"Come on Lisa! Get out of bed!" Mandy ripped the sheets out from underneath her friend and Lisa sat up in anger.
"What the hell?! What's possessed you? Its one a.m.!"
"Exactly Lisa, Exactly!! Listen, earlier I heard Vanessa get up, and I followed her." Mandy looked over excited, and Lisa's eyes widened. Nobody could follow Vanessa, it was impossible. Everyone had tried at one point or another, but nobody had succeeded.
"Listen, she went to the great hall, doing her usual no doubt, when a prefect walked in!" Lisa gasped, but Mandy went on, "But it was just Draco. They talked for a second, then I decided to join them, but by the time I got in there, they were gone!"
"You mean to say, Draco and Vanessa are together, at one in the morning?"
"No, no. You see, I used the portrait outside of the great hall to the dungeons. I caught up with them, just as they were entering the Slytherin common room together."
Lisa gaped. Mandy grinned. Lisa's eyes widened. Mandy's grin stretched.
"I heard the password."
Both girls were dressed and out of the common room before either could say a thing.
-----
"Should we?" Lisa looked doubtful now that they were just outside the Slytherin wall.
"Of course we should!" Mandy exclaimed before adding, "Hag."
Lisa's mouth dropped open
"How dare-"
Mandy grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her through the wall.
They were greeted by all of the sixth and seventh year Slytherins keeping up a fast paced modern waltz, to hip hop music. Lisa fell back against the now resolid wall. Mandy's eyes sought out her friend and her mouth dropped for the umpteenth time that day.
Draco and Vanessa were the stars. They twirled around effortlessly and stood out so dramatically from the rest of the dancing Slytherins that they were given a wide circle of berth. More than one of the couples had their attention solely on the pair.
"Oh, my, god." Mandy said quietly while Lisa still looked speechless. Mandy pulled her to the side of one of the fireplaces where they could stay in the shadows without being noticed.
"Lisa, do you know what this means?" Lisa shook her head she was still shocked. "This means that Vanessa has been keeping Draco a secret from us! You see, we found them in the same compartment in the train, sitting really close together, we should have guessed it then, but really Draco's been her secret boyfriend!! I wonder why she wouldn't tell us anything about it."
Lisa finally found her voice.
"Think about it Mandy, if any of the Ravenclaws knew that she was dating a Slytherin..."
"You're right!! Whereas the Slytherins accept it already because she already like them!"
"And she's pureblood, they're both seekers, he's the headboy, she's a prefect..."
"She's like Ravenclaw's most eligible bachelorette-"
"And he's the Slytherin prince!!"
Both girls looked at eachother in awe while everything clicked itself in their minds.
-----
He twirled her about once more and pulled her close, loving the way they danced so seeminglessly together. Once again they picked up the rhythm and stepped into the waltz once more, he laughed while she smiled and they spun closer together.
Unconsciously Draco tilted his head subtly and reveled in the feel of her soft hair against his face. His eyes widened, she smelled like the sweet wind that brushed past his face while flying over the lavender meadows in his manor's grounds.
Draco twitched his wand again, he was the one controlling the music at the moment. The song melted into a slow jazz number. A reason to hold her close to breath near her hair. The hand that was at her elbow for the waltz now dropped to her waist and he twined his other arm around her back. She slid her hands around his neck and his head dropped closer to her shoulder.
-----
She could feel his soft spearmint breath against her neck and dazedly let him lead in a simple slow dance. Lean arms held her close and her arms fell perfectly around his neck.
She closed her eyes.
His scent was refreshingly earthy with a taste of salt. It reminded her of the ocean on a stormy day. Without thinking she shifted her face closer to his neck while he did the same.
Suddenly she remembered who this was, and it seemed as though Draco had as well. Both stiffened for a moment and then relaxed, they were friends anyway, so no one would take much notice of it. She felt him grin into her shoulder.
-----
For a moment Draco was afraid that Vanessa would pull away after they had both tensed for a moment, and he sighed in relief as Vanessa once again let him lead her in the dance. This is nice. He grinned.
-----
Mandy and Lisa watched from the sidelines. There was no doubt about it now. They had watched the couple shift closer together, and had not seen any awkward movements as what would happen if they hadn't done this before. Vanessa and Draco had to have been going out. There was no other plausible explanation.
Lisa almost shrieked when Draco and Vanessa spun slowly while pulling eachother closer. This could be a scene out of one of her romance books! If only she knew what they were thinking. She continued to watch, her mind drinking in everything that happened between them. For a second she realized that Draco was smelling Vanessa's hair, so subtly that she almost thought that she had imagined it. Lisa's face turned pink. This seemed so much like Romeo and Juliet. Only Romeo's family knows and approves of their relationship and the Ravenclaws do not. So Vanessa had to carry the burden of her secret all by herself! Lisa sighed. Vanessa would probably end up eloping somewhere with Draco.
Wait.
"Mandy, should we tell Vanessa that we know?" Lisa asked the girl at her side.
Mandy turned to look at her, her eyes mischievious.
"No, we'll just get her to tell us. She lied to us about Draco not even a few hours ago and now she's out here practically snogging him? No she needs to admit it to her friends. And if that doesn't work we always have that veritaserum in my cupboard."
Lisa looked uneasy for a minute, but decided that Vanessa telling them would be best for the situation.
"How are we gonna get out of here without being noticed?"
Slytherins now blocked the wall to the dungeons. Both girls paled, the Slytherins would probably kill them.
They were both wearing the standard Ravenclaw skirt and white blouse with socks and mary jane shoes. The Slytherins would notice that they were Ravenclaws, and dueling would probably break out. They would have to fight their way through the chaotic crowds in order to get to the door, and then they'd have to run through dungeons bleeding until they could get enough time to escape to the hospital wing.
"Well, we might as well get moving. It would be worse if someone just noticed we were standing here." Mandy shivered, resigned to their fate. It was her fault for coming here in the first place, but it was so worth it.
Lisa and Mandy stepped out from the shadows, and tried to look casual as they made their way to the Slytherins guarding the door. One of them grinned and walked over to them. Shit shit shit! They found us out, we need to run!
"Would you like to dance?" The tall boy asked Mandy politely while holding out his hand. Mandy blinked.
"What?"
The boy looked at her strangely before taking her by the hand and leading her to the dance floor which had now picked up a salsy beat. Mandy smiled at the handsome boy and danced with him, forgetting all about Lisa.
Lisa stood there in shock. She was tempted to scream, 'Mandy these are Slytherins!!!" but knew that that wouldn't go too well. So she lingered there for a moment before someone touched her shoulder. She squeaked in fright and turned around to find Theodore Nott behind her.
"Lets dance." She looked uneasy but he laughed and grabbed her elbow and dragged her to the floor before starting to lead her in a salsa dance.
"Judging by your amount of fright at dancing with a Slytherin, you weren't invited here were you?"
Lisa plucked up her courage before looking up at the hazel eyes above her.
"No, Mandy and I snuck in." She expected to be hexed, but instead he laughed.
"Looking for Vanessa?" Lisa nodded "She's over there with Draco. Quite a pair, eh?" She laughed, and he grinned. "Of course, all of the Slytherins are just waiting for them to actually become a couple. That would be quite the political alliance-"
"What?! You mean they aren't-" Lisa looked shocked, and disbelieving.
-----
-flashback-
Laughter echoed through the dancing hall as the pureblood children lined up with eachother. Parents watched from the sidelines to see the product of the expensive dancing lessons they had payed for.
Immediately a classical waltz picked up. The first pair clasped hands and led the way to the floor. Parents cooed at how cute they were together, and the blonde pair grinned wickedly at eachother. They were both easily the best in the class, and intended to out dance the other students.
With a flourish, Vanessa stretched out from Draco while keeping their hands together and curtsied as Draco bowed. They twirled back to eachother, and Draco led the dance forward as Vanessa completed the steps backwards with a grace that wasn't common in children their age. With a gentle nudge from Draco they twirled to the left and he dipped Vanessa towards the ground before easily scooping her back up and resuming the dance.
The other students completed the dance clumsily, while keeping as far away from their partners as possible. Draco and Vanessa's eyes never faltered from eachother and they held eachother close.
-end flashback-
-----
A/N: Hallo (german). That last flashback made me want to puke. Who thinks I'm making her too perfect? Any ideas on how to make her not so perfect? (and no she can't be gay, have some strange disease, or a memory problem). And if you don't review I'll make you feel guilty. My inner self: are you kidding me?! what kind of threat is that? come on you can think of something so. much. more. evil!
Sigh See what I have to put up with?
-SM
