I have been going through some extreme writers block the past few weeks, mostly due to work. I kinda forced myself to write this bridging chapter, though I fully admit writing a pair of somewhat socially awkward geniuses trying to be romantic is rather hilarious. Anyway, enjoy, and read the end author note please.
Upon awakening on the morning of Halloween Dancia went through her daily ablutions and soon made her way down to the Ravenclaw common room; glancing about in a minor bout of consternation as her paranoia over what could potentially occur today took hold. Thankfully Luna caught her gaze and she quickly made her way over to the young heiress as she tilted her head to the side as she observed the open air around Dany.
"Oh dear, you appear to have acquired a wrackspurt infestation since last night."
About right, really, moving on though.
"Have you seen Professor Flitwick moonbeam? I need to talk to him about this evenings activities..."
Luna smiled and took Dany's hand as she soon guided her to their head of head of house who was currently explaining Samhain traditions to a group of first years.
"I believe this is where we part ways Dancia Malfoy, do enjoy your date with Harry Potter tonight I am sure he will find it fulfilling."
With that Luna spun on her tip toe and wandered away, leaving Dany to once again acknowledge the fact that she would never truly understand how that sprite of a witch operated before turning towards her target.
Standing behind the group of first years Dancia leaned against a bookcase while crossing her arms and taking up the aire of someone who was not in any particular hurry, all while admittedly enjoying Professor Flitwick's explanation of the ancient holiday.
Eventually the brats had enough and as the impromptu lecture ended spread out while their head of house looked on in amusement, that is until he met the gaze of one of his favorites.
Not that he would ever admit to favoritism, really.
"Miss Malfoy, to what do I owe the pleasure of such a brilliant mind's company?"
Dany grinned at that shrugging while lightly running a hand through her hair, "Teenage hormones really. I want to take Harry out on a date tonight since the Halloween feast makes him feel like everyone is celebrating his parents murder. If I can get him to focus on me rather than that, well...mission accomplished yeah?"
Filius stared at her a few moments before replying, "Why this year rather than any of the others?"
Dany huffed at that while loosely crossing her arms, "First year, well it was the entire troll thing, none of us got to enjoy that one. Second year we all kept mum about the situation since it was really the first time any of us actually sat through the whole thing right? Last year though, Harry admitted to how...discomfiting he found the entire thing, so this year I wanted to do something special."
Filius raised a brow meeting Dancia's gaze evenly while said girl blushed brightly as she glanced to the side, "We're fourteen, I do not plan for anything improper. I just wanted a small, personal, intimate dinner for the two of us, and I'm willing to have a house elf chaperone watch us so you are sure nothing...objectionable occurs while on our own."
There was silence for a time before the charms professor let out a low chuckle while lightly shaking his head, "That is perfectly acceptable miss Malfoy, what exactly did you have planned for the evening?"
Brightening up Dancia went into detail earning a warm smile from the diminutive former duelist as he offered his own insights on how to make the evening more special, and in the end the teenage witch walked away happy as her head of house watched her receding form with open affection.
Ah, to be young again... Sighing Filius knocked his head to the side and grimaced at the following crack noise while deciding that perhaps taking Minerva and Severus up on their offer of a wee dram tonight may not be all that amiss after all.
The day passed without much fanfare, while the announcement of the three schools champions being chosen after dinner had many abuzz the trio ignored it, as did every other Ravenclaw who had bothered to research the tournaments history.
That is to say, the entire house.
Seriously, with the Triwizard Tournaments track record it would be surprising if even half of the house of wit and intellect would even attend the events, their sense of self preservation keeping them as far away from ground zero as physically possible.
Regardless, after conferring with Hermione, who gave Dany a far too smug smirk agreed to distract their friends as the Malfoy heiress shifted her boyfriend on a different route from all those heading to the great hall.
Harry, with a bemused tone to his voice eventually asked, "Where exactly are we going Dany?"
She smirked while dropping her head to his shoulder, "I am taking my wonderful boyfriend out on a date."
Harry's pace did not change but his brows did raise slightly as he drawled out, "A date, really?"
His girlfriend's smirk turned into a self satisfied grin as she turned to meet his gaze evenly, "Yes you stubborn boy a date."
He was silent a moment before replying, "Isn't it supposed to be the wizard he plans dates for his witch?"
Dany didn't hesitate to let his arm go, punch his shoulder, then retake her hold on said arm as she began walking again, "Don't be macho, you're terrible at it."
Harry resisted the urge to rub said shoulder as he simply decided it was most prudent to keep his mouth shut at this point, the annoyance that was building up was then dissipated as he glanced back towards Dany who had her arms wrapped around his with her head resting on his still sore shoulder.
A wave of affection hit him and he automatically leaned down to kiss her brow earning him a loving smile that made weird things flutter about in his stomach, and not for the first time he wondered exactly what he had gotten himself into with this relationship.
His thoughts unknowingly echoed those of his father a decade and half earlier, and his response to it was just the same.
He had no idea, but damn if it was not going to be a wild ride.
Approaching what seemed to be random classroom door that soon opened on its own Harry blinked in surprise when the room took on the form of their family's favorite Italian restaurant.
"This is Giovanni's isn't it...no the room of requirement?"
Dany grinned and nodded quickly, "Correct on both accounts."
There was an abrupt *pop!* and a moment later a Hogwarts house elf appeared before the couple while bowing politely, "Sandy is being ready to escort Lord Potter and Lady Dancia to their table."
A bemused smile crossing his lips Harry took Dany's hand and let her guide them to the only table in the massive room, resisting the urge to embrace his girlfriend to dance along with the classical music playing in the background as the elf directed them to their seats.
Maybe later.
As Harry sat across from Dany at their small table he weaved his fingers between her's as he raised a brow in a patently Black manner, "How long have you been planning this?"
Dany just smirked and winked at her boyfriend who let out a laughing scoff while shaking his head slowly.
"Ahem," the little elf began, "Professor Flitwick be saying that you two are allowed a glass of wine with your meals, only one refill though, what is you be having?"
"Moscato, please," Dancia stated quickly.
"Chardonnay, and thank you," Harry followed up a moment later.
The elf popped away and the young couple were left alone to look over their menus when Harry finally let out an amused snort.
"I fully admit, I had not expected this Dany."
Said witch let out a disinterested sniff as she continued to peruse her menu, "You said it yourself last year, the Halloween feast made you uncomfortable so... I decided to distract you so you could be comfortable."
Harry stared at her a few moments before shaking his head slowly, "What did I do to deserve having you in my life?"
Dany froze, lifted her head, and met his gaze evenly, "You being you, Harry."
A moment later Sandy popped back and placed the wine glasses on the teens table while pulling out a note pad and a biro, "Is you two being ready to place your orders?"
Bemused at the elf's serious bearing Dancia nodded quickly, "I shall have the aubergine parmesan, along with an extra bread roll if you would."
The elf nodded and turned to Harry, "The eight ounce black pepper steak, medium rare, a baked potato with lots of butter, and a side of roasted asparagus."
Sandy nodded and popped away a moment later while Dany turned her gaze towards Harry while raising a single brow, her boyfriend shrugged sheepishly at her inquisitive stare.
"Hey you and Mia constantly get on my case to eat more greens so I figured if I have the personal attention of the elves at the moment why not get something I actually like, yeah?"
Dany rolled her eyes while smiling brightly, "Yeah, I got you."
They distracted themselves with small talk until their dinners arrived and the young couple dug into perfectly prepared entrees while occasionally sipping on their wine, both being very careful to make sure 'drunk' never entered the equation.
Eventually they finished their meals and were presented with a tooth rotting dessert of caramelized apples baked into a cinnamon infused crust covered in vanilla ice cream.
Dany was reluctant to admit it but she was rather tempted to kidnap whichever elf had come up with that concoction and make them the official Malfoy family dessert maker, when she mentioned this to Harry his response was to break out laughing.
Eventually they finished with dinner and as the tempo of the background music picked up Harry grabbed Dany's hand and began dancing with her at a sedate pace, neither wishing to unsettle their stomachs as they leaned into each other, swaying back and forth while they both smiled like idiots.
As far as Halloween nights went...This was probably the best either teen had experienced, in one life or another.
"It's almost curfew, we should head back to the tower," Harry muttered as he rested his lips next to Dany's ear.
"Don't wanna, comfy," she muttered back as she buried her face into his shoulder while they still swayed to the music.
Harry was silent for a time before he broke away from Dany holding at her at arms length, she looked upset so he leaned down and kissed her, which earned him a smile.
"There's always tomorrow, Dany."
She smiled at that, "True... I suppose we pushed our luck already, you're right we should head back before any rumors start up."
Harry rolled his eyes at that while shaking his head slowly, "You're acting like that isn't already going to be a thing," pushing the door open he guided Dancia out as she quipped back in a cheerful tone.
"Oh yes, but the denials and counter rumors are going to be oh so much fun to mete out are they not?"
Her boyfriend scoffed while taking her hand, "You enjoy messing with peoples heads far too much Dany, you know that right?"
She sent Harry an incredulous glance while drawling out, "You have met our family right?"
Harry chuckled but before he could respond the young couple came to rather abrupt halt when they very nearly walked into Headmaster Dumbledore who was standing in the center of the hall, his heads of house flanking him as he peered down at the startled pair.
There was dead silence for a time when the ancient wizard finally spoke, "Mister Potter, would you please follow me to my office?"
Harry was beyond baffled, but Dancia grit her teeth as barely restrained fury was beaten back for when it would actually be useful.
So, it begins.
So Dany arranged to make it apparent to everyone that the protections around the goblet were essentially useless last chapter, and making sure she and Harry were no where near the goblet when the champions were chosen would indicate that it wasn't an attempt to draw attention. It was all she could really do honestly without having a clue as to who was running the show behind the scenes.
Next chapter will be fun though, Auntie's Bella, Cissa, and Andi are going to be very...uncooperative with the Headmaster.
Hopefully we don't go an entire month without an update again, I really, really hate writers block.