You can handle this, Harry.
Just go to the ball.
Ignore Malfoy.
Just go down there!
Harry shook his head furiously. There was no need for pep talks, he told himself. No need whatsoever. He could handle it, he could. He could go down there and face Malfoy and say, it doesn't matter how many dances or balls you take her to. She's still mine.
But was she?
She's not as innocent as you might think.
What had Malfoy meant?
Harry scowled and removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes furiously. His arch enemy's words were going to haunt him until he discovered what they meant. The Sarah he knew was rather like Hermione, in that she seemed to keep no secrets. But, if Sarah was really like that...what on earth was Malfoy blabbering about?
Lamia felt her insides writhing as she hastily made her way to her office. She hadn't fed in a while and she needed to do so, otherwise very bad things could happen. She knew she shouldn't have put it off this long, but she had time to spare before she had to chaperone the dance.
She reached her office quickly and unlocked the door. She dashed to the large trunk in the back of the room, where she kept a large supply of blood, received via the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She muttered a spell and the trunk lid flew open to reveal-
Emptiness.
Lamia stared at it in horror. All the blood- where was it?
She shook herself. Sitting there gazing at an empty chest would do her no good. She needed to find Dumbledore. No- alone, she could control her hunger, but around a human there was no telling what would happen. She'd have to stay in her office. But- that wouldn't help anything either. She'd just end up losing her mind and start rampaging around the school, and Dumbledore would surely come looking for her anyway. Her only option was to feed on the grounds. She wasn't allowed outside Hogwarts without an escort skilled enough to contain her.
Lamia turned toward her window, leaving the trunk open as an explanation for Dumbledore should he come. She felt her vampiric instincts take over and she leapt from her window sill, gliding swiftly to the forest upon landing. Once she was in the forest, she wouldn't have to worry about running into students. Hagrid would be the only one in danger, and Lamia knew that Hagrid would know how to disable her should she attack him.
She felt the darkness of the trees wash over her and she stood still in the silence, relishing it.
Now, she could hunt.
Sarah stood in the Great Hall along the side near the door, twisting the billowing sleeve of her misty gray robes. She was nervous, for more reasons than one. The one weighing most heavily in her mind right now was, how would Harry act? Would he and Draco behave or would they end up having problems? And when was Draco going to show up?
She had no sooner thought it when she felt a hand in the small of her back. She turned around and smiled somewhat nervously at Draco, who gave her a quizzical look. Slipping her arm through his, Sarah waited for him to ask the question as he led her over to a table.
"Why the long face, Sarah?" Draco asked, on cue.
"Just nervous, that's all," she replied. Draco smirked slightly and brushed his lips over her cheek as they sat.
"Don't worry. Everything will go just fine," he said. "Enjoy yourself. The time will come."
"But Draco- I don't know if we should-" Sarah began, but Draco placed a finger over her lips.
"We're going to go through with it, and it will all go smoothly," he said soothingly. "I promise. Word of a gentleman."
"But Draco," Sarah repeated. "How do I know that-"
"Sarah," Draco said, somewhat sharply. "This is neither the time nor the place. What we should be doing now is dancing. Come on."
He took her hands and pulled her up before sweeping her onto the dance floor and into a rollicking waltz. Sarah scowled slightly at how he brushed off her doubts but quickly picked up the beat of the music and allowed Draco to lead her about the dance floor.
"You look lovely tonight, Sarah," he said.
"You say that every night, Draco," Sarah replied, smiling slightly.
"I mean it every night," he responded, his voice dropping to a low whisper as the music slowed. He pulled her in closer to him until their bodies were touching. Sarah giggled slightly and nestled her face in Draco's chest.
Ron stormed up to the boy's dormitory looking for Harry, who was still looking at himself in the mirror hanging on the wall. The lanky Weasley walked over to his friend and poked him sharply in the back. Harry jumped and glared at Ron.
"What was that for?" he asked scathingly.
"Are you quite finished primping yet?" Ron asked, snickering. "Hermione and I are ready to go."
"So go already," Harry snapped, sitting down on his bed.
"Without you? You mean you're not going?" Ron asked, following him.
"I don't know if I can do it, Ron," Harry said quickly. "I don't think I can go down there and not hex him. I swear, he's doing this on purpose...there's no way he really loves her, there can't be!"
"Why not, Harry?" asked Hermione, appearing in the doorway. "Because if he loves her, then there's the window of chance that she might love him too?"
"No," Harry said automatically. He sighed. "Yes."
"You wouldn't be able to stand it if she loved him, would you, mate?" Ron said. "I mean, I really don't see how she could, but hey...you never know."
"She did spend her entire life with him," Hermione said. Harry sighed again and stood up, walking over to the door.
"As long as Voldemort doesn't get her, I'm happy," he said firmly before grinning at his friends. "Now let's go to the ball."
Hermione and Ron were much more eager to get to the ball than Harry, which was understandable. They had dates- each other- and they had reason to be there, so they walked ahead of Harry. Who, on the other hand, was feeling quite weighed down by the fact that his Sarah was in there with Malfoy.
Of course, was it right for him to call her his? She'd never said anything alluding to that, and he'd never asked. Malfoy had every right to be in there with her...after all, Harry had done nothing of the sort to stop her.
He scowled. He should have done something. Malfoy was always taking whatever Harry wanted, or in some way thwarting his goals and/or normal existence. Bah- as if Harry Potter could have a normal existence.
He was so immersed in his thoughts he ran right into Ron and Hermione, who had for some reason stopped in the doorway.
Sarah sighed contentedly, forgetting for a moment about what was going to happen when Harry got there. She just relaxed and let Draco's well-polished dancing skills carry her across the floor. She herself had never actually been taught how to dance...Mrs. Narcissa had told her that the woman didn't need to know how, she just had to let the man lead her, which Draco was doing a brilliant job of.
A woman's choir assembled on a platform where the staff table was usually situated and began singing "The Gondoliers." Draco grinned snarkily at her and sped up, twirling her round and round so fast her head spun. Sarah laughed as her knees buckled slightly from dizziness. Draco caught her and led her over to a table, smirking.
"Are you alright, Sarah?" he asked, raising her hand to his lips. Sarah smiled at him, recovering slightly from her dizziness.
"Quite alright, my friend," she said. Draco smiled arrogantly and kissed her lightly. As he pulled back, Sarah grinned at him.
"That's all? I thought you loved me more than that, darling," she said, falsely pouting. Draco smiled and pulled her into his lap, kissing her deeply. Sarah kissed him in return, relishing the fact that soon she and Draco would put their plan into motion.
Harry rubbed his nose and glared at Ron and Hermione.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing?" he asked. "Go inside!"
Ron and Hermione turned around to face him, their faces somewhat ashen. They moved closer together so that Harry couldn't see the Great Hall through Ron's shoulder and Hermione's bushy hair. Harry scowled at them.
"I think you ought to go to the bathroom before you go inside," Ron said, very unconvincingly. Hermione nodded, but Harry simply scoffed.
"I already went. What's in there that you don't want me to see?" he asked, irritated. He pushed them apart and strode into the Great Hall before stopping dead much in the same fashion as Ron and Hermione.
Sarah...is...kissing Malfoy.
He's kissing her.
She's kissing him.
"Sarah..." Harry mumbled, shocked and hurt.
She's kissing him...