A Reason To Be

Draco’s eyes did widen a little bit at her question, but he said nothing. It took a moment to regain his composure but then his Malfoy confidence and charm came rushing back. He smiled and answered smoothly.

“Quite well, in fact.” Draco drawled suavely, leaning back in his chair. He couldn’t help it; the charm just turned itself on whenever there was a female present. The professor stepped back and made a motion for him to get up out of his chair.

“Well come on then.” Minerva instructed. After a moment of thought Draco laughed good-naturedly and rose from his seat. He made a formal bow and a small curtsey was returned. Then he took the professor’s hand and led her out onto the dance floor. Hermione watched the entire exchange but was floored when she saw Malfoy escorting the head of Gryffindor house onto the floor. She leaned over and jabbed Harry in the shoulder without ever taking her eyes off the pair.

“Harry, look at this.” Hermione whispered. Harry looked over to where Hermione had motioned and his jaw dropped. There was perhaps one of his favorite teachers dancing with perhaps one of his least favorite people. Harry then leaned over and poked Ron in the shoulder. Ron looked up, blinked and blinked again; wondering if that maybe he had been hallucinating. Much to his dismay, he wasn’t.

The Golden trio watched Draco lead the professor to an empty spot on the floor. He then turned to one of the musicians and said something. A few moments later a waltz began to play. He then proceeded to glide himself and Minerva around the floor. Hermione, along with everyone else who was watching, were surprised to see the skill Draco possessed. He expertly guided the Transfiguration professor around the dance floor. Hermione drew her eyes away from the dancing pair long enough to look at Dumbledore, still seated at his table. He had a laughing smile on his face as he watched them. She turned back to Draco and kept watching. Then the oddness and the humor of the scene unfolding before got to her. Hermione burst out laughing.

When the dance end, Draco bowed once again to the professor and escorted off the floor and then the two went to their respective tables. The students went back to their own affairs after that until Dumbledore stood up and asked for everyone’s attention.

“Your attention, if you please. The time has come for our ‘Numbers Dance’, as it were. I believe you all have in your possession a card with a number on it. I now give you the task to find the boy or girl with the matching card. Go!” Dumbledore announced and then sat back down. The students scrambled around looking for their dance partner. Hermione turned and reached for the card on the table. Everyone else had done so already and was now on the prowl for the matching card. She looked down and looked back up again and shouted.

“Padma! You took my card! I have yours here!” Hermione called after the girl but she had already found her partner and they were dancing. Hermione sighed and stood up, looked at her new card and started walking around.

“Forty-nine…forty-nine.” Hermione muttered to herself. She held her card face out so that others could read it too. She wandered around, looking at cards. She found a ‘48’ and a ‘52’ but that was as close as she had come so far.

Draco fished his own crumpled card out of his pocket and got up out of his chair. All the while he was wandering through the cards he prayed that his partner not be Pansy or Millicent. Then he saw her. Hermione with her card facing so he could see. It was the first time that evening he had seen her and she didn’t disappoint. Deep in his subconscious he admitted that she looked lovely. She wore a simple, black cocktail dress. It was strapless, form-fitting and went to just above her knees. Then he thanked whatever powers had smiled upon him; it wasn’t Millicent and it certainly wasn’t Pansy. Draco walked up to Hermione and held up his card so that she could see. She stopped dead in her tracks. The she looked back at the little card in her hand to double check. The number had not changed. She looked back up at Draco and sighed.

“Figures…” Hermione said.

“Doesn’t it though? Let’s go.” Draco replied. He was not extremely thrilled it was Hermione that was his partner though he was somewhat thankful that it hadn’t been the one of dog-faced girls. His eyes dropped down from her face to the hand at her side and slowly reached forward with his own and grasped it. His hand was warmer than she thought it would be. It was a good deal larger than hers and it was somewhat calloused, but it still had a softness to it. Hermione did not resist when he pulled her to an empty place on the dance floor. Draco sighed and rested his other hand gently on her waist. Hermione awkwardly placed her other hand on Draco’s shoulder. They danced for a few moments in silence. Hermione looked around the room and the other students, never making eye contact with Malfoy.

“Dancing is not my forte.” Hermione said finally, somewhat embarrassed. It was the truth, she never danced. Draco shrugged a little at her statement.

“It is not so difficult. Listen to the rhythm of the music and match your movements with mine.” As he said it, he drew Hermione closer to him. She nodded at his instructions and tried her best. As they danced Draco thought about the feeling of her body against hers. It was warm, firm but soft. It was not a sensation he objected to. Little did he know that she was having similar thoughts as well. Hermione’s thoughts kept drifting back to the feeling of Draco’s well-toned body pressed against hers.

‘Must be the years of playing Quidditch, thought I can’t say I have noticed Harry and Ron looking all that muscular.’ Hermione thought to herself.

‘She isn’t as bad as she thinks.’ Draco thought as he looked down at her. She still was looking around at the others dancing beside them which left him looking at the top of her head. The she looked up at him. She was looking at him, but it was not into his eyes and he was her. She was looking at his hair. Sometime ago she noticed he had changed but of course she had said nothing. As she thought about it, she was unaware her hand was wandering up from his shoulder to his head. It was only when she had touched he hairline by his ear and he looked at her strangely when she snapped back into reality. She was extremely embarrassed.

“Oh…I’m sorry. Your hair…you changed it.” Hermione said embarrassed. Draco looked down into her face and once again an amused expression crossed his face.

“Can’t put anything past you.” He teased her. It was not malicious teasing, though it had been hard for Hermione to tell. She sighed; when he did speak to her it was always a sarcastic remark or teasing. She didn’t say anything. But after a few moments more of silence said replied.

“It looks good.” Hermione whispered softly. Draco heard her whisper, but barely. Hermione was the last person he expected a compliment from. He did not act surprised but he was a little taken aback. He looked down and this time he was able to look into her eyes.

“Thanks.” Draco whispered back to her. Neither of them said anything for the rest of the song. When it ended, the students clapped and Dumbledore announced that the evening had come to a close and that they were all to go back to their respective rooms. Draco let go of Hermione and after a moment, he smirked at her.

“There, I have had enough suffering for this evening.” Draco teased her. Hermione sighed, an annoyed look on her face. She shook her head and smirked as well. She was becoming accustomed to his teasing; it really didn’t bother her much anymore. She waved her hand and started making her way through the crowd of students to the door. Draco stood there and didn’t move for moment. He watched her rejoin her friends walked out into the corridor.

“Goodnight.” Draco said softly, though there was no one there to hear him.