A/N: Sorry for the long waiting. I first wrote the chapter too long and got lost in my ideas. It took me over a week to realise that I just have to cut off a big portion and put in the next chapter, so I can focus more clearly on this one. Anyway, here's the second part of the last chapter.

Fallen & Risen 24. Malfoy's New Year's Celebration, part 2

Malfoy Manor

Heley, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny, and Blaise returned to the Malfoy Manor, where the party was still in full swing. Heley watched the cluster of people in the room, an eye brow ticking.

"It's crowded. So crowded," Heley said. She had never been fond of crowded places.

"Well, the entire wizard community and some Muggles are here tonight. What else do you expect, Heley?" Blaise said.

"Anyway, let's join them," Hermione said.

They followed her to the ball room. As soon as they stepped in the ball room, the crowd of people switched their attention to them. Oh, one would have said that Heley's breathtaking appearance had something to do with it, but it wasn't the case. It was because of another unfortunate accident involving Heley.

WHAM!

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Heley found herself flat on the floor again - for the third time tonight, amid the laughter of the people who saw her fall. Heley could see that Seamus and Dean weren't holding back at all, and they were unashamedly, coughing their lungs out.

"Heley!" Ron, Neville, and Hermione exclaimed.

"Owwww… Grrrrrrrrr!… Bloody shoes…" Heley mumbled under her breath.

"Hahahaha!" Blaise and Ginny baffled abashedly, adding more salt to her wounds. They crouched down, next to Heley.

"So, I am adding Malfoy Manor's ball room floor to the list of your newly made friends, right after Hogwarts' Great Hall floor, right Heley?" Ginny cheekily asked.

"Heley, how many left feet do you have?" Blaise asked, grinning. "Last time I checked, people are usually born with only one of them!"

"Bwuahahahahaha!" Ginny burst once again. Even Ron and Neville couldn't resist snickering, despite Hermione glaring scandalously at them.

Flashback

Hogwarts Christmas party

First Ron and Neville. Then it was Dean, and then the ever-clown Seamus. They all came to the same, unique conclusion: they were not bad dancers - it was Heley who had two left feet. One by one, they danced with her. And one after the other, they got their feet crushed by Heley. No one was spared by her first left foot (her actual left foot) or by left foot number two (her right foot). The guys knew they were not bad dancers because when they danced with other girls - including Hermione, Luna, Victoria and Millicent - their feet didn't got pummelled by their partner.

Heley was a good – excellent even! - dancer in the air. It was always an awesome show to watch her waltz with on a broom in the air. But what an awful nightmare she was when she had her two feet on the ground!

"Come to think about it, Harry had two left feet too," Neville said, massaging his right foot. His foot had just been crushed by Heley.

"It must be hereditary then, since Heley is the same," Seamus added, wincing at the burning pain in his right foot.

"Must be something in the Potters' blood," Dean mumbled, nursing his left foot to restore his blood circulation.

"Oh, come on guys! She can't be that bad," Hermione said, biting in her vanilla cream puff.

"It's because you didn't have your foot crushed by her that you can say that! Try to dance more than one minute with her without having your big toe bruised, then you can say what you want after!"

"YEEEEEEEEEE HOOOOOOOOOOH!" Ron yowled. The pinky toe of his right foot had just been pancaked by Heley, making the crowd of students in the Great Hall laugh once more.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

As painful as it seemed, the others students enjoyed watching Heley dance because it was just too funny to see her partner yowl. And Heley always had a spectacular way to trip on the floor. She made them laugh each time she "buddy-buddied" herself with the Great Hall's floor. They all lost count of the time she made them laugh, and that says enough about how many times she tripped. Heley Potter was the most entertaining person they had ever seen in their life.

Even Slytherin's Ice Prince, who never smiled or laughed at anyone or at anything, found himself chuckling more than once. It was a rare sight to see twinkles of genuine amusement in the eyes of the Head Boy, and it always happened when the Gryffindor Seeker was in them.

WHAAAAM!

"OWWWW! OMMMMPH!" Heley and Ron stumbled ungracefully to the floor. Once again, Heley had managed to make another guy get buddy-buddy with Hogwarts' floor with her.

"Huhuhuhu!" Draco chuckled, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

Suddenly, he felt a chill that made the hairs stand on his neck. Draco slowly turned to his left to see Blaise with a lopsided - and very devilish - grin plastered on his face.

"Wh-what?" Draco gulped.

"He he he he…" Blaise drawled with a demonic smirk.

Blaise was thrilled. Santa just sent him an early Christmas gift: an opportunity to torment the mighty Draco Malfoy off his pedestal! Draco Malfoy forgot to wear his 'I-am-holier-than-thou' mask, thanks to Heley (Blaise promised himself to get her a gift in return). And of course, that meant he, Blaise Zabini, a Slyther to the core, would fully enjoy his early Christmas gift!

"Draaaaaaaaco," Blaise mischievously chanted, drawing out Draco's name, "you seem to enjoy watching Heley a loooooot."

"Ah-…!" Red furiously flushed over Draco's gaping face. "W-what are you babbling about?" he stuttered.

"Oh yeah?" Blaise trailing, his smirk growing wider. "From the beginning of the party, you haven't stopped watching her for one second. AND you reeeeeeeally love watching at her!"

"I… I… hmn…" Draco's face turned a darker shade of red, making Blaise's grin even more devilish - if that was possible.

'Ooooooooh! I so love my Christmas present!' Blaise thought.

'Damn it! What did Blaise do to earn himself an early Christmas gift from Santa?' Draco wondered, feeling his cheeks burning from embarrassement. He swiftly tried to recover.

"I… I… I just never saw someone trip so many times in one night!" Draco rushed.

'You sound ridiculously pathetic!' Draco's inner voice said.

"NHE HE HE HE HE…" Blaise maniacally chuckled louder, his grin becoming the most hellish thing Draco ever saw in his life. Draco gulped, cold sweat running down his face. Blaise wasn't hiding that he was overjoyed by Draco's discomfort.

Suddenly, Blaise leaned back, watching Draco from under the lids of his eyes, his smirk still lingering on his lips. Startled, Draco blinked.

"W-what?" Draco asked, feeling unsure of this sudden change.

"Nothing," Blaise answered, smiling. He had decided to be merciful to Draco.

'After all, like the old French wise man's dictum says: La modération a meilleur goût!(1)' Blaise told himself.

He would spare Draco.

For now.

So he could have ten times more fun for the next time of course!

It wouldn't be too good to waste all of Santa's gift in only one night. He wanted fun for later too. Blaise broke into another happy grin, anticipating when he would re-open Santa's gift. Draco became wary of his suddenly happy grin.

"Blaise, what do you have in mind?" Draco asked, slightly worried.

"Who, me?" the half-Italian innocently responded, as if he didn't know what Draco was talking about. Draco's eye brows fused together.

"Blaise…" Draco drawled, demanding explanation.

"You're imagining things, Draco," Blaise easily said, inwardly adding 'And who cares that what you're imagining is true?' "I was just tempted to take the challenge to dance with Heley without having my foot be crushed by her! So, I'm going to take the challenge now."

Draco just stared at him, frowning suspiciously. Blaise stood up, ignoring Draco's glare. Whistling, Blaise made his way toward Heley, asking her for a dance. Not so long later, he yowled like Ron did before him.

"YEEWOOOOOOOOOOO!" Blaise too joined the 'Foot Crushed by Heley Potter' club, plus a welcoming present as bonus of having Hogwarts Great Hall's floor added among his new made friends.

End flashback

"I have to say. Heley, you have an incredibly high record of trips and falls. I never saw anyone as clumsy as you in my entire life. Even Neville doesn't trip that much! Hahahahaha!" Blaise said, laughing. Neville sheepishly smiled, feeling sorry for Heley while Ron and Ginny sniggered.

"Hahahaha!"

Heley groaned under her breath.

"Blaise!" Hermione admonished.

"Hahahahaha! Sorry, sorry. Couldn't resist! Hahahaha!" Blaise said, swiping at a tear in the corner of his eye.

"Ha…" the girl flat on the floor sighed, feeling hopeless.

"Are you alright?" a deep voice asked her.

"Huh?" Heley raised her head to see Draco. He smiled to her.

"So, I take it that Malfoy Manor's floor is also one of your list of new friends, right Heley?" he said, a smirk tugging the corner of his lips. Heley blushed furiously. Of course Draco Malfoy would remind her of her two left feet, as Blaise called it.

"I… I… I…" Heley stuttered, failing to come up with an explanation. Draco smiled at her.

"Here, let me help you," he said, offering his gloved hand to help her.

Heley reached out and put her hand in his. He pulled her up. She felt less like an idiot once she was steady on her feet. Having her feet planted on the ground helped her regain a little bit more confidence. The red color on her cheek subdued to a pink tint. (Yet, that didn't stop her from cursing: 'Why, even with high heels, he is still half a head taller than me? That's not fair!')

But the real reason behind her sudden shyness doesn't have anything to do with her clumsiness. It was because of Draco Malfoy himself. Draco was dressed in a blue grey suit designed specifically for him. His hair was gelled back with some strands hanging over his forehead. Heley knew that Draco Malfoy became the dream prince of all Hogwarts' female population. It was quite hard not to know it because of the obvious doe eyes the girls displayed each time he was in the vicinity. Truth be told, Heley never understand why. But now, she did.

"Wow. He looks like a real prince charming," Ginny said as she unashamedly examined Draco up and down.

"Hn," Hermione reluctantly agreed. Even Luna granted Draco a glance and a smile instead of counting the wartpurnicks roaming on the ceiling of the room.

Draco looked down at Heley. It was her fall that caught his attention, but now, standing in front of him, she was…

'Beautiful…' Draco swallowed, his mouth suddenly feeling dry.

He took note of her green dress and the green and silver ribbon ornamenting her hair. He knew she had amazing green eyes (Err, wait. How come he knew her eyes were an amazing green in the first place?), but the dress made her emerald orbs shining brighter. Heley was breathtaking. For a Gryffindor, she wore Slytherin's colors magnificently. It was like the Slytherin's colors were created exclusively for her use. One would think it a shame that Heley Potter was in Gryffindor because she was Slytherin's Glory personified.

When he saw her in the infirmary, after saving her from the explosion in Potions, he thought that she was an ethereal being in her dormant state. But now, standing in front her, having full sight of her mesmerizing eyes, she was… Draco gulped.

She was glowing…

For the first time in his life, Draco Lucius Malfoy was speechless.

And of course, Blaise hadn't missed a thing! He grinned maniacally as he watched the interaction between Draco and Heley. He wasn't going to let the opportunity pass to get more blackmail materials to annoy Draco. He was Draco's best friend after all. A best friend's life purpose was to annoy to their best friends (victims) to death. Hey! He was a Slytherin to the core! How could he NOT enjoy Draco's predicament? Enjoying oneself at your best friend's expense was a criminal fault in the law of friendship, which was why Blaise would break that law to have ten times more fun!

Draco couldn't move his eyes away from the petite girl standing in front of him. He didn't even dare to blink in fear that the enchanting sight would disappear. But Blaise have to wait before he could tease Draco again. Lady Malfoy was coming toward them.

"Draco," lady Malfoy said. Everyone turned to the woman who stopped next to Draco.

"Mother," Draco greeted the beautiful blond hair lady.

"Good evening everyone," lady Malfoy greeted charmingly. "I hope that you have a good time."

"An excellent soirée, lady Malfoy. Thank you for your concern," Ron responded for everyone, elegantly saluting the Malfoy mistress.

"This is a lovely reception, lady Malfoy," Neville added, saluting the same way Ron did, but more beautifully done than Ron.

"GAWWWWK!" Hermione and Heley gaped at the two boys. Who knew Ron and Neville - especially Ron! - could be so… gentlemen-like?

"Pure blood étiquettes. Pure blood étiquettes," Ginny whispered to Hermione. "Mum pestered him to learn this greeting form every day for a whole week after we handed her the invitation."

"Ooh!" Hermione said, a hand in front of her oh-ed mouth. Now that explained everything.

"Thank you for your kind words. I am Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you," lady Malfoy said. "I think I've seen you once or twice in the past. Except for Blaise, I believe I haven't had the pleasure to properly make your acquaintance."

"I am Neville Longbottom, Mrs. Malfoy. A pleasure to meet you as well," Neville started.

"Ronald Weasley," Ron continued. "And this is my sister, Ginevra Weasley."

"A pleasure, lady Malfoy," Ginny said.

"Hermione Granger."

"Luna Lovegood."

"And Heley Potter," Heley finished the round.

"Ah! Miss Heley Potter!" lady Malfoy exclaimed, her features brightening. She took Heley's hands in hers. "Miss Potter, I'm so happy you accepted the invitation. I was worried that you wouldn't come."

"Err…" Heley gulped. She almost didn't come because she forgot about it until Hermione pulled her out of bed. "Draco said you wanted to talk with me."

Lady Malfoy smiled gracefully to her.

"Yes, I do," lady Malfoy said. "Normally, I would prefer to choose another moment, but it was difficult to find a suitable time for Mr. Wingston. I'm sorry to rush you like this, but can we talk now, before Mr. Wingston leaves the country? His schedule is very tight, and he could only spare us few hours tonight."

"Err, of course, lady Malfoy," Heley said, feeling awkward.

It wasn't her first time seeing Draco's mother, but she/Harry never knew Narcissa Malfoy to be this beautiful.

'Last time I spoke with her, she inquired about Draco's safety during the final battle,' Heley remembered. During the trial, Harry never had direct contact with anyone from the Malfoy family.

Back then, Narcissa Malfoy was a desperate woman with dried, tousled hair, like she'd never heard of a comb in her entire life. She was as good as a wandering ghost with a body. She was lifeless. The only thing which kept her going was her son. Her son's safety was the only thing which brought a bit of light to her ghostly eyes. But today, dressed in her purple night gown, her blond hair pristinely done, she looked like the châtelaine that she was. Her forget-me-not blue eyes were shining again with life. Harry never saw Narcissa Malfoy smile this brilliantly before. Her smile was gentle and soft, as if all the worry in the world had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Miss Potter, what I have to inform you is very important and personal. I wish to discuss it with you in private," lady Malfoy said seriously. "We won't be too long. You can see your friends afterwards. You can inform them about the object of our discussion later, if you desire."

"Err…" Heley hesitated when she felt a gentle push in the back from Hermione.

"Go. We will wait here for you," Hermione mumbled into her ear to reassure her. Heley bit her lips, but nodded to lady Malfoy.

"Very well," Heley politely said.

"Thank you," lady Malfoy said, smiling. "Please, follow me. Draco, you are coming with us as well."

"Yes, Mother," Draco said.

Lady Malfoy walked ahead, leading them out of the ballroom. Heley and Draco followed behind her.

1) La modération a meilleur goût: 'Moderation tastes better'.

A/N: Take a guess what and why Draco's mother want to discuss with Heley! And since Draco is with them, of course he has an issue with that too.

Update on Sunday July 18, 2010. Beta-ed.