Chapter 13
Only fifteen minutes left. Only fifteen minutes until he would have to walk to the Great Hall and meet his demise. Of course, it was a demise that he and Ginny created, so he couldn't really place the blame on anyone but himself for agreeing. It was a pretty good plan, though… if it all worked out. If it didn't… well he just wouldn't think about that.
He looked up at the mirror and splashed some water on his face. He had already given up on his hair, obviously. Really, why couldn't he just have taken after his mother and have normal hair? But that would probably result in him being more susceptible to the red-haired gene; he shuttered. The day he would be a clone of Ron Weasley would be the day he jumped off of the Astronomy Tower and died.
He studied his face, tilted it to check for any signs of stubble. Ginny said a little hair would always have positive effects, as long as it didn't leave scratch marks. He let his eyes wander to the spot behind him where a figure was stepping up to him. His platinum hair made it more than obvious who he was. Thank Merlin they weren't crashing another masked ball where everyone was to buzzed to notice. He snorted; or they were all Weasley clones.
"My my, Mister Potter, if I didn't know better I'd think you were actually trying to impress your date." He slurred.
"Well let's say for argument's sake that you don't know better, which really isn't that much of an argument."
Malfoy clenched his fist to his heart, "That's a low blow there, Potter."
"I work hard at it." He smirked.
Malfoy chuckled and walked up so that he was flush up to the counter and jumped up, sitting on his hands. Harry grabbed the tiny bottle of cologne that he always kept for special occasions and gently applied it to his wrists and neck. Malfoy scoffed from beside him, "Gods, what is that?"
"Muggle cologne." He answered, straightening his collar and casting a side glance over at him.
"You smell like road kill." Malfoy said bluntly.
"Thanks." He said, not really paying attention. All his attention was on looking his best for his Herm- date. Shaking his head he ruffled his hair one last time and turned to Malfoy. "How do I look? Be brutal."
"You look like you're going to puke."
He nodded, knowing that was the most honesty he was going to get out of him. Sucking in a shaky breath he exited the bathroom and made his way into the common room, Malfoy on his tail. People were already gathered there, looking at the clock as if it were doing a striptease. The girls all done up in varieties of dresses accenting their… assets for all to see.
His date was waiting for him by the fireplace, dressed in a red silk… could he call that a dress? To him, it looked like a piece of fabric just long enough to cover the top of her thighs. All he could see was pasty white skin with a hint of red covering it, that's all. It was as if she thought wearing this would make him remotely interested in shagging her. Swallowing the vomit that came up in his throat, he made his was over to her.
She spotted him and put on what must have been her version of a suggestive smile. To him it looked like a caterpillar had crawled up her nose. She kissed his cheek with her cold lips and he fought the urge to cringe. This was for Hermione; he would bear all of this for Hermione.
"You look absolutely delectable." She cooed.
I wish I could say the same about you. "Thanks, uhh, ditto."
She smiled contently and looped her arm around his as she gazed at the clock. She looked like she wanted to eat it! God, he hoped that she was envisioning a nice piece of pie. Think of Hermione, this is all for her. Just breathe.
He wondered what she was doing right now, if she was still getting ready or waiting for the clock to strike seven. He knew that he wanted this thing to get started. To get this leech off of his arms and prove to Hermione that they could make this thing work. He would make her see it, he just had to.
One minute left.
~*~
"Hermione, HERMIONE! Get those shoes on or by Merlin I will do it myself!"
Hermione was sitting on her bed, staring at her shoes, ignoring the insistent calls of her best friend. She hated dances, and now that she was less than a minute away from heading down to one, she felt like she was going to vomit. It didn't matter that she had the perfect dress, or that her hair was finally tame after four hours of spells and hair potion. She would have sore feet tomorrow; didn't that mean anything to Ginny? She hated to dance, didn't that count for something?
"Oh- my- God!" Ginny appeared at her feet and yanked the shoes from her hands. She quickly pushed them onto her feet and grabbed Hermione's hand, jerking it so that she stood up and faced her. Giving her a quick once-over, she nodded to herself and pulled her out of the room.
Hermione didn't bother arguing, she wasn't in the mood to have her head ripped off. She just let Ginny lead her to the common room. Ron was waiting by the fireplace, looking at the bricks ahead of him. He saw her approaching and licked his lips. Hermione felt an unpleasant shiver erupt down her spine as she took his extended hand and was pulled into his chest. He crashed his lips down to hers for a wet kiss and viciously groped her chest. Hermione gasped in pain in his mouth.
He pulled away and grinned at her. "You look pretty."
Hermione tried to smile sweetly as she ignored the throbbing pain her chest was pulsing. "Thank you, Ron. You look quite handsome yourself."
He seemed content with her answer and placed his hand tightly at her waist. It was then that the clock struck seven. The people gathered at the door cheered loudly and exited in a hurry. Ron tugged earnestly at her arm and led her out of the tower. She caught Ginny's eye once and she winked at her. Hermione didn't fully understand why, but it was better than nothing. So off she went, down to the Great Hall to begin what she knew to be a very long night.
The doors were already open when they arrived, students dressed up in the finest of attire filing through them. Hermione was awe-struck as she passed through the entrance. The hall was decorated beautifully with different shades of green and yellow, intricate flower bouquets in the center of each circular table. Above the dance floor hung intricate exotic vines that sprouted beautiful peach flowers, shadowing some places of the dance floor. Hermione didn't have enough time to observe further, however, on account of Ron still walking quickly, making his way to where his friends were seated. Hermione felt her face fall when she saw them looking at her as if she were a pile of meat. Great.
"Hello lads." Ron greeted, sitting down next to Seamus.
"Alright, Ron? My, Hermione, you sure look absolutely stunning."
Hermione felt herself redden, "Why thank you, Seamus."
"Hey now, don't you go making the moves on my girl." Ron said jokingly. The table laughed and Hermione began to feel terribly out-of-place. She cast a casual look around the room, wanting very badly to stray from this conversation. Yet another reason she hated dances; she always got pulled into conversations she had no interest in being a part of. She started to observe the couples already on the dance floor, moving graciously with one another, she could tell most were not enjoying themselves as they should be. Either they were looking fleetingly around the hall, looking for an exit, or smirking into their date's neck, most likely trying to make the person they really wanted to be with jealous. Oh, honestly how immature is that? All you have to do is ask them! How hard can that be? She thought.
The one person Hermione really wanted to see, though, was noticeably absent. A sick part of her wanted him to see her; she bought the dress only to see the look of shock on his face that Ginny had hinted at. But, of course, that was Ginny. Silly, silly, Ginny, who was over at the refreshment table with her date, poor fellow. It was obvious that Ginny wasn't looking to be tied down at the moment, flirting with any boy in her line of sight.
Her gaze once again drifted to the dance floor. There was a couple there that was completely engrossed in the other, not taking their eyes off of each other for even a moment. Hermione tilted her head to the side; examining how the male half of the couple had his hands wound so tightly around the girl's waist, it was as if he only had these moments with her. The girl, however, had her hands loosely around his neck, knowing that she had him. It was truly a beautiful site to be seen. Hermione wished so desperately to trade places with them and not be stuck at a table full of sixth-year boys determined to spike the punch bowl by the third dance. It was obvious they didn't know the punch had an anti-alcohol charm on it.
It was when she smiled at herself for their utter stupidity that she spotted him. Or, she should really say, spotted them.
She was dressed in a red silk dress that barely touched the midway point of her thighs. Was that even allowed? Her heels looked to be seven inches high, propelling her to only be an inch short of his tall frame. Her black hair was in shiny ringlets down to the nape of her neck, framing her thin face and outlining her red lipstick beautifully. He, on the other hand was in simple black robes with a white vest, necktie, and shirt. He looked absolutely stunning. They were the perfect couple; Pansy Parkinson and Harry Potter. God, even the name sent a cold shiver down her spine.
The one thing she didn't expect him to do was go and get a date. A selfish part of her wanted him to come stag in protest that he couldn't find a suitable date; someone like… her. She felt like she was going to be sick.
Pushing her way from the table, she grabbed her purse and rushed to the bathroom. The only route would make her pass them. She figured if she walked fast enough, she would slip by them without him noticing how much this was affecting her. Keeping her head down, she pushed past the rest of the crowd. She thought her plan had worked until a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her attention away from the floor. A sting of pain shot through her body when she saw that it was him.
"Hey, are you alright?" his velvety voice asked.
Hermione shook her head, "I think I'm going to puke."
His expression turned to one of concern, "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No." She said firmly, "No, you go have fun with your date. I'll be fine."
Hermione pulled her wrist from his grip and he let her leave. She felt his gaze on her back and fought back the prickle of tears that started to accumulate in her eyes. She reached the bathroom quickly and let it all out.
~*~
He didn't think she'd be that affected by it. Hermione was a strong girl, surly she wouldn't succumb to the lure of hormones? Well, turns out Ginny was actually right. But she didn't say how regretful it would become when she lied to his face about being okay. The only thing that kept him from holding her close to him while he had the chance was the outcome of the plan fresh in his mind. If it wasn't for Ginny's words, he didn't think that he would make it through this.
Well, onto phase two.
~*~
Back at the table, Hermione was feeling calmer than she had at the beginning of the night. Calmer didn't necessarily mean better, though. The first site of Harry had passed, not well in her eyes. "Not well" was an understatement, it was a complete disaster! And he seemed to be peachy keen about it! Hanging around with all of his Slytherin housemates and dancing with Pansy. If she didn't know better, she'd say that this whole thing was planned out to make her feel horrible. But she did know better. What kind of sick-minded person would hate her so much as to inflict this kind of torture on her?
"Herms?" she heard Ron call from beside her.
"Hmm?" she acknowledged without turning towards him.
"What do you say we get on the dance floor?"
Socked, she twisted her head to the side to look at him. He chuckled at what seemed to be an amusing face to him. He grabbed her hand without waiting for an answer and led her to the dance floor. It was when she spotted Pansy and Harry already dancing that she began to panic. The song was a sensual one, so Ron put his hands tightly on her waist possessively and started to grind their hips together. Hermione had no chance other than to put her hands on his own waist and let him lead them. A bad idea, for not even a minute later, she felt his arousal start to press against her. She let out a disgusted noise, hoping he heard it and would get the point. He didn't.
A slower song came on next and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Ron didn't look so pleased, but adjusted their position to mock those around them. It looked like he was debating with himself, probably about whether or not they should leave. She was about to speak up when there was a tap on Ron's shoulder. It was Ginny.
"Can you spare a dance with your little sister? You wouldn't mind, would you Hermione?" Ginny asked sweetly with a glint of something in her eyes.
"N-no- no! Go ahead!" She said excitedly. Hopefully she wasn't too obvious about wanting to leave. Not that she really cared. She just wanted to go and eat something.
But as she turned to leave, someone grabbed her hand lightly and guided her through the crowd of dancers. It was such a subtle movement that any observer would think Hermione was moving through the crowd of dancers by herself. The warmth the hand pooled around her body made it obvious who was leading her. Her stomach flipped with anticipation.
He led them to a more secluded part of the dance floor, half hidden in shadows. He was the one in the shadowed section
as he put his hand securely at her waist. He wasn't pressuring her into anything; he was giving her a chance to
run. But she didn't want to, the danger of this display only made her want to dance with him more. Her hands found
the back of his neck and pulled him into her. Her head collided softly with his chest and she inhaled him. They swayed
with the music, not uttering the word, basking in the music. They said everything they needed to through the sway of
their hips and the sighs from their throats. But all things had to come to an end, so the song stopped. A tango came on
next and Hermione didn't really feel like doing anything that drastic under these conditions.
He must have sensed her stiffness, because he took her hand once again and led her out of the hall. They passed many a couple in the halls, most in very compromising positions. Hermione furrowed her brow when he led her to an empty corridor not too far from the entrance hall. Letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, she collapsed onto the wall behind her. He came to stand beside her and they held the other's gaze for what seemed to be eternity.
"You didn't need to do that, you know. Ron'll find out and-" she began.
"Ron isn't really a problem at the moment." He answered smugly.
Her forehead creased, "What do you mean?"
"Ginny's taking care of him."
Hermione had nothing to say to that. She just stood silent, thinking, putting the pieces together. He let her be, staring at her face as she started to figure out what he and Ginny had been doing. She looked cute when she was confused. It didn't take her long to say something.
"So you're telling me that this is all some sort of scheme?" she asked.
He nodded in response
"What exactly will you gain from all of this… a trip to the hospital wing in a coma?"
He chuckled deep in his throat and shook his head from side to side, making his bangs slide in front of his eyes. She bit her lip in thought again. What could he possibly want? Well there was always her heart. But that was all too terribly cliché for her to have a second thought about. Didn't he already know he had her? But she couldn't… she couldn't have him. And that's what he didn't get.
She felt her nose scrunch up as tears started to form in her eyes. That's all he wanted. He wanted the cliché. He wanted her.
She turned to face him to see him already studying her with an unreadable look on his face. At the site of her tears, he sobered up and moved closer to her, a frown on his lips. "What's wrong, `Mione?" She shook her head. "Come on, love, tell me."
"I-I can't." A tear made its way down her cheek. He wiped it up with his thumb and a sob wrecked her chest. "You can't do this. You can't try to win me over."
His eyes shined with something… stubbornness? "What makes you say that?"
"You can't want me, you can't…" she trailed off.
"Why not?"
She shook her head in response and something in him snapped. Damn what Ginny said! He wouldn't take it slow! He needed to prove to her how much he really needed her. She wanted him as much as he wanted her; that he knew for certain. So why was she resisting? She needed to give in!
He moved so close that their noses were touching and Hermione became stiff. She knew what he was going to do and she didn't think she could stop it. "Harry I-" he cut her off by placing his index finger to her lips.
"Shh…"
Removing his finger, he closed the inch between them and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn't hard; it was a soft touch, barely anything at all. He moved back so that their lips were barely connected at all, waiting for her to respond. She didn't disappoint. She gave into him and pressed more firmly against him. He smiled inwardly and rolled so that he was pressing her into the wall. Her hands moved behind his head and held him close, relishing in his touch. His hands moved so that he was caressing the straps on her dress, edging them down slowly with his fingertips.
They slid so that they were lying limp over her shoulders. Their kiss became more passionate, his lips removing themselves and attaching to her shoulders, where her straps once lay. He placed soft kisses all the way up to her earlobe, earning soft whimpers and sighs from Hermione. She ran her hand through his hair, edging him on. He smiled against her skin and darted his tongue out to taste her creamy skin.
Wanting his lips again, she gently tugged on his hair and pressed her lips to his. Their tongues met and danced with each other, a dance only they knew. Her hands moved to his chest and he lost all coherent thought. He grabbed her legs and hoisted her up and pressed her firmly onto the wall. She immediately wrapped her legs around him and they began to twist their hips to match the rhythm of their tongues.
Harry pulled away from her mouth so their lips were barely touching. Both of their breathing was hard and their eyes closed. "Hermione I lo-"
"HERMIONE!"
Hermione stiffened and removed her legs from around Harry's waist. Harry turned to see who had interrupted and saw the heavily-breathing form of Ginny Weasley. "Ginny what-"
"Don't ask." She said, putting up an open hand. "Hermione, Ron's getting suspicious, you need to get back before he comes looking for you!"
Hermione nodded and Ginny turned to leave, her heels echoing the only sound in the silent corridor. Hermione pushed Harry away from her and stood with her back to him, one hand on her forehead, trying to steady her breathing. Harry moved to her so his front was half against her backside. "Hermione?"
She turned around, tears in her eyes yet again. "Harry I can't do this. I'm so sorry. I want to, I really do… I just… I just can't." She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. With one last look into his eyes, she tiptoed up to his shocked face and placed a soft his on his cheek. As she pulled back, a sob escaped her throat and she turned to leave.
He watched her walk away and a lone tear leaked from his eye. He turned to the wall and punched it as hard as he could, venting his frustrations. He didn't even care that his hand was throbbing with pain. He had lost her. He had failed.
~*~
A/N: Sorry for such a long update! Exams just passed and I've been really busy during Thanksgiving break! I know this chapter ending with angsty goodness, but don't worry! This is Portkey, isn't it? I hope to get the next chapter up soon. Thanks for all of the fantastic reviews, please keep it up :D
[Shar]
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