Hermione looked around at the prefects, thinking about what theme they could do for their party. No one else had any clues or whatever they did suggest would be shot down by the others.

‘What about Disney characters?’ Hermione suggested, suddenly, thinking that was a great idea.

Everyone turned to look at her, some of them frowning at her suggestion. Others just looked confused and wondered if she had sneezed or something since they had no idea what or who “Disney” was. Hermione forgot that most of them wouldn't know about Disney or even a television, since they were bought up by witches and wizards.

‘Oh, never mind.’ Hermione said, chuckling to herself.

The prefects shrugged and started throwing out ideas onto the floor.

‘Black and white?’  

‘Nah, too boring!’

‘Prince and princess party!’

Draco chuckled at that theme and got some confused looks, he only shrugged and they went on with more party ideas.

‘How about... Masquerade?’ Hermione asked, her eyes showing excitement that was barely contained.

How romantic would that be? With the pretty dresses, pretty masks, dancing with strangers and the music and snacks. Oh, everything would be perfect, she would make sure of that. Everyone else in the room looked excited too and Draco just leaned back, watching her.

‘Perfect!’ Ginny grinned, watching as Hermione smiled and wrote down Masquerade on her notes.

‘Okay, Masquerade it is. Everyone will have to come in a mask of their choice,’ Hermione said, glancing at the others, ‘flyers and posters have been put up and now we just need to sort out the snacks and decorations.’

‘Okay! And for snacks and drinks, I was thinking...’ Ginny carried on.

The conversation went on until they had a idea of how the party would be like. Everyone got more and more excited as they talked about it other than Draco. He just yawned behind his hand and sat back.

---

Hermione and Draco had come in to the great hall see how the decorations were going. The party started at eight and wouldn’t finish until after midnight. There were two hours until the start of the party and everything was going according to plan.

The seventh years were allowed to go up to Hogsmeade anytime they wanted so everyone had went to buy masks and dresses. Some people were making them by magic which Hermione thought was a good idea although she hadn’t got around to making hers yet.

In the Great Hall, Ginny and some other people, including Harry, were putting up decorations. The tables were pushed to the walls and at the sides were small tables. In the middle was a big empty space which Hermione guessed would be the dance floor.

Hermione and Draco decided to check on the food. They went down to the kitchens were the Slytherin prefects were telling the elves what to make. Hermione couldn't stay there long as she was still into S.P.E.W. Draco rolled his eyes slightly when she walked out with a shake of her head.

They walked up the stairs in silence and passed lots of posters reading:

SEVENTH YEARS ANNOUNCEMET!

Please join us for a Magical Masquerade party.

Saturday, 8 pm onwards.

There were pictures of Masquerade masks and Hermione spent a moment admiring them. Blue ones with huge feathers at the side, black ones with white rimming, and even a multi coloured one. She chuckled and glanced at Draco, pretty satisfied with their work.

‘Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy. How are things going?’ Professor McGonagall asked them, watching them look at the poster. Her mouth almost formed a smile and Hermione guessed she was happy with their work too.

‘Great! Now we just have to get our dress and suit from Hogsmeade...’ Hermione said, sighing. They hadn’t really thought about themselves since they had been too busy with everything else.

‘Hogsmeade? Have you not been in your room, Miss Granger?’ McGonagall asked frowning briefly.

‘Yeah, we have,’ Draco said, looking at Hermione, ‘didn’t you read the note on your cupboard? You can get a dress from in there.’

Hermione nodded, ‘oh, yes. Of course. I’ve just been so busy with everything that I forgot. Thank you, Professor.’ 

McGonagall nodded, ‘I think you should go and get ready now, both of you.’

Hermione and Draco nodded, starting to make their way to their dormitory that they shared. They walked in silence, thinking of the up coming party and if it would be a success or not. They walked into the dorm and headed for their respective rooms.

Hermione smiled when she walked into her room and looked around. She glanced at her bed sheets and took out her wand, tapping them saying 'Mutatio'  and ‘grey’. The bed sheets changed into a lovely shade of grey, quite like Draco's eyes, Hermione thought. A blush appeared on her face.

There was a knock on her door and Hermione turned suddenly as though she had been caught in an obscene act.

‘May I come in?’ Draco asked, politely, looking slightly amused at her rabbit-caught-in-the-headlights act.

‘Sure,’ Hermione said, walking over to her cupboard.

‘Nice sheets!’ Draco chuckled and paused before murmuring, very quietly, ‘matches my eyes....’

Hermione blushed and didn’t look at him as she opened the cupboard. At first it was empty but then her eyes shot open at the many clothes and shoes and bags that were in there. Draco watched her, grinning, as he wondered what she would wear tonight.

‘Yeah. Wow, how amazing is this?’ Hermione asked, hiding her embarrassment, ‘everything I need is in this!’

‘It's great,’ Draco nodded, standing near her bed, ‘there's like a hour and a half left until the party, I'm getting changed.’

Hermione nodded vaguely and heard him leave the room, closing the door behind him. Her eyes were raking through the many colours of dresses inside. Red, orange, brown, gold, white, grey, yellow! Every colour imaginable. Hermione squealed out loud, feeling herself get excited even though she wasn’t a huge fan of partying.

She ran her hands through all of the dresses and beneath them were matching shoes and masks. She particularly liked the green one. It was too short comparing to Hermione's usual dresses but she loved it and wanted to push the boundaries a little after the war.

She quickly took off her clothes and pulled it on, going to study herself in the mirror. The dress was strapless and had a bodice that had silver sparkles spattered around it. The dress fanned out in ruffles under the bodice. Hermione liked it so much that she decided to show it to Draco.

Hermione slipped on the matching high heels and walked out to Draco's room, knocked and walked in when he said 'come in'. He stood in front of the mirror, trying to tie his tie.

‘What do you think?’ Hermione asked nervously, spinning around briefly. For some reason, his opinion really mattered to her.

Draco looked at her through the mirror and his jaw unhinged. He turned around and his eyes widened too as he gaped at her. His expression was priceless and made Hermione laugh.

‘Draco!’ Hermione blushed slightly, fingering the hem of her dress, ‘do you like it? I thought it was a bit too short but...’

‘Wow... you look... hot,’ Draco choked out, going red in the face.

‘Thanks, Draco. I, uh, I’ll let you get ready,’ Hermione blushed even more, her heart doing a somersault, and walked out to let Draco finish getting ready.

Hermione went into the bathroom to do her make up, thinking about his comment. Had Draco Malfoy really called her hot? She tried to control her blush and applied eyeliner and foundation. She wore a smoky green eye shadow. She put a thin layer of lipstick on and then left the bathroom.

Hermione walked back to her room and looked through drawers finding long green earrings and a necklace. And, of course, a green feathery mask. She then decided to wait for Draco to come out so they could go to the party together.

Hermione looked Draco up and down as he walked out of the room, not nervous at all.

‘So?’ Draco asked, looking for a opinion when he finally emerged from his room.

Draco was wearing a white shirt and a green tie, matching her dress but Hermione decided not to point that out since it would only make him angry. Draco raised his eyebrows as Hermione’s eyes travelled over to his black trousers and then took in his black and silver mask.

‘Hot.’ Hermione said, totally unlike herself but it made Draco smile, shocked.

‘Shall we go down?’ Draco asked, putting on his shining black shoes, trying not to think of her comment. Hermione Granger couldn’t have called him hot, could she?

‘Sure,’ Hermione got up and walked to the door, behind Draco.

They walked silently to the Great Hall, thinking of the party that the two of them has co-created. No one was in the corridors which made Hermione think they would be fashionably late. She carefully climbed down each step of stairs until they reached the Great Hall. Nervously, Hermione walked in, followed by Draco.

The place had black decorations everywhere, making the hall look mysterious. The tables were covered in a black cloth with white chairs. There were red, blue and yellow lights flashing about on the dance floor, giving the party a disco kind of feeling. Hermione couldn't hear the loud music from outside, so she guessed someone had put a charm on the door. Smart move as the music was rather loud but people still seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Hermione could see a few couples already starting to make out and sighed briefly. She walked to one of the tables behind Draco, hearing some people wolf whistle her as she walked in. Hermione blushed as Draco glanced back at her, a smirk tugging at his lips.

‘I'm going to find my friends!’ Draco shouted to her, over the music.

Hermione gave him a thumbs up and he walked away. Looking around, she spotted Luna's long blonde hair which couldn’t have been any one else but Luna. She was slow dancing with Neville and Hermione smiled. They were just so cute.

She looked around trying to find her friends and started to get impatient until she spotted Ron’s fiery red hair. He had a drink in his hand and was slowly sipping it when Hermione walked over to him and stopped right in front of him.

He looked up at her, confusion etched on his face. She took the mask off and suddenly Ron smiled, realising it was Hermione. Ron kissed her lips but Hermione pulled back suddenly.

‘Alcohol? I told them to be responsible,’ Hermione frowned, looking around as if searching for the prefects who were supposed to be taking care of the snacks and drinks.

‘Live a little, Hermione,’ Ron said, passing her a cup, ‘you’ve lived through an entire war with the-boy-who-lived!’

Hermione scowled at him, but Ron only smiled. Harry and Ginny grinned too, holding the exact same cups that Ron was trying to thrust at her.

‘Go on Hermione, just for one night.’ Harry said, chuckling.

Hermione stared at him, thinking that Draco would probably get drunk tonight too and so would she. Every one of her Hogwarts years had passed by and she hadn’t gotten drunk like most of the other students had. Was she missing out? Without hesitation, she took the drink and downed it as the rest cheered her on.

Hermione let out a giggle after a couple of drinks, feeling tipsy. She just wanted to dance and have fun tonight.

‘I want to dance,’ Hermione stated and pulled Ron to the dance floor, making him drop his drink to the ground.

Harry and Ginny joined them, dancing together. After an hour or so of dancing, Hermione sat down and sipped punch/alcohol looking at Ron, Harry and Ginny comparing dance moves. She laughed and downed the alcohol, feeling it make her mind fuzzy.

‘Maybe you shouldn’t drink too much...’ a voice said in her ear. Even over the very loud music, Hermione knew who it was. She felt a grin spread across her face.

‘Draco!’ Hermione said, grabbing his arm to stand up, ‘I was... I was looking for you!’

‘I think you should stop drinking... You're already kind of drunk!’ Draco chuckled, trying to keep her steady on her feet, ‘light weight? Well, I guess that’s okay since you’ve never drank before.’

‘Draco...’ Hermione said, staring at him. Her hand trailed up to his cheek and Draco closed his eyes briefly.

‘Come on, it’s too loud here,’ Draco murmured, feeling his cheek tingle.

Before she could say anything, Draco held her hand and dragged her out of the Great Hall. Lots of couples, who they didn't know because of the masks, were making out shamelessly. Hermione glanced at them before looking at Draco.

‘I want to...’ Hermione muttered, grabbing his tie.

‘I think we should...’ Draco started to say but was stopped when Hermione put a finger to his lips and let out a small giggle.

‘Don't tell Ron...’

Her arms wrapped his shoulders, eyes wide open.

‘Don't tell Ron...’ Hermione said again, softly, looking totally serious as though she was about to tell Draco a secret.

Hermione grabbed his face and parted her lips, still looking straight at Draco before she kissed him on the lips. Draco let his eyes close, not moving his lips for a brief second before he responded to the kiss.

All the love he felt came out in one kiss. They hugged each other tighter, feeling each others warmth. Draco could feel her body flush against his and let out a sigh. This was the moment Draco had been waiting for.

Hermione pulled back and rested her forehead onto his. Draco moved forwards, wanting more of that minty taste. A finger halted him and Hermione sighed lazily, shaking her head.

‘Draco, I'm sorry,’ Hermione said, her eyes half closed.

‘Don't be.’ Draco murmured, hating those words since he didn’t want her to think they had done something wrong. He loved her.

‘Ron...’ Hermione said, widening her eyes, remembering her boyfriend.

She looked at Draco for a second then ran back to the Great Hall, leaving him standing there.

Draco watched her go, feeling his heart start to beat, not only blood, but jealousy and anger through his veins. He wanted Hermione to be his and only his. Draco felt his breath quicken and leaned against the wall, hating himself for having feelings for her. All he could think of was Hermione. She seemed to take up every part of his brain.