Saint-Seducing Gold

Chapter Ten: In the Open

"At my poor house, look to behold this night Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven light."

-----

After the Quidditch match, the week passed in fitful bursts. Dumbledore's edict had been issued throughout the Houses, but that didn't stop many Slytherins from trying to avenge their fallen leader. Although Draco was out the hospital wing the next morning, no fewer than ten different attempts were made to punish his adversaries as they sat in detention Saturday night. Teachers were kept busy in the following days hopping from one malicious situation to another. No House lacked students willing and devious enough to try and outsmart the faculty in an effort to harm another House. Although it was three Houses against one, the Slytherins managed to produce the best connivers of treachery and the war raged on. Soon it was Friday night, one day before winter vacation, and the evening of the Yule Ball was at hand. Not one student had been caught red-handed, so no one had been expelled, and the entire student body was in a roaring fever of unrest.

For the Yule Ball everyone simply cast spells to conjure up costumes and transform their faces and figures, but Ginny decided to make a real outfit so she could keep it after the night was over. It was an impressive piece of work that kept her busy for most of the day in an effort to make it perfect.

Her friends hovered behind her as she slipped into the dress and pulled her hair back.

"You look..." Catherine started, but her jaw fell and she was speechless.

"...beautiful?" Ella offered, craning around Catherine, Aubrey, and Miranda so that she could see Ginny's reflection in the mirror.

"Like a princess," Aubrey agreed, touching a sleeve of Ginny's dress.

"More than that," Miranda declared. "Like a goddess."

Ginny blushed, letting her hair fall against her shoulders. "You're exaggerating," she said modestly. Catherine shook her head, and Miranda snorted in disgust.

"Believe me, Ginny; if I looked that good in a dress I made myself, I wouldn't be going to this masquerade in a disguise." She raised her eyebrows at her friend knowingly, and pulled out her wand. "As it is, I'm no competition. But that's why we have magic." She whispered a spell and red light sparkled from her wand, obscuring her body from the rest of them. When the crimson taint had gone, Miranda had been transformed into a dainty girl with elfish features and a merry smile, dressed in a skimpy red dress that seemed to move and change color as though it were made out of flame. A pair of glistening wings sprouted from her back and red-gold hair cascaded around bare shoulders shimmering with golden glitter. The other girls all applauded Miranda's choice of attire as a fire fairy.

Aubrey rolled her eyes and tapped her own wand against her temple. When her spell was finished, she'd been changed into a statuesque woman wearing the height of ancient Egyptian fashion - a diaphanous white gown, broad gold collar encrusted with gems, and a heavy wig of ebony hair. "Cleopatra," the transformed Aubrey told them, twirling in a circle.

Soon enough Catherine and Ella were also in their own costumes, Maid Marion and Scarlett O'Hara respectively. When Ella had completed hers, the other girls all shrieked over her low cut Southern belle's dress and marveled that their bookish roommate dared to wear such an outfit even if no one could tell who she was. Then they all turned to Ginny.

"Well?" Aubrey said.

"We're waiting." Miranda smiled, her dress changing in an eerie shift of color.

Embarrassed, Ginny took out her wand and quickly muttered the appropriate spell. Something flickered in front of her eyes, and she felt the spell settle upon her skin. Hearing the gasp from her friends, she knew she'd changed. Turning again to face the mirror, she gasped herself, and then a grin split her face. Draco was never going to recognize her...

-----

Despite the rather unusual circumstances of House warfare as of late, the teachers had found enough time to completely transform the Great Hall. Although Draco knew they had gone to extra lengths in an effort to make students forget their battles and remember what the Yule Ball was about in the first place, he was unsure of how well it would work. He stared at the vaulted ceiling (still showing the starry sky above; it was the one thing that remained unchanged), and hoped that maybe it would work. Things had been so bad lately he'd been forced to withdraw from his normal friends because he couldn't bring himself to pretend much anymore.

Permitting himself a small sigh, Draco put away his gloomy thoughts and simply stared around the Great Hall, marveling at the modifications. Beveled mirrors hung upon the walls and elaborate chandeliers hovered in midair, their dangling crystals softly colliding to produce an undertone of sound, pure and sonorous. Priceless Persian carpets covered the marble floor beside long tables holding what looked to be a full-sized medieval feast, complete with detailed ice sculptures and a stuffed swan. A stage had been set up at the far end of the hall and Draco could see five young wizards setting up their instruments, and getting ready to play. A banner written upon in elegant gold scrawl proclaimed them the band Rebels Without Wands.

Draco glanced at his reflection in one of the mirrors and smirked, finally finding himself in a good mood. He'd followed Ginny's advice, and now the best-looking vampire in the world was staring back at him. Dressed in the Old World sophistication of black and red silk and satin, Draco admired his perfect white skin, his sharp canines, his hair that shone like gold falling just short of his shoulders. He'd always imagined vampires like this, beautiful creatures of the night so alluring that their victims came to them rather than the other way around. He crooked a finger at his reflection and laughed in delight at the way the action took on a seductive quality all its own.

"High spirits returned have they?" a cool voice quipped from behind him. Draco showed his new fangs in the mirror, and grimaced at Blaise's costume. The idiot had let his girlfriend dress him up as the mythical Sir Lancelot; she, of course, was Guinevere. Resplendent in chain mail and a red velvet tunic bearing an impressive coat of arms, the costume was made complete by the actual sword swinging at his side and his mask of a decidedly French face.

Draco spun on his heel, his black cape swirling most pleasingly, and gave his friend a curt bow. "Good evening, monsieur," he said softly, trying not to laugh as he assumed his character's seductive air and saw the disquieted look in Blaise's eyes.

"Stop playing," the now-Lancelot ordered him, and Draco straightened with a chuckle of satisfaction. A young woman with shining blonde tresses hanging down her back was approaching them, her dress definitely medieval. "Here comes Jaclyn," Blaise breathed, and Draco rolled his eyes at his friend's obvious infatuation.

"M'lady." Blaise swept a courtly bow as his girlfriend reached them. Jaclyn bestowed upon him a benevolent smile, and pointed at Draco.

"Who's this?" she asked, still smiling, as Blaise straightened and took her arm.

"Only a fellow denizen of darkness," Draco replied, now thoroughly enjoying his appearance. He kissed Jaclyn's fingertips, and took a step back. Her eyes traversed his body, and she seemed to be trying to pinpoint the sound of his voice.

"Draco?" she whispered finally, and then giggled as he inclined his head in acknowledgment of her address. "What a costume!" she breathed. "Not even the gaudy Gryffindors will be able to top this!" She dropped Blaise's arm and crossed the space between them to examine him more fully. Draco grinned as she ran her hands over the material of his archaic coat, and watched Blaise burning with jealously.

"All right," Blaise said finally, fuming at Draco's ability to draw females to him as easily as flowers drew bees. "That's enough, Jaclyn. Come on, the music's starting." He dragged her away, but Jaclyn still shot Draco a wink over her shoulder.

Draco smiled to himself and admired the strength of his reflection once again. Ginny won't know what hit her!

It was at that precise instant that beauty herself appeared behind him. A woman (No! Girl. She had to be a student...) possessing an aura of wisdom beyond her years had just entered the Great Hall all alone. Draco calmly told himself to breathe as every male in the room spotted this temptation. Many overtly dropped their jaws and gaped, and several were brave enough to actually approach her. Before they could open their mouths though, she had turned away from them, and faced the corner where Draco was.

Draco's eyes widened before he could help it. He had told Ginny specifically where to meet him, and when. And, glancing briefly at his gold pocket watch, apparently he was not dreaming. It was Ginny walking toward him now.

Draco turned to meet her, but suddenly found that his words of greeting had evaporated on his tongue. Thinking that there was no feasible way in the universe for his girlfriend to be more beautiful to him than she already was every day, he was stunned speechless to discover that he had been wrong. The woman standing now before him was a model of classic loveliness. Her limbs were clean and long, enshrined in a tunic of shimmering cerulean. Her skin was creamy white, unblemished, and showed in so many tantalizing places that Draco found it hard to concentrate on much else. But her face with its high cheekbones, almost aquiline nose, and full red lips commanded attention as well. And her hair, a bounty of raven locks flowing unbound down her back, drew his eyes as well. But it was Ginny that made the body truly gorgeous; it was her incomparable sprit that filled it, and lent such an ardent light to its vivid blue eyes. It was her grace of movement that entranced every person who watched her walk to him. It was her mellifluous voice that lightly laughed when one besotted boy dressed as a Muggle pirate came up to her and begged her to dance with him. It was her lissome gesture that stopped the others in their tracks, and her familiar smile as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek that finally made him snap back to reality.

"Ginevra Weasley," he whispered under his breath as he bowed to her, and pressed a swift kiss upon her hand, keeping with the pretense of his character. "I wouldn't have thought you to be the temptress type."

Ginny flashed him a smoldering look that she'd spent a lot of time perfecting in her mirror that morning. "I am supposed to be Circe. I thought that would be obvious." She tossed her hair over her shoulder, and shot Blaise, who wasn't standing so far off, a coquettish look. The older boy's cheeks flamed scarlet.

Draco bit his lip in an effort not to laugh. "It's too perfect," he grinned. "You and me both; we'll be sirens who deny every victim that comes our way." They linked arms, and Ginny beamed up at him.

"Did you think I was going to let you have all the fun?" she teased, and touched his long blonde hair. "Not that you don't deserve it."

Draco smiled smugly, repressing the urge to acknowledge the compliment.

"Stop that," Ginny said, smiling also. He flashed her an innocent look but it quickly turned into a frown when he saw who had just entered the Great Hall.

"Whose costume is that?" he asked, pointing to the open doors of the Great Hall.

Ginny glanced in that direction, and went still. "Harry," she said soberly, indicating the figure Draco had inquired about. Harry, in a fit of black humor, had dressed as Salazar Slytherin in robes of green and silver, and a snake was curled around his neck, its head resting on his shoulder.

"And that's Parvati Patil with him," she continued. Parvati, in order to partner Harry (whom she'd reluctantly agreed to go with, despite his dark mood as of late), had dressed as the scholarly Rowena Ravenclaw and was stunning in robes of midnight blue.

"That must mean that's your brother and our beloved secret keeper following them, doesn't it?" Draco asked with a cutting tone. It was indeed Hermione and Ron who came next, hand-in-hand as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy from the Muggle book, Pride and Prejudice. Ginny nodded, and put a hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Yes, but who cares, Draco? Can't we ignore them tonight?"

He looked into her pleading eyes for a moment and felt a pang of realization that this was a one-time opportunity. "Of course," he replied. "We're going to ignore everyone."

"Draco, darling!"

The simpering voice pulled both Draco and Ginny around to stare at a strange couple approaching them. Draco groaned, but quickly reassumed his Slytherin façade as Pansy Parkinson and her date, Draco's cousin, Grahm, came up to them.

"What a brilliant costume!" Pansy gushed, while giving Ginny a quick once over with her eyes. "However did you come up with it?"

"Good evening, Pansy," Draco said, nodding. "Grahm."

Grahm grinned and pulled his dark sunglasses down so that Draco could see his eyes.

"Evening, coz," he greeted him with a chuckle. "I can see you were successful in finding a date." Ginny's grip on Draco's shoulder tightened.

"Yes, and just who is she, Draco?" Pansy asked, looking at Ginny more directly this time.

Draco decided to at least have fun with it, and gave them both a jackal's grin. "This, my friends, is Circe, the most powerfully alluring witch of all time." Ginny, playing along, smiled at them both and curtsied. Grahm's eyes widened as he did an exaggerated double take. Pansy sneered.

"Yes, Draco, but who is she when she's not playing dress-up?"

Ginny stopped Draco with a finger on his lips and turned to Pansy with a smoky look. "A witch more worthy of our vampire's affections than you are, Pansy dear," she purred. Pansy opened her mouth in outrage, and Grahm laughed outright.

"She's got that right!" he declared, and Pansy shot him a sharp look. "Well just look at her," he said, shrugging. Pansy turned on her heel and stalked away. Grahm shook his head.

"Sorry, mate, I gotta go. She is my date, after all. Oh, and nice to meet you at last," he directed at Ginny. He blew her a kiss and left, hopping after Pansy.

Ginny broke into giggles as soon as Grahm was out of earshot. Draco frowned at her. "Nice performance," he congratulated her. "But what's so funny?"

"Your cousin," Ginny gasped. "Did you know that he listens to Muggle music?" Draco shook his head, and looked again at Grahm's costume, which was confusing him to no end. He didn't understand what a fifteen year old wearing red leather pants, a pair of dark sunglasses, tangled blonde hair covered by a strange-looking hat, and not much else was supposed to be. He also didn't understand when Ginny doubled over with laughter, saying something about how she recognized the outfit from something Colin Creevy had shown her. "Kid Rock," he thought she wheezed through her laughter.

Draco rolled his eyes, still not comprehending, and marked the other Slytherin's costumes off in his head. Pansy was dressed as one of the famous Which Witch singers, and had a hard time fending off fourth years who thought she was the real thing before they realized their mistake. He quickly went through the rest of the seventh year's costumes and all of the lower year's that he knew. Coming to two goblins dressed in finery and dripping with gaudy jewels, he stopped and pointed them out to Ginny.

"Vincent Crabbe and Millicent Bulstrode," he explained as Ginny raised her eyebrows. "They thought it would be cute to go as goblin king and queen. Don't ask me what they were thinking. Oh, and before I forget..." He pointed to the shadows behind Crabbe and Millicent. "Goyle," he said. Ginny followed his finger and saw the third wheel, Goyle, disguised as a walking skeleton.

"Shall we?" Draco asked then, gesturing to the open dance floor. The band had finally straightened themselves out, and launched into the first song, and he had a good idea of who most of his Housemates were so that he could avoid them (or flaunt himself and Ginny in front of them, whichever took his fancy).

Ginny didn't reply, merely grabbed his hands, and the two whirled into a waltz together. It took awhile for others to join in because everyone was so captivated by the image Draco and Ginny cut together. The two seemed to be the perfect pair, light matched with dark, a flawless blend of masculine and feminine wiles. However, when it became apparent that their eyes were only for each other, the rest of the students began to flood the dance floor in order to dance beside them. Or they tried to at least. Draco and Ginny spun through the crowd with the nimbleness sprung from love's light wings, and hardly seemed to notice the others at all, which may have been for the best as the students around them eyed each other warily, wondering which House they represented. It seemed that even the removal from a normal school setting did not cool tempers any.

Later, out of breath with laughter and giddy with the ebullience of the evening, Ginny and Draco came to a stop along with everyone else as the band stopped playing, and the Headmaster announced that dinner was served. A couple of people got the shock of their lives when they saw Dumbledore's costume - a smiling Professor Snape. In Ginny's mind, the dancing had been divine, like walking on clouds, but she was ready to stop before her feet were too sore to walk. Draco gallantly pulled out a chair for her at the long table Dumbledore had conjured up for the feast, and she gratefully sank into it.

The feast was soon underway and the conversation that filled the hall had a definite undertone. Just who was the blonde devil in disguise? And who was the Grecian enchantress at his side? Only the seventh year Slytherins (as well as Grahm) knew who Draco was, and only the seventh year Gryffindors and Ginny's roommates knew who she was. It made for an excellent deal, as most people who didn't recognize each other weren't speaking.

Ginny was much too happy to care about the rumors flying around the room. She took pleasure in being with Draco where everyone could see them, and the two soon fell into a private conversation, effectively blocking everyone else out.

"Come on," Draco said when the feast was done at last. He stood and pulled Ginny to her feet. She stole a glance at the giant clock on the wall, and sighed with the knowledge that they didn't have much time before everything went back to normal.

"Where are we going?" she asked as he led her toward the door.

Draco threw her a mischievous look over his shoulder and didn't say anything.

"Draco...." Ginny laughed as he sped up, forcing her to quicken her steps to a near run. "Draco, what are we doing?" Several people noticed them, and began whispering amongst themselves. She stuck her tongue out at them, and they started back in surprise as she giggled at her own immaturity. A pair of familiar eyes abruptly met hers from within the crowd by the doorway. Ginny frowned to realize that Ella was staring at her with a sad, knowing look. But before she could wonder any more, Draco had dragged her out of the Great Hall and into the hallways beyond.

"We have to get far away from everyone before midnight," he elucidated once they were well on their way up the stairs and away from the ball. Ginny raised her eyebrows as he veered off down an unfamiliar passage.

"Yes, but so soon, Draco? We didn't even have our last dance..." She stopped in the middle of the hallway. Draco stopped as well, turning to look at her. His eyes, a foreign shade of blue-violet in tone with his disguise, traversed her from head to toe.

"Maybe a minute longer," he declared finally. Ginny unfolded her arms and gave him a quizzical look as he strode to her.

"What--?" But she didn't finish her question. Draco had put a hand to his lips and motioned to the air above their heads. She looked up to find a bower of mistletoe hovering there, just one of the many festive decorations in the castle during this time of year. Draco put his hands to her face and pulled her into a kiss. It was short and sweet and Ginny found herself pleasantly flushed when they parted. Draco smiled contentedly and was silent in savoring the moment.

Ginny suddenly caught the strains of a voice floating out from the Great Hall and motioned for Draco to listen.

"...and that's it for Best Couple's Costume. Now, the awards for Best Individual Costume. There are two, one male and one female. And they go to... The witch Circe and the eighteenth century vampire!" The hall erupted with cheers and clapping but the voice spoke above them, saying, "Please come forward to accept your prizes."

"I wonder what they were," Draco said wistfully, leaning against the wall. Ginny looked at him for a minute as the clapping gradually faded into muted talking as it became apparent that Ginny and Draco were no longer in the room.

"I have your prize," Ginny announced suddenly. "Come here." Draco obliged, going to her with an expectant look on his face. "Not that," Ginny said, laughing. She pulled his hands to her waist and placed her own upon his shoulders.

"Here," she said. "Our last dance. All alone. Right here." She entreated him with a hopeful gaze.

Draco looked into her strange blue eyes and smiled. "Mmm... A nice prize," he said. "But it needs something." He waved his wand through the air and muttered a spell. Glittering light flowed from his wand to surround them in a cloud of star-studded mist. Another spell had the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw beside them singing a wordless song of strange lyricism. Draco pulled her close and the two swayed, captivated by the siren's song Draco had conjured. The melody wound around the two soulmates as the world disappeared from view and they saw only each other.

"I never knew I could be so happy," Draco was whispering, and Ginny nodded in wonderment.

-----

"This is stupid," Parvati whispered to Harry as they watched Ginny flee the room with her mysterious escort. "If you want to know so badly, why don't you just follow her?"

Harry's cheeks went scarlet and he turned away from the door. "No," he said roughly, touching the snake at his shoulder. "She wouldn't want me to--"

"Interrupt?" A new voice continued Harry's train of thought. Harry and Parvati turned to Ron as his dark eyes flashed toward the hallway outside. His costume of a brooding gentleman fit perfectly with the expression on his face. Hermione put a hand on his arm as he continued, "I don't think that's important anymore, Harry. We need to find out who she's with. If it's someone who will hurt her..." His dangerous tone told the rest of them that he clearly wouldn't be happy with the stranger no matter who he turned out to be. Hermione winced and her thoughts flew as she tried to think of some way to keep Ron away from the unsuspecting Ginny and Draco.

-----

"I don't think we should be doing this," Ella said nervously as a laughing Miranda and Aubrey peered around the next corridor to see if Ginny was there with her enchanting companion. She knew that nothing good would come of an encounter with Ginny and her Slytherin date. Especially if she was correct in deducing that the Slytherin was none other than the Prince of Snakes himself. Beside her, Catherine giggled into her hands and leaned against the wall. Ella wished she'd stopped the blue-eyed girl from having those last few Butterbeers.

Aubrey turned around and fixed Ella and Catherine with a glare. "Don't you two want to find out who Ginny's dating? And why she hasn't let us meet him? And if he's really as attractive in real life...?" Unable to keep up the pretense of anger, she dissolved into laughter and tugged on Miranda's arm. The two skipped off down the hall, onto the next.

Ella opened her mouth, ready to protest again, but grabbed Catherine instead. "Come on," she said, wishing she was as brave as a Gryffindor was supposed to be. The other girl stumbled after her.

-----

"Why are we doing this again?" Pansy complained loudly for the third time since the Slytherin group had left the Great Hall.

Grahm sighed, and turned to the older girl without disguising his contempt. "Because, Pansy darling, we want to know who this girl Drakey's seeing is, don't we?" Blaise seemed uncomfortable, an odd look for him especially in his Sir Lancelot get-up. Grahm ignored him and Pansy's protests, and stealthily rounded another corner.

"Besides," he whispered to himself, "It'll probably be the only excitement I'm gonna get all evening."

-----

It was nearly midnight when Ginny and Draco's song ended. Stopping mid-step, Draco smiled.

"Do you still like the night-life, Ginny?" he asked suddenly.

"Why?" she countered, giving him a sly look, but smiling back nonetheless.

"Well..." The blonde looked around. "We could leave the school entirely - go somewhere else for the night."

"Like the Drowned Rat? Don't be ridiculous, Draco," Ginny laughed. "We'd miss the train in the morning!"

"So?" Draco pulled her close to him, making her yelp in surprise. "Who says we want to go home in the morning?"

"Draco..." Ginny tried to sound admonishing, but it came out breathless and pleased. "My mother expects me at the train platform tomorrow afternoon."

Draco smirked. "So does mine," he said, "But it's not going to stop me from staying here with you."

"Well, when you put it that way..." The two melted together into another kiss. Neither of them heard the two groups of people separately enter the hallway.

"Ginny!" a few relieved voice cried from their left, just as an exasperated "Draco!" came from their right. The two sprang apart and horror rose within them as they saw the Gryffindors and Slytherins stare at each other from across the hall and say, "What?" with frowning faces. Somewhere a clock began to strike twelve. The sound reverberated off the walls and everyone's costumes melted away leaving Ginny and Draco exposed before their respective friends and enemies.