Disclaimer- I own nothing
CHAPTER 2.1 - THE PARTY
While the fervor that walked them into the Great Hall didn't disappear, it morphed into a general feeling of what-next-?. And so much shuffling of uneasy feet and twitching of uneasy mouths ensued.
Then Theodore Nott, in a fashion most royal, picked the orchid from his lapel, walked into the Gryffindor cluster and slipped his flower behind the rosy ear of Lavender Brown. His skin flushed as though the act had cost him something quite intimate. "Lavender," he leaned to in to whisper, "... a dance?"
Lavender's answering blush fell upon her shoulders like a veil of dusk. Theodore closed his eyes, overwhelmed. She took his hand in hers. For once, her giggles evaded her.
The onlookers were impressed. They watched Theodore and Lavender devote themselves in their moment, in their dance beneath fairy light and charmed chandeliers. They watched, and they could understand that the humanity Draco asked for was not a renunciation of their beliefs, but realization of their lives. They watched and then they paired, drifting slowly onto the dance floor.
"Theo," she asked, "why can't it? Why can't it, Theo?"
"Don't," he warned. She shut her eyes and drew closer. Wisps of her hair caressed his face. He held her with marked arms. She lay her head against his shoulder. The two were alone in a sea of pairs.
