Hermione was sitting down at the Gryffindor table staring blankly at the breakfast in front of her. Who was the boy dressed as Zorro? He knew who she was and even went to Hogwarts with her.
Her lips tingled and her face became hot. Who was he to just waltz into a muggle party and kiss her? Her fingers absentmindedly brushed against her lips. That was her first kiss.
A loud sigh ripped her from her thoughts. She looked up to see both Ginny and Harry staring at something unseen while looking content.
"Everyone seems to have something on their minds," Luna commented dreamily.
Hermione jumped at the girl's words, unaware that she had even joined them. "What are you doing here?" She asked the Ravenclaw.
"Delivering a message." Luna then handed over a piece of parchment to her. Hermione unfolded it.
Have you figured out who I am? If not, then I will give you a clue. I am in the same year as you.
Hermione looked at Luna with wide eyes. "Where did you get this?"
"From your masked man," Luna said in that same dreamy voice of hers. "He kindly asked me to give it to you since I am aware that he and his friends were at the party."
"Who is he?" Hermione asked, brushing over the fact that Luna had just implied that there were multiple witches and wizards at the party.
"I promised not to tell." Luna then made her way to the Ravencalw table.
"Whuff whuz zat?" Ron asked with a mouthful of unchewed food.
"I will find out."
. . . . .
Pansy was leaning against the Slytherin table with distant eyes. Blaise was sitting across from her, smirking at some memory that played out in his head.
"Are you two still thinking about your partners from the party?" Draco smirked. He wasn't sure who the muggle was that Pansy had been snogging but he knew that it was in fact Weaslette that danced her way to Blaise's heart that night.
"Do you think our parents will kill or just disown us for getting with muggles?" Pansy asked, slowly coming back to her surroundings.
"What muggles? You two weren't snogging muggles," Crabbe said after swallowing a bite of his muffin.
The boy that Pansy was with wasn't a muggle? If he wasn't then that meant there was only one person he could have been? "How do you know this?" Draco asked before the stunned Pansy and Blaise could say anything.
"I'm mutual friends with someone they hang out with," he said simply with a shrug.
Draco was with Hermione while Blaise was with Weaslette and Pansy was with Potter. The only one left was Lovegood. When was Crabbe friends with Lovegood?
He snuck a peek at the dreamy-eyed blonde girl that just entered the Great Hall. She walked straight up to Hermione and handed her the letter that Draco had given her first thing this morning. It now made sense. Lovegood hadn't even batted an eye when he told her that he was at the party. She just simply said that she knew and that she would deliver his letter for him.
"So...we won't be killed or disowned?" Pansy asked in wonderous disbelief.
"That's right," Draco smirked.
"But if they weren't muggles-" Pansy and Blaise stood up with their hands on the table. They shot worried looks over to the Gryffindor table. "I think I need a moment."
"Agreed," said Blaise. The two of them then stormed out of the Great Hall.
"What has their knickers in a bunch?" asked Goyle, just now tuning into the conversation.
"Nothing," Draco replied all while watching Hermione flicking a studious gaze over the students. Her eyes briefly met his and a frown fell onto her lips. Ah, it really was a good thing that it had been a costume party.
. . . .
Hermione was sitting in class looking around at the students. Who could be the person behind the mask?
Wait, why did she even care? The guy literally stole a kiss from her. She shook her head to rid it of useless thoughts.
A red spark flickered low in peripheral vision. She looked down to find nice, cursive handwriting appeared on the paper before her.
You're cute when you're thinking.
Hermione looked up. It had to be someone in the classroom with her. Dread filled her when she realized that half of the students were Slytherins.
A noise drew her attention to a particular group of Slytherins. Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zibini wore horror struck expressions while Draco Malfoy was snickering loudly.
Her face scrunched up. She could definitely rule out those heathens.
She felt eyes on her. A pair of silvery grey eyes were focused on her. Why was Draco looking at her?
Looking away turned into a bad decision. She had those eyes staring at her from one side while the note from her mystery man in front of her. One thing she knew for sure, Draco Malfoy wasn't who she was looking for. That prat wouldn't be caught dead at a muggle party.
. . . . .
"What are we supposed to do?" Blaise asked Pansy. They both couldn't stop thinking about that small moment during the party.
It was the first time anyone had ever made him feel like that. There were literal sparks flying when his sparkly mystery girl touched him. Who would have guessed that that girl was Ginny Weasley, a blood traitor. There was no way his family would let him live if he ever tried anything with the girl.
"I don't know," sighed Pansy as she sunk her head into her arms.
"You two are putting way too much thought into it," muttered Draco loud enough for them to hear.
"And what about you?" Pansy shot back with a sneer.
"Don't think we didn't notice you checking out Granger." Blaise had noticed how Draco would secretly look at her. Not to mention that Draco had left the party with her, though they did come back, albeit separately.
Draco smiled, a real smile and not some kind of smirk. "I'm not checking her out. It's called wooing." He leaned back in his chair and his smile turned into a smirk. "Unlike you, I don't care what my father thinks."
"Since when?" Blaise and Pansy said at the same time, practically shouting their words.
"Since last year."
. . . . .
The next day at lunch held a little surprise for Hermione.
When it came time for the mail to be delivered, an owl that Hermione did not recognize flew to her. Clutched in its talons were blue Salvias.
"Who would give you a weed?" Asked Ron with noticeable disdain.
Hermione smacked Ron in the shoulder. "Ouch! What was that for!"
"These are blue Salvias. Each flower has their own meaning and these ones means that someone is thinking of me," Hermione explained with a huff.
She was growing even more curious as to who the masked man was. He must really like to send her flowers in front of everyone.
"I think it is romantic," Ginny told Ron.
"Do you know who they are from 'Mione?" Asked Harry.
Hermione shook her head. "It's from someone I met at the party. They challenged me to figure out who they are."
"Have you figured it out?" Ginny asked.
Hermione shook her head again. "All I know is that they're a wizard that is in the same year as us. I also suspect that they are either a Gryffindor or a Slytherin since they sent me a message yesterday during class."
"Better not be a slimy snake," Ron said before taking a bite of ham.
. . . .
"Are we going to do this?" Asked Blaise. To say he wasn't nervous was a severe understatement.
He and Pansy had spent the last four days talking things out. They finally decided to take a chance.
Pansy nodded. "I want my little loner and according to the conversation I overheard the other day, he wants me too." She rubbed her hands together in nervous excitement. "Too be honest, I'm a little hesitant to reveal that I was his snogging partner."
Blaise nodded, completely understanding where she was coming from. The Slytherins, especially them in particular, had been pretty nasty to the Gryffindors, especially the Weasleys and Potter, over the last few years.
"It's now or never," Draco told them.
"What about you?" Blaise asked.
"I'll giver her a couple of more days. I kinda don't want the game to end. It's fun being mysterious."
Blaise and Pansy snorted at his comment. "You're just scared," taunted Pansy.
"Do you even know how to be mysterious?" Blaise teased him.
"Shut up," said a red-faced Draco.
. . . . .
Harry was up in the Divination tower looking up at the stars. His lips tingled and felt numb. He could still feel the gentle yet brazen fingers that had ran threw his hair. His skin still felt electrically hot wherever that mystery cat had touched him.
It had been a week since that party and he still couldn't get that girl out of his head. The only thing that he knew about her was that she was a witch and he only knew that thanks to Hermione. It appears that he wasn't the only one with a mystery person stuck on his brain. Hermione and Ginny had both found people at the party that they were interested in. People who turned out to be students at this school.
"I wish I could find her," Harry mumbled to the emptiness.
"Find who?" The voice purred.
His body grew hot as he recognized it. He turned around to find the last person he expected, the thrilled voice, dog-like Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson. "You?"
Pansy raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "Me?" She sauntered over to where he stood and placed a slender hand on his chest. The electricity shot threw his body, setting his nerve endings on fire. "What did you want with little ol' me?"
Harry couldn't believe his eyes but he knew that this was his kitten. His body was sure of it. He leaned his face down closer to hers'. "This," was all he said before he captured her lips with his.
. . . . .
Ginny was walking back from Black Lake on her way to the dorm before curfew. The rustling of grass told her that someone else was there. She drew her wand and aimed in the vicinity where the noise had come from.
Blaise Zibini stepped out from the shadows with his hands raised. "Woah now, dance partner. I mean no harm."
"Dance partner?" He couldn't mean what she thought meant, could he?
He lowered his hands and offered a small smile that was both sad and beautiful. Blaise really was handsome, even if he was a Slytherin. "Just what I meant. You know, it took me the whole week to build up the courage to face you, my beautiful little minx."
Her eyes widened and she felt her wand hand go slack. The boy she had been longing for was Zibini? Her eyes raked up and down his tall, firm body. My, how lucky was she?
She lifted her head and shot him a half smirk. "Prove it," she dared him with haughty blue eyes.
Blaise gave her a dazzling smile and confidently strode up to her. "Don't mind if I do," he said in that deep, husky voice of his before planting his lips onto hers, devouring her in a hungry kiss that made her toes curl.