Author's Note: Here is the longest chapter yet! (And not just because of the massive A/N at the end...) Tom and Charlotte go to Slughorn's Christmas party. Keep an eye out for reference to a certain marauder's parents. ;) By the way, the next chapter will be from Tom's perspective, so get excited for that! I'm pretty pleased with it; I may have to post it right away.

At the foot of the stairs that led from the Slytherin girls' dormitories to the common room, Charlotte stood, feeling somewhat anxious. Valeria had just gone up before her and she heard her voice echo down the stairs, "Tom, Charlotte will be here in just a moment! See you there." Then there was the sound of her heels clicking away, leaving for the party ahead of them because she didn't want to impose on their time together, she had said. Charlotte took a deep breath, let it out, breathed again. She thought about how Tom was just a person, and how he had been the one to ask her to be his date while she had shown no interest in him before. She started up the stairs. The common room was decorated for Christmas now, with more green light than usual gleaming around the room. Tom sat on a sofa next to one of the Christmas trees. He stood up, smiling, when Charlotte entered and went over to him.

"You look lovely," he said. Charlotte wanted to tell him how lovely he looked as well, but wasn't sure she could compliment his looks without it sounding weird. He was always handsome, but she had never seen him in dress robes before.

"Thank you."

There was a small pile of gifts underneath the Christmas tree already, which Tom looked down at, and subsequently one rose up beside them. He put his hand underneath it and held it out to Charlotte. She stared at the small, neatly wrapped box. "Since you'll be away for Christmas," he said.

She took the gift, feeling slightly guilty because she had nothing to give in return. Looking back at Tom, she said, "I have plans to get something for you over the break. It'll be a Christmas and birthday gift." It wasn't a lie; she'd just made the plan before she said it.

Tom gave a small smile. "You don't have to get me anything," he said.

"Yes. Yes, I do," Charlotte laughed.

"Open your present."

She tore away the shimmering green wrapping paper and opened the box, gasping as she saw a beautiful necklace inside. "Thank you, Tom!" It was silver with three sapphires set into it, and very small emeralds in a row along the chain. It matched her dress well. "You know, when I was considering wearing a necklace with this dress, Valeria said it didn't need it. What a coincidence, hm?" she grinned.

"I never would have been able to afford such an extravagant thing," Tom said humbly. "I helped Valeria pay for it; she wanted me to be the one to give it to you, but it's a gift from her as well."

"I'll be sure and tell her thank you when I see her. Did she really go? I'd expect her to be lurking somewhere watching this," she laughed. Tom laughed too, softly. Then he reached for the necklace, holding it up to her neck.

"May I?" he asked. Charlotte nodded and started to turn around, but he stopped her. "I can fasten it this way." She expected him to do so magically, especially given that he was making things travel around by levitation every opportunity he got. But he didn't this time.

While he fastened the clasp of the necklace, her eyes drifted from one facial feature to the next—his cheekbones, his jawline, his nose, his eyes; she thought of her previous disinclination towards him and those others who quite possibly would kill to be her at this moment. Some of that sentiment still persisting in her, she reproached herself for getting so caught up in admiring his visage. His fingers lingered on her neck and collarbone after the necklace was put on. In this, Charlotte found another reason to be pleased he had chosen not to use magic. That is, until she came to the uncomfortable realization that he could very easily feel her pulse beneath his fingertips—her pulse, which was plainly saying his touch put her in a state of excitement. She could maintain a calm expression, but heart rate was different story, and she would have preferred to keep her emotions concealed in this instance. "There," he said, lowering his hands. "Shall we go?" He offered her his arm gallantly.

The party was being held in an unused classroom on the fourth floor. The two headed for the main stairs.

"This is your first time going to one of Slughorn's Christmas parties, isn't it?" Tom asked as they walked along.

"Yes," Charlotte said. "The first year I was here, I... didn't want to go. And last year I left school for home as soon as exams were over—family emergency of sorts."

"Oh, a family emergency? I hope I haven't made you recall any bad memories by bringing that up."

She avoided eye contact with Tom as she tried to hide the expression she couldn't prevent from flashing across her face. The bad memories weren't hers, but they reminded her of what an awful place the world could sometimes be. But her voice concealed all of this as she said, "No, it's fine. My aunt who lives in France wrote us that she was ill, and we wanted to go visit her as soon as possible. Turns out she wasn't as sick as she had made it sound;—I think she just wanted to see us, poor woman—she had made a full recovery by the time I came back to Hogwarts." Poor woman. A gross understatement. She's been through tragedy, real tragedy, of the worst kind—betrayal, death of loved ones… But Charlotte didn't need the think about that, especially not right then; she was going to a party, to enjoy herself. And Tom didn't need to have a story like that dropped on him when he was trying to have a good time too; luckily, he didn't ask anything more about it.

Walking quickly, they had made it to the grand staircase already. A number of students stared at them as they went by. Charlotte thought it would be a good idea to display Valeria's handiwork on her gown;—after all, her friend did hope to make a career out of these skills one day—she pulled on the trailing ribbon of the sash to set the magical properties of the wide trimming of fur around the top of her dress in to motion. Tom watched as it switched from rabbit, to fox, to ermine, although Charlotte sensed he may have been looking at something other than the magically changing fur across her chest.

They walked the rest of the way without saying much. A scent like Christmas candles wafted down the corridor as they approached the classroom. It was accompanied by the sound of joyful conversation and laughter. The occasion promised to be a good time.

An elevated platform with stairs leading onto it hung above a quarter of the room to give the guests more space. There were tables set up with beverages and food, including a chocolate fountain that Charlotte was especially looking forward to tasting. One of the centerpieces was an elaborate gingerbread castle, beside it a sign that read "DO NOT TOUCH. To be served later." Everything looked spectacularly festive and the food, delicious.

Valeria waved at them from near the stairs to the terrace. Her dress was light blue and plain, so certainly there was more to it than met the eye. Charlotte walked over to her, still on Tom's arm.

"Let's see the dress then," she said.

"Glacies appare." Valeria twirled around. The bodice of her dress appeared to frost over, starting at the neckline. The skirt looked like fractured ice on the surface of a lake. And of course there was the shawl, which had been snowing the entire time. So was the ceiling in some places, however, so Valeria fit in perfectly.

"It looks amazing! You really did a great job with it!" Charlotte said admiringly.

"Thank you! And I see he gave you your present; it looks perfect, as I knew it would." Valeria smiled at Tom.

"Yes, I love it. Thank you so much. I so much appreciate that you included Tom in getting me something like this. It's very special." Tom looked over at her, smiling. He saw something behind her that got his attention.

"I'm sure you'd like to spend some time with Valeria, and I've just seen someone I need to speak to. So, if you're fine with it, I'll leave you for a short time. Is that alright?" he asked.

"That's fine," Charlotte replied cheerfully.

Tom smiled at her again and, as he walked away, let his hand glide across her back. She found she couldn't exhale until the tip of his last finger had left her waist. Heading towards a black-haired boy he often spent time with, they heard him call out, "Lestrange."

Valeria took Charlotte by the arm Tom had just released. "Have you tried the chocoballs? They are fantastic! Come have one." She led her to a tiered display of red and green pastries, which they each took one of. A boy who looked to be in his third year was at the chocolate fountain. Unlike the muggle equivalent, it was unnecessary to hold anything under the fall of chocolate, as any treat put near it was properly doused by a jet of chocolate from the fountain. While the marshmallow he was holding was being covered with chocolate, he was looking in the other direction, eyes fixed on an older, blonde-haired girl engaged in conversation with a girl her age, who resembled him.

"Oi, Black. Your hand's all covered in chocolate," said Winky Crockett, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, who was a sixth year. A startled Black looked at his hand. The fountain had started coating his fingers in chocolate as well as the marshmallow. He pulled his hand away embarrassedly and walked off. Watching this episode, Charlotte just shook her head while Valeria laughed quietly, but not quietly enough not to attract the attention of Winky, who was helping himself to a peppermint flavored snowflake. She smiled at him and he approached the two of them.

"Valeria, isn't it?" he asked. "The one who came into the common room last week wearing that enchanted robe." He laughed.

"The coziest person sitting on the west side of the common room. That's me."

Winky laughed again. "And I take it you did this as well?" he asked, motioning to her snowing shawl.

"I did," Valeria smiled.

"The ice designs are magic too," added Charlotte. Winky looked at her like he had forgotten she was there.

"And you're Charlotte Soleil, Riddle's girlfriend."

"First part, yes. Second part, undetermined," Charlotte said with a smile. "The facts are that he asked me to this party, which I agreed to. And that's all."

"I see," said Winky, turning back to Valeria. "And what are the facts about your date to the party? Do you have one?"

At this point, Charlotte, seeing where this was likely going and wanting to put some distance between them, busied herself with selecting something to put in the chocolate fountain.

"No," said Valeria charmingly. "Avery asked me, but I turned him down. And you?"

Winky grew a bit sadder, although he mostly hid it. "I didn't come with anyone. I had planned on it, but… plans change." He and his girlfriend had broken up recently, after months (since Quidditch started) of fighting (because she thought he should spend more time with her and less on sport). Charlotte knew for a fact that Valeria was aware of this, but probably didn't want to look like the gossip that she was, and so pretended to have no idea.

"Oh," said Valeria. "Well, maybe your plans will change again." She smiled.

Charlotte had now moved on to pouring herself a glass of sparking apple cider, even farther down the table.

"Will you dance with me?" asked Winky.

"Yes. Yes, I would love to," answered Valeria, and then looked over his shoulder at Charlotte. "Catch up with you later," she said to her.

"Have fun." Charlotte smiled. She left the refreshment table and found a place to sit. She had just settled into an old, but elegant, armchair, and was sipping her drink, when some boy she recognized as a Gryffindor, but whom she didn't know, approached her.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked with that classic Gryffindor boldness, extending his arm to her.

"Yes," she replied, "with the person I came here with. Sorry."

"And who's that?" the young man inquired with a smile, seemingly not deterred by her initial rejection. She took another sip of her drink.

"You ask that like you don't believe I actually have a date," she said, now locating Tom in the room, not too far away. With another swallow, the apple cider was gone. She set the glass on the table beside her and stood. He straightened up as she did so, maintaining her eye contact until she had walked by him. Tom had been caught by Professor Slughorn, who was talking to him, telling some kind of story, when she came up beside him.

"Miss Soleil!" Slughorn greeted her.

"Hello, Professor," she answered merrily while she tucked her arm around Tom's, a tug at his arm indicating she wanted to dance. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but—". Slughorn didn't let her finish.

"Not to worry, Miss Soleil! Don't apologize!" He exclaimed jovially. To Tom he said, "We can have a chat anytime, but you two go enjoy yourselves."

"Happy Christmas, sir," Tom said as they started to move away.

"Yes, happy Christmas," Charlotte echoed. "And thank you for hosting us."

"It's my pleasure, of course," said Slughorn. "And a happy Christmas to you both!" He seemed more exuberant than usual, Charlotte noticed. Perhaps it was simply the joy of the festivities, or perhaps there was more in his glass than cocoa or apple cider.

Seeing Charlotte had directed them towards the area of the room designated for dancing, Tom turned to her and said in a lowered voice, "I have no idea how to dance."

"What's the point of having a date to the party if you can't even dance with her?" she teased. "It's alright. I think I've made my point." She looked over her shoulder about the room, as though admiring the decorations, until she spotted the Gryffindor, with some friends, looking in their direction. She smiled as she turned away. "Yes, while dancing would be nice, I've accomplished the real reason I brought you over here. Another boy asked me to dance, and I had to prove to him that he didn't stand a chance."

Tom smiled at her. "That sounds like you're thinking long-term. He doesn't stand a chance, as you say, after tonight?"

"We'll have to see." Charlotte had been very careful not to make any assumptions about this, and to make certain no one else did either, just as she corrected Winky's Crockett's understanding of her relationship with Tom. But now it seemed he was showing interest in this being more than a one-off outing.

They had made their way over to a relatively calmer corner of the room. Three Ravenclaws sat discussing dragon species. A different Gryffindor boy stood a short ways off, snacking, while a Hufflepuff girl enthusiastically described to him how she had won at a game of gobstones. Charlotte stood facing Tom now. "I hope that you will attend future occasions such as this, with me, despite my inability to dance."

"I don't think there usually are any other soirées like this throughout the year. But if there were, and you wanted my company again, I would say yes."

"It makes me very happy that you say that."

Charlotte now noticed that something was flattening the puffed part of her gathered sleeve down onto her shoulder. She turned her head to see large snowflakes collecting there, and then glanced upwards to find the source. It was falling from a sprig of mistletoe, as though a breeze were blowing it from the leaves. She looked back down quickly. Tom hadn't noticed it. He was smiling though, and she realized he was knocking the snow off her magically, the clumps levitating, travelling sideways then falling to the floor. Then she felt her dress shift too, and her hand automatically went to the upper edge of her garment to put it back in place.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Tom's voice and expression showed surprise.

"It's alright," Charlotte replied. He'd looked so shocked; she believe him. "No harm done." The snow had stopped falling now. Tom brushed away the rest of it without magic. Then he looked up. Seeing the mistletoe, he left his hand on her shoulder. Charlotte caught sight of Valeria across the room, her back to them.

"How very like Professor Slughorn," Tom commented.

"Hmm," was the only response Charlotte gave, still studying her friend. Tom looked to see what she was staring at.

"You think Valeria had something to do with it?" he asked, sounding amused.

Charlotte looked back at him. "Well, I wouldn't put it past her." She glanced at Tom's hand on her shoulder with a small smile, and then back at his eyes, now nearer to hers, and nearer, and nearer. She closed her eyes. And he kissed her. In seconds, his hands had moved, one around her waist, the other on her back instead of resting on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his torso. It was not a long kiss, as they were in a room full of people and, mistletoe or not, that made restraint very advisable. Still, once it was over they didn't separate entirely, their arms still around each other.

Author's Note: Let's talk about Winky Crockett and his ridiculous name. I did not come up with that. It's on the HP wiki as a name that the props department put on one of the plaques shown in the trophy room. Winky Crockett technically, in some form of canon, really was the Slytherin quidditch captain at that time-although whether Winky is a he or a she was not stated. I just chose he because it was convenient here. If you think Winky sounds more like a girl's name, (I mean I was thinking of Winky the House Elf, so yeah) just think about the fact that if parents are going to name their kid Winky, they clearly were not thinking rationally about the decision in the first place. (I hope no one reading this is named Winky and I've now offended them).

Sorry this is turning into a very long A/N, but I still have more to say. Regarding the mistletoe—yeah, I know, that's probably kind of a lame ploy to get characters to kiss, but, uh... well I actually don't have any excuse for that... Except that it happened in Order of the Phoenix, so that does legitimize it, I suppose.

Maybe this little description that I couldn't fit into the story will make up for it?

"The gingerbread house, being magic, remained structurally sound even as pieces were removed, which was done by little gingerbread men equipped with saws, who then carried the pieces to whoever was around the table waiting to try some."

I really like coming up with new magical things, like the chocolate fountain too! I would love to see that done with some cinema magic.

"Glacies appare" is just Latin for "ice appear". I made up the peppermint snowflakes, but chocoballs were actually mentioned, or shown, somewhere in the original. The "Black" mentioned is Orion Black, Sirius's father; he was looking at Walburga, his future wife, who was talking to his sister, Lucretia. The year that each is in is technically not known, but I based my decisions on the estimates made from known information. The other hidden reference is that the unused classroom on the forth floor is the same one where the Mirror of Erised is later kept.

And once again, next chapter is Tom's POV; we see a bit of what's really going on inside his mind and get to know his motives better. I didn't plan on writing any of this from his perspective, but I realized it was necessary if I wanted to really be clear on some things. It also turned out to be easier and more fun than I expected, so that was a pleasant surprise—I think...?

I would love some feedback on what you've liked so far, what doesn't make sense, whether this is meeting your expectations of the story—whatever you have to say, really, would be lovely to hear.