PRINCESS ➳ harry potter , draco malfoy (OLD VERSION)

53 || The Yule Ball

Katie awoke slowly to the sound of happy whispers on Christmas Day. Her eyes blinked open and she sat up, stretching. A small pile of presents sat at the foot of her bed and her dorm-mates — Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode and Tracy Davis — were all wide awake and talking in hushed voices.

"Merry Christmas." Katie announced groggily but merrily.

Pansy beamed at her. "Oh, good, you're awake! Come on, I'm starving."

Pansy grabbed Katie's arm and dragged her out of bed, to which Katie giggled.

"You lot go down without me," she told them. "I just want to get dressed. I'll follow you down in a few minutes."

The girls cleared out of the dormitory. Katie pulled open her top drawer and searched for the least-tackiest Christmas sweater that she could find. She settled on a red one that lit up like a Christmas tree anytime someone spoke the phrase 'Merry Christmas.'

Despite the fact that is was Christmas morning, Katie actually woke up quite late. Usually, her sleep was broken multiple times a night when she woke up in a cold sweat to the sound of s shrill voice casting the Killing Curse, but she had just gotten her first full night's sleep in weeks and was feeling very refreshed.

There was not a single person in the common room. Everyone was probably enjoying a filling Christmas breakfast in the Great Hall. Katie had just started making her way to the common room door when she heard footsteps coming from the staircase to the boy's dormitory. The door creaked open and Draco's head appeared in the crack. Katie smiled at him.

"Merry Christmas." she said. Her jumper started flashing wildly. Draco burst out laughing and, although she was blushing from embarrassment, Katie laughed too.

Draco stepped into the common room and Katie noticed that he was also blushing slightly. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, refusing to meet his housemate's eyes.

"You too — uhm..." he paused. "I have something for you, actually... Wait here."

Draco disappeared inside the boy's dormitories, returning a few moments later carrying a white garment bag. He was holding it carefully and kept his eyes fixed on it at all times, as though he was sacred that it would burst into flames if he made one wrong move. Katie eyed him suspiciously when he handed the bag to her.

"What's this?" she asked curiously, taking the garment bag from Draco.

His cheeks went pink again. "Err — it's a dress for the ball."

Katie almost dropped the garment bag. Her mouth fell open and she let out a string of noises that perfectly expressed her surprise.

"Oh, Draco, you didn't have to—"

"It's OK," Draco chuckled gently. "You said you didn't have a dress so I wrote to mum — asked her to knock something off my Christmas list and get a dress instead. I do hope I got the sizing right—"

But Katie wasn't listening. She placed the dress down on the couch and attacked Draco with a hug. He stumbled back from shock but still awkwardly pat Katie on the back — unsure of what else to do.

"Thank you so much." Katie breathed, and she meant it.

Draco grinned. "Yeah, well, we couldn't have you showing up in a flimsy sundress, now, could we?"

Katie chuckled.

"I also got you something," Katie told Draco. "One minute."

Katie carried her dress up to her dorm room and, like Draco, treated it as though it was made of glass. She hung it on her four-poster bed then kicked open her trunk and pulled out Draco present. When she got back to the common room, Draco was still stood in the exact same place where Katie had left him. She handed him the small, neatly wrapped box and blushed in embarrassment.