Ok, this is the Ball scene... so enjoy!
"Draco? Are you ready yet?" Narcissa called gently, never exactly raising her voice yet Draco knew from her tone that she was getting impatient, from outside her son's quarters.
His quarters, not room, consisted of a bathroom, small sitting room, bedroom and an office library, where he spent much of his time, reading in the hazy darkness to get away from the world as well as brewing potions, a passion that had hastily turned to near obsession.
"Draco please, you know how I hate to be late and we have to floo into the Greengrass estate" she trailed off unsure.
Draco sighed from within, he knew his mother was still delicate from being subjected to random Ministry questionings and searches, and now that she was off house arrest she was not allowed to apperate.
He opened the door to see his mother looking as regal as she had in the months leading up to the return of the dark lord, she faded for a while, but now she was back and he couldn't help but to smile when he looked down at her, offering her his hand, "You look lovely mother"
She smiled and slipped her ivory gloved arm through his, allowing herself to be guided through the halls to their grand fireplace, "Oh darling if you continue to be so charming, we wont have any trouble finding you a suitable match"
Draco sighed softly but otherwise ignored the comment, glancing instead at his mother who smiled smugly and thoughtfully, her white blonde ringlets curled up into a gorgeous up-do and her silver gown accented perfectly by his midnight black crisp silk robes.
She stepped into the fire first with a frown of annoyance on her face, before throwing the floo powder down and calming stating, "Greengrass estate" then she disappeared in the green fire and left Draco to ponder some things over.
Should he go? How angry would she be if he showed up late?
That was enough to have him scrambling into the gigantic marble fireplace and throwing the powder down just as his mother did, "Greengrass estate" he muttered and then gingerly stepped out of an equally extravagant fireplace to the sound of music and near intolerable schmoozing.
He spotted his mother, already in the middle of the party speaking with a couple and their daughter, Draco stifled another groan but she caught his eye and he made his way over, brushing the dust from his robes as he did so.
"And this is my son Draco, Draco you must remember Charity Eisensson, she'll be returning to Hogwarts in the fall as well, a sixth year dear?"
"Yes ma'am" charity whispered, blushing furiously when Draco stooped to kiss her hand.
"Its lovely to see you again Charity, would you care to dance?" he said as he rose and offered her a fake half smile and his hand.
She took it happily and pranced off with him. Draco led her out onto the dance floor and they joined hands, dancing. Draco knew what a good dance partner he could be, he had danced his whole life. He also knew how to be extremely charming when he wanted to be.
He twirled her around, determined to actually show her a good time, and hopefully get his mother off his back for the rest of the night.
That however was too much to ask, Charity certainly enjoyed herself, and proved to be quite the little chatterbox by the end of their second consecutive dance. She chatted and flirted shamelessly, Draco led her off the dance floor and back over to her parents before kissing her hand and thanking her for the dance.
She looked extremely disappointed until he explained that he wanted to dance with his mother before she was asked by men.
He strode through the people chatting and dancing to find his mother seated at a table, she looked rather glum.
"Mother?" he asked carefully as he sat down, Narcissa didn't meet her sons eyes.
"Its just strange, right Draco? You feel it too… the shift in power. They used to adore us, and now, its like we have to fight for any attention…"
Draco reached over and grasped her hand, "Its alright mother, people are just tentative. You knew they would be this way."
"Yes I suppose" she trilled off before snapping back into the present, "Oh! Wasn't she just the sweetest thing? No?"
Draco sighed and sat back in his chair.
"Dracy!" he heard and immediately his blood ran cold. Not Pansy.
Narcissa sat up straighter when she saw the girl force her way through the crowds and throw herself at Draco, who was still sitting down.
"Draco, darling, introduce me" Narcissa insisted, her voice hinting at becoming icy.
"Mother, Pansy Parkinson" he said, knowing that his mother would know all about Pansy.
Draco admitted to his mother a couple summers ago that he was no virgin, and that was initially attributed to Miss Pansy Parkinson. She was more then willing at any time, which came in particularly useful during the stress of his sixth year, she was a wonderful stress reliever as long as she kept her mouth shut and her hands to herself in public.
But that was all she was.
"Its so great to meet you Mrs. Malfoy, Draco tells me such wonderful things about you" she gushed, Narcissa, however, looked unimpressed.
"Yes, he's a sweet boy"
"Dracy lets dance!" Pansy whimpered in his ear.
Draco stood, fumbling with his collar a little, "I just need to be excused for a moment, after that, alright Pansy?"
His mother continued to talk to Pansy as Draco fought to remain calm. He stood and glanced down at her, "care for a drink mother?"
"Oh! Well I suppose but-"
"Right, I'll be back soon." He was careful to stand just out of sight for Pansy to give up waiting for him but he was whisked into conversation with an 'old family friend', as he would describe himself.
"I suppose Hogwarts ought to be even more of a disappointment now wont it?" the crude boy was asking as he continued to bash the establishment and all the teachers within the school.
Of course, Draco Malfoy would never be caught dead defending Hogwarts or the teachers, but after his encounter with the old Muggle Studies teacher, the one eaten by the snake, he would never feel the same about the teachers, or anyone else for that matter.
He had learnt an important lesson, all blood mattered enough so as not to be shed, sure his blood was better but no blood should ever be spilt.
So Draco just nodded to the boy and took another sip from his drink, glancing over at his mothers table to check for Pansy, but instead what he saw nearly made him drop his glass.
Anna. Sitting with his mother, looking perfectly normal, and dare he say… pretty. That ghastly stalker was perfectly laid back and charming, she was such a conniving little-
"Excuse me" Draco said suddenly when he just couldn't stand to be in the room anymore, when he felt like the walls would come crashing down and all people would do was watch them and make snide remarks about it. Because that's how you did it in the Pureblood world, you sat back and did nothing, then complained about everything.
It was sickening, and sometimes Draco couldn't hold onto his mask of indifference, and he really, really needed to go somewhere and scream at the top of his lungs.
The boy Draco hadn't bothered to learn the name of nodded and Draco made a beeline for the exit of the ballroom.
He wandered for a little while, then he came across a balcony and slipped outside, leaning over the edge with his eyes closed he tried to catch his breath. He found public events like these stifling normally, and now, he was coming to realize, they were close to unbearable for longer periods of time.
It was so hard to not remember everything, so hard to move on and expect to be happy after everything that had happened.
"What's wrong? Come to escape your fan club? Parkinson got to you didn't she?" came a sarcastic voice from behind him, positively oozing fake concern and pity almost to the point of condescension.
He whirled around to see a girl sitting cross legged on a bench reading a book, she never bothered to look into his eyes, or even raise them from her book.
"At least I wasn't asked to leave to spare others eyes" he ground out on instinct, not that the girl was ugly, actually he couldn't see her at all.
He expected her to yell or run off but she just laughed, "I'd rather be asked to leave then forced to flee. How is dear old Pansy, still warming your bed and guarding your trousers with her minimal experience with magic?" she asked as she idly flipped the page of her book.
"Who are you?" he barked out, as he strode closer to her, "Lumos" he muttered and his wand lit up.
"no one you would bother to know" she said again, the same bored demeanor.
He saw her face though, it was chalk white, just like his, but her hair was black, and luscious, went about mid back if he had to guess and was curly, but not unmanageable. Her lips were a perfect bow shape and were cherry red, but not caked on with make up, non of her face was.
She was slender, but, and he was not a pervert, he could see a prominent chest and probably hips as well. She was small thought, he would have to guess about 5'4 from her seated position. She was gorgeous.
"What's your name? how do you know who I am? And about… Pansy?" he demanded, now standing above her his arms crossed tightly across his chest. It occurred to him that he sounded and looked like a reprimanded child and dropped his arms.
This time she snorted and looked up at him, her piercing green eyes nearly making him stumble backwards, "Everyone knows who you are, besides Pansy broadcasts your relationships for everyone to hear, your hers. Personally it reminds me of when dogs piss on things to mark their territory but that just might be her little pug-face" she shrugged and went back to her book.
Draco laughed, he actually laughed. It felt like it was the first real loud laugh he had since before the war, and Voldemort. Its seemed like forever.
Shocked, he stopped, but only for a minute to register how good it felt to feel his face stretch in a genuine grin rather then his telltale smirk.
The girl blinked, seemingly shocked as well, as he sat next to her, pulling the book from her delicate looking hands and examining it, "Did you read the first in this series first?" he asked her.
"N-no actually I read the last one, because it-"
"Said not to in the introduction" he said and laughed again, once again baffling not only himself but the beautiful girl sitting next to him, "so did I" he handed it back to her and stood up.
She looked utterly confused and just sat there, so he offered her his hand, she just stared at it.
"Care for a dance?" he asked, a smile still playing gently on his lips, a feeling that he could get used to.
"No" she said instantly, not breaking eye contact and displaying no emotion whatsoever.
"No?" he questioned, slowly retracting his hand, like she had insulted him, which she had in a way, simply because it was the first time this had ever happened to him.
"No. no I don't want to dance with you" she said rolling her eyes as soon as she seemed to recover from the trance his real laugh had sent her in.
"Come on, I'm not going to snatch your hand away, just dance with me." He said, this would be the first time any girl had declined a dance with him, and it was making him uncomfortable. Uncharted territories, even when Malfoy's are bad, people still want every piece of them they can get.
She ignored him and he stomped off, completely and utterly unsure of himself around girls for the first time ever.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts of the dark haired girl that hid from the party that he didn't notice the attention he received when he walked back into the ballroom. At first that is. Then it was painfully obvious ever stare he was getting.
Given most of the stares came from girls either his age, slightly younger, slightly older or very much older. The last making him cringe visibly. The next was from weary fathers and eager mothers, both contemplating having he, Draco Malfoy as a son in law. The last were the Anti war/ anti Voldemort people, all staring at him with a mix of loathing and shear pity, though genuine Voldemort haters were generally not Purebloods.
These emotional stares he was getting were enough to make the food in his stomach lurch uncomfortably, and erase the girls image from his mind while he sought out his mother, hoping to ignore the stares in general.
When he finally found her he held out his hand and took on his best gentleman, bowing slightly and giving her a winning half smirk, this was enough to make his slightly scared looking mother laugh gleefully and take his hand appreciatively, "Darling, you never fail to charm me. But have you found a girl so willing tonight?"
"Please not now mother" Draco sighed as he thoughts were once again infiltrated with the gorgeous dark haired girl with the green eyes that nearly forced him to his knees in front of her.
"Draco, Draco" she criticized teasingly, "There must be a girl on your mind, I can see it in your eyes" She hadn't brought up Anna yet, which Draco decided, with the help of this question, was a very bad thing.
This meant that she was considering her, she liked her. Merlin help him if she was to do anything else. And knowing Narcissa Malfoy, she would do just about anything she pleased, meddling be damned.
"Yes mother, its Pansy" he drawled sarcastically raising an eyebrow at her, knowing how his mother would not like that idea one bit.
He was right; she went tense in his arms and gave him a reproachful look, "that girl can fill your nights until you find a suitable match, but there will be no talk of marrying Pansy Parkinson around me ever again, Draco Malfoy. Do you understand me?"
It was the first time she had scolded him since the war and he had to blink several times to regain his composer, "It- I was joking mother, not her, I promise"
"Of course you were" she said, her loving tone back again.
When the song ended mother and son walked back to their table in the corner, but they had not reached it before Draco caught the eye of Theodore Nott striding towards him.
"I'll be back shortly mother…" he met Nott halfway, "Nott" he nodded in greeting of his old classmate, and possibly current classmate.
"Malfoy. How have you been?" he asked, the stiff sound in his voice disappearing as their conversation went on.
"Surviving, are you going back?" Draco asked blatantly.
"Yes, mother is insistent that its in my best interest to finish my schooling" he said rolling his eyes slightly, and ruffling his sleeves.
"Mine as well, she's also choosing a bride as we speak" he said indicating Narcissa who was now talking to a blonde with a rather large arse. Draco shook his head again sighing as his mothers antics.
Her heart was in the right place, but this was getting extreme.
"Draco! Darling, come meet Lydia!" Narcissa called easily through the crowds to her son.
Draco sighed, "See you around Nott" Theodore nodded and Draco walked through the crowd back to his mother, who was fawning over the new girl's 'lovely blonde locks'.
"Oh Draco there you are! This is Lydia Oclins, she's a year below you, surely you've already had the pleasure"
Draco pretended to smile warmly at the girl and shook his head, "I'm afraid not, but the pleasure is all mine now" he said offering her a hand, "Care to dance?"
She nodded eagerly and grasped his hand tightly as he led her out to the dance floor.
They twirled and dipped for a few minutes and Lydia looked positively thrilled to be dancing with Draco, but he was utterly bored, instead filling his mind with the images of his past, dwelling on the less miserable things in order to fill the time.
On one particular turn, however, he did happen to meet two dangerously beautiful green eyes, and he nearly dropped Lydia from shock.
The girl was making her way, gracefully over to the main table and she locked eyes with his for a mere second before the turn was over and she was gone.
After the dance Draco feigned being tired and quickly searched the room for either his mother or the elusive dark haired girl. He found his mother chatting with Mrs. Greengrass and made his way over quickly.
"Ah Draco, just the boy we were searching for, perhaps you'd be willing to dance with my youngest? She seems to have wandered off most the night and I'd just die if she were to not have at least some fun tonight"
"Of course Mrs. Greengrass, I'd be honored" He assumed she was speaking about Daphne because she had never mentioned having a younger sister, only ever older ones. Whom were married and lived out of the country.
"Astoria, darling, please come here" Her tone was less the loving, clipped and agitated at best.
Draco turned to his mother in shock, who was Astoria Greengrass? He looked over to see his mother looking quite confused as well, "Ah Poppy I didn't know you had four daughters!" she said
Mrs. Greengrass surveyed her quickly, "Yes my youngest is going into her seventh year, she's in Ravenclaw though… Draco, you wouldn't have known her"
Draco turned then just in time to lock eyes with now hesitant but still powerful green ones, she was begging with her eyes.
He smirked at her and offered a hand, "Care to dance?"
He could tell she was fighting to say no but with her mother standing there she had no choice, "Yes, thank you" she said curtly, her voice like acid.
He chuckled and pulled her onto the dance floor, instantly pulling her tightly to his chest, "Ironic isn't it? that I asked you to dance and you turn me down, but now your mother all but begs me to dance with you… hmm."
"Ironic isn't the word I would use" she spat out.
Draco spun her in a graceful circle, "Of course not. But then again, who are you Miss. Astoria Greengrass?" Another smirk lit up his face, "Whatever happened to perfect Daphne, the youngest of the Greengrass trio?"
"'fraid I ruined my family name when I landed myself in Ravenclaw" she said stiffly, feigning nonchalance, but he saw the bitterness in her words.
"Hmm, interesting. I don't see it in you, Ravenclaw that is. Your too… cunning and dare I say, brave? But your tongue is smart, and quick" he glanced down at her mouth, lingering for a second longer then necessary and then returning to her eyes. He detected a small blush as he passed her cheeks.
"It doesn't matter what you see in me, you've never noticed me before, why should you bother now?" she said harshly.
"Oh-ho, a little bitter are we Greengrass?" he said smugly.
She diverted her eyes and a blush colored her cheeks marvelously, for reasons unknown to Draco, thought he assumed it was in anger.
The song ended and they stood on the dance floor awkwardly, she was looking at the floor and he bent down to whisper into her ear, "I'll be seeing you Greengrass, save a dance at the next ball." He said and gave her a suggestive wink before sauntering back to his mother.
Thrusting his hands deep into the pockets of his finest dress robes he strode purposefully back to his mother, not even glancing back at the girl left to stomp back to her table in mortification and a sort of sick twisted joy.
Narcissa Malfoy cocked an eyebrow when her son suddenly reappeared in front of her, the ghost of a real smile etched onto his perfect pale face, "Draco? She's a lovely girl, though her mother-"
"Is salty that she didn't end up in Slytherin" Draco finished, offering his arm to his tired looking mother, "Come on mother, your tired, and you haven't been out this long since..." he let himself trail off, not wanting to rehash painful memories for either of them, least of all his fragile mother.
Draco led his now silent mother to the grand fireplace just outside the ballroom and allowed her to step in first, he waited until the last lick of green flame was gone before he glanced back into the room to seek out the dark haired beauty he had every intention of getting to know better.
Having not been able to locate her he stepped into the fire as well and threw down a marginally large amount of floo powder, "Malfoy Manor".
I know I said I wont demand reviews, but I do like to be told when my stories have flaws that are my own mistakes, such as hair color (a problem I recently had, blonde to black in a month= not so possible) or anything else. Thanks!