Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters or settings.

Hermione woke up on Halloween, very happy it was a weekend. She was, very surprisingly, buzzing with excitement. Sure, she wanted to go, but it wasn't like her to get all giddy and excited about some party. But, after all, this was a first in Hogwarts history, and maybe, if they were lucky, it would become a tradition. Then she would have been at a legendary part of Hogwarts history. How cool is that?

Hermione had slept in that morning, letting her self sleep until nine. Luckily, breakfast on weekends always ran long, so she headed down the passageways and staircases, still in her pajamas, which showed a bit more skin than she was used to, but no more than her dress for this evening. Still just her typical tank top and fuzzy pants. She had not yet showered, and wrestled with her hair on the way into the great hall, trying to pet it into a low pony tail so that she didn't look like she'd been electrocuted.

"Ah, she lives." Ron teased as Hermione sat down, one arm around Lavendar's shoulders. He was, of course, eating in his typical way, stuffing as much food as he could into his mouth at once.

Hermione shot a playful glare over at the red head, sticking her tongue out as well before she pulled some food onto her plate. Since Draco had vanished from her life, Hermione had become much more goofy and carefree, which didn't really seem to fit her typical personality, but she had decided to take it as a good thing.

Everyone ate for at least another half hour until Lavendar stood up and declared that she, Parvati, Hermione, and Ginny needed to go get ready for the ball.

"Isn't it in, like, six hours? It can't possibly take us that long to get ready Lavendar." Ginny whined, obviously not ready to cut her breakfast somewhat short. Apparently she hadn't gotten up long before Hermione.

"Yes, but didn't you want to experiment with glamour charms? Come on!" Lavendar whined, pulling her friends up out of their seats.

Hermione trailed along after the group of girls, mouthing a silent 'Help me!' to Ron and Harry. Apparently they thought it was the funniest thing in the world, and did not believe their friend needed any help. But, trapped in a room with three squealing excited teenage girls for six hours? She definitely needed a rescue.

Hours later, Hermione sat on her bed in the dorm room, hoping she was in fact invisible. Lavender and Parvati were arguing over something and Ginny was no where to be seen. Apparently she had abandoned Hermione to deal with them alone. She sighed, turning the page of her book.

She had her gown on, so it seemed a bit silly to just sit on a bed and read a book like this. She wasn't used to wearing beautiful ball gowns and such, and felt almost uncomfortable. But, either way, she still had that necklace on. The colors actually went quite well with her outfit. She actually hadn't taken it off, except to shower, since she'd received the little white box.

Lavender had done the poor girl's hair and makeup earlier. Hermione had thought it to be a bit silly, after all, her mask would be covering half her face any way, but Lavender would not accept any excuses. She'd also used Sleekeasy's potion on her hair, causing it to fall in gentle curls rather than being uncontrollably bushy.

Hermione had considered doing a charm to change her hair color, but decided against it. She really did like her hair when it was like this. Other times, not so much. Finally, Lavender exclaimed that they should all go. Somehow, Ginny had managed to reappear at that very moment. The redhead was sneakier than Hermione gave her credit for.

Hermione stood, placing her book on the bed, wondering if she'd leave the ball early to come back and read. It sounded fun, but so did the ball, even if she wasn't much of a dancer. Hermione and Ginny linked arms as they headed down the moving staircases and long hallways.

The group of girls paused at the top of a staircase, waiting for the boys and getting ready to go into the Great Hall, which they could only assume had been decorated beautifully. It wasn't more than a few minutes before Ron and Harry met them, Ron taking Lavender's arm as they headed down the stairs.

Harry opened the heavy wooden doors and Hermione gasped in shock. It seemed like everything glittered beautifully. There was music playing, but not too loudly. Many students danced in the center of the room, the gorgeous, colorful dresses fanning out when they twirled. It was also a pleasant temperature, whereas Hermione had expected it to get stuffy with so many students dancing.

Ron and Lavender immediately split off from the group, Harry mumbling something about firewhiskey and disappearing into the sea of masks and dresses and jewelery. Hermione suddenly had a knot in her stomach. She'd been excited for this for so long, but it felt wrong to be there without Draco, which sounded silly. Even to her.

Ginny and Parvati, being the bravest in the girls' trio, went to dance, giggling, while Hermione went to get a drink, silently praying no one had spiked it. The last thing she needed tonight was to get drunk. She'd had alcohol a few times before, and if had been revealed that she was a sad drunk. Yet, no one would recognize her either way, so it probably didn't matter.

She ended up sitting at a small table, as the music played loudly, silently wishing she had had the sense to bring her book. It looked as if she'd simply be sitting the whole night, too nervous to get up and dance by herself. Wearing a mask was supposed to be liberating, and let you do things you wouldn't usually, but Hermione was still terrified of making a fool of herself. She may be a Gryffindore, but this was one fear she didn't often have the courage to face.

It was funny, as she looked around the room, she realized that the charm to stop them from recognizing each other worked quite well. The only reason she knew her friends, was because she helped them pick out their dresses. Everyone else though, she could see their hair and parts of their faces, but couldn't place who they were. It was like a word stuck on the tip of her tongue, just out of reach.

It was about an hour into the party, Hermione was still sitting in her chair, eating small bits of food and drinking punch. Ginny had come over and tried to get Hermione to dance a few times but but Hermione only said yes once or twice. She looked to be having so much fun, flitting about and dancing with various wizards and even a few witches. She hated to spoil her friend's fun.

Completely lost in thought, she hadn't even noticed when someone took her hand and started leading her towards the center of the Hall where most of the students were dancing. By the time she realized, the girl was halfway there.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Hermione exclaimed incredulously. She tried to glare at the wizard before her, but with the mask on her face, her expression carried much less weight.

Her turned to look at her and gave a small chuckle "Refusing to let you sit in the corner and hide any longer." He replied, completely matter of factly. The grin on his face gave a hint to the fact that he saw this as some game that was quite amusing.

At this point, Hermione so wished she could tell who this boy was, but it was still hiding from her, even if he looked just so familiar. "I can sit in the corner if I feel like it, you know. Go dance with someone else." She huffed, turning to go back to her table. She had no idea if this was some friend of hers playing a joke, or some random wizard who thought he'd sweep the 'shy, innocent' girl off her feet.

He paused for a moment, possibly deciding what to do next. Then the boy reached out and grabbed her wrist again, spinning the girl to face him. "Hermione wait. Please dance with me." The humor and stupid grin had vanished, and he seemed very upset that she had turned him down. Even hurt.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, seeming to consider his offer quite carefully. "One dance." She finally decided, not even totally sure why. Maybe it was pity. Or, the fact that he knew her name. She wasn't supposed to be recognizable, and he had called her Hermione. That thought definitely intrigued her. Being ever curious, Hermione wondered if she could figure out how this wizard had bypassed the charms.

He smiled, and once again started leading her towards the dancing. Once there, the two just swayed for a few minutes. Neither really said much but Hermione didn't mind. It was surprisingly comfortable. Definitely less awkward than the Yule Ball. Victor Krum hardly spoke to her. He really just stared. It was very uncomfortable.

Suddenly the boy leaned down. He was much taller than her, something the little Gryffindore hadn't quite realized. Hermione was a little worried that this boy was going to try and kiss her, but her didn't. His only goal was apparently to whisper something in her ear. "Did you like the necklace?"

Suddenly it all clicked. The reason he'd given her such a beautiful, unique gift. She knew exactly who this was. It was a bit embarrassing how happy that knowledge made her. And also how long it had taken her to realize. Maybe he didn't escort her to the masquerade, but he was there. And he'd chosen to dance with her. "Draco?!" She hissed, not wanting any nearby students to hear, just in case.

When the boy nodded, she threw her arms around his neck excitedly. Honestly Hermione had no idea why, she hadn't planned to. It just sort of happened. Like most of her interactions with the wonderful Slytherin. Her brain seemed to turn off, which didn't happen often happen to her. She was always about knowledge and logic, but around Draco all she worried about was her feelings, and what wonderful ones they were.

He laughed again, giving the girl a small kiss and spinning her in a circle. Hermione didn't often see him carefree like this, honestly, she never had. But apparently the guise of annononymity suited the pale boy. He was smiling, not grinning, not smirking, he was really smiling. And laughing too. She had never seen anything like it.

She felt like a stereotypical love struck teenager. Her arms around his neck as he spun her around in a circle. But even so, it was totally okay. There was something about this boy, and she just couldn't help it. She was honestly considering that she might be in love.

Suddenly, nothing mattered. Whenever she was with Draco in the past, it was magical. But there was always a nervousness pulling at her. What if someone found out? She'd be a laughingstock. Draco could get in trouble with his family. Any number of things coulds go wrong. It was never completely perfect. But this, just dancing with him, laughing and talking about random unimportant things, knowing that no one would ever find out. It was perfect. It was a moment that Hermione wanted to freeze, to make last forever. She loved this.

They danced the rest of the night, not worrying about the time, or the fact that many students had started filing out. The two were only made aware, when Hermione needed a drink, and realized not even Ginny was still around. The only ones still in the great Hall were a few couples. The music hadn't stopped, and a few professors were still chaperoning, but it must have been late. Very late.

Hermione looked at Draco in shock, he too apparently realizing that it was definitely time to go home. Funnily enough, they both began to laugh, and continued for a few minutes. Hermione was the first to quiet down enough to form words. "How did we not notice?! It's the middle of the night! I mean, ah!" She was kidding, but a bit nervous about her interrogation from Ginny tomorrow. She knew it was coming.

"I had no idea! We have to go back to our rooms, people will get suspicious." Draco said, a smile still on his face. Hermione loved that smile. She feared that she might never see it after that night. After all, he'd been distant lately. Who knows if this was a one time thing or not.

That thought was enough to make her pause. Instead of answering the wizard, Hermione took a step towards him, closing the already small distance between them. She put one hand on either side of the boy's face and kissed him, holding his cheeks delicately. She might never have the chance to do it again, and she was going to savor the moment.

It wasn't rough, but it was passionate. Draco wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling the girl as close as he could. Hermione could tell he was probably having the same feelings. Then, it was over. Hermione wasn't sure who broke it off, but, the moment had passed. She kissed him on the cheek gently, whispered goodnight, and left the Hall before Draco had a chance to respond.

A/N: Hello. What did you think about this? I wasn't totally sure about the ball, but I did my best. Please let me know your thoughts, and also tell me if like my longer or shorter chapters. Thanks for reading everybody. It means a lot.