George's dancing was something else. Amisty was flushed within minutes, laughing the entire time, her skirt flying out around her legs as The Weird Sisters played their songs. And somehow she never stepped on his feet. How? She had no idea.
Maybe it was because it wasn't really ballroom dancing. Neither of them was leading, and there was no order to their steps or motions.
Certainly not dignified, but definitely fun.
Currently, she was being twirled around and around, feeling entirely like a girl with the way she was giggling and smiling giddily. George dipped her suddenly and a loud, bright laugh escaped her, ringing even with the noise of the rest of the music and dancers... who were dancing in a much more elegant manner.
The song ended, to a round of applause, and George laughed down at her.
"Never thought you'd be the type for dancing," He commented, holding out his hand for another round.
She was about to take it and then realized the song was a slower one. "Er — not really a big fan of waltzing..."
"Glad to see I don't have to suffer through that," He chuckled. If he caught the lie he didn't show it. "Drinks, then?"
She nodded, ending up getting twirled again and laughing once more.
The night continued in a similar fashion to that. They danced when the songs were fast, and took a break when the pleas from the couples won over and a sweeter, slower one came on. Thankfully George seemed entirely okay with sitting out for those.
It made sense, given his personality. He didn't seem like the type to waltz.
"Excuse me, George," A familiar voice reached them, and Amisty looked up in surprise to see Harry standing there. "May I steal your partner for this song?"
George threw her a questioning look, as if saying, 'Are you sure you want to risk bruising your feet that badly?'
She smiled, nodding discreetly, and the redhead turned to face Harry, a stern expression on his face.
This was going to be good.
"Are you going to be proper and keep your hands to yourself?"
He flushed, spluttering, "Of course! Why wouldn't I?!"
"And you're going to make sure she's safe?"
"Always."
He seemed to be realizing George was joking.
"And you're not going to crush her toes and make her unable to walk for a week?"
That seemed a tad bit excessive.
"No promises on that," Harry shrugged sheepishly. "I'm not exactly the best dancer."
"We got that after Parvati steered you across the room," Amisty piped up cheekily, winking when he glared at her.
"Well," George sighed dramatically, taking great pains in stepping away, bowing, "I guess that will have to do. Don't be too long."
"Just one song," Harry reassured, smiling as George turned to go and join Fred and Angelina, who were sitting off to the side.
"So," Amisty gave him a look. She had seen Parvati dancing with a Beauxbatons boy, looking rather bitter when she shot a glance over at where Harry and Ron were sulking, "what inspired you to finally join the dance floor?"
"Ron and I just went out to the garden. Hagrid's a half-giant," His voice suddenly dropped as he wrapped his arms around her waist, very reminiscent of a hug.
She blinked, not entirely surprised by the news as her arms went around his neck, "Is that a big deal?"
"According to Ron, yes. Giants aren't very liked by the wizarding community, apparently." Harry replied, they were swaying now. "Very vicious, dangerous."
"But Hagrid's a sweetheart!" She protested, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
"That's what I said. But wizards don't like giants, they never have, I don't know what he was thinking, telling Madame Maxime..." His voice trailed off and his grip tightened slightly.
She rested her head on his shoulder in what she hoped was a calming gesture, "He'll be alright, Harry. Dumbledore probably knows, and he wouldn't fire Hagrid over something like that. He knows how hard he works."
"I don't know what she's going to do about it. It's not like she swore to secrecy or anything," He sighed, resting his chin on her head.
Maybe it did calm him down a bit.
"Stop worrying about it," She scolded gently, tilting her chin up to catch his gaze. "This is Hagrid we're talking about. He's been to Azkaban and he's still come back. Something like this won't do anything."
The song ended, and they separated. She stood up on her tiptoes, pressing a small kiss to his cheek.
"Now," She chanced a look over to where Ron was sitting. He looked concerned and still sulky, blazing blue gaze resting on where Hermione and Krum were dancing, "go join Ron before he kills one of them with his glare."
He laughed, seeming to be reassured slightly, "Thanks, Am. I'll go try and keep Ron murder free."
She smiled, and soon enough George had joined her side, pulling her back into another round of crazy dancing as Harry went to sit beside Ron, their heads bent as they talked in hushed tones.
"Glad to see your feet are still functional," George teased as they did some sort of step move, involving them switching sides.
"He's not too bad. Just a bit clueless," She laughed, letting herself be twirled yet again.
It was happening a lot, she rather liked it.
-=+=-
It was nearing the end of the Ball, quite a few couples have left the dance floor to the rose garden doing who-knows-what. Amisty certainly didn't want to go investigating after seeing Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies flushed faces once they came back inside.
George, after a frequent bout of apologies, went to go dance with Alicia. It took more convincing on her part to get him to actually leave her alone.
"I'm fine, George," She repeated again, shoving him toward the dance floor. "Go dance with her!"
He looked pained, "But I -- "
"But you nothing! Go. Dance!"
And one good shove later, he was laughing and smiling with Alicia.
She rolled her eyes, finally.
"You seem to be having fun," A voice drawled, and she turned her head to the side, already smiling.
"Hi, Draco," She met his silver gaze, her eyes sparkling. "Do tell, who asked first? Pansy, or you?"
He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. His voice was scathing but teasing when he replied, "You're smart enough to guess."
"I don't know... You're too much of a flirt to let someone else make the first move, " She grinned slyly.
"Oh hush, you. Do tell," He jabbed her with his elbow, rolling his eyes as his gaze turned devious, "why have you been stepping off during all the proper dancing songs?"
She turned away, fighting down her blush, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, right. I think you've forgotten how poorly you lie," He retorted, gently tilting her face back toward him. Immediately her eyes fell to her lap.
"You need to make eye contact, and not look away if you want to get away with a lie. Don't fidget, make your voice as normal as possible, and you'll lie easily."
Hesitantly, she lifted her gaze back to his, flinching away almost instantly when the green and grey clashed.
"But," And the condescending tone was back, "I didn't come here to teach you how to lie."
Amisty bit her lip, not wanting to explain why she wasn't dancing. Other than the fact that George was dancing with Alicia, of course.
He seemed to know exactly why, though, even with her refusal to answer the question.
"You don't know how to ballroom dance, do you?" He asked softly, almost gently.
"I've never learned how..." Her voice trailed off, embarrassed and blushing furiously.
"Well," He got to his feet, holding out a hand toward her, "I'll just have to teach you, then."
Her neck snapped up, "What?"
"I'm going to teach you how to ballroom dance," He replied slowly, leaning down with wide eyes.
She shoved him, pursing her lips to fight down her smile.
"We can't just dance in the middle of the Great Hall, everyone's going to see!" She protested, searching for a way out.
"That's what the statues are for," He gave her a stern look, and she grudgingly placed her hand in his own.
He led her off to a deserted part of the Great Hall, weaving between the said statues and into a corner completely out of view of everyone.
Even those sitting at the top table. Not like that was important, as all the teachers, guests, and champions who had been sitting there had either moved to other tables or waltzing across the dancefloor.
He hadn't let go of her hand, raising it between them and placing his other hand on her waist.
"Your hand goes here," He nudged her with his elbow, moving it so her fingers curled around his arm.
Another song had started playing, soft, gentle, a definite slow dance.
"Step back with your right, then to the left, and put your feet together," He explained, doing the opposite as she stumbled over herself. "Forward, right, together."
He was easily leading her. Clearly, this was something he had learned to do since he was young.
At some point, she completely forgot that she was dancing, forgot to stare at her feet to make sure she didn't trip or step on his, instead focusing on the boy in front of her. On the way his white-blond hair turned almost gold in the lighting, how his eyes -- usually so impassive -- sparkled with mischief and happiness. On the way he quirked his eyebrow, knowing she was examining him, and judging by the scorching she felt across herself, she knew he was returning the favor.
"I believe I do owe you a Christmas gift," He remarked casually as the danced.
She looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed until she remembered the letter from earlier that day.
He stepped back, pulling out a box from his back pocket, and opened it. Inside, placed delicately over a plush green velvet, was a circular necklace, twelve small dots arranged in a pattern she felt like she knew, but couldn't recall at the time.
He spun her around, clasping the necklace and gently pulling her hair over the chain. It rested just above her collarbones, glinting in the candlelight.
"Lupus," He told her. "The wolf constellation."
The small smile on his face was contagious, and she didn't even know she was grinning like an idiot until he laughed quietly.
"You really do look beautiful tonight," He almost whispered the compliment, and she would've missed it if it weren't for her hearing.
That's how hard it was for her to keep attention with the proximity between them.
"Thanks," She squeaked, her face heating up. "You do, too. Handsome, I mean."
He smirked, whether it was from her response or her returning compliment she didn't know, "I always do, love."
A nervous laugh escaped her, and she felt her gaze slip away.
"Eyes up, Amisty," He whispered, "eyes up."
She forced herself to meet his gaze, shocked to see the silver had darkened a few shades, like the color of a dove's wing.
And he twirled her, the full skirt of her dress flaring out around her like a wave of peach, glittering in the candlelight from their surroundings. She stumbled, tripping over her own feet, the golden heels of her shoes clicking together, and then she was falling, falling, falling...
Two hands gripped her wrists, firm but gentle, keeping her upright. Draco caught her, a smile playing on the edge of his lips.
"Careful, petite loup," He murmured, the French words billowing across her nose. "Don't need you falling."
Their foreheads brushed, the stark contrast of their hair even more apparent than it had been before.
If anyone could actually see them, of course, which just wasn't possible given the circumstances.
"You're really something else, Draco Malfoy," She smiled, raising her hand to brush back the fringe falling in front of his eyes. "Really something else."
"I could say the same to you, Amisty River," He replied, just as gently, mimicking the gesture with the same poise and elegance he did everything else with.
And his hands left her wrists, instead going around her waist, pulling her close.
So close.
His chin rested on the -- now controlled -- raven curls, her head nestled against his chest as her arms wrapped around his back. His fingers gently ran up and down her arms soothingly, calming even though she felt as if her heart were beating a million mile a minute.
His scent surrounded her, that strange combination of pine needles and winter snow and everything that made him... him. She felt two things in that moment.
One was their magic, colliding and twining together. Green and gold. Fighting and working together simultaneously, bringing forth chaos and harmony all at once. She wasn't quite sure how that worked, and quite honestly, she didn't really care.
Her eyes drifted closed for a millisecond, closing off one of her senses, letting the others strengthen in that special moment in time. She let out a deep breath, unable to hide the enormous smile breaking across her face.
The other thing she felt? It was bizarre, something that most wouldn't even think of noticing. But she did.
It was the gentle, steady beat of Draco's heart, drumming next to her ear.