Villain, D. Malfoy

16. False Illusions

Emerald

Of course, my date was Draco. Of course, it was.

"Are you surprised?" His award-winning smirk dances on his face.

"Not at all. Great minds think alike." My lips purse in a straight line as I watch his puzzled face figure out what I meant.

"Why would you say t-" He halts until he realizes what I'm thinking. "Who's my date?" He fixes his index finger up.

"She may or may not be standing right in front of you this precise moment."

"Well, in that case, it'd be rude of me to resist her. Care to dance?" He grabs my hand, and it sounds more like a demand than an inquiry.

"Game well played." I nod. I never guessed both Draco and I would set ourselves up for a prank and anticipate both of us to get played by the other.

For a few moments, we entirely forgot what we were to each other, and all the exchanged taunts between us both. The melody spun around us, pushing away gravity. I couldn't measure how many times Draco had accidentally squished his foot under mine. Or knowing him, he possibly did so on purpose just to spite me. But still, he grinned dazzlingly as our heels connected over the ballroom floor.

My hair spun out and jumped more with each motion and beat. We were both recklessly tossing our hands up and allowing our feet to dictate the next steps. Not one of us knew anything about dancing, but we didn't have to. All that mattered was being in this moment, not caring about what class we had on Monday or what spell we needed to memorize by the end of the week.

Draco broke our dancing to get us both some cooling drinks. I don't know which drinks specifically, but anything remotely cold would be significant to calm my thirst. As he left, I strolled around, trying to see if I could catch any of my friends.

Indeed so, I bumped into Hermione. "Don't tell me your date is-"

"Draco." I finished her sentence.

"I saw you dancing with him! Is it true?"

"That he escorted me tonight? Yes," I attempted to explain over the loud song.

"Wait, so if you were his date, then who was his?"

My speechless glance made her realize that I had done the same as well.

"He was yours?" She shouted over the blasting vibrations.

"Yes!" I chuckled, losing my balance a bit due to my unusual elevated heels.

"There he comes. I'll leave you to it." She winks, and before I can wish her good luck or ask her about Harry, she's left me with the platinum blonde wizard. I turn and glimpse him holding two cups with red punch. "Drink up," He raises his glass, and I rattle mine with his, wishing we could stay in this pleasant moment forever.

As soon as they begin playing the slow, elegant music, Draco almost accidentally spills his punch on me, trying to hurry me as fast as he could to the middle of the ballroom. "You didn't even ask me if I wanted to share this dance with you!" I joke, clasping my dress up, running after him.

"Your answer was going to be a yes anyway. Dance with me." He pressures, and I, without any sort of uncertainty, give in. The passive symphony swiveled like a thread around us. The violins arrived, then the piano, and then the sluggish and apparent vibration of a drum. We met at the hands.

"Do you want to leave? Go somewhere silent?" He positioned his mouth next to my ear, and his tiny chuckle sends chills down my vertebrae.

I pull back, glowing. "Race you to the Astronomy Tower. But first, let me go change my shoes?" I implored, and he approved my plea of having uncomfortably high-heeled shoes.

His hand let go of mine, and we both bowed to each other as a character of greeting. I excused myself and rapidly made my way to Luna and I's dorm. On my way there, I couldn't help the grin that kept creeping up towards my face. Even if I tried to stop it, it still found a way to plant itself there.

Hell, my jaw hurt from grinning, too much, if that was even possible.

I had never seen him so cheerful before. He was so... accessible. The entire night. It was like he forgot about our yesterday's quarrel or our past day's insults. We weren't us. We were something more beautiful tonight. Something beautiful worth getting to know more.

My stop at the dormitory was short; a quick exchange of shoes was all it took for me to head out the door as promptly as I headed in. The adrenaline surged through my veins as it hasn't for the longest time. My blood awakes my brain, a sensation of hope, letting me know this was all true.

Taking more and more steps towards the top of the Astronomy Tower, I think twice and halt when I recognize a voice. And not that damn voice. The voice of a woman.

Pansy sketched Draco's jaw just like he touched mine. My smile slowly drops, and my body reacts like there's a gun placed next to my head. He didn't pull away. He didn't respond.

Neither did I. My muscles were as frozen as his cold icy eyes that Pansy was gazing at this entire time. I've never been one to interrupt, so I instantly gather myself and sprint down the stairs, making as no noise as possible, not wanting to disrupt whatever moment they were possibly sharing.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope all of you had a fantastic start to 2021! If you liked this chapter, let me know!