Gently, she winds the one of the last tendrils of her dark hair around her heated wand and holds it in place as she begins to count under her breath. It was almost eight o'clock and she had been in front of the mirror for almost an hour, painstakingly curling every bit of her long hair and then pinning most of it up into a messy bun, only allowing a few softly curling strands to escape. Her make-up was, of course, a perfect complement to her dress without being too dramatic – smoky eyes with hints of dark green and red lips.

Her dress was, however, the piѐce de résistance with its flowing silk skirt and its cobweb thin straps and its backless detail which emphasised her slenderness. Not to mention that dark green was the perfect colour to highlight her flawless complexion and, being a Slytherin what other colour would she possibly wear?

It was all a show, though. She didn't really care for her House, for its obnoxious nature and stereotypically Dark pupils. She'd much rather have been placed in Ravenclaw with her younger sister but apparently her ambition overtook her intelligence far too much for her to ever be considered a member of the bronze and gold flock of eagles.

Sighing, she fingered the last wisp of hair and then wrapped it around her wand, closed her eyes and began to count.

One…

"Zac, get out of the bathroom, we're going to be late!" Wayne yelled, thumping on the door of the bathroom even as he attempted to flatten his messy brown hair using the window as a mirror. "You've been in there for half an hour, Ernie and Justin left fifteen minutes ago!"

"Just give me a minute!" Zacharias's voice was muffled and Wayne sighed as he collapsed down onto his bed and fiddled with the sleeves of his dress robes. It was the night of the Yule Ball and the opening ceremony was due to start in roughly two minutes. Naturally that meant that Zacharias was still locked in the bathroom, attempting to make himself look good. Wayne chuckled to himself, thinking that he would need a lot longer than half an hour if he was going to achieve that.

"Alright, I'm done." Wayne stood up with a sigh of relief and waited as patiently as he could manage while Zacharias dragged the lock back and stepped into their dormitory. A groan escaped Wayne as he stared at his friend.

"Zac, what the hell? You aren't even dressed yet! What on earth were you doing in there? Actually, no, I don't care. Get your robes on. You have one minute to get dressed, and I'll be counting."

It was going to be a long night.

Two…

"Oh, you look absolutely stunning! But, where's your date? Is Astoria not here? Oh, the poor dear – nobody in the older years asked her? That's such a shame." Daphne sighed and attempted to block out Katherine's incessant babbling as the champions and their partners entered the hall. She glared at Fleur and Hermione as they passed – Fleur because she was just so annoyingly stunning, and Granger because she was on the arm of the one and only Viktor Krum. Daphne would have given anything to be on his arm. Or anyone's, for that matter.

"Daphne? Daphne, are you listening to me? Daphne!" Daphne sighed and turned to face Katherine who beamed at her. "Come on, let's go and sit down. Anthony's saved us seats at one of the Ravenclaw tables – unless you'd rather sit with the Slytherins? I mean, is your date a Slytherin or from one of the other Houses?" Daphne gazed at Katherine, wondering how to respond to this bubbly girl who seemed to be anything but Slytherin. She wondered if the Sorting Hat had been paying attention when it Sorted her…

"I'll join you," she said calmly and restrained rolling her eyes when Katherine seemed to light up. "I'd rather have an intellectual conversation than listen to Malfoy and Parkinson taunt me about my lack of a date all night…" Daphne trailed off at the look of sympathy on Katherine's face and sighed to herself, already beginning to count down the minutes before she could go to bed.

Three…

Zacharias sighed and glanced down at his watch as another couple whirled past him, laughter written on their faces as they danced. He had only been at this ball for half an hour and he was so unbelievably bored. All his friends had abandoned him to dance with their girlfriends and partners so he had been left alone at the table, clutching a goblet of Butterbeer and staring morosely at the dance floor.

He had never felt like such a reject in his life – the few girls he had bothered asking had turned their noses up and laughed at him, his friends had left him, and when he had even glanced at one girl she had raised an eyebrow and hurried off to the other side of the room.

Suddenly he heard a loud sigh and looked over to the table next to his where a Slytherin girl was sitting by herself. She was absolutely stunning, for a Slytherin, in a long green dress with her dark hair scooped off her slender neck.

He gawked at her for several long minutes and then, oddly enough, made the snap decision that if she hadn't left in five minutes he would go over to her.

Four…

Daphne looked up from the dancers when a shadow fell across her and she sighed, ready to tell Malfoy to piss off – he'd annoyed her enough that evening. Instead she was surprised to see a Hufflepuff standing in front of her. A weirdly cute Hufflepuff, for that matter.

"Can I help you?" She asked coolly, taking a sip of water and licking the stray drops from her lips with a delicate sweep of her tongue. She had to restrain her smirk when she noticed his eyes glued to her lips.

"Um, I… um, would you… um…" The boy sighed to himself and then straightened up. "Would you like to dance?" She raised her eyebrow at him and he visibly wilted.

"Why should I, a Slytherin, dance with you, a Hufflepuff, especially when I don't even know your name?" She replied snootily and he frowned.

"Because we're both alone, and you're beautiful, and I'm a good dancer," he said cockily and she smirked. "I'm Zacharias Smith." She sighed and paused for several long moments.

"I'm Daphne… Daphne Greengrass."

Five…

Moments later they were on the dance floor, laughing like children as they spun, and Daphne couldn't help but wonder what it was about this boy that could make her act in such a manner just moments after they had met.