Meant for No One but Each Other

“Oh isn’t this exciting?” Danica said, taking Draco’s offered elbow when he picked her up outside the Ravenclaw commonroom. “Anthony and I passed the Great Hall after Herbology and it looked so lovely.”

Draco just sighed, and glowered at her as they started walking down with the procession of other Ravenclaws and their dates walking down to the Ball. “You know I’m going to hate you all night for making me go to this, don’t you?”

She smirked at him. “Oh please, I guarantee that by the end of the night, I’ll want to leave before you do.”

“Not likely.”

Danica stopped in awe as she took in the whole scene in the Great Hall. It had been transformed into a winter wonderland. Draco tried to tug her forward gently. “You’re holding up the line,” he said, indicating the other students behind them.

She rolled her eyes, knowing Draco was less concerned about the other students and more concerned with getting this over with. Still, she moved forward.

“Wow Danica you really clean up nicely, don’t you?”

She sighed and turned a fake smile on her face as she saw the pudgy faced girl. “Thanks, Pansy. I really wish I could say the same for you.”

“Draco, how do you think I look?” she sneered at Danica. She twirled in her blue dress and smiled seductively at Draco, who made a point of looking anywhere but at her. “I know how much you love the color blue.”

Dani let out a laugh. “You’re wrong once again. Draco despises blue.”

Pansy snickered. “Does he? That’s not what he told me.” Danica forced herself not to react, because she knew that was what Pansy wanted. “Maybe you should get your facts straight. See you later, Draco. Maybe you’ll save me a dance?” She smirked at Danica before walking away.

Dani waited till the miserable old cow was out of earshot before rounding on Draco. “Oh, do you and Pansy talk often then?”

He let out a nervous chuckle. “Don’t listen to her, Dani. You know she’s just trying to get a response out of you. She’s trying to ruin your night.”

She looked at him a moment longer before deciding to let it go – for now. He was right about one thing, Pansy Parkinson was not going to ruin her night. Nothing was. She grabbed Draco’s arm again as he led her to the side where they awaited the champions to come and start the dance.

*

“You know, it’s not polite to stare.”

Neville shook his head, breaking his gaze from the dance floor where Danica and Draco were dancing. He was barely moving, but Danica was amazing. Neville could see how she affected everyone around them. Even across the hall, her effect hit him too. Now he turned and saw Pansy Parkinson standing next to him, watching the couple as well.

“What do you want?” he asked, taking a step away from her. He may have gotten some courage where Danica was involved, but Neville still trembled around Slytherins.

She looked at Neville for a moment before looking back at Draco and Danica. “You know it’s not fair.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about as usual.”

She chuckled bitterly. “Yes you do. I mean the two of them. They think they’re so right for each other. They learned to think like that. It’s not real, but they think they’re stuck in it. So they’ll never be able to really be happy, because they’ll always be forced into something. Draco used to tell me that, you know? That he felt forced and constricted with Dani.”

Neville’s head spun toward Pansy, his eyes widening at her implications. But he kept his mouth shut for now.

He smirked, knowing she was getting to him. “You know, when he used to come visit me every night? When we used to snog in the Slytherin commonroom? Danica didn’t tell you about that? Hmm maybe she didn’t know. Draco wasn’t exactly too keen on her finding out. Said something about the chains being pulled tighter.”

Even before she finished talking, Neville was storming towards the happy couple on the dance floor. It was a slower song now, and her arms were around his neck, his around her waist, holding her close. He grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Danica gasped. “Nev, what are you doing!”

“Yeah what the fuck are you doing, Longbottom?” Draco asked, trying to pull out of Neville’s strong grip.

“Tell her!” he shook Draco roughly. Everyone had stopped dancing, and were staring at them. Some of the teachers looked at Dumbledore, who shook his head, rooting them all to their spots.

Draco looked at Danica, true fear in his eyes before looking back at Neville, a hard scowl on his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now get the fuck off of me before I make you.”

Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward, but Neville saw Hermione pull her wand out and wave it at them, freezing them in their spots. He wondered why she did that, but when he met her gaze, he knew that she knew, that she had known.

“Tell her!” he shouted at Draco.

“Neville, what is going on?” Danica asked worriedly. “Nev, come on, let go.”

“Not until he tells you!” Neville barked.

“Tell her what, Longbottom?” Draco asked, a warning look on his face.

But Neville didn’t care to heed the warning. He swung his arm and punched Draco right in the face.

*

The night had been going perfectly for Danica and Draco. She knew he was enjoying himself, even if he pretended he wasn’t. But now that was all over. Draco was on the ground, his face bloody. Crabbe and Goyle seemed frozen in their spots, and upon looking around until she found Hermione, she realized it was the bushy haired witch stopping them. Or rather, she had been stopping them. The shock of Neville punching Draco in the face broke the spell, and they stormed forward, grabbing his arms. Harry and Ron rush to move forward, but Hermione stops them by pulling on their robes. Meeting the brown haired girl’s eyes, Danica knew right away that whatever was going on, Hermione knew.

Draco stood and glowered at him. “You filthy little fat lard. How dare you touch me?”

“Because of what you did to her, you arse,” Neville glowers right back, unafraid. “I know. And she deserves to know what a cheating lying scum you are.”

Danica freezes at the words, looking from Neville to Draco. It all clicks in her head immediately. How had she not seen it before? Her eyes flashed through the Hall until she found Pansy’s, the pudgy faced girl smirking at her. In that moment, her world crashed.

“You don’t know anything!” Draco sneered, raising his wand at Neville, still trapped in Crabbe and Goyle’s grip.

Danica rushed forward, stepping in front of Neville, facing her betrothed. “No.” The word wass calm. Whatever had happened, she was still a pureblood. She stared into the steel gray eyes that looked so afraid. “You lied to me. You promised me you didn’t. You promised.”

“Danica, I can explain,” he stepped forward, reaching out for her.

She pulled out of his grasp. She didn’t want him to touch her, to taint her with more lies. “Don’t.” She turned to face Crabbe and Goyle. “Let go of him.”

They released him immediately, looking between Draco and Danica.

She grabbed Neville’s arm and started tugging him towards the exit. Hermione comes up to her. “Dani, I’m so--.”

Danica puts her hand up to stop her. “Save it. You knew, you knew. I can see it in your eyes. You knew and you didn’t tell me. I thought maybe we could have been friends. But clearly I was wrong.”

“No, we are friends,” the bushy haired girl insisted.

“No,” she looked at Neville, her one true friend, then back at Draco, the one she had loved, the one who had betrayed her. He was staring after her, his expression pained and hard. “We’re not.”

She turned and walked out with Neville by her side. She sighed and thought back to when they first came to the party. She had insisted that she would want to leave before Draco, and she wished she had been wrong.