Day Before Yule Ball

I can't believe these past months have flown by so fast! It seems as if it was only yesterday that I was on the train ride to Hogwarts. Now it's already winter break.

"Can you believe the Yule Ball is tomorrow night?" I excitedly ask Taylor and Allie.

"I know! Fred and I are going to have a blast together! We even made up an awesome entrance," Allie exclaims.

"I'm not even going to ask," Taylor says shaking her head.

"Wait, who are you going with Taylor?" I inquire.

"Yeah, you've been very hush-hush about the whole thing. Come on, spill," Allie says.

"I can't. It would ruin the surprise. Let's just say he's tall, dark and sort-of looks like Orlando Bloom. But I can't tell you who it is because you wouldn't want me to ruin the fun of the whole evening, now would you?"

"It would be more fun if Draco and I were going together," I sigh.

"There she goes again with the whole Draco thing," Taylor says. "Tell me again why you two don't just kiss and make-up?"

"Because he hasn't shown me that he's any different than he used to be. Plus he doesn't show any interest in me," I explain.

"Yes he has! Your just too blind to see it!" Allie declares. Is that true?

"Yeah, right, sure! If he likes me so much, then why did he immediately ask Pansy Parkinson to the Yule Ball?" That bitch!

"Because guys are stupid! Duh! Plus you have a date, though you still haven't told us who," Taylor states.

"Well…if you guys can keep a secret…"

"Of course we can! We're your best friends!" Allie exclaims.

"Alright, but let's just say that he will make Draco Malfoy's head explode," I say as I motion for them to lean closer.

The Evening of The Yule Ball

I look at myself in the mirror and can't believe what I see. I look stunning. I let Lavender Brown and Padma Patil do my hair and make-up and they actually did a good job. My hair is up in curls and my make-up is subtlety done, with just light pink eye shadow, mascara, and a blush red lipstick. My dress was also absolutely gorgeous and I've heard many are jealous. It is cream white with flower details on the top, running down the back. It has spaghetti straps and flows just down to my feet, with a slight train.

Picture this with a smaller train.

Allie's dress is beautiful as well. It is a very classic, off the shoulder red dress.

I haven't seen Taylor yet, but I'm sure she looks just as stunning.

"Rae, your date's here," Allie screams up the stairs.

"I'll be right there," I yell back.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Everything will be all right. This is going to be a fun evening. No one is going to ruin your night. I just hope I make Draco jealous.

I walk down the stairs carefully, trying not to trip on my train, and I see my date sitting nervously on the couch. I go over to him and tap him on the shoulder. He quickly jumps up and turns around. When he sees who it is, he gives me a smile before looking me up and down.

"Rachel, you look bloody beautiful!"

"Why thank you, Blaise. You don't look too shabby yourself," I respond.

That's right. I'm taking your best friend to the ball Mr. Draco Malfoy. How do you like me now?

"You're sure Draco doesn't know anything about this?" I say anxiously.

"Positive. I'm just as excited to see his face as you are," Blaise says, calming me down.

"Ok then," I sigh in relief.

"Shall we?" He inquires as he holds out his arm for me to take.

"Let's do it!" I say taking his arm as we leave the common room for the Great Hall.

"So you remember the plan?" I question Blaise as we approach the Grand staircase.

"What was it again? Oh yes. Was it something like make Draco extremely jealous and wish he wasn't such a prick?" Blaise sarcastically asks.

"Yeah, something like that," I say laughing.

Oh god we're almost there. There are butterflies in my stomach. I wonder what Draco will think? Should I read his mind? No, that wouldn't be right. This will work. It has to. Oh my, here we go.

Blaise and I descend the staircase together. We smile and wave at everyone we know. There are even some people who stop and stare at us. Who would have guessed we could cause gossip? I then look ahead of me and at the bottom of the stairs, what do I see but an open-mouthed Draco and a fuming Pansy Parkinson. Pansy is wearing a god-awful chartreuse dress that totally clashes with her blonde hair. Draco of course looks handsome in his tuxedo and he actually let his hair loose for once. Why does he have to look so damn sexy?

Draco's eyes seem to sparkle as he looks me over. I start to blush, but then remember the plan. I stop looking at him; that could ruin the whole thing. I don't think he even realizes who is holding my arm until we are face to face with him.

"Evening Pansy, Draco," Blaise charmingly says. "I think you both know my date, Rachel?" I try to hide my smirk as I curtsy at them.

I look up to see that Draco's face is bright read and he looks ready to hex something, or should I say someone, named Blaise Zabini.

"BLAISE ZABINI! What do you mean Rachel is your date?! I thought you were taking some random Gryffindor. I didn't think it was HER!" Draco yells, forgetting Pansy was standing next to him.

"Well seeing as no one had asked her yet, I took it upon myself to snatch up this fine specimen before anyone else did. She does look fine, doesn't she?" Blaise retaliates. I blush at his last words.

"Well yes…I mean NO. I mean…that's not the point," Draco stutters.

"The point is that Rachel and I are going to have a fun night tonight whether you like it or not. Let's go, Rachel," Blaise states as he takes my arm again and we leave a gob-smacked Draco behind. As we leave I can just faintly hear Pansy screaming in her shrill voice, "What do you mean she's fine? I thought you were over her and liked me?" For once I feel sorry for Draco.

Later that Night

Who knew Blaise could be this much fun. He sure knows how to dance. This whole night has been a blast so far, even without Draco. It started out with a bang when Allie and Fred decided to tango into the Great Hall for their big entrance, including a red rose in each of their mouths. As the laughter died down, the 4 champions came in and the dance officially began. I haven't seen Taylor yet, but she said she was going to come. Oh wait…there she is and who is that with her? I have to find out.

"Hey Taylor! Aren't you going to introduce me to your date?" I question her.

"Of course. Rachel Cohen, this is Luca Buffon. Luca Buffon, this is Rachel Cohen. He's a 7th year from Durmstrang."

"Pleasure to meet you," I say as I give him a curtsy.

"Pleasure is all mine," he says as he gives me a bow.

"Now, now. Don't get too close to my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? Is this the surprise?" Taylor nods her head. "Well this is fabulous! I'm so happy for you two. You couldn't make a cuter couple."

"Speaking of couples, how's the plan going?'

"It seems to be going well. He was speechless after our first meeting. Speaking of which, I should go find Blaise. See you guys later."

"Have fun," Taylor waved with a wink.

I gulp as I find Blaise in the crowd of people. This is going to be the toughest part of our plan. Either it's going to make or break Draco and mine's relationship.

"Hey you. Ready for the next part?" Blaise asks me quietly.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Remember, Draco has to see us."

"There he is. He's already watching our every move. Woo does he look jealous! Let's pass by him on our way out to the courtyard. He's sure to follow."

We do just that and to add to it, Blaise gives Draco a little wink and head nod when it seems as if I've looked away. We head to the courtyard and find a secluded area. We check to see that Draco has followed us, and he has. Time for the plan to commence.

"Blaise, I am having such a great time with you."

"Same here, Rachel."

"I am so glad that not all Slytherin's are like Malfoy."

"Yeah. Some of us just don't care about the whole blood line thing. I personally think it's stupid," he says, as he gets closer to me.

"I'm so glad you said that! I was so afraid that once I saw Draco tonight I would go running back to him, but you made me forget all about him."

"Well I just want to see you happy," he says, pulling me into a hug.

"Are you sure you want to go on with this next part, knowing the consequences?" I whisper into his ear.

"Anything to get the two of you together again," he whispers back as we pull away, just far enough to be forehead to forehead.

"You do make me happy," I say aloud.

We travel closer to one another. We kiss and…. nothing happens. Nothing happens? Something is wrong. Why isn't Draco breaking us up? We kiss a little longer, just in case for some odd reason Draco didn't see us. We pull apart and look at each other with confusion. We then both look over to the entrance of the Great Hall and see Draco casually slip in. I look back and with my eyes question if we should follow him or not. Blaise just nods and we quietly follow Draco, just as he followed us before. This was not part of the plan.

"We lost him! How did we lose him in that sort of time span?" I question.

"Well there are a lot of people at the ball."

"I know that, but we both know it's easy to find Draco in a crowd, with that blonde hair."

"Well by now he could be anywhere in the cas…" Blaise stops with a gasp.

"What? What is it?" I hesitantly question.

"I didn't even think he liked her," he says staring in one direction and shaking his head.

"Who? What?" I inquire. He then turns my head to the right. What the hell is going on there!

"Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" I quietly ask Blaise.

"If you're seeing a certain Draco Malfoy making out with a certain Pansy Parkinson, then yes, you are seeing exactly what you think you're seeing," he says sorrowfully. He turns to me and gives me a sad look. "Why can't Draco ever see things that are in front of his face? I'm so sorry Rachel."

"Blaise, it's not your fault. Who would have guessed Draco could be so pigheaded?" Oh, so he can kiss pug-faced Pansy, but not me. I think this is a time that justifies some mind reading.

'This is so disgusting! What's taking so long for Rachel to find us? Oh Merlin, NO TONGUE DAMNIT! I can't believe I'm doing this just because I want to get back at Rachel for kissing Blaise. I hope this works because I don't know how much longer I can kiss this retched thing. What am I thinking; of course it's going to work. I'm Draco Malfoy for Merlin's sake.'

"Oooh, I am so mad at him! I think he needs a talking to," I furiously say as Blaise backs away. I stomp over to where Draco and Parkinson are and pull Draco away by his ear before dragging him into an empty corridor.

"Oww! What the bloody hell was that for?" Draco questions while rubbing his ear.

"DRACO MALFOY! How dare you!" I scream at him.

"How dare I? How about how dare you?" Draco yells back.

"What?" I question. I wasn't expecting that.

"You go and flaunt yourself and then you go and hook-up with my best friend!"

"It was barely a kiss and I didn't flaunt myself! Well what about you and Pansy?"

"What about it?"

"Well that wasn't an innocent kiss between friends, now was it?"

"What does it matter to you? It seemed you and Blaise were having a fun time!"

"We were having a fun time, a fun time between friends. That's all we are, friends."

"But…then why did you kiss him?"

"It was Blaise's idea to go out into the courtyard. I was taken up in the moment, not him!" I try to explain. "Plus, I was thinking how it would be like if it was you," I add in a whisper.

"Well how can you kiss another guy like that when you know how I feel about you?" He says not hearing the last part of what I said before.

" I don't know how you feel about me! That's the problem! How do you feel about me?" I am hoping that my voice isn't wavering.

"I…what do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know. You try to kiss me once, and then we don't talk to nearly two months. I thought that maybe since you weren't interested, that I would go and find someone else to have fun with. But you just ruined that as well, didn't you?" I say getting angry with him again.

"Well…I…but I didn't think…" Draco stammers.

"No you didn't think, just like you didn't think before about the whole blood line thing. You know what! I'll be the bigger and braver person and just say it. I like you Draco, I always have. But I can't be with you if you are still this dim-witted. Come and find me when you get your head on straight," I yell at him and march back to the Great Hall trying not to blow any steam. I find Blaise and explain everything to him, while trying not to cry again. I have to be the bigger person this time.

"Well that didn't go exactly as planned! Why does Draco have to be so dumb," I say with a huff.

"Yeah, but that was bloody brilliant!" Blaise states.

"What do you mean?"

"Your confession. That was perfect. That will certainly have Draco crawling back to you on his knees. I'm sure of it."

"I hope so," I say worriedly.

"Don't worry, be happy. It'll all work out in the end. I'll make sure of it."

"Thank you, Blaise, for everything. You are such a great friend."

"Thanks, but right now we have to make sure a Mr. Draco Malfoy knows what he's missing. Let's forget all of our problems for right now and dance," he replies as he drags me to the dance floor.

I smile as I see Allie not only dancing with Fred, but with George as well. She waves at me and smiles back. I let my worries leave me as I realize that it's now all in Draco's court. Let's just hope he scores 3 points and doesn't foul again for the third time.