A Wonderful Fortuitous Love

33. New Years

There was nothing spectacular about the party, nothing like how it was for the Sixth Month Ball. The only thing that made it look special at all was the huge ball of light floating from the ceiling, with different colours filling the room, fading from one to the next. There was also the faint stench of alcohol and smoke already floating about the room. It wasn’t as wild as some of the parties he’d attended back in his late teens, but Draco could not help to wonder what Hopkins would say if she were to see what her ‘darling daughter’ had set up.

He stood there for a moment, wedged between Hermione and Pansy, taking in the scene before them; people dancing, laughing, loudly singing along to the song currently playing, and declared loudly that he had seen enough, and made as if to bolt right out the door.

Blaise’s arm shot out almost on instinct. “C’mon Draco. You used to be the life of these things, remember? Back in the good old days.”

Hermione made a disbelieving noise under her breath, and Draco rounded on her. “What? You don’t think I was the Must Have Guest on everybody’s list?”

“I didn’t say that,” she said, barely containing a smirk.

“Yeah, but it was implied,” he said after her as she led the way through the crowd to the back of the room, where tables were stationed. He, Blaise and Pansy sat. Granger hesitated and looked around. For a moment Draco didn’t understand what she was looking for, but then her name was called by the familiar voice of the Weaslette, who was surrounded by Potter, Weasley, Lovegood and Longbottom.

Draco tracked the way her eyes darted from where she was, about to seat herself at their table, and back. He watched the conflict there, the reluctance. He knew before she even sent them the last apologetic glance who she’d chose. Hermione walked to the opposite end of the room, where Potter wrapped her into a hug as Weasley patted her on the back.

Draco looked away, suddenly very glad, with the way Weasley was looking at her, that she had not worn what Pansy originally picked out, (something very revealing and un-Hermione-ish) and instead settled for more of a casual look with jeans and a nice top, despite the tutting noises Pansy kept making under her breath.

Blaise leaned back in his seat. “D’you think one day she’ll ever choose us?”

“Who? Hermione? Over Potter and Weasley?” Pansy laughed at the absurdity of it. “I don’t think so. Anyway, I’m gonna go and see which girls in our grade have gotten fat.” She stood up and added with a smirk, “Shouldn’t take long to spot them, if you get what I mean.” She skipped off into the crowd.

“Delightful girl, isn’t she?” Draco drawled after her, darting his finger in and out of the flame flicking in the centre of their table. “Speaking of which,” he went on when it became obvious Blaise would not reply, “how’re you two going?”

He shrugged. “All right, I suppose.”

“You suppose?”

“Yeah, well…” He paused, then laughed without mirth, shaking his head. “It’s stupid. Forget it.”

“Mate, this is the bloke you spent a full twenty-four hours with searching for your Herpo the Foul Chocolate Frog card. Nothing can get much stupider than that.”

“Hey! It was a rare card!” And there was a small twinge of his lips that told Draco he had won before Blaise even gave the defeated sigh. “Okay, well Pansy’s great. Really, she is… only… I think sometimes she misses Theo. Of course that’s to be expected though,” he added hastily and almost guilty. “I was never as close to him as he was with you two. You were his idol and Pansy was his crush, so I guess I didn’t suffer as much as you guys did when he disappeared.”