Harry grinned. "Was, wasn't it? Once Calwdash gets going, there's no escape unless someone else is foolish enough to wander within conversation distance."
Hermione was looking at Harry with mild disgust at his antics. "You could have just asked him to excuse us for a moment. He would have understood."
"Yes, but I like to be elaborate."
She rolled her eyes. "So you've got my full attention, Potter. Spit it out."
"I think it's about time you spoke to Malfoy."
Her hand found its way to her hip. "You do, do you?"
"This history between you two has become a major loose end that's just been leftwell, hanging," Harry insisted. "If you're going to continue on this path, be it with Winter (there was a dramatic and resigned sigh at this point) or some other person, you need to make it known to Malfoy. For both your sakes."
"And even if I did want to bring some closure to the matter, Harry, he' s not even bothered to show at his own party!"
Harry looked confused for a moment. "He's right over there."
Good lord. So he was.
Only Draco Malfoy could sneak up on her without trying. He was standing right by the ice sculpture. Hermione was suddenly very thankful that Harry had called her over earlier.
They stared at him, as were a number of other guests who had also just noticed Draco's presence in the ballroom. Beside the drinks table, Pansy Parkinson made a delighted noise at the guest of honour's low key entrance and swooped toward Draco like an excited, tropical bird. High pitched gabbing commenced.
Ginny touched her on the arm. "Hermione, say something."
He had a grown a little.
More to the point, he had grown a little, everywhere.
"Something," Hermione obliged. Her voice sounded paper thin.
Malfoy had never exactly been skinny. Lots of kids started life ala beanpole and filled out come puberty. Not so Draco. He had been quite small in stature when they had first started Hogwarts and it wasn't until third year that he started catching up with the other boys at school.
When she had last seen him, he' d been lean and lanky, a typical Seeker' s-build. Now, he looked like he'd be able to handle Bludgers without much difficulty.
Her heart felt like it was doing backflips.
He looked completely different, but the same. He was still slim, but the lankiness was gone. Indeed, it looked like he filled out the simple, black formal robes he wore with little slack left over. The robes weren't tight, they was just beautifully tailored. Hermione wondered if Pansy had been the one to organize the outfit since Harry mentioned that Draco wasn't much of a fashion plate any more.
Her eyes trailed down to his feet and she was very nearly amused. His dress shoes had probably been black at one point, but the sun had bleached them. They were worn but she could tell, even from that distance, that they were terribly comfortable.
At present, Malfoy was in still in conversation with Pansy, Hermione only saw his profile. Pansy seemed to be doing most of the talking. At one point she actually reached up to rearrange a bit of fringe, this was only after she apparently checked and agreed with the cut and fit of Draco's robes.
There was a brief squawk when she spotted his choice of footwear. Amazingly, this new Draco put up with the fussing. No sulking, no swatting at Pansy's hand. He just looked bored and impatient.
Here she was trying to prevent her stomach from fleeing from her body and Draco Malfoy was bored.
And then he glanced up to the rest of the ballroom and Hermione was suddenly presented with an unobstructed view of his face. She saw the same strong, long, straight nose. The cheekbones were a more prominent due his face being thinner and more angular than she remembered. But yes, the rest of him had most definitely filled out. His shoulders were broader, his chest was thicker. The robes he wore fell down to his shoes so she couldn't make out what his lower half looked like and then wondered why the hell she cared.
There was still a whisper of boyishness about his face. She could still see it in the curve of his expressive mouth and knew that it would still lift ever so slightly upwards when he was amused or when he was feeling derisive.
Somewhat surprisingly, he looked less like Lucius now than Hermione had expected. There was less sneer and arrogance. He