Imperio ⇢ D.M

Chapter Fifty Five

Slughorn's Christmas Party

"Arden Diggory." Blaise sighed. He strutted up to her desk as she finished off her Charms homework.

Arden kept her eyes on her work. "Hello Blaise." She said bluntly.

Blaise sat on the edge of her desk, arms folded as he stared at her like a piece of meat.

"You and I are in the Slug Club, and he's having a Christmas party soon." He said as if it were no big deal. "I was wondering if you wanted to be my date."

Arden put down her quill and looked at him. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Draco glaring at Blaise. He had specifically warned him not to go after her, and he was clearly not following Draco's orders.

Arden shrugged. "Sure, why not." She sighed.

Blaise smirked at her. "I knew you'd say yes." He said confidently. "That or I thought you'd be going with Potter, since I heard you two were out the other day."

Arden laughed. "Don't remind me, worst date of my life if I'm honest."

"Well, our time at the Christmas party won't be a bore." Blaise said seductively. "I guarantee it." Blaise winked, then sat back next to Draco.

Draco smacked Blaise in the shoulder with his book as hard as he could, and kept his eyes on his work. Arden was too busy trying not to vomit to notice.

Blaise laughed. "Chill out she's as free as a bird."

Draco shot a menacing glare at Blaise. His dark circles made his eyes look so full of evil, as if he could kill Blaise with his bare hands right there.

"I told you she was off limits." He said darkly.

Blaise only shrugged. "Beat me up and she'll hate you more." He threatened.

Draco scoffed. "Who says she'd know it was me?" Draco threatened back. "Listen, lay a finger on her and I'll get my 'buddies' back at home to come after you."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you won't know a thing, you're not even in the club."

-

Arden waited outside of the common room for Blaise. She wore a strapless deep green dress that fell just above her knees. The necklace that Draco had given her matched her outfit perfectly.

Blaise was taking longer than Arden had expected, she had done her hair in seconds thanks to a few handy spells from Ginny, and done her make up quickly thanks to Ginny stealing Lavender's products and giving them to Arden. All Blaise had to do was get changed and maybe fix his hair up a bit, yet he was taking longer.

Blaise finally stepped out of the common room, brushing off his suit. "Right, shall we?" Blaise offered his hand for Arden to take, but instead she folded her arms.

"We shall, as friends." She emphasised. Blaise sighed in defeat, and the two walked to Slughorn's party in silence.

-

Arden and Blaise arrived to the party a few minutes late thanks to Blaise shoving about a million mints into his mouth. Everyone had already begun socialising with others and drinking fancy beverages and eating small snacks.

Arden looked around for any sign of one of her friends. She saw Lena and Luna sitting at a table, both chatting away about something that Arden most likely wasn't interested. She couldn't see Harry anywhere, but she noticed Hermione holding hands with a girl, trying to console her.

The girl had darker skin. Her hair was blonde, but it was clear that she had dyed it due to the blonde fading into brown at her roots. She looked of Asian decent, and wore a shimmering red dress that complimented her skin beautifully, but it was clear that she was uncomfortable.