A.N/ I wrote this chapter with a little bit of a different style to the previous ones. Its got more of an insight into the characters and a little more detail into their thoughts and stuff. It's also longer. Hopefully its okay :D

Disclaimer- not mine (this story is, but not the characters and stuff)

The date for the Malfoy's ball had quickly caught up to Harry, and soon enough, the day arrived.

Much to Ginny's irritation, Harry decided to take Luna with him as his date to the ball. This, he had argued, was because it was simply not a good idea to place a Weasley and a Malfoy in the same vicinity as each other. Also, Ginny was a little tiring when she was around him for more than a couple hours. Harry didn't say that though. While she was tiring and noisy and always pointing out his flaws as a romantic partner, Harry didn't want to break off their relationship at the moment. He could probably psychoanalysis the crap out of it if he wanted to, but he didn't want to.

Luna and he had gotten matching magenta outfits. It really was a shocking magenta. Luna's choice, of course. She said it reminded her of her childhood vacations to the beach. How, Harry had no idea, but he did agree with her that the colour complimented her hair nicely. Luna's dress was quite simple in design, leaving most of the appeal to the outrageous colour. Harry's dress robes were, while magenta, slightly more reserved. An almost black outer robe covered his inner robes, which were a much brighter tone. When the couple stood together kitted out in their set, they really were quite visually offensive. Oh well.

The pair had agreed that Luna would floo to Harry's place so they could arrive together. At 5:42, the fireplace in Harry's living room roared to life, and Luna stepped out, brushing any crinkles from her dress out, and flattening her hair so that it looked like her curls were deliberate. Her goal for the evening was to pass for someone who gave a shit about social conventions, while observing the behaviours of nargles when in larger numbers. She had a hypothesis, she'd told Harry, that nargles were in fact highly social creatures, and their distracting effect on people was in fact diminished if not neutralised when they were around lots of their own kind. This was purely speculation though, as Luna had no solid evidence to back this up.

"I'm ready to observe some nargles," stated Luna upon her arrival to Harry's home. Her eyes glistened at Harry, revealing her excitement at the opportunity the evening presented to her. Harry grinned at the small smile set upon his friend's face. It was her I'm-excited-to-investigate-creatures-only-I-can-seeface. A very common face for Luna to have.

"Yes, we can probably go right about now. May as well get this night done as quickly as possible," Harry affirmed, pursing his lips at his friend, who he'd just realised was wearing the converse shoes they'd previously deemed inappropriate for a ball.

It's as if social conventions don't exist in her world, and we didn't have a half an hour long conversation about what constitutes as appropriate footwear! Hopefully her dress will be long enough to prevent most judgmental looks…

Grabbing the pot of floo powder, Harry handed it to Luna, who went through first with a cry of "Malfoy Manor!"

Following the flash of his fireplace, Harry grabbed his own handful of powder, setting the clay pot back in its place before stepping into the hearth himself.

"Malfoy Manor!"

Emerging through the large fireplace in the foyer of the manor, soft orchestral music floated through the house, followed by sounds of reserved laughter and polite conversation. Harry turned to see Luna standing to the side of the fireplace and inspecting the soles of her shoes for soot.

The Malfoys' wouldn't allow for their house to be as dirty to have soot in their fireplaces, especially when they are expecting company. It would be 'un-Malfoy' to have something as common as dirt in their home, Harry thought a little derisively. Looking around, even the foyer seemed like mounds and piles of money had been thrown at it. No knut had been wasted here. Snootiness was a constant. Obviously.

Speaking of, a small house elf wearing what looked to be a steam pressed uniform, appeared in front of the pair with a soft popping noise.

"Good evenings Mr and Missus guests to the Malfoy Manor!" The small thing squeaked, bowing slightly as it addressed them. "My name be Slipy and I's showing you to the main dancing room! Please follow!"

With that, Slipy turned and began walking with better posture than Harry had even seen on a house elf before in the direction of the music and laughter.

Gee, even the house elves have been changed then. Dobby certainly was a different sort to Slipy.Remembering his little friend, Harry saddened slightly. There had been many losses in the war. His mood was slightly softened though, as he realised that the quality of life of a Malfoy house elf had obviously improved. Slipy seemed completely sane, which is not something he could have said about Dobby.

Luna seemed to be simply observing everything around her with wide eyes. Her child like curiosity to everything was amazing. Turning to follow after the house elf, Harry realised they had arrived at their location. The doors were wide open, greeting him to the sight of what was surely the entire season's formal wear in a single room. Witches and wizards alike were dressed in frills and silks, each attendee displaying their wealth in their outfit. Clearly, some of the most well off families in Britain were present here. Oddly enough though, there were a couple dresses and dress robes in more vibrant colours than was previously adorned. Perhaps with the defeat of the Dark Lord, people felt more at ease to wear brighter colours.

This was good, as it meant Luna and his own clothes stood out a little less as inappropriate.

Feeling his body give in to the sway of the pleasant music being played, Harry turned to look at Luna, who was taking in the sights before her.

"Isn't this crazy?" Harry said, raising his voice slightly over the noise of the room. He was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sheer saturation of the situation. Luna hummed in agreement.

"Yes, the number of nargles in the room is insane. I've never seen so many in one place!"

What Harry considered one of Luna's best qualities was her ability to be spirited in any situation, regardless of how crappy the reality of it was. It allowed her to turn potentially uncomfortable situations into much lighter ones. Currently, Harry was really appreciating this side of her. Of course, it wasn't something she did on purpose, but it was comforting nonetheless. Despite the hardships faced by both of them at this location, Luna remained focused on her invisible creatures.

A comforted smile crossed Harry's face as he revelled in the pleasures of Luna's companionship. Presenting his arm for her to take, he led her into the throes of people dancing to the music.

It had not crossed Harry's mind prior to this moment, but neither Luna nor himself were very good at dancing. A couple hours after arriving to the party, standing with his dance partner towards the edges of the room, Harry was gasping as subtly as possible, trying to catch his breath. Luna was in great condition, bouncing on the balls of her feet and positively beaming with energy.

"Harry! Let's dance some more, I wanna see all the pretty dresses up close again!" Was there no limit to her enthusiasm? The same spiritedness that he was earlier praising was now coming back to bite him in the butt.

"Can we… just take a breather… for a sec, Luna?" Harry wheezed, trying to pull himself upright and look somewhat composed. The style of dancing they had been doing was very physically exhausting. It was something of a whole body shimmy while flailing one's arms in every direction at once. Completely offensive to anyone who took this kind of event seriously, but very fun to do.

"Ah, Mr Potter, how pleasant to see you this evening," drawled a voice to Harry's side. Lucius Malfoy's perfectly coordinated everything came into view, blocking the view of the dance floor from Harry's view. "And I see you've brought Ms Lovegood with you too, how wonderful."

"Good evening Lord Malfoy. We both would like to thank you for inviting us to this wonderful evening of yours. We're having so much fun," Harry replied, trying not to grin at how Malfoy's eyes tightened in response to his statement.

"So much fun!" Luna added from Harry's side. Malfoy's smile became rather fixed.

"Yes, I can see that indeed. Hopefully everything is to your liking. There are some platters and beverages going around should you like something to eat or drink. I can assure you all are perfectly delicious."

What a pretentious prat. Beverages. Means exactly the same thing as drink you pompous peacock.

"Oh lovely, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for those ones," responded Harry as politely as he could be bothered.

To his credit, Lucius remained composed the whole time. Harry, who was still trying to even his breathing out to a normal level, was struggling to remain poker faced. Luna had started giggling at some point, but it wasn't directed at the conversation, so Harry had no idea what that was about.

Smoothly moving on, Lucius began to change topic. "Mr Potter, there have been a number of esteemed guests present tonight who have expressed interest in making your acquaintance. In fact, not minutes ago, the French minister for international relations was raving to me about your skills and services to the wizarding communities of the world." Grabbing two flutes of champagne from a passing platter, Lucius graciously passed one to Harry while sipping from the second himself. Luna was still giggling in the other direction. "Would you be at all interested in meeting with some of the other guests? I could introduce you, of course, as the host of the evening. It would be an excellent opportunity to meet some very prominent international figures as well. Perhaps mark the beginning of Harry Potter's ascent into the greater social realm even."

At this point, Lucius was as close to begging as a Malfoy would ever get, however subtly he did it. For some reason, he seemed quite intent on showing Harry off to his other guests.

They really must need the social boost of my reputation if Lucius Malfoy is trying to show me off as such.

Stepping away from the support the wall provided, Harry agreed to Lucius' requests.

"But of course Lord Malfoy. I would be honoured to meet with the other guests of the evening."

Offering Luna, who had turned to the conversation again, his arm to take, Harry followed Lucius back into the crowd. The Lord led them first to a rather stout, but extremely well dressed man, who had the most well-trimmed moustache Harry had ever seen in his life.

"Mr Potter, this is the French Minister for international relations, Jaques Dumont. Mr Dumont, Harry Potter and his date for the evening, Luna Lovegood." Malfoy paused, allowing the man to kiss Luna's cheek and shake Harry's hand. "As I was telling you earlier Mr Potter, he was very generous with his praise for your skill and bravery in the defeat of the Dark Lord a few months ago. Mr Dumont was quite involved with the war due to his work, and did much work in the past weeks in improving British French relations, did you not?" Lucius pulled, expertly praising his guests so they would feel at ease.

"Ah, Monsieur Malfoy, you give zuch 'igh praise! But you see, monéquipe et moiworked togezzer to improve relations! Not me alone!" Mr Dumont gave a good natured chuckle at this, his belly chuckling with him. "Ah, mais c'est vrai! The whole nation of France gives thanks to you, Mr Potter! Your skill and power in defeating the Dark Lord is legendary, non? A man who callz 'imself 'flight of death' brought down by a mere 17 year old! Incroyable!"

Huh, is that what Voldemort means… What a pretentious wanker! No wonder Malfoy fit in so well.

"Oh, Minister Dumont, I also had a team of people helping me along the way. There were so many people who gave their lives and energy helping each other and myself take Voldemort down." Ignoring Lucius' slight shiver at Voldemort's name, Harry deflected praise as best he could.
"Tell me more though about the work you've been doing between Britain and France, if you please. I read in the papers that the economic reforms that Minister Bones implemented were based off of the French system. Is that true?" Questioning the minister, Harry continued the conversation while Luna began to observe the people around her.

The ball was in full swing by 9:00, and Harry was still making his way through all the other guests who wanted to meet with him. He'd spent a good long while chatting with the French minister, and then moved onto one of Lucius' old school friends who ran what was apparently a very successful wand business in Australia. Following that, Harry was introduced to a man who was acting Lord for one of the families on the Wizengamot. Apparently the man, who simply referred to himself as Lord Dean, was looking after the family's affairs until the heir of the title was old enough to take up the role. Lord Dean had been rather awkward when talking about the young heir, and Luna later informed Harry that there had been 3 suspicious deaths of previous heirs from that family, and that Lord Dean had been acting lord for almost 2 decades.

The socialising continued in this manner, and Harry for the first time in his life began to realise the scope of the world that he had become a part of. So many of the guests at the ball were high up in their respective societies, and the sheer number of lords and ladies present was mind-blowing. Through his education at Hogwarts, Harry's exposure to the people of the magical world had become extremely restricted. The only other experience where he had had some inkling of how vast the global wizarding community was, was at the world cup in his fourth year. But even then, it hadn't truly struck him. Something about the backwardness of wizards, in their use of quills and candles, gave him the impression that they were a small population. But having so many people of such high influence and power around him, Harry was struck by how insignificant his individual was.

Even as the Boy-Who-Lived and the Saviour of the Wizarding World, he was only one guy. The only thing that separated him from anyone else was the fact that some crazy seer had made a prophecy that just so happened to fit his description. The only thing he had done himself up to this point was mostly complete a Hogwarts education. In all his battles against Voldemort, he had so much help from those around him.
He wasn't worthy of the glory that he was receiving, was he? No more so than anyone else in the ball room! In fact, by Harry's standards, some of the stories and achievements he had heard from his socialising were much more impressive and worth praising than what he had done.

But perhaps he was underestimating himself. As Hermione so often told him, he had a habit of not taking responsibility for his own achievements. That could possibly be what he was doing currently.

But what if it wasn't? What if h-

"Harry, having a crisis in the middle of Malfoy's ball is quite unsociable you know," Luna's melodious voice interrupted his thoughts. "There are much more enjoyable things to do at parties, like dancing!"

Grumbling a little to himself, Harry replied, "I wasn't having a crisis, I was just considering the practicality of quills in comparison to muggle pens."

"Oh right, I do that all the time. My father and I often debate this topic actually. We both agree that muggle stationary is far more practical and efficient than what wizards tend to use."

"How does the debate work then?" Harry questioned, confused once again by Luna's logic.

"Its very simple you see, he will argue that, say, a pencil is a better writing tool for rough sketches and children than a quill. I will then follow up by saying, why yes, pencils are better than quills, because they are easier to get rid of mistakes from. Daddy will then say, Why yes Luna, that was an excellent point you made there. But you see, pencils are indeed superior because of how accessible they are compared to quills. It goes on like that you see," Luna concluded, her expression showing that she truly felt like she'd explained it satisfactorily.

"But aren't you just arguing the same point over and over?"

Chuckling at Harry's ignorance, Luna smiled. "Of course, that's what makes it such a good debate!"

"Uh... yeah, alright I suppose."

Better just let it slide. I'm sure it follows Luna's logic.

"But really, Harry, try and have your crisis in a more appropriate place. It would be an inefficient use of time for you. You're missing out on all the nargle activity!"

Remembering Luna's reason for attending the ball at all, Harry glanced around at the heads of all the dancing guests. From his perspective at least, there was a distinct lack of any nargle looking creatures.

"Yeah, they sure seem to be here in numbers, don't they Luna," Harry suggested, watching Luna's reaction from the corner of his eye.

"Oh yes yes yes! I've never seen such behaviour before! The way that they are acting so reservedly heavily supports my hypothesis, Daddy will be so excited to hear!"

Well, if Luna was happy, then something must be going well.

He turned back to watch the rotating dancers in the centre of the ballroom. His eyes flitting from couple to couple, Harry watched and observed the elegance and beauty of such an evening. The couples danced as if they had known the steps their whole lives, which some of them probably had. There was no hesitance or missteps from anyone, it was all practiced perfection.

Scanning the room further, Harry turned his gaze to those who weren't dancing. As if drawn by a charm, he saw two eyes staring directly at him from the other side of the room. The two eyes caught and held his gaze, trapping him in their embrace. Blue so dark it was almost black, as deep and consuming as the deepest pit of the darkest ocean. The longer their eyes met, the more Harry felt like he was drowning, never to see the surface again. Like all the air from his lungs was being sucked out by the endless water. The pressure and the black surrounding him and pulling him further and further, until he couldn't... grasp...his breath...

"Harry!"

Breaking the eye contact, Harry's burst of air came in the form of Luna grabbing his hand and pulling him to the dance floor.

"This is my favourite song! Daddy and I always dance to it together!" The squeak of her converse sneakers on the polished floor drew his attention back to himself, and the fact that Luna had taken him to the middle of the dancing.

As the song started up, a heavy bass drum kick pounded on every note, striking something inside him. The flautist, who at some point had changed to a guitar, came in with chords that created the backdrop for something more. As the rest of the band came in with the melody, Harry's mind was consumed by a fire and a need to dance.

Grabbing Luna's hand he threw himself into the fiercest dancing he'd ever danced, taking Luna as his willing partner. It was as if the music had taken a hold of his mind and had erased any previous thoughts from his head, including those featuring a pair of eyes from across the room. Later on, Harry would look back on this with a tinge of embarrassment, as it wasn't particularly skillful or graceful. In the moment though, he was a man consumed.

When the song finally ended, Harry was completely covered in sweat and whatever fierce need to dance that had been within was sated.

"That was insane, what did you say the name of that song was?" He asked Luna, coming to his senses a little and realising how out of place such dancing was at such a distinguished ball.

"The Dance of the Centaurs! It's such a magical song, apparently the wizard who wrote it incorporated some sort of magic in it to make it consuming or something like that!"

You don't say...

The clearing of a through brought his attention to someone standing to his side.

"Ah, Malfoy! Oh-, uh, Draco, I mean. Are you well?" No one ever said Harry was a smooth conversationalist, for obvious reasons.

Draco's calculating and slightly judgemental gaze wandered over Harry and Luna's visually offensive outfits and the sweat that covered their faces. It wasn't a particularly friendly gaze.

"I am well, Potter. I doubt you two could say the same," Draco drawled in his best imitation of Lord Malfoy. The signature sneer made its way to his face. "I suppose I must call you Harry now."

Gee, you thought we'd have moved a little past the hostilities. Perhaps bonded a little through almost dying together or something. Perhaps its not-Malfoy-ish. Well two can play that g-

"I'd like to thank both you and... Luna, for attending the ball this evening. Your presence tonight has no doubt been.. a highlight for many, as you are no doubt aware." Flickers of what Harry almost interpreted as awkwardness flitted across Draco's face while saying this.

What was that...? Awkwardness on a Malfoy? In public? Never!

"Oh, we've had so much fun chatting with all the creatures and witchey-woos! They've all got such wonderful heads! Draco, there really are some wonderful creatures in this room tonight! Your family has done well," Luna chimed in, almost visibly confusing Draco, who seemed to realise she wasn't quite taking about the guests.

"... Thank you Luna. The Malfoy family takes great pride in our events and parties." The Malfoy composure didn't waver in the face of Luna Lovegood and her strange utterances. "You two certainly made a statement just now as well. I had not realised, Harry, that you had such passion for dance." The last sentence was said as more of a question then a statement.

"Oh no no, I really have no passion for it. None. Zilch. It more of a spurr of the moment thing you see, heh.."

Surely he doesn't actually think I have some undeclared love for dance. He saw me at the Yule ball... eugh... that mess of a night serves as a much better representative of my feelings towards dancing.

"Oh, I see. A misunderstanding then. Perhaps, through our less-than-friendly relationship through our Hogwarts years, there have been many more misunderstandings that may be clarified. I feel that the hostilities between our houses created undue tension between the two of us, Harry. Now that we have left such incompatible environments, I see opportunity for relationships to be rewritten." Draco said this as if it had been rehearsed many times prior to this moment. Clearly, the Malfoy family was very aware of how crucial the mending of relationships between Harry and themselves was. A year ago, this would have been laughable, but given the actions of the family towards the end of the war and how vital they proved to be towards the cause of the light, Harry was willing to view them in a more favourable light.

Drawing his head up to address Draco fully, and as a respectful wizard should, Harry replied, "I completely agree. The circumstances current certainly seem to favour the development of a new relationship between ourselves, and our families."

Wow Harry, that was pretty good. You almost sounded as if you knew what you were saying, and not just making it up.

The very corner of Draco's mouth tilted up slightly, revealing the relief that was coursing through his body. Harry's agreement made the Malfoy family's integration into society again much more promising.

"I am glad to hear it, Harry. I hope that, given time and good intentions, we are able to respect each other as friends and allies. And that our respective families are able to work together to the benefit of each other."

"That is my wish too, Draco."

"Here here!" Luna cheered, applauding the small ceremony that had just occurred.

Putting on the mask of a host once again, Draco turned to address Harry and Luna as a couple. "I hope that the rest of this evening with be pleasurable for the two of you. I must leave to speak with my father. Please, enjoy yourselves and the entertainment." With that, Draco inclined his head slightly, and turned to take his leave.

"Thank you Draco," Harry said softly, almost under his breath. Draco faltered for a moment, then moved to blend with the crowd in search of his father.

There was a slightly stunned pause after his departure. Harry was processing what this meant for the two of them and the houses of Potter and Malfoy. Luna seemed to be waiting until Harry was finished with his thoughts, and was ready to speak.

"I think... that I will look forward to being allies with Draco's family." Harry wasn't sure if he was so ready to suddenly become friends with Draco after years of malice between them, but he was glad that Draco seemed prepared to wait. As their new relationship stood, allies seemed the best thing to aim for.

"Then this was a good outcome?" asked Luna, trying to gauge her friend's thoughts on this development. As much as her head was in the clouds, she did care for Harry.

"Yes, I think it is time for us to try and act civilly."

Try being the key word there.

Luna watched his face for a moment, seemingly searching for something. Suddenly, her face lit up, as if she was satisfied with what she found.

"Well that's fantastic then!' She grabbed his hand once more, as a new song began to float over and through the crowds. "Harry, let's dance once more! The nargles seem to be most concentrated in the middle of the room!"

And so Harry spent the rest of the night trying not to step on Luna's sneakers, while she stared in awe at the couples dancing around them. All in all, not too bad of a night.

THIS ONE WAS SO MUCH LONGER! Not really. Not too much longer, hopefully. Are the longer chapters preferable to the shorter ones? Could you tell I have no idea what I'm doing? Maybe? Thats okay. I'll keep writing anyways. :) (Also, could you notice the change in style of writing? If so, which one was better?) ty!