Stay || Draco Malfoy

two

We go out the entrance to see that the stairs have been transformed into a slide. Someone – a boy by the looks of it – had tried to get into the girls' dormitories unsuccessfully. We slide down the marble slope and into the common room. It is nearly empty except for Neville and Ginny.

"Oh no, I'd better hurry! I'm supposed to open the dance with Viktor." Said Hermione, seeing the near-empty common room.

"Go on," I said. "I'll catch up."

Hermione grins at me and starts to walk faster, picking up the hem of her robes so that she doesn't trip.

"Delilah, you want to come with us?"

"Sure," I said to Ginny, following her and Neville through the entrance hole.

Blaise greets me cheerfully at the entrance of the Great Hall, not showing any signs of annoyance at my late arrival, which I am thankful for. I'm not exactly late, just not early. It is five minutes to eight and nearly everyone is already here, waiting for the gates to open.

"You look lovely," Blaise tells me while we wait.

"Thank you. You look very nice as well,"

He's wearing robes of dark green velvet, so dark that it almost looks black. We look wonderful together if I do say so myself. No one else is matching. Well, maybe some people are, but I don't see anyone who is.

"How is –"

I am cut off by a loud group of Slytherins marching up the steps. The large group is led by Malfoy, looking like a smug vicar. Pansy Parkinson was clutching his arm as if her life depended on it. Malfoy looked like he wanted to shake her off.

The oak doors suddenly swing open, and everyone goes in.

Blaise offers me his hand and I take it as he leads me inside the beautifully decorated Great Hall. We sit down at a round table with a few other Slytherins, one Ravenclaw, some students from Beauxbatons and an angry-looking boy from Durmstrang.

"Champions over here please!" Professor McGonagall shouts. Hermione waves at me as she and Viktor Krum go to the front of the room. Hermione looks so lovely today. Her floaty blue robe makes her look like a goddess and her hair is sleek and shiny, held back into a fancy knot at the back of her head.

The Hogwarts staff seemed to have worked extra hard to make the place look good for the guests. The walls were sparkly white and seemed to be covered in a thick layer of frost. There were around a hundred round tables, each seating around ten people.

I spotted Ron sitting with Padma Patil, Parvati's sister and had to suppress a laugh. Ron was watching Hermione and Viktor, looking like her had just bitten into a rotten apple. Poor Padma looked resentful and annoyed that Ron wasn't paying her more attention.

"It's beautiful," I told Blaise, spinning around in my seat to get a full view of the usually boring Great Hall.

"Not as beautiful as you," he replied. I blush and look away from him.

A girl from Beauxbatons – named Chelsea, I think – says to me, "At our school, ve alvays 'av ice sculptures circling ze tables. Your decorations are very different from 'urs,"

"Christmastime must be very lovely at Beauxbatons,"

Chelsea nods vigorously as turns back to her partner.

"Would you like to dance, Delilah?" Blaise asked when the Weird Sister start playing a familiar melody. I nod and he takes my hand and places a gentle kiss on it. I smile at the small but lovely gesture and we walk over to the bright dance floor.

Blaise places one hand gently around my waist and we begin swaying to the beat. I'm not a very good dancer, and I keep stepping on his perfectly polished shoes, but Blaise is very kind about it and guides me as we dance to the sad tune.

After the song finishes, we go to the back of the room where the drinks are. I am about to grab a butterbeer when Blaise says, "We're under the mistletoe."

I look up to see that we are indeed under the mistletoe.

"Oh,"

Blaise slowly starts to lean in and I wait for his lips to meet mine.