You Found Me

Chapter Four

3rd POV

The castle was brimming with excitement for the Halloween Ball. The announcement of the ball had been made two weeks ago after the Head Boy, Head Girl and all the prefects had finalised their plans. They had kept the theme simple, elegant but in a dark and spooky kind of way. Luna had described it like the home of a wealthy and sophisticated vampire. Turned out vampires were very similar in reality to how muggles imagined them, a fact Hermione found both amusing and fascinating. Of course, the Dracula version of a vampire and not the shiny modern Cullen version.

"That needs to go higher. To the left, no the right. Up a bit. No too much, down a tad."
"Ginny make up your mind I can't do this forever," Groaned Neville who had been following Ginny's indecisive instructions on where to place some of the decorations for the past hour.
"Sorry. It's perfect." Ginny apologised with a small smile. "We gotta do this right, that's all. The ball is tonight and we have to have it ready or else the house elves will have to take over and they have enough to do with getting the food right."
Neville chuckled softly. "Relax Gin, it's all under control. Hermione is in the kitchens with Hannah and Ernie, helping get the food sorted out. Luna and Glen are arranging the music. And Malfoy, Blaise and Pansy are all over there sorting out the lights,” he nodded at the three Slytherins using their wands to make the lighting on the great hall suit the theme. Pansy was turning some of the candle lights a deep bloody red, Blaise made some others a bright green, almost the colour of the unforgivable curse, while Draco turned others a deep, almost black, purple. It gave the room a wonderful dark misty effect while still allowing them to actually see. But it was important they got the balance right which was why three of them were taking on the task.

It was going to be a night to remember.

Draco’s POV

The time seemed to be flying and Draco didn’t like it. In his mind all it meant was marrying and impregnating Astoria. The more he got to know her, the more he knew it would be nearly impossible to deal with her as a wife. She nagged about the dumbest things. For one, she got upset if he didn’t use magic for mundane tasks, she complained if he studied when she was around, she insulted his intelligence and that of his friends, and she still put Hermione down. Although she was marrying Weasley, he hoped they’d stay friends after graduating, but clearly this witch wanted him to only spend time with her.

He was glad to have found a costume he loved though. He’d have to thank Hermione for giving him the idea. She’d helped him a lot so far in understanding muggle technology and if he was honest, he wanted some of it.

His mind wandered to the most recent thing she’d taught him and helped him understand. Mobile phones. He was fascinated and honestly wondered why wizards didn’t use them instead of owls, at least for emergencies or things needing a quick answer.

While most of the other students had been pissed that Hermione had ended up with a death eater as head boy, most had accepted him at this point even though they still didn’t talk to him if they could help it. He was used to it. His whole life he’d been alone even if not physically. Emotionally though, he was on an island all by himself. It had never bothered him until he got to know Hermione. She was everything he’d ever hoped for in a friend and in his future wife. But, he was being punished for his part in the war and so he got stuck with Astoria.

As he finished changing the lights he needed to change, he looked over the hall and smiled. Deciding the prefects had everything under control, he decided to go to the kitchens and see if the elves or Hermione needed any help.

Soon enough, it was time to change and get ready for the ball. He had gone to Blaise’s flat to get ready with his best friend. Blaise had decided to be a superhero after having a conversation with Hermione about muggle superheroes and Pans was going to be a fairy.