Yule Ball

Yule Ball

Chapter I

Harry sighed, leaning back in his chair and gazing wistfully out the window, Professor McGonagall's voice a steady drone in the background. He knew he should be paying attention; they had to study for their N.E.W.T.'s this year, after all, but despite Hermione's nagging, they still had at least five months.

Snow drifted down from the laden white clouds, covering the grounds in a bright, flawless blanket. It was still a little broken on the other side of the courtyard from yesterday's snowball fight. The highlight of that had been when he'd "accidentally" missed Malfoy and hit Pansy Parkinson full in the face.

In the seat beside him, Ron snored quietly, head propped up by his Transfigurations textbook. Hermione cast them the occasional disapproving glance while she fervently scrawled notes onto her parchment.

*Looks like Weasley finally found a good use for his book after all,* came the familiar drawl in his mind, and Harry hid a small smile behind his hand. Letting his concentration slip away from the finer points of Transfiguring inanimate objects into living things, his mind's eye suddenly refocused to reveal a relatively empty library, where a certain Slytherin Seeker was working on his Arithmancy homework.

*Getting bored, Malfoy?* he asked, repressing a snicker as Draco quickly stopped doodling on the sides of his paper.

He watched as Draco stifled a yawn behind a slender hand. *I have come to the conclusion that dropping Divination for something more challenging was one of my less-than brilliant ideas.*

Harry rolled his eyes. *But it was still relatively brilliant, of course.*

*Of course. A Malfoy is never anything less than perfect.*

*They are, however, prone to random acts of insanity.*

Draco raised a brow. *Touche.*

The bell rang, snapping Harry out of his conversation and back to the Transfiguration classroom. Students were already heading out the door, and he hurriedly put his stuff away as Ron stood, yawning widely and stretching.

"Have a nice nap, Ron?" Hermione asked, sending her boyfriend a sharp look. "I'll have you know, Ronald Weasley, that by the time the N.E.W.T.'s come around, you'll be sorry you didn't pay attention."

Ron groaned as the three of them left the room and headed down the hallway. "Aww Herm, we've still got five months!"

Before Hermione could let loose the rant that was building up within her, Harry stepped in, offering her a placating smile. "Don't worry about it, Hermione. I'm sure Ron will be ready when the time comes, won't you Ron?"

Ron nodded vigorously. "Of course! We were just talking about the tests last night!"

"Well, all right," Hermione said reluctantly. "Just so long as you realize the importance these tests will have in our lives after we graduate this year."

They entered the Great Hall, which was already noisy with the voices of many students. The trio took their usual seats at the Gryffindor talbe, Harry sitting where he could see the Slytherins and Ron and Hermione across from him. He ignored his two best friends for a minute, watching the doors as he felt a familiar presence drawing closer. A moment later they opened, revealing a pale silver-haired boy whose grey eyes caught his own in a subtle greeting before joining his House for lunch.

"-Harry?"

Harry blinked and looked over at Ron who was watching him expectantly, realizing he had just been asked a question. "Pardon? I didn't hear you."

"What's up with you, Harry? You seem so distracted lately," Ron accused, looking perplexed. Then he smirked. "Wouldn't be girl troubles, would it?"

*And little did the Weasel realize that it was a certain Slytherin Sex God that was behind the Golden Boy's troubles...*

Harry coughed on his pumpkin juice and glared at Draco in exasperation. Said Sex God merely offered him a cheery smile in return. Seamus leaned over and thumped him on the back, deriving a little too much pleasure from making him splutter all the more.

"Geez, Seamus, just kill him why don't you? You all right, Harry?" Dean asked, smacking his best friend upside the head.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Harry reassured, trying to ignore the amused expression on his friends' faces. He regarded them nervously, wondering if there was food on his face. "Er... what?"

Hermione and Ron shared a Significant Glance before turning to him. Hermione folded her hands and watched him closely. "You know you can tell us anything, right?"

*Except, of course, that you're shagging your worst enemy,* Draco added, watching them in amusement.

*Can I help it if you've got such a great body?* It was Draco's turn to cough and turn slightly pink. Harry smirked triumphantly and turned back to Hermione. "Right."

"So," Ron began, and the light in his eyes renewed Harry's nervousness. "Are you going to tell us who she is?"

"She?" Harry squeaked, silently wondering how a seventeen year old's voice was still allowed to do that.

"Yeah, you know, the girl you're taking to the Yule Ball," Ron informed him.

*Hmm... you know, last time I checked I was a boy... Want to verify that?*

Harry blushed, looking for all the world like a ripe tomato. "Umm... well, we kinda decided to make it a surprise..."

"You mean you're not going to tell us?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Oh come on, Harry! The Ball's not for another two and a half weeks!" Seamus exclaimed, ignoring the glares they shot him for his apparent eavesdropping. Beside him Dean sighed loudly and rested his head in his hands.

Harry snorted and put on a face haughty enough to make Malfoy proud (which he was). "I'm afraid you'll just have to wait and see."

Seamus groaned in dismay and sank back into his seat. Harry returned his attention to his food, grateful for the brief peace.

*********

That night Harry arrived at their room in the Astronomy Tower a bit late, as he got caught sneaking out of the dorm by Neville, who had been sworn to secrecy. Opening the old wooden door, he entered a small room with a couch and a few telescopes aimed at the many windows. Draco was lounging on the couch like a cat, his silky blonde hair hanging in whisps over his face. The moonlight from outside made a translucent, ethereal glow around him, his pale skin like ivory in the soft, bluish light. Grey eyes scanned the room for him as he shut the door quietly and removed his invisibility cloak. He left it in a shimmering pile by the door, crossing the room and sitting down on the couch beside Draco.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, whispering as if afraid to disrupt the sudden peace that had fallen over them. Draco leaned over him languidly and pressed a relatively chaste (as far as Draco was concerned) kiss on his lips.

"S'okay," he murmured, his warm breath fanning across Harry's face. Harry settled back, pulling Draco tight against him as the two boys snuggled contentedly in the half-light.

"So, has anybody bugged you about the Yule Ball yet?" Harry asked, idly stroking Draco's hair.

Draco sighed happilly in a rather post-coital fashion. "Just Pansy. Blaise has been dropping hints like lead balloons though. I think he's trying to figure out if I swing that way."

"I think it should be fairly obvious," Harry commented matter-of-factly. "Straight boys are never as pretty as you are."

Draco rolled his eyes in a very un-Draco like way. "Hmph. You're just in it for the sex, aren't you?"

Harry laughed and kissed him, effectively cutting off that train of thought. *Mmm... you know I love you, Draco.*

Moving closer, Draco gently sought entrance to his mouth with his tongue, drawing the kiss deeper as he tangled his fingers in Harry's hair. *Why don't you prove it?*

And Harry proceeded to do just that.

********

Luckilly for Harry, it was Saturday when he came back from his little snogging session with Draco, so his roommates were still all asleep. Ron was snoring loudly and probably wouldn't get up till noon, while Seamus had mysteriously disappeared (or perhaps not so mysteriously, he thought, with a suspicious glance towards the closed curtains around Dean's bed). While the two hadn't announced their relationship yet, it was obvious to anyone willing to look close enough. Especially when Seamus hadn't asked Lavendar Brown to the Yule Ball like he usually did.

Harry was secretly grateful towards them, as their relationship gave him the chance to judge Ron and Hermione's reaction to that sort of thing. Ron hadn't really cared (just begged them to learn a few silencing charms), and Hermione just asked them what took them so long. Seeing that helped calm his nerves, although he still had to worry about their reactions to *who* he was dating when the time came. He and Draco had decided the Yule Ball was as good a time as any, as it gave everyone the last half of the school year to get used to it.

Now safe inside his dorm room, he dropped onto his bed, not even bothering to change his robes. Shucking off his shoes, he curled up on the bed, letting his eyes drift shut. He hadn't had a lot of sleep last night, after all...

He woke up again a few hours later when Ron announced he was going down to breakfast with Hermione, and then they were going to study afterwards. He snorted; right... studying was the only thing on Ron's mind. Sending his thoughts out across the link, he realized Draco was still sleeping and sighed, trying to decide what to do. He still had that Potions essay to work on, but that could always wait until tomorrow.

Finally deciding to go for a walk, he slipped on his shoes and quietly left the dorm room. Since it was almost noon by now, the Common Room was already pretty busy, students talking and working on their homework in the large, brightly lit room. Ron was already gone, so he quickly left and eventually found himself outside by the lake.

The snow crunched underfoot as he walked along, little rays of sunshine finally breaking through the cloud cover overhead. It was still cold out, but fortunately there was no wind, and the new robes he bought this year did a good job of keeping him warm.

He was about to turn around and head for the Quidditch Pitch when he heard soft footsteps behind him. Smiling, he turned, expecting to see Draco but instead found Neville, his nose pink in the cold and his dirty blond hair a mess.

"Hi Neville," he greeted, offering him a curious smile. "What are you doing out here?"

"I came to talk to you," he answered, looking a little uncomfortable. "I, err... I know who you went to see."

He raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

Neville nodded. "It's the same person you're taking to the Yule Ball, right?"

Now he began to feel just as nervous as Neville looked. Harry turned away from him, studying his hands intently. "Um, yeah..."

"Well, I promise I won't tell anyone you're seeing Malfoy if you don't want me to, Harry," Neville offered, his own gaze fixated on everything that wasn't Harry.

"Please don't? Everyone else will find out at the Ball."

"Um, do you think you could tell me why?"

"About the Ball?"

"No," Neville said, shaking his head. "Why Malfoy?"

Harry nodded. "Ah. I've often wondered that myself. Well, he's not so bad once you get to know him, and trust me, I know more about him than I thought possible."

Nevile blinked. "What do you mean?"

Harry smiled enigmatically and started walking back to the school. "That story can wait for the Ball."