Aimee was sitting cross-legged on the floor of her dormitory room, in front of a mirror, holding hair pins in between her lips. She was dabbing a potion on her hair; she didn't like brushing it often, so there were a lot of knots and tangles. Wiping her hands on her shorts, she picked up a hair brush, pins still in her mouth, and started brushing her hair. It took a good few minutes, but when she was finished, her hair was smooth and tangle free, reaching down to the top of her waist. The other girls in her class were getting ready as well, in front of their own mirrors, applying make – up, curling or straightening hair with their wands, asking for help with their zippers and gossiping about their plans for the night.

"So Aimee," started Daphne Greengrass, another sixth year Slytherin with curly blonde hair and light hazel eyes, "I hear you're going with Draco"

Pansy took a sharp intake of breath, but nobody heard it over the rest of them giggling, that is except for Aimee and Pansy. Aimee rolled her eyes and took the pins out of her mouth and placed them on her bedside table next to her.

"I guess you'll have to wait and see," Aimee said indifferently, standing up and putting on her slippers, "now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to get to."

She pocketed her wand in her shorts and ran hurriedly all the way to the fourth floor and entered the hospital wing. She had spoken to Madam Pomfrey about getting the scars on her back removed, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, no matter how hard she tried, Madam Pomfrey simply couldn't get rid of them permanently. She'd tried potions and spells and creams, but to no avail. She told Aimee the best she could do was a Concealment Charm, but it'd only last for a few hours. For Aimee, it was more than enough. Madam Pomfrey performed it quickly, because she only had an hour to get ready for the Ball, it was 6 o'clock; the ball started at 7. After it was done, she had only 50 minutes to get ready, and so she ran top speed back to the dungeons. It was a funny sight; in a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you don't expect to see students wearing shorts and t-shirts, running through the halls wearing their fluffy slippers.

She came back a little out of breath and took residence on the floor again, starting to carefully apply her make – up. She didn't need much, only some eyeliner, mascara and blush. But the careful application of this took her a while, for she wasn't used to it. Checking her watch she saw she only had 25 minutes to fix her hair and put on her dress. As she turned back to get her wand, she heard the noise of a loud tear and the shriek of Pansy's cackle as she skipped out of the room in her own royal blue dress.

Aimee jumped up, and looked for the source of the noise. She saw her dress on her bed; the curtains around it were open, which concerned her, because she'd left them closed. As she stepped closer she saw it: a large rip around the skirt of her dress, the dress she'd slaved over, the dress she was meant to be wearing in less than 25 minutes. She knew Pansy had done it on purpose to sabotage her, and she felt her eyes stinging with angry tears. What was she going to do?

Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door, and a third year stuck her head in the room,

"Are you Aimee Hallicraft?" she asked quietly, she too looked like she was going to the ball, she was wearing a black velvet dress, and her hair was up in a knot on her head. She looked pretty.

"Yes" Aimee answered, trying to not look like she was about to cry

"Draco Malfoy sent me," the girl blushed at saying his name, "he wants to know how long you'll be"

"Tell him I'll see him in a second"

And with that, the third year left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving a very angry Aimee in her wake.

Draco sat slumped in an armchair near the entrance of the girl's dormitories, impatiently tapping his foot. He'd asked a third year girl to ask Aimee how long she'd be. Immediately the girl turned completely pink and accepted his request, running off to the girl's dormitories. He sat in the armchair, waiting for the girl to return. There was only 20 minutes until the Ball started, and everyone had already left the Slytherin common room, except for the third year girls group of friends, who were patiently waiting for her near the exit. If Aimee didn't hurry, then by the time they'd reach the hall, the doors would be closed, and it'd be embarrassing having to open them and have everyone watch them enter. They would of course open the doors a little later on, but during the dinner, Draco knew that certainly, the large and heavy wooden doors would indeed be closed.

He heard the sound of feet from the girl's dormitories and looked up; the third year girl had come back. He looked at her expectedly, and she flushed a bright pink,

"She said she'll see you in a second" and hurried off to join her giggling friends, their laughs died out as soon as they stepped through the stone wall.

Draco stood up, and fixed himself, straightened out his robes and checked his reflection in one of the mirrors hanging on the wall, and waited. He heard the sound of bare feet making contact with stone and saw Aimee walking down the steps in nothing more than a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt. Draco's eyes widened,

"What are you doing?" he hissed at her, immediately he saw her narrow her eyes.

"It's not my fault!" she snapped, "Someone tore my dress, I have to fix it."

Draco knew immediately who did it; he didn't need Aimee to tell him who it was.

"Just fix it, quickly and hurry. We don't have time!" he warned, pointing at his watch.

"I know!" she said, making a motion with her arm as if to calm him, "Just go, I'll meet you there"

"What." This wasn't a question, nor was it a statement; Draco found the idea simply ridiculous, "No! I guess I'll have to wait for you"

Aimee rolled her eyes,

"Don't be so stubborn Draco, just go! I'll be there soon, promise. Just save me a seat"

Draco opened his mouth to argue,

"Go" she told him forcefully and turned around, running back up the stairs. Draco didn't have much of a choice, he had to go to the Ball on his own and wait for her. He turned around, whipping his robes as he went, and stormed out of the common room. He made it just on time to the Ball, a few minutes or so before the doors closed.

When he entered the Hall, Draco saw that it had been decorated the exact same way as it had been for the Yule Ball. It was like a Winter Wonderland. There was fake snow falling from the ceiling and disappearing about a metre above the heads of the students. There were ice drops coming down from the ceiling as well as the walls and on each table stood a small ice sculpture, each one a different shape.

He found two seats with some other Slytherins and sat down, cursing under his breath that tonight, of all nights, Pansy Parkinson had decided to play a trick on not just Aimee, but Draco as well.

Aimee nearly turned her entire room upside down, looking for Creating Clothing for the Creative, she had tried to use Repairo on her dress, but it hadn't worked. She realised that this wasn't any other dress and that she would need the book to help her. She wasted time searching for it, before she realised that she was a witch, and witches had their own way of finding things.

"Accio book!" she said breathlessly, waving her wand. It had flown out from under Millicent Bulstrode's bed, and Aimee caught it swiftly, wondering what it had been doing there. She licked her thumb and forefinger, and flicked through the pages of the book quickly. She was sure the Ball had already begun, and that the doors were most definitely closed, which meant that she'd have to open them and have everyone stare her down as she walked to her seat. Upon finding what she was looking for, she grasped her wand again and stood in front of her dress, which she had now hung up from one of the posters surrounding her bed, doing a small wave with her wand she chanted,

"Repairo Tela"

A golden glow surrounded the dress for a few moments and when it died away, Aimee saw that it was perfect again. No tears, no crinkles, nothing. She put the book away and her wand on her nightstand. She checked her make – up again, it hadn't changed, which was good. She sat down on the floor again; with her wand, hair pins and a brush. She brushed and pulled and curled and pinned until she had her desired style. She checked her watch as she took it off her wrist. It was 7.15. She started cursing under her breath. By the time she'd get to the Great Hall it would be 7.30. She was really going to be late.

She slipped on her dress and shoes, and put her wand into a discrete pocket in her dress. She put on some plain diamond stud earrings and a simple chain bracelet. She was happy with her look. She quickly set off to the Great Hall, hitching up her skirt as she did so, and cursed profusely under her breath. She'd kill Pansy when she saw her, absolutely kill her.

The hallways were silent as she walked; the only noise was the sound of her heels tapping against the stone floor. As she reached the Great Hall, she saw that she was right, the doors were closed and she could hear practically the entire school behind it. Aimee took a deep breath and pushed open the doors with both hands, the room slowly turning silent as she walked in.

Draco was sitting at his seat, his head resting on his left palm, playing with the food on his plate. He didn't bother trying to make conversation with Theodore Nott or his girlfriend, Daphne Greengrass, for they sat canoodling each other and whispering dirty things in each other's ears (he didn't need to be told they were dirty, judging by the looks on their faces, these whisperings were completely filthy). He was considering leaving and finding Aimee, but he knew that would mean everyone's attention would be on him, which he usually liked; but not in this situation. He sat fuming for a few more minutes; this evening was not getting off to a good start. Suddenly the sound of the massive wooden doors opening caught his attention, and he turned around to face them. Instantly his heart lifted and he smiled. The chatter that filled the room turned silent for a moment before it broke out in excited whispers. Aimee walked slowly - and a little awkwardly – to where Draco was sitting.

Her hair was pulled back to one side, and was sitting loosely curled on her left shoulder and her make – up accentuated the features on her face perfectly. She was wearing a floor length, cherry red silk dress, with a low back and a corset that made it only halfway up her back. The sleeves were capped and short and the front went into a 'V' shape that showed just enough of her tanned skin and went into an empire waist. She looked amazing, to say the least. Her sapphire blue eyes stuck out against all the red and shone more brightly than they usually did.

The students all around the Hall were whispering and pointing at her, and Draco stood up. He could hear people saying things like,

"Is that that Hallicraft girl?"
"She looks gorgeous!"

"I wish my dress looked like that!"

"That Malfoy's a lucky guy"

"I'm so jealous!"

Draco smirked as he pulled out a seat for Aimee and waited for her to sit down, before he took his own seat. Daphne and Theodore pulled away from each other long enough tell her a quick 'Hello', before touching each other again. Draco could see Theodore eyeing Aimee out of the corner of his eye. Draco kicked him under the table, and he quickly took his attention back to his girlfriend.

Aimee took the menu in front of her and Draco could see she was trying to ignore the whispers around her, even though the students had taken back to lively chatter.

"Roasted chicken" Aimee said, and a plate of roasted chicken and roasted potatoes appeared in front of her. It looked delicious.

"You look..." Draco began, but he simply couldn't find a word that described her beauty, she looked at him,

"Ravishing" he finished

Aimee blushed and turned away from him. He noticed that she didn't have the scars on her back anymore, but decided not to say anything about them. Throughout the dinner they discussed a variety of subjects, the most interesting one, Draco found, was that of Quidditch:

"No, no, no, no, no" Aimee said quickly, "The Hollyhead Harpies are definitely the best team! Especially because they're an all girls team, it shows girls are just as good as boys on the Quidditch field!"

"This has nothing to do with girls versus boys," Draco countered, "this has to do with skill!"

"So you're saying they have no skill?"

"No, I'm saying that the Lightning Lucks have more!"

The Lightning Lucks were Draco's favourite Quidditch team; they had been ever since his father had taken him to his first Quidditch match. Their team colour was a honey gold, and each player was as graceful as a bird on his broom. Although, he had to admit: they were just as successful as the Hollyhead Harpies.

"Oh yes, that's why they're at a draw with the Harpies." Aimee pointed out, with sarcasm. Draco realised they weren't going to come to a compromise, so he changed the subject... almost.

"What position would you prefer to play?" he asked her

Aimee's eyebrows went up in surprise, Draco didn't answer her sarcastic remark, but she decided to answer his question.

"Hmmm, probably a... Beater. Yeah, a Beater." She answered thoughtfully, "No point asking you what position you'd like to play" she added with a smile, which Draco returned. He was the Seeker of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and a pretty good one at that.

"Do you play?" he asked, but she didn't get a chance to answer, because Professor Dumbledore had stood up to address them all. Draco felt a slight upheaval in his stomach, but ignored it.

"Good Evening students!" Dumbledore's warm voice boomed across the Hall. The last of the chatter died away,

"I trust you have made yourself comfortable!" he didn't wait for an answer, "It is currently 8 o'clock, for those of you who have not worn a watch tonight. In a few minutes, the music shall begin and I am sure you will enjoy yourself once you head off to the dance floor. The tables and chairs will clear away, so I suggest you all stand." The teachers at the tables stood, as did some other students, "There will be a table of drinks and some chairs will be left for you to sit on once you feel tired. First years, your curfew is in one hour, second years - an hour and a half."

The first and second years groaned, but Draco smiled to himself. If 9.30 was the curfew for second-years that probably meant that sixth and seventh years could stay up well into the night. He heard the scraping of chairs against the floor as students stood up. He stood and gave his hand to Aimee, who took it and stood up. A couple seconds later the tables and chairs disappeared and on the far side of the Hall stood a long table filled with all different types of drinks.

Draco heard a few shrieks and he saw that some girls were not as quick on the uptake, and had fallen as soon as their chairs had disappeared. One of these was Pansy; Draco watched as Blaise picked her up off the floor. She was wearing an off the shoulder dress, it was royal blue with gold trimming. Around the waist there was a gold fabric belt, and its train was about a foot long; it was very elegant. She stood up and pulled her hair out of her face, scowling at Blaise. It was apparently his fault that she'd fallen, even though he tried to catch her.

Draco took Aimee's hand and led her out onto the dance floor as soon as the music had started. At first there didn't seem to be many couples on the dance floor, but slowly after a few minutes, more students had decided to join them. A slow waltz was playing and each pair of students was swaying slowly to the music. Draco had one hand on Aimee's waist, the other holding her right hand. Aimee's left hand was on Draco's upper arm, the other in his left hand.

Aimee and Draco swayed in silence. Aimee was quite fond of this, it was very peaceful. They swayed side to side, slowly moving around the dance floor. She could feel Draco's hand tighten around hers, and he brought her in closer to him – she didn't object. He was warm, and she could feel the firmness of his chest under his robes. She brought herself to lay her head on his chest (he was much taller than her, his shoulder was out of the question). Aimee could feel Draco look down as she did this, and he rested his chin on the top of her head. She could feel his heartbeat through his robes and heard it quicken slightly and she smiled.

They stayed like this for the next few songs, and Aimee felt herself starting to get tired. Apparently Draco was feeling tired too, because he offered to get drinks. He led her away from the dancing couples, and didn't let go of her hand. They reached the table of drinks, and Draco started pouring her a glass of pumpkin juice, but she objected,

"I can't drink it" she told him

"Why? You don't like it?"

"That, and I'm allergic to pumpkin"

"Oh" Draco quickly put the glass away, he didn't want to drink it and then not be able to kiss her later in the night. They poured themselves some fruit punch, and found some seats. Once again they were immersed in conversation, laughing about their teachers and rumours that were flying around the school, one of which was that Professor Slughorn had once had an affair with one of his students.

"Oh god!" Aimee squeezed out, in between laughs, there were tears trickling slowly from her eyes.

"I – wonder – who – it – was" Draco said in between deep breaths, he was laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach. With another jolt of laughter his glass of fruit punch fell out of his hand and shattered on the floor. But the two teenagers were laughing so hard, neither had noticed the broken shards of glass at their feet.

"I hope you know," said Lavander Brown, who was sitting only a few chairs away from them, with Seamus Finnigan, "that you just broke one of the glasses, Malfoy."

She was wearing a purple-pink Grecian type dress, and her long light brown curly hair was pulled into a half up- half down hairstyle. She turned back to Seamus who said something about them going somewhere more private, and they both stood; leaving the Hall. Draco and Aimee looked for several seconds at the broken glass and started howling with laughter again. It wasn't that they found the situation funny; they were just in such high spirits.

The music had livened up, and Aimee recognized the music as a fast Tango. She jumped to her feet, and with a large smile she took Draco's hand and they walked to the dance floor, leaving the shards of glass where it lay. They started to dance along to the Tango, both surprised at the others skills,

"How do you know how to do the Tango?" asked Aimee, looking up at Draco, as she did a small complicated movement with her foot and spun,

"I could ask you the same thing" he answered, as he put his hands on her waist and lifted her swiftly into the air, and put her back down. Unbeknownst to them, a few students had started watching them.

"I asked you first" she said with a cheeky smile, he smiled back

"Well, I am considered high society," he explained, "My parents found it proper I knew how to dance. Only Ballroom though." He added. Draco looked at her expectantly,

"I taught myself," she told him, "always thought Ballroom was graceful, so I bought myself a few books, turned on some music and spent an entire summer teaching myself."

They continued their dance, without noticing more students were now watching. Aimee turned her head, and saw Hermione in her mauve chiffon dress, her hair was in a high barrette bun, with her fringe coming out to frame her face. She looked like a fantasy, almost like a fairy, only without the wings. Aimee caught her eye and smiled, then turned to face Draco once more.

"Hermione looks nice" she said quietly. Draco turned to look at Hermione and curled his lip.

"Doesn't change the fact that she's a mu-" he started to say, but Aimee stopped dancing and looked at him, causing the couple behind them to bump into her.

"Don't" she said, her voice low and dangerous, "Don't ever say it in front of me. I'll let it slide tonight, but never again."

She watched as Draco stood in shock at her reaction.

"Sorry" he mumbled, and stood forward and took her hand again – and they were off. Aimee was a bit stiff, but loosened up quickly.

"Why?" she asked Draco after a minute

"Why what?" he spun her around, and wrapped his arm at her side, before they returned to their original position.

"Why are you so prejudiced against muggle-borns?"

"Because, I'm a pure-blood. My status is higher than theirs."

"No," she said sternly, "No, it's not. What makes you think you can put yourself higher than another human being?"

He stopped for a second, but continued with the dance. Aimee could tell he was avoiding her gaze.

"I don't know," he finally answered, "I guess that's just how it's meant to be."

The music stopped momentarily, and at this moment Aimee chose to pull herself away from Draco. Professor McGonagall stood up,

"Fourth years, curfew in five minutes!" she called. A groan came out amongst the fourth years, and some of them started leaving straight away, not bothering to finish their dance. A quick look at the clock told Draco it was 11.25. The music turned back on and everyone resumed dancing. That is, everyone, except Draco and Aimee.

She stood there, staring at him in shock, and her nostrils were flaring. Without another word she turned to leave, but Draco grabbed her delicate wrist. He took it much harder than he'd meant to, however he got the desired effect.

"Don't leave, I'm sorry" he pleaded

"No," she said, her eyes looked saddened, "how can you possibly think that of another human being? It's not fair, it's not right. Everybody is equal, everybody. Nobody is better than anybody else and they never have been. To think so, would make you a fool."

Draco didn't move or speak, he was stubborn, but he was rational enough to realise when someone had a point. He didn't see when Harry Potter had walked up to them, presumably to try and stop them causing a scene in front of everybody, and asked Aimee to dance.

"I believe she is my date, Potter" Draco said through gritted teeth, without relinquishing his hold on her

"Ginny's my date," Harry answered simply, "doesn't mean I'm not letting her dance with other people." He gestured behind him, and Draco saw that Ginny was dancing with Colin Creevey.

Reluctantly he let go of Aimee and headed outside. On his way to the doors he could see Harry and Hermione trying to calm her down. Draco sat on a bench in the snow, snowflakes falling gently on his platinum blonde hair. He breathed in the icy and crisp air, annoyed at himself for not keeping his mouth shut.

If she gets angry about my thought of mudbloods, he thought to himself, how will she react if she finds out I'm a Death Eater?

The thought made him shudder, and not from the cold either. He sat silently, staring out onto the frozen lake and listening to some giggling girls as they hid with their dates, playing with each other.

The sound of footsteps trudging through snow made him look up and from the flash of red he could tell who it was. Aimee sat down on the bench next to him. Neither of them spoke. Draco could see the condensation of her breath as she breathed in and out. He turned to his left and tried to pull off a rose, but the thorns caught his thumb and he started to bleed. He put his thumb in his mouth and sucked on the blood, which tasted salty.

"Here," Aimee said finally, reaching out for his hand, "let me see."

He gave her his right hand and she took it in hers. Her hands were exceptionally warm even though they were sitting out in the cold. Her soft touch already made the cut feel a bit better, then she pulled her wand out of her pocket and whispered "Episkey"

The cut on his thumb healed and she wiped the leftover blood off with her own thumb. She held onto his hand, and Draco stared into her eyes, they were a deep blue and it reminded him of the ocean. She also stared into his slate grey eyes. Draco started to lean in, his mouth slightly open and Aimee followed suit. They were centimetres from each other's faces when Aimee smiled and whispered,

"Not tonight Draco"

She got to her feet and bid him a good night, before walking off, presumably to bed. Draco remained on the bench, realising how close he was to finally kissing her. If only I acted just a little faster, the thought to himself. He stood up and checked his watch, and saw that it was just past midnight.

Merry Christmas Draco, he thought, as he made his way to the dungeons, and into bed.

Notes:

Enjoy!

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