someday, somehow → d.malfoy [discontinued]

023

on the sixteenth of december—a day before the christmas holidays officially began—students fourth year and above were to attend a compulsory lesson in ballroom dancing. 

draco slouched in his chair as his eyes focused everywhere in the room but two places: artemis einar, who had taken a seat far away from him (nevertheless, she was still plainly in his eyeline) and professor snape. the latter had stepped, smooth as vapour, into the centre of the space with professor sinistra. hogwarts' astrology teacher did not belong to a house, as far as draco knew (he'd never thought much about it until now)—yet he found himself peering at the ebony-skinned lady, clad in a lavish golden robe. perhaps she had, at some point belonged to slytherin house, just as snape had. no matter, draco thought before he finally allowed his attention to settle upon the head of slytherin house.

"the yule ball," snape drawled, flicking his dark wand twice. the blinds unrolled themselves, trapping darkness within the chamber; and the winding, golden chandelier draco had not noticed earlier came to life above the students' heads. "will take place on the twenty-fifth of december, from eight in the evening until midnight. all students fourth year and above are welcome to come, and may invite a younger student as well." several snickers passed through the boys' side of the room. snape shot his liquid-black eyes unto the source. "if you wish to attend, you must sign up to stay at hogwarts over the duration of the holidays," he continued, appearing especially uncomfortable whilst doing so. "in this... two hour session, professor sinistra and myself will be demonstrating the standard ball waltz to anyone who cannot already do so. first, we shall demonstrate slowly in the centre of the space, and then you will find a partner to practice with." snape proceeded to point his wand at a brass phonograph, perched neatly upon a mahogany table, before the hem of his robes were brushing the tiles with a great whoosh. the record begun to spin; a mellow waltz churned out of the phonograph's metallic horn in an even rhythm. professor sinistra met him in the centre of the space; her robes' golden details shimmering like jewels underneath the light of the chandelier (which rivaled the one draco had seen far too many times in his own home) which hung in elegant swoops and arches above them.

professor sinistra said, "the waltz is a three-four. perhaps you would find it easier to count as you dance: one, two, three; one, two, three; one, two, three." the teachers held out their arms—the lines of their shoulders extending outwards through their fingers and into their respective partner's, as they hands met gently. in some way, it appeared the perfect image of awkwardness; and yet the two adults drifted through space as if they were simply gliding without friction against the ground. it was a slow thing to watch—draco was only half paying attention to them, as professor sinistra chanted, "left-right-left, right-left-right." his eyes wandered. the room was ineffably magnificent. it resided near the slytherin common room (draco had very little idea of what might occupy the space on a normal day), yet almost seemed otherworldly and unbelonging to the worn-in look of hogwarts. the floor was patterned with glossy tiles in an array of colours; glaucous and sage-green, lavender and pale cream. within the arrangement of such tiles was a painted mural of vines, flowers, bees and snakes, their thin bodies embellished with iridescent scales. they seemed to shift and rustle underneath the professor's dancing feet.

before long, the students were instructed to rise from their seats and find a dancing partner ("quickly, before you're the only one left and have to dance with me," professor sinistra sung). draco turned automatically to pansy—yet, she had already found the embracing position of the walz with blaise, whose tall figure stood an entire head taller than her.

"mr. malfoy," snape snapped from several feet away. then, the sleeve of draco's school robes was seized, and he found himself pulled towards a partner by the brooding potions master. "i'm sure neither you nor ms. einar would appreciate waltzing slowly as the other, inexperienced students would." of course, draco thought. it was just his luck to be coerced into dancing with artemis. of course, snape was wholly unaware of whatever predicament the fourth years had established amongst themselves, and he was hardly to blame—and yet draco did anyway, shooting a sour look at the back of his black curtain of hair as his arms reached out upon muscle memory. it seemed that neither of them had anticipated such an occurrence. as draco felt artemis' cold fingers slip into the nook of his palm, his body jolted in an anxious shock. he refused to allow his fingers to close around hers, too—so they begun waltzing, dancing around one another; hands hovering just a breadth away from the touch of fabric and barely resting inside one another.

artemis' hair was swooped to the left side of her neck, and draco (who had been trying to avoid any possible eye contact by fixing his eyes onto her collar) was able to observe the birthmark that resided just at the soft underside of her jaw. the side of her neck pulsed erratically. yet; it seemed they were able to move as a single unit throughout the floor of the room. whenever draco took a step back, she would already be mirroring him, stepping closer—and whenever they released their hands, switching sides in near-perfect synchronisation.

.

"you will attempt to swap partners, now."

finally, artemis thought. draco spun her away, almost comically fast; the circular expanse of her uniform spiralled outwards in an arc of fabric. the world spun; shapes and colours shifted and blurred so ethereally that artemis felt she was peeking through the warped lense of a kaleidoscope. all too soon, the world came back into sharp focus—and artemis found herself reaching outwards, again in the vast room the slytherins had been using to practice waltzing.

the soft skin of a hand met her own; the person's other coming to steady her at the hip. artemis' eyes met sharp collarbones, then the curved bulge of the boy's adams apple, his jaw, full lips, nose and (finally) his brown eyes. she smiled; and blaise zabini smiled in return—gracefully, practiced, genuine. feeling a plentiful increase in comfort, artemis allowed her body to lean into blaise's, and they kept a velvety silence which encased them; such as a cocoon from the rest of the stumbling slytherins. unlike her dance with draco malfoy, artemis was spun under her new partner's loping arm—once, twice. her palm was returned to the soft embrace of his own.

"may i take you to the ball?" blaise asked. artemis smiled.

"yes," she said, and they returned to the silence, focusing on the steps they took and the direction that their bodies moved to the gentle hum of music; barely discernible beneath the shuffles of feet upon tile and the brush of fabric against fabric.