Midnight

HP is not mine and nothing is made from this.

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She turned to see her date standing behind her with a flute of champagne in his hand. She smiled at the ease with which she felt with this man, this complete stranger.

“No, just some reins that I dropped and never picked back up for far too long.” She smiled as she took the flute and thanked him. He remained standing, and she stared at him quizzically.

“Would you care to dance?” he asked, extending his hand to her. She took it, letting him lead her out onto the dance floor and into a soft waltz. It felt strangely comforting to be in his arms. He made her feel safe. How strange? And yet, she didn’t even know his name.

“You know, you never did tell me your name,” she whispered into his ear.

“You can call me Ti; that’s what my friends call me.”

“Where did that name come from?” she asked curiously.

“My Patronus is a Siberian tiger.”

She smiled at this new knowledge. You could tell a lot about a person by their Patronus. When the song was over, she was sad that he had to let her go; however, she was quickly swept into the arms of Draco.

“Didn’t you ever learn to ask a lady if she would like to dance, or do you always just assume that any living, breathing, female would want to dance with you?” she asked with annoyance and laughter in her voice.

“Well, why wouldn’t they want to dance with me? I am Draco Malfoy after all,” he said mock arrogantly. She swatted his arm.

“You are so ridiculous,” she teased as the song ended and she was swept into the arms of another man. When she looked up she met the stunning and familiar eyes of Lucius Malfoy.

“Hi,” she muttered meekly, still embarrassed by her actions during their pseudo-date.

“You look breathtaking. Has anyone told you that?” he asked, whispering into her hair, his gentle breath teasing her ear and brushing her dangling earrings.

“No.”

“Well, allow me to be the first. You look incredible. Half the men in the room haven’t been able to keep their eyes off of you, and I can assure you it is not because of your war heroine status. It is definitely because of how stunningly beautiful you look in that dress and in general.”

She blushed at his high compliment.

“I also wanted to apologize for my actions earlier in the week; it was horribly rude of me to tease you like that and to kiss you without your permission. Do you forgive me?” he asked gently.

“There is nothing to forgive, you were being playful and having fun, and I misconstrued it and blew up. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. I am deeply sorry; I hope you can forgive me. It seems I had this set idea of you in my head, and every time I meet you, you break it down a little bit more. It is disconcerting,” she said quietly.

“To repeat you, there is nothing to forgive. I think we are even. Would you agree?” he asked with a smirk. She laughed at his reference and nodded. He bent his head and kissed her on the cheek as the song ended. She started to walk off the floor and was once again swept into a strong pair of arms. When she looked up, she gulped. She was staring into the brown eyes of Charlie Weasley, and by the look on his face, he had no idea who she was. He pulled her close to him and pushed his person onto her unwelcomingly. He was a horrible dancer and was clearly drunk if the heavy scent of alcohol coming from him meant anything.

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“Excuse me, but I do believe you have monopolized my date for long enough,” Ti said as he sidled up to the pair and removed Charlie’s wandering hands from her body. He pulled her to him and danced away from the drunken redhead.

“Are you okay?” he asked patiently.

“Yes, thank you for rescuing me.”

“You had a look of sheer panic, if I hadn’t gotten to you, I think Draco was right behind me and your Mr. Potter was a close third,” he said with a smile. “I think he was just drunk and not thinking, plus he had no idea who you were. Would you agree?” She nodded, just glad to be back in his comforting arms.

It was almost midnight, the time of the unveiling. The crowd started the countdown.

“20, 19, 18, 17…”

She looked up at him as they waltzed on the dance floor and smiled. She was actually happy. She looked around and saw Draco watching her. Harry was standing with his arm around Ginny’s waist, and they were smiling at each other, love clearly in their eyes.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

He pulled her to him and kissed the New Year in with her. His kiss was strong and powerful. It spoke of a fire and passion that was hidden behind his generally stoic nature. She pulled him closer to her and wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands tightened on her hips and then slowly moved to encircling her waist. She felt the mask disappear from her face and knew that his was gone too. She opened her eyes and smiled into her favorite pair of crystal clear blue eyes. She leaned back in and kissed him again, this time gently, sucking on his bottom lip and showing him her care for him. When she pulled away, he smiled at her.

“Do you always kiss men you’ve just met like that?” he asked.

“I knew it was you.”

“How?”

“Your eyes for one, but then you threw me off with the hair color, so I thought it was just a coincidence. Then the dancing was a nice trick trying to throw me off by dancing with me twice, but when you said, 'Would you agree?' I knew it was you. I would just like to say that I am glad it was.”

“There was no way I was letting you get away, not after all that intensity I saw you exhibit on our date. You had me at the proverbial hello.” He chuckled.

“Lucius, what a charmer you are. But, I do have one question: did Draco make you do this, or was this all your idea?”

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Thanks to sirsevchick and DeeMichelle for the beta.

Please review and let me know what you think!!