Elementals of Magic: Prophecy of Lies

Chapter 15

Shadowed Identities

The next day, as many students were waking up with hangovers in Slytherin, Harry saw Ron and Hermione off as they left for Hogsmeade.

"Bye, mate. I'll see you again after Yule."

"You too, Ron."

"Harry, be careful. We'll be back soon."

"I will, 'Mione."

Hermione stepped in and hugged Harry, then the two left for Hogsmeade, leaving Harry standing after them on the steps of Hogwarts.

***

Hogwarts was practically empty as many pupils left to spend what might perhaps be the last Yule with their family. Ron and Hermione were no exception. Harry felt utterly alone as he made way back to Gryffindor Tower.

However, the most imminent problem was the Yule Ball. Who was he supposed to ask, what with almost no one still at Hogwarts?

The Gryffindor's problem was solved that day at supper. As he was about to leave the Great Hall, he heard a voice behind him calling his name.

"Harry!"

The raven-haired boy turned around to see a Ravenclaw that was in his year, though he couldn't recall her name, running towards him. She halted to a stop before him, panting slightly.

"I...I was wondering if you'll go to the Yule Ball with me."

"Sure, why not?"

"Thanks!" The Ravenclaw beamed and hugged Harry, then ran back to her House table, where she preceded to tell her giggling friends about what had happened.

"You've always had a knack for misfits, don't you, Potter? There's Weasel, who has no money, Granger, who has no blood, and then Turpin, who has no honor."

"Why don't you sod off, Malfoy," Harry replied between clenched teeth.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, Potter."

With that, the Slytherin left, Pansy trailing after him, throwing a contemptuous look at Harry, who stared at the blonde bewilderingly.

***

"Is he so naive that he doesn't even know about Turpin?" Pansy asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Everyone knows about Turpin. She's been waiting for this for a long time. I can see it right now. 'Golden Boy loses his virginity on night of Yule Ball!'"

"If she dares to come up to you again, she won't be able to shag anyone after I'm done with her," Pansy said possessively.

Draco just smirked as the brunette tightened her grip on his arm.

"You won't be the only one, Pansy, dear."

It was well known that Lisa Turpin had set her sights on Draco ever since Second Year. However, she had only tried to seduce Draco once before Pansy threatened her. Not wanting to be hexed by a Slytherin, she had steered clear of Draco, though it was still well known that she hadn't given up on him. After that, she had moved on to Potter, but as soon as she was done with him, she would lie in wait again for the Slytherin. Potter was famous, and the Ravenclaw would love to boast about how she shagged him, but she wanted Draco more. Draco was the most handsome boy in school, even the Gryffindors had grudgingly agreed; he was rich, famous, and had a place in society. Any girl would want him.

Of course, Turpin was also the school slut. She had slept with more than three-quarters of the school, male and female, and had even seduced several teachers. Thus, she never could understand how Potter and Draco could ignore her. Draco, of course, would never consort with a slut, and Harry just didn't know that Turpin was hitting on him all this time.

Lisa Turpin had even broken the record of her predecessor, Cho Chang, but she still hadn't been able to bag the two at the top of her list. In fact, Potter was still a virgin, and Draco was claimed. But she will stop at nothing to achieve her goal.

***

The days to Yule passed quickly, and soon Yule dawned upon Britain. Draco was awoken by a body sliding into the sheets beside him.

"Is it time already?" he mumbled, not yet fully awake.

"Of course, Draco. Now, come on, I'm sure you want to open your presents."

The blonde blinked a few times, then sat up. Two piles of presents were at the end of the bed, one for him and one that Pansy had brought over from her dorm. Every Yule, they opened presents together. It was a tradition that had been started ever since they had met, and the tradition had never been broken.

Pansy had already started opening some of her presents, discarding many of them without a second glance. In a few minutes, she was done with all the presents except for Draco's, which she waited to open while Draco opened his.

Draco also put many of them aside, as they were of no true use. Finally, there were only two left, one from Mother and one from Pansy.

Narcissa's present was wrapped in silver, pale blue ribbons around the rectangular object. Draco opened it to find it a book, though not just any book. It was a book from his father's collections. The title was Revenge: A Dark Guide to the Best Vengence Techniques. A note was sticking out of the book.

Draco,

I hope this book is useful for the circumstances. Lucius does not know you have it, but I would not worry. Enjoy and Happy Yule.

Mother

The Slytherin had been looking for a book like this; he hated pestering his mother so much. Narcissa always knew the best presents to give.

Now, only one gift remained. The one from Pansy. She had always given him a good present, useful or not. This year's was wrapped in black, with a silver ribbon wrapped around the gift and tied into a bow at the top. Pansy watched on as the xanthochroid opened his gift, holding her breath.

It was...magnificent. It was soft and cool to the touch, the cloth silvery gray, seemingly made out of a fluid-like substance. It was an Invisibility Cloak.

"Pansy..." he breathed.

"I knew you would like it! It did cost a small fortune and took me a while to find one, but it was worth it. Anything for you, Draco."

"Thank you. You haven't opened my present yet."

Pansy gingerly pulled off the strip of silver silk that wrapped around her gift, then carefully peeled back the green paper. She gasped.

"Draco..." The brunette then broke into a sob.

"What's the matter, Pansy?" Draco was concerned. The jeweler didn't mess up, did he?

Tears rolled down her eyes, and Pansy made no effort to wipe them off.

"I...I..." She broke into more sobs.

Draco put his arms around her and patted her back awkwardly. He had never seen Pansy cry, not even when he broke up with her. He had seen her melancholy, depressed, concerned, vengeful, angry, spiteful, but never had he seen her cry. The Slytherin was glad that Crabbe and Goyle were heavy sleepers; the two could sleep through almost anything normally, but they were almost unwakable after a shagging session, for which the blonde was thankful.

The tears slowly diminished, then stopped altogether, leaving the brown eyes moist and red-rimmed. Pansy sniffed a few times.

"Nothing's wrong, Draco. I..I'm touched."

Pansy held up the necklace. A dragon and a hart stood together, holding a heart in between them. The heart was encrusted with rubies; everything else was made of gold. On the back were several words.

Pansy -

Forever friends.

Draco

Draco had received the idea from the necklace his mother wore around her neck. He remembered asking about it when he was a small child.

***

"What's that around your neck, Mummy?"

Narcissa removed the necklace and held it in front of Draco.

It was a necklace of a dragon and a stag, so intertwined that it was hard to make out which was the dragon and which the stag.

"Your father gave this to me before we married."

"What's on the back?" asked the young boy, curious.

Narcissa turned the necklace around so the small boy could see the words inscribed on the piece of jewelry.

"What does it say, Mummy?"

"It says, 'Narcissa, You'll always be in my heart. Lucius.'"

***

Draco had forgotten about the necklace until the dream he had about Victoria and Narcissa. Funny that he never could remember anything until other events reminded him of it. However, it was the perfect present for Pansy, and he had been proven right.

Pansy put the necklace on, gingerly touching it with her right hand before looking at Draco.

"Thank you," she said softly, before leaning forward and pecking Draco on the lips.

***

Harry awoke to an empty dorm. All the other Seventh Years had gone home, and he was alone to open his presents, something that had never happened before during his seven years at Hogwarts. A pile of presents sat at the end of his bed, and he groggily climbed out of bed, put a cloak on, and sat down by the pile.

Hagrid had sent him a bag of rock cakes, which Harry set aside, and a bag of sweets from Honeydukes. Ron had sent him new items from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, including the new Moodpops, which changed one's skin color to whatever mood they were in; the Sonnet Sweet, which caused the person who ate it to talk in sonnets for up to five days; and the Playwright Pastries, which made one sprout off quotes from Shakespeare's works for at least three days. Harry had only learned last year that Shakespeare wasn't a Muggle but instead a Wizard.

Hermione had given Harry a book, which didn't surprise Harry. The title was Traveler's Guide to Surprise Encounters. On the inside was a note.

Harry,

I hope this comes in handy for the next two contests of the Founders' Pride. There are some really interesting and useful spells in here.

Hermione

Dobby, of course, gave Harry a pair of socks. One sock was red, with golden lions on it. The other sock was also red, though with golden griffins stitched upon the red. Harry had also given Dobby socks, one pair that turned red if there were untrustworthy people around, and a custom-made pair that had Dobby's name on it.

The Dursleys had sent Harry a toothpick and a note saying that he should not expect anymore Yule presents, not that Harry cared in the first place. Sirius had given Harry a book about how to become an Animagus, which Harry put aside for when he had time.

Harry had given Ron the book about the Chudley Cannons that the redhead had given him several years ago, though with the Chudley Cannons' autographs in them. At the beginning of summer, Uncle Vernon hadn't picked him up at King's Cross Station, assuming that if he was famous as they were lead to believe, then someone would surely take Harry off their hands, and also that Sirius Black was nonexistent, so they needn't worry about a deranged murderer cursing them into oblivion.

Harry had stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for three days before a team of Aurors had escorted him back to 4 Privet Drive. During his stay, he had met up with the Chudley Cannons, who were in Diagon Alley for new robes. The Quidditch team was all too happy to autograph the book and dedicate it to Ron for the Gryffindor.

Hermione received a book from Harry. He had found a study guide on N. E. W. T.s in Diagon Alley while he was staying at the Leaky Cauldron and had bought it for Hermione, who he knew would love. The book included what to study, what not to study, what to master, what one definitely had to know, and even had practice questions from past N. E. W. T.s. The brunette would probably be done with the book by the time Yule break was over.

The day dragged by slowly for Harry, as none of his friends had stayed for Yule. For lunch, the House tables had been cleared, and the fifteen or so students that had stayed all sat at one table with the teachers. Harry sat between Lisa and Professor McGonagall. Malfoy and the Slytherins occupied the other end of the table, and it was no surprise that the blonde's girlfriend and henchmen had also stayed behind. The Gryffindor did notice something red sparkling on Pansy's neck, though he didn't really care.

The decorations were splendid as usual, but Harry was used to them after staying at Hogwarts for Yule for seven years. Pine trees stood around the Great Hall, adorned with real miniscule owls, strings of popcorn, icicles that hung off the green needles, and multitudes of other festive items. A bowl of wizarding crackers lay in several bows along the table, with even more surprises than usual, including a water pixie in one of them, though it quickly escaped before anyone could move.

All too soon, it was ten minutes to seven. Harry tucked his fur cloak tighter around him and made his way down to Great Hall, where Lisa was waiting for him by the staircase. The Ravenclaw was dressed in a sky blue dress robe made of silk, with heavy makeup on her face and quite a few bracelets and bangles on her arms. Her friends stood a little ways off, giggling and pointing.

Lisa smiled at Harry.

"You look handsome, Harry."

"You look good yourself, Lisa."

"Thanks." The Ravenclaw beamed at him.

From the dungeons, the Slytherins were arriving, with Pansy and Malfoy leading. Malfoy wore silver robes that brought out his liquidsilver eyes, and Pansy wore frilly robes of a dark red, almost maroon color. A necklace gleamed brightly above her clavicles.

The two Slytherins walked over to where Harry and Lisa were standing, though they ignored them. Soon, Terry and his date came over, and finally, Susan and her date. Professor McGonagall bustled over to them, wearing velvet robes of red, though her hair was still in a bun.

"You will stay here until the rest of the school enters, then you will follow after them. Your table is at the end of the room."

A moment later, the doors of Great Hall opened, and the rest of the school entered, many upper classmen throwing looks of pity at Harry and looks of deep loathing at Lisa, who smiled innocently back at them. After the small clump of students filed past them, the four champions and their partners walked through the doors themselves.

Snowflakes fell onto the eight as they entered, though melting as soon as they settled. The room was dim; the only light came from the stars on the enchanted ceiling. Small round tables were scattered around the outskirts of the room, leaving the central area free of obstacles for dancing. At the other side of the dancing area were two tables, one seated with teachers, the other empty, with eight chairs around it. The eight pupils made their way to the table and sat down, Harry and Malfoy as far away as possible from each other.

When the champions and their partners were seated, Dumbledore rose.

"I would like to welcome all of you to the Yule Ball! I hope you enjoy tonight, even with the small number of students here. Food is on the tables by the doors. Now, I give you Cassandra Wicceque! Champions, lead the first dance!"

Enthusiastic applause followed as a young witch dressed in navy blue robes climbed up to the makeshift stage. A slow tune drifted out of thin air as the champions and their partners rose from their table and readied themselves.

Harry took hold of Lisa's left hand with his right as his left hand rested itself on her waist; the Ravenclaw put her right hand on his shoulder and pressed herself very close to him. He wondered if this was acceptable and craned his neck, looking at the other champions and their partners.

To his right, he could see Malfoy and Pansy in the same position, though there seemed to be no space between their bodies. Infering that this was normal, Harry turned back and looked at Lisa as they started moving on the dance floor.

"This is one of my favorite songs," Lisa said as a snowflake drifted onto her hair and melted.

"I've never heard anything by her," Harry admitted.

"Oh, I keep forgetting that you're not that familiar with wizarding culture. Cassandra Wicceque is one of the really hip artists right now. She sings Muggle and Wizarding style, which is what makes her unique. This is one of her Muggle songs, what the Muggles call pop. She does a whole variety, too, which is why most of us like her, as we can find at least one song by her in our favorite style. My favorite is Lascivus."

"Lascivus?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"It's songs sung while engaging in sex."

"Oh." Harry could feel himself turning red, though Lisa didn't notice, or if she did, didn't comment on it.

After several more dances, the two left the dance floor for the refreshment table, passing by Pansy and Malfoy along the way. Their bodies were still pressed close together, though Malfoy shot Harry a nasty grin before turning back to Pansy.

Kyon came up to them.

"Nice cloak, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you, Professor."

Harry grinned at his Godfather, who went off to dance with Professor Sprout.

He turned back to Lisa, who was crouching on the floor, retrieving one of the bangles that had fallen off her arm. The Gryffindor realized that he could see right down her robes, and the Ravenclaw was wearing nothing underneath. Harry turned bright red as Lisa stood up, sliding the bangle back onto her arm.

"It's getting cold in here, don't you think? Would you like to go somewhere a bit warmer?" asked the Ravenclaw, pressing herself against Harry and batting her eyelashes in what she thought was a seductive manner.

Harry almost didn't catch the hidden meaning. The raven-haired boy then realized that Lisa had crouched down and given him a view of her chest on purpose.

"If you don't mind, I would like to walk around outside. Be back soon."

Harry left the Great Hall before Lisa could respond. A look of disappointment came onto the Ravenclaw's face, and as she turned back towards the dance floor, she stared hatefully at Pansy, who was pressing herself even closer against Draco, smirking at Lisa.

***

"Potter just left, and Turpin's staring at me like she wants to cut my heart out," Pansy whispered to Draco.

"So Potter actually figured out Turpin's intentions? I'm surprised to know that the Savior of the Wizarding World does have brains in his head. Guess we won't be seeing headlines of Potter's seduction on tomorrow's Daily Prophet."

"Turpin's just left with some Fourth Year. Probably for a quick shag in a broom closet."

"I'm going to walk around, try out the Invisiblity Cloak you gave me, and maybe find out where Turpin is and lead Filch right onto her. I'll be back before the night's over, though."

Pansy detached herself from Draco.

"I'll be waiting," she said as she toyed with her necklace, then stepped in and gave Draco a peck on the cheek, all for appearance's sake.

***

As Draco was walking down the Charms corridor, he bumped into something solid. Something made a noise, then Potter's head was revealed, looking around him, trying to figure out who or what he bumped into.

Draco chose to take off his own Invisibility Cloak at that moment.

"So that's how you've been breaking rules, Potter. Mayhap I should call Filch."

"You have one too, Malfoy."

"I'm not the one out at night, sneaking dragons off, Potter. Or setting free guilty hippogriffs. Just because you're a hero doesn't mean that everybody adores you, Potter. I'm sure Filch would love to give you detention. And take back that Map you stole from him."

"The only reason you never get detention, Malfoy, is because your Mum shags all the teachers."

"Never insult my mother, Potter," Draco whispered in a deadly voice before bringing his arm back and punching Potter in his solar plex. The Gryffindor doubled over. He raised his head just in time to see Draco pull back his arm, preparing for another punch.

"Draco?"

Draco stopped. Never had Potter called him by his first name.

"What?"

"Have you ever been to Winston's Summer Camp For Boys?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Drake Moore?"

Draco lowered his elbow and looked at the young man in front of him. It couldn't possibly be?

"Henry Evans?"

The two young men stepped into a hug.