"Well, ladies, I believe that this is an excellent idea; a perfect way to celebrate Christmas this year, I think. Everyone so very much liked the Yule Ball, so a Masquerade would surely be as successful a feat," Dumbledore smiled at the two Slytherin girls standing before him in his office.
Pansy and Millicent exchanged sly glances, proud that their headmaster did not suspect anything sinister within their idea. The ball would be held on Christmas Eve and would be a night to remember. The two left the tower feeling very pleased with themselves and confident that their plan would be executed smoothly with no problems at all.
Meanwhile, down on the grounds, the sixth years were all busy sketching unicorns in the forest during their Care of Magical Creatures class. Dariah and Esdeline both were admiring each other's sketches, as both were remarkably talented at artistry. Across from them, on the other side of the clearing, George and Lee were both more interested in causing mischief with Katie Bell. The two of them had charmed her sketch when she wasn't paying attention and when she had turned around to begin sketching again, the unicorn on the page ran away from her quill.
This caused her great distress until she heard the roaring laughter of Lee and George. She shot them a disapproving glare, "You're so funny. Have a nice laugh, eh? Just you wait until practice, Weasley; and don't blame me if you take a Quaffle to the head," Lee snickered at his red-haired companion's change of expression upon this remark, earning him a thump on the head.
The other Weasley twin was quiet and busy sketching, though his subject was not a unicorn, but the lovely Miss Dariah. Her long hair was blowing in her face from the wind, and she set down her parchment to braid it. She caught sight of Fred watching her and her cheeks turned pink. Both quickly resumed sketching, smiling slightly at each other's blush.
Fred did his best to continue to sketch her without her, or anyone else, realizing, but he felt someone behind him and turned to see his professor shaking his head at him. Hagrid bent down to look at the sketch and Fred was sure he was in trouble. The giant was silent for the longest time whilst Fred held his breath.
Hagrid chuckled, "Yeh need the work on yer 'ands, Fred. 'Er fingers are long and slender, yeh see?" Fred exhaled and smiled at Hagrid, thanking him. He spent the next half an hour perfecting every little detail in his sketch so that it looked just like her. He was interrupted when Hagrid called for everyone's attention in the center of the clearing and motioned for them to gather around.
'All righ' now, before I dismiss yeh, I thought it might be nice to try somethin'. I need a lass down here with meh first," a few hands raised franticly, waving round and round. One hand stood out to Hagrid, as it was motionless and calm. The hand belonged to Dariah, who smiled at Hagrid quietly. He called her name and she slowly made her way down to him trying not to startle any of the unicorns remaining in the clearing.
'Well done, Dariah. Now, I want yeh to slowly, slowly mind yeh, walk up to 'er," he nodded to a gorgeous unicorn mare standing near them, "Unicorns usually take a likin' to witches more than wizards, let's see if she will let yeh pat 'er, eh?" Dariah nervously nodded and turned to the unicorn, which seemed to be watching her closely.
She glanced over at her classmates, earning a thumbs-up from Esdeline, and a smile from Fred. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and started forward. The entire clearing was silent, except for the crunching of the leaves underneath her feet, and her classmates waited with anticipation and bated breath. She soon stood not even a foot from the mare, and slowly extended her hand towards the creature.
The unicorn sniffed at her and pressed its muzzle into Dariah's palm. Dariah smiled and giggled, stroking the unicorn gently on its face. The entire class applauded and cheered her praise, and Dariah left the class feeling as if something truly magical happened in that moment. It seemed as if the unicorn chose her, but for what, she did not know.
After the class was dismissed, Hagrid had started to head back to his hut, but a voice stopped him.
"That girl must be special indeed, to be accepted by a unicorn," Hagrid turned to see Firenze, the centaur, standing with him in the clearing. He was staring in the direction that Dariah had gone with great curiosity, "She shows great promise in my class and it wouldn't surprise me, Rubeus, if she is destined to be a great Seer," Hagrid nodded, and the two professors made their way back to Hogwarts' grounds.
Within the castle, the fifth years were leaving from a very unproductive Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Professor Umbridge, in which the most exciting thing was Harry Potter receiving yet another detention, meaning he would miss another Quidditch practice. Draco normally would've made a comment about this, but since he himself had missed his fair share of practices he kept his mouth shut. It was only a matter of time before Tagheer kicked him off of the team, which would mess up the whole roster. Tagheer would probably play Seeker, leaving Calan as the only Beater, and then they would have to find another Beater to play on the team. The only problem with that was that no one else in Slytherin had an arm as strong as Tagheer's and Calan's.
"So, Clio; does Beauxbatons have a Quidditch team?"
Cliodne's face lit up at this question, "Oh yes! We have an excellent team, actually. Mostly girls, except for Franz; he played Keeper, but he graduates this year so I don't know who will play the position next year," she felt another sting of homesickness but luckily Draco didn't notice. She smiled at him sweetly as the two made their way to their next class.
"What's your favourite position?"
"Hmm?" Cliodne raised an eyebrow skeptically at him.
"For the team I mean, Quidditch," he mentally punched himself in the face.
She laughed, "Oh, of course. Um, I'd have to say that my favourite was the one I played as; the Beater. It is so very fun and useful," she giggled at Draco's gaping mouth, "What? I assure you I have an excellent arm. My father encouraged it because it was the most dangerous position and he appears to enjoy putting my life in jeopardy."
Her father never seemed to care much about her or Dariah's well-being, but always fussed over their mother's every need. Not that she minded, she actually disliked her father very much, but she hated how protective of her mother he was. As she and Draco walked arm and arm to their next class, she pondered the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Alistair wasn't her father at all.