The Snow Fox

Sleepless Nights

Later that night at dinner, the show was on. Venus stepped onto stage in a classic style wine red dress. The only difference was the straps were tied into neat bows and the back was low with a larger bow a little above her tailbone. She had on her moon necklace that shone under the candlelight. The jewelry was accented by the sweetheart neckline bodice that cinched her in, her skirt below poofing out and creating an hourglass figure. She had classic black pumps on that made her feet look smaller

While the outfit was rather simple, it was easy to tell the care taken in crafting the girl's outfit. Ethan sat down at a piano that had been moved to the center of the great hall and started to play. Venus held the mic up to her mouth and started to sing.

"Let's bring the swing back baby."

Draco swore those words would stay ingrained in his head for an eternity.

"Hit the road jack...and don't you come back, no more, no more, no more no more! Hit the road jack and don't you come back no more..." A deep bass started to chime in from the back of the room making the tune more upbeat the louder it got. "Hit the road jack...and don't you come back, no more, no more, no more no more! Hit the road jack and don't you come back no more..."

The beat picked up and Venus smiled out to the Hall, moving her hands with her hips side to side.

"Old man, old man, don't treat me so mean. You're the meanest old man that I've ever seen. I guess if you said so. I'll have to pack my things and go. Hit the road jack...and don't you come back, no more, no more, no more no more! Hit the road jack and don't you come back no more..."

The music slowed and Venus looked at Ethan who smirked and they switched places, Venus sitting at the piano as the boy took his place at the microphone.

"Let's get this party started." The hall cheered as Venus started to snap to a beat and the bass in the background became louder. She put her mouth to her wand and cast a Sonorus spell.

"Hit the road jack...and don't you come back, no more. Hit the road jack...and don't you come back, no more...no more...no more." As she held the syllable, Ethan grabbed the microphone and started to sing.

"Old woman, old woman, don't treat me so mean. You're the meanest old woman that I've ever seen. I guess if you said so. I'll have to pack my things and go!"

They both harmonized and Draco watched as the girl started to emit snowflakes from her skin as she stood up.

"Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more! Hit the road jack and don't you come back no more."

She stood up from the piano as it kept playing itself, a spell at work, as she brought her body to the side to sing her next part as Ethan finished his.

"Oh baby oh baby dont treat me that way Ill be back on my feet some day-"

"Don't care if you do cause it's understoodaint got no money you're just no good-"

"I don't wanna hit the road unless you're where i go I don't wanna hit the road unless you're where i go!"

They both snapped on cue playfully and started to swing dance, stepping forward and moving their hands up to the side, then back and moving them to the floor.

"Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more no more no more no more, Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more!"

"Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more!"

"Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more!"

"Hit the road Jack! Hit the road Jack! Hit the road Jack! Hit the road Jack!"

"And don't you come back no more...NO MORE!" The piano scaled and ended on Venus' high note, the Great Hall erupting into cheers. The feast came to a close and everyone returned to their dormitories for the night for (especially in Venus' case) some much needed sleep. As her head hit her pillow that night she was excited for her new possibilities the next day. She awoke to Professor Flitwick knocking on the door to her room a few hours later.

"We must leave! Everyone to the Great Hall now!" she heard him call as she rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes.

"Crystal!" she called her owl who went to her and perched on her shoulder as they evacuated. Venus found her friends amongst the crowd in the Hall and rushed to them to see what happened. Murmurs had begun to spread about Sirius Black being inside the castle and attacking someone. She was worried it was one of her Gryffindor friends but was relieved when she saw the Golden Trio safe and together.

"What happened?!"

"Sirius Black attacked the Fat Lady." Ron said grimly. "He was trying to break in to the Gryffindor common room."

Ethan joined her and they reassured the boy he would be safe if he stayed with his friends and went to find Willow. She spotted her talking to Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott, some of her fellow Puffs and walked over.

"Are you all okay?" She asked the girls.

"Yes, it was quite a scare though."

"Is that an owl?" Hannah asked her, pointing to Crystal who was near falling asleep on her shoulder. The bright blue owl was puffed up with her feathers and looked grumpy from being woken up.

"Yes, she's tired. Lack of sleep doesn't agree with her."

"Poor dear."

Venus suddenly became very aware of how thin her nightgown was when a breeze came in through the windows and blew on her bare back. Dumbledore had conjured sleeping bags for all of the students to sleep on the floor together and Venus was ready to be bundled up in hers. She felt something wrap around her and Crystal jump to her head to keep up with the adjustment, chirping in discomfort. She turned to see Goyle who put a green lined cloak around her shoulders and walked back to Draco and Crabbe who were talking with Blaise Zabini. The blonde made eye contact with her and quickly looked away as she buried herself in the warm cloak she was given.

"It's too cold here for them to let us sleep here, now really. When my father hears about this..." Venus tuned him out and turned back to her friends who were talking about the dementors outside of the castle.

"I wonder how he got past them."

"Do you think he's still in the castle?"

They were interrupted when Professor McGonagall announced that they should all go to bed. Venus went into her sleeping bag with Willow and Susan on either side of her and Ethan behind her. She saw platinum blonde at her feet and knew Draco was staying near her to keep her safe. Crystal, who at that point was fed up with the moving, flew down to her feet and ruffled her feathers to finally get some sleep.