I rushed out of the charms classroom. I had just invited Rose to prom, and she had said yes! I would've stayed longer with her but I need to think and decide what to wear. This was a big occasion – it was my first date with Rose!
I went to my room to think if I had done really was a good idea. What if she had only said yes because she felt sorry for me? I forced myself not to dwell on these questions as I got ready for the ball. I started thinking about how the ball would go, and formulating in my head a plan of action. It would be the best date that she'd ever had - or so I hoped so. It seemed like a great idea – I would get her drinks, and dance with her all night. I was so glad that the ball – a copy of the Yule ball – had become a tradition after the Second Wizarding War. Hopefully Rose could just distract me from all these annoying looks that people gave me for being a Malfoy, and to get rid of angry thoughts that now always roam my mind. For the first time in my life I just wanted to be distracted, to have fun, so I could enjoy life.
I put on an outfit that I had no idea whether it was good or not. Mother always sent over way to many dress robes then were used, and my only friend, Albus Potter actually, used to tell me that my closet was bigger than a girls. It was an unusual friendship, as our fathers were practically enemies in school, but he was nice to me from the start, and sat next to me when he was sorted into Slytherin like me.
I think he was worried that his father would disapprove – his whole family having been in Gryffindor, but he told me that his father had written back to show that Slytherins are better than all the prejudice. I think Albus does his father proud.
I asked him for help with my choice of robes and he suggested that I wore the silver rather than the blue. I rolled my eyes but agreed with him – if he said it was good, it was good. He had a great taste in clothes for some reason. I turned around to him just as he was pulling his own forest green robes over his head and he told me that I was fine.
He usually has good taste, so I decided to believe him. I noticed that he was blushing slightly now, and I wondered again who he had asked. He'd refused to tell me, no matter how much I'd pestered him in the last few days. I was looking forward to finding out who his date was almost as much as I was looking forward to seeing Rose.
A few hours earlier, my owl Libra had delivered a note straight to her dormitory. She had returned looking satisfied but with no reply. Would Rose actually meet me there? Or would I be standing by the stairs in the Entrance Hall looking like a right loner?
I didn't think that I would feel comfortable if I was waiting next to her common room, as first year Gryffindors always look at me crooked.
Albus and I checked each over once again and then nervously smiled as we walked down the spiral stairs that lead to our common room in silence. We passed that almost empty green room and nodded politely at the other students. They didn't want to get associated with me because of m father's reputation, but I was used to it now. It was the same with Vincent Crabbe Jr Jr, Gregory Goyle Jr Jr (honestly, they can't come up with any original names) and T Nott (nobody could actually remember his real name).
It was completely the opposite with the Potter/Weasley clan. They had a great reputation because of their parents, the war veterans. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and the rest of the Weasleys. The Scamander twins also had a good reputation, and they were practically a part of the family.
Theirs was a massive family – Teddy Lupin, the metamorphous in his last year; with Victorie Weasley who was only just old enough to be in the same year as him. They were dating now, apparently. Dominique Weasley was in the same year as the trouble makers James Potter and Fred Weasley, and also there was Molly Weasley trying to keep them from actually being expelled in that year. The terrible two, they were called, the terrible three if Dominique was involved. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were in our year – they are twins – along with Albus Potter, Rose Weasley and the trouble maker of our year, Roxanne Weasley. In fourth year, the year below us, was the last of the family - Louis Weasley, Hugo Weasley, Lucy Weasley and Lily Potter.
As Albus and I stood nervously by the stairs, we kept stealing glances up the stairs to see whether our dates had arrived or not. I was seriously considering that Rose had changed her mind about coming with me – after all, we had been practically enemies until this year. I'd realized that I had feelings for her – Albus said he had known for years – and I'd tried to be a lot nicer to her. We'd become friends, which was a lot more than I was expecting, but still not enough. I'd been dying to ask her out all year but Albus had warned me not to come on too strong and i didn't want to ruin our developing friendship. When the ball rolled around though, I couldn't resist asking her at the last minute. I'd secretly been hoping that she wasn't going with someone else, and my wishes were granted.
I wonder why she didn't go with someone else – she's so pretty and smart. Maybe that's what scared her off. She was always at the top of the class so maybe people were intimidated by her appearance of aloofness. She was really nice once you bypassed that exterior.
She could have just been taking forever to get ready, as girls do. I saw some couples passing and laughing - everyone seemed happy. I wondered if I would act that way, on love. This year, I would smile at everyone rather than scowling back at them. Even though they weren't exactly pleasant to me, I shouldn't let it ruin my time. Because, this year, I had a date! Rose Weasley, no less. That would shock the school's gossip round for a while.
I looked back up the grand stairs again. There she was, Rose coming down the stairs with a brunette I assumed was one of her friends. She was ... stunning. I couldn't think of another word to describe it. The dress was a gorgeous shade of ocean blue, which perfectly matched her eyes. Now I was glad that I hadn't worn my first choice of robes. It was form fitting, as if it had been made especially for her. It flared out slightly at the waist, and fell in smooth waves of fabric to hand just above the floor. She approached us and smiled shyly.
I'm sure I was looking at her like an idiot, but worst of all is that I could not know speak out the whirlwind of praise that crossed my mind. My voice seemed to have stopped working, and my mouth just moved silently. She was smiling normally as usual again, and this time I was able to reply more calmly.
"Your smile is beautiful." I whispered into her ear. She blushed and looked down. She was radiant, her hair was up in an elegant and not thrown in the face as usual, which gave me the opportunity to see that her eyes were bluer and deeper than that of Albus and anyone else I've seen. I could not look away from the sweet look she had, because as I watched them, I saw beautiful things, living things, and I honestly couldn't think of anything else in that world right then that was more beautiful than her.
You're beautiful! I wanted to say, but I didn't want to overstep my mark too much. It was the truth though. She glowed with happiness, and I was honored to be alongside the most beautiful girl to have ever lived. It was natural, it felt natural. I felt like showing her that I was really happy, and I smiled widely.
She glanced over at her friend and drew my attention to them too. Albus was grinning his head off, looking like a love struck fool as the brunette in a short red dress kissed him on the cheek. Then again, I felt like that every time Rose smiled at me. Albus glanced up, a blush still colouring his cheeks and smiled sheepishly at me. I could see why he didn't tell me – I would probably have teased him mercilessly for managing to get one of the prettiest girls in the whole school to come with him.
He walked the short distance over to where Rose and I were standing and I noticed that his hand was clasped with the girls.
"Scor – this is Maria. My date." He smiled again as Maria shook my hand with her free one. She was blushing and smiling too. I stepped out of their way.
"Wouldn't want to keep you two lovebirds waiting, would I?" I winked at him mischievously and he shoved me into Rose as he ambled past into the Entrance Hall. I looked down at Rose, her sparkling blue eyes meeting with my silver ones. I steadied her with my hands on her shoulders, and she leant up to whisper in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
"They're perfect together, don't you think?" she asked quietly. I nodded mutely before regaining my composure.
I raised my arm like a gentleman, so she could rest her hand in the crook of my arm. "Come on, Miss Weasley. Your ball awaits." I smiled again and to be honest, I loved it.