#ybd

You were about to dive into your meal when the daily owl post arrived. A heavy package dropped in front of you which almost made you spill your drink. You took the envelope attached to it and opened it.

—

Our dearest Y/N,

Your father and I could practically feel the excitement in your letter! Don’t worry sweetheart, we know how much you’re looking forward to it. We will make sure to get you the finest gown there is so our lovely daughter could outshine everyone! Oh, and by the way, I’m not really sure which record you were specifically asking for so I just sent everything. You know your dear mother is not familiar with your belongings. 

Anyways, I hope you have fun in the ball, dear! We’ll send you your gown as soon as we get it made. We love you!

Love, 

Mother

—

No wonder the package was heavy. You took it from the table and placed it underneath. After placing the letter in your pocket, you grabbed your spoon and started eating.

“So Y/N, has anyone asked you out for the dance yet?” Pansy asked. You looked up from your meal and saw that Draco was looking at you. You smiled at him and his eyes quickly darted to his right, a blush creeping up his face. You didn’t notice this since you immediately looked at Pansy to answer her question. 

“None yet, actually.” You replied. “Although with a partner or not, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to enjoy the ball.” You took a sip from your orange juice as Pansy pointed at the Hufflepuff table. “I heard from someone that Macmillan is actually planning to ask you to the ball.” You were caught off guard with what Pansy said that you choked on your drink, resulting in orange juice coming out of your nose. You knew she was bluffing, she must be, but just the mere thought of someone thinking about asking you out surprised you.

You quickly hid your face in embarrassment as you heard the rest of your friends laugh, save for Draco, who had his arm stretched out, handkerchief in hand. “You’re such a klutz, Y/N.” He said as he pressed his handkerchief into your face. You just pouted at him in response and wiped your face clean. 

“I wonder what would happen to Y/N if Draco wasn’t around.” Blaise said in a joking manner. Draco nudged him with his elbow, hard enough that he almost fell off his seat. Such a shame that he didn’t fall completely.

You and Draco have known each other since who knows when. Your mother often scheduled you to playdates with other kids from pureblood families which led you to Draco. For some reason, your mother realized that you and the Malfoy heir got along well that most of your playdates were now with Draco. Not that you mind, you actually enjoyed his company. He would talk about the things he would love to do once he’s all grown up and you enjoyed listening to him. He once mentioned that he wanted to be the best quidditch player in the entire wizarding world, which you cheered him on. 

When you both got your Hogwarts letter, you swore that you’ll both make sure to be in the same house. Slytherin, to be exact. Obviously, that went well seeing you’re all currently sitting at the Slytherin table, eating breakfast with your friends.

“I’m pretty sure I could manage without Draco, Blaise.” You glared at him, which made him laugh more.

“Then who will hand you a handkerchief if you got orange juice running down your no —OW” Blaise howled in pain as you kicked his shin from underneath the table. Pansy shrieked in laughter and you caught Draco cracking a smile. 

“You two cut it out, there are people who are actually eating.” Theo said as he shoved a spoonful of pancakes in his mouth.

“Anyways,” Pansy interjected. “How about you boys? Asked anyone out for the ball yet? Have any girls in mind?” She straightened her back and grinned at the boys in front of her. Pansy leaned over to your side.

”I bet you five galleons none of them have asked anyone yet.” You smirked as you glanced at Theo. “Alright.” You agreed.

“Actually, I’ve already asked someone and she said yes.” Theo boasted. 

Pansy crossed her arm and huffed as she handed you five galleons which you quickly placed in your pockets. You knew Theo had already asked someone, but who it was, you have no idea.

“No way,” Draco said in disbelief. “You got a date before me? This is unbelievable.” 

“Who did you ask?” Blaise asked, his face filled with curiosity.

“Daphne Greengrass” Theo grinned at the two boys in front of him.

You and Pansy shared a surprised look. Daphne agreed to be Theo’s date? What a world. You were definitely asking her about this later. Your eyes met Pansy’s. As if reading your thoughts, you both nodded. You two are DEFINITELY going to ask her later.

You suddenly remembered the package that you placed under the table and brought it to your lap. You were glad that the Slytherin common room has a record player. Breakfast wasn’t even halfway done when you stood up and excused yourself. Draco shot you a confused look.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“I’m going back to the dorms to put these in my room.” You gestured to the package in your arms. “Also the first class doesn’t start in two hours so maybe I’ll just hang in the common room or something.” You smiled at them one last time before heading out.

You quickly made your way to the dungeons and into the Slytherin common room. You whispered the password and went inside as fast as you can. The common room is empty, just like you expected. Everyone’s either in the Great Hall or walking around school, making their way to their first class which means one thing: You have the entire common room to yourself.

Quickly, you opened your package, grabbed a record from it, and made your way to the record player. You made one last look around to make sure you were really alone before finally putting down the player’s reproducer. A familiar tune —your favorite tune—  started playing and you started dancing along with it.

You missed doing this back in your own room. Your favorite tune softly playing in the background as you move your body to the rhythm. The wind blowing through your open windows. You were so lost in the music that you didn’t notice that a certain blonde boy was standing by the common room’s entrance, watching every move you make.

“I haven’t seen you do that dance in a while.” You squealed in surprise when you noticed Draco standing by the entrance, watching you.

“How long have you been standing there?” You asked, face turning red as you quickly turned off the music. Draco gave out a genuine laugh that made your heart flutter. You rarely hear him laugh in a way that’s not mocking or insulting nowadays. 

“Oh please, don’t act so embarrassed. It’s not like I haven’t seen you do that multiple times when we were kids.” He made his way to where you were standing. 

He wasn’t wrong. You two actually shared a few dance lessons back then. You have no clue why it was necessary, but it’s not like you cared. To you, it just means you get to spend more time with Draco.

“In fact, I’m pretty sure I can still recall this one certain dance you taught me.” He sneered as he started the music. You were surprised that he still remembers it to this day. It’s been years since you taught him about it, after all. He bowed in front of you and stretched out his arm.

“May I have this dance?”

—

“Come on, Draco!” You grabbed Draco by his arm. You two were around 10 years old and your dance lessons for today has just finished “I promise you this is going to be an easy dance. If that’s what you’re worried about.” The blonde boy rolled his eyes but allowed himself to get pulled by you anyway.

“It’s not that I’m worried it’s going to be a difficult dance.” He pulled his arm away. “I just think it’s ridiculous.” He scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest. “Besides, today’s lesson was tiring. Aren’t you tired?” “Nope!” You exclaimed as you reached for your favorite record. “Please Draco, just do this dance with me, pretty please???” You held both of your hands together and tried your best to make a pleading face. Draco sighed and gave in.

“Alright. But I’m only doing it this time.” 

You squealed as you started the music. You took both his hands in yours and pressed your palms against his. 

“Ok, so it goes like this…”

—

You took Draco’s hand and squeaked when he pulled you closer to him. He pressed his palms against yours and did the steps you taught him years ago flawlessly. When he pulled you in and wrapped you around his arms, you felt your heart beat faster. You’ve done so many dances with him before but for some reason, this one felt different from the others. When his hands gently stroked your arm, you felt butterflies flutter in your stomach. 

You pulled away from him, rather harshly, which surprised Draco. You were trying to calm yourself down and making sure your face didn’t look like you just ate a bag of Pepper Imps.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, his voice laced with concern. He turned off the music and placed a hand on your shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine just —  ” You paused. What were you going to say?  “I’m fine I just felt like my heart’s about to explode when I got close to you”? Of course not. You are never telling anyone that. “Just remembered I left something important in the Great Hall!” You panicked and returned your record to its container. For a moment, you swore you saw Draco frown, but it was gone and replaced with a neutral expression in a blink of an eye.

“Anyways, there’s actually a reason  why I followed you here.” He said, a slight blush flooding his face and up to the tip of his ears. You tilted your head to the side in confusion.

“I was gonna as — ”

“That something important better be us, Y/N!” Pansy yelled as she barged in the common room. Behind her was Blaise, Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle. Pansy threw herself on the couch as the others just made their way to the other seats.

“So,” Blaise looked at you, a grin plastered on his face. “What are the two lovebirds doing in the common room by themselves?” 

You didn’t even realize it, but your face was so red you could’ve blended into the curtains in the Gryffindor common room. Draco was blushing as well but covered it up with a cough. He grabbed a pillow from Pansy and threw it directly at Blaise, which he avoided. 

“Bug off, Blaise.” He said as he sat on one of the chairs. You shook your head, trying to shake off the heat on your face and sat beside Pansy. 

“What are you guys doing here anyway?” You asked.

They all looked at you as if you’ve gone mad.

“Y/N” Pansy took a deep breath, placing her hands on both of your shoulders.

“We’re classmates. We share the same schedule, you idiot.”

Oh. Right. You totally remembered that.

“Oh.” was all that you managed to say. Everyone started laughing at you, including Draco. “Merlin, why is every embarrassing thing happening to me today. I don’t deserve this”  You thought.

You grabbed the pillow Draco threw at Blaise and buried your face in it.

The portrait of the common room’s entrance opened and everyone’s head turned to look (except you, you just peaked from the pillow with one eye as you refuse to show your flustered face) who has entered and it was one of the prettiest girls in your year—oh, and also your friend—Daphne.

“Daph!” You exclaimed as you jumped from your seat to her direction. Daphne had a surprised expression on her face as you grabbed her hand and led her to the girls’ dormitories, Pansy just right behind you. 

The boys were confused when you all left but shrugged it off as soon as the three of you were gone.

“They’re probably going to talk about me.” Theo interrupted the silence.

“Don’t be so full of yourself, mate.” Blaise snorted. “Besides,” He moved his gaze from Theo to Draco. “You didn’t answer my question earlier. What were you and Y/N doing before we arrived.” His grin was so wide that Draco got tempted to just go ahead and bury his fist on his face.

“None of your business.” He replied as he sat on the spot where Pansy was just sitting and laid himself on the couch.

Blaise sighed and gave up on pestering Draco. There was silence between them. Theo had his nose deep in a book, Blaise was now staring at the fireplace, and Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be seen. Draco then thought about what happened earlier. Why did Y/N suddenly pull herself away from him? He hoped he didn’t make her uncomfortable. 

He closed his eyes and tried to remember your dancing figure. Your hands swayed as you danced gracefully. He remembered those times where you and he would dance in front of visitors whenever they attended a party. You would always grab him and ask him to dance with you whenever music starts playing. He would rest his hands on your waist and the rest of the world just seemed to fade away.

He was determined to have you as his partner for the Yule Ball. He wouldn’t have it otherwise. His mind lingered on something Pansy said earlier during breakfast. 

“I heard from someone that Macmillan is actually planning to ask you to the ball.”

He’d be damned if some puny Hufflepuff managed to beat him into asking Y/N. Whether Pansy was bluffing or not wasn’t his concern. He was going to make sure he gets to ask you first. 

Meanwhile, in the girls’ dormitories, You and Pansy have been pestering Daphne about her agreeing to be Theo’s partner for the ball. Daphne sat on one of the beds as you and Pansy sat on the floor across her.

“Come on Daph, you didn’t even make him beg for it.” Pansy huffed and pouted. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at your direction. “Right, Y/N?”

You purse your lips as you looked at Pansy then at Daphne. Well, making Theo beg was probably too much, but it’s Pansy. She’d probably have someone get down on their

knees if they want her to be their partner. “How exactly did he ask you?” You raised an eyebrow at Daphne, who was furiously blushing. 

“It wasn’t really that extra.” She said. “He just came up to me the other day after class and asked me. He was really flustered and I thought he looked cute…” Daphne trailed off as she set her gaze on the floor, probably trying to remember how Theo looked back then.

Pansy sighed and fixed her gaze at you. 

“What about you?” She asked

“What about me?”

“What were you and Draco doing before we arrived?”

You felt the blood in your face rising again. You shook your head in an attempt to get rid of it. “Nothing, really.” You blurted. Pansy wasn’t convinced.

“Nothing my ass!” She exclaimed. “Draco immediately followed you after you left and you’re telling me that nothing happened? You’re not really a great liar, Y/N.” 

“Alright, fine.” You held your hands up in defeat. 

“We were just talking.” You lied. “It was nothing much. I left because I wanted to have the common room to myself when I saw him standing by the entrance.” You glanced at the two women. They were looking at you expectantly, waiting for you to finish your story. You didn’t really want to tell them about that dance you and Draco shared. It was something personal.

“Please no more questions.” You thought. You were already in conflict with yourself especially with how you felt when Draco was so close to you. Pansy’s incessant questioning wouldn’t help at all.

As if hearing your plea, you heard Blaise’s voice echo from downstairs.

“Hey, Pansy! Y/N! We’re going to head out. You girls coming or what?”

Pansy sighed and stood up. You and Daphne followed as the three of you grabbed your robes and bags and quickly made your way downstairs. 

Once you reached the common room, you saw the boys waiting for you by the room’s entrance. You looked at Draco, who happened to be looking at you as well. You made your way to his side as all of you walked out of the Slytherin common room and made your way to your first class, which was Potions.

“So, what did the three of you talk about?” Draco asked. You just shrugged.

“Nothing much. We just asked Daphne how Theo asked her out for the ball and it wasn’t even that exciting.” You said, leaving out the part where Pansy asked what the two of you were doing before they arrived. 

The rest of the journey to the Potion’s classroom was filled with silence, save for Pansy occasionally whispering about random students and making fun of them. 

Your entire group entered the classroom and you made your way to the nearest table. Pansy sat beside you while Draco and Blaise sat across the two of you. You were unpacking your materials when you heard a group of Hufflepuffs entering the classroom. You noticed that Macmillan was one of them. He turned his head and the two of you made brief eye contact before you both looked away, blushing. “ Oh, dear.”  You thought.  “Maybe Pansy wasn’t bluffing.”

You didn’t notice Draco’s jaws tightening in front of you. He clenched his fist around his book as he watched the scene in front of him unfold. Just as he was about to get up from his seat to approach Macmillan, Snape arrived and everyone was already in their seats. Snape then started talking about the ingredients to a certain potion he didn’t quite catch. He took one last glance to where Macmillan sat and instantly regretted it. He was looking at you. It made his blood boil. He was now more determined to ask you out as soon as possible.

—

Snape had dismissed the class a little early. You packed your items and made your way outside the classroom with your friends. You were walking beside Draco when you noticed him slowing down.

“What’s wrong, Draco?” You asked, slowing down as well to keep up with his pace.

Draco waited for a bit to make sure the rest of your friends were at a certain distance before he began to speak.

“About what I was going to tell you earlier…” He trailed off. You remember him saying something just right before Pansy interrupted him. It slipped your mind and you wouldn’t really have remembered it if he didn’t mention it.

“It’s now or never.” Draco thought. He took a deep breath.

“I was going to ask y-”

“Hey, Y/L/N” a voice once again interrupted Draco. You turned to your back to see who it was.