IF SHE WERE completely honest, Noor didn't expect to be asked to the Yule Ball.

It wasn't that she thought she was ugly or something, it was just that, thanks to Noor's mother, over the years all the Zabini women had gotten the reputation of being ... dangerous.

Noor's mother, Cleopatra Zabini, had been married many times. All of those times her husbands, including Noor's father, died under mysterious circumstances.

( It's a horrible thing, suspecting your mother was responsible for your father's death. It was due to that that Noor and her mother's relationship had always been strained. )

It was because of that reputation that when boys heard Noor's second name and figured out who her mother was, they'd steer clear of her.

As a consequence, Noor was very shocked when Malfoy came up to her after Charms and asked her to the ball.

It quickly became apparent, however, as he shot looks at a frowning Astoria the whole time, that he had ulterior motives, and so Noor turned him down.

When Noor's mother found out she had turned a Malfoy down, a family of such high standing, she was less than pleased, sending Noor a letter with disappointment practically oozing out the pages.

Noor's mother wasn't the only one unhappy.

"Malfoy asked you?" Weasley said, as they played Chess that following afternoon, his voice laced with venom.

"And I said no." Noor said slowly, a little taken aback by his hatred for the boy, "Boy, I knew Weaselys and Malfoys didn't get along, but I didn't know it was this bad."

"He's a slimy ferret, you're way too good for him."

In that moment Noor, who never found herself without sarcastic comeback, didn't know what to say.

"Thank you." Noor said quietly after a minute.

There was a few minutes of thoughtful silence before Weasley spoke up again, "So, er," He said hesitantly. "Does this mean you don't have a date?"

"No, Astoria found me one."

A Bulgarian Boy, named Elian. He was sweet, and good looking enough. But they had nothing in common, the thick language barrier making every interaction between them even more awkward.

These thoughts consumed Noor for the rest of her and Weasley's chess match. If she hadn't been so preoccupied, she might have caught the disappointed frown on Weasley's face.

"You don't have to spend the ball with him just because he's your date. Ditch him the moment we get there if you want to." Astoria said encouragingly that night. And then opened her mouth to say more but was drowned by a lot of shouting from the dorm next to them.

It was an hour before the ball started. And the female dorms were in pandemonium.

The thick smell of perfume hung in the air as girls ran in and out of rooms, shouting loudly, looking for some misplaced accessory. Dresses and shoes were all over the floors and Noor smelt the distinct smell of burnt hair ( possibly a hair curling attempt gone wrong ).

Noor's dorm room was a little less chaotic. They were third years, which meant they could only attend the Ball if asked by an older year. This meant only one of Noor's three other dorm mates were attending.

Noor currently sat on her bed, Astoria in front of, doing her eyeliner. While their other roommates stared at them enviously.

"A date's just a formality." Astoria went on once she could be heard once more. "We're third years, we kind of need them to enter."

"Yeah."

"And ... done!" Astoria said, handing Noor a mirror.

"Wow! That looks great!" Noor said, smiling.

"I try." Astoria said, shrugging. "Anyway," she said, standing up, "get dressed already. We have to leave in five minutes, hurry up!"

"Ok, sheesh." Noor grumbled, walking over to the bathroom where her dress was hung.

The dress was a gift from her mother, sent in a package a week before the ball. It was a deep purple colour, with a full skirt and a sweetheart neckline.

And although Noor would never admit so to her mother's face, Noor adored the dress. Twirling in the mirror once she had put it on, watching the skirt billow in the wind. Noor looked like a princess, in the best possible way.

"You ready?" Astoria called.

"Yeah." Noor said, fighting the smile on her face.

They began their walk to the Great Hall,

"Who asked you by the way?" Noor asked. "Did Malfoy finally wear you down?"

"Ugh no. I'd never go with him! Well," Astoira tilted her head, considering it, "If he toned down the ego..."

"Layed off the hair gel."

"- then i would consider it. But no, a French boy, Pierre, asked me."

"Ooh French."

They finally stopped outside of the Great Hall. For Third Years to enter the hall, they had to come in with their dates. So Astoria and Noor's dates had agreed to meet them there.

"Hey, over here!" Astoria called, waving two boys over.

Noor plastered on a fake smile as her date approached her, "Elian, hi." She said awkwardly.

"Hello." He replied in a thick Bulgarian accent. "Shall ve go inside?" He said holding out an arm to her, which she gingerly took.

"Ok."

Once Noor entered the hall, she gasped in wonder.

The usually warm Great Hall had been transformed into an icy wonderland. White balls of light shun down on everything bathing the whole room in a silver glow. Intricate snowflakes adorned the walls and all the tables had been covered by shimmering grey fabric.

"Wow." She said quietly.

Thankfully, once they entered the hall, Noor didn't have to look for a reason to dump Elian, as he himself excused himself early into the night and then didn't return.

Which Noor was happy about at first, and then, after an hour of third wheeling Astoria and her date, wasn't happy.

She scanned the room, looking for somewhere to go, someone to talk to.
Spotting Blaise out of the corner of her eye, dancing with some Ravenclaw boy, she started walking towards him.

"Hey, I'm going to go."
Noor told Astoria, shouting to be heard over the music.

"Ok!"

One glare and a shooing guesetre from Blaise, made it clear she wasn't welcome to interrupt whatever was going on over there.

Noor scanned the room again and spotted
Weasley and Potter sitting near the punch table, looking moody. She started walking towards them.

Weasley looked up as she approached, "Oh, it's you." He said shortly.

"Don't sound so disappointed." She said, trying to ignore the confused looks Potter was shooting her.

"The Weird Sisters are playing." She said, "Don't you want to go dance?"

"No, I'm good."

Noor blinked, "You're good?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

Noor opened her mouth to say something, but at seeings Potter's not so subtle attempt to eavesdrop into their conversation, she closed it, and bent down to whisper in Weasley's ear

"Meet me outside, in five minutes." She whispered, then, after shooting a glare at Potter, she walked away.

———

    A COLD breeze fluttered past Noor as she learnt against the fountain in the courtyard, making her shiver slightly.

She checked her watch, impatiently, it had been far more than five minutes and Weasley was a no show.

Finally the red headed boy appeared.

"Finally! Where have you been?" She asked.

"You didn't say where you wanted to meet me! I've been looking all over for you!" He said, disgruntled.

Noor winced, "Sorry."

"Anyway, what do you need?"

"Well I wanted to talk to you in private." She explained. "I can't be seen talking to a Weasley in public, I have a reputation to uphold." She joked.

Noor expected him to make some sarcastic comment at that, instead, he said, "What about?"

"You just seem like you're not in a good mood." She said. "Honestly, your robes aren't even that bad." She lied, finally addressing the horrendous clothes he was wearing. "They're not - "

He sighed, cutting Noor off mid sentence. "That's not the problem."

"Then what is?"

He sighed, "It's - it's nothing."

"What is it?" She repeated.

"There was .... this girl. And I wanted to ask her, but she got asked by someone else." He explained shortly.

Noor blinked, "That's what this is about?" She asked incredulously. "Oh come on!"

"What?" He asked defensively.

"I got a crappy date too, you don't see me moping about."

"No, but that isn't the worst part." He said, trying to defend himself "The worst part is that she went with my favorite Quidditch player Viktor Krum!"

Noor paused, "Wait you're a fan of Krum?"

"Yeah, he's an amazing seeker."

"He's not ev - wait that's besides the point. The point it that's still stupid reason to be moody!"

"It's not!"

"Look Weasley, even though you're a Weasley, you're a real catch." Noor said. "You're really bloody funny, surprisingly smart and really fun to be around. And if some girl can't see that, then that's her fault."

Weasley ears burnt bright red at this, he looked down at the floor, seemingly at a loss of what to say.

The distant fast paced beat of the Weird Sisters faded, and was replaced by a slow song.

Noor looked around at the empty courtyard, and, once she determined there was no one around, she held out her hand to Weasley,

"Dance with me." She said.

"What?" Weasley said, looking up startled.

"It's the Yule Ball, a ball that literally takes place once every hundred years. You're not spending your's sulking. Dance with me."

Not waiting for a reply, Noor pulled him towards her, placing his hand on her waist. He gripped it loosely, his face bright red.

"I assume your head of year taught you Gryffindor's how to dance?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Okay." She said, putting her arms on his shoulders. "I'll take the lead."

"I don't really want to - "

"Shut up. Get over yourself, and just dance."

And so they swayed to the beat, stiff and awkward at first, but as time passed they both relaxed, drawing closed and closer together.

Noor was so close she could count the freckles on his face, see every individual strand of his bright red hair, feel his breath on his face. She rested her head on his chest, listening to the fast thump of his heart beat. Pressed up against him, the cold no longer bothered Noor.

She could have stayed like that, dancing under the stars with him, forever.

AHHHH SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG. no i did not die. no i was no infected with a certain virius. i had my exams, you know how that is : last minute studying, worrying, procrastinating.

but now that my exams are finally over, updates should happen more frequently. and to make up for my lack of updates, i made this chapter especially long : 1681 words, my new personal best!