Words Could Never Say It

Chapter Seven - The Halloween Masquerade Ball

"Come ON, Draco, hurry up!" Pansy shouted from downstairs, waiting for Draco to finish putting on his masquerade costume for the ball. "It's about to start!"

"Haven't you ever heard of being fashionably late?" Draco growled to himself as he fixed the last crease in his high collar. He slowly examined himself in the mirror, turning slightly to the left and then the right. His black velvet dress robes were the color of the night, matching the cloak he wore. The inner satin lining of his cloak was blood red, the same color he had changed his eyes to with a temporary color transfiguration spell they had learned from Professor McGonagall for this occasion. He smirked to himself, showing off his elongated canine teeth where he had placed a very careful engorgement charm to make them longer. A red velvet sash was around his chest, gold buttons down the front, baring the Malfoy crest, and in place of a bow or a tie, he wore a red and gold medallion around his throat.

"Perfect," he said, stretching his natural drawl so it sounded deeper, a mockery of true Transylvanian accents, but it would do for this. With a dramatic sweep of his cloak, his dragon leather shoes clicking softly on the stone floor of the dormitories, he made his way down the stairs to Pansy's side.

In her own right, Pansy didn't look half bad at all. She wore a black dress, tactfully and tactically frayed and shredded around the edges, black lace about her shoulders and the tops of her breasts, her skin had powered a much pale shade than it normally was, and it matched his quite nicely. She too had transfigured her eyes a deep red. The two of them definitely looked like they could win the couple's costume award.

Taking her arm, Draco walked Pansy up the corridor that lead to the Entrance Hall from the Slytherin common room, and into the large groups of people already waiting for 8 o'clock. There were a lot of original and beautiful costumes there... The best one (besides his, of course) in Draco's opinion was a pair from Ravenclaw who were dressed as a knight in full armor and his lady, dressed in smooth linens and silks. Draco smirked slightly as he glanced at Pansy. Yeah... for sure. They were still much better than even the knight and his lady.

The doors of the Great Hall opened, and couples began to flood inside. Draco spotted Mario Devenish standing near the staircase that led upward into the classrooms and Gryffindor tower. He was alone, and looking somewhat nervous. Draco nudged Pansy and smirked. There was their quarry... "Ah, Devenish. Good evening," Draco said with false pleasantry.

Devenish looked to them, but didn't say anything, either from shock or anger, Draco couldn't tell. He was dressed in what looked like a prince's outfit, except his ears had been transfigured to appear to be pointed a bit upward. "I heard you were coming with Matthews..." Pansy purred in. "What's the matter? She lost her nerve?"

But before Mario could respond to that, two Hufflepuff girls hurried up the staircase behind the tapestry that lead to the Hufflepuff secret entrance, and quickly pulled aside the tapestry. Malfoy's mouth went dry, and his entire body seemed to grow ridged as a vision of beautify stepped out into the Entrance Hall.

The girl had very long golden blond hair, streaked with delicate strands like silver and woven with tiny flowers and what looked like real dew drops and sapphires. Her face was partly obscured by a quarter painted mask pressed against her right eye, a butterfly that actually moved on her skin, and her lips painted a stunning brilliant blue. She had a very thin silver and sapphire blue collar that covered her throat from the base of where her head met her neck, as thin as a centimeter in length at the back of her head where it clasped under her hair, and dipping down to almost between her breasts in a V shaped point, a tear-drop shaped jewel pressed to her skin.

The dress was white and blue and gentle lilac purple, the same color as her eyes, the bodice tied in the front with gold and blue rope, outlining her cleavage in the most tasty... tasteful... way Draco had ever seen. The skirt looked like it was made out of flower petals, each sparkling as if with dew, her legs otherwise bare. Her sandals were white dragon skin, and tied at mid calf with a silver button, gentle tiny streamers of gold, white, blue, and lavender softly spilling over her skin. Her skin had been paled like Pansy's, only not so much so, and every inch of her exposed flesh sparkled with glitter. Her ears had been transfigured to slightly point upward.

With all this, the coup de' grace of her costume lay on her back, for there sprouted two huge beautiful faerie wings, blue and lavender in their spiraled design. There were no ties to these wings, and they seemed to slightly move back and forth on their own. They were a truly beautiful custom illusionary charm that must have taken her months to perfect.

The Slytherins openly gapped as the girl smiled at Mario, and touched his arm. Smiling, Devenish took it, and began to lead her into the Great Hall. "Emily...?" Draco choked. Even Pansy looked impressed - well, just a little. "Wow... I mean, I didn't even recognize you." Emily looked at Draco, and smiled softly at him, nodding her head in greeting and thanks. He noticed her wand slipped into the thin white belt she was wearing, in case she needed to communicate he supposed. The end was lightly glowing. Of course... to keep the wings up with lesser mental effort. Ingenious.

The crowd parted willingly for Emily and Devenish as they entered the hall, and received a round of applause, to which even the teachers joined in. Professor McGonagall donned a pair of black cat ears and a tail, and Draco couldn't tell if they were transfigured there or fake. Professor Sprout wore a pink and blue collar that looked like a flower, and her face was painted in a petal pattern. Professor Flitwik wore a pair of black and brown ears, a mask about his eyes, and had a bushy ringed tail. Dr. Matthews was dressed in a Muggle tuxedo, wearing a white mask over the right half of his face and carrying a red rose. Professor Snape, of course, wore his same black robes buttoned to the throat, but he did seem to be wearing a red sash over them much like Draco's, and his black eyes glowed a blood red. Draco chuckled. Even Snape couldn't resist dressing up for this, at least a little bit, it seemed. The only one who seemed to was Professor Umbridge, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who was sitting very quietly off to one side of the table, watching the students and keeping watch on the voting box to make sure all was fair.

Laughter and chinking glasses of butterbeer and pumpkin juice filled the hall, as did music performed by the school band, dressed in gray and black tattered robes and pale face paint. The Ravenclaw Quidditch team Chasers had dressed up as the Appleby Arrows, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasely had dressed up in matching Victorian era clothing complete with a top hat that made Potter look ridiculous, and Ronald Weasely and Lavender Brown, much to Draco's open amusement, had dressed as a monster and a princess. Pansy whispered to him about some Muggle fairytale called "˜Beauty and the Beast.' It fit. Hermione Granger was dressed as, he assumed, a Roman goddess, and as much as Draco really hated to admit it, she looked the part, just as she had during the Yule Ball the year before.

Draco danced with Pansy, watching out of the corner of his eyes as his Slytherin friends begin to set his plot into motion. They had pulled Devenish off of Emily, who had taken to dancing with Lee Jordon beside the Weasely twins, Fred and George, Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who were dancing with Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, two of the Chasers. Hermione Granger was dancing with Neville Longbottom, wincing often as he stepped on her feet. Despite seeing so many people he loathed having fun, Draco couldn't help but find the atmosphere addictive, and he was laughing and smiling sincerely with the rest of the students. He even voted for the favored costumes from each house, and of course voted for himself and Pansy as the best couples.

At half past eleven, Crabbe and Goyle quickly pulled Draco and Pansy to the side, whispering quickly to them. "It's done!"

"Good!" Draco exclaimed, somewhat glad that the time had finally come. "Where is he now?"

"He's in the broom cupboard with Millicent. They'll be getting Collin Creve soon. Finally, that little Gryffindor annoyance has a use." Crabbe smirked at Goyle after he was done talking, and Draco smirked wider. His mood had not felt brighter all year. He looked at Emily Matthews, who was now dancing gleefully with Rodger Davis of Ravenclaw, and his mood soured again. *I* should be dancing with her, he thought poisonously.

"May I have your attention, please!" Dumbledore called as he rose from his chair at the head table. He looked absolutely and wonderfully ridiculous dressed as a Muggle businessman, complete with hat and tie. The students turned to him as Umbridge handed him an envelope, which he accepted with a smile and a nod of his head. "The winners of the Masquerade Ball Costume Contest are ready to be announced. When I announce your name, please come up to the head table and collect your prize." The students all fell still and silent, waiting with baited breath.

"The winner for Ravenclaw... Cho Chang, dressed as the Empress of China." Chang moved up onto the raised platform where the head table was, blushing brightly and smiling softly. Her traditional robe and jade jewelry glittered in the candlelight as the entire crowd applauded.

"The winner for Gryffindor... Harry Potter, dressed as a Victorian Gentleman." Draco scowled and most Slytherins did not applaud as Potter went up with Chang, smiling shyly at her. Unfortunately, the roar from the Gryffindors well made up for the lack of Slytherin applause.

"The winner for Hufflepuff... Stormy Diaz, dressed as Professor Minerva McGonagall." Laughter rang from the students as Stormy made her way up to the platform, the applause resounding from the students as they realized that, indeed, she looked exactly like McGonagall, minus some wrinkles about the eyes, of course, right down to her square rimmed glasses.

"The winner for Slytherin... Draco Malfoy, dressed as a Transylvanian Vampire." The Slytherins erupted in applause, as it was with the Gryffindors with Potter. And as with the Slytherins, the Gryffindors did not applaud him, not that Draco he cared. Unfortunately, this reminded him that Potter didn't care about the Slytherins reluctance to applaud, and it burned him under his collar. Still, he smirked at Potter's wry expression, and took his place at the other side of Cho Chang.

"And finally, the best dressed couple. The winners are... Emily Rose Matthews and Mario Devenish, both of Hufflepuff, dressed as a Faerie and her suitor." The entire student body clapped hard, including all of the Slytherins, as Emily made her way up to the platform, blushing brightly and smiling at the other winners and her father, who was clapping hard.

However, after a moment, a murmur ran through the crowd, the same question on everyone's lips. "Has anyone seen Mr. Devenish?" Dumbledore asked the congregation, but no one replied except with an inquisitive look.

There was a sudden BANG and a hoarse scream from the Entrance Hall, and several students were calling in surprise. Professor Dumbledore, along with Professor Snape and the costume winners hurried out into the Entrance Hall, and many other students followed. Several students gasped at the sight that met them, and Dumbledore pushed them aside to get through, making room for the contest winners in his wake.

There, on the floor, Devenish had shoved Millicent to the floor, her costume ripped and torn, and she was crying loudly in the arms of Gregory Goyle, who was holding her protectively. Two seventh years - Draco recognized them as the Beaters for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team - were holding Devenish, one on each arm. He reeked of Firewhiskey, and was struggling to get free.

"What happened here?" Dumbledore demanded angrily, catching everyone's attention quickly, including Devenish and Millicent's. Millicent didn't stop crying, and even Draco was bewildered as to what had happened. His plan had been to get Devenish as drunk as possible off of Firewhiskey, and then have Collin Creve take a picture of him kissing Millicent to ruin his chances with Emily, and then let him wander and cause his own damage in the Great Hall to get him in trouble and his Quidditch captain position revoked.

"He tried... He... I..." Millicent trembled, still sobbing as Goyle held her tighter, turning her away from Devenish, and looked up at Dumbledore.

"Crabbe and I, we were on our way back to the party from the loo. We heard muffled cries from the broom cupboard and forced the door open. Devenish fell on top of Millicent and was trying to tear off her clothes," Goyle said, and Draco realized they weren't lying. Devenish had tried to rape Millicent.

"You little bastard," Draco growled darkly, but Snape held him back.

"I'm shorry," Devenish slurred drunkenly. "I though... I thought she wash Mattshews..." Everyone turned around and looked at Emily, who was rather startled indeed at this. "She woulda made a hellova lot lessh noise and maybe I wouldn'ta been caught!"

Not even Snape could hold Draco back this time, and it didn't look like he tried very hard to, either. He came forward, and punched Devenish in the stomach, hard, and quickly backed away, his knuckles white from clenching and face red with anger. Devenish gave a sick kind of grunt, and retched up the Firewhiskey he had binged on. Everyone except the two people holding him, Draco and Professor Dumbledore backing away. Snape grabbed Malfoy and pushed him back behind him quickly.

"Take him down to one of the unused dungeons for holding, Severus," Dumbledore rumbled dangerously at Snape, who grabbed Devenish by the back of the neck and confiscated his wand, hauling him down shouting angrily into the dungeons. Draco watched him go, and turned to Professor Dumbledore.

"I'm afraid this party has to be ended sooner than intended," he said quickly. "Prefects, lead your houses back to your dormitories immediately." Madam Pomphery had arrived at the sound of the commotion, dressed as a Muggle nurse for Halloween. "Poppy, please take care of Millicent, hold her overnight to see if she is well. Owl her parents, and Devenish's as well, immediately, Minerva." McGonagall went off immediately as Pomphery knelt beside Millicent and Goyle.

"I'd like to come with her... please," Goyle rumbled softly, and after a small pause and a frantic nod from Millicent, Madam Pomphery agreed. Draco may not have liked Millicent particularly, but no one deserved this, not even a Mudblood like Granger, and as was apparent by the looks of the Gryffindors and Slytherins, they, for once, all agreed.

The students quickly began to filter back into their house groups, lead by the prefects back to their dormitories. Unfortunately, that meant Draco. He began to round up the students, glancing back at the crowd to make sure no stragglers were left. But he saw Emily slowly move away from the others, her glittering wings evaporating as she slipped out of the large oak front doors and out of sight. Gritting his teeth, Draco nodded to the other prefect to take over, and quickly went to the front doors to find Emily.