ivy | theo nott

"Abbott!" The familiar voice hissed from above her as she looked into the icy gray eyes, though only for a moment, before he had crashed down beside her in the bustling hallway, dragging the book from her fingers and ducking behind it.

"Draco," She bit back a laugh, watching as he tried to conceal his face from the passerby. "I was reading that."

"You've got to save me," He whispered.

"From what, exactly?"

"Parkinson." Grace's eyes found the brunette before he had even answered, her lips pushed out into their signature pout as she scoured the room for the blonde slouched down beside her.

"What's she done now?"

"It's not what she's done," His whispers were becoming comical now. "It's what she's trying to do. She's relentless!"

"What, she wants to ask you on another date, Malfoy?" Grace giggled, earning herself a cold glare as Pansy turned the corner at last, Draco dropping the book to his lap with a sigh.

"Yes, actually." He snarled, leaning back against the stone walls behind them. "She told Blaise this morning she was going to ask me. To my own family's ball? She's a complete headcase."

"Your fault for leading her on all this time-"

"I've done no such thing." His lip curled at her suggestion.

"So ask someone else and be done with it!"

"Maybe I don't want a date. It's just Christmas, I don't see why it's got to be such a big deal every year."

"Christmas is always going to be a big deal. And your parents are always going to want you to bring someone." She teased, snatching her book back from his lap.

"Alright," He agreed, turning to face her now as the students slowly cleared the once crowded hall. "Go with me then? Get Parkinson off my ass?"

Grace barely held back the choke threatening to spill from her lips at his words. Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy was asking her to their annual Christmas party.

"Well, don't look so thrilled." His eyes rolled towards the ceiling as her lips pulled into a smile.

"Sorry, I was just pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming." She teased, looking to him with a grin and waiting for his own smile to return. "Your parents will want you to go with someone else-"

"They don't pick who I hang out with." He fought back, "And besides. Mum will love you, and my father couldn't care less."

"I feel like I've been hearing otherwise for the past..." She held out a few fingers, pretending to count each one, "four and a half years-"

"Shut it, Abbott, honestly. Are you going to go with me, or not?"

"Pansy'll have me dead by the end of the week." She pointed out and he rolled his eyes and stood from their shared bench.

"You're coming. I'll keep you alive until Christmas, then you're on your own, Grace."

"What a gentleman!" She called after him as he started down the hall.

"I'll buy your dress!" He called back, "Hope you like green!"

"Piss off! I'm not wearing green!" She called back, standing up as if it might help her voice reach him as he turned the corner out of sight.

She sighed, watching him fade from view for a few moments before turning back to the bench behind her, a gasp escaping her lips as she jumped.

"Theo!" Grace exhaled, ignoring the smirk painted along his lips and reaching for her book from his grasp. "Give it." She ordered, grabbing for the book as Theo held it farther out of her reach.

"What are you up to, Gracie?" His voice was teasing as he finally plopped onto the bench, dropping the book back into her lap beside him.

"Don't call me that."

"We'll see." He leaned back against the stone wall despite the chill Grace could feel from inches away. "I had to get out of our common room. Pansy won't shut up about Malfoy and the bloody ball-"

Grace laughed, eyes flicking over to Theo's green ones. "I know. I just saw him."

"Hope he's in hiding. She's serious."

"He actually... asked me. If I'd go with him." She blinked, watching Theo's smile stall as he watched her in silence. "To get Pansy off his back." She laughed, nerves bubbling through her stomach.

Theo's eyes searched Grace's for a few moments, his eyebrows furrowed before answering. "You falling for Malfoy?"

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes, forcefully, grabbing her book and pulling her bag over her shoulder.

"Oh, Salazar. You are." Theo's lip curled as he jumped up after you. "You're Parkinson part two! Thought you Ravenclaws were smarter than that."

"Now you just sound ridiculous." She faked a laugh.

"You like them real mean, huh? What is it? The sneer, or the way he's racing around the castle to hide from Parkinson instead of being a man and telling her to piss off?" Theo taunted, the ghost of a smirk still pulling at his lips despite the dead look in his eyes.

"Yes, pot? This is kettle!" Grace grinned, peeking back at Theo as he followed her from the hallway, apparently not done with the conversation.

"Well, I'll see you there, I suppose." He snaked his fingers around the bag over his shoulder. "Maybe Zabini will ask Pansy..."

"Why are you so interested in her escort for this?" Grace looked up to the dark hazel eyes again.

"So she doesn't ask me, you twat." He grumbled through an eye roll.

"So confident in yourself, aren't you? Has she ever shown you any interest?"

"Why do I talk to you?" Theo shoved Grace light-heartedly across the thankfully empty hallway and began his walk towards the dungeons.

"Bye to you too!" She called, biting back a laugh.

➺

"Grace," Draco's voice drew the girl's attention from her paper as he fell into place beside her. The library was surprisingly empty for two days before the Holiday break. Wasn't everyone trying to cram in some last minute studying for tomorrow?

"Draco." She nodded, finishing her final sentence before looking to him, his eyes flicking between her work and the hallway outside of the library. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, his eyes meeting hers at last. "Just saw you alone in here, figured you needed some company."

"Oh, just what everyone wants while finishing homework. Company." She teased, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip to stifle the grin as she watched his lip curl up slightly.

"What homework? It's break tomorrow!"

"It's still class tomorrow! It seems like everyone forgot about that."

"Everyone but you. Nerd." He added, pulling her parchment towards him on the table. "Effects of Vanishing on Animate... She just set us this today. What's wrong with you!" He pulled the page from her grasp and slid it to the end of the table.

"Give it back, I'm halfway done!" She leaned across, Draco's hand reaching for her shoulder to hold her back in her seat with an amused glare.

"It's break. You're done with work." He smirked as she let out an irritated sigh and watched his eyes slink back to the hallway.

"What are you looking at?" She turned in her seat, the hallway just as empty as it had been the last three times she had checked. "You can't hide from her forever, you know. I'm actually stunned you've lasted this long."

"Well, I'm quite skilled." He shrugged, leaning forward onto the table with a large grin. "Besides, who says I'm avoiding anyone? I just get better grades when I'm around you."

"A likely story. Except that, as you said, 'it's break.'"

"Maybe I'm hoping some of your intelligence will rub off on me before I head home. My parents won't even recognize me."

"Oh, please." She lunged for her parchment, rolling it up and packing up the rest of her books. "What's the worst grade you've ever received? A 98?"

"You've got a lot of faith in me, Abbott."

"But am I wrong?" She finally stood, looking down to him as she secured her bag around her shoulders. "Coming to dinner?"

"No, I thought I'd starve instead." He answered, easily, standing with her and leading the way towards the hallway, sneaking a peek into the vacant corridor before letting them exit the warm library. "Get home all skin and bones, maybe then Father could get Dumbledore fired."

"Will you ever get past this? Dumbledore's never done anything to you-" She trailed off as Draco's mouth fell into a scowl. "Okay, nevermind, you're right. He's terrible. Got to go."

"Now there's my Ravenclaw." He teased, the typical smirk returning to his lips as they took the final few steps towards the Great Hall.

"Alright, well..." She trailed off as they crossed into the busy room, praying he was still too busy looking for Pansy to notice the pink painting her cheeks. "I'll see you around-"

"Come eat with us." His hand jutted out for her arm to stop her from moving towards the Ravenclaw table.

"With us?"

"Yeah," Draco nodded over near the center of the farthest table where Theo, Blaise, Lorenzo, Crabbe and Goyle were smirking back at him, Pansy and a few other Slytherin girls locked into a hushed conversation at the edge of the group. "Please, Grace." He practically begged, hand squeezing her arm slightly.

"You're literally throwing me to the wolves."

"I'll be with you!"

"You're just as bad." She grumbled, following his lead over towards the Slytherin.

"Look who we have here." Lorenzo called, raising his goblet to his lips in a poor attempt to hide his grin, his eyes flicking between Grace and the Slytherin girls a few seats down who were not trying to hide their stares. "I heard some interesting gossip today-"

"Drop it, Berkshire." Draco ordered, his tone doing nothing to diminish Enzo's playful attitude, though he didn't finish the sentence.

"You guys doing anything for the break?" Grace asked, scanning over the dinner spread on the table before them, not letting herself focus on the gazes she could feel latched to her.

"No, but I hear you are-" Enzo muttered, trailing off as Draco sighed and Theo shoved him so forcefully that the lanky brunette was forced to grab hold of the table to remain in his seat.

"Mother and I are going to Australia after Christmas." Blaise explained, Grace thanking him silently in her head.

"Oh, that'll be nice. How warm is it there now?"

"Warm enough." He smiled, "If it were up to her, we'd live on the beach year round."

"Aw, Blaise, you'd miss us too much." Draco teased, starting on his dinner.

"Quit." Theo muttered, shooting Enzo a stern look as the boy shrugged and picked his fork up once again.

"Theo?" Grace asked, watching the hazel eyes flicker to hers at once.

"Oh no. My holiday will be quite boring, thanks for asking." He admitted.

"Yeah, right. I'll be stunned if you're not at mine the entire time." Draco chuckled.

"Exactly."

The group laughed, and Grace finally allowed herself to glance at the Slytherin girls gathered at the end of their table. Pansy was thankfully fully interested in the small amount of food gathered on her plate, though Daphne met Grace's eyes and offered her half a smile.

➺

"I can't believe you didn't even tell Terry! He didn't even believe me when I told him, he said you would never-"

"Leah." Grace sighed, feeling the hint of nerves crawl through her stomach. Terry didn't like Malfoy. Or the Slytherin's in general, but especially Malfoy.

"I'm just saying!" Leah threw her hands in the air, as if to surrender, though Grace knew they were far from done with the subject. "He made me swear on my life, so you'd better tell him when we get back."

"Of course, I'll tell him." She pulled lightly on the leash of the speckled dog and it returned to the girl's side at once as they turned back onto Grace's street. It was supposed to snow later, and she had insisted on getting Domino a walk before it got too cold, much to Leah's disappointment. "I wasn't keeping it a secret. He asked me right before break, I didn't really get a chance-"

"Or you thought you were having another one of your dreams about him." Leah smirked, leaning out of the way as Grace tried to smack her with the end of the dog leash. "Walk faster, it's bloody freezing and I want to go dress shopping already-" Her voice trailed off as they approached the house, a large golden box seemingly floated mid air before her mother, who Grace was sure had never worn such a large grin in her life.

As they drew closer, Grace could see Rosie buried beneath the box and hurried to hand Domino's leash off to Leah, pulling the large box from the house elf's outstretched arms, resisting a glare for her mother.

"What is this?" She asked, stepping aside so Leah could get out of the cold, the dalmatian sneaking a final look at the commotion of the porch before deciding he'd much prefer the warmth of the house with Leah.

"Open it!" Her mother pulled her inside, Rosie shutting the door wordlessly behind them. Mrs. Abbot pressed a note into Grace's hand the second the box was set onto the table and Grace recognized the curving letters at once. The note was folded just once, her name scrawled perfectly in dark ink on the front.

Hope you like green. See you Sunday.

-D. Malfoy

"Oh Merlin..." Leah trailed off, eyes wider even than Mrs. Abbot's sparkling white grin. "Open it!"

Grace pulled the golden top from the box, her mouth falling open slightly as the four of them gazed down at the pine colored gown.

"I can't believe you, Grace. I'm so proud of you. The Malfoy's..." Her mother mumbled as Grace gently pulled the dress from the box, watching the skirt slip towards the floor, the silk smooth and crease free beneath her fingers.

"Mom, we're just friends. I already told you-"

"He wouldn't have asked you if you were just friends, Grace. The Malfoy's take these things very seriously-"

"Not him." She answered, forcing her voice into a dull tone to avoid snapping at her mother. "I've already-"

"Grace, let's go try it on. There's no way Malfoy got the right length, of course." Leah interrupted, obviously noting the tension in the room and dragging Grace towards the steps to her bedroom. "That thing is gorgeous, wow... Even if he's not in love with you now, he might be by the end of the night." Leah teased, unfazed by the eye roll she had received, more focused on the soft pink now painting Grace's cheeks.

"My mom's been insufferable since I came home. I almost wish I hadn't told her and just snuck out that night." Grace called from her closet, stepping into the cool fabric of the dress and pulling the straps up to her shoulders. "I'm going to be freezing in this!"

"Just come out already before I die of boredom." Leah ordered from her perch on the perfectly made up bed.

"Hardly been two minutes..." Grace grumbled, stepping out of the closet and watching Leah's face closely for her reaction.

"Bloody h-" She trailed off with a glance to the hallway, clearly remembering the dozens of scoldings she had received for her bad language in the past. "Who cares if you're cold if you look like that, turn around let me button it." She rushed forward. "Besides, I'm sure the Malfoy's have their house elves follow each guest around with a heater."

"Funny." Grace nodded, watching in the mirror as the dress tightened as Leah finished the final button near her spine. "It's really nice."

"Who knew green would be your color?" Leah smirked from behind her in the reflection, laughter falling from her lips as Grace shook her head through a grin.

"The length is right..." She muttered, glancing at the floor. Especially with heels..." She glanced to the closet again, mind already spinning with her inventory.

"The length is right... the size is right... the color, the fabric, the straps... It''s perfect. You can say it."

"Mhm." Grace called back absentmindedly, pulling out pairs of shoes at random and tossing them back into place before landing on a pair of gem covered golden heels, bringing them out for Leah's opinion.

"Why aren't you acting excited?" Leah groaned, flopping back onto the bed.

"I am! I'm just... A little nervous. The Malfoys... Those balls, we haven't ever gone."

"Neither have most of society." She pointed out.

"It's just... My mom's been talking about it all weekend. How we would have been going to these events this whole time if my uncle hadn't..." Grace couldn't finish the sentence, a bad taste growing in the back of her throat at the thought.

"Oh, Hannah's parents?" Leah's face fell when she realized.

"I swear I've heard Sacred 28 more times since I've been home for break than I have in my entire life." She sighed, slipping out of the dress again and hanging it on its own rack in the closet carefully before pulling on a sweater set and returning to her friend's side, falling onto the bed beside her to stare at the ceiling. "I'm sure it'll be brought up. My muggleborn aunt and my dirty blooded cousin."

"Now, you know that's not exactly what's going to be said." The edges of her lips curled slightly, never one to pass up a joke, no matter how dark. "And besides, as your dirty blooded best friend, I'm sure Draco wouldn't have asked you if that was even a thought in his mind. Your blood is pure and that's all he cares about."

"Oh, shut up." Grace could no longer hold back a laugh, clapping her hands over her eyes as she let the nerves evaporate from her system, letting the laughter take over. "Well, dress shopping's out... what should we do instead?"

"In this house? Of endless depression where I'm not allowed to cuss?" Leah looked around as if pondering, "Go to mine."

Grace chuckled, nodding slowly as she pushed off the bed and led the way downstairs towards the fireplace.