Year 4
The next year had at least some interesting things happen. The Triwizard Tournament came, but unfortunately, only kids seventeen and older could put their name into the stupid Goblet. But then- of course- Harry Potter was magically pulled from the Goblet. Of course though, everything has a bright side; Everyone hated Potter… well, except for Dawn. She couldn't get it out of her head that he wouldn't be like a Slytherin and put his name in the Goblet. She followed him around like a bloody puppy for so long Draco almost thought she'd end up being stuck in tow behind Potter. But it soon ended after the First Task when Potter unfortunately survived.
After that, it came to Draco's attention that the Yule Ball was coming, some stupid event that came about hand-in-hand with the Triwizard Tournament. It was stupid really, having to dress up and dance around like idiots.
But of course, Draco found himself right in the center of it all. Pansy wouldn't stop dropping hints and the other Slytherin girls wouldn't stop looking after him hopefully.
One day, as he was leaving the Hall after lunch, he caught some of what the Terrible Trio were saying, Dawn standing behind them listening.
"Oooh, there's a tragedy," Granger was saying. "She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?"
"Hermione- Who are you going to the ball with?" Weasel-Bee asked her, making Draco roll her eyes at them in disgust.
"I'm not telling you. You'll just make fun of me," Granger said, turning away from him.
"You're joking, Weasley!" Draco laughed as he came up behind them. "You're not telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the frizzy-haired Mudblood?"
Dawn, Potter, and Weasel-Bee whipped around and glared at him, but Granger said loudly, waving to somebody over Draco's shoulder, "Hello Professor Moody!"
Draco went pale and jumped backward, looking wildly around for Mad-Eye, remembering his horrible experience of turning into a ferret not long ago, but found that Mad-Eye was still up at the staff table finishing his stew.
"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you?" Granger laughed.
"What about you… Dawn?" Goyle asked, having taken so long because he had been trying to think up a nickname for her, but of course he had failed. "Surely you haven't been asked? No one in their right mind would ask someone like you,"
Draco felt like slapping the idiot upside the head because he knew for a fact that nearly every boy occupying space in the school at the moment had asked her, from Slytherin to Gryffindor to Dumstrang to Beauxbaton. It had annoyed Draco to no end to have to listen to boy after boy ask her, and even more surprising… she had turned them all down!
"For your information," Dawn smiled, starting to look a little shy. "I have in fact been asked, and I said no,"
"Wait, why?" Weaselette asked from nearby.
"Because it was fun," Dawn smiled slyly.
"Hey, Lucy?" the group all looked up to see a dark haired boy that Draco knew to be a Ravenclaw smiling at her.
"Hya, Ted," Dawn smiled.
"I was wondering is you would like to go to the ball with me?" the boy asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ted. Someone faster than you and already asked me," Dawn told him.
Draco rolled his eyes at the girl. It was true, he had to admit it, she indeed had already been asked so it wasn't a lie.
Disappointed, the boy walked away.
Dawn looked up again and looked right at Draco. Draco felt something in his stomach tighten, and he wasn't so sure that it was fear. Draco looked away and kept walking until he was far away from Dawn and her chocolate brown eyes.
Unfortunately it didn't stay that was for long, it seemed as if he kept seeing Dawn everywhere, no matter what, and it was really starting to annoy him. He finally decided something, and he swore, it nearly caused him physical harm… he was going to ask her to the Yule Ball.
He had watched Dawn walk down to the Black Lake by herself with a book at her side. He followed her, thankful that Pansy wasn't hanging on his arm at the moment. He followed Dawn until he saw her sit down, her back up against a tree and her knees up so that she could sit her book against it. Draco walked up to her until he was standing in front of her, but she didn't look at him.
"I heard almost everyone has someone to go to the ball with. Only a few single girls are left," Draco said to break the silence, making Dawn look up at him with a delicate eyebrow arched.
"I thought that was obvious," Dawn murmured looking back down at her book before she continued. "So… you're going with Pansy?"
"Hell, no. I am not! Are you mad? There's a girl I would want to ask but I haven't. Yet," he explained grinning.
"So the great Draco Malfoy hasn't asked anyone yet?" Dawn smiled into her book. "Although, I do believe that I read in the Daily Prophet this morning that there were snowballs in Hell, so that makes sense,"
"Very funny, Dawn," Draco spat. "Well, I've been waiting for the right moment,"
"Or you could be scared that she will reject you," Dawn smiled, closing her book so she could give him her attention. "Otherwise you would have asked her by now. And what are you going to do when and if she has already someone else to go with?"
"I know that she hasn't!" Draco exclaimed.
"How can you be so sure?"
"I know for a fact she doesn't,"
"And what if she says no?"
"I doubt she'll say no,"
"Oh, you think so?"
"I know so!"
"Prove it!" Dawn smiled in amusement.
"Dawn, will you go to the ball with me?" Draco practically yelled.
Dawn's eyes went wide in surprise as she stared at him. He could tell that was probably the last thing she had expected him to do, but he honestly didn't think it'd take her a whole minute to pull her bottom jaw back up and speak.
"Did you just ask me to the ball?" she asked.
"Yes,"
"Of your own free will?"
"Yes,"
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to, now would you please answer the question," Draco exclaimed, impatient.
Dawn thought about it for a moment before she turned back to him, eyeing him before she said anything. "Yes… but on one condition,"
Draco eyed her. "What?"
"I'll go with you if you don't calling me Dawn through the whole thing," she smiled, making his heart do something he had never felt it do before.
"Fine," Draco nodded before turning and beginning to walk away, but then he stopped and turned toward her with a triumphant smile. "Hey, Dawn,"
"That includes right now," Dawn said immediately, looking up from her book which she had just opened back up.
"Fine… Lucy, guess what?" Draco smiled.
"What?" she asked, smiling.
"The girl I wanted to ask ended up saying yes. I was right," Draco smiled triumphantly.
"Lucky you," Dawn sighed, shaking her head.
After that, the time it took to actually get to the Yule Ball flew by and Pansy kept glaring at him softly and glaring at Dawn more than usually, as if she were the most evil thing on the planet. Dawn of course ignored it and continued her business as usual, but didn't mess with Draco as much as usual, and Draco returned the favor.
Draco ended up standing at the bottom of the stairs just outside the Great Hall, waiting with the Gryffindors and Champions. It was almost enough to make a Slytherin puke up rainbows. But then two people appeared at the top of the stairs, one he barely recognized, the other he was shocked that he knew right away.
One was a girl in a light blue dress and hair that was slicked down into curls that were pulled back carefully on her head. The other was who Draco was paying attention to though. He knew that she was Dawn, but she just looked so… different, so… good. Dawn's hair, instead of it's indecision to be either curly or straight, was wavy tonight and was have up and half down, showing the different layers of blond and light brown. Dawn was also where a Slytherin green dress that followed her body all the way to the floor. Draco stared until he smiled and looked over at Potter who was staring up at the two girls that had just started descending the stairs.
"See Potter! That's what a real woman looks like," Draco called to Potter before walking up to Dawn as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs, crossing her arms and eyeing him.
"Enjoying showing me off already?" Dawn smiled.
"Of course,"
The rest of the Ball had actually been quite enjoyable, especially dancing with Dawn and watching her turn down most of the boys that asked her to dance with them. She, despite his cold and snobby humor, managed to get him to smile and have fun with her, even though it was Dawn. Draco Malfoy had fun, and if he wasn't mistaken by the kiss on the cheek he had received at the end of the night, she had enjoyed herself as well.
The rest of the year past by quickly enough, more tasks going, Potter refusing to die or at least sustain injury. Also, Draco found himself watching Dawn, only to catch her always spending a good amount of time with a boy, the Ravenclaw boy… Temp? Teck? Ted? It made Draco's blood boil, so he just ignored it, moving past the two of them as quick as he could unless he was bullying the Ravenclaw boy as best he could.
It was the last task at the end of the year that got to everyone. Potter and the other champions went into the maze, Fleur and Krum came out having sustained a lot of damage, but it was when Potter and Diggory came back that they all realized how bad it had been. Diggory had died, Potter insisting that it was the Dark Lord, but no one believed him, only focused on the fact that Diggory was dead.
But Draco and his family knew better.
