Here's chapter 16, another cliffie, so those of you that don't like them ought to stop reading and wait for the rest to come out! And to Crysta-Astra, thank you for the correction! I'll be sure to correct my Gryffindor spelling in later chapters!

Sixteen: The Dance

Dinner finished and despite his honest attempt to pace himself, Harry had eaten far too much. He felt as though he might explode at any given second. The guests were making they're way leisurely toward what he had been informed was a dance hall. Severus was walking on his right, hand lightly clasping his own. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the action and he kept subtly trying to jerk away, but Severus held him that much tighter for all his discreet struggles. Upon reflection the night had gone surprisingly well. A few times some of the more courageous guests had started conversations with him but they were invariably short and had ended after few words. However he had yet to receive any death threats. The one thing that still puzzled him was that though Lucius had said he had wanted to get to know Harry better, he had made no attempt to do so and in fact had said nothing to him beyond the polite greeting he had received at the door.

The night seemed to have gone well for Draco as well, despite his obvious discomfort at Harry's presence. Harry sighed; maybe he was just trying to be the “Famous Harry Potter” as was expected of him. That often made him see things that weren’t there. The procession abruptly came to a set of large oak doors that had been pushed opened to reveal an elegant ball room lit with magically suspended chandeliers. He found himself smiling as he looked up at the ceiling, painted with changing portraits of angels and demons, of mystical creatures and simple farmers.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Harry spun and became aware that Severus had left his side and Lucius was now standing there. He swallowed his shock and nodded.

"Very." He agreed, turning to survey the ceiling again. They stood in silence for a moment as the soft sound of an unmanned violin filled the room, quickly joined by a harp and a flute.

"Do you dance, Mr. Potter?" Lucius asked suddenly, his voice soft. Harry closed his eyes for a moment and tried to think of a proper excuse, but without coming right out and saying 'I'm sleeping with your son, so I don't think it would be appropriate' all he could come up with was

"Severus..."

"Won't mind." Lucius finished for him, executing a formal bow and taking Harry's hand between his long fingers. Harry vaguely remembered that Lucius' hand had been gloved a moment before, then he was abruptly spun onto the floor. Harry was desperately searching for a method of escape with his eyes, but at the moment all he could think was that he was annoyed to no end that he was being led. The song constituted a moderately paced waltz and Harry was for once glad that he had taken those dancing lessons from Hermione in his sixth year. The seven minute waltz ended and the two dancers took a step back and bowed to each other. It was then that Harry realized that they had been the only ones dancing and the room had exploded into applause. Blushing furiously for the second time that night, Harry tried to make his way to the edge of the dance floor but was quickly swept up again in some unknown person's arms. He thought it was a female, but he was too busy searching for a friendly face to bother actually looking.

His escape came in the form of a much too perfect china doll, smiling her much too perfect smile. She gently pried Harry's current partner off his arm and lead him away. As much as he didn't like the woman, he was happy to see her. Chattering idly about little things that required no response from her unwilling audience, she led him over to Severus. The potion's master smiled and took him into his arms.

"I've missed you." He said, one hand running up his back. Harry made a small noise in the back of his throat and pulled out of Severus' arms. He managed a weak smile.

"I guess I'm in high demand today." He suggested, shrugging. Narcissa once again looped her arm under his and led him away.

"Now, I really think you should get to know my Draco better!" She declared, forcefully pulling him away from his supposed lover. Harry was near panic and searching desperately for an escape, but Narcissa would have nothing of it and dragged him forward insistently. Within seconds he found himself in front of Draco Malfoy.

Draco smiled at his mother and made a mostly successful attempt to hide his fear.

"Now you be nice." Narcissa warned her son before gliding away. Draco sighed and stepped into Harry's arms. Suddenly self conscious, Harry carefully wrapped his arms around Draco's familiar form.

"So...just dance right?" Draco said nothing, only lowered his head to Harry's shoulder carefully and folded his arms around Harry's neck. The two carefully began to sway, bodies pressed tightly together. Harry closed his eyes and buried his face in Draco's hair, smelling strawberries and inhaling it in deeply.

It wasn't until Draco raised his head to demand a kiss that they noticed the music had stopped and so had the dancers. They parted quickly and Draco completed a low polite bow before backing away. Harry watched him go silently, and was thus started profoundly when he felt unfamiliar arms slide around his torso. He was only vaguely aware that music had started again and the room was filled with laughter and chatter as Severus swung him into a waltz. At the time all he could think was, /I didn't know Severus knew how to waltz.../

See, what did I tell you? Cliff hanger or what? Well Chapter 17 is likely to be the longest of this little "Malfoy Manner" mini-type series, so it might take a while. And I'll warn you know, its a very sadistic (I love that word) very NC-17 not for people with weak stomachs, okay?

Okay, I've figured out what this is! This is the FF.net stuff, so all the old notes and all that are still attached. Do ignore them. I'll put the better ver. up later.
Kisses, Lady Shadow