoulder tighten.

"You know what I always wondered about?", he asked as he leaned in closer and Hermione turned her head away in disgust. "Your hair. It´s such a mess but still it is so soft. I never knew that." His hand had wandered from her shoulder into her hair and his fingers were tangled in her tresses. Still with his fingers in her hair he forced her head back to face him.

Hermione had not wrapped her fingers around her wand to curse him into oblivion when a spell hit him. "Never thought that someone could sink so low.", she heard a familiar voice hiss. Out of all people it had been Draco Malfoy who had put the petrificus totalus on his fellow Slytherin. Still for his reasons she would definitely thank him for it. As she freed herself from his grip she glared at Malfoy and pointed her wand at Malfoy. He did not seem concerned about her one bit.

"Good little Gryffindors should already be in bed, Granger. Better hurry up.", he spat and strolled on casually.

Hermione was furious. Insults she could deal with but not with this physical attack on her. She would not call what Zabini tried flirting. Reading and doing research for hours in the library had left her with great knowledge and this she would use to fix this intolerable behavior of Zabini´s for good. The spell would not last long but whenever Zabini would come into contact with a woman next time, no matter how slight, he would think about Crabbe and Goyle.

When the light of the spell had soaked into Blaise´s body she heard a short snort like laughter. When Hermione turned towards the sound she only saw the retreating back of Malfoy.

That prick. Sooner or later he would find himself left alone for being the asshole he was.

That night Hermione returned to Gryffindor tower and lay in bed smiling while she imagined Zabini cringe while touching a girl and wondering how long it would take him to figure out her spell.

The next morning was the first step to ending the dance event. Professor Fedorova had called all of them into the great hall for practice after breakfast.

A lot of her fellow students seemed eager to find out what the Professor had to say while others seemed bored. Before the end of the dance event they were to learn a simple spell that would enable them to transfigure another person´s mask and keep them in their actual state. With this spell you would finally know how you had looked for another student. This would be possible only during the last minutes. The ringing tune of a dozen bells would be the signal that they could perform the spell. It was not mandatory but a nice addition to the spell.

Hermione was in one corner of the hall with the other Gryffindors when Ron thrust his elbow into her rips.

"Ouch! Have you gone insane?", she snapped at him while he motioned for her to be quiet.

"Don´t draw so much attention. Just wanted to point out that Malfoy seems to show quite the interest in the girls." Annoyed Hermione merely rolled her eyes at him while rubbing her rips. "Yeah, I also noticed.", Harry joined in.

"So? That´s not news.", Hermione tossed in and punched Ron on the arm.

"Nuh Uh.", Ron said as he waved his finger in front of her eyes. "Girls, sure, but he always left some out. Not today."

"Tsk. You think he found himself a Beauty for his Beast?" While Ron looked at her dumbfounded, Harry burst out laughing.

"Nah, no person in their right mind would fall for him. Parkinson, maybe, but other than that?", Harry mocked Malfoy. "Definitely no Gryffindor.", Ron replied.

"I think you are reading too much into this.", Hermione said and turned back to practice her spell.

Although she thought that the boys´ speculations were utter nonsense she still caught Malfoy watching her during training and unlike many other times he did not turn away in disgust or shot her a glare. He seemed so deep in thought that he merely stared at her until she broke the eye contact. Still the reason Malfoy was interested in all the girls had to be different from what Harry and Ron suspected.

Still it nagged at the back of her mind and reminded her of her own possible problems of the outcome of the ball. Although he had always seemed very sincere he could have played her all along. What if she did not like his real self … or even worse: what if he was Malfoy?

Distracted as she was she shot the spell at Lavender and dyed the back of her skirt into shades of blue. Lavender took revenge by configuring Hermione´s uniform into something very pink and furry. Before more spells and curses could be exchanged Professor Fedorova stepped between them and fixed both of them with a glare. Harry and Ron offered to help her turn her clothes back into her uniform but she firmly rejected it. With their "skills" they would only manage to make it worse.

Until the start of the last dance Hermione spend her time in the bathroom like many other girls. Everyone wanted to look their best. Hair was smoothed or curled. Lips were painted in many shades of red and pink. Rouge was applied. Earrings and other accessories were chosen. Some like Lavender and Pavarti redid their make-up multiple times.

Hermione chose a golden hair clip to tame her tresses and let Ginny do a discreet make-up. Both girls were preparing for someone special but they did not speak about it.

When all the Gryffindor girls had vanished from the bathroom Ginny held Hermione back. Slowly she pulled out a beautiful purple hairband.

"You think this is pretty?" Just then Hermione remembered her talking about a girl from the dance that shared the interest for fashion with Ginny.

"Yeah, sure. It´s lovely.", Hermione encouraged her with a broad smile which her friend returned.

On the stairs down to the entrance area Hermione halted and waved for Ginny and the others to go on without her. Slowly she took a deep breath and let it out.

"Here goes nothing.", she said to cheer herself on as she took deliberate steps forward. The familiar spinning feeling grabbed hold of her and she felt herself shifting forward. She was falling when her wrist was held and she twirled around. Her face hit something soft and she let out a loud huff. When she opened her eyes she saw familiar silver suit buttons.

"Careful there." A playful smirk was playing around his lips as he locked eyes with her.

"With you coming in so quickly one could think you were planning to run from something. Or rather someone?" Although she could not see him lifting his eyebrow in question but she knew he was. Well, at least that was what she imagined him to do.

"I´m not running from anyone.", she replied and tried to hold his gaze.

"I seem to remember that you still owe me an answer." Heat rose in her cheek and it was hard to breath. "I will get my answer." A row of bright white teeth shone in his smile.

"You want to dance?" Grateful for the change of subject Hermione let the breath go she had not realized she had held.

"Gladly."

Her mind went blank as their bodies moved in the rhythm of the music. The only sensation was of her hand in his. Warm and tender. Hermione would not even have noticed that the music had stopped had he not halted them both.

"You still in there?", he asked and his face was so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"What if you don´t like the real me?" Hermione had not meant to say that but now it was out in the open. Her hand shot to her mouth to cover it before she said more. A deep sigh could be heard from him and he almost looked disappointed. With a slight movement of his head he told her to follow him. He led her to their usual spot. There it was quiet and they were alone. As he took her hand into his it felt like electricity shot through her.

"What if the me right now is the real me and the one outside this spell is not? Because I have not felt like myself in a long while. Would you still like me?" Hermione stared at him. Apparently she had not been the only one who had thought about this.

"You know, I have the feeling that you might not be as different from yourself right now as I will be … believe me." His blue eyes shone with such intensity that Hermione was captivated by them. Without a doubt she was sure that right in that moment she was able to experience the true identity of her stranger. There was a certain fragility about him.

"I´ll guess we have to find out but I´m quite sure I will still like you." It took all her determination to squeeze his hand.

Their fingers lazed together and they merely stood there holding hands and enjoying the moment. Sadly even the most perfect moments had to end. He had inched towards her until their heads were level. From there he made for her face, or that she had thought, but moved his lips towards her ear. His hot breath tickled her and her heart pounded so hard she doubted that he could not hear it.

"Back to your theory. Maybe it will be easier on you if you just whisper it into my ear. I won´t judge." The heat rising in her body felt like it would burn her inside out. Her breathing became heavy and she had to hold on to him for support out of fear her knees would give out.

"I think that … that if you can see the other´s lips", Hermione took a deep breath. "If you see the other´s lips you … you … want to kiss them." The heat was unbearable in the silence. The only thing she could hear was his tongue darting out of his mouth. His breathing seemed different from before.

"Interesting theory."

With that he drew back from her so he could look into her eyes.

"So, do you want to kiss me?" The question was so straight forward that it knocked the breath out of Hermione and she stared at his aghast. "Because I sure do."

With a finger below her chin he gently raised her face towards him and placed his lips on hers. First it was soft, then more urgent and in the end very passionate. Hermione felt like she would go ablaze.

It was the sound of tiny bells all over the area that made them separate. "It´s time for the spell.", she said still a little breathless. Both performed the spell on the other so their masks would stay the way they were seen. From inside they could hear the others loudly counting backwards.

"9…8…"

"I´m still scared." It was said so quietly that Hermione had barely heard it but she smiled up at him. "You don´t have to be." Standing on the tips of her toes she kissed him.

"7… 6… 5…" While gazing into each other´s eyes they put their hands on the sides of their mask to take them off when the spell was lifted.

"4 … 3…" Hermione´s heart fluttered and her palms were went with sweat.

"2…"

"POTTER!", the scream was coming from a far corner of the area close to them and it sounded menacing. Hermione whipped around.

"1…" her mask fell to the floor as she ran towards the light of flying curses.

The whole dance event was a trap meant for Harry. Professor Fedorova turned out to be a Death Eater and agent of Antonin Dolohov, one of the Dark Lord´s longest-serving Death Eaters. During the dances she had made herself look like a boy Harry´s age and lured him away from the others for "handy tips for Quidditch" which the trusting Harry did not reject.

When Hermione turned up Harry was already in battle with her. Together they could fend off the Death Eater long enough for Professor McGonagall to reach them.

Hermione never learned her stranger´s identity although she kept on the lookout for clues and hints. Those never came and soon she dismissed the hope of ever finding him. She had turned from him just when the spell was lifted so he had surely recognized her. It was quite ironical that it turned out to be him who did not like her while he had always assured her that it would be the other way around.

Ginny had been shocked when she found out that her new girl friend was Pansy Parkinson. The two of them immediately separated and shouted foul words at each other but Hermione still had the feeling that the hatred between them was not as passionate as before and she also caugth Pansy wearing the purple hair band once or twice.

Ron had been surprised that it had not been Hermione he had been flirting with but Padma Patil. They were a little akward around each other at first but then Hermione saw them more and more together. Although they had not been very fond of each other during the Yule ball this ball had brought them together.

/ so I hope you like this chapter. I am highly doubting that I will be able to finish this until the end of the year but I´m on it.