Pseudo Cinderella and the Slytherin Prince

Chapter 3: I SAW HER FIRST!

Draco's POV

I'm the first to break the stare-down Blaise and I are holding. I'll be damned if I'm not the one to escort that beautiful woman down the stairs. I see my competitor has the same idea…as do most of the male population in the room! With a few subtle forgetful and stunning spells, I finally make my way over to the mysterious beauty. I can't help but be a little dazed, at first, by her radiance. God, her complexion's absolutely flawless, judging by what I can see of her face. I finally regain my pride and offer her my hand. "I would be honored if you would allow me to be your escort down the staircase, fair lady," I say, laying the charm on thick by bowing my head ever so slightly. Don't want to give the impression that Malfoys bow down to just anyone. The girl blinks at me for a moment; bet she's more surprised at my stunning looks than I am at hers. Well, I mean of course she is. Who could blame her?

"Why, thank you, kind sir." She replies and smiles at me. God, she's got beautiful teeth. She takes my hand, and I feel an odd sensation pulse through my body. There's something about this mystery girl. Really, I could just carry her to the nearest bed right now. As we descend the stairs, I settle on taking this fine opportunity to check her out a bit. Ooh! The dress is a bit low-cut at the top, goody for me! Oops, better focus my attention elsewhere. Don't want to get slapped before I even get her to the third floor.

She's looking around nervously. Heh, must not be used to people clearing a path for her. "Would you like to dance, my lady?" I should probably ask her name. I wonder if she knows mine. She doesn't say anything, just gives a polite smile, nods her head, and allows me to lead her to the dance floor. Who set up this shit? Waltz? Ballroom music? What do they think we are? Young adults brought up in the highest society of the Wizarding world? Hey, at least she knows how to dance to it. And are my eyes deceiving me, or does her dress seem to glitter more when she moves? Or is that just her? We finish out the song, and I nod to Blaise for a change in music. In an instant, the whole room is blaring with – HIP HOP! What the bloody Hell? Oh well. Leave it to Blaise Zabini to put on some muggle dribble. I wonder if he's playing that '60 Pence' person, or whoever it is he's dressed as. It's his party, after all. Besides, it's got a nice beat to it. She also rolls her eyes at Blaise's choice of music. "May I ask your name?" There. That's subtle enough, right?

"You may ask, but you won't get an answer." Oh, I see. Bit of a tease, are we? Well, I can play that too.

"Well then, do you know my name?" Of course she knows who I am. Everyone knows who I am.

"No, I don't think I do." I thought EVERYONE knew MY name. Well, everyone should.

"Well, then maybe you've heard of me, I'm Draco Malfoy." There, THAT ought to ring a bell. ...Shit. I was going to play along, wasn't I? Oh well, there'll be plenty of time for 'teasing' later. I ALWAYS get my way.

"Malfoy…Malfoy, hmm…no, sorry. I guess I've never heard of you. You see, I'm…new, to pureblood society." New? What do you mean new?

"Do you mean new to this pureblood society, in England?" Really, my name should be known around the world. God knows that's how it's heard when I'm shagging Pansy. Or any girl, for that matter.

"Sure," she says, amused. Well, this is certainly a first. I've never met anyone – besides Potter, with his head stuck in the muggle clouds – who hasn't heard of me, or at least my family. This is perplexing. How do I go about this? It's like two perfect strangers meeting for the first time. Well, I guess we are, but for some reason I feel comfortable around this girl; like I've known her for years, even though she won't even tell me her name.

"Well, my mysterious beauty, shall we dance to this…music, or shall we choose a different pastime?" I throw in a seductive eyebrow-raise. That always works. Now all she has to do is admit she wants me – even though she just met me, but who could resist? – and then it's upstairs to the third floor!

"Hmm…Well," she pretends to think about it, putting a finger up to her chin. Come on, girly, I can see past that. Say what you really want. "…I choose dancing," she states in a matter-of-factly way, while pulling into the center of the dance floor. WOW. No wonder she chose dancing. This girl can really shake her ass.

"Go Chica, it's your birthday! We gone party like it's your birthday! Sip Bacardi like it's your birthday! OWWW!" Blaise, what the Hell are you chanting? First of all, 'chica' is Spanish for girl (yes I know, the all mighty Slytherin Sex God, Draco Malfoy, knows Spanish? Like, oh my Gawd!) and that's probably not her name. Second of all, how do you know it's her birthday? And third of all, I was wondering when we'd break the alcohol out! Oh, stop your annoying screeching, Zabini. Have some decency. I mean really, first dressing up as a muggle, and now acting as obnoxious as one? But it seems as if this chatter is encouraging My Mysterious Beauty. Oh great, now there's a crowd staring at her. Well, that is, the guys are staring at her, the girls look insanely jealous. Well, they should be, look at her go! Oh, she stopped.

"That was amazing! How'd you learn to move like that?" I make sure to slip an arm around her waist, territorially.

"Well, you know…I've just sort of, picked it up from…someplace." Good enough for me.

"Well, if you move that great standing up, then why don't we go see what you can do when we're both horizontal?" Another eyebrow-raise. Aha! She's blushing, she does want me! Let's go then, I've got a bet to win.

"Well, what girl could refuse an offer like that?" She's right. What girl could refuse me? "A girl like me, that's who." Damn! What do I have to do to bed this incredibly stunning piece of treasure? "Besides, I'm thirsty after all that dancing."

Thirsty, eh? Maybe I can work this to my advantage. I start to lead her over to the bar, when Zabini steps between us. Damn it, Blaise! I saw her first!

"Excuse me, mademoiselle, but would you care for a drink?" Damn you, Zabini. Damn you.

"How thoughtful of you, um…"

"Zabini. Blaise Zabini. A pleasure to meet you, miss…" Ha! She's not going to tell you her name!

"Oh, I think 'miss' is just fine for now." TAKE THAT, ZABINI! NO! DON'T KISS HER HAND – oh, GODDAMNIT!

"Like I said, a pleasure to meet you, miss." Oh, now he's whispering in her ear. How delightful! Alright Blaise, if you want to take it up a level, we'll take it up a level. "Care to dance with me? I'll make sure not to step on your feet, like my boy Draco, here," Blaise says as he thrusts his chin in my direction. What do you mean, 'I won't step on your feet like Draco!' Oh, that's it, 'friend.'

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I think I'll just sit down and sip my drink for a bit." HAHA! IN YOUR FACE ZABINI! "But I'll take you up on your offer later!" Damnit! What I this girl doing to me? Oh great. This night's going to be longer than I'd first expected, even before My Mysterious Beauty made her elegant entrance. Yes, I think that's what I'll call her. At least in my head. I'd better get something to drink to, if I'm going to make it through the torture of this 'little bet.'

A/N: Just thought I remind you o keep in mind that from the start it was our intention to play up the "Slytherin Sex God" angle as much as we could. And also keep in mind that Draco and Blaise are seventeen year old human males. Well, hope you liked this one. Draco POV's are so much more fun to write than Hermione's. But 'Mione POV's are fun too, because there's more depth and detail involved. And I think from here on, you'll notice that the story's mostly in a scene-repeating-but-in-two-different-POV's style. That will change on and off. I thought It would make it more interesting to have both main characters' seperate thoughts. This style was inspired by (not taken from) RootbeerFloat, because "I Didn't Know You Cared" was the best fic ever and I'm sory I didn't get to finish it before it was deleted.