The Entrance Hall was full of students in exquisite dresses and elegant suits. The doors to the Great Hall were closed and lively chatter bounced off the tall stone walls. Faces blurred together as Jade tried to find her date. She was looking for his hair, no one else had that pale shade of blonde, almost white in certain light.

"Hello, ladies." Blaise smiled charmingly as he came up to the girls with Theo at his side.

"Hello, boys." Pansy grinned.

"Where's Draco?" Jade asked and Blaise looked out at the sea of people and then shrugged.

"Don't know, he went looking for you a few minutes ago."

"You look…" Theo started and when Jade looked away from the crowd, she found him staring at her.

"Breathtaking." Blaise clapped Theo on the back, a bit harder than necessary, to get him to refocus. "You all look breathtaking." Blaise then grabbed Pansy's hand and kissed it gently. Pansy eyed him suspiciously but a smirk pulled at her lips.

"Since when did you become a gentleman?" She asked.

"I've always been a gentleman." He turned and offered her his arm and she quirked an eyebrow at Jade before accepting his arm. "See you guys inside." Blaise winked and then they made their way into the crowd towards the Great Hall doors.

"Shall we?" Theo smiled at Gretta, offering her his hand.

"We shall." Gretta giggled and then the two of them quickly got lost in the sea of people. Jade sighed and scanned the room for a familiar face. There was Longbottom, next to him was Ginny. It didn't take long for her to find the Weasley twins, Fred was with Angelina Johnson, and George… didn't have a date. Maybe they just hadn't found each other yet, she couldn't imagine why Fred would've gotten a date and George didn't. She finally took a few steps forward, heading in their direction. It would give her a new angle to look from and she wouldn't be standing alone. She only made it halfway, another Weasley caught her attention, well, more so his clothes caught her attention. Ron was standing next to his date, Padma Patil. She looked beautiful in her turquoise gown. She stood next to her sister who was wearing a dress in the same color but Parvati looked uncomfortable next to Harry and a slight flick of her eyes to the left and she knew why. Draco was standing next to Harry, he was saying something to him. He was wearing an all-black suit and he stood there with an easy swagger and confidence that you just could not mimic. He looked handsome. Jade smiled as her feet swiftly took her over to them.

"I never thought I'd see this." She declared and they all looked at her, immediately she blushed under the attention.

Draco's words died on his tongue when he saw her. He took a moment to just stare at her, to drink in the sight of her in that lovely dress.

"You look beautiful." He heard Potter say next to him and he quickly glared at him. Potter was smiling at her and his date cast him an annoyed glance.

"Stop looking at her like that, Potter," Draco warned quietly and Harry blinked, and then his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Draco stepped towards Jade and reached for her hand.

"Absolutely stunning." He told her before kissing the back of her hand. She smiled shyly and he let his lips linger on her skin for another second before pulling her closer and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Thank you. I hope you three aren't arguing, not tonight." She looked at each boy in turn but Ron was distracted, he kept looking around the Entrance Hall, as if he were searching for someone.

"I was just asking if they'd seen you," Draco explained. "It was meant to be quick, I didn't want to get caught with them-"

"No more than we want to be seen with you." Harry interrupted him and Jade held up her hand, stopping them before it escalated.

"I hope Harry and Ron have told you how great you two look tonight," Jade told the twins. She didn't like either of them, but tonight she'd put everything aside and just have fun. They looked surprised that Jade would address them at all and Parvati nodded but her sister just scowled.

"No, he hasn't." She said pointedly and Ron looked at her and then at Jade.

"Hey, Jade." He greeted her before scanning the room again. She'd seen Ron's dress robes before, but when he had them on… he looked ridiculous. She thought she'd remembered seeing lace before but she couldn't find any now, which helped, but the burnt orange color just looked awful.

"Right." Jade eyed Ron for a moment before smiling back at Harry, "We'll see you inside."

"Y-yeah, see you." Harry stuttered, he looked nervous but Jade was happy he was speaking to her. She must've imagined something was wrong. Draco led her away from them and he relaxed slightly.

"What?" He chuckled when he looked at her and found her staring at him.

"Sorry, I'm just processing that you talked to Harry-"

"Alright, let's not make a big deal out of it." He said but he couldn't help the grin stretching his mouth when he saw her smiling up at him. "I was just asking if they'd seen you." He clarified and she nodded.

"That's a big step for you." She taunted him and he rolled his eyes before he looked her up and down again.

"Merlin, you look-"

"Blaise said breathtaking." She pointed out.

"Stunning, breathtaking, heartstopping, whatever you prefer, all true." Jade's heart fluttered. Was he as nervous as she was? He didn't seem like it. She didn't know why she was so nervous.

"Champions, over here please!" She heard Professor McGonagall's voice call from somewhere near the Great Hall doors as they slowly swung open. It's just Draco. She reminded herself as they followed the rest of the students.

"Oh, wait," Jade remembered the rose in her hands and she held it up for him to see. "My mother sent this for you."

"Really?" Draco asked, surprised. Jade carefully pinned it to his jacket and adjusted it slightly. "That was nice of her."

"Well, she likes you," Jade smirked. The walls of the Great Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry night ceiling. The House tables had vanished, instead, there were about a hundred, smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people. Draco had spotted Blaise and the others before Jade did, she was too busy looking around. He led her over to where their friends sat and pulled out her chair for her.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy." She smiled and he bowed his head before sitting in the seat next to her.

"Does she look hot, or what?" Pansy asked Draco as soon as he scooted his chair in and Jade's eyes went wide.

"Pansy." Pansy leaned back in her seat but she rose her eyebrows at Draco. Pansy was adding another layer to her nerves unintentionally but it still irritated her. She thought it was funny, or maybe she thought she was helping ease any tension but whatever her intentions were, it wasn't helping. Applause had started and they all turned to the entrance of the Great Hall to see the Champions now entering with their dates. Jade clapped along with the rest of them as they made their way through the Hall and up to a large round table at the top of the Hall where the judges were sitting. It was when the last pair passed their table that Jade paused. It was Krum and his date, his date was the reason she had stopped clapping. It was Hermione. But she didn't look like herself. She had done something with her hair. It was sleek and shiny and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing a pretty dress made of periwinkle-colored chiffon and she held herself with poise. She was smiling, she looked nervous, but it was a full smile, and Jade could really tell the difference between her teeth now and how they looked before. Pansy gaped at her as she walked by and even Blaise and Theo had looked her way differently. Dumbledore smiled happily out at the students as the champions approached and took their seats. Everyone was there from the first task, except for Mr. Crouch. In his spot sat someone Jade recognized. It was Percy. He gestured for Harry to sit next to him and Jade watched as Harry joined him, he looked just as confused as Jade was.

"This all looks good," Gretta said, drawing Jade's attention back to their table and she then noticed the small menu in front of her on top of her golden plate. "I think I'll do the steak." She said and at that moment, a steak appeared on her plate and they all looked at it.

"Interesting," Theo mumbled. "Pork chops." He declared and his plate filled itself. They all said something off their menus and then talked as they ate. Their conversations were normal, Jade didn't know why she thought it'd be different, what did she expect? It was another opportunity to remind herself that the dance was just a dance, everything else was the same. Sure, they wore fancy clothes and there would be dancing shortly but she didn't have to play it up as this big monumental night, it was just another night. She was eating dinner with her friends and the atmosphere was warm and familiar.

"Granger looks different, right? I'm not just now noticing her for the first time or something?" Blaise asked after a drink from his goblet.

"No, she definitely looks different." Theo nodded.

"She probably used a good number of glamour charms." Pansy scoffed and Jade sent her a look. "Back me up, Malfoy."

"Hm?" He looked away from Jade before she could notice him gazing at her.

"Granger."

"What about her?" He asked.

"Look at her, mate." Blaise scoffed and Pansy shot him a glare. "What?" He asked her.

"She looks the same to me." Draco glanced up at the judge's table for only a second. "She did something with her hair, so?"

"Thank you." Pansy sighed. Jade didn't partake in this conversation, she let her eyes wander, she found her Gryffindor friends sitting at a table on the other side of the Hall. They were all laughing at something Fred had said, all except Ron, he was glaring up at the judges' table. More specifically, he was glaring at Hermione and Krum.