Make Some Real Magic

by GameGirl
 
 

Chapter 4
Win Me Over
 

The day of the Yule ball was coming up.  Though every cell in his body wanted him to,
Ron could not ask Hermione to the ball.  It wasn't because he was nervous or thought
she'd say no.  He knew she would say no and was certain she was going with Draco
Malfoy instead. Ron couldn’t care less if he never got around to getting a date. He sat
down on the sofa, stroking Crookshanks behind the ears.  At least Crookshanks was
giving him attention. He wondered why Crookshanks was spending more time with
Ron than his owner.  Maybe Crookshanks didn't like her attitude toward everybody
anymore than anyone else in the Gryffindor Tower.

"Hi, Ron," Harry said as he passed him in the common room.  "Who are you asking to
the Yule ball?"

Ron rolled his eyes up to Harry, scowling.  "Oh please."

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Do you have to ask?" Ron demanded.

Harry sat down.  "It was only a question."

"I'm not asking anyone to the Yule ball," Ron groaned.  "I'm not going."

"We have to ask someone," Harry said.  "What happened, did you ask a girl and she
said no?"

He shook his head.  "I just don't feel like going."

"Why not?"

"I just don't, all right!" he yelled.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "does this have anything to do with Hermione?"

Ron didn't respond.  Harry knew he was right.

"You can ask her now," Harry said.  "Krum's away."

"It's too late," Ron groaned.  "I'm sure someone else has already asked her."

"Who?"

"Come on Harry," Ron muttered, "don’t make me say it.  You know I'm talking about."

"You can't expect Hermione to go to the Yule ball with Malfoy!"  Harry said.  "She's just…
too smart to go with the likes of him!  She just wouldn't!"

"Harry, you've seen the way he acts around her in Potions," Ron said.  "I think she likes it."

"She's probably just tired of fighting him," Harry insisted. "Don't bring too much into it. If
Hermione is as smart as she used to be, and she is, there's no way she'd go with Draco
Malfoy!"

Lavender and Parvarti burst through the room, gasping.

"Hi," Harry said, "what's up?  What did Peeves do this time?"

"Haven't you guys heard?" Parvarti wheezed.

"Heard what?"

Lavender swallowed, "You won't believe it."

"What--what?"

"Hermione Granger is going to the Yule ball with Draco Malfoy!" they shouted in unison.

Harry's mouth dropped open.  "No way!"

Ron didn't seemed as surprised, "you were saying, Harry?"

******

Hermione walked outside, wearing the cloak Draco had given her for her birthday.  Draco
was talking to Goyle and Crabbe about something.  Must've been a secret about Hermione
because every time she looked at him, he put his finger to his lips and waved at her to leave.

'He's probably planning something for the Yule ball and he'll get Vincent and Gregory to
help him.' She thought with a smirk.  'I'd better leave him alone and I'll get it out of him later.'
She waved at him and continued to walk farther away.

"You're taking that Mudblood?" Goyle demanded.

"What's wrong with you?" Crabbe added with a sneer.  "Have you lost your mind?"

"You haven't really fallen for you, have you?"

"No," Malfoy said.

"Oh, so this is like a part of a setup or something?"

Malfoy nodded, "I'll pay each of you ten Galleons to be nice to her."

They exchanged glances and grinned, "You're serious," Crabbe muttered.

"I am serious," Malfoy said coolly.  "If you dare insult her then you'll get nothing."

"What about Pansy?" Crabbe questioned.

"What about her?"

"You'll know how she'll react when she finds out you're taking a Mu--" his voice stopped
at Malfoy's glare," Grang--um--Hermione to the ball."

"I'll talk to Pansy," Draco said.  "And the rest of Slytherin."

"You'll pay them too?" Goyle questioned.

"If I have to," Draco admitted.  "I'll get them to treat Hermione like she's one of us.  A
Slytherin."

Crabbe chuckled dully, "heh-heh, you're brilliant, Malfoy--heh-heh."

"Yeah," Goyle added, "we'll have fun with this."

"Good," Draco said, "I'm going to the dungeon to talk to Pansy." He groaned.  "This won't
be easy."

"I'll take her to the ball, Malfoy," Crabbe volunteered.

"Really?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

Draco grinned, "Thanks. When Hermione comes back, I want you to act like, well, gentlemen."

"No problem," Crabbe said.

*****

Harry paced the common room and Ron went back up to the dorm.  'Hermione, you're like
a sister to me,' he thought, 'why would you do this to yourself when you know you deserve
better?'

"Hi, Harry," Ginny said.

Harry flinched, "Ginny, hi."

Ginny forced a smile and blushed, "how are you?"

"You mean about Hermione going to the ball with Draco?"

"Crazy, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Ginny stepped a little closer and cleared her throat, "um, Harry, I was wondering."  She still
couldn't get over it.  She still had a schoolgirl crush on Harry Potter.  Even being in the same
room with him made her a bit nervous.  She hoped she wouldn't say anything stupid.  "You
see, if you're not going to the ball with anyone and I'm not going with anyone, then maybe, I
don't know, we could go together, maybe?"

Harry grinned, "I'm impressed you asked me, Ginny."

"Yes, well, I know you like Cho Chang and if you'd rather go with her, then I'd totally
understand.   I can always go with someone else.  But I wouldn't want to go with Neville
again," she sighed, "he's nice but he walked over my feet last year and--"

Harry did want to go with Cho Chang, but after what happened in the last year, things had
changed.  She had gone with Cedric Driggory last year and now he's dead.  Harry was
certain she was taking his loss pretty hard.  Harry was himself.  If one thing had gone wrong,
Harry would have died right next to him.  He couldn't go with Cho Chang now.  He didn't
want do damage Cedric's memory.

"Sure, Ginny," Harry said, "I'll go with you."

This surprised her and believed she turned him down.  "Well, all right…thanks for listening
Harry, I um…"

"Ginny, I said yes."

She blushed and stared at him.  Her eyes watered a bit and her lip trembled some. She tried
to speak but all that came out was a little squeak.  Then with more effort, she found her voice.
"R-really?"  Magenta showed right under her eyes.

Harry nodded.  "Absolutely.  Sounds like fun."

A laugh mixed with a cry escaped her throat.  Her emotions took over and she threw her arms
around her crush's neck.  "Oh, thank you, Harry!  You have no idea how much this means to me!"

Harry swallowed and patted her back, "Uh, you're welcome, Ginny."

She backed up away from him and smiled.  Unable to contain herself, she giggled and danced
out of the common room and down the hall to spread the news that she was going with the boy
of her dreams to anyone who would listen.

*****

Hermione wandered off more than she intended.  Maybe she hoped Draco would come looking
for her so she kept trekking onward.  She took a look back at the school to see how far away
it was.  Then she felt a strong jerk on her cloak.  "Wha?"

Thinking she had just got it caught on a bush, she looked over her shoulder and saw a black
dog pulling on her cloak, but not in a playful manner.  He was intending to rip it off.

"Hey, let go!" she muttered.

But the dog did rip it right off her and the emerald button fell off and the clasp broke.  As soon
it was off her, the dog turned and ran.

"Hey, bring that back!" Hermione shouted, picking up the fallen emerald button.  "You mutt!
Give that back here!" but the dog did not listen.  It kept running and she had to run after him.
"Bad, bad dog!" She wished she had her wand with her so she could put the body bind curse
on him but she had left in her room.  She didn't plan on having her cloak being taken away
from some dog.  She finally reached up to the dog.  It sat in front of a large tree, waiting for
her with the cloak in its mouth.

"Give--" she panted, "give me back my cloak!  Before you ruin it some more!"

He dropped the cloak, growling.  The dog's snout started to pull in and its paws turned into
a man's hands and feet.  It's tail shortened.

"Huh?"

The dog turned into a man.  The man straitened up to his feet and she recognized him.

"Sirius?" she whispered.  "Is that you?" Her face went red, remembering she called him
names. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. If you wanted to play, all you had to do was ask."

"What are you doing, Hermione?" he questioned, his voice hoarse.

"What?  Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"You're too smart for this," Sirius said.  "You can't go with him to the Yule ball."

"You mean Draco?"

"Of course, Draco," Sirius muttered.  "He's setting you up for a trap.  A brilliant girl like you
should've known that."

"You lie!" she accused.  "You're lying!"

"He's just setting you up for embarrassment," Sirius said.  "He's turning you against your
friends."

"I don't think this is any of your business anyway!" she snarled.

"I'm Harry's godfather," Sirius muttered, "and you're like a sister to him.  Of course it is my
business."

"How did you know about us?" she demanded.  "Did you talk to Ron and Harry?  Did they
go squealing to you?"

"No," he replied, "I saw you with him."

"You…saw us?"

"Back in September," he explained, "your birthday.  I saw you two after curfew, together."

"So it was you that made that noise we heard!" she gasped.  "And we thought it was a
werewolf or something!"

"I had to do something," he admitted, "If I didn't, well, I don't want to even think what
would've happened."

"Don't bring too much into it," Hermione said.

"I should tell Harry and Ron about this," Sirius said, folding his arms.  "I've seen you two
after curfew many times."

"No, don't!" she shouted, "don’t you dare!"

"But I won't," he said, unfolding them.

"You…won't?"

"I think it's you who should tell them," Sirius said.  "It's your place to tell them the truth
about sneaking around with the likes of Draco Malfoy.  I hope this doesn't last too long.
You're going to lose your friends because of this."

"Give me back my cloak," she commanded, "I'm cold.  And you didn't have to ruin my
cloak to get my attention!"

Sirius cocked an eyebrow, "It's not ruined.  And if I had called you over, would you have
listened to me?"

"Well, yeah," she muttered.

Sirius grunted and tossed her cloak to her.  "They're turning you into a Slytherin, Hermione."

"They are not!" she hissed.

"Really?" he questioned, "look at the cloak.  What color is it?"

"Green.  So?"

"It's from Draco.  You'd think he'd give you a cloak with your house color?"

"Oh please, he may just like the color!" she shouted.

Sirius shook his head and groaned.  He realized he couldn’t get through to her.  "I'd better
not find you after curfew for another midnight flight under the stars or I will go to Dumbledore
with this."  He changed back to a dog and trotted away.

But Hermione wasn't finished, "Well, I'm happy the way I am now so there!" she shouted.
"Maybe I belong in the Slytherin house and I don't care what you or any one else thinks!"

Grumbling, her torn present from her beloved Draco in hand, she trekked back to the school,
where Crabbe and Goyle were waiting for her.

"Hi, Hermione," Crabbe said, smiling as though it hurt his face.  "Say, is there something wrong?"

"My cloak," she muttered, "it's ruined."

Goyle looked at it. "Oh, no worries.  It can be fixed."

"Really?" she gasped.  'I don't believe it, first Draco and now Crabbe and Goyle?  They
would never be this nice to be before!  This is wonderful!'

"Sure, Hermione," Goyle said, "We're attending a magic school, right?"

"Oh, yeah."  She blushed.  "Um, where's Draco?"

Goyle and Crabbe exchanged nervous glances.  "Well, um, er, you see, he's um, ah--" they
stammered, trying to search for something to say.

"He's working on some project," Goyle blurted.

"Project?" Hermione whispered.

"Uh, yeah, top secret," Crabbe said, nodding.

"Oh," she grinned.  "I see.  Must be very important."

"Uh, yeah, uh-huh."

"Let's go get this fixed," Goyle said, taking the cloak in his left arm.  "Did Draco get it for you?"

"Sure did."

"Here," Crabbe said, offering her left arm. "It's slippery over here."

"Yeah," Goyle said, offering her his free, right arm to her.  "Wouldn’t want to slip, would we?"

Hermione smiled and slipped her arms though Crabbe and Goyle's.  It was just too much.
Goyle and Crabbe exchanged looks, as if to say, 'I could get used to this.'

Hermione thanked them for their help and they laughed, acting too friendly.  Students watched
on in surprise.

"Hey, is that Hermione Granger, with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle?"

"But aren't they from Slytherin and she's from Gryffindor?"

"Hermione's muggleborn, why are they being nice to her?"

They passed Ginny who was walking with another girl in her class about the good news.

"You're going with Harry?" she said, "that's wonderful, Ginny."

"I can't believe it myself," Ginny admitted.  She noticed Hermione with Crabbe and Goyle.
"Hermione?" "Oh, hi Ginny," Hermione said half-politely and left with Crabbe and Goyle.

'I've got to tell Ron about this!' Ginny thought and ran to Gryffindor tower.

*****

"You've what?" Pansy Parkinson cried, "you gave that mudblood a new cloak and broom
but you got me nothing?"

"Shh, shh!" Draco hushed.  They were talking to each other in the Slytherin Dungeon.  "Shh!"

"After all I've done for you!" Pansy snarled.  "What has she ever done for you?"

"Pansy, be quiet!" he commanded.  "Listen, you don't actually think I really like her, do you?"

"What do you expect me to think?" Pansy demanded.

"I want to make turn someone from another house into a Slytherin," he said.

"Well, fine, but why her?"

He shrugged, "thought it'd be more challenging.  It's just for some fun.  It's only a game, Pansy."

"Just a game?"

"Uh-huhnn." He said with a nod.  "Now, I want you to be nice to her."

"You can't expect me to be nice to her!" she shouted.

"I'm paying Crabbe and Goyle 10 Galleons to be nice to her," he said.  "I'll give you--"

"I don't want your money," she muttered.  "I want you!" she threw her arms around him.
"She doesn't like you like I do, Draco!  I'll do anything for you!"

Draco groaned.  He couldn't stand being near Pansy Parkinson.  It was nice to have a girl
that likes you, but she liked him too much than he wanted her to.  Pansy Parkinson absolutely
was not his type.  He pushed her away from him.  "Fine, I'll buy you a fancy necklace."

"No--I want a date!" she cried.  "Let's go to the Yule Ball together, just like last year!"

"No, I'm taking Hermione," he said.

"Wha--at?  Her?"

"Vincent will take you to the ball," Draco explained.

"C-Crabbe?"

"Yes."

"But--it's not the same!  I want to go with you!" she began to wail.

"Hush!" he muttered, putting his hand over her mouth.  "You're going with Crabbe, understand?"

"Fine," she groaned.  "But you'd better make this up to me, Malfoy."

"Sure, I'll take you to the Leaky Cauldron and buy you a couple of Butterbeers."

"That's all?" she asked, frowning.

"What else did you have in mind?" he demanded.

"Can't we go dancing, do something romantic?"

He made a disgusted face, almost told her no but sighed.  "Oh, okay.  I'll see what I can do.
Just treat Hermione like she's one of us."

"I'll do more than that, Dracokins!" she said, laying her hands on his chest, "I'll turn her into
one of us!  You see!  That's what you wanted, right?  I'll even volunteer to get her ready for
the ball.  I'll do her hair and nails and everything while we talk about how romantic the night
is going to be!  I'll do anything for you, Draco!  You just keep your promise!" She squeezed
him in a tight hug.  "I'll mold her into my own form!"

Draco felt his stomach turn.  Not another Pansy Parkinson following him around.  He liked
Hermione the way she was, though a Slytherin look would make her more beautiful.  "Ughn,
you don't really have to do that."  He said, pushing her away.

"Anything for my baby," she said.  "What my sweetie wants, my baby gets."

"Good," he said, "but please don’t' call me that when Hermione is around.  Clear?"

"Crystal!" she cried.

*****

"Ron!  Ron!" Ginny cried, running all over the halls for her brother.  "Ron!"  She spotted Harry
with Neville.  She frowned, where was Ron if he wasn't with his best friends?  "Harry, Neville!"

"Hi, Ginny, what's your hurry?" Harry asked.

"Something wrong?" Neville asked.

"Where's Ron?" she demanded, "It's important!"

"He's in the common room when I saw him last," Harry replied with a frown.  "He just…sits
there and never leaves."

"Except to go to classes," Neville said.  "I wonder if he's sick."

"Thanks," Ginny said and ran to the tower.  Sure enough, there was Ron, seated on the sofa
petting Crookshanks.  "Ron, I just saw Hermione arm in arm with Crabbe and Goyle!"

"So?" he demanded hotly.

"Well, she used to be arm in arm with you and Harry!" she shrieked.

He cocked an eyebrow, "No she hasn't.  We were never that close."

"Okay, maybe not," she admitted, "but you three are best friends!  And now she's chumming
up to Crabbe and Goyle and--"

"Draco Malfoy."

"Huh?"

"She's going to the Yule Ball with Draco Malfoy," he said.

"Yes, I know.  Lavender told me."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he whole school knows."

"But--but you wanted to go with her!" Ginny yelled.  "All summer long you talked about
your date with Hermione will be like, remember?"

"Well, it's not going to happen."

"Ron, you're not even trying," Ginny said with a frown.  "I understand how you feel.  I didn't
think Harry said yes but he did!"

"Well, congratulations," he mocked.  "I'm glad your dream came true."

"Ron?  What's the matter with you?"

"Forget it," he muttered.  "It doesn't matter.  Seems like she's more interested in money than
anything else."

"But you love her, Ron!" Ginny snapped.

"That's not true," Ron groaned, rolling his eyes.

"It is too," Ginny said, sitting next to him.  "All you could talk about all summer long was
Hermione Granger.  You talk about her when you're awake and I hear you calling for her
in your sleep!"

"I do not talk in my sleep!" he grunted.

"Oh, yes you do!" she muttered, "You can ask Fred and George!  We all know how you
feel about Hermione but you're too pigheaded to admit it!  I know how jealous you were
when she went with Victor Krum!  You loved her even then!  If you had told her that then
she wouldn't be going to the Yule Ball with Malfoy!  We all know how rich he is but there
is something that you could give to her that Malfoy can't!"

"And what's that?" he demanded with a sneer.  "An empty ink bottle?"

"Your heart, Ron!" she yelled.

"That's enough!" Ron shouted, standing up so fast that he got a little dizzy.  Crookshanks
jumped off him and meowed almost concernedly.  "I've heard enough of my so-called
feelings for Hermione!"

"Admit it, Ron, you love her!" she cried, "you might still have a chance!  Go find her and
tell her!  You're acting as if you don't even care she's going with Draco."

"I don't!"

"But you do, you're too bitter and stubborn to admit it!"  She hissed.  "You love Hermione
Granger; you always have!  You're bitter because you feel like you've failed."

"Good guess."

"You can't let her get any closer to Draco," she said, trying to calm her voice.  She stood up.
"Come on, Ron, don't let him win.  This exactly what he wants.  If you love her, and I know
you do, you'll go and--"

"For the last time, Ginny, I am not in love with Hermione Granger!"  He screamed, now
turning heads of his fellow classmates.  Harry and Neville, who heard the arguing, came
through the painting.  They looked surprised.  "And she doesn't need me to be her knight
in shining armor to save her anyway!  If she wants to go with Draco Malfoy, then that's
her choice!"  He turned on the ball of his foot and ran up to the boy's dorm, with
Crookshanks at his feet.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

Ginny sighed and turned around.  "It's like he doesn't even care, but I know he does. He's
just too hurt and bitter to admit it."
 
 
 

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Chapter 5