[Crossroads, Dracaena Malfoy, Harry Potter, Ronnie Weasley (1/4)] The opening of the dance couldn’t have ended soon enough. That may had been the worse experience of Harry’s life, it was visible on his face, his body language and the way both him and Parvati Patil stepped on each other. The formal dance would continue for a while longer, as students scattered on the sides of the Great Hall into small groups, and few more couples moved to the floor. After enough people filled the center, Harry eventually found himself sitting with Parvati, Ronnie and Neville, at one of the tables along the edges of the dance floor. The arrangement was comfortable enough to hid how thoroughly the evening had failed their expectations. Neville had danced with Ronnie for a piece, and neither of them had needed to pretend that there was anything more to it, they gone through the motions with some awkwardness after agreeing to attend together. Neville was perfectly pleasant company, Ronnie found that she could relax around him in a way she probably couldn’t with a boy she actually would have liked to impress. On the other hand, for him, she was just Ronnie, and in many categories she filed her in the same as Harry: One of the mates. They talked for a while and found a particular entertainment in observing the other students on the floor, commenting on spectacularly bad footwork, and mimicking the exaggerated elegance of the Beauxbatons. It was perfectly comfortable as neither of them felt any need to make it into anything else. The same could not be said of Harry Potter. Ronnie glanced at him a few times, and noticed his distance. Parvati was pleasant, and there was nothing wrong with her as a person, but they could not sustain a conversation to save their lives, less so when Harry continued to be distracted with the sight of Cho Chang dancing with Cedric Diggory. Ronnie would elbow his sides, and he would catch himself, force his attention back toward Parvati, and then a few moments later finding his eyes drifting away. Parvati noticed obviously. She was not offended so much as convinced there was very little point in trying to get the attention of someone that wasn’t even participating in the conversation. Eventually a Beauxbatons student approached Parvati and she accepted his invitation to dance with an expression of unmistakable relief. Leaving Harry without either of them needed to agree that the arrangement had become miserable. Across the Hall, Dracaena Malfoy had noticed all of that. Her own evening was rather dull. The Slytherin boy accompanying her was perfectly fine, respectable. Pure-blooded, socially adept and with a rather well-connected family. Suitable for her own family’s expectations. She didn’t particularly care for his company beyond that, her mind still drifted towards Harry Potter, who had rejected her offer days before. That fact remained lodged in her head, ever increasing her irritation all evening, and now she watched Potter sitting alone after Patil left, his attention still fixed on Chang. The entire situation was beyond insulting in its absurdity; Potter had refused her for that Patil girl, only to spend the evening looking at another girl. The conversation that Ronnie had with Neville gradually slowed down, as the notes of the ball music continued. The initial amusement of judging people’s dancing gave way to a comfortable silence only broken by some occasional observation. Ronnie looked once more at Harry at her side, who still wore a pained expression on his face. Neville seemed to notice something, his eyes moved from Ronnie to Harry and back again; Ronnie saw from the corner of her eye that Neville’s expression changed into a sudden, and delighted grin. He gave her a quick wink and, keeping his hand below the table so Harry couldn’t see, gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Ronnie stared at him in confusion, having absolutely no idea what he was trying to communicate. Neville then stood, and stretched as he had made his mind about something. He announced to both of them that he was going to find Seamus and Dean, and would see them later. As he walked away, he glanced back once more and gave Ronnie another thumbs-up, leaving her sitting there with an increasingly horrible suspicion. Was she that obvious!? Ronnie flushed red as he stared at the retreating Neville who looked too much pleased with himself. The possibility that she had been really that obvious all evening suddenly became unbearable. And if Neville of all people saw her, did Parvati noticed too? Did someone else around them? Or was it more than just tonight? Did Harry? The thought made her want to disappear under the table, but she ended up looking at him yet another time; Harry was still looking at Cho, completely unaware of the catastrophe that was her inner world. The opportunity was suddenly there, and it was painfully obvious. Ronnie was Harry’s best friend. They had spent years together, survived things that two children definitely shouldn’t have to go through. She didn’t need an excuse, clever line or a convincing explanation. She could just ask him to dance. And he would probably say yes. He had no reason to refuse, and the thought should had been reassuring, but… What if he did say no? It was ridiculous, there was no reason for it, but she couldn’t stop thinking on it, it made her frightening to formulate the words. If Harry rejected a dance because he was tired, distracted or wanted to simply stay, maybe Ronnie could survive it. But what if he looked at her with a weirder out expression, and asked “Why?”, in some manner that made it clear that she was never even considered. Of course he wouldn’t want to hurt her, she knew that. Worse still, what if he saw through her? What if he made an expression that showed only pity for her? She would have to confront the fact that may have been there all along: Perhaps he didn’t feel that close with her, as she did with him. Across the Hall, Dracaena reached almost exactly the same conclusion, she could ask him. She knew how to get under his skin, how to provoke him, hot to challenge him into doing something simply because refusing her would feel like losing. She knew harry well enough to understand which buttons to push. She had learned how turn their hostility into action. The rejection before was a fluke, a miscalculation, and there was no obstacle this time. Yet, she was rejected once. It was still fresh and it stings her. She approached him believing that she was giving him a life-saving opportunity, in her mind he would had been flustered, perhaps he would have an amusing mix of anger and gratefulness. But he dismissed her with casual cruelty, and walking back after that had taken every bit of Malfoy composure she could gather. The dance floor continued turning in front of them, couples moving under the floating candle lights, while music filled the Great Hall. Ronnie only had to speak. Dracaena only had to stand up.