The Hufflepuff (Draco Malfoy)

24

"Holy cow, Sophie! Do you know what these are?" Susan gasped at the bangles Draco got Sophie.

"Um, bracelets," Sophie furrowed her brows.

"Oh, my dear, Sophia. So naive. These are 18 karat gold bangles designed by Elsa Peretti. She designs for Tiffany in the muggle world, but she actually attended Beauxbatons! If my calculations are correct, Draco dropped a good 15,000 pounds on you for your birthday. God, where can I find myself a sugar daddy like that."

"Susan," Sophie scolded. "He is not my sugar daddy. That's disgusting. He's just a good friend with more money than he and his family know what to do with. Now stop ogling over the bracelets and let's get ready."

Sophie and her roommates started wandering around their dormitory, putting the pieces of their Halloween costumes together. Susan started tugging on her mermaid tail while Hannah was tightening the corset of her pirate costume. Sophie turned toward her bed and picked the long white material up off of it.

After much debate, she and Draco decided to go as a god and goddess. Sophie's dress was floor length and had cutouts on both legs and gold detailing around the waist. She slipped the dress over her head then sat down to lace up the matching sandals.

"Hey, Han. Will you help with my hair and makeup?" Her cousin's eyes lit up.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Hannah rushed over to her with a book and a bag full of makeup. "So, since your jewelry and accents are gold, I'm gonna stick with that for eyeshadow and I'm going to do some bronzing and highlighting work to make you glow like a goddess! And the hair, we'll do some loose curls, maybe half-up half-down?"

After what felt like hours, but was only about thirty minutes, Hannah declared she was done. Sophie put Draco's bracelets on her wrists and stood up to check herself out in the mirror. She stood for a minute in silence, not recognizing the girl staring back at her. Her hair looked soft as silk and it was obvious Hannah upheld her promise of making Sophie glow. And while she hadn't grown more than an inch or two in height in the past year, she had started to fill out in other places. Looking in the mirror, she no longer saw a little girl.

"Alright, are we ready?" She turned to face her friends who were putting the finishing touches on their costumes.

"Hell yes, babe. Let's go have some fun," Susan grinned, leading them out of the door and through the common room.

The trio of girls walked out of their dormitory and met Justin and Ernie in the common room.

"Look at you guys! Suse, mermaids are absolutely disgusting, so I must say, your costume is completely unrealistic."

"Did you just give me a compliment, Justin?" Susan gushed.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it."

Susan rolled her eyes and turned toward Ernie.

"You look utterly ridiculous, Ern."

"That's exactly what I was going for." The boy grinned proudly before the group walked into the hallway. Standing there in a more masculine version of Sophie's outfit was none other than Draco Malfoy.

"You lot walk on, I'll be there shortly." Sophie waved her friends on, not breaking eye contact with the blonde boy in front of her.

For someone so fair-skinned, Sophie was shocked at the fact that he had a similar gold aura around him as well. He was going for a Greek god and, maybe he put a charm on himself to make him look leaner and possibly a little taller, or maybe Sophie had just never considered how much her friend had grown up as well. His costume showed his long bare arms, toned, but still lanky enough to show he still hasn't completely grown into them while the gold rope around his torso accentuated how broad his shoulders have become. His hair was parted down the middle with a gold laurel around his forehead. Before Sophie could speak, the blonde boy opened his mouth.

"Well, don't you look ravishing?" He drawled as his eyes scanned up and down her body with no attempt to hide from her.

"Good call on the god and goddess costumes. We'd be a shoo-in for the best costume if you weren't a Slytherin," Sophie joked. Her lighthearted comment seemed to break them of the trance they were in as they both lightly chuckled at it.

"Hey, it's not my fault Slytherin is the better house and those idiots are just jealous." Sophie rolled her eyes and looped her arm around his.

"Oh, c'mon, pretty boy. We're going to be late."

"No decently cool person shows up on time to these things anyway. And did you just call me pretty?"

"No, I called you a pretty boy, there's a difference," Sophie explained as they strode toward Gryffindor tower.

"I'll take it." He grinned down at her and she couldn't help but smile back.

***

The party was in full swing when Sophie bumped into her dear friend Cedric Diggory. Both of them had flushed cheeks and narrow eyes but were still able to hold a conversation.

"Hey, Soph, you look incredible!" Cedric praised, kissing her cheek. "If you keep growing up, it's going to get really difficult to keep the boys off of you."

"Oh, not you too, Ced. I'm a big girl, I can handle my own." Sophie flexed her biceps as Cedric laughed. "Very creative costume, by the way. I reckon you're the only one at this party dressed as a vampire."

"Like you're one to talk. I swear I saw Malfoy sauntering around here dressed just like you."

"Well considering we came here together, I'd hope so."

"You showed up in a couple's costume with Malfoy? Is there something you're not telling me, Soph?" Cedric waggled his eyebrows.

"What're you– oh, my goodness, Cedric, no," Sophie exclaimed.

"Um, Sophie–" Cedric tried to interject.

"Absolutely not! Draco and I are not dating! I wouldn't date him in a million years."

"Good to know." A small voice said behind her. Sophie's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she turned on her heels to reveal a slumped-shouldered Draco Malfoy.

"Draco– I–" she stuttered but wasn't sure what to say. Sure, Draco had mentioned liking her once last term, but since he never brought it up again, she assumed it was the medicine Madame Pomfrey was shoving down his throat talking.

"No, no, it's okay," he put his hands up in understanding. "I get it. I'm not good-looking enough, or smart enough, and I'm definitely not kind enough." He looked at the ground and gave a sad smile with a dry chuckle.

"When did I ever say that?" The hurt in both of their voices was evident.

"You never had to say it, Soph. It's what everyone thinks when they see us together anyway. You embarrass yourself by hanging out with me and everyone in this bloody castle thinks it. I don't deserve to be your friend, let alone your boyfriend." He kept his head low and then turned and began to walk away.

"Hey," she strode forward and grabbed his arm. He stopped and looked at her with red-rimmed eyes that made his grey irises pop. "How much have you had tonight?" He laughed dryly once again.

"Not enough," he curtly responded before pulling his arm out of her grasp and disappearing back into the crowd. Cedric walked up behind Sophie and put his arm around her shoulder. She put her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"What the hell was that, Ced?" Sophie asked, sounding defeated.

"That's what everyone has known all this time, honey. The boy's got it bad."

A/N: Sorry this is such a short and somewhat of a filler chapter. I just wanted to put something out that let you all know that I am still working on this story! And buckle up buttercups because if you love the Yule Ball as much as I do, the next couple of chapters will be quite the ride where we see the relationship between Sophie and our sweet Slytherin really take off;)