Hi ! I'm back, a year and a half later... I'm so sorry for how long it took me to update, I kind of lost interest for a while, and then got writer's block, but finally I'm back, with the seventeenth chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it! It was written with loads of love :3 I think my writing style has changed a bit in the last year, and I've changed too, and you probably have as well, so you might hate the story now .
Anyway... Enjoy ! :D
xoxoxoxo
Dancing Partners
The night of the Halloween ball arrives, and I'm predictably awoken in the early morning by my hyperactive friends.
"Come on Rosie, get up !" Laila exclaims, throwing open the curtains in our compartment. I tug up my blanket to shield my eyes form the sun and roll to the side, groaning.
"Don't call me Rosie." I mutter. I clearly hear Robyn's exasperated sigh.
"It's the same every party !" She complains, "Why don't we just let her stay ugly for a change ?"
I wake up slightly more at her obnoxious words.
"Shut up Robyn." I snap, rolling onto my stomach to press my face into the pillow.
Eventually, however, I find myself sitting groggily in a chair whilst Robyn applies a face mask onto me with satisfaction.
"Like this, you won't be able to talk for a while." She says proudly, smirking. I only manage to roll my eyes.
The day is torturously long, like every day preparing for a ball. I long to go out and see Scorpius, who is probably sitting by the lake with Albus, just like when we were at Hogwarts, but I can't due to the torturous beautifying methods I'm being subject too. Finally, Arla pulls me to the side to carefully apply silver and gold nail varnish, and we get to chat a bit in anticipation of the ball.
"Don't you think it seems as if James and Fred like Arla ?" Zaza muses as she applies a second coat of nail varnish to my fingers.
"Did you only just notice ?" I answer, rolling my eyes, "What tipped you off ? James blushing whenever she comes near or Fred staring at her any chance he can get ?"
"Oh shush." Zaza replies, smiling, "I've suspected it for ages, I just thought I should check with you before I did anything..."
Despite myself, I sit up a little bit straighter in interest, "Like what ?" I demand, grinning widely.
"Not saying." She replies with a wink, sticking her tongue out, "I think we should wait until after the ball, and then take action if Arla still hasn't decided which of the two she likes."
I nod, "You're right, and feel free to take any action you want, Durmstrang will get dull otherwise if we don't make it exciting."
Zaza laughs, "Oh yes, we should maybe invite Lily and Hugo over to make life a it more exciting."
Her words remind me of something, "By the way, look at what Lily gave me before we left." I say, pulling out the mysterious potion to show to her.
Zaza looks at it curiously, "What is it ?"
"She didn't say. She just told me that uncle George had given it to her for if she ever liked a guy. He said that it would help her if she had any boy trouble."
"As if you need it." Aliza answers, rolling her eyes. Then she suddenly grins, "We need to give it to Arla !"
"She would never drink it if we don't know what it is." I protest, but Aliza's smile just widens to make her look completely devious, despite her bright pink hair.
"Who says she'll drink it knowingly ?" She asks. I bite my lip pensively.
"I'm not sure we should be giving it to anyone really..."
"Oh come on ! It will be fun." Zaza pleads, widening her eyes and putting on her adorable puppy face. How can I say no to that ?
"Fine." I concede, grinning. Aliza hugs me enthusiastically.
"Tonight is going to be so fun !" She exclaims. For some reason though, I'm not quite so sure.
The ballroom looks far better than I had expected. What happened to the dark stones, dark wizards and generally dark everything which Durmstrang seems to pride itself in ? This place looks like it should be a winter fairyland palace, not the school which educated hundreds of dark wizards.
Me and Zaza walk in side by side, staring wondrously at the impressive ballroom, and soon spot Arla, who made herself once again beautiful for the occasion. She hasn't taken the Veela potion again, but somehow seems better that way, more human. A few boys are nervously glancing her way, and I recognize them as the ones who invited her to the ball. Now that she's no longer a Veela, they obviously are once more terrified of her. Boys can be such wimps...
I feel a pair of strong arms slip around my waist from behind, and snuggle into Scorpius delightedly.
"You look beautiful." He whispers into my ear, sending shivers down my spine, and I feel myself blush.
"I can't actually see you, but you probably look great yourself." I reply with a laugh. I can see Mr. Ankher glaring at us, and roll my eyes at him. Doesn't he have anything better to do than to watch me and Scorpius as if he were a babysitter?
"So you got Scorpius then? That's awesome Da-h-ling." Someone says next to me, and I leap around to see a gorgeous girl in a floor length gown, with red hair flowing out of a small, fancy black hat, and a black veil covering most of her face, revealing only bright red lips and dimpled cheeks.
"Lily?!" I exclaim, staring at her incredulously.
"Shhh!" She hisses urgently, "Are you crazy? I'm obviously not supposed to be here!"
"How did you even get all the way here?" I ask, amazed.
Her lips curl up into a mysterious smile, "It pays, being utterly irresistible. I managed to convince one of the seventh years to apparate me over here, just for the ball."
I shake my head, astounded. Only Lily would be daring enough to sneak out of Hogwarts to go to a ball on the other side of Europe.
"Anyway! Snap out of your amazement of how awesome I am, and tell me everything! I heard you rode a dragon in the first task! Is that really true?"
"Course it is." Scorpius says breezily behind me, and I can just imagine his smirk as he says this, "We're true stars, anything to please the public. I bet the Daily Prophet loves us, what with us being gorgeous and charismatic and all that." I roll my eyes at this Malfoy bigheadedness, even though he was probably joking...
"And Fred and James have fallen in love with one of the other contestants!" I say gleefully, changing the subject completely. Lily grins mischievously.
"Oooh, rivalry, I like that... Where I she?"
Zaza points her out, and Lily spends the next few minutes commenting on her looks and on whether she would pick Fred or George.
"You see, she's wearing a red dress and girls distinguished enough to wear a red dress would really hesitate to date a ginger... And James is a Potter, so she would probably go for his fame, as she obviously isn't afraid of attention... But then again, Fred is definitely charming... Oh hi guys!" She grins at Fred, James, Roxanne and Albus as they arrive, and they all stare at her as if she were a ghost.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing here?!" James all but shouts, his ears going bright red.
"Hey, don't blame me, you're the bad influence." Lily replies gleefully, hugging her brother.
He huffs, "You are definitely the worst Potter yet."
…...
James is the first person to dance with Arla, to a ridiculously loud song from a hungarian group, who are all dressed as different dark wizards. I can't describe just how strange it is to see Voldemort, the lead singer, clutching a microphone and swaying to the music.
Of course, Fred, after glaring at the couple for a while, loses no time in claiming Arla for the next dance, which is a bit slower. He holds her as close as he dares, and they really are a beautiful couple. She in a flowing red dress, a small smile on her lips, and he with his disarming smile and messy red hair. He says something and she laughs, her eyes shinning.
I sigh happily as I watch them, and feel a hand slip into mine next to me.
"Care for a dance?" Scorpius murmurs, and I turn my head to look at him, smiling mischievously.
"With a bigheaded pureblood like you? I'm already risking my life for you in the tasks, isn't that enough?" I ask teasingly, and Scorpius smirks.
"You know that I will never get enough of you, I guess I'm a bit ungrateful that way."
I feel my cheeks redden slightly, in a delighted blush. Who would have thought that I, Rose Weasley, would fall so deeply in love with Scorpius Malfoy?
Suddenly, I feel an invisible force pushing me and Scorpius apart, and I'm forced to back up into some random kid from Durmstrang, who glares at me and shoves me away, muttering something in hungarian. I look around the room to see Mr. Ankher fingering his wand and smiling in a very satisfied way.
He then places his wand on his throat, and coughs gently. His voice reverberates throughout the whole room.
"Good evening." He says calmly, and everyone turns to look at the awful headmaster, "I would just like to interrupt this lovely ball to make a small announcement.
"The Malfoy-Weasley relationship has been going on far too long. We all know that it's ridiculous for too such opposing families to be together. So, for the good of the couple, as well as for the sanity of the wizarding population, I would like to offer a reward of two thousand gallons to anyone who succeeds in breaking up this ludicrous relationship.
"That aside, I hope you all have an agreeable evening. Thank you."
"That bastard." I mutter, clenching my fists.
…..
I spend the rest of the evening desperately trying to approach Scorpius, but every time I get even remotely near him, someone conveniently stands in my way, or shoves me away from him, grinning wickedly. I really hate those Durmstrang students.
Eventually, I give up, and go to find a crazy family member to cheer me up. Fred and James are practically in a full fledged war over Arla when I spot them through the crowd. Whenever one manages to steal her from the other, the other immediately steals her back, spinning her his way or shoving the other out of the way to take her hand. I stare, amazed to see the two close friends in such rivalry. Soon, Arla, obviously completely overwhelmed by all the attention, frees herself from James and practically runs away.
After some brief hesitation, I go after her, weaving through the masses of students. I see Lily almost surrounded by some of the Durmstrang boys, including Tristian, the Beauxbatons boy we had met at the first task, and vaguely wonder if she's still with Zabini, but don't stop to ask.
I find Arla on one of the white benches pushed up against the wall, and approach her slowly, not sure what I should say.
"Hey Rose." She says, smiling slightly when she sees me, "Sorry about you and Scorpius..."
I go sit down next to her, relieved to give my feet a rest, "It is annoying... But we're used to being in a forbidden relationship I guess." I say, laughing a tiny bit, "It's not the first time someone has tried to keep us apart. Although I'm dreading family reunions with Scorp's dad."
"It must be nice, loving someone so much."
"Fred and James adore you."
Arla's lips curl up into a small smile, "Yeah, I can tell... But don't you think it's a bit... soon? I hardly know them, and they're already arguing over me."
"With such a huge family, we argue amongst each other easier than most." I answer, grinning, "We spend so much time together that when there's a chance to argue we don't really hold back. Although it's true I've never seen Fred and James like this before."
"Oh great." She groans, rolling her eyes, I've made two cousins hate each other."
I laugh, "Don't worry they'll get over it. Now it's just up to you to chose one."
Arla blushes a little, "I've already chosen one, right from the beginning."
"Merlin! Who is it?" I exclaim, almost bouncing up and down in my excitement.
She smiles mysteriously, "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."
There we are ;) So who do you think it will be? And I love Lily so much, she just does whatever she wants :p And isn't Ankher just awful ?! Imagine a teacher doing that to you! I don't think it's even allowed in our schools, but hey, this is a wizard school, the rules are different :3
Next chapter will be the second task, and I'll update faster this time, I pinky promise (not that it's difficult to update in less time than a year and a half, but I'll try to update in the next week :p )
Please review ! I would really love to know what you thought of this chapter :D
xoxoxoxoxoxo
DarkChocaholic
