BREATHE -draco malfoy

three.

"Malfoy...really?"

This is what Ana was pestered with the entire day after the Yule Ball. Ron said it first, but she knew it was on everyone's minds.

"I know," Ana groaned. She sat next to Hermione on the couch in the Gryffindor common room and laid her head on Hermione's shoulder. Ana huffed irritably.

"Oh Ana, what were you thinking?" Hermione said, her voice tinged with pity.

"I have no idea," Ana said seriously. It's not that she had a bad time with Malfoy. Her stomach stirred unceremoniously as she had flashing memories of light blond hair, red cheeks, and swirls of flickering amber walls. And there was the problem: she felt ill. Or at least she tried to convince herself she was ill and not having butterflies for Draco Malfoy.

"If you think we're being bad, wait 'til you see Harry," Ron groaned, his face taking on a look of horror. "He was so crotchety last night, I thought he was going to tear my head off in my sleep."

"Save the dramatics," Ana snapped at Ronald, but immediately groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Why'd you say yes to him, anyway?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't have a date yet and he was being manipulative, that's all," Ana defended herself. But in reality, she didn't know why she had gone along with Malfoy. But she really wished people would quit asking her so she could just forget about it. She had already gotten stared at by Gryffindors and Slytherins alike. Pansy Parkinson had even purposely bumped into her harshly in the corridor after her first class.

Just then, Harry entered the room and sat next to Ron by the fireplace.

"Hello," Ana said cheerily, lifting her head from Hermione's shoulder. Harry said hello back, because he couldn't help but be nice to her, but inside he was seething.

"Harry, don't be angry," Ana said. She got up and sat next to him, nudging him playfully on the shoulder.

"I'm not. I just don't get why you had to go with Malfoy, of all people. Even another Slytherin would have been better," Harry grumbled.

"You should have asked me earlier then," Ana said. Hermione nodded, shooting a pointed glance at Ronald. She was irritated with him as well, for being such an ass about Victor Krum. She had left the ball in tears and didn't feel quite like speaking to him today. Ron looked over at her apologetically.

"Well, I..." Harry started.

"You wanted to go with Cho, I know, but she was taken. If you had asked me sooner, I would have said yes. Going with my friend would have been ten times more fun than dancing with the enemy," Ana explained. "C'mon, you can't stay mad at me. If there's another ball, you're first on my list."

Eventually Harry warmed up again, starting to talk strategy for the next task in the tournament. Harry had won an egg shaped orb in the first task, but had no idea what it was for. It seemed pretty useless to Ana, but soon, Hermione had stood up suddenly and began to drag Harry down to the library to research.

The sun was setting when Ana walked with Ron down to the Great Hall for dinner. The hall had magically transformed back into it's original state sometime in the night and Ana was grateful for it. No more memories of the Yule Ball.

After dinner Ana made her way back to the common room alone. Ron had gone off to find Harry and Hermione in the library as they had studied right through dinner. Ana was fiddling with the silver ring and wondering to herself why she hadn't taken it off. It screamed Slytherin with the engraving of a serpent and no doubt reminded the world of who had been her date to the ball. But Ana did not want to lose it, since it seemed very expensive, like everything else Malfoy wore, so she resisted the urge to chuck it down the corridor.