Up In The Balcony

"She's perfect for it Bellatrix, you know this for fact." His hiss was cold and barely audible yet every single one of his follower heard him loud and clear from where they stood. His bitter pair of eyes pierced through their bowed heads and Bellatrix Lestrange couldn't help but struggle under his glare. Then, with the edge of his powerful wand against the crook of her neck, he added, "You, of all people, should know that I dislike it when others question my authorities and my acts of what others call cruelty." No one dared to make eye contact with him for they all knew that Bellatrix has once again ignited the anger within their Dark Lord. One more snap and reply from her and they really could get it from Voldemort.

"My dearest apologies, My Lord." She bowed her head, if possible, lower. One of Voldemort's most loyal companion, she would never defy or challenge him. Any word he said to her, she practically followed and took in hungrily.

He cocked his head towards the side. "Now, this isn't because you are worried that your beloved nephew would fail and fall twice into temptation now, would he?" She trembled, her breathing beginning to fasten and heavy as each second passed by. His eyes then moved swiftly from Bellatrix to her brother-in-law, Lucius Malfoy. "Now, now, Lucius. I will tell you once. If your son fails to do as he is told, I won't hesitate to crush him under my palms myself. Surely you and your wife wouldn't want to witness that shall you?"

Narcissa Malfoy whimpered as she kept her fists closed, bearing down all her will of not crying out loud and letting her emotions carry her away. "N-no, my Lord, of course not. I'm aware of Draco's skills and I will stick to my words when I say that he will succeed to anything you say or order him." Lucius wanted to make himself sound assuring but he knew that he sounded anything but it. Knowing better, he wouldn't throw around empty words to Voldemort yet in prompt, he didn't have a choice. If making Draco as barbaric as any merciless follower of him is what he had to do, then he will in order to cause his family no harm. He's made too many mistakes in the past, mistakes that they all had to suffer with. If anything, he wants to make it up to the Dark Lord's eyes and prove to him that his family was worthy of his trust.

"Then good." He announced the end of their meeting as he made himself comfortable on his seat, satisfied. Nagini curled up on his lap, and he laughed in an unemotional manner, coldheartedly rejoicing the easy eminence his plan will have. "She's the key .... Our key."

Draco Malfoy didn't understand which was worse in this scenario: Having to dress up and attend the stupid Christmas Masquerade Ball the school was having, having it during their holiday vacations, having to be forced to go with Pansy Parkinson, or the little slip that all students who were to attend must attend with their family. "I reckon Potter won't have anyone with him." He reminded himself out loud bitterly. Instantly, he almost felt a tad better. There was always a good side of thinking about his nemesis: Anything that he didn't have that Draco did, he would compare and contrast and to always think things through, Draco would always have the best of both worlds. He couldn't help but let a heartless laugh out of his system until his mother knocked on his door twice before entering.

"Draco, dear." She called out to him, her arm hovering to him. She beckoned him to come with her. "Is all ready?" She asked him. He examined how she looked. Her long white blonde hair was gracefully swept into a side bun with braids coming down to meet them. Her mother had always been beautiful, far too beautiful from all the other women in their pure-blood society. He had no doubts on how his father had fallen in love with someone like her and didn't even question the love that they had for one another. But these days, it was far too different from the timed that he wished could come back to. Her mother was always locked in their bedroom, more so her bedroom, weeping and crying her eyes out. If there was anything more painful to watch, it would have been to see his mother undergoing through so much pain .. all through silence.

The redness of her eyes dabbed into colorful mechanisms was proof of the tears that she's been shedding. Not wanting to fuel anything, he didn't have to ask on why she was crying. It was his father of course, making his decisions final that he won't be attending the ball with them. He wasn't going to even spend Christmas with them. If Draco didn't know that his mother was suffering from heartache, he wouldn't have bothered coming home. He would have just stayed at Hogwarts where he knew no one would bug him.

Draco took a deep breath as he stood up, letting Narcissa undo the knot of his green tie, only to re-do it again. She was insisting earlier on how much more proper it would have been to wear a red tie but Draco did not let her change it. "You look dashing Mother," He offered words of delicacy for his mum. She smiled up at him and kissed him on his cheek. "I'd be very honored to have a woman like you escorting me inside."

She laughed, oh, her laugh! There it was, bubbling out of her. "The charmer you are, Draco." She said, grabbing him gently on the arm, preparing to apparate. Her last words were more of murmurs but he knew there was no mistaking of them. "Just like your father, just like your father."

She gracefully moved across the grounds of Hogwarts, soft tumbles of blonde waves bouncing from her head. They ran down past her shoulders and a smile was painted on her face as she stood there patiently, waiting for the carriage that carried her beloved 'mother'. She was not aware of it, and she did not care, but all eyes were on her and only her. The people outside waiting for the grand opening of the ball never left her mark. Men's eyes left their dates to wander on her and the women either gawked at her beauty or envied her with such passion from the first time seeing her. She didn't seem to have such mind for the matter. She was not about sitting pretty, looking glamorous, or to dance to begin with. She was here because she had to be here and had to finish a task she was assigned.

"You're causing quite an attention Lovegood." Her 'mother' came down the carriage, holding on to the hem of her long cream colored gown. Beautiful as one would call her but she knew better that she was much more of a disaster. She no longer had long and curly chocolate dark brown hair and instead had strawberry blonde. Her wide scary eyes have vanished, replaced by a pair of soft tonic blue. Appearances could be deceiving as they say and she was certainly a perfect example of this. Mumbling a spell so that others won't be able to hear their conversation, she knew this was for the best because no doubt that this woman was going to blurt out something that was not necessary.

Her soft blue eyes searched the woman's and for a moment, it stays there. "Now Lestrange. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and--"

"Ahead of myself, are you hearing yourself you little twit? If it weren't for the Dark Lord--"

She cleared her throat. "Watch that mouth of yours," She whispers in a command. "You'd know better than to speak his name aloud and --"

"Aloud! Why of course I'm not afraid and terrified to rejoice and praise his--"

"We're out in public." She reminded her. "And do I have to add the fact that people see you as a different person Bellatrix?"

She looked at her bitterly but kept her mouth shut. She knew the girl was right, that it would do her more good if she just followed through the night the way she was suppose to and told. "And you still don't have my trust."

"I never asked for yours did I?"

Harry Potter was smitten. His eyes were glued onto her, his heart pounding against his chest hard. It was as if he was watching an angel walk across, but much better, walking across Earth. He was utterly turned into a young fool with one glance and he couldn't help but feel the rush of excitement as a million thoughts entered through his mind. Whether he was to approach her, whether he was to tell her that he looked good. But for sure, he wouldn't be needed to let her know of the beauty she held -- everyone in that room had their eyes fixed on nothing but her and she must have known that such a beautiful light of a candle was glowing in that room and creatures of flies and the sort hovered near it to take their spots.

"Harry?" Hermione Granger's voice rang around his ears and almost instantly he was pulled back into reality. He found himself staring straight into his best friend's eyes but the dreamy smile that he had plastered on his face didn't disappear. She raised an eyebrow and just looked at him. "Harry, are you alright? Why are you suddenly all flushed?"

"Huh?" He asked, looking around. Snapping out of his reverie, he suddenly started to sink in to the walls of the Great Hall. "Oh, erm, yes, of course. Couldn't be any better, and you?"

She shook her head, taking the chair besides him and sitting down on it. "I see that you've already seen Luna Lovegood then." She said, a chuckle escaping her lips. His cheeks flustered and her hand automatically rested on top of his arm that was sprawled on the table. "Oh, Harry. Please, you honestly didn't think I didn't know who you were eyeballing on before I came here did you?" He shook his head bluntly and she laughed. "She's quite a hit tonight, I've got to admit that."

"A hit?" He asked, confused.

She nodded, taking a sip of her punch. "She's new this year you see. A transfer?"

"She isn't a veela is she, Hermione?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just because she's swimming under beauty doesn't mean she is." She said, in a monotone voice. "No, she isn't. She use to be a student here actually," before finishing her statement, she couldn't help but add, "though I honestly don't remember seeing her around. But anyways, yes. Her father died recently last year and her mother -- the one who is sitting next to her -- asked her was so depressed that she had to drop her studies for a while. She was home schooled of course but I'd think that anyone would come to their perfect senses that it's always better when you're with people much more knowledge. Like Hogwarts." He just nodded, half interested. If there was anything more interesting than Hermione's smart babbles or Luna licking the bottom of her lip, it would have been the latter. Finally, when she started to noticed that he wasn't paying any attention to her, she snapped her fingers in front of his face, trying to get Harry's attention back. He jumped. "Oh, yeah?"

She sighed. "Oh, Harry. You're hopeless."

He stared at her and frowned. "I am not hopeless."

She shook her head. "Well, if you want her her as bad as you look at her, you better get your move on Romeo. I'm predicting that you'll have a hard time trying to get the maiden's attention."

But as Hermione predicted, it was hard to keep Luna under his eyes. Because the next thing he knew, he was lost at the oceans of people and she, nowhere to be seen.

Narcissa's eyes widened at it's every rim and corner when she caught sight of a blonde woman a couple of seats away from her. She was a mother indeed, couldn't be a student nor a professor. She stood about the same height as she did and though this woman was dressed ever so fancy and elegant, her eyes did her justice and he knew that through that innocent play casted a dark woman who's only intentions here was to bring the girl.

Draco.

But he, too, was already out of sight.

Draco turned around the corner and shoved a couple from their snogging spot, desperate of running away from Pansy Parkinson and her loyal troops of Draco Malfoy lovers and fanclub members. Almost revealing a hint of his shining hair, he took a sharp inhale when he heard Pansy's footsteps making her way nearer and closer to where he stood. Finally, when she angrily stomped back from where her girls stood, he let a deep breath of relief out. He was feeling panic around the corner for him, thinking that he'll never loose the girl but now that he has, he can finally breathe.

He walked the opposite way, out to the area by the stairs were there was more couples snogging and doing their business to mock his sheer love life. Rolling his eyes, he took off his suit jacket and threw it around his shoulder. Barely an hour passing by this grand ball, he already felt desperate to go home. Revealing his white polo shirt, he began to walk to the direction of a balcony he expected to be empty, unbutton the top two buttons and loosen his tie. Before he can even let a sigh out as he began to roll up his sleeves to his elbows, he was startled at a sudden image of a beaming picture.

A girl.

But remembering what his father had gone through before he left the Malfoy Manor, his eyes softened and his frown was replaced by a smirk.

"What could possibly be a girl like you doing here?" He asked, letting himself to slide on the opposite side of the platform. He examined her red lurex dress (making him wish somehow that he followed his mother's advice earlier on wearing that pesky red tie she wanted him to wear, just to match her) that ended right below her knees. Bearing her exposed shoulder blades, the color brought her skin out, a halter neck that divulged her nude collar bone, with a low V-cut that traced down and flashed the skin between her breasts. Her back glistened along the moonlit. The low cut of her dress on the back along her waist line was enough to have men wishing it was cut lower. She looked elegant, unlike the others who shed skin only to end up looking distasteful and loathsome. Just like Pansy, he thought with a snicker.

She looked at him and almost too quickly, she recognized who he was. "I don't think introductions is necessary. You'd agree with me, won't you?"

"I imagined you to be slightly taller, slightly stronger." He playfully sneered, running his hands through the cold marvel stone through their extents. She let out a giggle herself but it only sounded so far away, as if a laugh one would hear from their dreams and imaginations. "I wouldn't bother introduce myself to you if I know for sure you already know my name." He said, his breath barely a whisper.

"Draco Malfoy." She spoke of his name softly. It was like music coming out of her thin mouth.

He didn't look at her. "Luna Lovegood." And there up in the balcony did they have their first conversation -- one of their many millions more in the future.

A/N

End of chapter one! Gah, please r&r. I worked hard on the first chapter and have lots of hope for this story ^__^