!!TW: Body image/ Weight issues, Sexual Assault, Drinking!!

This is another long one oops but because it's a pArTy chapter I made some playlists to go with the story<3

Party Playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tePgOafSDDRCuqazdcAxd?si=zrWEaYIFTei6Brk7EDZP1w

After the Party - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pzn426EfhMJywW2ApOp41?si=-CPb10DwQgG8cAN3Xi6y_A

******

Draco was sitting on the edge of his bed with his knee bouncing up and down and fiddling with his ring. He was thinking over what he was going to tell his parents, what he was going to tell You-Know-Who.

He still hadn't fixed the cabinet and it hadn't been responding to any of the spells he was using on it, if he didn't do something soon he was sure there would be a penalty.

Draco didn't mind so much the idea of him being the one reprimanded but the thought of his mother being punished for his uselessness made his stomach churn.

That was the thing with You-Know-Who, he used family to get to people. Unconditional love means that human beings would do anything for family, but You-Know-Who takes that love and he bends and breaks it until it's something distorted and ugly.

Either way it was the last day before the break and Draco had to come up with something to report. He was planning on going to the Room of Requirement later during the ball, because everyone would be occupied in the Great Hall. And in case he couldn't manage to fix it tonight he had found a necklace, he had the idea of hexing it and giving it to Dumbledore then he wouldn't have to fix the cabinet at all. He had slipped the necklace into his trunk so he could show it to the death eaters.

Draco's train of thought was interrupted by Nott barging into the dorm in a ridiculous outfit; he was some kind of knife wielding murderer.

"What are you still doing up here, the ball starts soon - get changed!"

"No, Nott. I'm busy." Draco brushed past him to walk to the bathroom.

"Oh come on Malfoy. You've been a boring git all term, we've hardly seen you. Come on just this once".

Draco had really isolated himself this term, not on purpose. His friends knew about his task so tried to stay out of his way as much as possible - to let him fulfil it. But he missed them and spending days alone in the Room of Requirement was starting to drive him up the walls. He always had the necklace anyway. Draco took a deep sigh in and turned to Theo.

"Yeah go on then" he responded with a half smirk.

"Brilliant mate, look I've got something you can wear".

*****

"Ok so we picked out a few things in Hogsmeade"

Hermione held a shopping bag up in the air and poured the contents onto her bed.

"Yeah but me and 'Mione both think you should wear this one" Ginny walked over and picked up a piece of clothing from the pile.

"I am not wearing that!"

"Oh come on Violet you'll look amazing" Ginny pleaded.

"Where's the rest of it?"

"Just try it on" Ginny forced it into Violet's hand and ushered her into the bathroom, "Don't come out until it's on".

Hermione and Ginny were already in their costumes. Hermione was a bat; she was wearing a sleeveless black mini dress with a lacy cape, pointy black ears and black ballet pumps. She'd twisted her hair into a low bun with two loose pieces in the front and was wearing black eyeshadow and lipstick. Ginny was little red riding hood; she had a white puff-sleeve top with a black corset and a red and white gingham skirt, a red hooded cape, white tights and red kitten heels. Her hair was straight as it normally was and she had put on some red lipstick.

"Ok I'm ready" Violet nervously walked out from the bathroom "Guys, I really don't know about this one"

Violet was dressed as a Playboy bunny; she was wearing a black latex bodysuit with a white bunny tail on her rear, black fishnet tights, a bow tie choker with a white collar and bunny ears. It was an extremely revealing costume with her entire leg on show as well as her arms and cleavage.

Violet never told her friends this but she was quite insecure of her body, she never brought it up because her friends always seemed so confident in their own skin. Violet on the other hand felt that her hips and thighs were too wide and that she had too much fat on her upper arms - don't even get her started on her stomach. She wasn't 'oversized' per se but she wasn't as slim as Hermione and Ginny and had extremely fluctuating weight that she tried to cover at all costs. This costume on the other hand had no room for hiding, she was all on show.

"Merlin's beard! Violet you look incredible - you have to wear it" Hermione praised. "I've got some black heels that would go perfect with this costume"

Hermione ran to her dresser and rummaged around a bit before reappearing with a pair of black block heels, she placed them in front of Violet's feet and she slipped into them.

"Put on some of my lipstick" Ginny chimed in grabbing her lipstick and applying it to Violet's lips. "Perfect".

The three girls stood in front of the mirror together and chuckled between themselves. After she had got over the initial shock of her costume Violet was actually quite looking forward to the ball.

*****

The girls were meeting the boys at the Great Hall so they left the common room and made their way there. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs they stood outside the hall for a few moments to take it all in.

The hall was practically shaking with the volume of the music inside, the house tables had been overturned and pushed to the edges to make space for the dance floor and refreshments area. The enchanted ceiling reflected a misty full moon, swarming with bats and the floating candles were dimmer than usual to add to the atmosphere.

Despite this being called a 'ball' by the school, it was really anything but. It was nothing like the Yule Ball with classical music and gowns, it was more like a school wide piss up. The teachers left the students to their own devices on Halloween - it was an unspoken rule that the Halloween ball was unsupervised. The teachers knew there was no point trying to resist it because the students would find a way around it anyway.

The twins used to spike the drinks, I wonder who'll do it now?

"Blimey, you three took your time" Ron grinned jogging over to where the girls were. Ron was dressed as a scarecrow; he was wearing a red checked shirt with denim overalls over the top, he had strips of yellow fabric poking out of his sleeves to resemble straw (Violet couldn't help but think how similar it looked to his Yule Ball suit) and he'd painted yellow patches on his face.

"Ginny you look really... nice" Harry said as he appeared from the crowds. He was dressed as a vampire; he had on a white shirt with a black waistcoat, black trousers and a red velvet blazer. He'd painted his face white and had fangs in with fake blood around his mouth.

"You look, nice, too" Ginny blushed.

"Come on then you lot, shall we dance?" the group headed into the middle of the dance floor and started to jump around to the pounding music.

After a few songs Violet spotted Luna and Neville in the crowd and moved towards them, Luna was dressed as a fairy and Neville was Frankenstein.

"Hey Luna, Hey Neville!" Violet hollered over the music, still jumping.

"Pardon?" Luna shouted back.

"Hey Luna!"

"Pardon?"

Violet just shook her head at Luna, smiling, and headed back to where her friends were - except she couldn't find them in the crowd of leaping bodies. Violet started to get bashed around a bit by everyone's carefree dance moves and after a particularly hard shove from somewhere behind her she fell forward, luckily someone grabbed her forearms and she fell into their hold.

Wait. I recognise this scent...

She looked up only to realise she was being held by Malfoy. He wasn't dressed as an identifiable character; he was wearing a black tuxedo with a white shirt that was covered in - hopefully fake - blood. She looked at him for a few moments before he put his arm around her and escorted her out of the throng of teenagers. They stopped just next to the refreshments table.

"Um, you didn't need to do that. I was fine" Violet said gripping her upper left arm with her right hand, covering her body because she suddenly felt very exposed.

"You weren't fine - you would've hurt yourself if I wasn't there"

"No, I wouldn't-"

"Stop lying." He reprimanded clenching his jaw "Why are you doing..." he looked her up and down and gestured to her body with his hand "...this anyway"

"Doing what, Malfoy?"

"Dressing like- like this"

"Like. What." She seethed

"Like a slut. Why are you dressed like a slut."

She knew she should've been offended, but she was expecting him to make a hurtful comment on her figure. Plus, she'd never been called a slut before and it gave her an odd surge of confidence, and deep down she knew she should've shouted at him or called him a prick for saying that but she desperately wanted to apply her new found self-confidence.

So Violet placed her hands on her hips and licked her lips as she stepped right in front of Malfoy. She leaned close to his ear and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Just for you" she smirked. She then leaned back and flicked her hair behind her shoulder before turning to go back onto the dance floor. Except he grabbed her forearm and pulled her back to face him, Malfoy yanked her into his body so that he was towering over her.

"Do you think you're funny?"

"Hilarious, actually" she batted her eyelashes at him, innocently.

"No one talks to me like that"

"Well, I think I just did" she ripped her arm away from his grasp and strutted back to the dance floor.

"HEY! You don't just get to leave!"

She lifted her arm in the air and flipped him off as she walked away. She spotted Harry in the corner of the room and walked over to him.

"What happened over there with Malfoy, Did he hurt you?"

"Hurt me?" Violet laughed "No not at all, he was just being his usual mouthy self"

"Ok but be careful with him - remember what I said at the beginning of the year"

"Yeah I remember" Violet's smile faded "Anyway how about we go and get some drinks?" She grabbed Harry's hand and they started to walk over to the refreshments.

"Where's everyone else?" Violet shouted as they walked through the dance floor and the music started to overpower their senses.

"Ron and 'Mione are over there" Harry pointed to the middle of the crowd where Hermione and Ron were jumping around together - giggling to each other.

"Good for them" Violet and Harry shared a smile, they're both waiting for the pair to get together and often tell each other what Hermione's said about Ron and vice versa.

They reached the refreshments and both grabbed a cup of fruit punch from the bowl. Despite the twins not being here someone had definitely spiked the punch because Violet felt the firewhiskey burn her throat on the way down.

"Merlin" Harry grimaced, he was not a huge fan of firewhiskey. "Do you want mine?"

"Yeah sure" she took Harry's drink and downed both the cups, which he chuckled at.

"I forgot to say earlier, but I really like your costume. It suits you" Harry smiled.

"Thanks" Violet pulled him into a tight hug. "You look great too - now let's go and dance" Violet grabbed his hand once again and ran into the jam-packed dance floor, dragging Harry behind her.

They flailed around violently and screamed lyrics to songs until their throats were sore. Violet was having the time of her life and she couldn't stop grinning - she loved how much effort everyone had put into their costumes and that everyone was letting loose. There wasn't much time for relaxing these days, especially for Harry, everyone knew they were on the brink of war; but tonight everyone danced as if they didn't have a care in the world.

"I'm going to go and grab some water" Harry yelled, Violet nodded and he left the dance floor.

Violet stayed on the dance floor by herself - the firewhiskey had taken full effect and she could feel it coursing through her veins, heightening her senses. The lights seemed more vibrant, the music echoed and she felt like the most powerful person in the world. She jumped, swayed and twirled carelessly to the beat which felt like it was ingrained into her brain, until she felt a hand on her waist.

She turned her head to identify the person but she couldn't make out their face because she was disoriented and her vision was slightly blurred. Plus the person's face was painted like a skeleton - so even if she wanted to she couldn't tell who it was; but they had curly dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes.

"You look so sexy tonight" the man hissed into her ear pulling her closer to his body. Violet struggled against his grip, but she was drunk and he was strong. His hand felt as thought it was moulded to her waist and when she tried to get away his grip just got tighter.

"L-Let me g-go" her words were slurred, as were her thoughts. She was extremely uncomfortable and just wanted to leave.

"Hey, it's alright. Just calm down" He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and locked her against his body placing his other hand over her breast. He leant down and kissed her neck.

Violet's breathing became sporadic and tears welled up in her eyes. She started thrashing against him and she must've hit him in the eye because he released his grip on her and cupped his face.

"You bitch! We were just having fun!" He barked, but Violet was already barging her way through the crowd of dancers - trying to get off the dance floor. She was still heavily intoxicated which meant that she was stumbling into people as she walked past them. Once she removed herself from the crowd she walked briskly to the exit of the Great Hall - she didn't want to run as to not draw too much attention to herself.

But once she left the hall she broke into a sprint and hurtled down the corridor, then the tears started to fall. She felt like his hands were all over her and she couldn't shake the vulgar feeling - she felt trapped in her own body.

Violet ran until she reached the courtyard. The late autumn night was numbingly cold although the crisp air felt as though it sobered her and she took deep gulps of it for a few seconds. She took a seat on the stone bench and put her head in her hands and started to shake - Violet couldn't tell whether it was from the cold or from the violation.

She felt so stupid for putting herself in that position.

Why didn't I go with Harry?

Why did I drink so much?

Why did I wear this?

Until she thought for a moment, this wasn't her fault. She did nothing wrong - it was all him and that made Violet's heart drop. How could someone she couldn't even recognise have this much of an effect on her.

She knew it wasn't her fault but she couldn't help but feel ashamed.

After crying into her hands for a few minutes Violet felt someone's presence sit beside her, she lifted her head and once again made eye contact with those intense silver eyes. Malfoy.

Why does he always show up at the worst bloody times.

She wiped under her eyes with the side of her hand and looked straight ahead, trying to avoid eye contact.

He didn't say anything for the first few minutes and Violet started to shiver, this time from the cold. Malfoy removed his suit jacket and held it in front of her face.

"I'm fine-"

"Don't be so stubborn" she turned to look at him with confusion written across her face. "You needed my help in the party and couldn't admit it, you need my help now. Just take the bloody jacket."

She took the jacket from his hand and shrugged it on, she inhaled his scent as it took over her senses - and she felt the same sense of comfort from the jacket that she had with his jumper.

"Better?"

She just nodded, averting her gaze to her hands in her lap.

"Why are you crying?"

"I really don't want to talk about it"

"Did someone hurt you" There was a hint of concern laced in his voice which baffled Violet.

"I- um- no"

"Who was it?"

She looked up at him once again to try and find any trace of mocking, but she found none.

"I don't know"

"What do you mean you-"

"I mean I don't know" Violet exploded "I was drunk and it was crowded and I don't know who it was"

She'd stunned him with her outburst and they just sat looking at each other for a few heartbeats. A lump formed in her throat and her eyes surged with tears when she tried to recall the memory, however she would've sooner died than let Malfoy watch her cry so she took a deep breath and swallowed the lump - and then the most absurd thing happened. Malfoy's hand started to rise from the bench and slowly inch closer to Violet's face. He went to cup her cheek in his hand but the second he made contact Violet flinched.

It was like her body had automatically rejected his touch and it disappointed her because she wanted him to touch her - comfort her.

"Gardner I wasn't going to hurt you" He mumbled.

"I know" her voice trailed off because she couldn't think of anything to say. I mean what was she meant to say.

Oh yeah Malfoy I know we hate each other and do nothing but argue but could you touch my face again, cheers.

"I have your jumper" she blurted

"What? What do you mean"

"Your jumper, from detention. I know it was yours - you were the only other person there besides Filch and I get the feeling it wasn't his"

A small smile crept onto Malfoy's face from the comment.

"I can get it back to you after half term-"

"Keep it." he responded quickly.

A smile formed on Violet's face mirroring Malfoy's previous expression. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, he was looking off into the distance and she was trying to suppress her smile whilst looking down at her hands. Her gaze moved to his hands either side of him on the bench.

Malfoy had strong hands, they were much larger than her own and covered with deep indigo veins - she followed the veins down to his arm and couldn't help but think how they resembled deep rivers separating the bones in his hand. He also wore a large silver, serpent crested ring on his middle finger.

She didn't know how to form the words, but she desperately wanted him to hold her face again. She wasn't sure if it was the last traces of firewhiskey clouding her thoughts or something she genuinely wanted. But she did want it.

So she gingerly placed her dainty hand over his and lifted it, he turned to look at her with wonder. Violet carefully placed Malfoy's hand where it had once been on her face, cupping her cheek and she held it there. She felt his icy ring cool her flushed skin.

After a few moments his hand seemed to relax and moulded to the shape of her face, his silver eyes locked onto her brown ones the whole time. He carefully lifted his thumb and brushed it across her cheek and Violet's breath hitched in her throat.

She thought about what Harry had said about Malfoy and what he was, but in this moment she was sure Harry was wrong.

She felt the whole world melt away around them, as though they were always meant to be there. Her and him. Violet and Draco.

His thumb traced its way down to her mouth and lightly tugged at her bottom lip.

"Malfoy..."

He hummed in acknowledgement.

"I thought you didn't like me. I mean you always call me a mu-"

"- Gardner. I- I'm"

She thought he might've been trying to say the words 'I'm sorry' but she'd never know. His hand fell from her face and he looked away from her.

Abashed, she stood from the bench and removed his jacket, placing it next to him.

"Okay then" she breathed and turned to walk out of the courtyard. Just before she reached the edge of the courtyard she heard...

"Gardner!"

She froze in place but didn't turn around.

"I didn't get detention, you asked me when I had - got detention. I hadn't"

She didn't turn around but stood wallowing in his words for a few moments, and then she left.

*****

Discussion :)

Earlier when I was describing the party I used the word 'piss up' which I know is a very British phrase so I just wanted to clear that up, just incase anyone doesn't understand

So a piss up is basically a house party where everyone gets super drunk :)