Mudblood and Pureblood.

A Risk Worth Taking.

She flung herself on him, her arms curling around his neck and his own wrapping around her waist. They stayed in the tight hug for many moments, just taking in each other's presence. He buried his head in her bushy hair by her neck and she found a comfortable spot on his chest to rest in.

"Thank you so much for the awesome new broom!" She squealed as they parted.

Draco just smilied warmly as he saw her beautiful face. Suddenly, his face went pink and he looked around nervously, he let go of her waist.

How was he going to ask her? Maybe she didn't feel the same way? What would happen when others found out? What would happen if his father found out? If she said no, what would he do? Did she like him back? Maybe he should actually say something before this silence gets too awkward?!

"I, Uh.. um.. I" he kept stuttering untill Hermione's giggles stopped him.

At first, he lowered his head in embarrassment. Come on, he thought, this shouldn't be this hard! It shouldn't have been hard, after all, he had asked her to sneak out in the middle of the night to see each other, so it wasn't like he could get rejected in front of the whole school!

"Draco, just spit it out!" She giggled as she raised her hand to his cheek and lifted his head up so she could see the extremely embarrassed Draco Malfoy.

"Would you go to the Yule Ball with me?" His eyes closed, waiting for the answer as he coiled closer in on himself in shame.

"Yes!" She squeaked, making her slap her hand over her mouth so as not to scream and wake the entire of Hogwarts and the Village of Hogsmead.

His head bolted up. Had he heard her correctly? Did she just say yes? He didn't have time to recover before she grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug again. He yelp and staggered back before tripping over.

They fell in a tangle of limbs. Hermione struggled to contain her giggle fits as Draco just layed under her, still unable to comprehend what she had said. When it finally sunk in, he started to laugh with her as he helped her to her feet.

She knew that he was taking a huge risk in asking her to the ball, but that didn't bother her. She was too thrilled that he had even asked her to think about what the consequences might be.

***

"No." She looked down at her feet not really believing what she was doing.

"What do you mean?" His eyes widened, his shock evident.

He didn't really believe it! He would never had thought that someone would ever say no to him! He thought he had finally figured Hermione out, he thought that she was just going to be like any other girl. Apparently, she wasn't.

"I mean, no!" She said a little louder, "I will not go with you!"

"Why not?" He retorted, anger starting to boil up inside of him.

"Because I'm going with someone else!" She barked too loudly, making a few people in the corridor turn and look at the door to the abandoned classroom.

She huffed before barging through the door and hurrying away, ignoring the many wide eyes on her. Victor Krum just went after her, the crowd getting larger by the second as their curiously peeked.

"So you aren't going with me to the ball?" He yelled after her.

"No!" She yelled back with at least half the students of Hogwarts looking at the scene.

Many of the girls just stared as Hermione stormed away. How had she refused Victor Krum? All of them would have gone with him in a heartbeat, even if they had partners already.

***

It wasn't long before the news had spread of Victor's rejection. Many girls had asked her about their relationship and if they had kissed. Hermione would just roll her eyes and continue to study, trying to give them her best poker face.

Everyone tried to figure out who 'Sleekhair' was and there were many people who tried to take her post. Now, both Hermione and Draco agreed that it would be better to send the letters directly to their rooms. That wasn't easy since Draco's dorm was in the dungeons. Instead, Draco sent her an owl to her dorm. She on the other hand would send her owl down to the oak tree where they had studied. Draco would go down their after breakfast to find her owl and read her letters.

***

"Hummm?" She looked up from her latest letter and looked to her best friends.

They both cocked an eyebrow questionably. They were in the Griffindor Common room.

"When are you going to tell us who 'Sleekhair' is?" Ron crossed his arms and Harry did the same.

She blushed a deep pink before she furrowed her brows in anger, "You will find out at the Yule Ball!"

"You mean you aren't going alone to the ball?" Ron asked, his dumb slef coming back.

"You thought I would go alone?!" She glared at Harry and Ron, not believing them.
 
By this time, everyone in the common room was watching them, their curiousity for gossip spiking. Everyone was so intent on hearing what they had to say that they dismissed the sound of buzzing beatle wings.

"Well, I was actually, going to ask you since you are a girl-" he stuttered.

"Well spotted!" She spat sarcastically.

"But really, will you go with me?" He looked up to her.

"Weren't you listening? Believe it or not, but someone has already asked me!" She got up to her feet and walked over to the staircase that led up to her dorm before she turned away and snapped back, "AND I SAID YES!"

With that, she disappeared off to bed leaving the common room in a state. Everyone started to retell the story about Krum's rejection and about the incident at Christmas and of course, conversations about 'Sleekhair' came up again.

All the while, a little beatle fluttered around the room, listening to conversation after conversation. Just wait untill I publish this, she thought! No one had noticed the Quick Quotes Quill that was rapidly writing down all her thoughts from inside the broom closet. This was a juicy story and she intended for it to be on the front page.

Rita Skeeter was buzzing with excitement!