Fine Line

Sunflower, Vol. 6

"What are you complaining about this time?"

Draco heaved a sigh as he crossed out another idea he had for asking (Y/N) to the dance. He ran his tongue across the front of his teeth before asking Blaise his question: "How did you ask Dorothy to the dance?"

It certainly wasn't the question Blaise was expecting. "What do you mean, how did I ask her?"
"You're always going on and on about her, and I know you asked her to the dance," Draco began his explanation, "But, how did you do it? How did you know it was the right way?"

Blaise cracked a smile. "This is about (Y/N), isn't it?"

"Of course it's about (Y/N)!"

The other Slytherin could tell that his friend was truly struggling with such a simple task. Blaise had been planning on asking Dorothy out for months, and in truth, the 'right way' just came to him. "Draco, mate, there is no easy way to ask her. You'll find that it doesn't have to be perfect, just as long as your intention is right."

The silence settled between the two boys, and Blaise returned to his homework, believing that Draco had gone back to thinking. The blonde's voice brought him back out of his thoughts: "When is the next trip to Hogsmeade?"

*****

For (Y/N), all she had been able to think about was the trip to Hogsmeade and being able to spend time with her friends, buying Christmas gifts for them all. "Eris, don't you think you should bundle up a bit more?" Lucia's sweet voice brought her out of her current thoughts.

The Slytherin rolled her eyes and tossed her scarf over her shoulder. "Lu, please don't worry about me. We're walking, and it's going to get warm no matter what. I'll be fine." she tucked a piece of black hair behind her ear. "Now where are Dmitri and Fleur? Everyone's already down in the village."

The sound of shoes on the castle floor echoed through the hall, and the foreign students rounded the corner with smiles on their faces. "Sorry we're late, I waited for Dmitri, and then we had to trek up to the castle to catch up with you."

"Shoot, we should have waited for you," (Y/N) piped up, buttoning her Hufflepuff-colored sweater closed and making sure her boots were tied. "Our apologies."

"Don't worry about it. Fleur needs the exercise, being TriWizard Champion and all." Dmitri teased, and the girls laughed.

"Future Triwizard Champion!"

The group fell into giggles again as they started to make their way down to the village. Students were still trickling out of the castle, but a majority were either shopping or enjoying a nice mug of butterbeer in HogsHead Inn. The group passed through the gate and took a look around.

"Where to first?" Lucia spoke up, hanging on Eris's arm.

"Honeydukes? It's going to get busy soon." (Y/N) suggested, and the group seemed pretty content with the choice.

Like Lucia had pointed out, the candy shop was already buzzing with students. Deciding to split up, (Y/N) went with Dmitri and Fleur while Lucia dragged Eris toward some of the back shelves. The bustle became white noise as Fleur started chatting about the ball. "I heard Krum asked that Granger girl to the ball. Is that true, Dmitri?"

The Durmstrang boy scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's true. I don't know what he's getting himself into. Granger is a great girl."

(Y/N) smiled. She knew Hermione but hadn't been able to work with her much in class. "Hermione's great. She's always hanging out with Harry and Ron though. I'd like to get to know her more."

The three resumed their mindless chatter, and (Y/N) picked out a couple of things for Eris and Lucia, but she was stuck on what she should get for Draco. After a bit, she finally settled on some simple chocolates, following Dmitri and Fleur around the corner.

After Honeydukes, the group of friends decided that some butterbeer would be a great way to warm up and just chat for once. They were in the middle of listening to Fleur's story about how she had accidentally picked all the lavender buds from her mother's lavender bush when Draco came up to the table, cheeks red.

(Y/N) was the first to speak: "Draco, hi."

The Slytherin smiled and returned the greeting before awkwardly asking, "(Y/N), could you come with me for a moment?"

The Hufflepuff nodded and stood up to follow him outside. The wind was chilly compared to earlier, and (Y/N) crossed her arms over her chest to keep some warmth.

Draco noticed, telling himself to make it quick. "Listen, um, I don't...uh..." he stammered a bit more before holding out the bouquet of flowers, much to her surprise. "Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Gently, she took the flowers with a smile and laughed. "Draco..." for a moment his heart stopped, thinking she wasn't going to accept, "I thought you'd never ask, you dork. Of course, I'll go with you."

A big smile spread across his face, and he gave her a quick hug before confirming that they would meet down by the lake for homework. (Y/N) laughed as he ran off to join his friends again, and she walked back into HogsHead with a smile on her face.

Eris was the first to break the silence after (Y/N) had sat down. "I thought he'd never work up the courage to ask you."

They all laughed, then gossiped about how excited they were for the event. 

But I've been trying hard not to act a fool

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