Slughorn's party was organized 3 days before Christmas break, meaning, it was on the 21st which was today. I got myself a nice fit from Hogsmeade previously not to worry about it later. The party was at 9 in the evening, so I and Draco agreed to meet up in the common room at 8:45.

The day passed by like a blur; we had tests for Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, on which I did well. It was now lunch and I met up with Luna and Leila to have a walk near Black Lake.

"I am jealous of whoever was invited to Slughorn's party," Leila sighed "The food must be delicious and it will be a lot of fun."

"Believe me, knowing Slughorn, we are going to talk about his personal life rather than play, say, truth or dare," I responded.

"Wasn't that a muggle type of game?" Luna chimed in, "Rumor has it, whoever plays it, becomes enemies with the opponent."

"That could be true, Loony," I pointed out, "muggles are capable of creating things which have horrible consequences."

"Having a mom who told me all about truth or dare confirms, that the game actually is friendship-destructive." Leila agreed.

"What time is it?" I asked looking at Luna who always had a pocket watch in her coat.

Luna took out her watch and examined it to say it was 2. We then, knowing there was nothing left to do for the rest of the day as classes ended went our separate ways to our dorms.

When I was on the way to grab the books, left in the Great Hall I saw Hermione coming out of there.

"Hey there stranger, where you headed?" I asked cheekily waving my hand to grab her attention.

"Hey, going to our common room, why?" she turned around and asked.

"Want to walk together? I am trying to kill time, you know." I suggested hoping she would agree. Really, it was so boring and I had nothing to do, so the company would be nice.

"I don't see why not." Hermione smiled at me and crossed her arms.

"Just hold up, I'll grab my books then we can go," I said then ran into the Great Hall, took my books then came back to where she was. With that, we headed to the Gryffindor house.

"Are you and Harry going to Slughorn's together?" I asked raising my eyebrow.

"No, I am going with Cormac." Hermione sighed at the mention of his name.

"Cormac? As in, the guy who won't leave you alone?" I asked surprised, "Thought you hated him."

"I do, but I have my reasons to do so." She replied nonchalantly.

"It's about a certain ginger I reckon." I smirked, "Didn't he get a girlfriend right after demolishing us in quidditch?"

"Honestly, Y/N, that ginger gives me a headache," she sighed again, "Why would anyone want to go out with someone who kissed you firsthand, not even knowing you personally? If you ask me, Ron lost it."

"So, it is about Weasley then," I answered, "Don't worry, he'll come around soon enough, just wait."

"What about you? Who are you going with?" Hermione changed the subject.

"A certain serpent," I replied smiling.

"You mean Zabini, right? He is a good guy from what I heard." Hermione said thinking.

"No, not him, I meant Draco," I replied defensively.

"Huh?" Hermione looked at me dumbfounded, "Didn't you two, kind of, hate each other?"

"It's not like that, Slughorn asked me to tell him about the party in Hogsmeade. So, when I did, we thought it would be best if we showed up together since we both are from the same house." I explained, "I didn't even know Blaise was going."

"That's a very odd choice for a date partner," Hermione replied, "I mean, Malfoy and a party aren't words that match up very well."

"Well, let's see if that's true or not." I replied stopping in front of the Gryffindor house door, "See you later."

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

It was now evening and I was getting ready for the party. I put on the flattering black midi dress I had bought for myself and a few jewelry pieces to finish the whole outfit (a/n feel free to think up an outfit of your own ). I did my hair, put on some light makeup, took my purse, and headed downstairs to meet Draco. I was 5 minutes late than what we had planned but he wouldn't mind. As I started going down, I heard Draco's voice.

"Took you long enough," he said sarcastically then looked at me, "Although, I will excuse this since you look presentable enough knowing how lazy you are."

"Oh, shut your trap," I said hitting his shoulder lightly, "I shall say, you don't look bad either."

Draco was wearing his signature all-black suit, slicked back hair, and his ring on his index finger. To say he looked good was an understatement, there was something in him that made him look stunning. Could be the hair. Can't be the judge of that. Or even his face, I wouldn't know.

"Shall we, L/N," Draco said reaching his hand out to me for me to take it.

"I don't see why not, Malfoy," I took his hand in mine and went about our way to the party.

We were on our way to Slughorn's when I noticed red lights hanging from the ceiling.

"These are pretty," I said looking up to admire them.

"Look in front of you, dinghead, you might fall," Draco remarked, which made me look his way, "You might as well accidentally fall for me."

We stopped at the entrance door to the party. I looked at him with a pout on my face.

"Same goes for you, Malfoy," I said then opened the door.

"Miss L/N, Mr. Malfoy, good to see you, come in, come in!" we were greeted by Slughorn gesturing us to enter.

"Hello, Professor Slughorn," I replied politely, "Thank you for inviting us to the party."

"Don't mention it, enjoy yourselves will now," Slughorn said then continued, "But not too much, eh?"

Me and Draco went into the room where it seems everyone was. I saw Hermione and Cormac together talking about something. Hermione wasn't engaged in the conversation as she was just standing there while Cormac was blabbering on about something. Then I saw Harry and Luna taking snacks from one of the waiters. When they turned around, I waved hello to them.

"Loosen up a bit, will you? Since we entered, you haven't said a word to anyone." I told Draco who seemed to be in his thoughts. He then looked at me and smiled.

"Maybe, it's because I want to talk to you." He answered which made me smile.

"If you say so," I replied, "Care for a snack?"

"That's what we are here for, after all, aren't we?" Draco answered laughing.

We ended up sitting on the couch and talking for a long while. No, talking wasn't the word, making fun of people present at the party was the description. We had quite a laugh when we saw Harry spit his drink when he realized it wasn't alcohol. I had nothing against him, but Draco made everything seem like a joke and I didn't mind. Then I saw Hermione hiding away from, I'd guess Cormac because she went behind the curtains.

"I will go check that out," I told Draco, "Don't miss me much."

"Believe me, I won't," Draco said waving his hand, "I myself want to get out to take a breath."

I stood up and went toward Hermione. However, Slughorn stopped me and insisted on taking a picture with him to which I willingly agreed. The photographer snapped a picture of us, then I proceeded to go back to Hermione. I opened the curtain and saw her with a silver platter full of snacks and a frown on her face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"I just escaped, I mean, left Cormac under the mistletoe." She said worriedly then munched on a few snacks.

I started laughing and then asked, "What are those you are eating?"

"Dragon tartare; gives you horrible bad breath," she answered putting another one into her mouth.

"Why would y- oh," I said realizing that it was for escaping Cormac.

"Oh Merlin, he is coming this way," she said worriedly "Hold this will you?"

She gave me the silver platter and then rushed out of behind the curtains. Then entered Cormac.

"I think she left to fix her lipstick, can't leave a lady without good lips, you know?" I said laughing awkwardly.

"And I think I know why." Cormac smiled devilishly and took one dragon tartare and ate it, "What's this?"

"Dragon balls," I answered casually, to which he looked at me with fear on his face.

Then I saw Snape coming toward us. He opened the curtain and Cormac vomited on his shoes. Snape slowly raised his head to face Cormac.

"That's one week of detention for you, McLagan," Snape said and turned to me, "Miss L/N, have you seen Potter?"

"He is right there, sir," I replied sternly. Snape then aggressively shut the curtain behind him and went to Harry. I got out of there too to see what was going on. I'd guess, nothing much, because they were just talking. That didn't seem like Harry was in trouble.

Suddenly everyone's attention from the party shifted toward the entrance door, from where Filch brought Draco in.

"Take your hands off me, you filthy Squib!" Draco demanded.

"Professor Slughorn, sir, I just saw this boy lurking around in the upstairs corridor," Filch said, "He claims he was invited to the party."

"Yes, he was Mr. Filch, now will you let go of my student?" Slughorn said with a confused tone then went back to chatting with one of the students.

"Not so fast Mr. Filch," Snape chimed in with his monotone voice, "I wish to speak to Mr. Malfoy."

As Snape said that, Draco glared at him, "Certainly, Professor."

Both of them got out of the party and went to left. Out of curiosity, I secretly got out of there too, to see what was going on. As I got out, I hid behind the corner of the corridor they were talking in and started listening to their conversation.

"...I swore to protect you." I heard Snape's cold but worried voice say, "I gave the Unbreakable Vow."

"I don't need your bloody protection," Malfoy whispered harshly, "Out of others he chose me to do it. Me."

"It is too obvious that you are scared, Draco, you try to hide it, let me help you." Snape's voice lowered, "or, do you wish for your little date to be involved as well. You know damn well what he is capable of, don't you?"

"I was chosen for this, and what I do with my free time doesn't concern you, it is my problem to deal with," Draco answered harshly his voice shaking a little bit.

As I heard this, I quietly went to sit next to the entrance door. What was all this mad talk about Draco being chosen or Snape trying to help him? Snape mentioned something about me and someone else is capable of doing something horrible. More importantly, what was this Unbreakable Vow about? Something wasn't adding up. Draco's sudden mood changes and states of physical health definitely had to do with this, and I was sure of it. But I didn't want to think about what could have been going on.

"Y/N?" I jumped at the mention of my name, "What are you doing here?"

I looked up to see Draco which immediately made me sigh in relief, "Just to take a quick breath before heading back to the party."

I lied. Okay, half-lied, I really was planning on going back to Slughorn's. I mean, I heard his conversation with Snape and if he found out I was spying on him, he would have gotten mad at me, or even worse, tell Snape.

"Can you not? I want to sit with you for a while here," Draco asked sitting right next to me, "Tonight was fun."

"Yeah, it was," I said then felt his head on my shoulder. I looked to see what kind of facial expression he had on him, but his eyes were closed. He was breathing heavily. His whole body was cold and didn't move a centimeter.

I put my head on his, and closed my own eyes, hoping that what I'd heard was just a dream.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇