Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

When Lines Are Blurred	By : DivineAngel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 29692 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
Disclaimer:
As usual, I don't own this world, I'm just visiting.

Chapter 17: The Ball and The End

Hermione climbed gingerly
through the portrait hole, unaware of the shapes sat by the
flickering fire.

"Hermione!"
Harry's voice called. She looked up to see Harry and Ron standing and
rushing towards her. They both looked a state, clothes torn, faces
swollen and bloody, Harry's glasses were sat at an awkward angle.
Hermione let out a laugh and pulled them both into a hug. Surprised
at first by her reaction, then relieved, the boys began to laugh too.
Soon they were sat together talking over each other about the
excitement. McGonagall had happened upon the fight and docked points
from both houses. They had refused to tell her what the fight was
about, not wanting to divulge anything Hermione might want keeping
private, for which she was thankful. She wasn't sure why, but she
knew she didn't want to report Malfoy. He hadn't succeeded in raping
her, and she knew that his family still held too much power in the
wizarding world for any charge to go anywhere and the beating he had
taken from her friends was a satisfactory punishment. It was the end
of her school days, she wanted nothing more than to enjoy the Ball
and leave with a clean slate.

When the time came to
meet Justin, she changed and cleaned herself up, as did the boys and
they went together. Harry and Ron had brought her things back from by
the lake and Hermione felt bad for Justin, who had most likely been
hunting in the dusk light for them.

They arrived at the
agreed meeting point, Justin was already there, a worried look on his
face.

"Hi Justin, sorry,
Harry and Ron brought my things." The two boys smiled
apologetically over her shoulder. Justin nodded and placed a
concerned hand on her shoulder.

"How are you doing?"
He asked, searching her eyes.

"I'm ok."
Hermione gave him a reassuring smile and the four of them decided to
sneak down to the kitchens for some food, having missed dinner. They
ate together, laughing and enjoying the hospitality of the
house-elves, speculating on who had won the house cup and what
Dumbledore might have said in his traditional end-of-year speech. The
evening slipped by quickly and before they knew it it was midnight
and they were all feeling tired. They parted ways and headed for bed,
anticipation of the forthcoming Ball almost palpable.

The next morning
Hermione, Ginny, Lavender and Parvati went to collect their costumes
from Hogsmeade. The shop was packed with people on the same errand
and Hermione was glad to get out of there again. They returned to the
castle and sat in the common room making their masks. Hermione's
dress was made from a stunning light blue satin, with layers of lace
over the top and folds of enchanted underskirt, giving the
Venitian-style shape without awkward hoops. The bodice was tight,
showing plenty of cleavage and had tight sleeves to the elbow, which
then billowed out in a cascade of lace to the wrists. The dress was
decorated with small blue and silver beads and silver embroidered
thread in a subtle vine-like pattern. A layer of pale silver lace
covered the skirt, a hint of glitter showing through that shimmered
as the fabric moved in the light. She was making her mask to match,
cutting it off at the nose. She matched the surface to the colour and
fabric of her dress, added a trim of silver and dark blue sequins and
applied a charm to make it mould to her face without the aid of
elastic.

After a light lunch in
the common room, Hermione went to the Great Hall to help decorate it
for the evening. Justin was already there when she arrived and they
worked tirelessly all afternoon with Professors McGonagall and
Flitwick, transfiguring this and charming that to make it all
perfect. At half past five they were more or less done, Hermione and
Justin left the finishing touches to the teachers and house-elves
while they went to get themselves ready. Hermione got changed quite
quickly and spent quite some time charming her hair into long
ringlets and applied some natural make-up. She looked at herself in
the mirror, the buzz of Ginny, Lavender and Parvati getting ready
around her seemed a million miles away and she found herself smiling,
pleased with what she saw. A thought crept into her head, vague and
incomplete, but hinting that someone else would be pleased with what
they saw too. She snapped back to reality and wondered where the
stray thought had come from and to whom it was referring.

The other girls had
equally stunning gowns, Ginny's in light green to accent her hair and
eyes, Parvati in dark red and Lavender had finally bowed to her name
and gone for a lavender silk number. The girls were relieved that,
unlike the Yule Ball in their fourth year, most students had not made
much of a fuss over taking dates, while most had coupled up, the
exams had prevented people from getting too worked up about it and
all of the sixth and seventh year Gryffindors were going as a group
together. The girls met the boys in the common room at seven thirty,
everyone fussed over each other's outfits and more than one female
felt giddy at the sight of the guys in their brightly coloured,
highly decorative seventeenth century costumes. Hair and voice were,
of course, key identifiers with everyone in their masks, no one could
miss Ron or Dean, and Seamus shouted in his strong Irish accent,
making it easy to pinpoint him and the group made their way in a
swirl of noise and excitement to the Great Hall.

Hermione felt a quiet
buzz inside, knowing what the hall was going to look like and made
her way through the crowd gathering in the entrance hall to the huge
double doors, ahead of her friends. There was a gentle impatience
among the gathered students, but Hermione was only waiting a moment
before Justin nudged through the crowd to her side.

"Hi." He
grinned down at her. He was dressed in beautiful dark blue satin, a
white shirt and gold cravat at his neck and gold trim to his coat.
His mask was cut the same as Hermione's and looked like solid gold.
"You look nice." He said giving her a quick hug.

"Thanks," she
replied, "So do you. Shall we?" She asked, indicating the
doors. He nodded and together they opened the double doors. There was
a gasp from behind them as the assembled students caught their first
glimpse of the hall.

The hall had been
transformed into a Venitian royal court, the walls had been
transfigured to white marble with gold gilding trim. There were
pillars, also in marble, lining the room and small round tables with
golden trim around the edge of the dance floor. At each table were
four gold chairs with rich red velvet-covered cushions and the tables
were set for an elegant dinner, complete with crystal glasses and red
candles hovering. There were large and ornate chandeliers overhead,
bedecked with dozens of candles, the enchanted ceiling revealed a
rapidly darkening sky dotted with twinkling stars. The floor was now
made up of black and white chequered marble, like a giant chess
board, polished and glistening in the candlelight. Where the head
table usually stood there were seats and instruments waiting for a
small orchestra and to one side of that was a bar for after the meal.

Hermione and Justin stood
back and watched the students file in slowly, looking around in quiet
awe. As Ron passed her, he gave her a nudge and a wink through the
eye hole in his black mask.

"Nice one 'Mione."
She grinned at him. As the students passed her she kept an eye out
for Malfoy, looking for his shocking blond hair, but she didn't spot
him. Dumbledore and the other staff members filed in behind the
students, they too looked around the hall and seemed impressed. While
the staff had dressed in period costume, they all had masks on sticks
that they were carrying and could move away from their faces at any
time. Hermione could swear Dumbledore gave her a wink on his way
past. She smiled and when everyone was in and negotiating seats,
Justin offered his arm to her and she took it. Together they walked
the length of the hall, heading for a table at the far end, where two
sixth year prefects were already sitting. Harry and Ron sat with
Ginny and Neville, Ron watched Hermione and Justin and for a moment
considered calling them to sit at the next table. He watched them
walk past, both smiling and caught up in each other. He took his seat
with a deep frown etched on his face, but wasn't allowed to dwell on
his thoughts, Ginny had seen the way he looked at Hermione and set
about distracting him right away.

The meal was served in
the same manner as at the Yule Ball, with each person instructing
their plate which dish they wanted from the menu. The food was
exquisite, all manner of European dishes throughout the ages were
available and everyone was impressed. Once dinner was eaten, a small
group of witches and wizards filed into the hall and took their seats
next to their instruments, striking up a traditional Baroque piece,
setting the tone for the rest of the evening. The teachers were
thrilled and the students entered happily into the spirit of things,
many getting up to dance straight away. It was soon discovered that
the unmanned bar was also enchanted like the plates, all one had to
do was announce their drink order and the bottles would pour
themselves. Everyone spread out, chairs encircling many tables to
accommodate large groups of friends and Hermione and Justin went
their separate ways to join their respective groups.

"This is totally
amazing, Hermione!" Ginny cried when she arrived at the wide
circle of Gryffindors.

"How did you manage
all of this?!" Harry exclaimed, looking around with his mouth
open. Hermione giggled and shrugged her shoulders.

"We've been working
on it all year, preparing the right spells. It didn't take that long
this afternoon to cast them all, especially with input from
McGonagall and Flitwick."

"You say it like it
was easy! You've transformed the whole flipping hall!" Ron put
his arm around her shoulders, leaning heavily on her. "I mean,
this isn't exactly a small room, and we could be in some palace in
Europe three hundred years ago. It's really convincing."
Hermione grinned at him.

"Thanks Ron."

"How much work is
all this for the house elves though?" Ron teased. Hermione
raised her eyebrows at him and answered in a tired voice,

"If you must know, I
convinced Dumbledore to pay them all for tonight. Not that they would
accept, but he's going to do it subtly."

"Really?" Harry
asked, not convinced that this was possible.

"Well, they're each
going to find a sickle on their pillows when they go to bed. I hope
they take it well!" She said, laughing.

"Look at the effort
everyone's put in to their costumes though. It's not just the elves,
Hermione and Justin who've done a lot of work." Ginny said,
pushing in between Harry and Ron. "Parvati said that Padma made
her dress herself, no magic." Everyone was impressed by this, at
least until later in the evening when Padma was seen arguing with her
hooped skirt as she tried to get into a toilet cubicle.

Some
of the students from old wizarding families took it upon themselves
to lead the dances that they had evidently been taught over the
years. It was quite a sight, all of these teenagers happily engaged
in ancient choreographed dances. Hermione considered how unlikely
such an event would be in the muggle world and shuddered at the
memory of the Macarena. She sat alone, watching her friends dancing,
something unexpected flickered through her gut
when she saw Justin dancing with Hannah Abbot and she looked away
quickly. A moment later she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and
looked up quickly into the familiar steely grey eyes of Malfoy
towering over her.

"Hi."
He said, moving his hand away quickly. She looked him up and down, he
was dressed in a stunning pale silver, almost white ensemble with
delicate deep green embroidery over the frock coat and a mask of the
same silver silk, trimmed with green feathers.

"Hi."
She replied, coldly. He sat down next to her and leaned in close, but
not too close.

"This
is fantastic, Hermione." He indicated their surroundings. After
a few moments of difficult silence he stood up suddenly and bowed his
head to her, "Would you like to dance?" He asked in his
most formal tone. Taken by surprise Hermione simply nodded once and
took his offered hand. They moved into the throng of people and bowed
to one another, before Malfoy took her hand and pulled her close to
him.

"I'm
still really pissed off with you." Hermione spoke at last. He
sighed deeply and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"I
know. And you should be. Don't forgive me." She pulled her head
back to look into his eyes, trying to read them. "It was
unforgivable, what happened yesterday. I'm so, so sorry."
Hermione nodded silently and settled her head back on his chest. They
continued to dance in silence, Hermione had the feeling of completion
flowing over them. Throughout the past year they had had little use
for words, and those that were uttered had mostly been hurtful. She
felt as though this dance was the final act in a dramatic play, words
were just as unnecessary now as before, a silent understanding
settled between them about their history and future alike. As the
song came to an end the couple parted and stood still for a few
moments as people around them moved, some returning to their seats,
others changing dance partners. It was a swirl of commotion around
them, but they remained still, looking into each other's eyes for
what felt like eternity.

With
a small smile, Hermione was the first to turn away, leaving Malfoy
standing as the crowd closed the gap between them and he watched her
retreating back with something close to sadness in his heart. His
relationship with Hermione had been a confusing roller coaster ride
of emotions he would not have otherwise known he was capable of. He
knew they could never love each other, not before and certainly not
now, he didn't know if he could ever love anyone, but he hoped that
maybe Hermione had taught him something about himself, that he didn't
want to become any more like his father. And that, that alone gave
him hope.

Just
as Hermione reached the edge of the dancefloor, someone caught her
around her waist and pulled her back into the crowd, spinning her
around in one smooth movement. She found herself locked in Justin's
arms, being lead in a cascade of colour and light in a rush of
energetic music from the orchestra.

"Gotcha."
He grinned down at her and she began to laugh with dizziness as they
span around the floor with the other couples. "I think the Ball
is a success." He said, leaning close to her ear so she could
hear him over the music and loud chatter from the crowd. His breath
was hot on her cheek and she held onto him tight, feeling a tug in
her belly once again.

"I'd
say so." She managed to reply, looking up into his eyes. There
was that tug again, this time much stronger and more identifiable. It
was butterflies. The same butterflies she had heard Lavender and
Parvati giggling over but never experienced for herself and the
thought made her smile.

"What?
Why are you smiling?" Justin asked, a smile creeping onto his
own lips on seeing her so happy.

"No
reason." She answered, still smiling up at him. He nodded and
gave her a squeeze. They continued to spin in the mad dance and
Hermione felt more free than she ever had before.

When
the dance ended she felt bodies closing around her as Harry, Ron,
Ginny and all of her friends surrounded her and Justin. Cheers rang
up around them and the group hugged and danced together for the
remainder of the night. It was an ecstatic celebration and Hermione
found herself reflecting on her memories of their seven years
together in the brief still moments between screams and almost
constant laughter. She looked around at everyone and couldn't help
from grinning and laughing out loud. Ron gave her a reassuring smile
that told her they would be alright, that he would be able to accept
their friendship as just that. She watched Harry and Ginny kissing
and holding each other, love in their looks and she felt so happy for
them. She liked the feel of Justin's arm around her and his hand on
her waist and felt a deep relief wash over her when she thought of
Malfoy with calmness and a sense of satisfaction with how they had
parted.

Yes,
a clean slate, she thought with an inner smile.

AN: That's it guys. I
hope you enjoyed the ending. I always knew it wasn't going to be a
fluffy "Malfoy really has a heart of gold and they fall in love"
ending. Please review and let me know what
you think!

And for those wanting
more, I have a Snape/Hermione WIP that has seen some seriously speedy
updating recently!
Thank you to all my readers, but a
special thanks to my reviewers!
- 16
- 17
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

When Lines Are Blurred