Magnetic Attraction

Chapter 21: Lets do this thing

The week before the Yule Ball flew by in a rush of Witch Weekly fashion catalogues and wizarding records. Hermione found herself listening to album upon album with Luna to put together a soundtrack for the dance, as well as reassuring the Headmaster that the night would be a fun, innocent night for the upper years to blow off some steam during break. Using her busy schedule as an excuse, she was able to get out of the massive shopping outing to Hogsmeade for dresses, smiling apologetically to the hyper Bee and Rose when they invited her to go with them. She opted to spend a quiet night with Christine in the Heads' common room, magicking up tamer albeit flattering dresses inspired by a massive stock of magazines her new friend had picked up over the years. Hermione and Christine were growing very close and were called the Dynamic Duo by most of Gryffindor house. She had always hated group nicknames, as she had been forced to endure the Golden Trio tagline that haunted her, Harry, and Ron for most of their time at Hogwarts, but she was fairly relieved that she had found such a good friend, especially when Ron and Harry were now fairly independent from her. The four of them, plus Ginny and on occasion, Neville and Lavender, formed their own loose clique at night in the Gryffindor common room.

On the surface, things were coming together for Hermione. The preparations for the Yule Ball were nearly complete, and she was finally comfortable with her friends. Alone, when the eyes of others were focused elsewhere, however, Hermione was frantic.

Draco had kept his distance after being rejected for breakfast, and Hermione was thankful. The peace his disappearance offered gave her time to worry about more important issues, and once planning was out of the way, she was able to figure out what she wanted to do to get him back. The first step was to figure out what she wanted, not an easy task. She settled on the idea that she would like a real relationship with him, a public one, where they didn't have to sneak around and could openly show affection for one another. Next came the hard part, how to achieve such a thing. The answer was that she had to show she loved him and that anything else was secondary. The only way to do so would be to publicly, though subtly, show her feelings for him. Thus, going up to him in the middle of the Great Hall and snogging him was out of the question. She ended up deciding to make her move at the Yule Ball, meaning that this one night would decide everything. It would show whether she really was good enough for her position as Head Girl, and it would decide whether she would spend the rest of her year at Hogwarts embarrassed and alone.

The pressure was incredible.

The night before the ball was hard. She spent it alone in her bedroom, running over what she would have to do the next day.

"Dress?" she said aloud as she went over her mental checklist. Peering into her wardrobe, she made sure her transfigured dress was still on its hanger. It was. "Check."

"Music?" She went over to her desk and picked up the large record that featured the music she had personally selected for tomorrow. It would be played amidst the other records that would be requested for karaoke. "Check."

Hermione ran out of things to check, so she paced over to her mirror and studied her reflection self-consciously. Her fearful hazel eyes stared back at her, reflecting what she could hide from everyone but herself. She was scared beyond belief. What she was going to do tomorrow night was not safe, was not something she would ever do if she hadn't met Draco. But turning back was no longer an option. The idea sent a thrill down her spine and she smiled at herself, the risk feeling just a little bit fantastic.

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In the next room, Draco was doing something similar. He had laid out his outfit for the following evening; 'relaxed fancy' as Rose Barnett had so jauntily put it. He was going with dark gray slacks and a nice charcoal button-down shirt along with an understated black dress robe made of velvet and silk, unable to completely abandon his wizarding background. This year's Yule Ball was going to completely different from the others, a fact Hermione was very proud of, and Draco couldn't ignore the requested dress code of Muggle attire because it would disrespect Hermione's brainchild. Besides, he knew he looked good in whatever he wore, and his ego played a direct role in the darker outfit he had chosen, seeing as darker clothing set off his lighter hair.