Unforgettable // draco + astoria

6 | the winter ball

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       THE WINTER BALL was about to start as Astoria and Cassandra made their way to the Hufflepuff Common Room to meet up with Draco and David.

It was still a bit of a mystery of why it took nine minutes for Cassandra to find the lou but nonetheless, she did not argue the point and left it alone. Also, why her face was sweaty but like before, she left it alone, thinking it was not important.

They were a few feet away from the Common Room as Cassandra opened the door. Astoria stepped in and her eyes instantly flew to Draco.

He wore a black suit, with a black tie which was only noticeable when the faint light hit it. His hair was put back and done handsomely and he had his watch on. He looked so handsome in her eyes and did not even notice Cassandra walking towards David as they both watched Draco and Astoria stare at each other.

Astoria was hard to miss in Draco's eyes.

She was light in his eyes, the only source of light in the darkness as she stepped closer to him. Her hair was always in a ponytail but now it rested past her shoulders as the brown waterfall of hair was straight and done beautifully.

The dress was as beautiful as before and he was in complete shock of how beautiful she was, but nonetheless did not want to tell her that.

As she stepped closer she grinned at him. "You cleaned up nicely."

     He kept a straight face and nodded.

     Cassandra giggled behind them and inserted her arm into David's looped arm. "Well, we are going to be going now, better leave you guys alone." She tugged onto David as they left the room, leaving behind their friends.

     Draco took Astoria's arm and they looped arms as they headed to the dance.

     THE DANCE WAS uncomfortable.

     Although Astoria was having the time of her life, she knew Draco was not. He may have liked spending time with her but dances were not exactly his forte.

     When the annual Winter Ball dance song came on, they danced as if it were a routine, like they were robots and forced to doing it.

     Although there was small talk and they exchanged on topics of London or how Draco and her should visit the Cinema for the holidays, they did not fully engage conversation like how they did under the stars.

     Under the stars.

     It was Draco's favorite thing to do in a day.

     Just talking to Astoria under the stars made his day better.

Or, in general, just talking to her made his day better. She did not judge him and was not scared of adding her opinion her and again. He loved learning the little things about her, like how her nose kept getting itchy and every now and then she scratched the tip of her nose. Or how she always tucked and untucked her long hair behind her ear. He always wondered what made her a Slytherin and it was answered on how head strong and cunning she was when she did work for her class.

     When a boy asked for an answer during class, she gave him the incorrect one and when he got it wrong and blamed her, she exclaimed that she judged guessed. When he heard that story, he laughed harder then he had in the last five years.

     Astoria still twirled around as the winter wonderland music filled the air and Draco watched this beauty. He always was intrigued by how happy she could be in a world of darkness. I mean, Voldemort was still out there, five more Gryffindors had been sent away and the Ministry is acting stranger then before.

     His parents.

     It was only two days before he escaped his dreadful parents; feeling miserable and yet his new friends managed to change that around.

     Okay, friends was a too strong of a word for Cassandra and David but they did bring light into his world.

     Cassandra was more patient with him, something no one really did which made him think that there was still respect out their. David, was the best Quidditch mate. He enjoyed their comments on recent games or when they actually went on the field and played a few short rounds of Quidditch.

Okay okay, maybe they were friends but he was not going to let them know that.

And then there was Astoria.

The only light in his world, in his life.

     No, he couldn't think of her like that.

     He was darkness and she was light. And the darkness always devoured and destroyed the light.

     But as she twirled to the music - smiling - and helping Draco dance to the beat with her, he could not help wondering about a future where everyday they would lay under the stars or when she would always smile to him no matter what.

Or days would they would walk on the powdery snow and she would smile at him whenever the snow was lighter then anticipated and she would fall and laugh.

That laugh.

Her laugh was his favorite sound. It was like hearing a wonderful piece of music for the first time, not knowing that it would be your favorite song. And turning it on repeat, every hour - on the hour.

"Astoria." He whispered.

She stopped dancing and smiled at him, out of breath. "Yes?"

He wanted to take her to the stars. "Do you want to go to Mount Ben More?" He hoped she would say yes. There first star watching was at Ben More.

      She smiled before nodding and took his arm. Shivers went up his spine. He wondered what made him feel this feeling but guessed it was probably the cold wind that escaped into the Ballroom.

      "Are you ready?" He asked.

      She nodded eagerly before a they traveled and the warm air was exchanged for cold air. The light of the ballroom was gone and all she saw was black but the night eyes looked down upon her.

      One the everything was calm, Astoria turned around and saw Draco standing in front of the tent. "Talk?