Warm But Tainted Blood (Drarry)

chapter eleven

December was the calm before the storm.

"Who're you taking to the dance, Harry?" asked Hermione one evening. Harry looked up from his work- a design for a possible new pain potion he'd been researching- and titled his head.

"Dance?" he twirled his quill in his hand. "I didn't know there was a fucking dance."

"The winter dance," said George, who was sitting to Harry left of the library table.

"--happens every year," finished Fred. "On the day before people leave for Christmas break, though no one will be leaving this time around. I heard the Floo's been shut down here-- dragon's trying to break in and shit."

"I probably won't go," hummed Harry.

"You haven't heard anything about it though!" Hermione said. Harry shrugged.

"Social gatherings never have been my strong suit."

"But you'll love the prize-"

"A prize?" Harry didn't see how you could include prizes into a dance but could not deny he was interested to see them try.

"The two best dancers of the night get a free book from the restricted section," George interjected.

Ah. So that was why Hermione seemed so eager to go. Harry glanced over at the section, his mind racing. He'd made no progress with figuring out the Dragon Epidemic with the books in the library, but the books there-

"I'm going," said Harry. "I don't have any dress robes, though."

"What are you, a wizard or not?" Fred laughed. "Just transfigure some."

"Oh, yeah," Harry laughed. "I'm going to totally destroy all of you, so apologies."

Fred and George grinned– an evil, plotting grin that likely was indictive of a later prank that Harry is excited to see– and say, perfectly in sync: "I'd like to see you try."

∆¶∆

Harry spent his free time walking or, more so often as the dance approached, couped up in the library. Sometimes with Hermione, most of the time alone. As the winter dance neared, the table he occupied became more and more of a home.

Normally, Harry would be studying Charms. He'd always have an awful lot of trouble with them, but he was getting better. He'd learned a few by heart— disillusionment, accio, and a simple cleaning charm— because he deemed them possibly useful for him when he returned to the Dursley's, and was busying perfecting more, albeit with some difficulty. He'd been trying to master fire protection charms; thinking the nessacary in case dragon's were to break in. As well as levitation charms.

Today, Harry was practicing Transfiguration. Not just for his dress robes-- though he must admit that was a large part-- but for Christmas gifts as well. He'd figured he could gift Hermione a new set of quills and Fred and George some Muggle prank material, so that was easy enough.

The conundrum came when he considered whether or not he should gift Malfoy something. A moral delema his all too suspicious soul fought against; to humor or not to humor, who's to say? Harry was far from easily forgiving but liked to consider himself at least somewhat logical-- for Malfoy's three or so weeks of misgivings did not completely undo his months of kindness and beggings for friendship, did it?

Harry's heart-- that frail thing, kept close to Harry and shown to no one-- was torn. Draco had, against all odds, proven that he's not malicious toward Harry.

In the end, Harry transfigures a gardening tool he stole from Neville into a Slytherin themed bracelet for Draco.

∆¶∆

The winter dance in upon him before he knows it and Harry finds it increasingly difficult to dance well when there's so many people in the dance floor. It's cramped-- people shove against him from all sides and it's making him claustrophobic (he's in the cupboard again.)

Eventually the teachers magically expand the room-- it's the Great Hall, tables set aside-- and Harry can breathe again. He discovers to no small amount of dismay that he's not a great dancer. (Or even a good one.) And then he notes, with a larger amount of dismay, that Malfoy is trying to catch his eye.

He wants that stupid option for a Restricted Section book and he wants to fix the mess that's happened, he'll go to great lengths to do so-- and Harry's no fool, he can see (ever so plainly) Malfoy is a great dancer. He sways with natural ease that Harry severely lacks.

Harry is willing to go to great lengths to win this competition. The question only is: how great?

He watches the twins put some rather suspicious substance in the punch-- classic twin behavior-- and Ron try to (and fail to) convince Lavender Brown to dance, and he ponders his dilemma. Draco Malfoy is, without a doubt, being dubbed as one of the Great Dancers of the night. It's irrefutable. Harry, on his own, held no chance. Na-fucking-da.

But... perhaps, with Draco dancing with him? It'd likely make Harry appear as a greater dancer than he was--

Harry holds out his hand to Draco. He's wearing Slytherin green dress robes and his hair is fluffed out in a casual sense. (He's very pretty, Harry think.) "May I have this dance?"

If Draco held any hesitation, he didn't show it.

Draco's hand rested in one of Harry's, another one on Harry's shoulder. Harry's free hand rests on Draco's waist and, with Harry giving a hesitant smile, the waltz began.

Harry could feel the heavy weight of people's stares on he and Draco's backs as Draco led them accross the dancefloor. Draco dipped him as he tried to ignore them all.

After Harry tripping on Draco's feet for the sixth time, Draco laughs: "You really are pants at this, Harry," Draco says fondly.

Harry barks a laugh. "I'm sure."

Draco twists Harry into a twirl, which causes Harry to break out in unbidden laughter.

The dance ends with Harry faceplanting into Draco's chest and the night ends with Draco awarded the best dancer of the night-- Harry? Not so much.

∆¶∆

Harry doesn't sleep on the night of Christmas Eve. He's too excited for the evening to come and doesn't think that nightmares is an appropriate way to start the holiday.

The rest of his peers awake early and are bumbling about, not noticing how strained and sleep deprived Harry's expressions were. It seemed as if, only for a moment, that nothing at all was wrong. As if they were there from their own will and not because they'd be gnawed by dragons if they tried anything different.

Harry's gifts to others are well received and he makes sure to express a fair enough amount of joy at his own gifts-- of which there are a moutian, more than Dudley's ever got. The most notable of which was a gift from Fred and George.

A map.

The Marauder's Map, in fact, which Harry thinks is too kind a present. It shows Hogwarts in its entirety and shows as a blank price of parchment to anyone who's not "soul bonded" to the parchment. Fred and George, two of the current known co-owners, are soul bonded to it and only one soul bonded can give ownership to another. Permission must be given willing, and even one under the Imperio curse would not be able to fully grant it. Using a Polyjuice potion to disguise yourself as someone with permission would not make one able to see the map-- as the connection is with one's magical core, not body.

But even more than the spectacular gift from the Wealsy's death is a gift from the one and only Draco Malfoy.

The pass Draco had received from the dance-- a free book from the Restricted Section.