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YOUR POV

I woke up to see rays of sunlight on the maroon blanket that encased my body. What time was it? I glanced over at my clock.

10:30 AM

Wow. I must've needed to sleep in. I gently pushed the covers off of me and put a casual t-shirt with the Hogwarts logo on it and a pair of long sweatpants on. Also, a good pair of sneakers. Pleased with my attire I headed down to the Great Hall. You didn't need to wear formal attire on weekends, which I rather liked. I walked past the courtyard, where a brush of cool air hit me and caused me to shiver. Sometimes winter was just annoying. Getting warmer by the second, I arrived in the Great Hall. But not before a hand grabbed mine and pulled me to the side.

"What do you-" I started.

"Calm down, I just want to talk." said a voice with a semi-thick Hungarian accent. He also let my hand go.

It was that Hufflepuff boy. The one with brown hair and blue eyes. I had to admit, they were quite interesting. They weren't quite blue when you looked into them. They were....a warm, icy color. They had specks of green and brown in the center, next to the pupil. But, it was like looking into a crystal ball. They trapped you in them and you wanted to learn more about the person. And....wasn't this the guy that Matt fancied? Hm...

"Okay." I agreed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Your friend Matt.....everytime I attempt to talk with him, he makes up an excuse and walks away. Also, his face looks very red. Is he sick? I am causing something to happen with him?" He asked innocently. "Oh, and I should've done this first, but my name is Chase Cullivan."

"Nice to meet you Chase, and no, he isn't sick." I said. "Are you going to the dance later?"

He nodded. "Yes, I am. But....I don't have a date. Yet, here I am. Going anyways...."

"Don't worry," I clapped his shoulder, "maybe you'll find someone."

His sky-blue eyes darkened over. "I doubt it....but, I hope your right. Anyways, it was nice to know Matt's okay. He's a good classmate and good friend. See you later."

The canary-robed Hufflepuff walked off in direction of his common room. Well, now Matt had a chance with him! Since Chase lacked a date, I could just substitute Matt in help him out. Even better, Chase spoke rather highly of him so he had a bigger chance of getting with him. I mentally nodded in satisfaction before setting down to eat breakfast. Sitting down, I grabbed (a/an) (favorite breakfast food) and ate it happily. Sure, there was gossip about who was going out with who and such things like that, but I was too happy to be bothered by them. I quickly finished up and headed up to the common room to get ready for the oncoming ball. I flew through the student-crowded hallways, making sure not to hit anyone. I climbed about two or three staircases (some were longer or shorter than others) before reaching the common room. When I glanced at the clock, it was only about 1:00. My plan was to get started around four or four-thirty. So, I decided to hang out, chill, and relax. I didn't want to get all nervous- well more nervous- than I already was. I saw Ron and Harry walk in, talking about something.

"Hey guys. Whatcha up to?" I said.

"Nothing much, just stuff." answered Ron.

"Oh, can I borrow your Wizard's Chess set? I need to kill off some hours."

"Sure. Who's your opponent?" He asked.

"Uh....myself?"

Ron's expression sunk. "Are you serious?"

I remained quiet.

"Okay, well if you want to play, you gotta play with Harry here." Pointing at Harry, whos expression said, 'wait what.'

"Alright." I agreed. "C'mon Harry."

Harry shot Ron a look before sitting down across from me. Ron walked off and retrieved the set and put the box down next to me.

"Don't. Break. ANYTHING." He warned.

"Ten-four Ron."

He watched us for a minute before going off to do something. After he left, I started to set up the game while Harry just stared to the floor with extreme concentration.

"Black or white?" I asked him.

He shot his head up. "What? I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question."

"Alright. You can be black then." I set up the pieces on his side.

The game went on for about another two hours or so. I had taken most of Harry's pieces, and I still had most of mine. I realized he wasn't even trying to win. His black, untidy hair hung low and his bright green eyes were dimmed. I sighed and set the game aside.

"Harry Potter. What's wrong? And don't say nothing, because now you're acting all moody and depressed."

He sighed and looked at me. "I....I don't. I- I can't."

"Can't what?"

"Get along with all of it.....all the crappy nonsense." His emerald eyes were slightly misty.

"I know. But, maybe in the future when your past all this stuff, you'll look back and be proud of yourself. Just never give up, alright?"

"Alright." He shakily breathed out.

"Stand up, Potter." I said while I stood up."

"Why?" He croaked.

"So I can give you a hug you idiot doofus."

He gave me the tiniest smile and rose of the ground and allowed me to walk forward and imprint my arms on his back. He hugged me back quite tightly.

"Whoa, easy there. You're gonna break my ribs."

He immediately stepped back. "Sorry 'bout that (y/n)."

"No problem. With muscles like that, you'll do pretty well in the future. Now, the Ball is in...." I checked the big clock on the mantle and paled. "IT'S IN TWO HOURS WE GOTTA START GETTING READY!"

I quickly packed up the Wizard's Chess and gave it to Harry to give to Ron. I made sure Harry was in the boys dorm getting actually dressed: not just being the brooding Batman of Gryffindor Tower. Then, I ran up the stairs and jumped into action. I took my wrapped dress out along with my mask and a tan pair of tights, and carefully unwrapped it from the package. The cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice smell of Malkin's shop erupted into the atmosphere. I quickly wiggled out of my casual clothing and put my tights on. I carefully stepped into the dress and pulled it up to my waist then my upper chest. Though I had a *bit* of trouble with the zipper....(as in it took me at least another thirty or forty minutes to get it to zip up). Finally, after I went to the bathroom that was in the dormitory. It was relatively big. There were a few stalls and a few secluded bathtubs, and a very long counter with at least five sinks and one large mirror. I took out my bag for my hair. I slowly did it in my (favorite hairstyle) and made sure it stayed in place with the small bottle of hairspray I had borrowed from a muggle-born Ravenclaw last year. Next, I moved on to my makeup. I did my face with some moisturizer, concealer, and a hint of blush. I smudged my eyeliner a little bit to help it look better once I had applied it. I added a bit of earth-tone eye shadow and a smidge of rose red, along with some classic black mascara. Make-up was officially done! I retrieved my mask from the other room and tied it on. I went back to the bathroom and checked myself out. I think I looked okay....Well, okay enough. I sighed and pulled my new shoes out and put them on. They actually looked quite good. I did one last check before descending down the stone stairs, making sure not to trip on my dress.

Matt grinned as I made my way down. "Are you who I think you are Miss?"

Matt was wearing a red tux with a black interior. He looked quite good to say the least. His black tie added to the look, along with his pure black pants and dress shoes. And to top it all off, his black mask covered about three-quarters of his face, except his eyes and other fourth. He looked quite dashing.

"Yes, I believe I am. Now, who are you snazzy-dresser?" I joked.

"I believe I'm the man you said you would be my wingman for, am I correct?" He smiled and held his hand out to mine.

I gladly accepted it. "Shall we be going?"

"Of course, my lady."

We walked past the other couples, which were quite cute to say the least. Many of the girls wore very...bright dresses. I hoped mine was okay and up to his standard. We finally arrived to the ball about five minutes after it had started.

The Great Hall had never looked any better. The torches were now blazing a completely red or pink fire and the tapestries of the Houses now just showed hearts and naked cupids. Instead of the usual long, rectangular tables, there were several circular tables scattered around in front of the pink-ish dance floor. Which took up at least half of the Great Hall to be sure. I glanced around and saw some people still filling in. Once people had stopped filling in, a man in fiery gold robes and a red-orange mask with bright feathers attached tapped his wand to his throat and spoke.

"Now, assuming everyone has arrived, I would like to wish all the newly found couples a happy congratulations and a good luck. Secondly, to anyone who has never found their love yet, the time will come and it will be your choice on to pursuit or not." He paused. "But nonetheless, I hope both Staff and Students a happy Valentine's dance."

He took his wand from his throat and walked off to join a fox-masked teacher for a dance. I turned to Matt who was standing right next to me.

"Do you want to go look for your special somebody?" I nudged him.

"Yes, I am completely-"

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"-not ready at all. But...I was wondering, would you care for a dance? I know you really don't have anyone to dance with tonight because you basically came here for your friends, but I want to repay you in some way."

He looked so adorable, I couldn't say no at all. "Yes, I would love to. Let's hit the dance floor, shall we?"

He nodded. "We shall!"

We made our way up to the dance floor and started to dance. The music started and a little thought popped up. Tonight was going great so far.... But, there was one little problem: I had no clue on how to dance.

"Uh....Hey, Matt?" I said to my partner who was having no trouble busting a move.

"YEP!" He exclaimed enthusiastically.

"How do you dance?" I asked quietly.

"Well, I couldn't really tell you how. Everyone has their favorite styles. For songs like these you just go with the beat!"

He started to do the sprinkler and was doing with too much hip-movement. Too much.

"Uh...." I picked up a beat and started to move around with it. My arms did their own thing along with my legs. After about thirty minutes, I had gotten used to it and I was really enjoying the sound and the beat of it. The song changed and I immediately got accustomed to the new beat. I was rather liked this one too. I bet it was the muggle-borns recommending these.

"Hey, (y/n). Would now be a good time? For you know..." He pointed with his head at Chase while blushing slightly.

I giggled. "Alright. Come on!"

I walked him over to the Hufflepuff boy who was standing in the corner. He honestly looked a little lonely.

"Hey Chase!" I said while walking up to him with Matt.

"Oh, hey (y/n)! How's your night going so far?" He asked me brightly.

"Very well, thank you. You told me you were acquainted with Matt?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?" Chase said, a confused expression painting his face.

"I have to run off and help a girl out...you know. So, can I leave Matt with you for bit?" I implied.

"O-oh. Of course. No problem." Chase said quickly, without hesitation.

Matt picked up on this and looked hopeful. "Alright, (y/n). You should go help your friend out.....right?"

"Oh yeah. I'm totally on it. See you." I walked off.

I was walking around, chatting with friends, and keeping a very special watchout for Matt and Chase, who seemed to be getting along famously. And then it happened. The man who was doing the music suddenly said,

"All right! Let's do some partner dancing! Find a partner a quick as you caaannnn!!"

A song came on, and it was meant for partner dancing. You danced with someone for awhile, and then you swapped off to another. I had to find a partner quickly. I looked around and saw a boy dressed with a pure white suit, white pants, and black shoes. His mask was a simple silver with some decent feathers. He reminded me strongly of a female peacock. He looked at me and nodded. He strutted over just before the song came on. Thank God. He bowed and I curtsied. He grabbed one of my hands and put the other around my waist. He began dancing with me and immediately noticed I absolutely had no idea what I was doing.

"You're a clueless dancer, aren't you?" He said.

I recognized that voice and froze. It was Malfoy. Draco, Malfoy. "I-I-I......I k-know."

He began to whisper the steps to me and I executed them perfectly. Once I had mastered it, he began talking to me.

"I already know who you are, Miss. I saw you enter the ballroom and it was obvious that it was you."

"W-what d-do you want?" I asked shakily. I couldn't go through another harassment. Not now.

"I....wanted to say I was sorry, (y/n). It was a dare by the entire Slytherin House: Too kiss and attempt doing it with a girl. I had a month to do it, and- curse my pride - I tried doing it. With you. They tried to expel me, you know. Even I thought I deserved it..heh. But my father intervened. So, I was stuck here with you. And I can't imagine what it was like for you, but saying I'm sorry was the least I could do." He looked at me with his ice blue eyes, which had somehow melt from the emotion they were containing.

"I forgive you, Draco. But please, please, let nobody do that anymore." I said, giving him a small smile.

He smirked at me. "Considering that we've done it for decades....I don't know. But I will most definitely try." He bowed and kissed my hand. "Time to swap partners, catch you later."

He walked off to join another girl. I turned around to see my next partner: it was Harry. It was obvious. His black and white suit was matched with a white mask that had a lightning indentation right where his scar was. He bowed and I curtsied. We began dancing to the next tune, saying nothing. In fairness, he was a good dancer. He just needed to work on his confidence because he kept relying on my first move. When we were done he bowed and turned around, but turned around again to face me and tried to place a kiss on my lips.

I started to freak out and immediately slapped him in the face out of reflex. After the Malfoy incident, I made sure I was one hundred percent ready for unneeded extra affection. So, slapping the face of the oncomer was one of them apparently. Before I could say anything about his behavior, a man dressed in black came to my rescue.

"Fifty-points for harassing her, Potter. Now, I believe it's time to find a new partner..." He looked at Harry maliciously.

"Yes, Professor." Giving me and the man and steely glare of hatred, filled by betrayal, Harry stormed away.

"Are you alright?" The man asked gently.

"You should be asking the guy I was dancing with....." I trailed, still looking in the direction that Harry had Godzilla'd through.

I took a look at the man. He was wearing a completely black outfit. Except the snake pin under the collar that jutted out at his neck. And his mask resembled the scales of a snake. They were silver, olive green, regular grass green, and gold. The two beetle black eyes were peering down on me now. They looked both concerned, curious, and the usual grumpy.

"Would you care to dance?" his velvety voice rang out as he looked directly in the eye

"I would love too, Snake Man." I curtsied and took his hand.

The song in the background was absolutely perfect. We danced a little bit quicker to this one, but it was still perfect. We put our hands flat against each other's and spun in a circle. Snape suddenly came in very close and put his hand on my hip. It was subtle at first, like a feather. But soon he got more accustomed and put a little more weight on it. He grabbed my free hand to twirl me around in a circle then pull me back to him.

"So, how are you tonight Miss?"

"I am very good. Except for the part where one of my partners tried to kiss me so I slapped him.." I told him.

"Hm. I saw you dancing with a man in pure white. How was he?" He danced.

"He apologised to me for all of that stuff that he did. I'm guessing you would know who?"

"Indeed I would, Miss. Now, would you like to take our leave? I have something planned for the both of us." He asked, a hint of childish excitement in his voice.

"Alright, Snake Man. Lead the way."

We exited the dance floor together, which of course, was followed by a few stares but nothing more than that. With him leading the way, we exited the Great Hall.