"Plus, it gives you a chance to embarrass or annoy Draco whilst appearing to be the perfect gentleman coming to a lady's obvious distress. If Draco creates a scene over it, he loses face and so does his family. There are few downsides to it, really." The Ice Dragon bellowed more blue flames.
...
Thinking over the proposal carefully, he found that it did have some merits, but it limited his time with the twins and could risk failing the first task if the twins thought he had chosen Pansy over them. "How about this for a counteroffer. My godfather has set me the task of stealing a kiss from both Pad and Pav on the strike of midnight; he said that it was a tradition that he and my father had started to celebrate the New Year off with a kiss for good luck." He decided it was in his best interest to leave the 'banging' part out.
"So, how about you go talk to the twins and mention the 'family tradition' and say that it came up in conversation when I was dancing with you. Then mention how if both of them gave me a kiss, it would double the luck and explain that I'm just dancing with Pansy to wind Draco up. In exchange, I'll go and charm Pansy and mention how you sent me over to dance with her."
He watched as Daphne considered the deal for a moment. "Fair enough," she agreed before breaking away and heading over to the twins to uphold her end of the deal, as Harry's eyes of their own accord tracked her movement. 'Damn hormones.'
Embracing the music, he made his way over to the table, going totally unnoticed by the group of boys; however, Pansy seemed to bolt upright when she saw him approaching her. He gave her a wink as he approached to break the ice a bit and saw the first shades of rosy red flare up on her cheeks. 'Daphne was right, it seems,' he mused as he stepped up to the group.
"Miss Parkinson, may I have this dance?" his question was accompanied by offering his hand to the disgruntled second year, who was clearly considering the idea seriously. Her date for the evening finally took notice of what was happening, his face quickly changing shades as Pansy placed her silk-gloved hand in his own.
"I would like that, Mr. Potter," accepting his invitation formally as she rose from her seat, her eyes sparkling prettily, much like the Christmas decorations. He escorted her to the dance floor, her hand still lightly in his, before his hand slipped gently to her hip as they joined the group of dancers. "Miss Parkinson, you look very nice this evening," he offered, not finding the girl attractive or anything, just paying the girl a respectful compliment.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter," she replied with a smile. "Black suits you; it truly brings out your emerald eyes. And by chance alone, they complement my gown nicely."
"Indeed, your gown is most flattering," he expressed. "Have you been having an enjoyable evening?" he asked, trying to make polite conversation as they moved to the song.
"It has been passable," she offered back, not going into detail about her feelings, even if Harry knew that she was excited to be dancing with him now, as they moved around the dance floor. Their eyes made contact again as he pulled Pansy just slightly closer as they came into view of a red-faced Draco.
As soon as they were out of sight of Draco, Pansy suddenly spoke up and asked her own question. "So, do I have Daphne to thank for this impromptu dance?" the Slytherin asked.
He grinned at her remark. "She thought that you might need saving from boredom, and I just happened to agree," he voiced.
"Well, thank you for saving me," she responded before pressing closer still to him. "This also wouldn't happen to have the benefit of annoying Draco, would it?" Pansy voiced quietly, having sensed his motives, before quickly pulling out of his personal space.
"Ah, you caught me," he replied easily, grinning unrepentantly as a new song started.
"I thought that might be the case," she voiced before quickly adding, "Not—not that I'm complaining though."
"Good," he said firmly, spinning her around like the adult couples around them. "Now you can say to Draco, if he should ignore you again tonight, 'I think I'll find Harry for another dance,'" he offered casually. "Or perhaps, 'Harry's such an amazing dancer, don't you think, Draco?' and I'm sure he will try very hard to correct that belief." Pansy's lips curled in amusement at the silliness of these suggestions.
"How considerate of you, Harry," she offered, using his first name for the first time.
"You're very welcome, Pansy," smiling back at her as they continued to move gracefully around the dance floor. "One more dance should do it, I think; he should have stewed enough by then that he'll be much more attentive this evening," he observed after taking a quick glance at Draco after turning Pansy around, Pansy smiling as he turned her and ensuring Draco caught her smile. Draco would know that he was the reason for it before deciding to raise the stakes even more by dipping her after growing more confident in his movements.
He then saw Rita and her cameraman circling the floor, taking pictures of the dancers. He directed Pansy over into their vicinity. "Get ready to smile," he advised, his voice laced with mischief as he looked over at the reporter and her dutiful follower, getting her attention and mouthing 'picture.' His intentions clear to Rita.
"Why?" Pansy asked, confused by his words.
Grinning, "Because we're about to make Witch Weekly." He moved her around so that she could see the cameraman readying his camera as Rita pointed them out. Not giving Pansy a chance to back out, he spun her around again before dipping her in front of the camera, the flash going off, before pulling her upright again and moving back around the floor.
"I think we made for a good picture," he expressed. "It should be a good gossip piece for the magazine."
"You know, that picture could cause me trouble with my parents," Pansy expressed warily.
"What for? Charming a dual heir of two ancient households?" his lips quirking in amusement. "Your parents would probably reward you," he responded, a sly smile forming on her face following his reasoning. "Besides, I requested a dance; you graciously granted me one, just as they taught you; you had no idea the reporter was there or that pictures were being taken, you can claim."
"Now I see why Daphne is friends with you. You're not too bad for a Ravenclaw," Pansy complimented him as the song came to an end.
"Thank you," he said, taking it as the compliment it was meant to be. "It will also give you something to often remind Draco of this evening. Something to casually mention whenever he is a jerk to you." He let go of her hand and waist before raising her hand up to his lips and giving her silk-covered hand a gentle kiss. "Have a wonderful evening, Miss Parkinson."
"You too, Mr. Potter," she replied formally, if not a bit stiffly, but the smile gave her away, as well as the amusement in her eyes as he pulled away, turning on the spot and then began heading over to the twins, already sensing a pair of eyes tracking him. Considering the dance as he moved towards the twins, he wondered how it would turn out; would it be like Penny and Percy—the relationship he had intentionally sabotaged? Or would Draco wise up and pay much more attention to his girlfriend and betrothed? Regardless, perhaps he could cultivate a discreet and secret friendship with Pansy in the back rooms of Hogwarts? He'd have to think more on that.
Noticing the scheming smile on his face as he approached, the two sisters seemed to have made up in his absence as he took a seat at the table. "I'm back, ladies; did you miss me terribly?" he jokingly asked, feeling rather confident after all the dancing and champagne he had enjoyed during the evening.
"Of course, Harry," the twins chimed in unison with smiles on their faces.
'Damn, now that's impressive,' he thought, while trying to work out how they got it down quite so perfectly, wondering if they shared a mental connection or something…
"Did you enjoy dancing with Pansy?" Pav asked with a grin.
Deciding to tread carefully, he followed Sirius' advice when dealing with women. "Yes, even more so while watching Draco go red-faced during the dance, but she just can't compare to you two," giving the girls a real compliment. He felt rather bold and empowered from his successes tonight. "Nor is she as pretty as you two girls; the whole tomboy haircut just doesn't work for her," his compliments were rewarded with a pair of smiles. "I think I prefer long hair as well," he offered to the pair after thinking about it. "Now, who's up for some more dancing?"
"How can you keep going? You've been dancing for hours?" Padma asked for the pair.
"I brought a Pepper-Up Potion with me on Sirius' advice; however, I'll be drained tomorrow because of it. I'll be buzzing with energy for another three hours at least, as long as I don't do any magic…" he explained to the tired girls. "So, who wants to go first?"
"Padma, you're first," Pav voiced, beckoning her sister to take the first dance.
"Thank you, sis," she answered, taking his hand in her own.
Over the next hour and a half, the trio danced together, the magical clock slowly ticking down to midnight, its hands steadily glowing with energy as they danced. The Ice Dragon's flames started to shift as midnight approached, turning from blue to a warmer red, the magical snowflakes transforming to sparkles as they danced around the floor with the other couples, several times leading the girls past Rita so she could take a snapshot of them together for the magazine.
Finally, the constant music playing throughout the night ended with the Minister of Magic stepping up onto the platform where the band had been playing all evening. The hall grew quiet as the politician launched into his obviously prewritten speech, reading off what appeared to be note cards. However, what surprised him the most was the appearance of the headmaster, whom he hadn't seen all evening, standing in the background, listening intently to the Minister's speech about the last year in magical Britain and his hopes for the coming year.
Unfortunately for the Minister, his speech was cut short as the magical clock glowed even brighter, building with energy before fading out of existence, leaving a rapidly declining pair of numbers counting down from 60. At the same time, the dragon moved, leaning back on its hind legs, its mouth open and glowing with energy.
Looking over at the twins, who had stepped to either side of him, both shared a look between them as the magical numbers shifted colours from bronze to silver to finally gold, before the hall took a collective breath. He felt two pairs of arms wrap around his waist.
"10!" went up the collective cry. "9!" The whole hall started to count down the seconds. "8!" "7!" "6!" "5!" "4!" At this, he turned to Padma, knowing his best mate should rightfully be first, as she steadily looked back at him. "3!" "2!" "1!" "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Padma shot forward at this, pressing her lips against his, suddenly feeling the hot and soft press of her lips moving on his, the unfamiliar sensation running through him as he returned the kiss before Padma pulled away.
A hand pulled him in the other direction before another pair of soft lips met his own just as hot and lovely, but at the same time different, more forceful. "Happy New Year, Harry!" Sirius shouted in the background as the kiss ended, Sirius grinning at him.
"Happy New Year, girls," he said, pulling them each into himself and hugging them each with an arm around their shoulders, before looking over at Sirius again to see him quite busy kissing a pretty brunette witch. "Happy New Year, Sirius!" he shouted, wondering if he was even heard over all the noise, whilst out of the Ice Dragon's mouth emerged flames of silver and gold before they transformed into hundreds of animals that came running around the guests.
'This is the way to start the New Year,' he thought, an unusually large and genuine smile on his still tingling lips.
...
AN :
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that this satisfies everyone's desire for substantive plot developments, growth of the magical world and the paced development of characters. And of course, how Harry discovered that he was a parselmouth, so coldblue you can stop asking now lol.
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