A Reason To Be

“I look fucking good.” Draco said to himself as he looked at the reflection smiling back at him from the mirror. He was right, he did look incredible. Tonight was the night of the Valentine’s Day ball and he was due in the Gryffindor common room in ten minutes. Draco had opted for more of a suit look than a robe. He wore a slim coat that reached to mid-thigh over a shirt, vest, pants and shoes. All black of course, even his tie. Everything fit beautifully, showing off his muscular form. His hair, while still wild, was just slightly tamer tonight. Draco gave himself one last look in the mirror and when he deemed himself dead sexy, he grabbed the rose he had procured earlier and headed out into the hallway.

After he had wished Antoinette a Happy Valentine’s Day and a pleasant evening, which had brought a blush to her cheeks, he started walking down the hall. The hallways were abandoned because almost all of the students had already gone down to the Great Hall, the ball would begin any moment. They had decided not to tell anyone that Hermione was going with Draco. He told her to stay in the common room when everyone else went down and he would come to pick her up. His reasoning behind this, he told her, was that no one would see her with him and then they would arrive ‘fashionably late.’ Draco smiled to himself, thinking about his incredibly good fortune. He was doing this partly for Hermione’s benefit but also he was doing this for him. He got to escort the girl he wanted to the ball, every other young man would want to do the same. He casually walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady and flashed a charming smile at her.

“I was told to let you in, Draco Malfoy.” The Fat Lady said to him, returning his smile. Without any more ado the picture swung open and he proceeded inside. The common room was empty; Draco could see no one in sight.

“Come out, come out wherever you are.” Draco called in the direction he thought was the girl’s dormitories. A moment later he heard footsteps coming down the stairs behind him. Draco swiveled around and was met with the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He stood there with his mouth just gaped open slightly, taking in her beauty. She was radiant in a strapless black dress that showed just the right amount of cleavage and hugged her in all the right places, then splaying out into a full skirt. Hermione smiled and turned around so he could see the back as well. The back of the dress was quite low, almost down to her waist. Hermione had swept her hair into an elegant up-do and the only jewelry she wore was the bracelet Draco had given her. After a moment he recovered enough to speak. He blinked a few times and swallowed hard.

“Padme who?” Draco asked. Hermione laughed and looked down at her skirt.

“Seriously, fuck Padme and whatever potato sack she is wearing. Because…oh have mercy.” Draco said confidently and then followed it with a whistle. Hermione giggled again.

“You really like it?” Hermione asked, since the incident with Ron and Harry she felt very insecure about her looks. Draco walked over to her grabbing both her hands and holding them out to look at her fully.

“So do you just want to skip this whole dance thing and go to my room?” Draco asked, giving her his best come-hither look. While on the inside she seriously considered it, she played it off with a laugh

“As tempting as that sounds, sorry Draco.” Hermione teased him. Draco pouted and pretended to cry.

“Why are you always so mean to me?” Draco cried sadly. Then he smiled and pulled her closer to him. He looked down at her and spoke quietly.

“You are exquisite.” Draco said seriously, looking into her eyes. Hermione began blushing under his strong gaze.

“Thank you.” Hermione whispered. Then she stood on her tip-toes and kissed Draco on the cheek. As she pulled away he caught her chin gently between his fingers and looked in her eyes deeply again. He pulled her back and placed a kiss on her cheek as well. If Hermione’s cheeks could have turned any redder, now was the time for it. Draco smiled and let go of her chin.

“Well what do you think?” Draco asked, stepping back and opening arms wide, displaying himself. He did his little turn and smoothed out his coat. Hermione clapped very quietly and laughed. She thought he looked extremely tasty and seriously gave thought to the idea of jumping on him but at the last minute she decided against it.

“They will be green with envy; I will have the best looking man with me tonight. You look very handsome, Draco.” Hermione replied. Draco laughed and confirmed that he did indeed look that damn good. Then he picked up the rose he brought from the table he set it down on when he arrived.

“I brought this for my date, but now I have an idea.” Draco said, with the rose in hand. He broke off the bloom and motioned for Hermione to come closer. Then he carefully placed the rose in her hair.

“Perfect. You’ll be the belle of the ball.” Draco said, quite satisfied with his handiwork. Hermione then walked over to a table on the other side of the room and picked something up.

“I go this for you earlier today. It was your color.” Hermione said. As she drew closer Draco saw that she had a rose bloom as well, this rose was black however. She walked up to him and pinned it to his lapel.

“Black…You know me too well.” Draco laughed and watched her pin it on and happily there was no bloodshed. Hermione adjusted it and then smiled at him.

“Should we go now?” Hermione asked. Draco looked at the clock above the mantle and nodded.

“I think so, shall we?” Draco asked, offering his arm to Hermione and she slid her arm into his. Then they made their way out of the common room and down the stairs. As Hermione went down the stairs, Draco held her hand and assisted her down the steps as a true gentleman would.

“We are pulling out all the stops tonight, right luv?” Draco asked her as they went down the many staircases. Hermione nodded and confirmed.

“That is the plan; make them as jealous as possible.” Hermione replied as they finally made it down to the main floor. Draco smiled and agreed whole-heartedly. To make them jealous he may have to show Hermione some affection, lots of affection of need be. And Draco planned on being a trooper when it came to this. The two stood in front of the entrance of the Great Hall and looked in. Again the tables had been cleared away and replaced with a few smaller ones placed around, near the walls. The house banners had been replaced with deep red ones draped elegantly from the rafters and down the walls. After a moment of observation, they continued into the room. As they came in, Draco saw two young men looking at a girl a few feet away. They were far too distracted to pay any attention to Hermione and he. As he went by he heard one of them say something to the other.

“I would love to sink my teeth into that.” The young man said, pointing to the very attractive girl they were watching. Draco thought a moment and chuckled, then leaning closer to Hermione.

“Do you ever notice that when a man says ‘I would like to sink my teeth into that’ it is always about a woman? When does that happen? I don’t think I could walk up to a woman and say, ‘Hello there, would you mind if I just gnaw on ya for a while?” Draco whispered to her. Hermione burst out laughing when she heard this. She had never really thought about it before, neither had he before now. He was glad he mentioned it thought since Draco absolutely loved hearing Hermione laugh.

As they walked through the room, people did turn to look at them. No one expect those two to come to a dance together and the fact that they both look marvelous added to the effect. Eyes widened and mouths dropped in their wake. Draco scanned the room until he found, in the far corner, Potter and Weasley. Just as he was about to point them out to Hermione, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and found that the hand belonged to Blaise.

“Evening Draco. You are looking sharp.” Blaise said pleasantly. Draco and Hermione turned around and saw Blaise, looking quite sharp himself and his lovely Ravenclaw date.

“Blaise, how are you?” Draco asked, extending his hand and shaking Blaise’s. Draco had turned the charm on full blast for tonight, he knew he had a smile that could weaken any woman’s knees in seconds and he planned on using it liberally. He was going to social and friendly to everyone. Not that he had a problem being social with Blaise. The Slytherin boy said he was fine and introduced his date to Draco. Draco turned and whispered to Hermione.

“Harry and Ron are over there. Go and I’ll join you in a moment.” Draco said, discreetly pointing in the direction where she could find them. Hermione nodded, said goodbye to Blaise and his date and gracefully made her way across the room. Both Draco and Blaise watched her walk away, and then Blaise leaned in and whispered under his breath to Draco.

“On man, you don’t deserve that!” Blaise laughed, watching Hermione’s hips sashaying her across the Great Hall. Draco laughed softly as well, agreeing with Blaise. Draco straightened up and patted Blaise on the shoulder and told him to have a good evening. He said goodbye to the Ravenclaw girl and followed in Hermione’s tracks.
Draco paused and watched Harry and Ron speak to Hermione. Lavender sat near Harry and Padme was clinging to Ron’s arm.

‘Oh the poof won’t know what hit him in a minute.’ Draco thought to himself, shaking his head. He resumed his walked until he made it across and strode right up behind Hermione and slid his arms around her waist.

“Good evening everyone.” Draco said pleasantly, resting his chin on Hermione’s shoulder. While Harry wasn’t that surprised he really didn’t want to witness Draco Malfoy cuddling up to Hermione, so he averted his eyes slightly. The look on Ron’s face however, was priceless. Draco knew, as he smiled brightly at everyone, that there would never be any words to describe the expression on Ronald Weasley’s face. Hermione smiled brightly and batted her eyelashes at everyone. Draco had to give credit for Ron’s recovery time; it had been much shorter than he had anticipated.

“Well this is…interesting…and frightening. That’s a very interesting dress you have there, Hermione. Black…what a Slytherin color choice you have made.” Ron stated quietly with a sour look on his face. The smile on Hermione’s slowly dissipated and Draco could tell that she was not pleased. He thought on his feet and came up with a good retort.

“Slytherin? How kind of you to say so Weasley. I think she is looks rather enticing as well.” Draco countered in a condescending tone, a charming smile spread across his face.

“Speaking of dresses, Draco don’t you think Lavender’s dress is pretty?” Hermione chimed in, gesturing towards Harry’s date. Draco glanced over to her and gave her a look to weaken the knees.

“Yes Lavender, you look lovely tonight.” Draco commented smoothly. Just then he withdrew his arms from around her waist and took her right hand in his.

“Hermione my love, shall we dance? As exciting as this company is I am hearing the call of the dance floor.” Draco’s voice oozed with charm as he took her hand and led Hermione gracefully away from Ron and company and to the middle of the floor. When they began to dance, Hermione couldn’t help but laugh.

“That went extremely well, don’t you think?” She asked delighted, smiling up at Draco. Draco nodded and said that the jealousy was a record high.

“We’ve been here before if I remember correctly.” Draco stated as he and Hermione glided around the dance floor. Hermione thought a moment and then realized what he was talking about.

“Yes we have, but I have no reservation with playing with your hair this time.” Hermione said mischievously, reaching up and tousling the back of Draco’s hair.

“So does that mean I can cop a feel this time?” Draco asked, smiling hopefully.

“Only if I can too.” Hermione said with a wink. Draco was a little taken aback by her response but quickly recovered.

“Oh please feel free to grope whatever you like.” Draco replied, pressing against her and laughing.

“So when do I get to gnaw on you?” Draco asked, barely able to keep from laughing.

“Maybe later.” Hermione chuckled.