Where I Found You

"Malfoy?"

Hermione froze.

"Granger." Draco let out a long breath, openly expressing his dissatisfaction. The dissatisfaction of the situation or her, Hermione wasn't sure, but either way, this wasn't the first time they were sharing the same feeling towards each other; she had always found him irritating. And so did he. She stared back at him, her brows knitted together.

"Are those heels too much for you to bear? I wouldn't expect anything more," he said, smirking. She hated when he did that.

"You were on my way! I was j—"

"No.“ He shook his head. “I was standing exactly where I last stopped dancing when you slammed into me!"

She crossed her arms. "Well, don't expect an apology since you were clearly on the way."

Draco didn't respond to her, but she knew that he wouldn't let this go easily. They stood there in silence for a few seconds, but it felt like minutes to them both. Draco was looking away contemplating, while Hermione kept staring at him as if she could make him disappear with her intense gaze. She didn't know what he was thinking about, but she wanted to get as far away from him as possible. Her feet began to twitch as if they were telling her to leave.

He caught up with her motion and interrupted before she could open her mouth. "I really don't want my night to be ruined, Granger," he turned to look at her or more like frowned at her. Did he ever smile?

"We might be on the same page for the very first time," she frowned back at him.

Draco poked his tongue lightly into his cheek and exhaled a long breath. "Good. Then let's get this over with."

She opened her mouth briefly before closing it again. Was he suggesting to dance with her instead of walking away with the usual smug look on his face? The thought gave her a headache, there was no plausible reason for him to do that...unless he was intending to embarrass her during the dance. That, of course, would never happen. But at the same time, she couldn't possibly dance with Draco Malfoy!

"I can see what you're thinking about on your face," he cocked his head to the side. If she was that easy to read, she had to be more careful with her expressions around him.

Hermione felt a slight chill on her back at his words. "What makes you think that I want to dance with you? And even curtsy to you?" she scoffed.

"I didn't say you wanted to, but you have to," he didn't even bother to hide his grin. 

"I don't have to do anything," she said with a harsh tone.

Draco closed his eyes for a brief while, letting out a heavy sigh. He seemed annoyed, well, it wasn't an unfamiliar sight for Hermione. That was his default expression after all– the one he wore when she would talk, or even just look at him directly.He maintained his stance and then, he lowered his head, extending his hand in front of her. Hermione's brows rose, unable to  process what she was seeing. She opened her mouth, a question rising in her throat- but nothing came out. That was a completely new situation for them both.

"People are watching," Draco whispered, his jaw strained. "I'm sure you wouldn't like to draw any more attention."

More attention?

Hermione took a good look around. The dance had already begun, and the dancers, along with the rest of the audience, were staring at them in a mixture of shock, disbelief, and a bit of enthusiasm. She couldn’t believe the latter, but it was reasonable given how many people enjoyed the conflict and rivalry between them.

She redirected her focus to Malfoy, who stood as stiff as a rock, waiting for her to take his hand in hers. She knew going to her room would be the best decision, but Hermione, being Hermione and not one to back down from a challenge, considered doing the exact opposite. It would have been much better if she had just left him like this, but she also didn't want to run away and look like a coward.

Swallowing nervously, she took a tentative step towards him, her body felt like it could collapse any moment. She mumbled something nasty under her breath and the instant she placed her hand on his, he glanced up, approaching her much closer than she would like. The distance between them was normal, but she had never been this near him in person before, and it made her stomach turn.

This unexpected closeness made her feel uneasy and she took a deep breath before he could sense her nervousness. She could smell the intense scent radiating from him, already filling her lungs instead of the scentless oxygen. where was an odd sensation; her hand was buzzing, and when he put his other hand on the small of her waist, it got even worse. Her body was giving her warning signals to stay away from him, from the danger, the bad. Was it too late to back down now?

But of course, she wasn't going to run away and give him the impression that he won. She would show how much of a Gryffindor she was. Encouraged by her newfound confidence, she put her other hand on his shoulder and they began to move slowly. This was the strangest feeling she'd ever had! She was all too aware of her hands on his shoulder and his palm and hoped that her hands were not sweating. He, she couldn't help but notice, had a lot softer hands than she had expected, not that she was expecting anything, of course, but she had seen so much from Harry; quidditch would cause calluses on player’s hands from clutching the broom for so long. But, knowing Malfoy, he most likely was using expensive creams and oils for that.

Hermione realized she was staring at their hands for quite some time now and decided to change her focus. She didn't want to look at his face, especially from this distance, but she could feel his gaze on her, making her feel even more uneasy and small.

"I'm not even surprised that you haven't learned some etiquette," he scoffed.

She met his eyes for a second. "What etiquette are we talking about?"

"Bowing to your partner," he puffed his chest, "but you can always learn to stay down. That's where you all Mudbloods belong anyway."

That name again! She was pissed, but at the same time determined to keep her nonchalant attitude. "I am aware of those," she fake-smiled looking straight into his eyes. "I just...” she acted like she was thinking for a second, “wouldn't do it to you."

They were dancing in circles as they spoke. "We'll see about that," he narrowed his eyes.

She wanted to run away from him this second or even better, hex him. She wanted to hex him so bad that he would never look at her the wrong way again, only if she had her wand. And of course, she couldn't do it in front of everyone, who was watching their every move closely. She faked a smile at him not to draw any attention from prying eyes, but at the second thought, that would probably make it even worse; everyone knew they hated each other.

"At least you seem somewhat.."

His eyes dilated for a moment, what was he going to call her this time?

"..decent for tonight. I was terrified to see that frizzy nest you insist on calling hair,"

Hermione sarcastically opened her mouth in shock. "I had no idea I was tormenting you with my looks Malfoy,"

"Not tormenting but amusing, to be honest. You give me a good laugh just for being you," an evil grin formed on his lips.

Although not letting him see how much it affected her, her stomach dropped at his remark. He had insulted her many times before, but this one was particularly upsetting. She looked beautiful tonight, so beautiful that some people didn't even notice her at first, but Malfoy, being true to his arrogant self, was capable of making her feel awful.

She raised her eyebrows, with a sardonic smile on her lips. "At least I'm not slicking my hair back with tons of gel. I'm so glad you stopped doing that, it was giving me a headache just by looking at it,“ she glanced at his hair for better impact. 

He shot a dirty look at her, jutting his chin forward. "I warn you-"

"What? What can you do?" She challenged him.

“You'll soon learn," his voice was low but still sharp.

Instead of saying anything more, he turned his head in another direction. She had no idea how he was still leading the dance while paying no attention to it; apparently, the Balls Neville mentioned paid off. 

They danced going in circles again, beginning to feel more at ease with the dance. This was slightly better than dancing with Neville and she thanked Godric that she missed that step with Neville instead of Malfoy. He wouldn't shut up about it till the end of the year, maybe even later! The thought made her more conscious as she tried not to make any mistake, but it was already easy. She wasn't sure if she got it fast or he was actually good at this to guide her so well. It was probably a bit of both. She conditioned herself not to show how much she was secretly enjoying the dance. He kept staring and frowning at her in a way that made Hermione think he knew how much she liked this. At some point, his stare was so annoying that she wondered if she had something on her face that made him look at her like that, but it didn't make sense, he would've mocked her the second he saw her. 

When she noticed the slight tempo change, she remembered the last thing he said and turned to face him. "If you drop me or even think of doing anything stupid-"

"What are you going to do? You don't even have your wand," he half smirked and looked away again.

"And what makes you think that I need that?" she raised one eyebrow. She actually did need that.

He turned his gaze back to her. "You can't harm me, Granger. Even a know-it-all like you is not that good at wandless spells."

"But I'm good at confundus and that's all I need to make you pay. It would be much better to see you fall on your arse than to see you injured. With that much of a show, I'm sure you could be the star of the year, especially after the ferret incident." She looked at him with a stern look on her face, hoping that she could bluff her way out.

His eyes widened for a moment, but he composed himself quickly. "Okay, I won't let you fall," he muttered, grinding his teeth.

"You better not," she glared at him firmly once again. Just to make sure.

The music grew louder signalling the next move and he placed his hands around her waist, lifting her in the air, making a few turns, and didn't let go as she had feared before. She never really liked flying with a broom but being in the air like this was not so bad. She hated to admit that she loved the feeling when he lifted her in the air. It took all of her willpower to not let out a little squeal of joy but she it was impossible. The rapid beating of her heart made her feel alive. She took the moment to outstretch her arms towards the ceiling; feeling butterflies in her stomach and she couldn't contain her smile. Who would've thought that dancing with someone she hated could feel so liberating? 

She put her hands on his shoulders to regain her balance but it only made things worse. When he held her waist tighter to bring her down, the distance between them shortened. She was still smiling as she got face to face with him, but immediately stopped when the feeling faded and she regained awareness as his cologne filled the small air between them. They both stared at each other until Malfoy dampened his lips for a brief moment and opened them to speak but closed them again. Hermione didn't even want to look at  is lips, but he had done it as if to direct her attention to them and well, succeeded. She looked at his lips just for a split second and sensed the same feeling she felt in the air and turned her head to another direction in embarrassment and confusion.

None of them said a word after that and they kept dancing in silence. She was sure that he would make a sly comment, but he surprised her, once again. He actually surprised her many times during this evening, but she definitely expected to hear a mockery from that one. He doesn't want to make a scene in front of the professors, thought Hermione.

While she was avoiding Malfoy's eyes she found Harry and Ron watching her from time to time. Harry remained expressionless while Ron on the other hand looked terrified. He always was a bit worried around Malfoy and this dance brought her and him physically closer than ever before, she could understand why he would worry. But she was Hermione Granger, after all; there was no need to worry.

"Your date is looking at us, disturbingly often," he finally spoke, looking over her shoulder.

"Who?" This brought a halt to her thoughts, she turned her head and saw Viktor, who warmly smiled at her almost immediately, she returned the smile and looked back at Malfoy.

"Maybe because I'm too close to asnake," she said raising one eyebrow.

"Snakes are lovely animals, look at Theo for instance," he said playfully. 

"Not this one," she stared straight at him in the eye, her embarrassment was long gone.

"Ouch," he twirled her around and spoke when she faced him. "Lions are not that great either. They're just...loud."

She was about to laugh when the images of Ron, Harry, and all the other Gryffindor boys flooded her mind, but she held back that laughter after noticing the perplexed look on his face.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" She averted her eyes.

Instead of saying anything, his grip on her waist loosened and he spun her away from himself. She feared she would hit someone else, but he held her hand firmly and stopped her. She twirled around a few times before facing him on the last turn as he drew her back. He slowly lowered her to the ground, his other hand supporting her back, and hovering above her for a few seconds. She had no choice but to look at his face and she did. Only this time, she specifically avoided the lower part of his face not to give the wrong idea.

His hand on her back was holding her firmly. If the professors weren't there, she knew he'd drop her at this very moment and laugh as he walked away. Although she enjoyed the way he danced elegantly knowing exactly what to do, she reminded herself who he was while staring back into his eyes. Which, by the way, she'd never seen so close before and just maintained eye contact, feeling curious all of a sudden. His greyish-blue eyes looked icy and bitter, yet she couldn't help but admire their beauty. A sudden thought popped into her head, questioning whether they always looked so cold and reserved or was it just for her and her friends.

He brought her back to her feet and they both immediately let go of their hands. It felt like the time had slowed when he lowered her, but in reality, it was merely 5 seconds. Her throat was dry, her hands that she hid behind her  back were sweaty, and her heart was beating so fast that it was almost painful to stand there in front of him like this. Normally, they would bow to each other out of respect but, she couldn’t do such a thing to the boy who just called her a mudblood at the start of their dance. She looked at him, slightly shaking her head 'no' and turned back on her heels. Her date was already standing near the door waiting for her. She walked up to him with the best smile on her face, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart.