The music ended and Eden had just finished dancing around her room, holding her pillow as if it were a real boy in her arms.
You know, what was stopping her from walking down and getting a better look at the party from up close. Tissy was definitely busy serving people like a good house elf.
There was no magic holding her in there either.
Nothing was stopping her, it was just the mere fear of the consequences she would endure if she were caught out. Malfoy had let it be known, especially today, about his distaste for Eden wandering around the mansion alone, but who cared really. Certainly not her at that point.
The pillow fell out of her arms and her attention was now on the door.
Staring at it.
Just beyond those planks of wood that was the door was a whole party, full of people. Rich people, classy people... The type of people she used to look up to... The type of person she used to be.
"Fuck it."
Eden muttered before opening the door and shutting it closed, leaving the candles in her room lit so that if it did concern Malfoy so much to the point he would walk out and look through the window, he would think she was still in there moping around.
She waited until the coast was clear and set down the stairs into a hallway full of paintings.
Thankfully, they were not the ones that moves or spoke, they were just normal, simple, paintings of beautiful art ranging from flowers to nature to...
Boobs?
Still beautiful.
Eden found an open door, following the sound of the music while also trying to hide herself and make sure she did not accidentally enter the party.
Yes, she came down to investigate, but not because she wanted to attend. She wanted to watch from a distance. From behind a...
A curtain!
There it was, her opportunity to peer in on freedom and luxury.
She carefully made her way to the curtain inside of the ballroom, shutting the door behind her.
It seemed that this space was used to store old furniture or things that were usually in the ballroom on any other day. There was still a lot of space though. The curtain went into a U shape around the room, stopping at the wall the door was on on each side.
Where could she look in from. Looking in from the middle would cause too much attention to herself.
The curtain was velvet red and she was pale white.
That would not work.
What was an alternative?
Looking around, there was not much she could think up until she spotted a pillar a few metres away from where she stood.
There we go.
That will work, hopefully.
Eden leaned against the pillar, peering in through the the small crack between the pillar and the curtain and she slowly wrapped her fingers around the fabric, pulling it slightly more open so that she was able to look in with not one eye, but two.
Her face lit up; A small smile on her lips, when she saw everyone, everything...
Women and men danced together on the dance floor, teenage girls waited on the edges of the dance floor to be asked by teenage boys.
Oh Eden could remember those days so clearly. The nervousness she used to feel when waiting. Every guy who passed making eye contact and smiling, but heading to a girl beside her instead of her.
When she was 13, she craved the attention of a male and that was very dangerous. She could have gotten herself really hurt if it were not for Harry, swooping in and finding out that they were in fact soulmates.
A cool hand chilled Eden's bare shoulder as she let go of the curtain and spun around. Her eyes flashed for only a moment looking at him.
His hair had some waves in it and she could tell he tried to push it back, but it was all coming forth once again. His eyes were cold still, but held something underneath them and his hand never left her shoulder, he kept it there. Gently having a grip on her.
The staring was becoming too much for her so she began to apologize over and over again.
"I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry... I just couldn't help it. I wanted to see. I needed to see-"
"I knew it would be a matter of time before you came down."
Her face fell in relief.
Malfoy was not mad at her. He didn't even seem the slightest bit worried. It was like he was waiting for her.
"Have this. I'm sure you haven't had something to drink in a while."
Was he drunk? Was that the issue here because in what world did Draco Malfoy ever offer to give a prisoner an alcoholic beverage.
Eden was not complaining though, she grabbed the glass from his hand.
As she did so their fingers grazed one another for only a moment before she pulled her hand away and brought the glass— which he had probably already drank from seeing as it looked half empty and the beverage stained the sides— to her lips.
Wine.
How much she missed wine.
Sure she was a lightweight and could have gotten drunk off of 3 glasses of it, but it was so good. Not to sour, not too bitter, just the way she liked it. Say, this was the exact kind she used to drink all the time.
"Is this strawberry?" Eden turned back to the curtain and looked out once again.
His hand slid off of her shoulder.
Seeing all the girls dancing made her miss dancing. Her lips fell into a faint frown and her eyes got slightly glossy.
Suddenly, an arm was placed right above her hands which rested on the pillar. She turned her head to the side slightly and realized Malfoy was too leaning against the pillar. When she looked up at his face he did not flinch or even look, but she knew that he knew that she was looking at him.
"Why the dress?" His gaze was still on the attendees of the party when he asked.
"I was bored and jealous... I wanted to be like them."
"You don't look like them."
Wow...
"You look better because you're not trying. You look better because you don't think you're better than everyone else right now."
"I think that has been the nicest thing you've said to me since my arrival here. Maybe you aren't out to hurt me all the time like you said this morning." Eden smirked at her remark and looked away from him right when he looked down at her.
She took another swig of the wine and ignored his stare, just like he did to her in the previous minutes.
"How did you know I would come?"
"Do you think you go anywhere without me knowing about it Abella? I know where you are always, even if you don't think so. Even if you think you can outsmart me..."
The wine glass was empty before he finished his speech all being swallowed by the girl in front of him.
The song that was just playing for the dancers stopped and chatter began in the small 30 second break it took for the next song to begin. The players needed to flip to a new page, a new song.
"Let's dance."
She laughed amusingly at him and slid her way out from under him. "I think you've gone mad Malfoy... Have a good night-"
Draco caught her arm, pulling her back toward him before she could get too far from him. Her breath hitched and her chest stuttered. She looked into his eyes searching for an answer, but he gave it verbally instead.
"I've not gone mad... Let's dance."
The music started and Eden, flustered by his sudden touch nodded her head.
They were late to start, but it was no matter, it was a simple dance, she learned it back when she was around 14 or 15 years old at a party.
Malfoy grabbed her right hand holding it out to the side and wrapped his arm around her waist loosely.
God it had been so long since she'd been touched and treated like a real person. Her heart was nearly melting from joy.
He leaned closer to her, holding his stare on her eyes and then quickly leaned closer to her left ear and whispered into it. "Are you ready?"
"Yes..."
She was basically swept off her feet and although she felt that she could not remember the dance, her body was doing it for her, remembering the steps and the leaps and the hand placements...
Everything.
It was like she had done this yesterday.
Malfoy made sure to take advantage of all of the room they had back here and as the dance went on, they slowly made their way to the other end of the hall.
"You should look at me, at least." He told her while stone faced.
Eden's eyes were diverted elsewhere. She looked down at the floor, then at times she would look up at the ceiling and then she would look at the curtains that swung by her with every step she took.
"Why am I to look at you?"
Her grip on his shoulder tightened briefly, but she loosened up again right after. She did not mean to do that. It was simply a reaction of hers.
"You want to see how fast I can make you look over?"
She nodded her head once and waited for this life changing thing he was about to say to her.
Well, he seemed so confident in himself, so she was really interested in what he thought was going to get her to look-
"Eden..."
Her eyes moved from the floor to his eyes immediately and that was when he knew he had really peaked her attention.
They screamed of confusion, but there was a lingering happiness hidden within them, which Malfoy could read straight through.
"And now you're looking..."
"It appears that I am."