"Stella, honey", my mother said coming into my room and laying on the bed not to me. "You spent most of your Christmas holiday in bed. I think it's time you leave your bedroom"
"I don't want to", I whined, pulling my duvet up to my chin.
"I don't know what happened between you and Louis, but you can't just sit here and do nothing all day"
It's not about Louis.
"Can you please come downstairs with me?", she begged.
"Please, mummy. Don't make me attend the ball tonight. I don't want to see anyone"
"Come downstairs, please"
"I'm sure your flowers look amazing"
"Stella Cordelia Blackwood", she said sternly. "Come downstairs with me"
"Fine", I groaned, throwing the duvet off of my body.
"There's a guest waiting for you downstairs"
Great.
My mother got up from my bed and then grabbed both of my hands, dragging me out of bed. She held onto my hand as she lead me out of my bedroom and downstairs to our living room.
When we got to the living room, Theo was sitting on one of our couches with a cup of tea in his hand. He was wearing a black hoodie with a pair of dark brown trousers and his dark brown hair fell in front of his face. His silver Cartier watch sparkled as the light from the fireplace hit his wrist.
My mother patted my back and walked off to the kitchen as I walked over to Theo and sat down on the couch next to him. I sat with my back leaning against the armrest with my legs crossed in front of me. Theo passed me the cup of warm tea that was sitting on the coffee table right next to his.
"What are you doing here?", I asked. "The ball isn't for a couple hours"
"Yeah, I know, but I wanted to see you before it. You haven't been replying to my owls"
"I haven't been responding to anyone's", I said taking a sip of my tea.
"Too busy to respond?", he chuckled.
"Not really... I've just been reading and getting ahead of my classes before the second half of term"
"You missed out on Blaise's party last weekend"
"I know", I sighed. "I didn't feel like partying"
"So you just spent most of holiday doing nothing?"
"Pretty much"
"Are you at least attending the ball?"
"I don't plan on it. I have Jane Austen waiting for me"
"Come on, Stell. You've never missed the Snowflake Ball"
"Yeah, I have. I didn't start attending until 1980"
"Doesn't count", he said rolling his eyes. "You love the Snowflake Ball. Christmas is your favorite time of the year because of all of the snow, sitting by the fireplace, and decorating the Christmas tree"
"Things change"
"Is it because Draco is coming with Pansy"
"No, but now that I know he is, I'm for sure not going. I can't believe she somehow weaseled her way into the party again"
"Don't let Draco and Pansy be the reason why you don't go"
"I don't want to go dateless and watch them slow dance together in my home"
"You don't have to go dateless. I'll be your date"
"I don't think that's a good idea"
"Oh...", he said looking down into his tea cup.
"It's not that I don't want to. I just don't want to get shit from Draco for going to the ball with you. He already thinks I'm a whore for being friends with you, I don't want him thinking that we're getting back together. If I-"
"This is ridiculous", he groaned. "You don't need a date, Stella. Think about it, having a date is going to turn the attention away from your dress"
God, it's like I'm talking to Stass.
"You're right", I sighed. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to attend"
"Alex and I don't have dates. You can hang out with the two of us tonight. It'll be like a group thing"
"Mhm... I don't know"
"Please", he begged. "I don't want you to look back a year from now and regret missing out on the Snowflake Ball because things between you and Draco are tense right now"
Theo's right, I can't miss out on my favorite event of all time just because I don't want to see one person.
"Alright, fine", I groaned. "I'll go"
"Well, get your ass up from the couch and go get ready", he smiled. "You don't want to be late"
"Thanks for the pep talk, Theo. I really needed it"
"Don't mention it, Stell", he said leaning across the couch and wrapping his arms around me. "Someone has to do it when Stass is off on holiday with Adrian"
Sometimes I forget how amazing Theo really is. As a boyfriend, he was always attentive and knew what to say. Even when our relationship was going dull during the last year of it, he never made me feel unworthy of him, of course that was until I found out he cheated on me last summer. I spent the past year angry at him, I forgot that before we started dating, he was my best friend. He knows everything about me and knows exactly what to say when I'm down. I just wish that I could have the same kind of relationship with Draco.
Draco has been in my life as long as Theo has and for some reason, we haven't been able to get through our rough patch. Theo and I were able to push past what happened between us in the past, why can't Draco and I do that? It's not like what happened before the start of summer holiday was worse than getting cheated on. Our little feud could've ended before the start of the new term but Draco kept on adding to the heat by being a little dick. Me dating Louis is no different from Draco hooking up with Pansy now. He's only doing it to make me jealous and I did the same, but I ended up breaking things off with Louis because it didn't feel right to do that to him. Draco on the other hand, wants to do whatever he can to hurt me. Goes to show the difference between Theo and Draco. After breaking up with him, Theo never tried to make me jealous and throw a new girl in my face.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For the Snowflake Ball this year, I decided to wear a black Christian Dior couture dress and a pair of my black Louboutin pumps. My hair was worn up in a up-do and I wore silver dangling earrings.
When I walked out of my closet after getting ready, Theo and Alex were sitting on the couch in front of my fireplace, reading the books that were sitting on my coffee table. They both wore black dress robes and bow ties in different shades of blue. Theo had his brown soft wavy hair gelled back and Alex let his famous Black curls fall in front of his face.
"You look beautiful, Stell", Alex said looking up from his book.
"Why thank you, Mr. Black. You look amazing yourself, and you too Mr. Nott", I teased. "How lucky am I too have two handsome men on my arm tonight?"
"Oh, we're men now?", Theo chuckled.
I rolled my eyes and grabbed both of Theo and Alex's hands. We walked out of my room and downstairs to the foyer where all the guests arrived. My parents were standing in the middle of the foyer greeting all the Ministry officials, Hogwarts professors, and family members of Pureblood families.
The three of us walked out to my backyard where the party is taking place. Just like last year, the party was being held in an all glass room. The room was decorated with warm Christmas colors and fireplaces lined the perimeter. Christmas trees were put in a triangle formation in front of the grand room, right behind the orchestra that was playing music as the guest entered.
Standing by the bar was Stass with Adrian, Blaise with Daphne Greengrass, and Draco with Pansy fucking Parkinson. Draco wore black dress robes with a dark green tie, contrasting Pansy's ruby red dress. His platinum blonde hair was gelled back with a small strand of his hair falling in front of his face. Fuck. He looks so hot.
"Do you want a drink?", Alex asked me, grabbing a glass of champagne from the bar.
"Sure"
"Can I get a vodka lemonade?", Alex asked the bartender. "I'm giving you a free pass to get drunk tonight"
"Aw, really?"
"Yes, and I'll hold your hair"
"You're the best", I said throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly. "Just don't let me get too wasted because I need to be sober enough to get out of my dress"
Alex passed me the glass filled half way with vodka and the other half with lemonade. I mixed the drink up with the thin straw and took a sip. Draco watched me as I drank my vodka lemonade and took Pansy's hand, taking her out to the dance floor. The two of them started to slow danced to the beautiful orchestra. This is starting to feel like the Yule Ball all over again.
Just last year, I was the one on the dance floor slow dancing to Draco while Theo and Pansy were together. This year, I'm just the girl who's alone by the bar drinking by herself watching everyone with their dates. I appreciate Theo and Alex being good friends by offering to be my dates so I don't feel left out, but it's just not the same.
I used to always attend the Snowflake Ball with Theo and we would have the best time together. When we were kids, Theo and I used to sled down the hill, pissing our mothers off because we were wearing our clothes would get wet from the snow. We would kiss under the mistletoe at midnight and sneak out of the party early so we could cuddle up by the fireplace in my bedroom. Now, I'm going to be leaving the party early alone and will be sulking by the fireplace instead of cuddling up next to someone.
"Let's go dance", Alex said holding his arm out to me. "You're on the verge of crying into your drink"
"That obvious?", I asked, setting the glass down and taking his arm.
"Yes", he chuckled. "I know that this year's Snowflake Ball is a little tough for you because you're here alone this year, but that doesn't mean you have to spend it watching Draco and Pansy be together"
"It's supposed to be the most romantic time of year and I'm spending it alone"
"You're not alone, you have me"
"I know", I sighed.
"Now, pick your chin up and put your hand on my shoulder"
Alex placed his hands on my waist and I put my hands on his shoulders. We swayed across the dance floor under the enchanted ceiling that had snow falling. He twirled me around and picked me up from the ground spinning me around. I'm so glad to have Alex. He's definitely making this night ten times better.
"Can I cut in?", Theo asked Alex.
"Sure. She's your date too", he chuckled.
Alex passed me over to Theo and I held Theo's hand in my right and placed my hand on his shoulder with his left. I rested my cheek against his soft velvet black dress robe as he pulls my in close, resting his chin on my bare shoulder.
"I hope Alex and I made your Christmas better", Theo said as we danced.
"You guys did, thank you", I said pulling my face away from his shoulder.
"I'm really sorry that things aren't going the way you planned. I know that you had your whole future planned out and I derailed it by cheating on you"
"It's alright, Theo. Our relationship probably wouldn't have lasted that long"
"Thanks... I guess..."
"You know what I mean", I said rolling my eyes. "You weren't happy in our relationship and making you stay would've been wrong"
"It wasn't that I was unhappy with you, I just didn't feel fulfilled. I didn't want to be tied down so early on in life"
"You sound like, Draco", I mumbled.
"Stell, you're a relationship girl, and sadly, boys our age aren't ready for girls like you yet. In time, Draco will see that you're amazing and he's a complete dick for letting you slip through his fingers"
"Getting back with Draco would be wrong, right?"
"Do you love him?"
"Yes...", I said looking down at the ground.
"How much do you love him?"
"Enough to get mushy when's hairs hair falls in front of his face while he does homework..."
"Aw, you're totally falling in love", he teased.
"Shut up", I scoffed.
"If you still love him after everything's he's done, you might want to do an evaluation"
"What do you mean?"
"The things he's said and done is pretty... It's not the greatest thing to do to someone you love"
"So you think I should give up?"
"No... I'm just saying you need to think things through. Whether he's going through a childish phase or this is what he's actually like, Draco has yet apologize to you or even showed an ounce of sympathy. You tend to let your feelings take over your judgement, this something you can't just brush over"
I do tend to let my feelings cloud my judgement. Throughout my relationship with Theo, I was too busy with the love aspect, I couldn't see that he didn't want to be with me anymore. I'm doing the same thing with Draco. He's treated me so poorly and I fight back in the moment but I always end up making excuses for him or just brush it under the rug. When he would make his snarky little comments about me dating Louis, I would always feel guilty about being with Louis instead of him. Maybe I should just start holding Draco accountable for his actions. He does the things he does because he's an ass, not because I broke his heart.