Opening the door to the Great Hall, Pansy and Hermione both stood in shock. The room was decorated with a variety of colors and decorations. There was food, music, and so much more. The girls both stood shell-shocked for a good amount of time before looking at one another.
Pansy stood still for a second before muttering a quite "Whoa." Hermione smiled.
"Agreed. Whoa." The girls both laughed and then entered the room fully. They were most definitely not the first ones there. So many of the other students already stood laughing and dancing with each other. Most of the other Eighth years were already present, smiling and talking with each other.
As Pansy and Hermione stood in the entrance of the Great Hall, Hermione turned her head as she saw someone approaching from the corner of her eye.
"Oh, look who it is!" Hermione exclaimed, hitting Pansy on the arm. Pansy turned as Hermione smiled. "Zacharias! Hi, how are you?" Hermione said.
"Oh, Hermione, leave him alone," Pansy muttered, her face turning red.
"Oh, what?" Hermione shrugged, feigning innocence. "I was just asking how he was." Hermione smiled at Zacharias, who was now also blushing.
"I'm alright, Hermione. Thanks for, uh, asking," Zacharias stuttered, and then laughed nervously. "Pansy, you look-" he paused as he avoided eye contact with Pansy. "You look absolutely amazing." Pansy and Zacharias locked eyes for a second before both of them look away in embarrassment.
"Uh, thanks," Pansy laughed. "You look fantastic as well."
The three stood silent for a second as Hermione looked between the couple, smiling like an idiot.
"Oh, well, let's go look at, uh, the food and stuff, huh?" Pansy stuttered out, clearly embarrassed by the continued interaction. "Well, Zach, it was nice seeing you but-" Hermione cut Pansy off.
"What? No, no, no. You two are here as a couple. I shall leave you alone now." Hermione dramatically bowed as she started to leave.
"Wait, 'Mione-"
"Bye, you two! Have fun!" Hermione laughed as she quickly strode off before Pansy could grab her. Once she was a good distance away, she turned around to look back. Zacharias and Pansy were awkwardly interacting with each other, both blushing messes. Hermione chuckled to herself, watching them for a minute before turning around.
She glanced around the room. It was incredibly nice seeing everyone smiling and laughing, with no concern for any worries outside of the dance. Despite coming off of an immense amount of stress, Hermione felt at ease. She didn't know if it was the dance's joyful atmosphere, or the fact that she had finally been able to free herself from Ron's abuse, but she was feeling good. Better than nearly ever before, actually.
"You look dazzling." Hermione turned to see Blaise standing behind her.
"Blaise? Why, thank you. It's nice to see you," Hermione said with a soft smile.
"Yes, I can say the same. Though it's still a pity you weren't able to come with me," Blaise joked with a smile. Hermione and him laughed softly together.
"So, who did you end up coming here with?" Hermione asked, glancing around the room.
"Pavarti. And she actually was the one to ask me," Blaise smiled as he looked over his shoulder to where she was standing, talking with the other Eighth year girls.
"Really? Well, she must be lucky." Hermione smiled once more as she watched the girls.
"Well, I've kept you long enough already, Hermione. Once again, I'm sorry for what I did earlier this year. And I'm glad you're safer, now. I'll be going." Hermione smiled and waved as Blaise bowed slightly and walked towards his date. She sighed softly as she was left alone again, but still felt excited for the night ahead. However, as she was about to begin walking around again, she was stopped by yet another voice.
"You look absolutely beautiful." Hermione turned to face the person speaking to her. She was caught off guard as she was met with Draco Malfoy, dressed in a nice suit, smiling.
"Draco. Thank you." Hermione smiled widely as she looked at him. "You look amazing as well."
"Yes, well, isn't that obvious?" Draco asked with a slight smirk, his hands sweeping down his body as if to show off his outfit.
"Well, now I take back what I said. You look fine," Hermione said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, but smiling nonetheless. Draco laughed.
"I've brought you a drink," Draco said, holding up one of two glasses in his hands. "I honestly am not completely sure what drink this is, but it tastes good enough." Hermione laughed as she took the glass out of his hand.
"Why, thank you, good sir," Hermione joked as she brought the glass to her mouth. Draco raised an eyebrow, taken aback by her playful banter.
"I wouldn't thank me, yet. You may not even like it," Draco responded, watching as Hermione took a sip. She stood for a second, contemplating the taste.
"Hm," she hummed. "It actually is quite good." She took another drink.
Draco smiled softly. "I'm glad. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had given my date a bad drink." Hermione and Draco both shared a laugh, careful not to spill their glasses.
The two stood quiet for a second, simply enjoying each other's company. But Draco soon spoke again.
"I'm really happy you're safe now, Hermione. I know you probably don't want to talk about it any more, especially at a place where we're supposed to be having fun, but I just wanted to say that again." Hermione smiled as Draco looked down.
"Thanks, Draco. And thank you for all of your help. You really helped me in a lot of ways. From bringing me to the hospital wing after I fainted, to helping search for me, or even just simply calling out Ron for his actions. You also gave me a lot of encouragement when I was feeling helpless. Thank you for that." Draco smiled as he met Hermione's eyes.
"Of course. And I would do the same a million times over." Hermione blushed as Draco continued looking at her.
In the back, the band preforming changed songs, now playing a slower, calmer song. Draco glanced over Hermione's shoulder to the floor in front of the stage where many people, students and teachers stood dancing and talking.
"Hey, Hermione. Care to dance?" Draco asked, reaching his hand out for Hermione to grab.
"Hm? Oh, I don't know. I'm not the best-" Draco cut her off.
"Oh, come on. We're at a dance and neither of us have danced yet. Does that make sense to you?" Hermione looked at Draco who was smiling devilishly. She laughed before taking his hand.
"That's what I thought." Draco immediately pulled her to the dance floor, taking both of their drinks and setting them on a table on the way. Once arriving, the couple turned to face each other.
"Okay, well now that you've dragged me all the way here, I think you should know that I still have no real idea of how to properly dance," Hermione said, hands on her hips.
"Well with the amount of dance lessons I took when I was younger, I think I'll be able to help," Draco replied. Hermione rose her eyebrows.
"You took dance lessons?" she exclaimed in disbelief.
"Well, now, that's not the point, is it?" Draco quickly stuttered, fixing his tie. "Let's instead focus on you." Hermione laughed as she hit him playfully on the arm.
"Okay," Draco began. "First, just put your hand here." Draco reached over and hovered his own hand over hers. "May I?" Draco asked, hesitating to touch her.
"You may," Hermione answered, offering her arm. Draco smiled as he took her hand and placed it in the proper spot. Soon after, he did the same with her other hand, and placed his hands in their proper places as well.
"Now, I think there's a specific way we're supposed to dance as well, but I never got that far in my dance lessons." Hermione laughed hard, smiling widely.
"Then I guess we'll just do whatever," she responded. Draco smiled as he began to lead her in a series of steps to the beat of the song.
"Hermione, I was going to say this earlier, but I have a few other things to say to you," Draco said after a short moment of silence.
"Yes?" she asked in return. Draco paused for a second, seeming to gather his thoughts.
"Earlier, you said thank you to me for helping you," Draco began, still leading her in the dance.
"Yes, I did," Hermione responded, unsure of where this was going.
"Well, I just wanted to thank you, as well." Hermione tilted her head.
"For what?" she asked, slightly confused. Draco sighed while smiling, turning his head to look down at their feet.
"Thank you for being so kind to me at the beginning of this year, even though I was a jerk back to you. Thank you for talking to me when nearly no one else did, and thank you for being so accepting and understanding, even before this year." Hermione was caught off guard by these words, so much so that she nearly stopped dancing, but Draco pulled her on.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation to this dance, and for initiating conversations with me, both in and out of classes." Draco smiled at Hermione as she stood shocked. "And lastly, thank you for being so strong throughout this year. You were going through so much and yet you still managed to be one of the kindest people I knew. You somehow befriended, like, almost every Eighth year here, even the ones you used to be 'enemies' with. And thank you for gathering up the courage to report Ron. I could never understand how you must have felt, or how much courage you needed in order to do something like that.
"And Hermione, I also wanted to say that although you may not consider me a friend, I consider you mine. I will always want to be there to help you, as long as you are willing to accept me. I want to be able to walk with you through your struggles, as cheesy as that sounds," Draco paused for a moment and smiled, tilting his head. "I hope we can stay together, like we are now. And I know we have not been friends for long, but I feel like this year we have gotten a lot closer, and I am so thankful for that." Draco suddenly stopped dancing. He smiled softly at Hermione before suddenly pulling her off of the dance floor.
"What- Draco where are we going?" Hermione asked, confused by the sudden change of events. Without stopping, he turned to face her.
"Do you trust me?" Hermione, still confused, nodded slightly. Draco smiled. "Then just keep following me." Draco waded through the crowd of students and teachers as Hermione followed blindly, her arm softly pulled by Draco. Finally, he pulled her around a corner, just outside of the Great Hall.
"Draco, what are you-" Draco cut her off.
"Hermione. You are one of the best people I know. I was a dick to you throughout the entirety of our school years, and I am so sorry for that. I can never take back those days, but at least I am here now, trying my best to make up for it. You are smart, you are kind, and you are just amazing overall," Hermione blushed and looked at the ground as Draco smiled at her.
"I don't want to rush you or pressure you, but Hermione, I just want to tell you-" Draco paused for a second, looking down at the ground, face red. Hermione raised her eyes to look at him. "Hermione, I like you."
Hermione's eyes widened. Draco's face was fading into an even darker shade of red, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. Hermione was startled. She didn't really know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. Her eyes scanned his face, somewhat confused. But although she was taken aback by this sudden confession, she was more startled by the fact that she wasn't upset or nervous. On the contrary, she felt...happy?
"And look, Hermione. I know you've been through a lot, especially this year. And I know this is sudden, and I know that you probably don't even like me back." Draco was stuttering through his sentences, his words stumbling together as he was fidgeting with his hands, running them through his hair. "I'm not saying this because I expect a response, in fact, I'll just leave you alone after this so as not to make you uncomfortable. And I most definitely do not want to force you into another relationship so soon after your last one. And I-" This time, it was Hermione that cut Draco off. She softly but firmly grabbed his face, quickly halting his nervous stuttering.
"What? Hermione-"
"Draco," Hermione started. "Do you trust me?" Hermione had a wicked smile playing on her face, her eyes looking straight into Draco's.
"What? Hermione, yes of course I-" Draco was cut off once more as Hermione pulled him in for a sudden kiss. Draco was startled by her sudden bold movement, but he quickly regained his composure and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. His hands snaked around her back as Hermione's wrapped around his neck, pulling him in tighter. She ran her hands through his hair, savoring the moment. The couple leaned into each other, basically melting into the kiss. After a long moment together, they pulled back, still staying close, only inches away from each other. Staring into each other's eyes, they smiled.
"Wow," Draco finally muttered. "I have to say, that was one of the last things I was expecting." Hermione laughed again before she reached up for another short kiss. She pulled back, smiling wide.
"I think I can say the same." The couple laughed, still holding each other close. Hermione felt amazing, happier than she had in a long time. She wished this moment could stay forever, standing comfortably in Draco's embrace. Happy.
When Hermione first received her letter to return to Hogwarts for another year, the last thing she expected was to fall in love was Draco Malfoy. And although she still had a long way to go, in recovering from her relationship with Ron and even just completing the school year, she knew that she would be happy in the future. It would be hard, sure, but she now had so many more people supporting her. She had Pansy, an amazing friend who seemed willing to go to hell and back for her, with Hermione feeling the same. And now, she had Draco.
In this moment, with Hermione and Draco both standing within each other's arms, Hermione felt on top of the world. Sure, she was nervous, nervous that she would have another disaster relationship, but she felt safe with Draco. Arguably safer than she had ever felt with Ron. She felt comfortable. Secure. And although she would've never expected a conclusion like this, she was glad she had made it here, and she wouldn't trade it for any other ending.