Dare to Dance

The next day, Misty got up, and dressed in her black robes. Running a brush through her hair, she said good-morning to her friends as they woke up. After they were all ready, the five walked down to the Great Hall, and ate some breakfast.

"What do we have first?" asked Elise.

"Herbology...with the Ravenclaws," answered Tanya, looking at her schedule.

"In the afternoon, I've got Care of Magical Creatures," said Misty, "I hope Hagrid's going to teach us about some ocean creatures this year." Misty planned on studying magical creatures of the sea when she graduated from Hogwarts, "Then I've got the meeting."

"Hope you don't have to sit next to Jess," smiled Anne.

"So do I," agreed Misty.

"We better go," Beatrice said, "Don't want to be late for our first class!"

Misty's first day back at Hogwarts went pretty smoothly. Herbology was actually pretty interesting, and Hagrid hinted that they might be studying water creatures this year, at least for a little while. But Misty's heart sank as she neared the prefect's meeting room. The head boy and head girl were already there, along with several prefects, including Jess.

"I only know one person in this entire committee," sighed Jess, as she entered the room, "And it has to be you."

"I'm no more happy about it then you are," replied Misty coldly, taking a seat. To her horror, Jess sat down beside her. It wasn't like he had any choice, for all of the other seats had been taken, but Misty still wished he had sat down next to someone else.

The meeting started, and it was mainly small talk, such as what entertainment there would be at the dances, how they were going to enforce school rules (Misty remained silent for most of that discussion), but finally, they got to the important stuff.

"All right," said the head boy, a stuffy, snooty boy from Hufflepuff, "We'll need to have patrols around the school every once in a while, whenever there are rumors that...You-Know-Who...is about. All of us will be walking around the school, including the teachers. However, because of the certain dangers there will be, you all will need to be in groups of two. These groups are as follows..."

Oh great, thought Misty, with my luck, I'll be with...

The head boy walked around the table.

"Ah, yes, Misty Potter. And your partner is...Jess Malfoy." He moved to the next person. Misty cursed under her breath.

"Now, now," smirked Jess, "We can't have prefects saying things like that."

"I didn't say it out loud," protested Misty, "Are you happy about this?!"

"Just why would I want to be with a Potter?" asked Jess scornfully. Misty shrugged and looked away. This was going to be awful.

Luckily, the first few weeks at Hogwarts, Misty didn't even have to look at Jess. He was in a few of her classes, but she didn't even speak to him. Instead, Misty enjoyed herself, and was looking forward to the Halloween ball, which was coming up shortly.

But, two weeks before the ball, a muggle claimed to see his friend screaming for no reason outside his window. There was a cloaked figure standing nearby, and the muggle reported the figure saying very strange words, such as crucio, and something like abra-cadabra. After the last word, his friend simply...died. When this news reached the wizarding world, everyone knew that it was Voldemort who the muggle had seen.

And, because of this, Misty found herself walking down the Hogwarts corridors at midnight- with none other than Jess Malfoy.

"Why are you always so mean to me?" asked Jess, when they were walking by the DADA room.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" retorted Misty.

"I asked you first."

"So?"

"Just answer the question, Misty."

"You started that rumor...about me. Then, I got mad, and you got mad back at me, and things...just got worse."

"I never started that rumor." Misty looked at him.

"You didn't?"

"No. I actually thought you were pretty cool, you know. For a Potter." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"I thought you were pretty cool, too. For a Malfoy."

"So...friends?" Jess suggested.

"Friends," Misty agreed. They continued walking down the hallway.

The next two days, the watches continued. Finally, on the third day, Dumbledore let the prefects and the head boy and girl to return to their normal sleeping times.

Unfortunately, that didn't last for long.

There was another sighting, only this time, a wizard and a witch spotted Voldemort. He was with a handful of his death eaters, holding a council in the woods by their home. Immediately, they had contacted the Ministry of Magic, and now it was all over the papers.

So, once again, the watch started up.

Misty had a hint that Jess was slightly interested in her, in a more-than-friends kind of way. She had caught him looking at her more than once, both at meal times and in classes. Tired of wondering, she decided to ask him when they were on the watch duty.

"Hey, Jess," she said, after they had passed Snape in the hallway.

"Yeah?"

"You know, I've been thinking..."

"That's a first!" he joked. Misty pushed him playfully.

"And...well...you seem..." she paused.

"Come on, Misty, while we're both still young..."

"Okay. Do you like me or something?" Whatever Jess had been expecting, it certainly wasn't that.

"Um..." he stuttered, "maybe. Actually, well, yes. A lot. I mean...oh, all right. Misty, I...I love you." Now it was Misty's turn to be surprised.

"Well," she gave a little laugh, "I was thinking that maybe you liked me..."

"How about you?" asked Jess. Misty looked at the floor.

"Yeah," she looked at him.

"Then, well, do you want to...go out? I guess that's what they call it now..." Misty hesitated.

"Jess, I'd really like to. I'm serious, I would. It's just that..."

"What? Slytherins and Gryffindors have gone out before. It's not that common, but it has been done. We should be able to do the same."

"But...we're enemies," protested Misty, backing up against the wall.

"We were enemies," corrected Jess, encircling her waist with his arms.

"Still..." Misty tried to break away, but he held her fast.

"Still what? Come on, Misty, I'd swear you were afraid of me or something."

"I'm not afraid of you..."

"Then what are you scared of?"

"I don't know..."

"Are you scared of this?" before she knew what was happening, Jess' lips were on hers. He parted her lips with his tongue, and she didn't resist. This felt...wonderful, Misty thought, kissing him back, what was she afraid of?

After a while, they finally pulled apart.

"See?" said Jess, his nose inches from hers, "That wasn't so bad." Despite his cool, collected tone, Jess seemed a bit surprised at what he had just done. Misty smiled and looked at the floor. He placed his arms around her again, and she settled into his chest.

Harry was going to be furious.

Jess stroked Misty's face with his finger. He loved her, he really did. The only problem was his father. Draco could be very abusive when he got angry, he knew that from experience. Several times his friends had asked what the cuts, scrapes and bruises he had were from. Always, Jess would shrug and say he probably fell down somewhere. How mad would he get this time? Jess tried not to think about it, and instead focused on the girl in his arms, how beautiful she was...how perfect. Many times his mother had tried to set him up with girls, but they were always in Slytherin, always mean, or could care less about him. Not Misty, though. She cared about him. She loved him.