Ball

As soon as I joined the kids, I was immediately set upon with stares from all around. Sigh... I had to take the lead here. It's my home and tradition dictates I introduce everyone who hasn't already met. Honestly, we're kids. This is all a bit much but I maintained a polite smile and greeted everyone.

"Greetings all. Thank you kindly for coming tonight. Many of us haven't met before so allow me." I said, before continuing.

"From the left we have Heir Neville Longbottom, Heir Theodore Nott Jr, Heiress Pansy Parkinson, Heiress Susan Bones, Heiress Hannah Abbot, Heirs Crabbe and Goyle Jr, Heir Blaise Zabini, Heiress Daphne Greengrass and finally, miss Astoria Greengrass. I hope everyone has a good time tonight." I finished.

I got nods all around whilst Daphne was looking at me curiously now, probably becuase I didn't introduce her as my betrothed. We'll talk about it later when there's a chance. The first one to step up was, surprisingly, Neville.

"Thank you Mr Malfoy for the warm reception. It's our pleasure to be here tonight." He spoke powerfully, seeming to come out of his shell, only to quickly realise what he just did and turn a little pale, scampering back to the background. Nevertheless, his showing garnered nods all around.

"Well, this is our first time meeting Draco, I hope we get along." Spoke Blaise, ignoring the etiquitte where you need permission to call someone by their first name.

I didn't mind though. This whole thing was awkward and the introductions stilted. Most of us here have never met other people our age owing to the aftermath of the war. The only exceptions are Crabbe and Goyle, along with Susan and Hannah being visibly close.

"Likewise Blaise." I nodded back.

"Heir Malfoy! Good to finally meet you. I've heard much about your family from my father." Spoke Theodore Nott, grinning a little wildly.

This one... he's one messed up kid. I can feel through soul sense that his soul is already quite dark. No idea what his family teaches him but i'll stay at a polite distance.

I nodded cordially while keeping my polite smile. "Of course Heir Nott. Though I must correct you, I'm not an Heir. House Malfoy isn't a noble house." I said.

I got surprised looks from around whilst Blaise, Neville and Susan nodded thoughtfully. I essentially lowered my own social standing. I don't care however. We're all kids and quite frankly, I value magic heavily over social standing. I won't dismiss it though because connections are still important.

"Well said Mr Malfoy. It seems that your father taught you well." Said Susan.

I merely inclined my head, not commenting on that.

"While that may be true, everyone knows that house Malfoy is one of the richest houses in Britain. Not to mention you're next in line for the Black lordship." Rebutted Theodore.

I shook my head. "While the first part is true, the second is still not certain. Lord Arcturus Black is still alive after all. He can designate someone else as the heir if he chooses." I said.

The scene turned quiet. Arcturus Black is a renowned figure in our society for his steadfast beliefs, cunning, ruthlessness and above all, his participation of over a decade fighting in the Grindelwald war alongside Charlus Potter. Arcturus' sister, Dorea, wouldn't have been able to marry a Potter without deep bonds between them. They're polar opposites as families.

"Well, nevermind all that. I like to tour the grounds and study runes. What about you guys?" I spoke, blatantly changing the subject.

No one minded however as I picked up everyone apart from Daphne and Theodore relaxing minutely. Daphne because of the contract and Theodore is just messed up.

Blaise took the change of conversation in stride and answered readily.

"I enjoy touring Italy's old locations with family when I visit and studying potions." He said, clearly taking the role of a social lubricant.

"I enjoy learning from my aunt." Said Susan succinctly.

"I like charms." Squeeked Hannah Abbot shyly from beside Susan.

"I-I l-like the g-greenhouses and t-tending to t-the plants." Stuttered Neville.

""Eating."" Crabbe and Goyle Grunted simultaneously.

"I enjoy fashion. I love what everyone has done tonight. Did you see Lady Malfoy? What about Lord and Lady Greengrass! They are so stunning! You as well Daphne, but you're not as pretty as you mother yet hahahaha." Twittered Pansy annoyingly.

Honestly, her nose is a little scrunched and she's got a plain face otherwise. Her dress was an obnoxious pink filled with frills and she was wearing heels that didn't fit her age. I could already tell we'll never get along.

Daphne ignored the jab and spoke. "I enjoy studying magic." She said stoically. Before anyone could say anything else however, a cheerful voice interrupted.

"Honestly Daphne, that was the worst introduction i've ever heard. I'm Astoria, Daphne's sister! I like to play, especially when I can annoy Daphne whenever she's studying. That's all she does! Study, study, study. It's so boring!" The cheerful girl piped up.

"Astoria!" Squeaked Daphne, her cheeks tinged pink in embarassment.

"What? It's true! All you do is study magic all day long! You don't even play with me anymore!" Astoria pouted.

Despite the innocent teasing on the surface, I can feel through my soul sense that Astoria is deeply hurt while Daphne feels guilty alongside a steel-like determination. Oh? Interesting.

"*Ahem.* Anyway, Like I said, I enjoy studying all things magic." Daphne attempted to cover up her embarassment.

"I like your style Astoria." Said Blaise, clearly amused at the byplay.

"Oh! You're Blaise right? You said you liked visiting Italy's old locations. Have you ever been to the..." Astoria was abruptly cut off by Lucius tapping his glass with a teaspoon.

"Can I have you attention please. Welcome everyone to the first of hopefully many yearly balls. It was a tradition for the Malfoy family to host the yearly Yuletide ball that has sadly stopped in recent years. We hope to start up this tradition again and will be hosting another ball on the eve of Yule." Lucius spoke, his smooth voice cutting through the noise.

"Today however, this ball was thrown to welcome my son Draco into our society. And for this, I have an announcement! It is my distinct pleasure to announce a marriage contract between my son Draco and Heiress Daphne Greengrass." He said and there was silence, before a round of applause was heard.

I could feel Daphne's fury coming back to the forefront whilst Lord Greengrass was staring at Lucius impassively like he was looking at a dead man. All the while his icy rage was like a razor behind impressive occlumency shields.

I wisely didn't look at Daphne during the announcement as she glared daggers at Lucius. Astoria was looking between Daphne and I with shock whilst the other kids looked at us with surprise as I hadn't introduced Daphne as my betrothed eariler. Before anyone could say anything, Lucius spoke again.

"To celebrate this union, I invite my son Draco and Heiress Greengrass to open the ball with the first dance." He said before stepping back into the crowd, getting immediately bombarded with questions whilst a lot of people looked at Daphne and I.

I looked at Daphne and held out my hand for her even as I could feel her fury being directed to me.

"Heiress Greengrass, would you honour me with a dance?" I asked.

Her eyes were like ice even as she took my hand with her own.

"Of course Mr Malfoy." She said nothing else as I led her to the dance floor.

In the middle of the dance floor, we took our stances, my right hand on her waist whilst her's was on my shoulder, the left hands being held together to the side. Then the music started from a grammaphone and we began a slow waltz.

Neither of us said anything and simply looked at eachother. Her face was impassive but her eyes told another story. I simply kept a polite smile throughout. By the time we'd done one rotation of the dance floor, other people started joining in.

Finally, Daphne broke the silence once enough people were dancing.

"You must be very pleased with yourself." She said.

"How so?" I replied.

"Don't claim ignorance. This marriage contract is an insult and you know it!" She hissed.

I remained impassive.

"Believe what you will Heiress Greengrass. For my part, I was only told this past Wednesday and I have yet to read the contract myself. I don't yet know what was agreed upon between my father and yours." I said evenly.

She snorted angrily, not sure whether to believe me or not but thankfully her fury was beginning to calm down slightly.

"Whatever. No matter what, I won't marry you. It's insulting and I have more important things to worry about." She said.

I nodded. "Understandable. I wouldn't want to if I were you." I said.

She looked at me strangely, her fury quelling substantially by my strange agreement.

"Why are you being so...."

"Understanding?" I offered.

She nodded impassively without speaking again.

"There are a multitude of reasons I could name off the top of my head. First and foremost being I know what kind of man my father is. Even though I have yet to read the contract, I imagine the terms between our families are horrendously in my favour." I said.

Her eyes lit up angrily again so I quickly went on.

"The second reason would have to be my own beliefs. No matter what my father decides for me, I will not marry someone just because he told me to or that it's beneficial to me. What's the point of having a wife that I dont trust, respect and cherish?" I spoke, seemingly to myself as I said the last part.

"And the third reason Heiress Greengrass, is simply for my own safety. I've been watching you tonight and you are not a weak willed girl. I have no doubt that if I were more like my father and forced this marriage through... well, accidents happen all the time don't they? A little accident and I would be out of the way." I said with a little smirk.

She looked at me a little shocked, mulling over what I said. She nodded slowly as we glided around the dance floor, slipping through the crowd.

"Well, if any of what you said is true, my anger seems misplaced." She said with her lips pressed in a thin line.

I snorted lightly. "Doubtful. Like I said, I haven't read the contract. What does it say anyway?" I asked, slightly intrigued.

Her face was like stone; completely passive with no movement, but her eyes were like cold blue flintstones as she spoke.

"You'll read it soon enough so I suppose there's no harm in telling you. Priority purchasing at ludicrously low prices, ownership of large portions of land to be given to your family, international contacts. A lot of unfavourable business deals basically." She said.

"The most insulting thing however is a clause that prevents me from taking up the Greengrass lordship! That is my birthright and your father had the temerity to dare to take it away!" She spat angrily.

I frowned at that. From what I know, there is no issue for lords of different families to marry. There of course must be some agreement between them to continue their family lines separately or merge them together, whatever they decide privately between them.

Most families I've learned about can have either a man or a woman as the lord with only a few like the Black or Ravenclaw families being strictly patriarchal or matriarchal respectively. The Greengrass family falls into the former where either a man or a woman can be the lord.

"So the contract will have the families merge?" I asked tentatively, but my instinct told me it wasn't so simple.

He nostrils flared. "Not even that. The contract would take me out of the line of succession completely, leaving the Greengrass family to Astoria. However, it's no secret that the Greengrass family blood curse has afflicted Astoria in this generation." She spat.

Things began clicking into place in my mind as I looked at her surprised.

"You didn't know? That's surprising. My parents have been searching far and wide for a cure ever since they found out Astoria was afflicted with the curse. It's not a secret." She said, hiding the pain she was feeling.

I nodded slowly. "I've read about the Greengrass curse. So by leaving the succession to Astoria, the Greengrass family is likely to die out in this generation. It would be a miracle for her to be able to have a child with her condition." I stated flatly.

No wonder the Greengrasses were furious. Jacob, the Lord Greengrass was better at keeping it hidden than Daphne whilst Daphne herself was chomping at the bit to tear Lucius a new asshole. Elizabeth, the Lady Greengrass, was just as angry as her husband but even better at hiding it than him.

"Well..." I said after a pregnant pause. "Now I know why you were so angry." I finished.

She looked at me with a *no shit* expression.

"A marriage contract is one thing. I wouldn't like it but if my father wished for it, I would marry as is my duty. But this... what your father has done is beyond the pale. That contract is a blatant attempt to end the Greengrass line." She spat.

"Well, there's not much either of us could do about it for now. Wait until we're older, i'll get this sorted out." I said.

"Why would you want to help? Isn't this a good thing for you?" She practically growled, cutting me off, her anger coming to the fore again.

I looked at her a and titled my head in confusion.

"Didn't I list the most pertinent reasons already? I know exactly what kind of man my father is and I want a wife that would also be my best friend. Additionally, I don't want to have to keep looking over my shoulder for accidents of the planned variety if you catch my meaning." I said.

She flushed a little, embarrassed. "Apologies, you did. I must have missed it." She said.

We both knew it was a weak excuse, she was simply too angry at the time to think my reasons through properly. I didn't take it to heart though. This contract must be pretty recent for her as well as me, along with all the associated emotions still being raw.

"Mr Malfoy..." Said Daphne.

"Draco. You can call me Draco at this point." I cut her off.

She smiled slightly, her anger abated significantly at this point.

"You may call me Daphne then." She said.

I smiled a nodded to her before she continued.

"Draco, why tell me any of this? The thought only occurred just now, but if you don't approve of your father's actions, why tell me at all?" She asked, voicing her suspicions.

"Ah. Well, despite this whole situation being Lucius' doing, I am still his son at the end of the day. This puts me in a position where I can fix this situation. It falls to me to do so because he won't." I said.

She nodded and I continued.

"Additionally, whilst it may be a calculated risk, I figured that even when you inevitably show the memory of this conversation to the Lord and Lady Greengrass, none of you will be informing Lucius' about my thoughts." I said.

"If that happened, while it would put me in a bind, your family wouldn't gain anything from it either. You would be alienating a potential ally. Well, I could be wrong. Maybe your parents would send Lucius a copy of the memory just to spite him, but I doubt it. I'm the best option your family currently has to cancelling this contract. Your parents would know this and act accordingly." I said.

Daphne was looking at me appreciatively now.

"How cunning of you. It's still a big gamble for you to take however. You should have just kept quiet and acted when you could later down the line." She said.

I nodded. "You have a point. That would be the most prudent option, but then I would gain nothing either." I said with a smile.

She tilted her head curiously.

"Oh? And what would you be gaining from this?" She asked.

I smiled. "Well if everything goes well between us, I would have a direct line to one of the biggest international ingredient suppliers in the world. I might be able to get some good deals to supply my research needs. We could even be friends, if Astoria's complaints are to be believed." I said.

She looked at me with incredulity before she giggled out a little laugh.

"You are quite bold Draco." She said, amused.

"Well, Slytherin and Griffindor were best friends at one point." I said, getting my point across in a roundabout fashion.

She smiled slightly.

"True." She nodded, understanding my point.

"What did you mean with your comment about Astoria's complaint from earlier?" She asked, curious now.

I smiled brightly, genuinly pleased with how the conversation has gone so far now that the unpleasant business was out of the way.

"I love magic." I began.

"I love it more than anything. It's fascinating to me. All this..." I gestured around to the ball currently in full swing.

"...is meaningless to me. I understand the reason of course. Business, alliances, politics, etcetera. It just seems so banal and I care little for it. Magic is where my interests lie. I want to unravel it's deepest secrets, perform the greatest of spells, and ultimately... I want to leave this world and go further." I said.

She was looking at me with more interest now.

"I understand." She said softly, before she began speaking.

"When the healers informed us of Astoria's condition after she collapsed for the first time, I was distraught. The whole family was. My father and mother started searching far and wide for a cure and continue doing so to this day, spending massive amounts of our family fortune in the process." She began.

"I couldn't help them with that. So I began studying magic frantically. I took an ancestors wand that worked for me and began learning all I could of magic in hopes of finding a cure. As I learned though, I began to fall in love with magic." She smiled a little wistfully.

"Soon, I was studying magic for magic's sake. Don't misunderstand, my goal is still to find a cure or create one if necessary. But a new world was opened up to me after I began my research. Magic is great and terrible, beautiful and ugly and capable of so much wonder." She said with a smile.

I stared into her eyes with a smile.

"I understand." I said.

And that was all that needed to be said. She understood as well.

"What did you mean when you said you want to leave this world and go further?" She asked, curious.

I smiled brightly.

"Shall we go outside to continue this conversation? It's getting a little stuffy in here." I said, not answering her question.

She trained her eyes on me for a moment but nodded. We left the dance floor together, this time with her accepting my offered arm with her own.

On the balcony outside, we sat together in the cool breeze with the stars shining up above. We each had a glass of juice and were cooling ourselves off. I didn't mention before, but Daphne was wearing a black dress that had shoulder straps and ended at her knees. It suited her. I won't say it looked good, any thoughts in that direction are highly uncomfortable, but black was definitely her colour.

"So?" She prompted after having gotten comfortable.

I pointed at the moon. "Did you know that in 1969, between 600 and 700 million people worldwide watched as humans stepped onto the moon?" I opened with.

Daphne's eyes went wide as she looked at me and then at the moon.

"Impossible." She said reflexively.

I smiled widely. "Oh but is Daphne. The muggles figured it out. They built a ship that took them 380 000 kilometres out there, all the way to the moon. There was a television broadcast worldwide and 600 to 700 million people watched as Niel Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon." I spoke rapturously.

She tilted her head in confusion.

"Television?" She asked.

"Think of it as pensieve memories that are broadcast like the wizarding wireless around the world." I said simply.

She nodded. "But how? And what does this have to do with what you said before?" She asked.

"As for how they did it. It took years of effort, a lot of money, decades of research and an arms race between America and Russia where they were constantly outdoing eachother." I said.

"As for how this relates to what I said before... Look out into the stars. Those stars are just like the sun. Some are bigger, some are smaller, but they're essentially the same thing." I said.

She nodded, having studied astronomy at least a little. It's used in a lot of rituals and potions.

"Many of those stars have planets. Some of those planets may be just like Earth." I said with a smile, looking at her.

Her eyes widened as she understood the implication.

"You think there could be life out there." She whispered, shocked.

I smiled even wider. "It's a high statistical probability. Not to mention, you know about the galaxy right?" I asked.

She nodded. Magicals have known for a long time about the galaxy, but they haven't been exposed to the astronomy of muggles.

"Our galaxy has roughly 100 billion stars. Let's say 1% have planets, that's a billion stars with planets. Let's say that 1% of those planets are like Earth. That's 10 million planets that could hold life. And that's not the best part Daphne, I haven't even gotten started yet!" I said, getting to my feet in excitement.

Daphne sat to the side, amused and astonished in equal measure as I narrated to her.

"The universe, as researched by muggle science, is constantly expanding. We don't know the size of it but what we can observe is 13.8 billion light-years in diametre. In this small part of the universe that we can observe, it is estimated that there are 2 trillion entire galaxies all containing their own stars and planets just like our own." I finished, looking her in the eyes as I said the final part with gravitas.

Her eyes widened as far as they would go as she breathed out in awe.

"So..." She said

"But wait! I'm not done just yet!" I said, bouncing on my feet as I cut her off.

She snorted, amused this time as she gestured with her hand to go on.

I smiled. "This is purely theorietical muggle science at this point with nothing to back it up, but it is theorised that our universe isn't the only one. Theoretically, there could be an infinite amount of universes Daphne. INFINITE" I finished.

It took her a minute to process what I just said, but when she did, she stood up and forgetting all etiquette, put her hands on my shoulders as her eyes sparkled.

"That's amazing! But how could..." She said.

I cut her off. "We have magic Daphne! What the muggles can't do, we can! We have magic to control space, time and gravity. We have magic to bend dimensions to our will. We can even affect purely mystical and conceptual phenoma like life and luck. With magic, literally anything is possible." I said.

"There isn't a single thing magic can't do. That's something I firmly believe. All *rules* of magic haven't been solved simply because of lack of understanding or lack of magic energy. Sometimes both. Sometimes... sometimes it's a question of if you Should even if you Can."

"That's my dream Daphne. I want to explore the furthest reaches of the universe, study the deepest mysteries of magic and finally, leave this universe to continue my travels further and further into the deepest depths of existence." I finished, breathing a little hard at this point.

Daphne stared at me for a moment then snorted, snorted again before erupting in giggles, ending with her sitting down and laughing uproariously.

"Hahahaha! " She finally finished laughing.

"Oi! Don't knock my dream." I said playfully, amused at her reaction. I can feel through soul sense that she's only laughing in incredulity.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just... you're insane, you know that?" She said with a large smile.

I smiled back. "Maybe I am. But so what? I will follow my namesake and soar like a dragon. I will achieve my dream one day." I said resolutely with a grin.

She took a moment to just look at me before she nodded.

"I believe you... " She said quietly.

And she did believe him. The passion he spoke with when narrating his crazy ideas. Maybe it was possible. Although....

"By the way. What's a light-year?" She said.

I couldn't help myself and began laughing loudly. I couldn't stop, tears coming to my eyes in the process.

"A light-year is...."

We talked well into the night, somehow becoming friends from the shitty situation we found ourselves in.