A/N: Granted, Halloween is over. But what would a Sue-story be without a Halloween feast? And remember: review! ^_^
Pictures from the Past
Since two weeks the Slytherin girls seemingly only had one topic to talk about: the Halloween Ball.
Only at the end of last year the student council had managed to convince Dumbledore to hold a ball every year. Now rumours were flying around like they had just before the Yule ball in Draco's fourth year. Only this time it wasn't about what was going to happen at the ball, but only about who would show up with who. The news that Rhiannon and Draco would go together had been all over the school in about two hours. Most of the boys and girls alike weren't content with that as most of them had planned to ask either Rhiannon or Draco out, respectively.
However, at the moment, Rhiannon and Tracy were in a clothing shop down in Hogsmeade, shopping for dresses. They had no intention of dressing up, so they had decided to simply buy dresses and tiaras and say they were costumed as princesses.
Tracy was trying on an ice-blue dress and Rhiannon was commenting on it when a woman entered the shop.
She was dressed in blood-red robes and had long, black hair that covered her right eye. Rhiannon also found she had a strange aura around her. The woman looked at Rhiannon for a short moment before turning to a shop assistant.
In the split second that the glance was on Rhiannon, a searing pain shot through Rhiannon's head.
"Ouch!" panted Rhiannon and put her hand to her temple, as if that would ease the pain. Tracy turned to her friend.
"What's the matter?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.
"I don't know..." said Rhiannon. Then she added in a whisper: "She just looked at me and my head hurt shortly. It was so strange..."
"No," said Tracy, also whispering. "It's suspicious. Something's not right with that woman..." Rhiannon nodded.
Tracy returned into the changing booth and Rhiannon took the dress she had selected earlier and went to the pay for it. The strange woman from before was paying for some black material and when she was done she turned around and looked directly at Rhiannon.
"Are you a Hogwarts student?" Her voice was coarse, yet gentle. Rhiannon nodded. After all, the question was justified as she wasn't wearing her school uniform.
"Then we'll surely meet again..." The woman went to the door and exited the shop. Rhiannon didn't know why, but while the woman had been talking, she had felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
Tracy stepped onto Rhiannon's side and the two exchanged quizzical glances, then, simultaneously, shrugged and turned to the cashier to pay for their dresses.
The evening the Halloween Ball was to take place was rather busy - at least in the girl's dormitories.
Tracy was running in small circles, panicking if it was really right to go with Mark. Rhiannon just sat on her bed and was rather amused. While watching her friend she applied some transparent lip gloss, gold-brown eye shadow and rouge. Then she tucked a single champagne-colored rose behind her right ear and stood up. She grabbed Tracy's arm and dragged her downstairs - Tracy shrieking all the way down.
Their dates waited for them at the bottom of the stairs that led to the girl's dormitories. Draco was wearing a brand new, silk emerald dress robe trimmed with silver, while Mark had a dark blue one with black inside lining.
When Mark and Tracy saw each other they both blushed. Rhiannon smiled, let go of Tracy's arm and took the last steps of the staircase.
Draco smiled at her and took her hand. "You look gorgeous."
"Thank you," replied Rhiannon. 'I knew, I made the right choice,' she thought at the same time, rather pleased with herself. She run her hand over her dress which was made of pure, champagne-colored silk and had no sleeves or straps to hold it up; the skirt fell out very nicely too. On the left side, just above her heart a tiny bouquet of artificial flowers was applied. Rhiannon hadn't put on any other jewellery, she thought the dress looked pretty enough on it's own (the plan with the tiara had kind of died after she had bought the dress...).
The two turned and made their way too the Great Hall where the ball was to take place. The other students where already in there, dancing to the music. Draco held the door open for Rhiannon and the two entered.
Rhiannon gasped with amazement. Thin black veils were floating on the walls, floating, as if moved by an invisible hand. Lit candles floated through the air and so did some of the ghosts of Hogwarts - the Grey Lady, for instance. The long house tables had been replaced with a lot of small, round ones. It was all giving of an eerie atmosphere.
"What do you want to do?" asked Draco.
"Dance," was Rhiannon's immediate answer, who had just discovered some spider webs that were placed on most of the tables. Draco chuckled and led her to the dance floor. They picked up the slow rhythm of the song and moved around the dance floor.
"Let me guess," said Draco, some seconds into the dance. "My parents taught you how to dance, right?"
"U-hu..." Rhiannon nodded. She leaned her head against Draco's chest.
'Mmh... co...' She didn't get to complete the thought. A sharp pain shot through her head again and made her twitch. But the strangest thing so far happened then.
She opened her eyes again and looked up at Draco - just that Draco didn't look like Draco anymore. His hair had gone silvery and came down till his shoulders. His face was thinner and his eyes had even changed from icy grey to emerald green. He also looked a good deal older.
"Rhiannon?" Even his voice sounded different - more deeper and gentle. Was this even Draco at all? She wasn't so sure anymore and decided to pull away, but Draco (or whoever this person was) wouldn't let go of her.
She blinked and when she opened her eyes she saw Draco again. They were both still dancing to the music.
"Draco..." whispered Rhiannon with a shaking voice. "Can we go outside for some seconds? I'm not feeling all right..." Draco nodded and led her off the dance-floor into the grounds of Hogwarts which had been decorated once again with rose bushes and fairies. Behind a little rose bush group the two sat down on the grass.
"Just what happened in there?" Draco broke the silence after some moments. "You looked different for some seconds."
"You did too. Older. Your hair was different, your eyes too..." Rhiannon trailed off. Draco nodded.
"Same with you. Well, not exactly. You still had your hair and eyes."
Rhiannon sighted and looked up at the stars. "Whatever it means, I think we'll have to go through it together."
"We will," Draco assured her, stood up again and helped her up. "Let's go inside again."
When the two re-entered the Great Hall, they immediately saw Harry Potter, costumed as a pirate, coming towards them. He was swaying slightly from side to side. They didn't move in surprise and after some seconds Harry had reached them.
"Wanna dance?" He asked Rhiannon with a stupid grin. Rhiannon took a step backwards and Draco laid a protective arm around her waist.
"Hands off my girlfriend, Potter," Draco snarled. After some seconds in which Harry made no move to go away he added: "And ten points from Gryffindor for almost getting drunk. Even if it's only to complete the pirate look." Then he dragged Rhiannon onto the dance-floor again and left Harry standing there.