SilverWoodSketches

Tonight, he didn’t see a sick, mad witch his family wouldn’t let him associate with. He saw someone beautiful. Worthy.

Chapter 25 is live at last, friends! I honestly could have written more but ultimately decided to break this one up before it turned into a literal novella. Hope everyone enjoys my take on the Yule Ball and catches the nod to one of my other favorite movies...

She flexed her fingers and blinked as she took in the number of bedecked students following the same route. And then they were descending the staircase.

And at the bottom, a sea of dress robes and shocked eyes.

“Is that Hermione Black?” a boy rudely blurted.

“Shut up! That’s my cousin,” Draco growled, and Hermione’s gaze quickly clocked his platinum coif with relief and a tentative smile. Even if he was escorting Parkinson again, the ninny.

That smile fell as she locked gazes with a dreamy Luna in silver-pink dress robes, her arm looped around Theo’s midnight-blue cloak.

Hermione couldn’t bear to look too deeply in her best friend’s eyes, not when she could tell even from a distance that he was heavily occluding.

I’ll talk to him soon, just not tonight, she swore to herself. There would be time… later. Tonight was for the butterflies in her stomach as a wide-eyed Viktor Krum extended his arm to her. “You look beautiful, Hermione,” he carefully articulated.

Tonight, he didn’t see a sick, mad witch his family wouldn’t let him associate with. He saw someone beautiful. Worthy.

Tonight, she would not count heads as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other and did her best to ignore her classmates.

She pressed her hand more firmly against Viktor’s fine blood-red coat to ground herself and took in the splendor of the entrance leading to a grotto brimming with fairy lights. “Are those actual fairies?” she muttered under her breath.

Viktor’s breath was warm against her ear, yet sent shivers down her spine. “Is beautiful, yes? At least your headmaster did not trap them here. They are drawn to magic and strong feelings.”

Hermione barely muffled her giggle at the absurdity, though a not-so-small part of her—the street orphan she would always be—reveled in the way the glowing fey danced about the rosebushes and fluttered over statues of Father Christmas and his reindeer. Some drifted through the doors, however, shimmering and tittering like the sound of bells over their heads.

“Are you ready for opening dance?” Viktor asked as he guided her into the Great Hall.

Hermione nodded before his words fully registered. “Of course!” Her words were thankfully drowned in the buzz of over a hundred witches and wizards gathered in the hall. She managed a brief adoring glance at the enchanted ceiling raining snowflakes beneath a barely cloudy starry sky. The hairs on the back of her neck raised as a hush fell over the converted ballroom. Somehow, though he was clearly keeping his magic locked tight, she felt the press of his eyes taking her in.

Hermione shuddered, and her gaze fell to her slippered feet, focusing on the way their reflections peered back through the floor, enchanted to appear the blue-green of an iceberg.

The crowd parted around them, opening to reveal the other Champions assembled for the opening dance. She caught a glimpse of bottle-green robes against Padma’s turquoise sari, but she couldn’t quite meet the sudden weight of Potter’s gaze, either.

Her feet paused in front of Viktor’s gleaming boots, and a warm hand gently coaxed her chin to lift and find his warm gaze. “Tonight, you are a queen.”

Hermione’s spine straightened, and a too-wide smile split her face as Viktor’s hand clasped her waist, his other hand firmly holding their arms to the side.

The strings began the waltz, and then they were dancing, twirling, spinning. She couldn’t catch her breath, but she didn’t want to. Laughter escaped her too-light chest as Viktor’s strong arms lifted her high in the air and they spun longer than they should have. His answering smile was her reward. He was so handsome, she suddenly realized, and decided it didn’t matter what happened next. Tonight was for them.

~Keep reading at AO3