The moon was high in the Great Hall. Stars were winking from the ceiling, onto the romantic scene unfolding below. A wooden dance floor had been erected in the center of the Hall (Mary-Sue's idea, of course) and masked dancers were entwined in each other's arms throughout the room.
Cool Californian music which didn’t exactly fit the Harry Potter timeline was playing (also courtesy of Mary-Sue), and everyone wore a wonderful costume.
Mary-Sue and Harry were slow dancing in a corner, having come together.
Ron was sitting by the buffet, eating like a complete pig (after all, all Ron was capable of was supporting Harry, eating, sleeping and screaming like a girl lately). Even though he was still going with Lavender, he had been unable to find a date to the ball.
Mary-Sue took all of this in with one sweeping gaze through the festively decorated hall. Where is Hermione, she wondered?
And then she saw her.
Hermione, dressed as a princess (which was only natural since she had discovered her girly side a mere week ago with the help of Mary-Sue) was dancing in the arms of a sleek-haired boy dressed all in greens and silvers.
The two were discussing everything, from literature to potions, and Hermione was finding that this gorgeous boy was not only a wonderful dancer, but also a great conversationalist; not at all snobbish or bratty, but perfectly charming.
Staring into his gray eyes, running her fingers through his blond hair, admiring the Slytherin colors of his costume, and feeling butterflies in her stomach with every touch, Hermione wondered who he might be.
Since the mask covered about half of his face, and really none of his features, of course, she couldn't tell. But that smirk seemed very familiar, somehow...
Meanwhile, very similar thoughts were going through the head of Hermione's partner, none-other than Draco Malfoy.
The mask hiding half of the pretty (yes he could tell she was pretty, but couldn't tell who she was) girl's face was stopping him from hazarding a guess. But he knew, whoever she was, he was falling in love.
'It's a good thing it isn't Hermione - er, Granger,' he thought to himself, 'after all, those alluring curls, those large brown eyes and that intellectual mind could never have anything to do with Herm - Granger.'
Thus pleased, he went back to waltzing (most teenagers might not waltz, but again Mary-Sue's love of tradition had come into play) his beautiful partner.
The question of who it might be just wouldn't leave him be, though. Draco couldn’t figure it out! But soon he would know. After all, at midnight, when the bells rang, everyone would de-mask.
Ding Dong.
Midnight had arrived. Happy to finally find out who this girl (who he was sure was his true love) could be, Draco pulled his mask off.
“Oh no!” gasped Hermione, completely shocked at the fact that the blond sixth-year Slytherin she had been dancing with was her arch-enemy Draco Malfoy!
Without taking her mask off, Hermione, who had become rather timid and afraid of disappointing Ron and Harry, ran away onto the grounds.
“What did I do?” Malfoy asked Crabbe and Goyle who has just appeared by his side, “The girl I love just ran away from me! She must be… oh no… a Gryffindor! Or worse… a Mudblood! Probably both! I wonder who it is, though…”
Crabbe and Goyle grunted sympathetically. Or maybe just stupidly.
But the three of them were saved (Draco from thoughts of sadness at the memory of his true love running away from him and Crabbe and Goyle from the exertion of actually thinking) by Dumbledore standing up to make his speech.
As usual, the beginning conveyed all of Dumbledore’s newfound insanity:
“So this morning, I went to the loo. And I said to myself, this school is missing something. Something big. Something exciting. Something scary. Something hairy. Something crazy. Then I realized that Hagrid was gone.”
"Nah, A’m still thar, Dumbledore, sir" Hagrid said (strangely enough, his accent/dialect seemed to have changed to a random jumble of words around the time Mary-Sue and Harry had gotten together), sounding a little hurt.
“Oh yes, I suppose you are. Well, on with the speech! As I was saying, on the loo this morning… No, wait, that wasn’t what I meant to tell you at all. But what happened was quite interesting, you see…”
Draco tuned out around then, feeling that most of his senile headmaster’s speeches were the same anyway. And they usually ended with Dumbledore’s aim being off. He had never thought he could pity a house elf… But those thoughts were hard on his well-cultured (but much abused) mind, and so they returned to the mystery girl. His true love, he was sure!
‘But what about the feelings I had had for Hermione “ er Granger?’ he asked himself. ‘But wait!’ he added in his mind, ‘there is no way I’m in love with Herm “ Gra “ Herm - oh what’s the use, Hermione. She’s a Mudblood! I’m definitely over her and in love with Mystery Girl, now!”
At the sound of his own name, Draco started listening to Dumbledore’s speech again.
“And so, even though Draco is the son of a known Death Eater…” (Draco cringed remembering the torture his father put him through as training to become a Death Eater himself) “…he and Miss Hermione Granger will become the second Head Boy and Girl of the school. Also, Miss Mary-Sue López…” (the group cheered loudly at the sound of her name) “… has given me the brilliant idea of inventing Head Dorms! Hermione and Draco will be sharing a Head Dorm, as the first ever sixth year Head Boy and Girl!”
At the same instant, Hermione and Draco sighed and closed their eyes. They knew that this meant not only living with their worst enemy, but also confronting their confusing feelings “ those that were strangely like true love.