What Once Could Never Be...

What Once Could Never Be...

Chapter 13: Halloween

After Draco comforted Hermione in their new surroundings, he persuaded her to go with him to look at Harry and Ron's rooms on the opposite side of the common room. They crossed the elegant room together and entered Harry's room after knocking on the door.

Harry's room was as elegant and luxurious as Hermione's and Draco's. The bedsheets and the drapings were made of red silk that perfectly complimented the light oak furniture scattered throughout the room. The walls were a deep gold, whereas the walls in both Hermione and Draco's rooms were white. Harry was sitting on the floor at the foot of his bed going through his trunk which had just arrived in his room. He looked up when the pair came through the door to his room.

"Hey guys, do you like your rooms?"

Hermione sat down on the bed and motioned Draco to sit next to her. "Yes. My room is made of the most beautiful white silk that I could imagine. Draco's room is black."

Harry bit back a comment on the thought of Malfoy's room being black. Instead, he turned his attention to Hermione noting that she had been crying. "Are you okay, Hermione? You look upset."

Hermione forced a smile to not make Harry worry about her when she already had Draco doing enough. "I'm fine. It'll just take some getting used to."

Speaking for the first time, Draco stood up and took Hermione's hand. "Why don't we go and see what Weasley's room looks like? Then we can all wait for Dumbledore to come back."

Hermione nodded her head and they made their way to the room next door. Their eyes widened upon entering Ron's room. As Draco and Hermione's room were opposites, so were Harry and Ron's. The walls were the same deep gold, but the bedsheets and the drapings were a beige color and the furniture was made of a cherry. It suited both boys to an extreme.

Ron smiled when he saw Hermione. "Hey 'Mione! Did you get your trunk yet?" Then his face fell when he noticed who was with her. "Malfoy."

"Weasley."

Hermione looked between the two glaring boys before throwing her hands up in defeat. "You two don't know when to quit. Honestly!" She sighed and walked out of the room leaving Ron and Draco staring after her.

The four continued to settle in before sending an owl to Dumbledore to let him know they were ready to hear the rest of his news. They set themselves on the couches in the common room to wait for Dumbledore to arrive. While waiting, the three boys found a mutual interest in conversation: Quidditch. Hermione just rolled her eyes as she continued to listen to their ramblings.

Dumbledore finally entered their living space with an expression of worry upon his brow. He was followed by Professor Snape who looked as sallow as usual. Both of them made their way to the small crowd and joined them on the couches next to the fireplace.

Dumbledore turned and addressed Draco. "Mr. Malfoy. I have just received some distressing news. I had hoped to keep you for the remainder of the year, but it seems that will not be the case. Your father has owled me saying he expects you home at Christmas holidays. I expect that he will want you to take the oath then. You will have no choice but to go."

Draco looked wary before nodding his head. He knew that this was something he had to do. He just didn't expect for it to come so soon.

Dumbledore then spoke to the entire group. "As I said before, the work for your classes will be done here. You will not be allowed to leave unless permission is given. I hope you will learn to live with one another and accept the situation for it is for your protection."

All four nodded their agreement to his statement before he continued on.

"While you are in these rooms, you are under my protection. I have already cast a charm upon you to let me know of your vital signs. Professor Snape has brewed a potion that upon taking will make you unable to hurt physically. I will be taking further action and more spells will be placed on you in the future, but for now that will be all."

Professor Snape came forward and produced four small vials from his robe. The vials were filled with a purple liquid that smelled like juniper and vanilla. He handed each one a vial looking agitated at having to make the potion. "You are to take the potion before you go to bed tonight. It will keep you safe from physical pain. I added an Everlasting ingredient so it will continue to work until taking the antidote."

With that, he left looking as bothered as he had come. Dumbledore spoke to them before leaving himself. "Just remember that all four of you are extremely important to the future of the wizarding world. Your lives depend on it." With a small smile, he left, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco were left to cope on their own. They followed Snape's instructions for the potion, and started to take in exactly what everything meant.

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Nearly two months had passed since Dumbledore had first told them of their fate and their responsibility. Draco soon after had sent an owl to his father letting him know that he would be home for Christmas. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred since then. They were sent work from their classes and would often help each other. Hermione continued to get top marks, and Draco was right behind her. Harry, Ron, and Draco seemed to grow tolerant of each other's presence. They would receive the occasional visitor from time to time after Dumbledore had given them permission. Sometimes Ginny and Lavender would come to see Harry and Ron, and they would tell Hermione about all the latest gossip. Draco and Hermione mostly kept to themselves, neither acknowledging that they only had a short time to be together. They as well as Harry began to have nightmares, an assured part of the prophecy. After hearing screams at night, Draco and Hermione seemed to find their way into each other's beds at night to comfort whichever one was the victim of the occurring nightmare. Soon, it was time for the Halloween feast.

The day before Halloween, Harry and Ron came bounding into Hermione's room where she was quietly studying.

Ron landed on the bed beside her. "Hermione! Can we try on your clothes?"

Harry joined him. "Yeah, Hermione! Let us try on your clothes!"

Hermione was simply astonished. "WHAT?! I am NOT going to let you try on MY clothes! What would you even do with them?!"

Harry bounced on her bed. "Dumbledore gave us permission to go to the Halloween Ball. It's a masquerade ball so you get to wear costumes and masks, and we want to dress up as girls!" He grinned at Hermione.

Hermione was happy at the news that they were allowed to go to the ball. She looked at her two pleading friends before giving in. "Oh, alright! Honestly. But if you two tear anything, it won't matter what the prophecy says. You'll be dead before the ball." She left her room and her clothes at the mercy of her two best friends for the moment opting to look for Draco. She found him mulling over his Potions assignment in the library.

"Hey." Draco said without looking up from his work. "What's up?"

Hermione just shook her head as she sat across from him. "Not much. Harry and Ron decided they wanted to be transvestites for Halloween, but everything else is fine."

That got Draco's attention. "What?!"

Hermione smiled. "Dumbledore's letting us go to the Halloween Ball. You need costumes to attend."

Draco relaxed. "Oh. I thought they had finally gone off the deep end, but never mind. What are you going as?"

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't given it much thought. I have that dress I bought this summer I could wear. What about you?"

He smirked. "I'm sure I can find something."

At that moment, Harry and Ron came into the room dressed in Hermione's clothes. Draco and Hermione burst out laughing and were having trouble staying in their seats. Harry was dressed in a short black skirt and black pantyhose with a white button up top. He had made a pair of Hermione's shoes larger so his feet could fit into the black strappy heels. Ron was wearing a glittery blue top and a long khaki skirt. He had performed the same charm on Hermione's suede brown boots. Both were adjusting to walking in heels, but after they made their hair longer and added a little makeup, they would be girls in no time.

Harry strutted around the room being careful to watch where he stepped. "From now on, I will be known as Harriet. And this is my bosom buddy, Ronelle."

Draco and Hermione were finally able to compose themselves before retreating to their rooms to find costumes. Deciding to go as a prince and a princess, Draco and Hermione had everything ready for the ball the next day.

On Halloween night, Draco waited patiently in the common room for Hermione to come out. He was dressed in black pants with a large black belt, and black boots. His white, flowing shirt was half open where you could see part of his tanned, muscled chest, and a black cloak was draped over his shoulders fastened at the base of his throat. He had a silver sword at his side, and his face was partly hidden by a white mask. He gasped when he saw Hermione enter the room.

Hermione was in a dress made of red satin. It had a corset bodice that laced up in the back and a flowing skirt. The dress was adorned with red beads and edged with gold lace. Her hair was done up in curls with a few cascading down to frame her face. Her lips had been tinted to match her dress and her eyes swept with a light gold eye shadow. She had red elbow gloves on which she held a red satin mask. She truly was a vision of beauty.

Draco held his breath as she walked up to him. He took her hand and brushed his lips against the smooth material covering her hands. "You look absolutely radiant."

She blushed before linking her arm in his. "You don't look so bad yourself."

They made their way out the door to join their friends in the Great Hall where the ball would take place. Hermione put on her mask before entering the room. Both gasped at the sight before them. The Great Hall was decorated even more than usual. Pumpkins were floating above them giving the room an eerie glow while bats fluttered every which way. Black cats were roaming among the people and the ghosts were floating about the room. Small, round tables had been set up around the room and were piled with every sweet you could imagine. A band was set up where the teachers usually sat and they were currently playing an upbeat tune.

Draco and Hermione sat down at a nearby table to survey their surroundings before getting up to dance. Once in a quiet corner, Hermione turned to Draco.

"I think Dumbledore outdid himself this year. The decorations look fabulous."

"I agree." Something caught Draco's eye before he started laughing. "I think Finnigan just hit on Weasley! Maybe he makes a better girl."

Hermione glared at Draco for a second before joining him in laughing. "Maybe it's just my clothes."

"Would you like to dance, milady?" Draco stood and offered Hermione his hand.

She smiled up at him. "Of course."

They walked, hand in hand, to the middle of the dance floor. It was a good thing they were wearing masks or they would probably be making a scene. Draco led Hermione in the next song which had a waltz tempo. Anyone could see that the couple fit together perfectly as they gave the illusion of dancing on air. They gazed into each other's eyes as the dance went on, not wavering for a moment. The world fell away and they were left in each other's arms. The two of them together.

The dance finally came to an end and another song started. They continued to dance together as the hours flew by. Soon, only an hour was left before the ball would end. They decided to go outside to get some fresh air.

Draco and Hermione were walking among the rose garden talking when they heard screams coming from inside the Great Hall. They ran to the door and peered inside.

Voldemort was standing in the middle of the room with a circle of Death Eaters surrounding him. He had his wand raised and pointed into the crowd of students. "One more sound or move and you will die!"

A/N: I know! I know! Evil cliffhanger! But it HAD to happen. I wrote this chapter while I was sick so if you don't like it, tell me! I won't feel hurt, I promise. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter since I know where this story is going now. I'm not really sure how many chapter will be left though. In the next chapter: Will Voldemort kill anybody? Why is he there? What will the four do? All that and more so stay tuned. I'm still looking for any suggestions. Any will be greatly appreciated. Thanks! PLEASE R/R!!!!!!!!!!!!!