𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐍 (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

CHAPTER 44

All the Gryffindors and Slytherins were seated in the Entrance Hall. The tables and chairs had all been pushed to the back of the room and I knew instantly what we would be forced to do. The Yule Ball was coming up and we were required to dance, in the books though, the Slytherins were never with us so I wondered what brought on that minor change.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape stood in the front of the room near the large gramophone where Filch was with his cat, Mrs Norris. The girls sat on one side of the room and the boys on the other. Naturally, the guys looked like they were dreading the whole ordeal, while the girls were a bit more eager, chattering excitedly to each other.

"Why did we have to do it with Slytherin?" I complained to Hermione.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe they want to encourage good house bonding?"

I scoffed. "I hardly think anyone is in the mood for that, look over there," I said, pointing. "Malfoy and Harry are already bickering."

"They should dance together," Hermione suggested.

I smiled, playing into the joke. "My money is on Malfoy tripping Harry over after the first twirl."

We both laughed, yet I couldn't help but wonder how I managed to seek Malfoy out so quickly in the crowd of boys.

"Silence, everyone," McGonagall commanded. "Now, the Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its inception. On Christmas Eve night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for well mannered frivolity."

"Frivolity?" I whispered to Hermione, my eyebrows raised.

She giggled. McGonagall continued, "As representatives of the host school, I expect each and everyone of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally because the Yule Ball is first and foremost... a dance."

Groans echoed from the boys' side, though the girls began chattering in excitement. "Great, my foot is going to be suffering for an eternity if I am paired with any one of those hooligans," I said to Hermione, rolling my eyes.

Hermione sighed. "I'm sure they are not all that bad."

"Perhaps..." I said, my sentence trailing off as my eyes met Malfoy who gave me a devilish smirk. Something told me he has been to many of these types of balls before.

"The Houses of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slutherin have commanded the respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you in the course of a single evening besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons."

I accidentally released a muffled snort, only McGongall could come up with such bizarre imagery. Hermione slapped me on my arm to shush me.

"Now to dance is to let the body breathe, inside every girl a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight, inside every boy a lordly lion prepared to pounce."

Ron muttered something to Harry on the other side, both chuckling softly and McGonagall didn't miss it. "Mr Weasley, will you join me?"

Ron looked utterly shocked and Harry had to push him toward McGonagall. Despite Snape being there, I think McGonagall wanted to have a little bit of fun embarrassing Ron. "Now place your right hand on my waist?"

"Where?" Ron asked, his opened wide in surprise and the slightest tinge of red staining his cheeks.

"My waist," said McgGonagall dryly as Ron sheepishly lifted his arms to McGonagall's waist. A wolf whistle came from the crowd and the students giggled. Malfoy smacked Nott who looked all too pleased with himself, surprising me as I realised the whistle came from him instead of Fred and George. Filch turned to the gramophone and placed the needle on the record and soft orchestral music began.