October
You know how they say "Madame Pomfrey can fix things in a heartbeat?"
Well, they were right.
Although it took only one day for Millicent's legs to heal; she still refused to be let out of the Hospital Wing. Itwas now the beginning of October, andMillicent stated that she would like to rest a little bit more to avoid the swarm of students asking questions.
"Are you okay!" "What happened?" "Tell me everything!"
Madame Pomfrey allowed only Draco and me to visit her because she knew we had the right to. The look on Daphne's face was completely priceless when she was banned from entering; scoffs and all. After that she scuttled away without a word.
Draco waited for me outside the doors of the Hospital Wing; for sake of privacy.
"Millicent, answer this completely truthfully…are you sure you're okay?"
Millicent beamed at me. "Yes, I am. I just need to stay here a little while longer."
"Oh...Okay…well, that's fine with me."
"I'll see you another time, Pansy. Don't worry about Daphne either; she's not fun at all. You're the only real best friend."
I smiled at her and realized I was trying to suspend my tears of happiness.
Madame Pomfrey approached us and said that I should be leaving. Before exiting the doors, I waved farewell to her; even if she already was sound asleep. That indeed was a brief conversation, but it meant a lot to me to know that her best friend was alright. I rapidly wiped my tears away, not wanting Draco to worry about me.
"So," Draco started; resting his elbow on my shoulder. "How did it go?"
I laughed. "She's fine…she wants to stay there a little longer," I held his hand. "Well…I might sound odd saying this, but are you okay too?"
He sniggered a bit. "Don't worry about me, Pans," he gave me an absolute embrace from behind. "You're the one to be worried about."
I pondered for a moment. "Really," I saw a group of Slytherin girls glaring in anger from the sight of us. Then, I turned back to Draco. "We have two months to know for sure."
"Can't wait," he whispered to me. We then walked to the Slytherin Common Room.
There was another thing on my mind; too – The first Hogwarts Annual Halloween Masquerade – was coming up.
It was clearly a short notice – just two days before the Masquerade. I however, was informed on October 30th. What was I going to wear? The end of October had finally arrived.
No one had to worry about dates and things like that. Although I really wanted to with Draco, we weren't intended to go with anyone. The thing was that we were to wear our Halloween costumes with a mask. According to McGonagall, you are to wander around and find a date yourself. Most would think that plan was completely simple; but the real challenge was you didn't know who they were. Whoever they might be, their true identity would be hidden behind the mask.
It was now an hour away from the ball; and I stood in front of my mirror. I had my makeup and hair done. Fortunately enough, I found a spare mask under the bed of Daphne Greengrass and decided to take it. It was quite stunning, actually – the mask was white with violet ribbons streaming from the ends. The other detail about it was that it only covered the eyes.
And as for my costume – I've had this kept somewhere in my belongings, but I've never worn it (who would wear a Halloween costume when it wasn't Halloween?) before. I'm not sure what it was supposed to be, but it contained such an intricate design I couldn't help it. You can say it was like the Beauxbaton Girls' uniform, except that it was magenta and black in color and much, much more frilly. Everyone knew how I loved to wear frills. To top it all off, I wore striped purple and black over-the-knee socks with black heels.
Before I would head out to the Great Hall, I looked at the girl in my reflection once more. She wasn't recognizable. The slightly pointed hat concealed her shortsleek strands. The mask hid everything; and the colors just brought more out of her mysterious identity. Perfect.
Arriving in the corridors, I saw costumes of all kinds. I passed a cat, a sorceress, a mermaid, and other things that were unable to be identified as...well, anything. The fairy, however – anyone could tell it was Daphne Greengrass. Although her mask covered her full face, her pigtails just gave it away. What an idiot. I didn't even bother going over there and snapping at her; I preferred this night to be Daphne-wrath-free.
There was also another result that left me bewildered. Some girl wore a costume that replicated the ocean; a dress with a bell-shaped bottom with a pattern of waves. Her arms were covered with long blue gloves that had nets hanging from the tips of her fingers; little fish-shaped sequins hanging in them. She didn't look familiar to me at the moment with her turquoise mask covering half her face. She had long straightened brown hair and pinkish lips. Two boys accompanied her, one with jet black hair, and the other with ginger red.
Anyone could straighten their mane of bushy hair, right? As stupid as I was, I was convinced that the ocean was that Filthy Mudblood Granger. Potter wore dark blue sorcerer's robesand Weasley had on a werewolf costume.
It seemed sort of dumb, I know – but I wanted to kill some time looking at people's costumes. As much as I knew Draco, perhaps I might not be able to recognize him either. Let's just say that I was taking little detours.
Following Granger, Potter and Weasley – was a girl slightly shorter than the Mudblood. She was the exact opposite image of the ocean; her fiery red locks of hair seemed to go with her fiery dress. Her orange gloves had crimson smoke encircling them (I spell, I suppose) and she clung to Potter's arm. It was that Blood Traitor; Ginny Weasley.
It took me quite a while to actually arrive at the Great Hall; I was observing many costumes with awareness. I would much rather have surprise encounters with Draco than try finding him.
Some girls stopped dead in their tracks to stare at me; I merely ignored them.
Finally arriving, I proceeded through the familiar doors of the Great Hall. Like every year, there were floating pumpkins with various carved faces in the air. The bewitched ceiling had orange and black mist swirling around; thunder and lighting striking after every five minute interval. The room itself was pretty dim, but the eerie glowing cauldrons illuminated the place. (Can't you just imagine?)
I had no idea what to do. Most people didn't have a date yet; like me, they were wandering around. Briskly walking towards the punch table, I bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry, um-" I wasn't usually the person to apologize, but I didn't want to get into a clash now.
They turned around rather quickly and faced me. Whoever it was, they wore a long black cloak that covered absolutely every part of their body except their neck and chin. Their skin was pale and although they didn't reveal their face, I could tell that they were flashing a smile at me. Not meaning to sound obnoxious, but they had a familiar smell.
I had no reasonable explanation as to why I was so unthinkingly sluggish. "Hello there, Draco."
I might have seemed flirtatious, but what do I have to lose? It was Draco.
"Hey, Pans." He revealed his head by taking off the black pointed hood. His skin looked slightly paler than it usually was; I assumed it was the work of makeup to add on to his mystifying look. "What are dressed up as?"
I took my mask off and let it down on the table. "Oh, um…" My left foot hid behind the right. "Actually, I don't know. I've had this costume for a while now." Laughing a little, I picked up my mask and pretended to observe it. "Um…what about you?" I was pretty sure I didn't sound offending.
"Oh, this?" Draco grabbed his left sleeve and started flapping it around. I caught a glimpse of his Dark Mark, which, oddly enough, made me flinch. "This is fathers'. It's a Death Eater cloak."
Just to think that I would've been wearing one of those depressed me, but I didn't want to ruin the mood. "Oh, that's clever. But, wouldn't the staff be…um, concerned?"
Draco clicked his tongue. "Yes, I knew you would think about that. See, the thing is, Snape went up to them and kept telling them how 'it was just a costume'. It seemed that he persuaded them quite well. So, you enjoying the night so far?"
"Oh, me? Actually, I haven't really done anything yet."
"Well, I'm about to change that." He took my hand and escorted me towards the center of the Great Hall, where a crowd of students were jumping up and down for a reason I didn't know about.
It seemed, in fact, that the party of students were cheering for yet another concert performed by The Weird Sisters. Random outbursts and shouting emerged from the crowd. The lead singer took hold of his microphone and kept crying, "Are you ready? Are you ready!" The students gave in and hailed more stronger and louder.
When they started to sing, I didn't move. The thing was, I could waltz and slow dance, but I couldn't - well, you know what I mean by dance. I mean like jumping up and down and screaming-your-lungs out kind of 'dance'.
Draco seemed to be having a great time, so I decided to join in, no matter how inexperienced I was at it.
I could see that Daphne had managed to squeeze through the swarm of students and raved next to who seemed Miles Bletchley (who didn't have a costume).
The ear piercing noises started to bore me, and I was desperate for some slow music. Straight on cue, "Do the Hippogriff" had just ended and another familiar tune, "Magic Works", began its familiar melody. I have to admit, this was one of my favorite songs. Draco and I had slow danced to this during the night of the Yule Ball - a perfect experience.
Remembering how nervous I was at the Spring Ball; I calmed myself down when he put his hand on my waist.
I have never told anyone, no, not even Draco - but when I'm alone, I practice these kind of things. Just so I'll get better at it.
His feet moved so swiftly; I was amazed on how some people could really dance like this. He showed me those elegant movements that were presented at the New Years' Celebration. I don't mean to brag, but I was doing pretty well with Draco's support.
I started giggling. Especially when he spun me in the air and lifted me up which followed to a perfect landing.
Who could everbeas graceful as this? As nimble and as...as charming?
Following the dance we decided to stay outside for a while. Draco placed his hands over my eyes like a blindfold and guided me somewhere.
"Where are we going?" I whispered, moving my foot around the ground. "Draco, can you-"
"Ssh. It's a surprise. Now be careful, Pans."
I wasn't sure what he meant by 'careful', but I did find out. The path he seemed to be taking me went downhill and I could feel gravel grinding underneath my feet.
"Okay, place yourself there," he guided me and I sat down on some cold, hard surface. Where was I?
"You ready?"
"Yes, Draco, I am ready."
He removed his hands and I smiled at the scene my eyes displayed before me. I was sitting on a very familiar rock."This...this place!"
We were by the edge of the lake. There was a tree leaning over slightly, providing shade over the rock. I remembered this place. This was 'our spot'; introduced to me in my third year.The last time Draco had taken me here was after our dance at theYule Ball. I never had enough time to come over here myself and enjoy the scenery.
I scooted over a little bit so Draco could sit next to me. He wrapped his hand around my waist and pulled me closer; I decided to sit on his lap and experience the familiar feeling of caress as he stroked my hair. My giggling began for unexplainable reasons.
Our hands were indivisible and I examined the silver ring he always wore; and he examined my engagement ring.
"Draco, I love you."
"Love you more than words, Pans." He blinked slowly and I found myself being completely spellbound with those gorgeous eyes of his.
We started kissing afterwards. I don't know why I'mso different like this; most girls would prefer snogging - but kissing was fine with me. Or at least anything in between.
When our lips finally let go, I just cuddled him for a while; my head pressed against his chest. Although it was rather cold and windy outside, his Death Eater cloak kept me nice and warm. I could feel and hear his slow heartbeat as I laid there.
Love was giving him the ability to break my heart, but trusting him enough to know that he won't. I trusted Draco.
More than you can imagine.