Man, in the past nine days I have released six chapters, two of which are both well over 10,000 words...I'm surprised my fingers aren't on fire! Thank you to my wonderful editor, Angel of the Night Watchers for editing this monster of a chapter. I won't really distract from all the drama you're about to read except for announcing this:
The following is 10,175 words of angst, fluff, and stubbornness :)
Enjoy!
Chapter Thirteen – The Yule Ball
"Ow, ruddy, ow!"
"Audrey, please! Would you stop complaining and just – hold – still?" Ginny huffed, battling against me as she went for her target again, a huge pout plastered on her face, as it had been for the past twenty minutes of agony.
"Then stop pulling – ow, that was on purpose! – on my hair!" I yelled out, slapping her hand away from my hair again. Clearly Daphne's Christmas brush to flatten my hair was not a twenty-four hour charm. It seemed more like a six hour one, to be honest. It was enough to surge through my classes but not enough to do anything that a good messy bun wouldn't accomplish near the beginning of the morning.
"That's because I'm styling it – 'Mione, will you immobilize her?"
"I didn't bring my wand," Hermione actually sounded disappointed in her choice. I gave her a glare for her blasphemy which caused her to laugh mockingly before Ginny pinned down one of my hands – under her knee, for pities sake – and finished poking my head with bobby pins.
"Perfect!" she cheered, jumping up as she circled me, admiring her work. I massaged the hand she'd had pinned under her knee, but I stopped when her eyes narrowed and focused on something above my eye level. She bit her lip before pulling out her wand and pointed it to my head – I held my hands up.
"Don't do anything stupid, Ginger."
"I'm keeping it still, Red." She muttered, very concentrated on my up-do. "Immobulus."
"Isn't that just to stop moving, living things?"
"Usually, but your hair is demonic and has a life of its own." She grumbled, frowning at her work as she pocketed her wand into her creamy dress robes. "That should about do it."
"That was far too much effort, my friend." I sighed, standing up touching the hair only to have her make a sound of warning. I lowered my hands – I didn't trust this woman, she could hex better than a sixth year. Hermione laughed at us while smoothing out her periwinkle blue robes, the two Gryffindors had already been ready when I had come down. They'd immediately panicked when I had come with only half an hour to spare before the ball with absolutely nothing done. I had planned it this way so that it would be better. Now they didn't have time to do anything too drastic, even though Hermione had been happy to slather me in lip gloss, eye shadow, and mascara while Ginny had tugged and slaughtered my scalp. I guess now the last torture was getting into my robes.
Hermione had been cautious enough to try out some protection charms to see if it had been cursed and only after half a dozen incantations when she saw that they were completelysafe, had she ogled them. She'd then handed them to Ginny who had spun around and danced much liked Daphne had the night before. There were some habits to girl fashion I'd never understand. As she was dancing with them, I was examining my makeup and fiddling with my hair, which did not budge an inch. A smoky eye had been done as well as some clear lip gloss with thick mascara that made my eyelashes look disturbing long, even if they did look too dark. Redheads like me with such light eyelashes should not have put on black mascara, even if it went with an outfit. It looked awkward.
My hair, which had taken a ridiculously long time and had put me through a ridiculous amount of pain, was pinned up in a messy mix of braids and twists that actually looked quite good; Ginny could have been a professional. Who would have thought that while growing up with boys she would have time to learn how to be so feminine?
"Time to put on your robes, we're going to be late." Hermione rushed, shooing me like a dog as she snatched my dress robes from Ginny and passed them to me. "Into the stall and be quick about it."
"She's just excited to meet her date," Ginny snickered. "Don't take it personally."
"Neville has been practicing his dancing all week, I'm sure you'll have a fun time." Hermione said defensively. I tried not to show them how much I wanted to scoff and frown at the same time by dashing into the stall to change.
Now that I knew that I had to go to this blasted event, I wouldn't deny I was nervous to be going without a date. I wouldn't be surprised were someone to tell me I was the only one attending without someone on their arm and now I felt thick for thinking I could escape ever escape this.
At least it would get me out of the champions' dance.
As I slipped the robes over my shoulders I felt them start to shrink against my body, fitting as they should be thanks to the self adjusting measurements. It was a strange feeling, the fabric sliding against my skin this way, but I was pleased with the end result. They weren't as I had imagined they would look, they were floor-length and quite slim fitting, showing off what on other girls would have been curves and on me was the difference between bone, and the skin covering it. It flared out a bit at the bottom so that I could walk more easily, and it had a loose fitting, layered scooped neck with some nearly-off-the-shoulder straps. These robes were quite beautiful. It was sad that they were to be shown off on me. These were supposed to be on someone who could fill them out and at least appreciate them. All I wanted to do was get out of them so I wouldn't disgrace them.
I slipped on my shoes and groaned as soon as I stood straight. The shoes were great...I just wouldn't be able to walk in them. I'd never worn heels in my life, I guess I should have practiced at some point today. Hindsight is always 20/20.
"I'm coming out now," I called, closing my eyes and opening the stall door.
Ginny clapped in excitement when I walked out, Hermione even beamed as she looked at me and let out a giggle when I stumbled in my shoes. Oh Merlin, I would end up breaking my ankle. I did a small spin, letting them see the full effect before wincing at how quiet the bathroom was.
"Well? What's the damage?"
"I have to say, I had my doubts." Ginny laughed. "But you will be burning up that dance floor."
"Who said I would be on the dance floor?" I blanched just at the thought.
"You have to be, Audrey. There is a dance specifically for the champions so you, Harry, Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur all have to dance in front of all three schools!" Hermione said, a little flushed.
"Maybe she could dance with Cedric, wouldn't that be a dream come true?" Ginny gushed a bit, nudging me in the ribs. I couldn't help but smile at the thought, I may have even blushed. That would be a dream come true.
"I'm going solo tonight, ladies," I shook my head. "Just so I can refuse any bloke who thinks he has a chance – even if he's as pretty as Diggory."
The three of us laughed, loving the imagery that popped into our heads before we all went on our merry way down to the Great Hall. We were going to be late, I could tell, but I was glad for it. Hermione tried to usher us forward faster, but as we were going we ran into Neville – who was Ginny's date, they looked adorable – and Seamus with his date Lavender. Lavender made a very big show of how they were going together, which made me roll my eyes.
I had broken things off with him. What part of that didn't these people understand?
Hermione rushed away, I was excited to see which strapping lad she had decided to go with who could get her so excited for a dance. I'd have to pay him or something, his ability to get the worm out of her books for the night was miraculous.
I won't deny that it was embarrassing as I walked into the hall, completely alone. I made sure to raise my chin so I could try and look somewhat confident even though all I could do was scan the room for a place to sit and stay immobile for the rest of the night – but I was distracted by the room in front of me.
For the three years before now I was used to the warmth of Christmas celebration in the Great Hall. I loved the twelve Christmas trees, each decorated in different colours and themes; I loved that the armour would sing carols when people started entering and the dry snow that floated from the ceiling, which was always enchanted to look unseasonably clear.
This year, for reasons of the Yule Ball, the twelve Christmas trees were covered in thick layers of frost and snow so that they looked pale and frost-bitten. The walls looked like ice had crawled up them and settled into silver frost. From the ceiling, which was still enchanted to be clear let dry snow fall, there also hung long garlands of mistletoe and ivy, all frosted white. It was breathtaking.
"Run," I heard a voice whisper from behind. I turned to see my brother, looking quite handsome in well-fit bottle green robes, I didn't quite understand what he meant before I realized that he was moving past me to make his own escape. "Oh no-"
"Potter! Good, now that both you and your brother are here the dance can begin!" McGonagall looked as if she was very relieved to be able to tell the two of us this but I just shook my head. Parvati looked nice in her shockingly pink robes beside him, but even she looked just as nervous at the idea of dancing in front of all these people with the Harry Potter.
"Sorry Professor, no-can-do." I announced, holding my hands up defensively. "I've no one to dance with, so I guess I'll have to sit this out."
"Impossible, Potter." She said immediately. "This dance is specifically for the champions, so you'll have to find yourself a date and dance with him in the next two minutes."
She began walking further into the hall and I followed her with a glare. "Professor, everyone else has a partner. There's no way I'll find anyone willing to dance with me, so please just let me out of this one. I went to such extremes so I wouldn't have to be here – now I'm here. I'm not even a real champion!"
"Your name came out of the Goblet, you are a champion." McGonagall folded her lips into a firm line, turning around and holding a hand up to hush me. She likely kept her eyes closed so that she wouldn't have to see me try to argue. "Now find a partner before I am forced to do it for you."
"I'm not going to find anyone here who decided to come without a date – it's social suicide!"
"And yet you've still found time to complain," she growled. "The dance is beginning in moments, Potter. If you are not on the dance floor with a partner in the next thirty seconds I will deduct thirty points from Slytherin."
"Thirty!" I gasped, knowing that were I in Gryffindor, this never would have been threatened.
"Make it fifty."
"Professor, that's ridiculous you can't-" but she was already ignoring me and walking into the crowd of excited teenagers, all ready to dance and do whatever it is that one is supposed to do at a ball.
I looked around at all the happy couples and wanted scream when I realized the problem. Couples. They were all couples. I would not doubt for a moment that I was the only one who had waited too long and now had no one to call my date. I would lose my house fifty points if I didn't find a date in the next few seconds and what's worse, I had to actually dance with them – something that I knew I would not be able to pull off. I was not graceful and I was not a good enough actor to pretend to be enjoying myself.
I caught sight of Snape, dressed in his trademark billowing black robes – but these ones seemed to be made of a slightly nicer material. I gave him a look of pure dread – a look that warned of how I now planned to do myself in thanks to the situation he'd gotten me into. There was a moment he almost looked bad about what he'd done, but it didn't last long before he smirked at me, reveling in my punishment.
Wonderful.
"Come now, Potter. Give us a dance." I felt a hand on my shoulder and recoiled immediately, when would people learn not to touch me? Whipping around I looked into the brown eyes of a very smug Montague, whose perfectly manicured hand was held out to me. I raised my eyebrows at his gall.
"You're joking, aren't you?"
But I could already hear the verses being played by classical music floating from the small stage where the head table was usually placed. I opened my mouth to protest right around the time the slimy git grabbed the hand that felt ready to slap him and put his arm on my waist.
I'll give Montague one thing, the arse knew what he was doing – which was, in its own way, a godsend. He spun me around in ways that I did not remember learning in the 'mandatory' dance class that I had skipped when we were five minutes into and honestly, I was surprised my feet could move so quickly. It could have been because of the slime I felt like I was covered in just because Montague had a tight grip on my waist, I almost felt his hand dare to graze a little lower. I'd need to remember to get him back for that later.
The dance was not romantic by any means, and I won't deny, I was kind of hoping my first dance at a ball would be. It was most likely because it was with Montague, who only liked me because of my last name and who it was attached to. I'm pretty sure where it deemed appropriate in pureblood society, Adam Montague would actually be attracted to my twin brother.
As the dance came to a close I found myself glaring straight at Adam, as if he hadn't just saved my arse, and curtsying like I saw all the other ladies doing. I nearly tripped when my ankle gave out from my high heels, but I made it work at the last moment.
Montague moved me toward him, his slimy hand still on the small of my back. He dared to send me a smug smile. "You weren't half bad."
"You were," I bit back, I couldn't bring myself to be kind and tell him I may or may not be glad he'd danced with me but now he should leave and go back to his date. I couldn't say it simply because with all that said, disturbingly I wasglad that he was around me – even though I would forever argue that was a complete and utter lie.
"Oh, you could be a little more thankful. I didn't want to lose fifty points, did you?"
"I think I just lost fifty years, being so close to you." I sneered, rubbing my arms as if I could wash the experience off of me. The comment took him back a step, but he shot back as determined as ever.
"Well, don't I get a little 'thank you'?" He asked with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow.
"I curtsied. That's as much thank you as the Queen would get."
"Well," he drew the word out while he took hold of my shoulders, ignoring my wince, and dragged me a little to the side. He looked right up above us and smiled a moment before looking back down at me with a smile that didn't look quite so innocent. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"What?"
He only responded by looking back up, so I followed his lead as apparently the answer was written on the ceili-oh my Merlin, he was looking at Mistletoe. Mistletoe that was right above us! I gaped, looking back at him and turning beet red.
"What are you playing at?"
"I'm not playing at anything," he smiled, inching a little closer to me. I backed away slightly, arching my back but refusing to move my feet – somehow he took my defiance as a sign of weakness.
"Shove off, Montague." I warned with a sneer.
"Audrey, Audrey, Audrey," he tutted, while leaning a little closer to me. "You should really call me Adam."
He was much closer to me now. I could smell whatever shampoo he had used that morning, I could also smell his cologne, which he had too much of. It burnt my nose. But even though the smell of him was choking me and even though this was Montague we were talking about, I couldn't help but feel a little giddy.
Was he about to kiss me?
I'd never really thought about my first kiss. I'd missed the boat with Seamus, which I was now thankful over because who knew what diseases Edgecomb may have contracted. To be honest, I'd kind of just assumed that my first kiss would be with Fred, just because we always flirted like that. But now seemed just as good as any opportunity I would probably ever get, even if it was with scum. I mean, he must know how to romance a girl because he had no other admirable personality traits. He was slightly attractive, and this was every girls dream.
Who didn't want to be Cinderella, dressed in some beautiful borrowed costume at a beautiful ball with a man who wanted only to kiss her? Pathetically enough, I know I did.
Montague leaned closer, I could only smell his breath and cologne now and it was starting to make me choke a bit. He had closed his eyes by now, sensing that I was giving in, and squeezed my shoulders encouragingly. That was when I froze and blinked the rose-tinted world out wildly.
Bloody Hell, there's something wrong with me!
"Er...Montague?" I said suddenly, making Montague stop moving closer but not open his eyes. His voice was lower than normal and his hands suddenly felt hot and sweaty against my skin – gross. I shook my head, shrinking away from him with a sneer as I blinked obliviously again.
"Adam," he corrected.
"Adam-"
"Yes?" he answered with a sly smile.
"What are you doing?"
"Seducing you."
"Well you're doing it wrong." I informed him before I fully pulled myself out of his grip and slapped his hand when it reached out for me again.
This may be the fairytale background, but this set of bollocks was notmy prince charming.
"Thank you for the dance, now get out of my way before I dance with your kidneys."
I saw Montague become mad right before my eyes. It wasn't the 'Potter just insulted me in the corridor' mad, this was a 'Potter just humiliated me in front of three schools at a public event' mad – which somehow seemed much more dangerous.
"I'm sorry, do you only like your men in pairs?" He hissed, shooting a look over my shoulder where I could only imagine at least one of the twins were dancing with their partners. I clenched my jaw, doing my best not to punch him right then and there. I looked over to see that Professor Snape was watching me wearily, as if he knew I was about to hurt the little prick. To confirm my unspoken thought, the professor gave a minute shake of his head.
What Snape says goes – for now.
"No, I like my men as men.Tell me when you finally learn to grow up, you pretentious pig." I gritted out, it was the most polite thing I could think to fire back. I was actually quite proud of myself. Then, with a twist of my robes that I must have subconsciously picked up from Snape, I trotted away from him with a confidence I'm not sure I actually had.
Going over to the refreshment table I grabbed a bottle of butterbeer, ignoring the frosted glasses that were offered, and turned it up to the ceiling as I downed one all at once. How I wish I could get drunk off of this beverage, but sadly there was so little alcohol that only house-elves could.
Perhaps I could convince the house-elves to get me something stronger? They did see quite a bit of me last year and even though I had never had hard liquor, I was sure that tonight was one of the best nights to attempt it.
Just as I was grabbing my second bottle of butterbeer, I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, I can honestly say that the breath was knocked out of me by the sight of Cedric Diggory – dashing in his dark sapphire robes. I blushed as I tried to put the large bottle of butterbeer behind me.
"Hey-o, Cedric!" ugh, why was I always so giddy around this beautiful man?
"Hello Potter, you look ravishing. I'd heard you wouldn't be coming tonight." I almost found the nerve to blush against my better instincts again, but instead I let out a light laugh, my eyes darting nervously for some sort of support system so I wouldn't make a fool of myself in these blasted shoes.
"Didn't you hear? My plan to blow up Snape's storage cupboard was foiled by a particularly foul white ferret – I'm afraid you're stuck with me for the night." Idiot!I chastised myself silently. Clearly he wasn't stuck with me at all, he had come with Cho I'm-so-wonderful Chang and I was alone like a right moron.
"He's always getting in the way, isn't he?" he asked with a chuckle. "It was a good try."
"It was, Madam Pomfery was even impressed by my explosive potion. It ripped a hole right in my eardrum." I bit my lip for a moment as I realized that I was rambling and he probably thought I was making a fool of myself. I had to focus. Focus and speak like the normal, witty, down to earth girl that I knew I was. "Where's your date?"
Well that backfired.
"Oh, she just went to the loo. I think Mandy Brocklehurst caught Ernie MacMillan kissing Susan Bones, Mandy and Ernie came together, of course."
"Ah," I responded, switching the weight to my other ankle even though it too felt like it would soon crack in these damn shoes. "Well, if she leaves you for too long you can come find me. I'll be floating around, showing those who are – or will be – single after tonight how not to brood."
"Fantastic," he laughed. "Perhaps I'll even ask you to dance."
"I doubt Cho would like that," which was even more reason to want to do it, but I was trying to save face with the Adonis and I didn't want to seem quite as bitchy as I regularly was. I tried to have the grace to look bashful, but he only laughed again.
"One dance couldn't hurt," his eyes sparkled as he gazed at me mischievously. "Unless you're Adam Montague, of course. I was sure that you were going to give the bloke a black eye."
"You saw that?" I gasped. He'd seen me at one of my worst moments of the night – which was even more embarrassing than most other nights because I was currently dressed like a performing animal. I raised the butterbeer that had been hidden behind my face up to my lips, I mean, what was the point of pretending that I was sweet now?
"I thought it was good of you. He deserved a good talking to, thinking he could move in on you like that." He assured me, I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow. Call me a little too observant, but that almost sounded like he was flirting...
"Oh did he?"
He let a grin stretch over his face, though he refused to dazzle me with a full smile, which was probably good. At least I could think more comfortably this way – pretty men should know better to disarm women with their smiles like he can.
"He certainly did. Well, I was originally sent on a mission for refreshments, so I'd better get on. I'll see you in a few songs for that dance, yeah?" I smiled widely at him – even more widely, somehow, when he returned it – before I nodded.
"That would be lovely. I hope you don't mind that I'm a poor dancer."
"It will just keep it interesting," he smiled. "And keep me on my toes. Or, perhaps more appropriately, you'd be on mine." I bit back a comment of other – more rude – responses to what else I would like to be on in accordance to him before I waved him goodbye and he left to find the table I'd just vacated.
I shivered in happiness once he'd disappeared from sight. I was going to get to dance with Cedric Diggory after all! I'd have to tell Ginny, she'd be beside herself when she heard. I took another congratulatory swig from my bottle of butterbeer as I started waltzing my way through the crowd again. I was now in a much better mood and something told me that I should start working on my dancing footwork now.
As I was trying to simulate some sort of spin – that was entirely wrong – I spun straight into the path of my twin brother. We looked at each other and shook our heads.
"What a night!" we chorused at the same time, making Ron groan from beside us. He should have been used to synced speech by now from either us or his own twin brothers, but I was glad it always bothered him. It immediately lightened the mood to any situation.
"I was looking for you," Harry said meaningfully, leaning towards me as if to whisper. I frowned at him, but my curiosity wouldn't let me walk away like I knew I should. I was much too curious to have a brother who got into trouble so often, but to counter that I was in much too good a mood to be bothered by the drama he'd found tonight. Still, I only moved closer to his hushed tones.
"What have I missed then, not-so-big brother?"
Harry frowned at my little insult, but shook his head to be okay with it. "Do you know what the Dark Mark is?"
"I'm not stupid," I scoffed to him. "It was cast at the World Cup, it's the Dark Lord's and it means someone died – I'm a Slytherin, Har-"
"Don't call him the 'Dark Lord'," Ron snapped at me. Someone sure was chipper. "That's only what his followers call him."
"Please bear in mind that I happen to room with the children of those followers, Ron. But yes, I understand and I'm oh so sorry for the habit." I rolled my eyes.
"Voldemort," Harry said pointedly, ignoring when Ron winced. "Didn't only get his Death Eaters to cast that in the sky, he also used it to make people aware of who his Death Eaters were."
"I'm not following."
"He had it branded on their arm." Ron explained, slapping his left forearm that was covered by frilled robes. They were quite dreadful, to be frank, but I didn't want to upset Harry by insulting them. Besides, Theodore taught me that if I can't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all...hm. Perhaps I should become a mute?
"Alright. Dark mark on their arm means Death Eater. And this information is relevant, how?"
Harry and Ron both leaned a little bit closer to me, even though Ron seemed to barely pay attention. I was fine with this as I was still a bit sore over how he had treated my brother and me after we'd been entered in the tournament. Also, I knew that Harry was probably better for the information than he was.
"Well, earlier on we accidentally walked in on a pretty private conversation between two of the adults – both of them were sporting that mark." My mouth dropped.
"Who?"
"Karkaroff and-" Ron began, but Harry sent him a look that stopped him from speaking. I looked between the two suspiciously.
"Karkaroff and...?" Harry let out a deep breath, looking at me seriously.
"Snape," I furrowed my eyebrows. That sentence did not make sense. "Karkaroff and Snape."
"I don't believe that for a moment." I said immediately, backing up from our slumped circle to sit up straight. No. Just because Harry had this ridiculous age-old vendetta against Snape did not make him the bad guy. Snape had proven time and time again that he was just an arse, not that he was someone who would ever do anything with the power of arseness that he possessed. In fact, was it not in first year he saved Harry's arse? In second year he, professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey were the ones to unpetrify Hermione and I and in third year he came to the rescue when he thought Sirius was out to murder us! Snape was closer to a guardian angel than a villain, even if it was a twisted picture of it.
"I thought you were over this pettiness," I hissed, my anger flaring as I stood up to leave. I didn't want to be involved as he spread more rumours about my favourite professor, like he had in first year, but as I went to walk away he grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. I almost hissed at him.
"Audrey, he has the Dark Mark. He's not one of the good guys. He's not one of us." He said pointedly. My eyes narrowed at him and I crossed my arms across my chest.
"Harry, how do you really know you're one of the good guys?"
Harry floundered for a second, not really sure what to say, and in that moment I decided to leave and ran to get a third bottle of butterbeer. I wished at that moment I were a house elf so that I could get drunk off of the drink, but settled with downing it angrily and taking another when I'd finished the first. Harry had completely ruined the happiness that Cedric's dance offer had given me, now I needed to find a distraction until I could be waltzed around on the dance floor with the seventh year.
"I think we're in the danger zone," the voice of a Weasley twin rang from behind me. "She looks about ready to blow her top."
"I wish she would blow her top – it's very nice fabric. I'd like to keep it." Lee Jordan laughed from behind me as well. I rolled my eyes at their antics – these boys were so predictable.
"How are you, boys?" I turned around to face them, ready to take another large swig from my bottle but I saw something very wrong with the picture in front of me. Lee was wearing powder blue dress robes that reminded me of horrid 80s prom pictures while George was wearing oddly stylish burnt auburn robes...but...where was Fred?
"Er – aren't you two normally in a trio?"
"Normally the four of us are in a quartet, actually." George sighed, casting his eyes over to the side. "But some people are a little too stubborn tonight."
Following his gaze I spotted Fred and Angelina Johnson dancing together and laughing as if he had told that one joke about the boggart and the blast ended skrewt. They looked...happy, though I should have expected that because only Harry, Ron, and I seemed to be unhappy. But other than happy they looked...good together. I'd never really expected that, to be honest. I'd never really thought about how Fred would look with a girl on his arm, to be honest it looked awkward because it just didn't look right, but it looked good anyway.
Then why did I not feel good for him?
"Alright there, Potter?" Lee asked loudly, pulling on a dangling piece of hair. I looked over to him and away from the happy couple – it was a nice distraction.
"Not at all, this ball was a lousy idea." I muttered lowly, turning around without another word to grab yet another butterbeer. I was sure that I was going to be drinking like a fish tonight in a lame attempt to try and get a buzz to avoid my sorrows, and though I had never tried Firewhiskey – much to the twins' dismay – I suddenly had an urge for its burn.
"Fred's just being an arse, he was upset you weren't coming-" George said quickly, he was always fast to catch onto whatever was wrong.
"No, no, no, George. Fred isn't upset, he looks content...in fact, he looks more than content." I corrected, sending a glare to Angelina in her shiny bronze robes. I don't know what upset me most about the situation: that Fred had asked Angelina out because I had told him she would say yes, or that he seemed to be ignoring me for the date I had set him up with.
"Drea," George whined noisily. He seemed to get ready to say something else but I heard them whispering from behind me and saw Hermione standing beside me. She really did look radiant in her periwinkle robes, her hair was almost tamed and her smile lit up her face more than any of the makeup she had on could manage to do.
"Audrey," she said, trying to be serious even though she was genuinely having a good time. Git.
"Hermione," I greeted lowly.
"So..." she said slowly, trying to create some sort of conversation. "Montague."
Please don't make me vomit. "So, Krum?"
I saw Hermione's face redden. "He's actually quite the gentleman. Very shy and burly, but he's actually very sweet."
"He's also a good dancer," I noted, seeing as he and she had been dancing the entire time I had been sitting with my brother and the moper.
"I never expected that, to be honest, but I am having a wonderful time. Why are you so sullen?"
That's a very good question. Was this jealousy? Normally it was really easy for me to identify jealousy. It was that warm, acidic feeling I often got in my stomach and it ate away at me until my jaw would tighten and my fists would clench. This felt like something else...it was a possessiveness, that was for certain; but I couldn't tell where it was coming from – it didn't taste as bitter as regular jealousy...
"Is it Fred?" She asked further. I took a deep breath, frowning at my butterbeer before setting it, half full, back on the table. I wiped my mouth, sneering a bit at the stickiness of my lip gloss.
"How could it be? My irritation is standing in these shoes and Fred Weasley is all the way over there," I pointed viciously to where I had seen him dancing before. I couldn't bring myself to look and see if he was still there in case I thought of any more violent thoughts for Johnson. "By the way, best stop dancing in eyesight of Ron. He may lose his vision if he keeps trying to see every infinitesimal movement Krum makes on you."
"Wha-" she stuttered, blinking in shock. "What are you talking about?"
"Ron," I clarified glad that the subject had switched Weasley brothers. "He's jealous."
"Jealous?" She guffawed. "He didn't even have the intelligence to ask me as a friend – he barely sees me as a girl, how could he be jealous of something he doesn't see?"
"Well Hermione, if he didn't see you then-" I picked at her robes and she pulled away from me nervously, it made me smirk. "He certainly does now. Have a good night, Granger."
I'm sure that I left her with a lot to think about and I couldn't help being smug, perhaps I would be the starting point to a relationship between those two stubborn Gryffindorks. And maybe, if we were lucky, it would make them able to go a whole day without arguing.
As I walked out of the Great Hall I felt as if something were trying to slip me in my giant heels. Looking down and ready to kick whatever it was in my way, I noticed that Circe was looking up at me expectantly. She gave a small mew, I immediately picked her up to coo her. I had not seen her all day and I didn't want her to think I was neglecting her. She seemed happy in my arms, she also calmed me from my horrid experience with Montague and frustration from my brother and this stupid dance – or at least until Cedric would dance with me – so I decided to waste the time between my dances to take a walk in the yards with her.
The courtyard was cold, I knew I couldn't be out here long considering that these robes were short sleeved and I didn't want frostbite from an event I didn't even want to attend. While I was bending awkwardly to put Circe back down on the ground, she went to run after a large beetle. I felt the urge to stop her considering usually let her only go after rats, but I stopped myself. After last year, I never minded her getting rats – just in case it was Pettigrew. Quite suddenly I heard something loud bang around one of the pillars of the castle. I jumped a little, reaching for the wand that was tucked away in my robe pocket – I held it up toward where I heard the commotion.
Now, the question was would I be stupid and walk toward it blindly, or call it out from its hiding spot? I thought of it a moment. This was a castle with great security – then again, that security hadn't saved me from this damn tournament. No need to be brave, I guess.
"Who's there?" I shouted, keeping my wand trained where the noise had come from. "What are you doing?"
From behind the pillar a dark shape slithered and it took me a moment to look from the dark, obscuring robes before I realized the pale, pointed features were that of my favourite professor. I sighed and rolled my eyes at him, letting out a sigh and tucking my wand away.
"What were you doing, my wand could have misfired at you!" He was the only one who knew how true that statement was. He did not, however, chuckle or show any emotion other than the frown that had already been plastered on his face. "Professor?"
"It's a cold night, Potter. Why are you outside?" His voice was low and I could tell he was frustrated, but luckily not with me. I leaned over to the side and took several steps to see shreds of bushes and a few broken cement blocks of the castle path. I looked back at him dumbfounded.
"Professor...are you...blowing up the rose bushes?"
"This is nothing that should leave this conversation, Miss Potter." Snape responded thickly. I took that as a yes and looked at him sadly.
"So, you're as frustrated as I am, then?"
"I am beyond frustrated. Why aren't you inside enjoying the ball?"
"With what date?" I scoffed. "I'm not really the talk of the school at the moment, you know. More people are scared of me rather than like me now and I'm not one to sit around when everyone is rubbing their good times in my face."
"Your stunt with the dragon was intimidating," he said quietly. "Do you know yet how you managed it?"
I had been asked this question multiple times by students but no teacher had yet to ask me. I was kind of glad that he was the first instead of Dumbledore, because Snape wouldn't look at me like he understood something that I didn't. I shrugged.
"I told it that the egg didn't belong with her eggs. That it could hurt them. I said give it to me – then she did. I didn't really do anything special."
"You don't think that is special?" He asked doubtfully. "You coerced a dragon."
"I know it's a big deal," I said quickly. "But I didn't actually do anything. It just sort of happened."
He nodded lowly. "I think you've just convinced whomever put your name in that goblet that you are a force to be reckoned with."
I sighed. "Which is precisely what we didn't want."
"Precisely," he agreed lowly. I took a step towards him, I could tell that something else was bothering him but it was not my business to ask what it was. I wanted to question him, but I knew that he would just be a gnarly jerk as he usually was – but I had to know if he was okay.
"Professor," I began slowly. "Are you alright?"
He took a moment to look at me, or maybe he was looking through me, seeing something that I somehow knew I would never be able to. He turned his eyes down and picked himself up, somehow standing much taller, it was clear that he had just closed himself off to me.
"Fine. You should be inside enjoying the ball before you freeze. The ball is dedicated for the champions." He said pointedly. I took a deep breath.
"You know, it wouldn't kill you to be nice for once." I muttered, he looked at me sharply.
"Pardon me?" It didn't seem as angry as it did surprised and I shrugged as I started walking in the opposite direction.
"I know, I know, I'll see you at the beginning of my detention tonight after I'm here the whole time in these painful shoes and these glamorous not-at-all my – wait," I turned around looking at him for a moment. I could almost guarantee that I was looking at him as deeply as he had at me before I frowned. "You did it, didn't you?"
"Did what?"
"The robes," I turned my eyes away from him when he did the same, not needing an answer. I shouldn't be surprised, who else actually gave a shite about me besides him? Dumbledore was only concerned for Harry and my brother was too concerned about finding something bad about Snape to think about me. "Thank you, you didn't have to."
"Whoever did give you those robes knew you didn't have to be in the tournament."
"I had to make you proud somehow," I sighed dramatically. He furrowed his eyebrows, as if he weren't sure what I meant by it or whether I was serious. To be honest, I couldn't even tell whether I was serious. I avoided his eyes by bending down and picking up my kneazle, who had come back from chasing the bug she'd seen. It looked like she hadn't caught it either...too bad for her. "Come on sweetheart, let's go inside. Maybe there will be more boys and you can save me from them."
As I walked back into the castle I was surprised by the warm air hitting me – the outdoors were much colder than I had realized it was and the warmth on my skin caused me to break out in goose bumps. I let out a slight shiver before feeling Circe move, I adjusted her, whispering my apologies for shivering and making her uncomfortable before she shifted again. Looking down and paying attention, Circe was more than restless...Circe was on the hunt. Was it the beetle again?
I put her down softly but she did not give me a second glance before dashing up the staircase and out of sight. I sighed, hoping that she would find her own way into my dormitory that night and wondering how on earth the beetle could have gotten away that quickly.
"Leave me alone when I need you," I grumbled towards the corner she'd disappeared behind. I turned around with a sigh, ready to go back into the great hall but I was abruptly stopped by a black velveted chest right inside the doorway. The air around him made me not even need to look up, I knew precisely who gave off those vibes. "Ah, my night has just become more wonderful!"
"As I expected it to," Malfoy smirked, looking down his high velvet collar at me.
"I see you've gone back to the hair gel. I'm telling you, the Jerry-curl could be a real fashion statement with your complexion. You'd be the first, I could guarantee that."
"And for once you actually try to take some pride in yourself. You may even hit the decency scale, Potter. I won't deny I'm almost impressed." I blinked and smirked myself. That was most certainly a compliment in the mind of Malfoy, and I planned to forever remember it so I could hold it against him when appropriate.
"Fine, if we're being civil," I started slowly, with narrowed eyes. "You don't look all...that bad. Though I can't deny, your hair was prettier when it was more in your face."
Then, for the most remarkable moment, it looked like he was fighting back a laugh. He didn't smile – he was fartoo high and mighty for such frivolity – but his mouth just closed tight and he tried to hide the shake of his shoulders as his eyebrow raised. He gained his composure quickly.
"I'm sorry to have disappointed you then," he said cockily. "I'll be sure to ask you next time I decide to do my hair differently – just to be sure you approve."
"Make sure you do," I said with a smirk. I crossed my arms over my chest. "Where's your date and her oh-so-beautiful robes? They aren't the unicorn hair-silk that I heard rumour of."
Surprisingly he sneered, distorting the attractive plains that his face had taken just moments before. "Yes, that's what I'd heard too. Had I known she would choose frilled, salmonrobes I may have accepted someone else's invitation."
"Salmon? Malfoy, those are pink," I laughed before I shook my head and registered the rest of what he had said. "Wait, youdidn't ask her?"
"Of course not," he scoffed. "Why would I ask her? She was supposed to look nicer than the other candidates, however, I clearly was mistaken."
"Ouch," I winced. I didn't even like Parkinson, but I could only imagine the pain it would cause had she heard that. "You really are as shallow as a puddle."
"Apparently I am," he smirked again. "Or else I wouldn't be standing here talking with you."
"Mm," I hummed, sighing deeply. "Was that another compliment? I'm beginning to think you're about to ask me for something – there's too much flattery in the undertone of this conversation."
"In fact, I do have something to ask of you." He raised an eyebrow, but it wasn't quizzical, it was cocky. I rolled my eyes – I knew I should have expected this.
"Of course you do."
"Mm," he hummed as I had before taking a step closer. I leaned back a bit, disturbed by the close proximity. This had only happened once or twice in my four years here and every time someone had gotten hurt. "Dance with me."
I actually took a breath in, looking at him for a long moment. "That wasn't a question."
"Stop looking like a bint and do it," he rolled his eyes. I shook my head, blinking again and taking a step back as he moved forward.
"I'm-I'm waiting for the catch."
"The catch is you actually have to touch me, which means getting close to me." He smirked, extending his hand towards me to take while he raised a mocking eyebrow. "I'll even let you touch the pretty hair if you're reallynice."
"We hate each other," I stated slowly, turning my head and looking to see if anyone was watching. And a few were, a few from our year who could appreciate the immortal rivalry between the Potter twins and the Malfoy family. It was reputation, it was common knowledge – and Malfoy was all about reputation, so there was something very suspicious about all this. "Why are you doing this? Are you about to pull a Carrie on me? Are you connected enough to get your hands on a bucket of pig blood?"
"I want to dance with you, I know it's surprising but are you honestly that stupid to not understand what it means?" He asked with a sneer. I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering if he knew exactly how much of a challenge that sounded. I squared my jaw and narrowed my eyes at once – looking for any sign of too much joy in case I was about to be put through some horrific and embarrassing prank.
Instead, when I only saw smugness, I placed my hand in his. It was a strange feeling, his hands were cold, even cooler than mine which was crazy because I had just come in from outside. As soon as I had taken his hand, the smirk on his face stretched into a taunting smile and he put his other hand on the small of my back – tugging me harshly towards him until I actually rammed up against him.
"Watch it," I warned. "I can't wait to take you down a peg and step on your feet."
"You say that as if I'll let you. Someof us know how to dance, Potter."
"Too bad those people didn't ask me," I sighed dramatically, only to let out a squeak as he began to spin us. His feet did seem to know what they were doing and it seemed almost knowingly he would stick the toe of his shoe under my own shoe so that he could kick my foot when it was time to move. "You've done this before?"
"Danced with people who can't dance? Yes. Not usually someone quite so terrible at it as you, of course..." He acknowledged looking down on me with a smirk. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not that bad," I was lying through my teeth but for some reason he didn't call me on it. Instead he spun me the other way, earning another nervous gasp.
I couldn't help looking over my shoulder – I would never be tall enough to see over his – to see if anyone was watching. Again, people were. More people, lots of people. I could even see Montague to the side, his face set in a firm sneer while he watched us dancing. I took a deep breath when I noticed that he had that same look in his eye, dangerous and angry and vengeful.
"Oh stop your worrying, Potter," Malfoy sighed. "It's just a dance."
"We should stop this," I muttered, "people are watching."
"I seem to recall you accusing me of being the only one who care of what people think." He said thoughtfully, but all the same he pulled me a little closer to him and spun one last time before we ended our dance even while the song played on. I looked up at him with narrowed eyes.
"Why are you doing this? What's in this for you?" I asked him. I couldn't understand his angle for this dance of ours and when I saw him pause and furrow his brow, it made me believe that he didn't quite understand it either.
"You're insufferable, you know that Potter?"
"And you're arrogant," I accused with the same tone. "Yet, we're dancing."
"We were dancing, you ruined it with your questions." He said pointedly. "And I did it so someone would dance with you tonight."
"I already had someone dance with me and I didn't want to dance tonight." I countered, he actually chuckled mockingly at me.
"If you didn't want to dance, you wouldn't have danced with me. I did you a favour."
"And yet I still don't understand why." I insisted, letting my face fall into a sneer. "You could have danced with anyone, somehow you have all these sad little sods wrapped around your finger."
"But I danced with you." He smirked, his eyes a liquid silver like I'd never seen before. It was strange, being this close to him – it always was, during the few times it had ever happened. Malfoy was a totally different person when he was ignoring others and speaking only to me. His eyes held something much more meaningful which turned them not only into a different colour, but a different origin. It was like he wasn't a Malfoy at all.
His cologne – which smelt of rich, musk spice – was what alerted me to what was happening next, that he had come so much closer again. I could have sworn that I was seeing more intention and softness in his eyes at that moment than I had ever seen of his personality in the four years I'd done schooling with him. He was leaning much closer than I could comprehend. It was as if the mixture of his cologne and his closeness and his eyes had taken over my senses and now I was completely defenceless over what was happening...
What was happening?
As I surveyed his eyes and watched as they began to shift close, I realized what this reminded me of. It reminded of how only an hour or so ago – had it really only been that long? – I had been fending off Montague's attempt at kissing me and how allured I had been by the thought of it even if it was by Montague.
This felt so different though – Malfoy coming toward me looking actually quite vulnerable now that his eyes were closed and he was leaning towards me knowing that at any point I could reject him...it almost made me want to kiss him back. In fact, a disturbingly large part of me did want to kiss him back...
But was that only because I'd never been kissed before? I mean, I hated Montague with a passion and I'd contemplated kissing him just to have my first kiss now. I mean, I was at a ball in a dress in a fairytale – it was the perfect time to get it over with.
But this was Draco Malfoy. In first year he had tried to sacrifice me to the hooded figure, second year his father had tried to kill one of my best friends, last year he had willingly tried to get the hippogriff killed just because I had annoyed him and he knew how attached I was to it. Malfoys and Potters were enemies – not friends.
And most certainly not first kisses.
"You hate me," my voice rang, breaking the moment between us. He let out something that sounded quite close to a groan – or perhaps it was a growl. Either way he seemed annoyed by my interruption as his eyes opened and he looked at me. They were no longer the colour of mercury, instead they were the colour they normally were: a harsh, icy gray that made you shiver just looking at how desolate and angry they could be.
"Says who?"
"Well, I hate you." I reminded him, only to have him frown.
"No you don't."
"Yes, I do." I hissed.
"No, Harry does. You're just annoyed by me." Well that much was certainly true. "You and I are much more alike than you care to admit and because of your stupid attempts at being loyal to someone you actually hate, you're about to pull away from me like some stupid sod instead of enjoying a dance that was never supposed to happen anyway."
"I do hate you," I hissed, stepping away from him like he had burnt me. I hated when he constantly showed how much he could read the distaste for my own brother – it was humiliating, that I could be so sensitive about it and so against someone who was the only flesh and blood I had left to rely on. I couldn't tell which was worse – that Malfoy knew my weaknesses or that my weakness was Harry: the only thing that kept me going. "And you," I hissed again, even more enraged. "You clearly hate everything I am."
"I hate your allegiances." He corrected. "Your muggle-loving brother, for instance, yes I loathe him. And don't you think that I've forgotten how you can hate what he is just as much as I do. I remember that you hate what he does and that people think that you can't." I felt my cheeks flush because he was hitting the nail on the head. This was an unfair psychological analysis that was hitting every sore point he could think of. "At least you made good choices, Potter. Getting into Slytherin proved that there's something betterin you and your friends prove that you're worthy of good company. If it weren't for those damn blood traitor twins you're so fond of, I'd say you were one of us."
I felt my blood start boil. I turned my head to the side where Fred had been dancing at the beginning of the night, but he was nowhere in sight. It was a good thing because if he had seen me dancing with him and then not doing anything now that I was being brutalized in such a way, he would be disgusted with me. I didn't want him to be disappointed with me. My face must have been the shade of my hair because he let out a deep sigh and took a step back.
"Goodbye to civility it would seem." He muttered to himself, rolling his head back on his neck.
"Civility?" I screeched. "You think that insulting my friends is civil? Let me tell you something you Pureblooded prat, you will neverbe better than the Weasley's and I can tell you that for a fact. You will never know the meaning of something deeper than appearance! Do you even know that there is something under that skin you're so proud of, or the colours that you flaunt around? Or is that the problem, that there isn'tanything under that skin of yours? Maybe you're compensating for the fact you're the freak, you're the disgrace! The Weasley's are just as pureblooded as you are but I can tell you that they will always be better because at least they know they have something inside of them. Something worth calling pure."
Without another word, I turned on my heel and stalked out of the Great Hall. I didn't want to take one last parting glance at the beautiful decorations that would be gone tomorrow, that would erase this night from my blasted memories – this night was something that should go away.
Before I could disappear down to the dungeons, Snape appeared in front of me and looked at me lowly when I didn't say a word to him. It may have been my bright red face, or the angry tears that had gathered in my eyes, maybe it my white-knuckled fists...but something told him that I was very, very upset.
"To bed, then, Potter. You can make this up some other time."
Instead of hugging him like I felt the urge to, I turned a quick glare back at all of my wasted time and saw Malfoy in the doorway, watching me with a stoic face. I let out a sort of huff and growl before looking at Snape and nodding to him.
"Really?" I was horrified when my voice nearly cracked, wavering from the frustration and tears that were piling over my eyes – I could not tell what made me want to cry over everything that had happened. So much had happened in this night but for some reason there was such a feeling of-of...disappointment? It was almost like I was disappointed in Malfoy's actions and there was this horrible pain in my abdomen at the thought that I had almost kissed someone who hated everything I stood for and understood it just as well. "Thank you, professor."
"Of course," Snape responded, but he was not looking at me for this. Though I would never ask him, I could have sworn that as he said a quiet 'goodnight' his eyes were narrowed right where Malfoy had been standing mere moments before.
SO MUCH DRAMA! Montague, Fred, Cedric, Snape, and then finally some fluff with Draco? Whatever will Audrey do with all these little snapshots of love, lust, and life?
To my fantastic reviewers:
xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Good guesses on who sent the robes, I'm sorry for the wait I didn't mean to take this long with it! The next chapter will be exciting as well, don't you worry. Thank you for reviewing!
Dustfinger's cheering section: I'm sorry it took longer than I thought, but I hope the epic length of it makes up for the little wait :)
Laurafxox: Of course it was Snape! Her relationship with Fred will flicker in and out of the story line, but should you be so worried about him when he's the one who is trying to make her jealous? ;) Oh the drama I create! I'm cruel. Thank you for reviewing!
Novella Vialli: Thank you for reviewing, I hope you liked it!
xOxO Lost Angel OxOx: I'm glad you're enjoying it and hope that this chapter hasn't changed that. Thank you for your comments and I hope you liked this chapter :)
xxz0eyxx: Yes, I put almost too much thought into those robes to make them stunning, but then again since she danced with Malfoy, she had to look the part ;) I'm sorry he didn't quite ditch Pansy like you thought, but I hope him insulting her and dancing with Audrey made up for it! Thanks for the review!
Invincible Shadow: I don't blame you for not signing in, sometimes I get so frustrated saying "I'm on here so often, how do you not have me MEMORIZED yet laptop?" but I digress. I'm sorry she didn't end up dancing with Fred OR George, but I promise that they will be showing up a lot in later chapters. Hopefully you liked this update as well, thank you for your review!
Aria-chan: I hope you liked the answer to who gave her the robes and on that note, I hope you liked the entire chapter as well :) Thanks for your review!
Cloudiest Fungus: Thank you very much, I'm so glad you like it!
Shiningheart of ThunderClan: (First to answer your questions:) She used 'Godric' when she was in the boys dorms because it's an exclamation, kind of like Merlin or Salazar have been used. I imagine that in the wizarding world exclamations like that are used and alternated, kind of like here - also, she doesn't hate Gryffindors like most other Slytherins. She just is bitter over her brother :) As for why Daphne and she are still friends, she sees different qualities in people than Harry would see in Ron and Hermione like we are used to - I really wanted to drive that point home. To do that, I modelled Daphne after one of my own, more selfish, friends. Yes. These people really do exist. I hope you liked this chapter, thanks for your thoughts and questions!
Angel of the Night Watchers: I also felt nervous over the part with Montague, but I need to start bringing things with him to a head considering what I have in store for that character and our heroine. I'm glad you liked it and don't worry on the pause, I told you that you could take your time - though I won't deny I was so excited over this chapter I checked back around three times a day to see if it had come back yet. I'm a bit of a nerd. And yes, I can't believe they lost the Oscar! But then again, I am fairly biased so...
Anyway, dear readers, I hope you liked the chapter and the extreme length of it. PLEASE leave me your thoughts or comments - the next chapter will hopefully be out shortly. I foresee a lot of flirting in it - but whoever would it be with? Guess you'll have to wait and see!
Reviews are inspiring :)
- Egypt