The Ballrooms of Mars

It was the first day of classes at Hogwarts. A gaggle of sixth-year Slytherins, including Millicent Bulstrode, walked into History of Magic late--after all, the class did begin at 9:30 in the morning. She had misplaced her textbook and spent twenty minutes searching for it before leaving the room. It had been under Pansy's bed the whole time and Millicent was hesitant to look there because Pansy was fast asleep with Theodore Nott snoring loudly beside her. They were both naked and this made retrieving the book an extremely awkward task.

The only empty seat in was all the way at the front of the classroom, next to Draco. Unfortunately, Harry and Ron sat right behind him. Millicent made sure to smack Ron as she passed him.

"What was that for?!" Ron asked, rubbing the back of his head in pain.

"Shut up, prat," Millicent snapped.

Suddenly, Draco reached over and placed his hand on her thigh.

"W-w-what are you doing?" whispered Millicent.

"Admiring your beauty, darling," replied Draco with a smirk and a twinkle in his eye. Millicent turned away bashfully.

"Oh, stop it, Draco."

A harsh gagging noise sounded from behind the two lovebirds. Ron had been observing this flirting going on in front of him and he was disgusted by it; perhaps this was because two people he loathed were the ones doing the flirting. He did not realize this at the time, but a tiny portion of him felt sorry for Millicent. He saw the look on Draco's face and thought he was being cruelly false with her.

"Mind your own business, Weasel," hissed Draco. "I understand that you're jealous because you're too ugly to get a girl, but I'm warning you."

At the end of the class, all of the students, except for Neville, who was napping, stood up immediately. Draco cleared his throat.

"Millicent, I want to ask you something," he stated.

"Yes, Draco?"

"How would you like to go steady with me? You know, as boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Millicent was silent for a moment or two because she was in extreme awe. Draco, the beautiful bad boy, the Slytherin Sex God, had just asked her out. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Ron with his mouth gaping open in utter shock.

"Draco, I'd love to," Millicent responded. Then she gave Ron a very pointed look. His mouth closed but he lingered at the table behind where Draco and Millicent stood.

All of a sudden, Draco kissed her. And it was not just a peck.

This was when Ron fled the scene.

He had to sprint in order to catch up to Harry and Hermione, who had left as soon as the class was dismissed.

"Harry! Hermione!" he called after them when he found them in the Great Hall.

"What took you so long to get out of class?" asked Harry.

"I can't believe it! Draco just asked out Millicent Bulstrode!" Ron exclaimed.

"So what?" asked Harry. Hermione feigned a yawn.

"It looked like Draco was playing a big joke on her and she wasn't picking up on it."

"Oh."

"You wouldn't understand!" stammered Ron as he pushed past Harry and Hermione. He wondered if Draco was right, if he really was feeling jealous. She really did look breath-taking at the Ministry Gala--it was clear that she had lost quite a bit of weight over the summer. Even during class, Ron had to stop himself from admiring her voluptuous figure from behind.

"No," Ron growled to himself when he reached his dorm room. "I will not fall for a Slytherin. I hate her!"

He promptly kicked his trunk in frustration.

"Youch!" Ron howled, grabbing his foot and leaping up and down in utmost pain.