The Half-Blood Black

Chapter Twenty-Eight✨

"Hermione you look gorgeous, Krum won't be able to take his eyes or his hands off of you." I say as she twirls around in the full length mirror.

"Please get dressed, Lyra, it will be awful without you there." Hermione says, turning to me and running her hand down my dress.

"I can't risk it. I've seen Carrie way too many times to risk being ambushed without a date."

"Lyra--"

"Just go, Hermione. You look amazing."

She leaves with a beaming smile on her face, and once again I find myself alone. After an hour of reading the same pages of my Charms text, I slam the book shut.

"Grow a set, Black." I mutter to myself.

I quickly strip out of my pajamas and pull the dress on. The slit comes high up on my thigh, but I keep moving before I talk myself out of this. I'm a slight bit embarrassed as I wobble in the green heels, but I gain my balance quickly and walk over to the mirror that Lavender has. I whistle at myself in the mirror and then smile.

"You clean up good, Black."

I fuss with my hair, dry angling my curls with my fingers and puffing it out, fastening a few pieces of hair with some bobby pins. I manage to get the pieces fanning my face to calm down, and I take a moment to look at myself.

Do I really want to do this?

-

I spot Draco as soon as I enter the room. He is leaning against the drink table in a green suit, holding a cup. I take another deep breath and soothe my jitters.

This ... this is a dream. Look at everyone! Hermione looks gorgeous, Harry is in his robes, and Ron is ... well, I can't look worse than him.

I push my shoulders back and exhale, making my way towards the drink table. My ankles wobble and my knees are weak, but I've got this. Pansy and Regina and a few other Slytherin's stop me and make small talk, complimenting me on my dress. I say my thank you's but deep down I'm filled with anxiety at how high this slit is.

I finally reach Draco and he glances at me before looking back at the couples dancing. He turns his head slowly back toward me and gives me a second look, his eyes wide.

"Well, well, well, Lyra Black." He says grinning.

"Draco Malfoy." I say nodding at him. "I love the suit."

"I love the dress. Thanks for coordinating."

I roll my eyes and he sets down his cup after drinking whatever is left of it and leads me into the group of people on the dance floor. Couples whirl around us and I can feel everyone's eyes on us.

"Isn't that cute," a girl that I've seen in Ravenclaw robes says. "The two most despised people together at the Yule Ball. Fancy that."

My cheeks burn and Malfoy shoots her a dirty look. He places his hands on my hip and takes my other one with his, just like Fred taught me. After a few minutes the song ends, the band singing a more upbeat song. Everyone bounces around us, ignoring the two of us. We continue to slow dance and I avoid eye contact, looking for Cedric and Cho every time we make a circle.

"You look ... I can't tell you how beautiful you look." He finally says, removing his hands from my body.

"I really like that suit as well ... you look ... decent." I reply with a grin. Luckily he laughs and mutters something about me having a smart mouth. 

We stand awkwardly in the mosh pit of students, eventually moving with the rest of them. I take off my heels and discard them under one of the white cladded tables, glancing over at Harry, Ron, and their dates — the Patil twins who set me up outside of the Slytherin common room.

"Why did you choose to wear Slytherin colors? I will admit we match much better this way. I wish we had color coordinated better."

"I wouldn't necessarily say they're Slytherin colors ..." I pause. "And you weren't necessarily easy to reach, Malfoy."

I dance and dance, falling in tune with the students around me. Nobody seems to mind, a few girls gather near me and we twirl each other in circles, bump into each other, and they don't seem to care who I am.

Someone taps on my shoulder as Draco and I bow to each other for another traditional dance. I turn to face Cedric and he smiles down at me, Cho on his arm.

"May I have this dance?" He asks me.

I throw a look over my shoulder at Draco and he hesitates. We share a look and nobody makes a move so I turn to Cedric and nod. "Of course."

Cho leaves the dance floor, letting out a huffy breath, and I take Cedric's hand. Draco stares at us for a few seconds before turning on his heel and walking away. I don't look for him.

"I must say you look amazing in silver," Cedric says.

"Ced, I appreciate it ... but ..." I bite my lip, nervous for this conversation. "Are we on the same page? About us?"

Cedric moves us between the couples and places his hand inches from mine, his arm behind his back. I mimic him and we step in circles before we clasp hands again and sway slowly.

"The same page about what?"

"Well, we haven't exactly talked about the kiss."

"I was ... overcome with emotion. The tournament, the first task with the dragons ... I'm sorry if I overstepped."

"I wouldn't say overstepped, I'm glad my first kiss was with my best friend. I'm just ... not looking for something necessarily romantic ..."

He pauses, causing me to step on his toes as my eyes are following the other witches around us, trying to mimic their motions so that we don't stand out. Mission: impossible. 

"Cedric!" I exclaim. "You're supposed to lead!"

He looks down blushing and says, "First kiss? You didn't drive the boys wild at your last school?"

"Homeschooled." He opens his mouth again as he gets us back on track. "Don't, please. I don't want to think about it tonight." 

He nods, and I lean in closer, enjoying this moment between us. Far too soon, the song ends and everyone starts dancing rapidly again. He leads me to the drink table and fills two cups for us.

"Drink up." he says, cheersing me.

I take a sip and sure enough, the pumpkin juice is spiked. I cough on the rough taste of alcohol, Cedric laughs but leads me away from the professors so they don't notice.

"I can't keep this from you, Lyra." Cedric says. "I saw an article in the Daily Prophet that Sirius Blacks crimes were going to be looked in to, maybe even re-evaluated if be turns himself in."

My blood runs cold and my heart beats so fast I swear he can hear it. "Oh?"

"I talked to Fudge, he's the minister of magic, and to Barty Crouch, as they've been visiting so recently. I asked what would happen if someone were to ... come forward with information on his whereabouts."

My head swims, whether it's from Cedrics words or the alcohol that I've never drank before, I don't know. My eyes dart around the room to see someone from Durmstrang take Harry's date away from him and on to the dance floor.

"Oh?" I say again, at a loss for words.

"If you think you could provide any information on him ..."

My eyes find those of Barty Crouch, who is already staring at me. We lock eyes, and I know that he knows.

In that moment he knows that I know where Sirius is.