The Forgotten Prophecy [Book 3]

XVI. The Yule Ball

...
'Baby, I'm falling
I hope you catch me when I land.'
...

         The song slowly comes to an end. Draco keeps his forehead against mine. "Do you want some pumpkin juice?" He asks me. I nod, smiling wide. He takes my hand and leads me over to a table, as a new song fills the air. "You two seem to be enjoying yourselves," Allison says as she approaches us with Alexander. Draco smiles, pulling me into a side hug. Alexander glares at him. "Isn't he being a little too touchy?" I hold back my laugh after hearing Alexander's thoughts. Draco hands me a glass of pumpkin juice. "Looks like we're not the only ones," Draco says staring ahead. 

A smile appears on my face as I watch Leo and Theodore chatting near the dance floor. Allison gasps. "Did they come together?" Draco leans in. "You didn't hear it from me, but yes." Allison's eyes go wide in surprise. "Well damn, you go Scamander." I laugh. "Keep it to yourselves though. They're trying to keep it lowkey," I tell them, reading Draco's mind. "Did you know about this?" Alexander asks me, a bit hurt that he's only finding out about Leo's love life now. "What don't I know, Alexander?" I ask, giving him a wink. He laughs, shaking his head. "Oh! Stop looking, they're coming over," Allison says, quickly turning away from them. We all look the opposite direction.

"Very subtle, mates," Theodore says as they approach us. "Leo! There you are!" I say, greeting him. Leo raises his eyebrow. "Oh and Theodore Nott, great to see you!" Allison adds. Theodore laughs. Leo looks uneasy as he scans us. "Uh, so I'm guessing you all know?" "Well, you're not very subtle," Alexander teases. Leo nods, chuckling. "You look dashing, by the way," I say, taping his bow tie. Leo blushes. "Doesn't he?" Theodore asks, staring at Leo. Allison squeals in excitement as Leo's cheek's turn redder. "Isn't there another one of you?" Theodore asks, trying to take the attention off of Leo. I nod. "I haven't seen Nathan at all," I inform them. "Probably ditched his date and went to the library," Allison says, laughing. 

"Isn't that him?" Theodore asks, nodding ahead. We all look towards the middle of the dance floor. Nathan and Luna are in the middle of the dancefloor, spinning in a circle and waving their hands towards each other.  "Huh. They're really quite the match," Alexander says watching in awe. "Well it was nice chatting with you all, but--" Theodore grabs Leo's hand. Leo's eyes shoot wide open in shock. "-We didn't come here to spend our night to talk." Theodore winks at Leo and drags him to the dancefloor. "That boy," I say, watching them on the dancefloor. "Oh don't worry. Leo is a big boy, he can take care of himself," Draco reassures me. Allison tugs on Alexander's arm. "You had enough time to rest. Come on let's dance." 

Alexander looks towards me for help. I give him a shove towards his girlfriend. "Break a leg," I tease. He shoots me a glare, but laughs as he leads Allison to the dance floor. Draco and I stand quietly as we watch the crowd dance their worries away. "I should hold her hand... No what if she doesn't want me too? .. Wait can she hear me? Oh that's embarrassing.. Okay, Draco come on. You're a Malfoy, you shouldn't be scared to hold a girl's hand--" I take his hand into mine. "Bloody hell." Draco looks at me, as his face turns pink. "I got tired of listening to you contemplate on whether you should hold my hand or not," I tell him in a joking manner. Draco laughs and squeezes my hand. We stand still, hand in hand, watching the crowd. 

From the corner of my eye, I see a figure watching me. I glance over and lock eyes with Uncle Severus. I swallow nervously. He nods his head towards the exit. Then, he slowly walks towards the Great Hall doors. Did he just tell me to follow him? "U-uh, I um I'll be right back, Draco," I say, quickly letting go of Draco's hand. "Huh? Did I do something wrong? Where are you going?" He asks, as I begin to walk away. "I'll be back," I say without turning around. I head out of the Great Hall. Uncle Severus walks out to the corridor. Keeping a safe distance, I follow him. He continues to walk. I follow him quietly, scanning the corridors to see if anyone else is out here. Finally, he approaches the Astronomy Tower. He heads up the stairs and disappears into the tower.