A Room With a View

Dance With Me

A/N: Sorry about the long wait on update, I broke my computer and have been waiting to get it fixed, as Wattpad doesn't work properly on my phone for updating. But I have a new computer now, and will update whenever I can!

November 5, 2005

Saturday found Severus and Hermione staring at the ornate entrance hall of Malfoy Manor once again.

"Stop fidgeting," he murmured in her ear. "You look lovely. That color becomes you."

Hermione smiled up at him, knowing that he wasn't one to offer idle flattery. She brushed her hand down the chiffon overlay of her plum-colored gown - purchased on that fateful trip to Diagon Alley, then laced her arm through Severus'. "Thank you, love, but it's a Malfoy ball. Narcissa is sure to be in something bespoke. The entire family is. I'm afraid I'll look... provincial comparatively."

"So will everyone else, Hermione. That's rather the point of hosting a ball for the Malfoys. It's a chance for them to flaunt their superiority while buying goodwill. Off the rack or not, there won't be a single woman in the room to rival you tonight." He brushed a hand over the stray curls she'd allowed to tease her neck, trying to soothe her as they waited for the house elf to take their cloaks.

"Flatterer." She sighed. "I feel stupidly vain every time I prepare for one of these events. I hate being so on display, but I know if I don't put in the effort, Rita Skeeter will eviscerate me in tomorrow's paper."

"It's a good thing she's being 'promoted' then, isn't it?" He handed their cloaks to the waiting house elf with his thanks and swept her into the Malfoy ballroom.

He heard Hermione catch her breath when the room came into view. Severus could understand... Cissa had certainly pulled out all the stops for the evening. The Malfoy Ballroom hardly needed embellishment to enhance its elegant splendor; the room was sheathed in cool walls of rose-colored marble and the inlaid stone floor had been polished to a high gleam. Someone had summoned tiny, multi-colored mage lights to hover above the dance floor, but at the level of the upper galleries. It looked as though a firework had exploded over the gathered guests, and the entire room seemed to pulse with a warm, rose-toned glow.

Sprays of flowers sat on each of the small cocktail table stationed at the edges of the room, and they too adhered to the theme of Bonfire Night. Allium, torch lily, globe thistle, and spider mums sat amongst a backdrop of stock in tall topaz vases. Each stem was artfully arranged in a deliberate riot of color and shape to appear like a shooting firework. A chamber orchestra was tuning its strings from the East end of the upper gallery.

"Severus! Hermione!" rang the voice of Narcissa Malfoy, who glided forward in a satiny copper column of a gown. Her pale blonde locks were styled in an elegant chignon and the low cowl neckline of the sheath dress provided the perfect frame for the most stunning necklace of topaz, citrine, ruby and diamond - again, beautifully sculpted in the shape of firework bursts. Matching earrings swung from her ears. The effect was simultaneously elegant and... fun. Not a word Severus had ever thought to apply to his best friend's wife.

Severus stepped into the cloud of delicate scent that followed Narcissa wherever she went. "Narcissa. You look lovely, as always."

"Flatterer." She said it with a smile as she bussed his cheeks before moving toward Hermione.

"And the ballroom... it's just stunning. I'm almost breathless," Hermione added as the Malfoy matriarch embraced her in turn.

"Thank you, my dear. The lighting is Draco's handiwork. Make sure to express your approval - he worked for weeks to perfect the charm."

"I will, then," Hermione responded, sending a little smile and wave to Draco where he stood with Astoria Greengrass at the far end of the room. 

"Now I believe Mr. Potter said that you would make a convivial party this evening, yes?" Narcissa raised an eyebrow, clearly amused at the Gryffindor's lack of subterfuge. Harry's task would be to keep any eye on Severus and ensure no one with malicious intent approached him - a fact that Severus was sure would disappoint Ginevra Weasley as her husband's attention would be divided. He'd protested Kingsley's insistence that Potter be there as a second set of eyes to no avail; it would seem that Severus would have a babysitter for the evening.