Once Upon A Time | Book 1

S i x t e e n

The next day, I woke up feeling as happy as I had felt when I fell asleep. Nothing was going to wipe the smile off my face.

I pulled on a pair of jeans, and a sweater, before leaving my dorm room, and heading down to the Slytherin common room. A few first years were down there, working on essays for Professor Snape.

As I skipped out the door, they all looked at me as though I were insane. But, I simply ignored them.

I hurried out of the dungeons, and up towards the courtyard, not even noticing the crowds of people glaring at me.

That was when I saw Harry standing alone in the snow. My heart pounded with excitement as I hurried over to him.

"Hello, Harry. Where's Ron and Hermione?" I chimed, looking around.

"You know, if you didn't want to go to the Ball with me, you could've just said so." He snapped, shooting me a glare.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, feeling my heart sink.

"I should've known it. All you Slytherins are exactly the same. Horrible, and cruel. You all just have different ways of showing it."

"I-I don't understand. What did I--?"

"Consider this lie I once called a friendship over."

With that, he stormed off, leaving me nearly in tears. What had I done to upset him?

Not wanting anyone to see me cry, I turned, and hurried back inside. Now, I noticed everyone giving me nasty looks, making me feel even worse.

Then, I heard laughter. Of course, it had to be Malfoy and his goons. "That was real cute, Austing!" Malfoy sneered, continuing to laugh.

Anger fumed inside of me, causing me to stomp over to him, grab the collar of his shirt, and pin him to the wall. "What did you do?!"

"I sent him a little note from you." He replied cooly.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

"I needed a laugh."

I released him, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. "Why is your intent in life to ruin mine, huh? What did I do to deserve this? With Luke gone, I thought I'd have no one. Then, when I finally meet someone who's willing to accept me for who I am, you take them away from me!" I sobbed.

"I-I didn't know it meant that much to you." He stuttered, his expression softening.

"Well it did!"

>>>

I spent the rest of my Sunday weeping in my bed, with no intent of leaving the dorms ever again. The Ball was so soon, and I was for sure going alone.

Not to mention, I had no friends anymore. Ron and Hermione were sure to know about the note 'I' had written, and were probably mad at me.

I couldn't help but wonder what Malfoy had written to upset Harry so much. It had to have been pretty bad to make him insult me the way he did. I just didn't know what to do anymore. Part of me wanted to just go home, while the rest of me desperately wanted to apologize to Harry.

But, being the stubborn boy I knew he could be, I knew he wouldn't listen. His mind was set. I was just another Slytherin to him, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

>>>

It was the night of the Yule Ball, and I couldn't have dreaded it more. I had no date, no one to talk to, and nothing to do. What would people think when they saw me all dressed up, only to be standing all by myself for the entire evening?

I did my best to push all of the horrible thoughts out of my head, as I made my way to the Great Hall. Some girls were already walking through the corridors, holding hands with their dates. I felt as though I was the only one with no one to go with.

I thought I knew for sure I was the only one without a date when I actually got to the Great Hall. Every girl was standing with a boy (a couple pairs were snogging.) 

I spotted Harry standing with a girl, as the two of them chatted awkwardly. He had on a nice set of dress robes, and his wild raven hair was somewhat tame. My eyes were completely glued to him, that is, until I saw Malfoy approach him.

Scared about what he'd do to humiliate me next, I hurried out of the room, and ran outside.

The cold air seemed to stab me like a thousand tiny knives. Goosebumps made their way up my arms and neck, causing me to begin shivering.

Tears fell down my cheeks, dripping off my chin, and into my lap. A small sob escaped my lips, cutting through the silence of the night. 

In the distance, music boomed from the Great Hall, and the sound of laughter and cheers would occasionally erupt.

I would've done anything to be in there, having a wonderful time with Harry. Instead, I was sitting outside in the blistering cold, crying my eyes out like a big baby.

And it was all Malfoy's fault.

Suddenly, I felt something warm being draped over my shoulders. I turned my head, only to see Harry standing there, no longer wearing his robe.

"H-Harry?" I stuttered.

"Malfoy told me what happened with the letter, and all. I'm so sorry about what I said." He told me, looking sheepishly down at his feet.

"That's alright. The note had to have said some pretty awful things to upset you so much."

"Yeah, but I'd rather not talk about it."

"Where's your date?" I asked.

"She went to dance with someone else. With how happy she was to get away from me, I figured she wouldn't come back." He replied, making me giggle.

"Did you dance that badly?" 

"More than likely."

We both laughed out loud.

"Er...d'you want to go back inside? Maybe we could dance once?" He asked me, sounding a bit nervous.

"Yeah, I'd like that." I answered.

He held out his hand, and I took it, before the two of us walked back to the Great Hall together. Harry led me to the dance floor, and placed his hands on my waist, while I did the same on his shoulders.

Then, the two of us began a horribly performed, but amazingly fun dance.