Bond

5

A/N: During Draco and Hermione's dance, please go to Youtube and turn on "Cold" by Jorge Mendez
It's what I imagine them dancing to, and it sets a tone for what transpires as Draco talks.

"Give Me Everything" by Pitbull Ft Neyo, Afrojack & Nayer

The green satin that the mask rested on, it turned out, was a folded Grecian style backless dress with mermaid skirting at the bottom, emerald green and obviously expensive. Hermione stared at it as it hung at the top of her closet door on a coat hook as she debated on whether or not to wear it. The dress was breathtaking, for sure, but she was still hurting from the elevator incident, not to mention her last conversation with him at Bond, and... well, she wanted to stick it to him, even if it would be saying no to the most gorgeous dress Hermione ever laid eyes on. To wear it meant to represent him, and could she do that in good conscience?

She wrote to Luna two days before the masquerade to ask if she would attend as well, and received a response the same day; Luna had been asked by Jez, the bartender, and yes, she would most definitely be attending. Luna also noted that she hadn't seen Hermione in a few weeks, and asked if everything was alright. Hermione replied promptly stating everything was just fine, and that she would love to have a drink with her at Bond during the masquerade.

The rain slapped heavily against the windows of her flat come evening, and Hermione knew she wouldn't receive a reply from Luna until morning, when the rain let up and owls could continue their postal delivery. Still pondering over whether or not to wear the dress, Hermione made herself a nice cup of hot tea and curled up on her sofa with a book, 'It's All Business' by Vivian Brown. She'd read the novel three times already, but she simply couldn't put it down. Another thing she could never admit to Ginny: Hermione Granger enjoyed snarky romance novels, and this one was quite entertaining. A man, struggling to build his empire from the ground up, and a beautiful, successful partner who helped to keep his businesses from going under. Not to mention, all of the juicy sexy bits.

She was just finding her favorite chapter to re-read when someone knocked softly on her front door. Hermione narrowed her eyes. No one bothered to come to the front door anymore. They always used the floo. She stood at once, carefully tucking her book under a cushion, and walked across the room. She pressed her ear to the door and said, in her most pleasant voice, "Who is it?"

" 'Mione..." The soft, drunken drawl of one Ronald Bilius Weasley could be heard from the other side.

"Ron?" Hermione unlocked the door and pried it open; before her, sopping wet from head to toe, was her ex-husband, his red hair dripping in sheets off of his head and his wand in plain view from the hallway as he clutched it within his hands. "Ron! What are you- get in here - oh, for heaven's sake..." She pulled him in at once and fetched a towel from the linen closet, wrapping it around his shoulders before escorting him to the sofa to sit down. Ron hiccupped, thanked her, and began to towel off his hair.

Hermione took a seat next to him with a smaller towel and began to dab at his rain covered face and neck. "Did you Apparate to my front door?" she asked, scolding. He distinctly smelled of alcohol.

Ron hiccupped again, nodding. "Your floo was shut off."

"Oh." Hermione looked over to her fireplace, realizing she had closed it down nearly every night this week, just in case a certain blonde decided to try to show up at her place, unannounced. "I... I'd forgotten." She patted his ear with the towel, affectionate in her ministrations. "Ron, why are you here?"

Ron hiccupped a third time, rubbed his eyes with the back of his sleeve, and said, "I kissed someone, Mione. I kissed a woman tonight."

"Well... well, that's good, isn't it?" Hermione frowned, unsure of how the act of Ron kissing someone sparked him to show up at her doorstep in the middle of a rainstorm.