Valerie was completely unhappy. Luna ignored her in all situations, even in the classes they shared. She honestly hoped that after a few days the girl would have forgotten what happened or at least given her an opportunity to apologize.

"Look at her." - Valerie spoke to Ginny, pointing to Luna sitting at the Ravenclaw table. "She is sitting alone, when she could very well be sitting here with us."

"Exactly." - Ginny commented and turned her attention to her stew.

Valerie felt a twinge in her chest. That was it then. Luna would rather be alone than with her. Realization hurt more than she imagined.

Every day she tried to approach Luna to apologize, even though she didn't think she was entirely wrong. At that time, she was stressed out with Draco and accidentally lashed out on Luna. She just needed to make the girl understand this. But more and more Luna kept her distance, and consequently so did Ginny.

Of course, she didn't want Ginny to walk away from Luna because of her. But realizing that the two of them were the only friends she had at school helped nothing in dealing with the stress of being so far from home and virtually alone.

"What is it?" - Ginny asked one day while they were having breakfast.

"It's a gift from my aunt." - Valerie replied throwing pieces of toast to the owl and tearing up the brown paper that enveloped the box it had brought.

"Early Christmas gift?" - Ginny commented.

"So to speak..." - Valerie opened the lid and pulled a piece of fabric out.

It was a black gown, with small crystals that shone down the length of the skirt like stars in a dark night sky. She stood up and shook out the garment in front of her, and a few other girls along the table turned their attention to her, although they generally ignored her.

"Have you decided to go to the Slug club Christmas dinner?" - Ginny asked.

Valerie nodded as she rolled up the dress and put it back in the box.

"Accompanied?" - Ginny clearly wanted to get somewhere.

"Unfortunately, not with who I wanted. The last gossip I heard is that Luna was invited by Neville." - Valerie took her seat back.

"How much will you hate me if I say 'I told you so'?"

"Not much. You are not wrong."

"I told you so." - Ginny smiled sadly. "Who's the lucky one, then?"

"Draco. He's having a hard time and I thought taking him to the party would cheer him up a bit." - Valerie shrugged.

"It's your funeral." - Ginny said darkly.

Harry was bitterly sorry to have attended that dinner. He was scheduling the Gryffindor Quidditch team's training on the specific days and times of the Slug club meetings; and it would have been a perfect strategy if Professor Slughorn hadn't noticed. The potion master made a point of talking to the heads of the houses about canceling all school activities on December 23rd so that the invited students could attend his supper.

Now he was trying to run away from a writer, invited by the professor, who insisted that with five or six interviews he could write a full biography of his trajectory since the Dark Lord's defeat at his humble age of one, to this date. All he wanted to do was dance with Ginny, she looked wonderful and he couldn't be happier to know that Ron, despite the initial strangeness, didn't bother much with their relationship.

"GwenogJones!" - Ginny exclaimed pulling him by the hand to a burly, dark-skinned woman. Harry recognized her from a photo he had seen on Slughorn's wall, she was the captain of the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team.

Slugorn sensing the opportunity to demonstrate that he knew Harry to another famous person, popped almost out of nowhere next to her and said:

"Gwenog, this is Ginny Weasley and this is Harry Potter. Both are in the Gryffindor team, Ginny is a chaser and Harry Potter, of course is..."

"The youngest Hogwarts seeker of the century." - Gwenog interrupted holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Harry sighed with relief. It was the third time that Slughorn had approached him to introduce him as the Boy Who Lived or The Chosen One. Gwenog was already his favorite person at that party because she insisted on recognizing him for his sporting abilities instead of his crusade against Voldemort.

Suddenly, despite the music and the elves' relentless movement, everyone stopped in their spots to watch the couple who had just entered the room: Valerie and Draco Malfoy. Harry had to admit, the two were nothing short of stunning; however, Draco had that air of superiority he always had and Valerie didn't seem to be too happy to be there. They went to a corner and each took a goblet from a tray and began to sip casually.

Harry couldn't take his eyes off Valerie. He wondered if she was having any success on the "mission" he and Ginny had assigned her. Gwenog Jones seemed to have noticed his disinterest and quickly found some excuse to walk away from the couple. Before Ginny could scold him for being rude Hermione approached them, out of breath.

"Have you seen Cormac?"

"I thought you were with him." - Ginny pointed out.

"He's being very inconvenient." - she was still panting. He keeps trying to make small talk and anything is an excuse to want to hold my hand.

Hermione, with all due respect, but that doesn't seem to me at all inconvenient on his part. You're his date, it is natural that he wants to get closer to you, as long as it is with your consent. - Harry tried to reason.

"He keeps trying to get me under the mistletoe all the time!" - she looked desperate.

"Here he comes." - Ginny announced and Hermione disappeared through the curtains on one of the side walls.

"Poor thing. I think she will be regretting accepting his invitation until the end of the year." Harry laughed.

"Yeah..." - Ginny took Harry's hand and dragged him to the middle of the room. "Do you think Valerie has achieved anything with Draco?"

"I have no idea, but I was thinking the same thing."

Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and automatically he felt his arms grip her hips. Normally he would feel ashamed of dancing around people, but he was lost in the immensity of Ginny's brown eyes and suddenly nothing else mattered.

With the heels she was almost the same height as Harry and it was not difficult to shorten the distance between their lips. Heat passed through his chest, down his belly, and stopped at his groin. The Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map were in his pocket, if Ginny was as sure that they should go all the way as she was always stating, tonight would be the perfect occasion.

"Excuse me, Draco. I'm going to say hi to my friend." - Valerie pointed to Luna who was dancing with Neville.

Draco seemed too lost in his own reverie to care. He scanned the room, evaluating the guests as if he were deciding who was worthy of his time or not.

"Hey, Neville!" - Valerie approached the couple, interrupting the dance. "I don't think we were properly introduced. Valerie Malfoy." - and held out her hand.

Neville shook Valerie's hand with a slight suspicious look.

"Mind if I steal your date for a dance?" - she asked, but before Neville could answer, Luna snapped:

"If you want to talk or dance with me, you can ask me. I am not an object that can be borrowed." - and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Valerie took a deep breath, giving thanks to the heavens that Neville had withdrawn in face of Luna's outburst.

"Can we dance? One song only?" - Valerie asked timidly.

"Now you want to dance with me? Aren't you worried about what people will think?" - Luna uncrossed her arms, but her hands were fisted.

"I want to talk to you, but you won't give me the opportunity. So, I thought if we were dancing..." - Valerie was embarrassed.

Luna took a step forward, approaching Valerie and relaxing her hands. She understood the cue and took a step too, leaving no space between them. Valerie didn't know how to do this, she had never danced with a girl before, so she took one of Luna's hands with her right hand and the left one she landed on the small of her back.

Almost immediately the song that was playing ended and unconsciously Valerie's eyes widened.

"It's all right." - Luna whispered. "We count from the next song."

The band started to play a slightly lively melody, which started with a sound that was very reminiscent of a bass. Valerie moved smoothly from side to side, Luna following her lead.

"I'm sorry for calling you..." - Valerie hesitated. "For offending you. I was very stressed that day and it was unfair of me to lash out on you."

"You hurt my feelings." - Luna stated.

"I know. And I don't expect you to find a place in your heart right now to forgive me." - Valerie spoke in a whisper. "I understand that my words hurt you, but you have no idea what I've been going through since my mother died."

"So, help me understand." - Luna said in the sweet voice that Valerie heard in her dreams.

"I don't want you to feel pressured." - Valerie shook her head. "It wouldn't be fair of me to force you to live on terms you don't agree with. I also need to forgive myself. It would make me extremely happy if I could have you back in my life, if only as my friend."

Luna agreed with a sad smile and rested her head on the curve between her shoulder and neck. Valerie took a deep breath, inhaling the exotic scent of Luna's hair. After a few seconds she realized how stupid she was being with her worries, because hardly anyone at the party was even looking at them dancing together. The song ended too quickly and before they parted Valerie asked:

"Can I write to you during the holidays?"

"Okay." – Luna let go of her hand, heading for the appetizer table.

"What was that?" - Draco approached her with a goblet in each hand. He offered Valerie one.

She just shook her head, it felt like she could still smell Luna's hair in the air.

"Come with me, I'm talking to this guy who knew grandpa Abraxas and wants to meet you." - Draco pulled her by the hand.

"Miss Granger." - a voice proclaimed from the shadows on the balcony.

Hermione jumped slightly and squeaked.

"Sev... I mean, Professor Snape!" - she said putting her hand on her chest. "I hadn't seen you there."

"Most certainly." - he observed. "I figured you'd be enjoying the party, not hiding behind curtains on the balconies."

"I'm running away from my date, so to speak." - she did not want to have to justify herself to him since their relationship was not exactly conventional but the situation seemed to ask for an explanation. "He's been spending the entire party trying to get me under the mistletoe."

"Surely he is not being... disrespectful?" - Snape asked in a cold voice.

"Oh no!" - Hermione hurried to say. "He's just being annoying. I suppose it is slightly my fault. Although I made it clear that we were just coming as friends, I didn't really specify that the status of our relationship would remain the same regardless of what happened at the party. I think I'm going to dance to a song with him and just retire back to the dorm. I had hoped to make good contacts tonight, but it's impossible with Cormac around me all the time."

Snape snorted.

"What?" - she asked, still watching through the curtains trying to keep Cormac in sight if she needed to get away from him.

"Well, if you are going back to the dorm so early and this is my only opportunity to see you in private tonight, I feel obliged to say... You look stunning. Anyone who can dance with you is a lucky person."

Hermione blushed.

"How many heart attacks do you think we would cause if we marched onto the dance floor now and danced together?" - she joked.

"Some. Minerva and Horace, for sure."

"I wish I could dance with you." - she whispered.

"Tomorrow, Hermione." – Snape assured.

He avoided addressing her by the first name anywhere in Hogwarts, except his office and personal chambers. She felt an overwhelming urge to tell him that wasn't what she meant. That she wanted to dance with him here and now, in front of everyone. That she didn't care who knew or how many heart attacks it might cause. That she didn't want to have to lie to her family and friends about where and with whom she was spending the holidays.

But she bit her bottom lip and kept her thoughts to herself. This was neither the time nor the place for this conversation. She wasn't even sure if she really wanted to have this conversation for fear of the outcome. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she saw Cormac rushing to the balcony where she was and with no time to say goodbye to Snape, she quickly slid through the curtains on one side, while Cormac entered on the other.

Author's notes:

As I say in the summary of this work, I have tried to keep the plot as faithful as possible to what happened in the Halfblood Prince and when the time comes, I will do the same with Deathly Hallows. Having said that, I don't think I need to keep reaffirming things that we already know that happened in history if they happened in a similar way to the canon. For example, the cursed necklace that Katie Bell touched happened but the scene was not described here so I won't be padding out; we have students going for a trip in Hogsmeade and on the way back Harry approaches Valerie saying that someone tried to sneak a cursed necklace into the castle and that he suspects Draco. So, I didn't describe the scene line by line here because it doesn't make sense... People already know how it went.

In the case of the Slug Club Christmas party I made a few small changes: Neville was not invited in the original story (which does not make sense to me since his parents were famous aurors, but ok) and here he was. Draco was also not invited and this unrolls a plot event where Harry overhears Draco and Snape talking about a task that Voldemort gave the boy. Here it happened differently so Harry will still use Valerie to try to get to Draco... Long story short: what is different will be said and if not said, assume that it happened as in the canon hahahahah

Last but not least: in no way do I want to naturalize Cormac's behavior towards Hermione, both in the canon and in my history. But I also don't think it's an abuse situation. At no time does he force her to do anything and she has to "run away" from him because like any teenage boy who goes with a girl to a party, he is expecting her to get involved with him romantically. The problem is that Hermione is only with him as a couple because she can't go with Snape (in the canon she wants to make Ron jealous) and Cormac doesn't know that.

Leave a comment, I love to know what you are thinking of the story. For now, we have a lot of drama and romance, but I guarantee that soon there will be action. #spoiler