Secret Admirer

Chapter 6- The BIG Day...

Draco rolled over lazily and hit his alarm clock see that it was only seven thirty. Cursing at himself for not turning it off last night, he got up and walked to his dresser for some fresh clothes. The stone floor was cold as he walked down to the showers still only half awake. The hot water woke him up almost to quickly, making his mind begin to swarm with thoughts of last night and what he was going to do that same day. Draco honestly didn't think that this was going to be so nerve wrecking.

As he buttoned up his shirt, the letter that Laura had him read kept repeating in his mind. Should he really go through with this? Was the question going through his head between thoughts, he knew he would because love can overcome anything. But should he reveal himself right away? What would happen if he did? Draco decided that he'd wait till Laura went into the ball by herself, he'd ask he to dance then reveal himself later on in the night. Smirking at the idea, he wandered into the Great Hall for some breakfast. He glanced over at the Gryffindor table and saw Laura there, looking confused. Changing directions, Draco walked over to her seat to see what was wrong.

"You look confused," Draco smiled. "Anything I can do?"

"No, I guess my prediction was wrong because Seamus went home early for Christmas," Laura sighed.

"So it's not Seamus then huh?"

"I guess not, but now I'm really lost about all this."

"Well, I guess we'll be surprised then," Draco smiled.

"Yeah I guess," Laura said.

"I'll be in the Library today if you need me."

"Ok, I'll come find you later." Laura smiled. Draco walked over to his own table and sat down. The real reason that he was going to the library was to figure out what to say to Laura when he told her that her admirer was himself.

In the Library, Draco crumpled up another piece of parchment. It was so easy for him to talk to women but he could not figure out a way to talk to Laura. The reason he couldn't do this as easily with Laura is because he actually cared a lot for her. He wasn't desperate to the point where he was about to take a book off the shelves that would help him talk to girls. He put his quill tip onto the fresh parchment and began to scribble quickly.

"You're concentrating awfully hard," came a voice. "What are you writing?"

Draco looked up to see Laura smirking at him, he returned the smirk and put the paper away.

"Just that potions essay for Snape," Draco replied. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just bored."

"I'm sorry," Draco smiled. He glanced out the window to see the sun shining and fresh snow on the ground, it was breathtaking.

"Gorgeous day outside isn't it?" Laura sighed as she followed Draco's gaze out the window. "Want to take a walk?"

"But my essay..." Draco began.

"Snape would give you top marks if you only wrote your name on the paper," Laura joked.

"Well I guess your right, how about we fly instead of walk?" Draco smirked again.

"Even better, I'll meet you at the main doors."

Draco nodded and packed away his things, hoping he'd be able to pull off tonight. He reached his dorm room in a short amount of time, threw his bag onto his bed and reached for his broom. Laura was already leaning on the banisters when Draco arrived, holding her own Nimbus 2001. They nodded at each other and walked out and down the front steps. Draco began to mount his broom just as Laura took off, he smiled and chased after her. The cold wind felt good on his face but also sent a chill down his spine. He muttered a warming charm at himself to keep from freezing. Draco scanned the sky for Laura who was not in view. When he turned around she zoomed past him, taking his hat as she went.

"Hey!" Draco yelled and sped after her on his broom. He began gaining on her, laughing loud as he reached her enough to be able to grab the end of her broom. Laura looked back, winked and dove down to the ground that was 75 feet away. Draco on the other hand avoided nose diving and lowered himself quickly and carefully. He searched once more for Laura and found her slowly skimming the top of the snow with her hand, Draco's hat on her head. He sped up and rode next to her, scaring her at first because she didn't see him.

"Nice hat," he laughed and took it back.

"Thanks, it's the new fashion." Laura laughed.

"Uh huh, so I've heard." Draco looked at the setting sun on the horizon.

"Ok well this has been wicked fun but I need to go get ready for my knight in shining armor!" Laura smirked. "Hey you never told me who you were taking tonight?"

"Oh um, I uh, Pansy?" Draco sputtered out. "I have to go get ready also, see you at the ball princess."

Draco sped off as fast as he could to the castle so she couldn't question him any longer.

***************

Draco looked in the mirror at least ten times before putting on his cloak. His black and green velvet outfit made him look like a prince. He didn't realize how hard one clasp on his cloak would be to button until now. He took a deep breath and hid the rose in the pockets of his suit before heading out into the now empty common room. He had made a point of being a few minutes late to avoid the crowd and be the last one into the Great Hall. He walked down the corridors glancing every now and then at the paintings that were watching him as he walked past. His feet began to feel like cement as he got closer to the destination. Sure enough when he got there, the last of the students were piling trough the doors to find tables with their friends. He glanced at the top of the stairs and saw Laura in her scarlet dress that he'd seen her wear at the store. But it was different with her wearing make-up, curls and a tiara. She looked upset as he got closer to where she was standing.

"So where is he?" Draco asked, making Laura look up.

"I have no idea, I was told to wait here and he'd approach me with a flower but no one has done that." Laura sighed.

"So it wasn't Seamus after all?" Draco asked; Laura shook her head.

"Nope, where's Pansy?"

"I told her to go on ahead, but it looks like she's found someone else." Draco nodded his head in the direction of Pansy who had her arm linked up with Blaise.

"I'm sorry Draco, oh well I guess I'll just go back upstairs." Laura sighed heavily and begin to walk away.

"No you won't, you're going to come in there with me. You didn't spend all that money on a dress not to have a good time." Draco stated immediately as she took her first step.

"But Draco, it's obvious he's not coming. I don't even think I had an admirer in the first place." Laura said quietly.

"Who cares, I lost my date and you don't have one so you are now my date and I assure you that if prince charming arrives that I will allow him to take my place for the night. So shall we?" Draco offered his arm out to her.

"Well, it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one so let's go have a good time." Laura slid her arm into Draco's with a tiny smile and allowed him to lead her into the ball. There was a gorgeous layout around the room; gold tinsel was sparkling ever where you turned, snow was glittering past the soft glowing candles on the ceiling, tiny fairies were fluttering everywhere sending shimmering dust into the air, the walls seemed to be magically covered in glistening ice but it was also warm in the room. There were hundreds of tables covering one half of the room and a dance floor that was illuminated by a pale blue light coming from under it to appear that you were dancing on ice. Scents of cinnamon, vanilla and pine floated through the air and flashes were occasionally going off from peoples' cameras. Draco felt as though he'd slipped into a dream and everything was perfect, they way he'd wanted it to be when he told Laura.

He glanced at Laura who was gawking at the decoration around the Hall; he nudged her gently and smiled.

"Aren't you glad you came in?" Draco asked, still smiling. All Laura could really do was nod, her mouth was slightly open and looked like she'd gone into a daze. They found Jessica sitting at a table with both Dean and Orli, who had seemed to stop arguing by now. Jessica waved at Laura and Draco, beckoning them over to her table where she'd saved seats. Draco pulled out Laura's chair and scooted her in, close to the table. Jessica seemed quite pleased with herself as she sat between the two boys, Draco was afraid to ask why but he figured she'd cast some sort of friendship charm over the two so she could have fun with both of them and not be in the line of fire. As soon as Laura had sat down, she and Jessica began a deep conversation on who knows what. All Draco could understand were words like: "kitty", "PB&J", "The mechanic" and "The horses are coming!"

Draco just figured that they were inside jokes that only those two knew. Pure Golden menu's appeared in front of each person and opened up to reveal Silver cursive letters scribbled neatly on each page. Draco skimmed the menu and decided on Fettuccini Alfredo, and instantly a plate popped up in front of him. He looked over to see that Laura, Jessica and Orli all ordered the same thing and that Dean had some slimy looking seafood on his plate. It also seemed that he enjoyed it because within ten minutes it was gone. Laura looked kind of sullen; she kept glancing around the room to see if anyone was looking at her to be her admirer. There was quite a few Gryffindors and Ravenclaw boys glancing at her from time to time but as soon as Draco looked up they looked down.

"Laura, you alright?" Jessica asked between bites of her side dish of Peanut Butter and Jelly.

"Yeah, I'm ok just kind of out of it," she replied quietly. Jessica looked at Draco who put a finger on his lips for her to stop questioning. Jess then mouthed "Is it you?"

Draco gave her a small nod and a wink to tell her that he was. Jessica got wide eyed and a huge smile on her face, which rarely happens (except when orli corners her in the library). After their warm meal, endless glasses of pumpkin juice and dessert, a DJ booth appeared in front of the dance floor and music began to flow out of the speakers. Laura and Jessica stayed put for the first few songs until the best song in the world came on. They were making fun of the way some people were dancing that had absolutely no rhythm at all. Colin Creevey was attempting to dance along with two girls at once and ended up by himself while Susan Bones kept getting her feet stepped on by Colin's little brother Dennis who wasn't even dancing with Susan.

Right in the middle of a discussion of Quidditch, Laura and Jessica grew quiet and jumped out of their seats with smiles. They're song had begun playing, "Come on Eileen" had been their favorite eighties song to dance to since they could remember. Draco felt himself get pulled out of his chair and onto the floor. Laura and Jessica were laughing at themselves non-stop at the goofy dancing they were doing. They had eventually attracted a crowd that circled around them and began to cheer them on; some students even began to copy them. Draco stood off to the side with some students he didn't even know, clapping along. Soon the song finished and Laura and Jessica ended in their "Superstar" pose followed by their "Gollum Dance". The students began to spread out again to enjoy the rest of their evening as Laura, Jessica, Dean, Draco and Orli went back to their table for a breather.

"Hey Jessica what happened to your dress?" Laura asked between gulps of juice.

"Oh that, well I kept the top corset the same on top but transfigured the skirt into pants. The skirt was black anyways so it's not that big of a deal," Jessica said as she set down her empty glass. Laura just shook her head and rolled her eyes as Draco teased Jessica that the skirt looked better, receiving a jab in the arm as he said it.

"Excuse me but I need to use the restroom," Laura said, getting up from the table. Draco, being the well-mannered boy he was stood up as she left. Jessica rolled her eyes sarcastically and pulled Draco back down into his seat to question him some more.

"So it's been you she's been talking about day and night? You sent her all those letters? You have made her a non-stop chatterbox about this ball and her prince charming? You caused her to slip into a world of romanticism with the ability to not shut up? And you haven't revealed yourself yet?" Jessica blurted out all at once.

"To sum up the first four questions: yes, yes, yes and yes. The last one's answer is: I'm waiting for the right moment, you didn't figure it out?" Draco replied.

"I had a few clues, but Laura's so lost in her fantasy world about all this that she couldn't see it right away," Jessica joked. Draco opened his mouth to reply when Laura joined them back at the table. She sat down, fresh faced and still not smiling too much. Orli broke the silence by standing up and asking Jessica to dance. Jessica got kind of lost herself and floated off to the dance floor with Orli. Draco watched Laura as she laughed at Jessica and Orli, but laughed even harder when Dean went up there with them. Draco smiled as he looked at her, and then loudly cleared his throat. Laura looked over at him still giggling and gave him a smile. Draco began fumbling over his words, causing them to not come out correctly at all. A slow song began to play and luckily Draco found his tongue once more to ask Laura something he'd wanted to ask for awhile now...