Ooh, nice big angst spiral at the end. Mention of suicide and poor Harry has to deal with it. Happy Draco in the first part. A Yule Ball.
Much thanks to Dawnatello, whose Remus/Sirius tale set in Marauder days, "Moonlight Sonata" had the original wizard masquerade. The examples I give in the story all come from her story, which can be found at her site, www.behindthemasks.com/dawntello/harrypotter Be sure to check out her Ralph for Remus section too! Ralph Fiennes is Remus Lupin. I don't care what the rest of you think.
I do believe I should have said something else, but I forget what it was. Oh well. It'll come to me.
Wolf-Child
As the moon sank in the sky, Noko's extra canine features melted back into her normal form. She woke slowly, blinking in confusion. Draco was sleeping with his head resting right below her own, arms curled around her body. Harry's head was rested on her pillow, curling around her slightly. Remus slept several beds over, Sirius watching over him protectively. Noko wagged her tail once. She remembered how Remus had helped her last night.
As Noko watched, Draco woke up. Her concerned brown eyes were the first thing he saw. "Hullo," he whispered.
"'Lo," she whispered back. Draco smiled and sat up slowly, rubbing his back and wincing. Harry muttered something and threw his arm over Noko. She rolled over and licked his nose.
"Mmm, stop it. . . Noko? I told you not to do that!" Draco laughed as Harry scowled at Noko.
"Oh come on, Harry! She's just a puppy, she doesn't know any better!" Harry stuck his tongue out at Draco, who only laughed harder. "My my, have I found the famous Harry Potter's weakness? He's not a morning person? His nastiest comeback is his tongue?"
Harry found himself chuckling along with Draco, much to his disbelief. The way Draco was disheveled from sleep and had genuine laughter on his lips was contagious. No one could stay in a bad mood for long, seeing Draco look so happy.
"What's so funny?" Sirius asked, appearing behind Harry. Harry and Draco could only shake their heads and point at each other, laughing even harder. Sirius wrinkled his nose, puzzled. Noko copied him, and he chuckled. "Hey little one, you don't have to worry about your dad trying to take you away anymore. He won't ever bother you again."
Harry and Draco stopped laughing. "Sirius, what did you and Remus do to him!?"
Sirius frowned. "We didn't kill him, didn't need to. Remus refused to go near him, and I was pretty edgy myself. If I didn't know better, I'd say the creature had rabies, without the foaming at the mouth part."
Draco stroked Noko's head absently. "But werewolves don't get rabies."
"That's what frightens me. If this werewolf was sick . . . well, it can't be good. We didn't have to kill the wolf, he died on his own. If he had bitten one of you. . ." Sirius trailed off. "We're going to see if Dumbledore knows anything and alert Hagrid about the possibility of sick animals. Until then, stay away from the forest, and tell all your friends to, too."
Sirius went back to Remus, who was waking up. Draco leaned over the bed. "Harry? Do you think it's bad?" he whispered.
"I don't know, I've never seen him this worried before," Harry whispered back.
For those few fleeting moments that morning, Draco and Harry weren't arch-nemisises, rivals in a world being torn apart. They were two boys, with a common love for a puppy.
Several months later, Hogwarts was buzzing with excited energy. Dumbledore had announced that another Yule Ball would be held, but this time it would be a wizard masquerade. Wizard masquerades were different from muggle ones. Instead of dressing up in costumes, witches and wizards dressed up in their best dress robes and donned a wizard mask. Wizard masks were unlike muggle masks. They were made of a magical substance and molded to the wearer's face. No two were alike. The magic of the mask was extraordinary. They could turn cold-hearted snakes into the life of the party, brash young men into quiet charmers, and can help people find their soul mates. Many couples had fond memories of relationships springing from the face of a mask, and the Hogwarts students were swept away by the idea.
Ron was toying with the idea of asking Hermione out, but was too afraid to do it. Harry reminded him of the last Yule Ball and several minutes later Hermione and Ron were an established couple.
Fred, George, and Lee had all been dared to go as girls, so they had spent their last Hogsmeade weekend searching for the most stunning witch robes and masks they could find. They kept their purchases secret, informing any who asked that they would just have to wait like everyone else.
Remus offered to baby-sit Noko for Draco and Harry. The ball would be the night after the full moon. Remus wouldn't have enough energy to attend, so he had no problem giving the boys a night to themselves. Sirius was disappointed that Remus wasn't going, and hinted that he probably wouldn't be attending either.
Draco spent the time up to the Yule Ball dodging Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. By the night of the ball, it was official. Draco Malfoy was going solo.
Harry did the same as Draco, only he didn't really have to avoid anyone. Many witches were overjoyed that two of Hogwarts' most eligible bachelors would not have dates for the ball. The only trouble would be in finding them.
"Harry! Stop looking at that thing!" Ron hissed as Harry checked the Marauder's Map for the umpteenth time that night. "Noko's fine! She's exhausted from the full moon even more than Remus is! She's not going to do anything but sleep!"
Hermione giggled. "Harry, you're such a mother hen! It's so sweet!" Harry scowled at her.
Two stunning witches emerged from the crowd of dancing bodies and made their way over to where the trio was sitting. They were dressed alike in form-fitting pale gray robes that complemented their silver masks nicely. They wore dainty silver gloves on their hands and had their blond hair pulled up with identical silver ribbons. Behind their masks, brown eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Ronniekins! Darling, how are you!"
"How did you know it was me?" Ron groaned. The twins laughed and sat on either side of him.
"We got you those robes, remember? Harry, Hermione, how are you two enjoying the ball? Is Ron being a good date?"
Harry laughed. "Well, Ron's being a perfect date for Hermione, but he's not all that great with me. He likes to ignore me and go dance with Hermione all the time. How are you two enjoying the ball, Fred and George?"
If possible, more mischief danced in the matching brown eyes. The twins leaned closer, devilish smirks on their faces. "To be honest, it's great! It's so much more fun to be girls at a dance then it is to be guys! We're trying to flirt with every Slytherin we can find just to see the looks on their faces! With our hair dyed and faces masked, no one knows it's us, especially if we split up! And if someone tries to do something . . . inappropriate . . . well, let's just say we know a bit of muggle defense techniques as well as lock picking!"
"Fred!" Ron cried, horrified. "How many guys have you kicked?"
"Moi?" Fred asked. "Oh, hardly any! I'd say . . . five? Yeah, about five." Ron looked scandalized. Hermione giggled and Harry wasn't sure if he should laugh at the thought of Fred kicking some poor, unsuspecting guy, or wince, sympathizing with the poor, unsuspecting guy. Fred winked at them and the twins stood up again. "Well, there are about 250 Slytherins in the school, so about 140 would be attending the ball. Together we've only flirted with . . . oh, about 20 of them. That's 120 more to find and flirt with. Let one of us know if you spot Malfoy! It's double points for whoever gets him!" The twins slid off into the press of dancers again, their now blond hair soon out of sight.
"Those two are insane." Hermione stated.
"Yeah, I'm going to miss them next year."
After Ron and Hermione finished their punch, they went back out onto the dance floor, leaving Harry alone. Harry nursed his cup for a little, then decided to try his luck in finding a dance partner. He had improved since last year, but Parvati wasn't too keen on giving him a second chance. He didn't really mind either.
After making a circuit of the Great Hall, no easy feat, mind you, Harry still hadn't found anyone who caught his eye. He decided to take a walk in the gardens and see if there was anyone who wasn't busy in the rose bushes. A familiar gray robe caught his eye. Harry decided to leave Fred? George? and the girl he was snogging alone. He'd tell Ron and they'd tease him later, but right now Harry felt that he'd be more embarrassed if he interrupted.
Behind a fountain, Harry found a teen sitting on a bench, played with an intricate dagger. Harry felt a sixth sense warning, kind of like when his scar hurt, only without the pain of his scar hurting. "Hello."
Without looking at Harry, the boy asked, "Does it hurt to die?"
Definite warning bells now. "I don't know, I've never died."
"Me neither. That's why I haven't done anything yet. I'm scared of it hurting."
Harry didn't know what to do. This wasn't the type of conversation he ever thought he'd have, especially at Hogwarts. However, he knew that if he walked away now, tomorrow he might be hearing of a death, one that may have been preventable. He reached for the boy's hand. "Come on."
The boy allowed himself to be led off without complaint. Harry tapped a statue with his wand. "Levitium," he murmured. The statue opened and Harry slipped inside. "In here, come on."
Harry had found this last year, when he had gone off one day to just be alone after the Triwizard tournament. Fred and George probably knew about it, and the Marauders, since it was on the map, but Harry hadn't even told Ron and Hermione about this place. The statue was a stag, another reason why Harry favored it. He always felt closer to his father in here. The other boy drew his legs up, and Harry sealed the statue. "As long as we don't yell, no one can hear us. I tested it by locking my owl in here. I couldn't hear her even though I stood right outside."
"Why did you take me here?" The boy's voice was devoid of all emotion. Harry bit his lip.
"Well, it just seemed like you needed to talk, but I didn't think you'd like to risk your conversation overheard. . ."
"So you're helping me? You don't even know who I am."
"I don't care. You need someone to help you, even if all they do is listen! I'm willing to listen, please, let me help you! Maybe it's best that we don't know who each other is! This way you'll know I won't ever tell on you, because I don't know you!"
The boy's grey eyes filled with tears, but he hurriedly blinked them back and studied his hands. "You want to help me . . . just because you feel like I need help?"
Harry almost answered yes, but paused. The boy's voice had cracked and wavered. "No, not because I feel like you need help. I feel like you need a friend." The boy's head shot up, his pained eyes meeting Harry's calm green ones.
"Friend?"
Cliff hanger?
Don't you hate authors who do that?
Oh yes, now I remember what I was going to say! I've done all the revising, and it turns out there WON'T be a second part to the prologue. Everything's caught up now, unless you can find some severe mistakes. I hope not though.
~Crawler
(did you notice George didn't speak? And where was Lee? He was dressed up like a girl too, wasn't he?)