Chapter Twenty

A/N: Thank you to Sammii-jojo for reviewing the last chapter.

Allie stood in front of the gilt mirror on her bedroom wall, smoothing her dress and turning on the spot, trying to make it seem as though it suited her. However, no matter how hard she tried, nothing seemed to make the outfit feel right.

The dress itself was perfect. She and her mother had spent hours together, designing each and every detail with the seamstress at Chateau de Fleur, until they had created something utterly perfect. It was made of numerous layers of magenta satin, ruffled over each other to create the effect of rose petals in full bloom. The layers were edged with a silver thread that shimmered in the candlelight, and the same thread was worked into the shape of a rose on the bodice, as well as being used to tie the corset laces at her back. She had piled her hair into a mass of curls on top of her head, held in place by a jewelled butterfly clasp that had once belonged to her mother. Thanks to Narcissa's elaborate planning, her daughter looked truly stunning. The only problem was the Ball itself, or rather who she would be attending it with.

No matter how much she had tried to think of a way to get out of attending the Yule Ball with Blaise Zabini, none of Allie's plans had worked. In fact, a few of them had served to give him the idea that she wished to begin a relationship with him.

Allie's heart lurched in her chest at the thought of him asking to start a romance with her; if she began a relationship with Zabini now, if she gave even the slightest accidental hint that she wanted to marry him, then her father would start to speak with his mother, and before she knew it, she would be walking up the aisle to be greeted by a man she could not stand. She wished she could say that her father would never do such a thing, but with their family still so low down in the rankings since the War, she could no longer vouch for his intentions where building bridges were concerned.

The clock chimed loudly, sending a shiver of shock up Allie's spine as she jumped. She glanced over her shoulder, searching for the purpose of the timepiece's call. Eleven o'clock. Only an hour until she would lead the first dance of the Ball alongside her fellow Champions. Alongside him.

Unbidden, thoughts of Harry entered her mind. She had not heard him speaking of attending the Yule Ball at all, but then again, she had tried to keep her distance from their group of friends, in case they should feel that she had betrayed Harry in some way. 'Not that they should, when nothing has ever happened between us.' she thought, trying to convince herself to think of something else. 'But maybe that's why they would feel betrayed.'

The second noise that reverberated through the room did not shock Allie as much as the first had done, and she calmly called her summons towards the door, where a knock had sounded. She did not turn her head until she heard the lock on the door click shut, and was greeted with the image of her mother.

Dressed up for a ball, Narcissa Malfoy seemed far younger than she had done during the war, the silver of her gown shining with the flickering light of candles on her wall, reflecting the light onto her porcelain cheeks and her golden blonde hair, giving her an ethereal glow. She looked truly beautiful, like a princess from a fairytale.

"Are you ready, darling?" the woman asked, her voice soft, bereft of the coldness it held when she spoke to others she did not know. That was something Allie had always found astounding; how so many could despise her mother, could refer to her as being cold hearted, a queen made of ice, when among her family, there had never be a woman so warm and loving.

"I suppose." Allie responded, knowing that her heart was not in the answer. She felt no need to pretend she felt a way that she did not, especially not with her mother, who could read her as easily as the pages of a book. "Well, waiting won't make me any readier."

Narcissa awarded her daughter a half smile, but her features were so overwhelmed with concern that the gesture held no real worth and it was gone in a moment. However, as Allie moved toward the door, she saw her mother's mouth open briefly before closing again, as if she had wanted to say something and had thought better of it. But instead of dwelling on the question her mother may have asked, the young woman decided to ask one of her own.

"Mum," she began, continuing the moment her mother's eyes met hers. "If you had the choice, would you have chosen to marry my father?"

Silence fell, only breaking when the door clicked shut. Narcissa's grip had slackened in shock and she took half a minute or so to school her features back into their neutral expression, moving lethargically towards the cushioned chair beside her daughter's bed. Her eyes were glazed, as if she was lost in a trance. Or in a memory.

"What do you mean?" she asked eventually, although the younger woman was fairly certain it was a superfluous question. She answered all the same, perching herself on the edge of her mattress.

"I mean, if your marriage had been arranged and you were in love with someone, who would you have married? The- the person you loved or the person you were told to?" Allie stumbled slightly over her words, such was her fear of the answer she would be given. However, to her shock, her mother spoke the answer she had wanted to hear.

"The person I loved, of course. After all, that's what I did."

A/N: Please review!