Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.


Because the Yule Ball was being held the night before we returned home for the holidays, there had been increased excitement over the past few weeks especially amongst the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years. And while they ran around talking excitedly about their dresses and dates, Scorpius made me practice our waltz even more.

So it was relief when the day of the ball finally arrived. The classes of the day flew by quickly, most of the teachers realizing that there was no use in actually trying to teach when everyone was too excited for the ball and the start of the holiday break.

After my last class ended, I quickly headed back to my dormitory where Carmen was waiting outside the portal, with her own dress bag in hand. Carmen had insisted on doing my hair and makeup and had already told me that there was no way out of it.

"Wait until you see what I have planned for you!" Carmen smiled widely after I uttered the password and we stepped through the portal.

Scorpius sat at his favorite armchair reading a copy of the Daily Prophet as we entered and curiously looked up at our arrival. He looked so nonchalant, especially considering that the ball was in a few hours.

"You girls off to get ready for hours on end?" He asked with a quirked brow.

"As a matter of fact, we are." Carmen replied with a grin. "Don't bother waiting for us."

"Wasn't planning on it. I'll see you at the ball."

With that said Carmen and I made our way up to my room.

The next few hours whirled by in a flash of scary wand waving, Spanish curses and a very close call with a muggle curling iron which almost cost me my ear. Note to self, never let Carmen use muggle objects again, especially ones that are hot.

"¡Dios mío, Rose! You look amazing…if I do say so myself." Carmen grinned as the two of us stood before my floor length mirror after hours of getting ready for the ball.

As I stared at my reflection in the mirror I couldn't help but think that losing my ear would have been worth it. I had never looked better in my life. Before me, reflected in the mirror, stood a girl I hardly recognized but I desperately wanted to know. As Carmen had predicted the black gown accentuated my pale skin beautifully. My hair had been done in gentle curls that Carmen had pinned to one side of my neck, so the other side of my neck was completely bare, showing the pale line of my throat.

"I think you might take my place in boy's fantasies, Rosie." Carmen grinned as she watched me looking at myself.

"Doubt it, but thank you, Carmen, I look wonderful."

"You really do, Rosie." She smiled.

Once I was down gazing at myself I finally turned my attention to my best friend. Her dress wasn't anything too fancy but she was radiant. Her dress was rather plain compared to her quinceañera dress she had worn for her fifteenth birthday celebration two years ago. That dress had been a very bejeweled pink number her mother had forced her into. This dress, however, was champagne in color, accentuating her beautiful skin to perfection with a tight bust that led to a flaring skirt

"Well, shall we make our grand appearance?"

With that we made our way down to the Great Hall, passing by other students on their way to the ball. As we did, I could feel their gazes trailing after us, especially the boys; even when they were nudged hard in the side by their date's elbow. Carmen shot me a knowing look which I pointedly ignored and before I knew it we were standing outside the doors to the Great Hall. The ball hadn't officially started yet, but already most of the students were congregated inside socializing before the music began.

Carmen and I made our way inside, several people looking up at our arrival curiously. Carmen seemed perfectly at ease, but I was not used to all the extra attention. Instead of lingering gazes directed at my best friend, all eyes seemed to be lingering on me much longer than I was used to and I wasn't sure how I felt about the attention.

"Told you." Carmen whispered with a chuckle.

"Shut up."

"Attention students! Will the head boy and girl please make their way to the center of the dance floor to begin the ball with a traditional waltz?"

That was my cue; with a nervous smile to Carmen I made my way to the middle of the makeshift dance floor that had been erected in the Great Hall. All eyes were on me as I made my way through the crowd. Up ahead I could see Scorpius' pale blonde head over the crowd and knew he was waiting for me to arrive. The crowd parted before me and I finally caught sight of him. He hadn't noticed my arrival yet and I took a moment to take him in. He looked regal standing there in his crisp black dress robes with an emerald green necktie at his throat. Then he turned to see me approaching.

He looked taken aback for a moment before he held out his hand towards me. Then with every eye on us, Scorpius took me into his arms as the first notes of the waltz began. After that I hardly noticed anyone else was in the room as I concentrated on not messing up what Scorpius had taught me over the past few weeks. He'd worked so hard to teach my clumsy self the dance and I wasn't about to embarrass him in front of the entire Great Hall…or myself for that matter.

"Relax, you're doing fine." Scorpius whispered after we had successfully been dancing for a little bit. It felt like we had been dancing for hours already, but I knew that it really had only been about a minute.

"I don't want to embarrass either of us." I whispered back, careful not to let our chit chat break my concentration on the dance.

"Quit thinking so much and you will embarrass us."

I gave him a look; did he not realize who exactly he was telling to quit thinking? He chuckled before he successfully led me in another turn about the floor.

"Excuse me; I should have realized who I was talking to. It's impossible for you not to think."

"Yes."

The two of us were silent for the remainder of the waltz and as we came to a stop at the center of the floor once again, with everyone else watching us clapping enthusiastically, Scorpius grinned and placed a kiss on my cheek.

"You look beautiful by the way."

And with that he walked off.

I immediately sought out Carmen in the crowd as much more modern music started up, causing a surge of people to gather on the dance floor. It didn't take me too long to find her after I maneuvered off of the dance floor. I found her by the desert table gently letting down a fifth year who had asked her to dance. Once the boy walked off, his face tinted red in embarrassment, I approached her.

"You're such a heart breaker, Carmen." I laughed.

She raised a brow at me, "What was that between you and Malfoy?"

I gave her a confused look, "A waltz."

Carmen rolled her eyes, "Thank you for that, Sherlock. I was referring to him kissing your cheek."

"We're supposed to set an example and that was a very gentlemanly thing to do?"

"Yeah…ok Rose. Whatever makes you feel better you really nee-"

She stopped abruptly, her gaze leaving mine to something beyond my shoulder. I turned around and followed her gaze to where Scorpius and Derek Zabini stood talking to one another. Scorpius' back was to us, but Zabini was facing our way. He was dressed impeccably in a set of black dress robes, a grey silk necktie about his neck. He looked rather dashing, and I was pretty sure Carmen was thinking the same thing.

"Is Carmen Davies actually speechless?" I asked with a laugh.

"Shut up, Rose. Like you-oh bloody hell he's headed this way!"

"When has that ever bothered you before? You can handle him." I replied.

"Not when he looks like that!" She hissed.

"I'll just leave you to it then."

"Like hell you will!" And with that she grabbed my arm, anchoring me to her side as Zabini covered the last of the distance that has separated us.

"Nice dancing Weasley." He greeted me with a nod.

"Thank you." I acknowledged with a polite smile.

"Davies." He nodded.

"Zabini."

"Fancy a dance? We can find out who the better dancer is."

With that challenge issued, Carmen's entire demeanor changed. "Let's go Zabini, I'll show you just how well I can dance."

I was laughing as the two of them walked out onto the dance floor where they promptly began to dance. It was pretty clear to me that the two felt the same for each other, even if they didn't realize it yet. Challenging each other was just their way of showing their passion…for now. They reminded me a bit of my parents. I'd heard stories of their infamous rows throughout the years and as I grew older and witnessed a few of my own I began to put two and two together. It was how they expressed their passion and after they became a couple and married it meant that the next morning at breakfast they both looked very exhausted and satisfied. I shuddered at the thought.

"Hey Rose." Roger greeted. "Want to dance?"

I nodded my consent and allowed by best friend's little brother to lead me out to the dance floor. It wasn't awkward at all between the two of us; after years of being around each other we had slipped into a companionable relationship.

"Imagine my surprise when I saw you dancing, and quite well, out there with Malfoy." Roger chuckled once we reached the dance floor.

Thankfully it was a slower song, which did not take a lot of skill to perform. Otherwise I was sure I would have looked like an idiot trying to dance.

"Yeah, that took weeks of training. Scorpius taught me…very patiently I might add."

"I can imagine. I saw you at Carmen's quinceañera, remember?"

I sighed, "Please do not remind me."

"So what's with Zabini and my sister, I thought they didn't like each other?"

I grinned, "Oh they do, Roger. Their competitiveness is how they express their passion towards the other. It appears that they are just realizing that they do, in fact, like each other."

Roger rolled his eyes, "Are you kidding me? My sister and Derek Zabini? A Ravenclaw and a Slytherin?"

"You are such a Gryffindor sometimes. Weirder matches have been made and in case you didn't notice they are well suited for each other. House shouldn't matter."

"But it does."

I rolled my eyes, "Well good luck telling your sister that when she and Zabini start to date, which I know they will eventually."

"No thanks, I learned a long time ago to not get that involved in my older sister's life."

"Good choice, Roger."

After my dance ended with Roger I moved away from the dance floor and grabbed some deserts and refreshments. Then I sat down to eat them alone because my date had ditched me for the dashing Slytherin she was still dancing with out on the floor.

"It seems we were both ditched." Scorpius sighed as he sat down in the chair next to mine. He had a plate full of pumpkin pasties and a glass of sparkling pumpkin juice in hand which he immediately dug into.

"Yeah, but it's about time."

"I agree." He replied after he swallowed his mouthful of pumpkin pasty. Thank God he had manners, unlike my brother who repeatedly talked with his mouthful no matter how many times my mother and I yelled at him to do otherwise.

"I saw you dancing with Roger Davies…I thought you didn't dance beyond what I taught you?"

"I don't. I only danced with him because it was a slow song, which therefore is easy to dance to and because he is my best friend's younger brother."

"Well if that's the case…there is a slow song on right now. Care to dance?"

"Are you sure you want to take another chance of me embarrassing you?"

"You didn't seem to embarrass Roger when you danced. In fact the entire time the bloke was getting death stares from the rest of the guys in the room."

"Yeah right."

"I told you that you look beautiful tonight, are you calling me a liar?"

I didn't respond and Scorpius took my silence as an invitation to grab my hand and lead me/drag me out onto the dance floor.

"So you want all the blokes to stare at you angrily?" I asked as we started to sway to the music.

"It helps boost my reputation." He replied simply.

Just then I spotted a couple dancing much too closely over his shoulder and heaved a sigh; we were off duty, it wasn't our job. "Well I guess if anything we can set an example as head boy and girl to dance respectfully with each other. A couple behind you are practically grinding against each other."

Scorpius quickly twirled us around so he could see the couple I was referring to. "Merlin's pants! That's Zabini and Davies!"

My eyes widened and I took a closer look. It was!

"Bloody hell, that didn't take long, did it?"

Scorpius just grinned.

Xxx

By the end of the ball I had completely lost track of Carmen and Derek. But I shrugged it off; she knew how to take care of herself and I would drill her for details on the train tomorrow. As for Scorpius and I, we left the prefects with a list of duties and then took off towards our chambers.

"Feels nice not having to be on duty tonight, right?" I asked with a smile as we rounded the corner towards our portrait.

"Yes, especially since one of those prefects is going to find Zabini and Davies somewhere."

I was about to protest when Scorpius shot me a look and then he said, "He's a Slytherin, Rose."