A/N: Happy Valentine's Day!!! I honestly didn't think that this story would receive 14 reviews for a single chapter. Damn. You guys spoil me. ; )
Setting: Mostly simultaneous with the previous chapter. The first part is a missing scene. This is NOT a sequel.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own, nor am I making any profit whatsoever from this twoshot. And I sort of stole/mutilated Avenue Q, Rent, Spring Awakening lyircs... I'll give you a cookie if you can find 'em. They're like short little blurbs from songs. Good luck...
"Masquerade! Paper faces on parade. Masquerade! Hide your face so the world will never find you."- Phantom of the Opera
(Right after Ginny walks out of Hermione's dormitory...)
Hermione grabbed Harry by the shoulder and pulled him into the room quickly and slammed the door. "Harry, could you have procrastinated any longer?" she asked sarcastically with an exasperated sigh once she was sure that Ginny had retreated far enough down the staircase.
"I had to make sure she was gone," he reasoned, taking another step into the room. "Wouldn't want her figuring you out before you had the chance to disguise yourself, would you?"
"Ah, so that's why you chose to walk in just as she was leaving, was it?" Hermione said without much enthusiasm as he wore down whatever was left of her patience.
Harry rolled his eyes, "Give me a break, ok? I was getting impatient."
She shook her head, knowingly, and berated herself for leaving such a crucial part of her plan up to a man. "Alright, is that what I think it is?" she asked, motioning to the parcel in Harry's arms.
Harry nodded and peeled back the canvas in his arms to reveal the garment: a pristine set of jet black dress robes, neatly pressed and looking as if they hadn't been worn more than twice since Harry purchased them.
"Oh, wow, they're beautiful," she said as he laid the robes gently on her bed.
Harry crossed the room back to where Hermione was standing, "Do I get a 'thank you'?"
In that instant, Hermione lept at him, crushing him in a violent hug that pinned his body against the door with a loud 'thud.' "Oh, Harry," she said into the collar of his shirt, "thank you so much!"
"Whoa, Hermione," Harry said, pushing her away, body still strongly pinned against the closed door by the arms that rested on his shoulders. "That was slightly tactless, not that I mind, of course," he said suggestively with a cocky grin.
Hermione took a step back from him, at a loss for words. "I--...er, what?"
He reveled in her stunned expression and took her momentary silence as a sign to continue speaking, "As flattered as I am by your advance, I fear that I might have the misfortune of making your girlfriend a little...jealous."
The last words he spoke were enough to pull her out of her dazed confusion. "Just because you're jealous about losing her to a girl doesn't mean you're allowed to take it out on me," Hermione said, huffing. "Not as if you ever had a chance with her, anyway, I might add..." He rolled his eyes and shook his head, shrugging his shoulders in defeat. "And she is not my girlfriend..." Hermione said with mock contempt and snatched the dress robes mercilessly from her bed, "...yet." She threw an exaggerated grin in his direction before promptly slamming the door in his face.
She undressed and dressed quickly, only to be slowed for a moment as she determined how exactly to wear the cummerbund. She draped an untied bow-tie around her neck and buttoned up the white dress shirt the rest of the way. She took a moment to examine herself in the mirror before nodding her approval. Alright, now the easy part... Hermione let out a long breath and picked her wand up off of the shelf above the sink. She quickly recited a spell she had practiced many times before, taming her wild hair into a slick pony-tail that rested just above the collar of her shirt. Her mask lay on the sink in front of her, boring holes in her with its lifeless gaze. She picked it up and held it inches from her face, admiring her reflection in the mirror for a moment before returning it to its place.
As she was putting the finishing touches on her appearance, Hermione beckoned from the other side of the bathroom door, "You never explained what's keeping you from going to the ball tonight. You'd better have a good reason... because the last time I checked, you were still the most popular boy in school."
"As a matter of fact, I have a detention to serve with Snape this evening," Harry said loudly through the bathroom door to ensure that Hermione heard him. "He's making me clean out all of the toilets on the fifth floor, can you believe that? On the night of the Yule Ball, no less," he sighed and leaned heavily against the wall next to the door.
Moments later, Hermione emerged from the bathroom clad in Harry's dress robes with the jacket draped loosely over her arm. In her other hand, she held the mask which dangled on the tip of two of her fingers. "Well, I certainly hope that's all you'll be doing with him," she said in a suggestive tone, waggling her eyebrows conspicuously.
"Why does eveyone seem to think that I'm attracted to him?" Harry half-shouted at Hermione who was trying in vain to hold back her laughter with the side of her hand. "Have I not made it absolutely clear that I hate that man?"
Hermione chuckled, "Well, Harry, as I'm sure you know, there's a fine line between love and hate..." She unfolded her jacket and whipped it around her shoulders with precision and gently slid her arms into the sleeves. She quickly adjusted the collar, smoothing out the fabric around her shoulders.
"Yeah, well, the line between a lover and a friend is just as fine," Harry said defensively.
"Touche," Hermione said, relenting. She fell silent for a moment, focusing her gaze on the mask in her hands, turning it over again and again as she considered what she was about to do. She looked up at Harry and said very softly, "I really don't want to fuck this up."
Harry moved closer to her, allowing his hand to graze her arm. Their eyes locked and she could feel the warmth in Harry's expression begin to penetrate her doubts. "You're going to do fine," he said quietly, holding her shoulder with a reasuring grip. He smiled a little, "You're the brightest person I know, if there's anything you can handle, it's certainly a school dance."
She nodded, "Yeah...yeah, I know." God, I picked a hell of a time to start having second thoughts...
"C'mere, let me fix your tie," Harry said, moving closer to her as he deftly tied the bow tie in a few swift movements. He laid both of his hands on her shoulders and gaver her a brief once-over, eyeing her appearance as many of the dancers would later that evening. "You're very handsome," he said finally with a cautious grin toying at the edge of his lips.
"As flattered as I am by your advance, Mr. Potter, I must say that my heart belongs to another," she said with mock formality as she took a final look at herself in the mirror. He laughed at the irony in her statement and proceeded towards the door. "Where are you going?"
"Though I'd much rather stay with you, I do have other matters that require my attention this evening," Harry said as he opened the door.
"Ah, yes," Hermione said, realizing. "Well, give my regards to Sevvie, will you?"
A cross between extreme distaste and astonishment appeared on Harry's face, making him look as though he had just ingested a mouthfull of the worst Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. "Urgh, Hermione, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," he said and left the door open behind him. Hermione smiled as she listened to him rant on his way down the stairs, catching phrases like, "Scarred for life" and "The nerve of that woman!"
She took a deep breath and faced the mirror again, this time to add the final element of her elaborate disguise. Hermione cradled the mask in her hands in the same way that a child might hold an injured animal. Carefully, she raised the thick white plastic material to her face and spoke the two words that would bind it to her features for the duration of the night. Well, unless she speaks my name... Hermione took pleasure in this fact, knowing that she always had an easy way out if Ginny failed to guess correctly. But somehow I really don't think that will happen.
Picking up her wand a final time, she drew the tip to her throat and muttered a spell that would drop her voice an octave below her normal speech. "Excellent," she said clearly to test her voice which now sounded unmistakably masculine. Hermione smoothed her disguise down to the hem of the robes one final time before saying to herself defiantly, "I think I'm going to be able to pull this off." She grabbed the pair of black gloves off of her dresser before exiting the room with a spring in her step.
She stood directly between the open doors of the Great Hall for several minutes, taking in the scene before her. Dancers glided gracefully across the dance floor, boys in tuxedo-like robes spinning girls clad in outrageously poofy gowns. She needed only scan the room once before she spotted Ginny, sitting alone at a table watching the other students with a wistful expression on her face. Good, I don't have to go pry her away from some boy's arms in order to dance with her. She walked slowly over to where Ginny was sitting, trying desperately to tone out the sensible voices in the back of her mind persistently warning her that this was a very, very bad idea.
From a safe distance, she took in Ginny's appearence, noting how the neckline of her dress dipped dangerously low for the Hogwarts dress code. I didn't have the chance to tell her how breathtakingly amazing she looked in that dress, she thought, making a note to mention it to the younger girl later that evening.
Taking a few deep, restrained breaths, Hermione advanced the rest of the way to where Ginny was sitting, still mesmerized by the dancers before her. Her outstretched hand seemed to spur Ginny away from her intent concentration and Hermione found her voice, "May I have this dance, Ginny Weasley?"
The warm smile that appeared upon the younger girl's face was enough to banish whatever regrets that might have lingered in Hermione's mind.
After the first dance was over, she was glad to have avoided as many of Ginny's questions as possible without giving too much information away. I hate to lie to her, so I won't, Hermione reasoned early on in the conversation. "You can ask me anything you'd like about who I am, except my name," Hermione said to clarify what she had said earlier. The music picked up and developed strongly into a intense tango, discouraging many of the students away from the dance floor and towards the punch bowl to mingle. Hermione, however, saw this as yet another opportunity to charm Ginny.
Oh, crap...who leads? A wave of shock passed over her as the question developed in her mind. I'm technically the man, so wait...where do I put my hand? Her shock subsided as Ginny's hand found its way to Hermione's waist and she allowed the younger girl to lead the dance. This is very unorthodox, she could not help but think with a smile as Ginny led her in a furious tango across the better part of the dance floor, wooing onlookers as well as a handfull of amused teachers.
By the time the tango was through, the music shifted to an upbeat pop tune that did not thrill Hermione at all. "Ms. Weasley," Hermione beckonned with an outstretched arm, attempting to restore some sense of formality to her persona. Ginny cordially accepted and allowed Hermione to escort her from the dance floor. If she gets me talking right now, I could really blow this, she thought without much enthusiasm. "Before the night is over, would you be so kind as to honor me with one more dance," she asked hopefully, wishing to every muggle god she'd ever heard of: please do not let me screw this up.
"It would be my pleasure," Ginny said with equal formality, causing Hermione to supress a giggle. It's so unlike her, this formal, courteous person that she becomes when she's dressed in fancy clothes. Then again, I'm doing the exact same thing... "Not right now though, it's like a thousand degrees in here."
Hermione nodded and waited until Ginny had advanced a good three meters in front of her before allowing herself to smile broadly, relishing in the success of her plan.
Hermione watched Ginny with bated breath as she removed the mask that covered her face. It seemed as if she had been standing in this courtyard for hours rather than minutes, talking, laughing and trying to avoid Ginny's prying questions to the best of her ability. Her breathing hitched as Ginny's features were revealed from behind her mask, she is so beautiful. Her reverie was broken only when Ginny's hand reached for her own mask, threatening to remove it from Hermione's face. "It's charmed," she breathed, marveling at her ability to form coherent speech. "It won't come off unless you speak my name."
The sound of Ginny's hands escaping from her velvet gloves broke the silence between them. Hermione drew her hand slowly to Ginny's waist, no longer able to restrain her need to touch, to kiss, to hold the other girl in her arms. What she did not anticipate was Ginny's hand upon her cheek, gently grazing the skin. She gasped at the soft touch, marveling at how delicately her fingertips played upon her skin and found their way to her lips. She's such a tease! If she doesn't kiss me right now... She grinned and leaned her head to the side, removing Ginny's hand from her lips as she did so. Ginny took the invitation and placed a small, chaste kiss on Hermione's lips.
The last coherent thought that passed through her mind was 'finally!' Sensing that she had succeeded in winning Ginny's affections, Hermione placed a hand at the back of her partner's neck and captured her lips, releasing the years of pent up emotions and longing with a single, passionate kiss. She moaned as Ginny's tongue slipped past her lips and fought for dominance, the two girls longing for dominance over the other. Hands traveled down her back, causing Hermione to shiver pleasantly as she relaxed, becoming well-acquainted with the serene touch that Ginny's soft fingertips produced. Suddenly, Ginny pulled away, looking utterly shocked. Here it comes...
Panting heavily, Ginny collected herself enough to force out a single word, "Hermione." The way she spoke it was enough to assuage Hermione's doubts. It was only one word, but spoken with such conviction and calmness, it almost sounded as if Ginny had known Hermione's identity all along. Yes, but that doesn't mean that she feels the way that I do. The mask fell from her face and landed like a lead weight in her outstetched hands. She stared at it for a moment, and then looked at Ginny with anticipation, dreading and longing her reaction at the same time.
Ginny smiled and Hermione's heart leapt into her throat as the younger girl whispered seductively, "I like you, too. Whatcha gonna do about it?"
Oh, I can think of a few things, she thought as a sly grin crossed her face. In a single sweeping motion, the smirk was wiped clean from Ginny's face and replaced with a look of pure ecstacy as Hermione captured the younger girl's lips again.
As they broke away from each other, Hermione could not help but smile as Ginny gave her a once-over for the third time that night. "You know, you look absolutely ravishing in those dress robes," she said, laughing.
Hermione nodded curtly and said with a smile, "I'll be sure to tell Harry you said so." And she would. But for now, the focus was Ginny. Oh, I like this song, she thought as a familiar rock tune began to fill the Great Hall, muted slightly by the thick glass that separated them from the interior of the school. Her arms found their way around Ginny's slender waist and rested there limply as she began to sway both of their bodies back and forth to the rhythm of the music. Catching Ginny's confused gaze, Hermione stated simply, "You promised me one last dance." Ginny smiled and nodded, resting her head against Hermione's shoulder as the two danced to the steady beat of the music. For the first time in her life, Hermione was blissfully content in the arms of a beautiful girl.
A/N: Any discrepancies/contradictions in this chapter are the result of my inherent stupidity and I take the blame for them in advance, though I do not anticipate any problems. Oh, and pardon my plot summary throughout the story, but I really didn't want to write every single scrap of dialogue and description over again. I really rushed this last chapter because five hours of staring at a computer screen will do that to me sometimes. So it could've been better, but it's not. Plus it's like 10:30 on a school night and I haven't done chem homework yet (and probably won't at this rate)...
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is "Masquerade". I hope you've enjoyed it because I thoroughly enjoyed writing it.