Pansy had never been to a dance before. Long before she came to Hogwarts, she used to entertain imaginary balls in the comfort of her own room. All her dolls would gently admire her from the edge of the dance floor, whilst Pansy dressed up in her many frills, played Celestina Warbeck on the Wizard Wireless and turned in elaborate circles across her white carpet floor.
She had always been a girl's girl. Violet Parkinson was a stay-at-home mum, who loved to adorn her only daughter with pretty gifts. Pansy's father was often working late hours at the ministry, in the judicial section. He supported the whole family and Pansy adored him, but she was not as close to him as she was her mother. Her mother taught her how to dance properly, after she finally caught one of Pansy's dress-up balls in session. Pansy grew up loving the idea of dancing and parties. As her mother pointed out to her early on however, ball dancing always required a partner. Pansy could twirl by herself as much as she liked, but for a REAL ball, she would need a partner. The concept of a 'partner' was very jumbled in the mind of the young witch. She imagined for a while, an older man in a mask, saying nothing but holding out his hand for her, waiting to dance. She would be elegant and beautiful, the best dancer at the ball, and her partner would stay in the background, dancing wonderfully as well, but letting her have the spotlight. When it was over, he would bow to her and depart.
That was before Pansy ever came to Hogwarts. When she finally turned eleven, she spent far more time than the other girls her age completely fascinated with boys. It was around then that she started giving faces to her mystery men. She still danced by herself, sometimes in the dorm room when no one else was there, sometimes in the bathrooms, and on the rare occasions that the emerald-draped Slytherin common room was empty, it made for the best imaginary dance hall of all.
At first, she'd tried to imagine Harry Potter as her dance partner. After all, he was a living hero of her generation, and would turn all eyes to them when they danced together. He just needed to make a great fuss of her and everything would work out fine. Too bad she quickly discovered that Harry was every inch a Gryffindor and a socially stunted prat. She passed over this idea quickly. Successively, she considered Roger Davies, Anthony Goldstein, Gilderoy Lockheart and Adrian Pucey, but rejected all of them within months. She didn't exactly crush on any of them (with the exception of Gilderoy Lockheart, which she came to regret for years aftwerward), but she simply couldn't get out of her head the idea that she HAD to have a dance partner, even if there was no dance. She would in later life of course, learn that what she thought she was looking for was in fact one great big metaphor for life, but for the moment it was all about the dresses and and having everyone admre how pretty you were.
During her third year, Pansy finally received her epiphany. It was only the first day at breakfast that she had jeered at Prat Potter when she had delightedly heard Malfoy telling all the Slytherins about how Potter had passed out on the train the day before. She had been thrilled at the chance to irritate The Boy Who Fainted, but had thought no more about it. Later on she went to her first classes as a third year, and her very first Divination class. In time, she would come to regard the subject as an amusing means to talk about everyone's love lives through interpretations of foggy crystals, but on this first day she was still trying to think of it as an actual subject, and Professor Trelawny was terribly fascinating. Staring intently at the tea-dregs of her partner, Danae Moon, Pansy happened to overhear the conversation from the table behind her.
"Well I don't know! This probably means you're going to grow a moustache on your backside, but if you turn it this way it might mean you're going to run away to Africa to live as one of the giraffes." Pansy giggled softly. "I hate this subject. Father says's it's a waste of time, but mother told me to give it a try. I have, and I think I might leave it again."Then a new voice piped up.
"Well that's fine, but in the meantime I have to tell you, I think your cup is predicting your long and successful career as a ballerina." There was the sound of two sniggering boys.
"Nah, I already know how to ballroom dance, I think that was meant to be my true calling, but thanks anyway." Pansy felt a great shudder inside herself, followed by a fluttering, wild excitement. She turned slowly in her seat, mentally preparing herself to behold for the first time, this wonderful creature she had never seen before who knew how to dance.
There behind her, examining their cups with about as much interest as one would examine a leaf, were Blaise Zabini, and Draco Malfoy. Draco had been entertaining her only a few short hours ago, and she'd laughed then as well. Why had she never picked him out of the crowd before? Probably because she was after all, a girl, and girls should hang out with girls, unlike that wierdo from Gryffindor who never looked after her hair. Pansy had established herself quite well as the leader of the best of the Slytherin girls. She was friends with Daphne Greengrass, Isabel MacDougal, Danae Moon, Sally-Ann Perks, Tracey Davis and even Alexis Vaisey, who was a year older than Pansy. Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy was fairly sure, was a lesbian.
However, she suddenly realised how much she had been missing out on by never getting to know this wonderful person called Draco Malfoy. She started remembering things she'd heard about him from the last two years. He was pureblooded of course, she had known about the Malfoy family since before she'd been to school - they were one of the richest wizarding families in England. She was also fairly sure their fathers knew each other. She knew he hated Harry Potter passionately, and she could sympathise with that quite a bit. Harry Potter was a prat. She remembered back in second year having Lavender pass onto Parvati pass onto Padma pass onto Daphne before finally reaching Pansy's ears that Potter thought Pansy's face looked like a pug. She had since made sure that being friends with Harry or his two cohorts was punishable by merciless exclusion in her group. But Draco, he'd been brave enough to duel the boy wonder when no one else would, and did so much better than Potter in potions, Professor Snape always said so.
Then of course, there was the quidditch. Draco had made seeker for Slytherin in his second year, and even though Pansy knew nothing about quidditch, she had thought that Draco's flying was quite graceful in their previous flying lessons with Madam Hooch. Dragon. She thought, remembering her latin lessons. What a beautiful name.
She was quite in the middle of her swooning when she realised that Draco, Blaise and Danae were all staring at her. She started to blush, then thought better of it and smiled admiringly at Draco, fluttering her eyelashes a bit.
"Do you REALLY know how to dance?" Draco looked a little suspicious, but was very clearly not averse to Pansy's flattery.
"Of course I do. Mother insisted I learn it. All gentlemen should learn how to dance, it's just classy." Pansy sighed dramatically.
"I agree. Everyone who's anyone should learn how to dance." Draco smiled at her.
Just then Professor Trelawney told them it was time for their lunch break. Smoothly, Pansy slipped her bag onto one shoulder, took Danae by the hand and said rather coyly, "Well, I guess I'll see you around, Mr Malfoy." Draco was now flushing with pleasure.
Pansy walked to the ladder and out to the grounds practially glowing. She had, without a doubt, just found her dance partner.
What happened the next day, though horrifying, ended up working well in Pansy's favour. Hagrid, the monstrous oaf living in a hut in some obscure point in the grounds, had just been made Professor of Care of Magical Creatures. Pansy was expecting to study snidgets or nogtails or diricawls, something harmless like that. But instead, the glorified groundskeeper produced what to him were probably fluffy pets, but to everybody else looked like great bloody hippogriffs. They had claws the size of dinosaur's, beaks which could tear the arm off of a fully grown wizard, and Hagrid told them all to go up and pet the things! Once again in pairs, Pansy, this time with Isabel, refused point blank to go near the beasts. Instead she watched Isabel try to complement her hippogriff (Clawfoot), into bowing. So far it was not working, she simply couldn't hold the beast's gaze, and her lack of confidence was obvious to anyone, even a dumb animal. It was no wonder either. Isabel was a small girl, and the hippogriff towered over her. She noticed Draco next to Vincent and Greg, and she shot him a worried look. He looked quite pale himself. Nonetheless, looking up at her seemed to make him try to suck it up, for the next thing he'd approached the beast, held it's gaze admirably, and bowed like a prince. Moments later, to Pansy's delight, she saw the hippogriff bow back to Draco. He moved forward with hesitantly, and even petted it's beak softly a few times, and Pansy found herself extremely impressed.
She turned back to Isabel to tell her to look and see how well Draco had managed, when she heard him scream. It was a terrible, painful sound, and she whirled around in time to see Draco hit the ground on his back, clutching his right arm tightly, but nonetheless there was blood spurting from between his fingers, and his robes were getting soaked in it. Hagrid rushed Draco up to the hospital wing and Pansy, angry with everyone's lacked of reaction, and of course Potter's obvious sympathy with Hagrid, told them all that she would see if he was okay, and rushed up to the hospital wing after them.
She arrived in time to see Hagrid leaving. She glared at him, and he guiltily looked away from her. He left quickly, without ever saying a word. Pansy then pushed through the doors to hear Draco moaning painfully whilst Madam Pomfrey tried to hold him still.
"Come on boy, you've got to let go of it for me to heal it. You don't want me fusing your hand to the wrong arm now do you?" She asked crossly. That seemed to persuade Draco to do as she asked. Pansy sat down on one of the waiting chairs, unseen by both patient and nurse. She couldn't see quite what was going on, what with Pomfrey leaning over Draco to do her work, but about five minutes later the nurse turned around. Draco's arm was bandaged up, and they both finally noticed her.
"Pansy!" Draco exclaimed in surprise. His voiced was changed a little by the pain in his voice. Pansy had gone all to water for him.
"A friend of young Mr Malfoy's are you?"Pansy nodded.
"Please let me stay with him!"
"Miss...Parkinson is it? I assure you that Mr Malfoy is fine. I've fixed him right up and he'll be back in classes soon. You can have a couple of minutes, but I expect you to be getting to your next class on time." With that, Madam Pomfrey swept into her office. Pansy decided then and there that she didn't like the school healer one bit. But for now...
"Oh Draco! Are you alright? I thought you were going to die back there! That stupid oaf needs to be sacked!" Heedlessly, she flung her arms around Draco, not minding at all the inappropriateness of the gesture. Surprisingly, he put his good arm on her back comfortingly.
"Thanks Pansy. It....really hurts though."
"Oh!" Pansy immediately backed off. He half-smiled, half-grimaced at her.
"Don't worry, my father's going to hear of this before the day is out. I don't suppose you'd come by again after class and help me pen a letter to him? I'd really appreciate it." The last sentance rolled off his tongue like dark chocolate and made Pansy shiver.
"Of course Draco, anything you need." She looked at the clock.
"I'll have to get to class now, but feel better okay?"
*******************
That had been a year ago. Draco's injury had brought Pansy into Draco's circle of friends. She still had her girlfriends, but occasionally she would come and spend her lunchtimes with Draco, watching him do hilarious impressions of all the people who gave them a hard time at Hogwarts - Potter, Weasley, Dumbledore and Hagrid most often. Pansy never got tired of him. She came to all of his quidditch matches now, supporting him in full colours. She gossiped about him to Danae and Daphne quite a lot, as Pansy was the first of them to have any kind of relationship with a boy - none of them had male friends, and only Isabel had a brother. Naturally, this made Pansy a window of opportunity for the other girls to get to know the Slytherin boys. Parties in the common room were made all the more interesting now that the two genders started to interact with each other. Pansy had fallen completely into obssession with Draco Malfoy.
Come fourth year, Draco told Pansy early on about the tri-wizard tournament. Indeed, Pansy found out on the train. She had wondered for weeks now why she had been required to bring her dress robes to school this year, and was aboslutely thrilled to hear about the foreign schools coming to visit. Draco had told her that part of his heritage on his father's side was french, and that he probably had a cousin coming to visit with the other Beaubaxtons students.
A few weeks later, Viktor Krum's sitting at the Slytherin table caused an uproar. Pansy wasn't enamoured of him enough to try to talk to him - she was completely undistracted by other boys since she had discovered Draco, but Alexis Vaisey came back to the common room one night reporting sadly that the world champion seeker was in fact a terrible conversationalist - she could barely understand a word he said, and he clearly hadn't wanted to talk to her. Draco told Pansy later that he'd had a similar experience.
The First Task was an amazing spectator's event. Pansy sat next to Draco, both of them cheering for Cedric and sporting their 'Potter Stinks' badges proudly. Potter was in disgrace and Draco was paying her a great deal of attention this year. She didn't think life could get any better, until the afternoon of December the 10th. Charms class had just been finishing up when Professor Flitwick stopped them all from leaving for one final announcement.
"Just before you all go, I've been asked to announce the Christmas feast for this year. To honour our guests from Durmstrang and Beaubaxtons, and also to honour the tradition of the tri-wizard tournament, the Christmas feast will be replaced with a Yule Ball."
Professor Flitwick went on to let everyone know that they should be on their best behaviour, but Pansy was not really listening. She felt like her life's goals were suddenly thunking together at the crux of her life. The fact that she was still fourteen years old and the idea was absurd did not of course, occur to her. Instead her heart was pounding like a drum, and the images of herself dancing at a ball swamped her head again with a vengeance. She could see herself twirling round and round with a hundred other couples, girls in their sparkling dresses, all graceful steps and lovely decorations. This time, her imagination took her firmly to her partner's face. She had to have Draco.
From the moment she found out to the night of the Yule Ball, Pansy Violet Parkinson became, hands down, the most obnoxious girl at Hogwarts. That night in the common room, Pansy immediately called a meeting of all her friends. Huddled together with Daphne, Danae, Isabel, Tracey, Sally and Alexis, Pansy gave each of them a critical once over. Daphne was clearly the prettiest of the group - she had long, chestnut brown hair which was always shiny because of all the hair products she used. She also had vibrant blue eyes and long lashes, and Pansy would have picked her out as her greatest threat to securing Draco had she not already seemed to have started something with Blaise recently.
"So, there's actually a ball happening in Hogwarts!" Pansy whispered conspiritorially to the girls, trying not to let the boys overhear. It didn't matter that the boys weren't usually interesting in girly gossip sessions anyway, Pansy didn't want them hearing their plans.
"I know! I can't believe they didn't tell us earlier, I would have brought my lavender robes!" Daphne bemoaned in her own whisper. For a bit, the conversation all centred on dresses, and which colour they were all wearing. Nobody wanted to double up or wear the same colour. Daphne was already planning to write to her mother to send her over her lavender dress robes. But when the moment came, Pansy brought the subject around to the boys.
"So we also need to figure out, who's going with who?" That brought on another round of excited giggles.
"Well Pansy, shouldn't you be going with Draco?"Alexis asked coyly. "You guys do everything together, it'd make perfect sense, and you're soooo cute together!" Pansy blushed a good deal, but sniffed in a haughty voice,
"Maybe, but he'd have to ask me. It's just the gentlemanly thing to do you know, and I want to go with a gentleman."
"Well I wouldn't mind asking a boy." Sally piped in. "Boys can be pretty thick, they don't always know when you like them. Besides, they get nervous too." Pansy's opinion of Sally went down a notch.
"I think it's too forward and boyish." Pansy said. "But who would you want to ask out then?" Everyone leaned in closer to Sally, anticipating. She milked the attention and 'hmmed' to herself for a bit.
"Armel Moreau, from Beaubaxtons." All the girls gasped at her audacity. It would be hard enough asking out a Hogwarts boy, let alone someone three years older and with a sexy french accent.
"I can't wait to see you do that." Giggled Danae.
Pansy made it her personal mission to get all of her friends hooked up for the ball, so that Draco would HAVE to ask her. He'd never ask someone outside of Slytherin, and she was pretty sure he'd ask her anyway, but she wanted to make absolutely certain.
As with most plans of this design, there were many windfalls. Blaise did indeed ask Daphne out, and Daphne accepted. Pansy was ready to breathe a huge sigh of relief until Daphne fell spectacularly on her butt in a charms lesson, but not before exposing her underwear for all the class to see. Blaise unfortunately, couldn't stop himself from laughing along with everyone else, and Daphne dumped him in a fit of rage. There were also problems when Danae accepted an invitation from Isabel's twin brother Morag. Danae and Isabel had stopped speaking to each other, and nothing anyone could say could make either girl relent. Sally-Ann did keep her word, and asked out Armel before the next week was out. To everyone's surprise, he accepted, and told her she was very attractive. Pansy was able to tick two girls off her list, depsite her disgruntlement with them.
In transfiguration just under a week before the ball, Pansy plucked up her courage and managed to talk to Draco.
"So now Isabel's really upset but Danae won't back out, I think she really likes Morag." She hesistated, then took the plunge. "Anyway Draco, what are you doing for the ball?"
"I'm not sure"He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, did you hear as well? Potter asked out Chang yesterday." Despite Pansy's interest in keeping the subject on Draco, her curiosity was piqued.
"Oh really, the Ravenclaw Seeker? I'm surprised, I thought she could do better than that." Draco's smirk intensified. "Apparently so did she. She turned him down, she's going with Diggory instead." Pansy clapped her hands over her mouth in glee.
"Oh, that's fantastic news! Potter got rejected! I bet now he understands who Hogwart's real champion is."
"That's not even the best part." Her eyes widened.
"Could it get any better?"
"Dear Pansy, you have no idea." He leaned in closer, and Pansy's heart got all jittery. "Weasley tried to ask out Fleur Delacour on the same day - in front of the whole school. She just gave him a filthy look and he ran for his life." Pansy could no longer contain herself. She squealed with high-pitched laughter, and was almost immediately yelled at by Professor McGonagall for disrupting the class.
It was only later on that Pansy realised she'd never gotten any kind of an invitation, or even an answer from Draco.
Two more days passed. Pansy had pulled out her dress robes that evening and was steadily and carefully spelling out the creases and cleaning off the dust. She would have her dress shining by Friday. Alexis Vaisey burst into the dorm room, all a-flurry as she grabbed Pansy's wrist and said, "I have to talk to you."Confused, Pansy allowed herself to be lead to her bed by the fifth year. They sat cross legged, opposite each other.
"So what's going on? Did somebody ask you?"Alexis took a moment to breathe.
"Yes! Miles Bletchley, the Slytherin Keeper! He just asked me when I was coming out of the library!" Pansy smiled wide and squealed with her.
When they'd taken the time to calm down, Alexis's face fell into pity.
"But that's not the only thing." She said theatrically. "I heard Vincent talking to Draco Malfoy before I left, and oh Pansy, he was talking about who he was taking to th Yule Ball!" Pansy held her breath. She couldn't think. "He said, he wasn't a hundred percent on who he was taking, but his mother had recommended he take one of the Greengrass sisters."
"No." The word escaped Pansy's lips involuntarily. "No no no no no NO!" She squealed in horror. This wasn't happening. The sisters? Who was Daphne's little sister anyway? Asterisk or something? Hadn't she only just turned thirteen? Alexis tried rubbing Pansy's back reassuringly, but Pansy shrugged her off. When she was silent for some very long moments, Alexis decided to leave her in peace. Pansy waited until the door closed, then picked up her pillow and threw it across the room. Then she promptly burst into tears.
She fell asleep on her bed still sniffling, and dreamed of going alone to her dance, sitting by herself whilst all the girls in sparkling dresses twirled around her. Worst of all, there was Draco dancing with the spotlight on him, with a faceless girl in a beautiful dress. He did not even look at Pansy.
Pansy awoke feeling like there was more to this than just the dance, though she could not place her finger on what it was. Having slept on it, Pansy was determined not to give up so easily. He hadn't asked either of the sisters yet, so there was still a chance to stop him from doing so. She strode purposefully over to Daphne's bed and threw apart the curtains. Daphne wasn't there. Confused, Pansy checked her alarm clock - and winced. She hadn't set it last night, and she had slept in. She was already late for her Arithmancy class. Jumping into fresh clothes, she grabbed her books and ran up the many staircases.
She was given penalty homework for being late, as well as docking ten points from Slytherin. Professor Vector was big on precision, and hated irregularities. It was a foul way to start the day, and Pansy, due to how much trouble she was already in, couldn't take the time to talk to Daphne in class. She had to wait until lunchtime, and even then she had to keep her voice hushed, to avoid being overheard by half the Slytherin table. Daphne seemed very confused by the sudden urgency, and Pansy suddenly resented Dpahne's good looks very much. Pansy had boring, short, dark hair and very round cheekbones - nothing like Daphne's 'windswept model' look - and no special features to speak of. If Draco was really interested in Daphne, how could Pansy compete?
"Daphne, do you like Draco?" She whispered irritably to her friend.
"What? Of course not, why?"
"Well, just because. Promise me you won't go to the Yule Ball with him, okay?"
"Yeah sure." Pansy still gave her a skeptical look.
"Hey, he's too pale and skinny for me anyway, I wouldn't go for him." Pansy was caught between the desire to tear her apart for insulting Draco and pleasure that she was not interested in him. She settled for sighing and relaxing into her seat.
"By the way," Pansy continued, trying to sound off-hand, "whereabouts is your sister?" Now Daphne looked more suspicious, but pointed anyway. "She's sitting over there, near the end of the table. See the blonde one?" Pansy saw her. She saw that although the girl was still very immature, she was also even prettier than her sister. Her hair was lighter than Daphne's, and longer. It fell like a curtain down past her shoulder blades, and her eyes were the brilliant blue as Daphne's. Her face was slender and nicely defined, and though she was still growing into her figure, it was already telling that she'd be stunning. It was infuriating. Pansy sat there stewing about it until lunch was over, but she knew she'd have to confront the younger girl sooner or later. Why was it so much harder than talking to Daphne? This girl was younger than her!
"Ummm, Pansy?" Daphne interrupted her friend's scrutiny of her sibling. "Just thought you'd like to know, Tracey and Isabel have decided they don't want dates, and they're going to go to the ball together instead."
"Oh." Was all Pansy could say.
Despite how little time was left before the ball, Pansy couldn't bring herself to talk to that Asterisk girl all Monday. It took her until her last class on Tuesday to pluck herself up. She waited beside the doors to the great hall at dinner, watching until her target walked unsuspectingly through. Pansy grabbed her by the arm and dragged her aside.
"Daphne's sister right?" She nodded.
"Right, then I have to ask you something. You know him?" She pointed discreetly at Draco.
"Not personally, but of course. Everyone knows about Draco Malfoy." The way she ennunciated his name irked Pansy. Still, she tried to remember her patience.
"You wouldn't go out with him, would you?"She gave Pansy a suspicious look, identical to her sister's expression the day before. Damn these girls being too intelligent.
"Why's that?"
"There's a slight - very slight possibility that he might try to go to the Yule Ball with you. But you wouldn't want to go with a complete stranger would you?" Asteroid - or whoever she was, stared at her like she was growing horns.
"Of course I would! Are you kidding? He's from one of the most prestigious families in Britain! If he asked me, I could actually go to the ball, and not to mention, he's really cute."Pansy was livid. Through a tightly controlled mouth, she got out,
"I just want you to know then, that if he asks you and you actually accept, not even my friendship with your sister will stop me from making this entire school boycott you. I will find out everything you never wanted anybody to know, and if that's not enough then I will have everybody believing that you've got a secret and overwhelming love for Gilderoy Lockheart, even though he's now in St Mungo's!"
Clearly, this was the sort of girl who WAS susceptible to rumours, for she paled considerably, then flushed with anger.
"Two can play at that game. You start things about me, I can start things about you. If Draco asks me, I'll say yes, and it doesn't matter what you say, because he'll like me better than you anyway." With that she held up her chin and swished her blonde hair in Pansy's face before settling at the Slytherin table with her friends, who all started whispering together the moment she returned.
Pansy was in two minds. Part of her wanted to leave the hall immediately she was so angry. She'd also lost her appetite now that she knew Wysteria wanted to compete with her. However, her pride would not allow it, so she sat back down in the midst of her friends, held her head high and forced down some food.
She spent all her free time over the next two days experimenting with beauty charms for her hair, face, and even an odour-free charm for her armpits. She'd be damned if she'd be upstaged by a second year. She had heard nothing at all from Draco, to her great disappointment, and started to succumb to the idea that he was probably asking ....her....instead. It was only when she got a last-minute invite from Ian McNair, a sixth year, and felt only disappointment, that she knew beyond a doubt that if she could not have Draco as her partner to the ball, then she'd rather have no one at all. So she rejected McNair's offer, and with a great sigh of disappointment fell into sullenness.
Her last class on December the 24th was herbology, and she was sadly copying down her notes on Devil's Snare when there was a light touch on her shoulder. She turned to see Draco smiling down at her.
"Hey." He said cheerily. Pansy tried to smile back at him, but it wasn't as full as it usually was. "Why so down?"
"Oh, nothing really."She started to go back to her notes. Draco plonked down onto the bench next to her.
"So I was wondering." He began idly, "What time did you want me to meet you tomorrow?" Pansy forgot all about her notes.
"What?"
"Shall we be early to the ball, or fashionably late? I was thinking we should make a grand entrance together. I hear you're wearing pink?" She could not believe her ears.
"But...but you...I, you didn't even ask me if I wanted to go!"Draco actually chuckled.
"No I didn't. But honestly Pansy, did you really think I'd go with anyone else?" Pansy stammered and made lots of funny noises for a bit, which made Draco laugh even more. "So, you're not going with Daphne's little sister?" She finally managed. He stopped laughing and frowned.
"Her? What's her name again.?"
"Asteria I think." Pansy said miserably. Draco chortled this time.
"Sounds like Hysteria. Anyway, isn't she twelve or something?" Pansy made no response, and Draco touched her hair. "No Pansy. I guess you heard me telling Vince that mother mentioned those girls for me. I never actually had any intention of asking them. The only reason I didn't say that I was taking you was because I wanted to give everyone a surprise. You must know by now how much I like making entrances." For the first time in two days, Pansy giggled.
"I know. And believe me, my dress with make a fabulous entrance! You know you have to show me your ballroom dancing skills? I've been dying to see them since last year."
"Of course. What's a ball without a dance?" He smirked once more. "I'll meet you in the common room at ten to eight." And he stood up and walked away, back to Vincent and Greg.
Pansy was still in shock at dinner that night, up until the moment Tracey asked what Draco had been talking to her about in herbology. Pansy decided to keep with Draco's plan, and keep it secret that they were going together.
"Oh, just my notes. He wanted to check them over with his." It was an absurd excuse, Draco's grades exceeded Pansy's in most subjects, the only exceptions being transfiguration and astronomy, but Tracey didn't know Draco anywhere near as well as Pansy did, and left the topic alone. As soon as Tracey turned to Isabel to discuss their dresses again, Pansy allowed herself a glowing smile. The shock now worn off, pure excitement was taking it's place, and she couldn't wait for tomorrow.
She was far too distracted to focus on her classes the next day, and only McGonagall's threat of letting Pansy stay in her dorm tonight instead of going to the ball made her shut up. Blaise had made up his mind to go the ball 'a bachelor', and as far as Pansy knew, Daphne was doing the same. They were all waiting impatiently for their last class to finish, and it was so clear to Professor Flitwick that the students' minds were not on their subjects that he let them out five minutes early. Pansy, along with most of the other girls in the class, rushed straight down to the dormitories. As she was leaving, she heard Theodore Nott saying in incredulous tones,
"How long does a girl need to get ready for a party?"
Pansy felt she needed a lot.
She washed as thoroughly as she could, towelled her hair dry then set about with the curling charms she'd been practising all the previous week. It still took her about forty five minutes to get the single ringlet at the bottom of each lock of hair just right. She then wove a glittering potion through it, and finally tied together the top layer of the back of her hair with a hairtie adorned with a pink organza ribbon. Then came the dress. It was pale pink - a seam under her bust to shape her, with pink organza to match her hairtie sewn in a frill all across her neckline, continuing up the straps of the dress and completing the circle at the back, just below her shoulder blades. The skirt bloomed out like a flower, more frills overlaying one another down the dress like petals, with little pink crystals dotted across it. It was without a doubt, the dress of someone who wanted to be noticed.
At seven thirty, quickly sat down in front of the dresser to do her makeup - pink of course. Then she slipped on her matching sandals and a couple of gold bracelets. She was only just ready to go in time. Around her, there had been the flurry of all the other girls in her dorm putting their outfits together. Isabel had left with Tracey almost twenty minutes ago. Sally-Anne had left even before they had, all adorned in silver, and Daphne had managed to get her lavender dress sent in just in time. It looked lovely on her, and Pansy could finally appreciate all that without resenting her now. Danae was still getting ready when Pansy finally opened the door to the common room.
It was bustling with students getting ready and finding their partners, along with many junior students looking on enviously at their seniors. Many heads did turn when Pansy walked into the common room, and Pansy's wide smile displayed openly how much she loved it. Then, near the door leading out to the rest of the school, she spotted Draco next to Vincent and Crabbe. His hair was smoothed down to the back of his head, and it stood out like a beacon above his black velvet robes. Pansy thought he looked like royalty. He smirked at her, and grinned back at him. To everyone's mild surprise, he held his arm out to her, and Pansy walked over and slipped her arm into his.
"Good evening Miss." He purred happily, milking everyone's attention as much as she was. "Care to accompany me tonight?"
"Most certainly Sir."She said, then giggled. With his other arm, Draco reach into his robes and drew out a pale pink rose in half-bloom, and held it out to her.
"A token then, my lady." Pansy's heart was fluttering so much she was worried she might not stay on the ground.
"Oh, Draco!" She said, taking the rose with glee. She held it for a while, turning it over in her hands, then slid it into her hair so it nestled in amongst the ribbon.
"Shall we go then?" She nodded, and followed closely behind by Vincent and Gregory, they began the long climb up the Great Hall.
The Yule Ball was a wonderful night. The frozen decorations blew Pansy away. It was everything she'd ever imagined. It didn't matter, in the end, that the Champions of the Triwizard Tournament held pride of place and the spolight on the dance floor. It didn't even matter that Granger had managed to become Viktor Krum's date and Belle of the Ball for sheer shock of her transformation. They were things which would normally have irritated Pansy greatly, but tonight was her first ball, and she was with exactly who she wanted to be, and he wanted no one else. Those three things made any other matter seem small for the moment.
When Draco held out his hand to her - the first dance of the evening, not long after the four Champions had started the dance, it was with a feeling of heavy significance that she placed her hand into his. Together they turned circles across the dance floor, and he lead her through some steps she'd never seen before, but which he quickly helped her to follow. He held her eyes the whole time, and Pansy could not tear hers away either.
"Did you really mean what you said yesterday?" Pansy asked at some point, it could have been three or four dances into the night, she was not quite sure.
"Every word. But which part in particular are you talking about?"
"When you said, 'Did you really think I'd go with anyone else?" He paused.
"Well, yeah. I... well, I really like you Pansy." For the first time that night, he looked away from her. Her heart was lifting, everything felt like it was in the right place at the right time. Pansy loved everything about Draco, she had known that for a long time, but she was only now realising exactly what that meant. Finding the right dance partner, someone who was right for you. Dancing with the one you chose and a stage and everyone else dancing around you, some better or worse than others, and for the first time that meant something other than what it was on the surface. In finding Draco, she hadn't just found someone to dance with, she'd found someone to be with. Draco meant so much more than the dance, even if that's what she thought she'd been looking for the whole time.
She stopped dancing, and brought her hand up the side of his cheek, turning it gently so that he had to face her again. She went up on her toes so she was level with his face, keeping her hand on his cheek. She leaned in close, so she could see the lines of colour in his eyes, then closed her own, and gave him her first kiss.
It was awkward and thrilling and even though she didn't quite know how to do this it was wonderful. When she drew back and opened her eyes again, Draco looked similarly shellshocked. He touched his lips experimentally.
"I'm so glad I got to be your dance partner Draco." Recovering a little, he smiled.
"Me too." Then they heared cheering from somewhere behind them, and turned to see Vincent, Greg, Blaise, Morag and Danae, all laughing the way young teenagers do when they see first kisses. Blaise held back a little, for he was the only other one amongst them who had had as much experience with girls as Draco now had.
"It's going to be a great night." Said Draco, turning back to Pansy after sending his friends a triumphant smile. Pansy didn't mind, she was going to do exactly the same with all of her friends, and Danae had looked equal parts impressed and scandalised.
"Oh yes." She agreed wholeheartedly.
It was a great night too. Pansy and Draco danced on and off for hours, observing the great shennanigans of everyone around them. Potter and Weasely disappeared early, and much to Pansy's delight, both their dates had abandoned them prior to this. Sally-Anne spent most of the night trying to learn french from Armel and his friends, soon joined by by Potter and Weasley's aforementioned dates. Blaise danced with about five girls Pansy didn't know well (and one of them from Durmstrang) throughout the night, and looked extremely proud of himself, up until he caught sight of Daphne. Somewhere along the line she'd hooked up with a boy of an even darker complexion than Blaise (Pansy was beginning to see a trend here), and similar stature. Pansy was scandalised when the boy turned around however, it was Dean Thomas from Gryffindor, and they looked like they were enjoying each other's company greatly. This took the wind out of Blaise's sails, and he sulked for quite a bit after that. As far as Pansy could see, Daphne had spent her evening strategically locating the person most likely to irk Blaise. She had done spectacularly - even Pansy would never have dreamed of going near a Gryffindor for payback.
Vincent and Gregory danced near Draco and Pansy on and off, and at some point Morag approached them all with Danae, looking rather sly.
"Hey, let's all head back to the common room for a bit." He said, voice heavy with hidden meaning. Apparently nobody else knew what he had in mind, but went with him anyway, picking up Blaise along the way.
Back in the common room, Morag disappeared into his dorm for a moment, then emerged holding a large bottle very protectively.
"What is that?" Greg asked.
"This," Morag said proudly, "Is firewhisky. I managed to sneak some out of the Hogsmede liquor store at the last weekend. I figured tonight would be a great time to open it."
"I've tried that before." Said Draco. "Father lets me try a bit when he's having a glass, let me take a drink." Morag managed to rip out the stopper, then paused to smell the liquor, and took a swig. He almost choked it up and his eyes popped all the way open and started watering. Everyone started laughing as Morag swallowed painfully and handed the bottle to Draco. Draco took his swig without hesitation, and though he didn't splutter, he did make a horrible face before he passed the bottle on, his mouth watering too. One by one, everyone tried the firewhisky, with various degrees of success. Greg managed to drink it with almost no reaction at all, but he'd also had the stuff from his parents before. Pansy on the other hand, did splutter half of it out. Draco laughed along with everyone else, but Pansy didn't mind, mostly because he rubbed his hand soothingly on her back.
After a while, they started up a card game. Actually, it was exploding snap, but with a twist. The last person to slap their hand down on the pile had to take another drink. The results were not pretty. Vincent was slow about five times, and on the fifth try retired to bed after having to run to the bathrooms to throw up. Miles and Blaise had a fair few as well, and Danae was so intoxicated on her third drink that she passed out on the floor. Morag managed to drag her to bed with Pansy and Greg's help. Pansy had only lost twice, but she could feel the effects of the drink make her extra giggly when the pile of cards exploded. It suddenly seemed endlessly funny, no matter how many times or in how rapid a succession it happened. She found herself giggling at everything, even the way Blaise's head lolled onto Morag's shoulder and back again after his fourth drink. Draco was the same, even though he'd only had a little bit. They even started to look at each other and giggle because they'd been giggling at the same time. After his third, Draco started to get sleepy, and he and Pansy opted to watch the game from the couch. With only Blaise, Morag and Gregory left in the game, it was a pure competition to see who could last the longest until the end of the bottle. As the bottle was nearing empty, Pansy felt something on her lap. She looked down to sleep Draco's head on her lap. His eyes were closed, and he probably didn't even realise where he was. He was warm though, and through her foggy mind felt perfectly happy to let him stay where he was.
The bottle was empty a few short games later, and Gregory, the obvious victor, helped Blaise stumble off to bed, Morag dragging his feet and the evidence after them. Greg asked Pansy before he left if she wanted him to come back and get Draco, but the thought made Pansy frown. No, she wanted him here. He wanted to just let him stay with her, so she said thank you, but it's okay.
When everyone else was gone, Pansy looked back at the boy sleeping in her lap. The alcohol had taken away much of her nervousness, but she still felt utterly full of feeling. It had been the perfect night, and Draco Malfoy had fallen asleep feeling safe with her. She stroked his hair, loving the way it felt silken between her fingers. Draco was her partner now, and she would dance with him again many times, she was sure. Blissful with that thought, she let herself drift into sleep in her sitting position. One hand was still in Draco's hair, and one thought was still in Pansy's mind - She loved Draco Malfoy.