Numb

By: Anti Darth Ani

Chapter Three: Feeling

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Author's Notes:

I known it takes me forever with this story, and which Seven Minutes in Heaven, but here's a new chapter to keep you content while I work on the next chapter and all my other stories. Reviews make me feel better and get me to update faster. hint hint :P

I'm not sure if I've already mentioned it, but it's important that you know that this story is the companion piece to my other story, Breaking the Habit. If you hadn't already read that story, you don't really need to. But if the idea sounds familiar, it's because the basic plot line is going to be the same throughout the rest of the story. Just thought you'd like to know :P

P.S. Also, if you have a little spare time and you would love to see these chapters up faster, I'm looking for an editor for my story. It would allow me to update a LOT faster. So if you have the time to edit quickly, then leave a note in your comment, along with your e-mail or AIM, and I'll get back to you.

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It was one of his favorite traditions of the school. It was an excuse for girls to get all dressed up, although he often wondered why they bothered since over half of them would be naked by the end of the night. They got all happy and drunk and begged the boys, no make that gentlemen, to take advantage of them. The secret to the Yule Ball though was to not take a date with you. Draco had learned this little fact after his fourth year. You go to the dance by yourself and then you simply hook up with the best dressed up girl at the Yule Ball. Then you won't be disappointed.

Draco reminded himself of this fact as he drowned down his Butterbeer, imagining that it was a Fire Whiskey or something equally strong. The restrictions on the ages of drinking at the school were really ridiculous, not that the Slytherins and many others hadn't found ways to get around them. How could you not be disappointed when you couldn't even really get piss drunk on the most 'exciting' evening in the school year? Draco let out a short sigh and drowned down the rest of his drink until he could see the bottom of his glass.

A pair of arms draped around his neck from behind. His face immediately turned into a frown as his hands automatically reached for his wand in the hidden pocket of his dress robes. "Relax," a silky voice whispered into his ear and a hand reached for his to prevent him from grabbing his wand, "all I want to do it dance, Draco."

Draco shrugged off the arms. He didn't want to look like she owned him or anything. In fact, he didn't even want to be associated with her. Not since her father had tied him to that chair and branded him with the mark that haunted him every night in his dreams. No, he didn't want anything to do with her. But she still managed to find him no matter where he went, no matter how many times he yelled at her that all she was to him was a little whore who couldn't satisfy him anymore. He didn't think anyone could be as thickheaded as his father, but Pansy came pretty damn close.

"Fuck off, Pansy," Draco snarled and reached for his wand again. As his hand wrapped around the handle of the long stick of wood, Pansy began to suck on his ear. "Now, Draco, don't try to hide your burning feelings for me. I know it's hard for you sometimes, but you really do need to learn not to let your sexual frustrations turn your mood so sour."

Draco stood up quickly, grabbing her chin in his hand. He jerked her head right up close to his. "Shut up you bloody harpy and listen to what I'm saying for once in your life. You have ten seconds to get away from me before I blow your head off your oversized shoulders. Understand?"

Pansy laughed. She actually had the nerve to laugh at him, right in his face. "I know you wouldn't ever hurt me, Draco. You're too afraid of what my father would say to me if you did." Even with her face covered by a beautiful mask, he still could see her horrible face through it. And it disgusted him. Releasing her face, Draco turned around and headed for the dance floor. He knew she would follow him so he needed to find a distraction, anything to keep her away from him for just a little while.

A couple landed on the floor in front of him as a new song began to play. The male began to walk away, so Draco quickly grabbed the girl's hand. He lead her further into the mass of dancers, glad she wasn't trying to protest. The last thing he wanted was to create a scene and allow Pansy to find him. As long as he had his mask covering his face, he'd blend in with everyone else. And for just one night in his life, being like everyone else was fine for Draco, as long as he could escape from Pansy.

Once he was satisfied he had lost Pansy, he stopped walking and turned to face the girl he'd grabbed. He didn't recognize her, mostly because he couldn't see her face. Wavy curls of lengthy brown hair settled from their bouncing as she came to a halt in front of him. The dress was a little black halter top that left little to the imagination, but it made you want to discover what little skin it covered. She must be a Slytherin, Draco thought as he looked at the contrasting white mask with bright pink jewels placed on it.

He slowly pulled her toward him and he felt them slowly lift off of the floor. As they came to a stop in the air, he saw how the ends of her mouth curled up in a little grin and he wanted to ask her what was so funny, but instead he just stared at her hair through the little slits in his mask. One of his hands rested on her hips while the other pulled her hand up closer to his side. He started swaying slowly to the music, if that's what they really called the crap coming from the stage. Her looks mesmerized him and Draco realized that this was the girl he'd come to the dance for this year. She was the girl he was going to take back to his room at the end of the dance.

"Michael?" Her voice startled him, although the name she called out confused him. It took him a moment to realize that he was in fact still wearing his mask, so there was no way she'd been able to recognize him. He smirked at her, now even more curious as to who the mystery girl was. He slowly pushed her away from him, releasing her hips for a brief moment to spin her around under their arms. When she returned to him, his hands found her side again and he slowly pulled her body flush up against his. Let her think he was whoever she wanted him to be, he didn't care for the night. As long as she wasn't Pansy, he didn't care who she was. The point was that she was beautiful and he had to find out why he didn't recognize her.

She wasn't good at dancing, Draco noted. That, or she wasn't motivated yet to really start moving. His hand pushed against her hip lightly and then pulled it back, causing her to move her hips side to side whether she wanted to or not. If he had to spend the entire night hiding from Pansy, then he was at least going to enjoy himself with whoever his masked goddess was. She finally seemed to relax in his arms, moving her hips by herself. Her free arm came up to wrap around his neck. They began to dance a little faster to try to catch up with the pounding rhythm of the music blaring from the middle of the large Great Hall.

He held back a little moan as her hips occasionally came into contact with his lower regions which felt like they were on fire. She's probably a sixth year and that's why I don't recognize her, he thought as they moved faster and faster. I'll have to make sure I ask her name before we get back to my room. Or at least take off her mask so I can see her face a little more clearly. He looked directly into her eyes, trying to memorize them and pull up any memory he had of a girl anything close to her, but nothing came up. He absentmindedly spun her around. As she began to turn back around to face him, he pulled her back up against him before she could face him again.

Now this was real dancing. The kind of dancing he did during the summer with all the beautiful women he managed to pick up at the clubs his father sent him to. But she danced better than any of those girls did, he thought to himself and she started moving her hips against him without his lead. He let his hands slide down her arms until they reached her hips again. He held onto her there and rested his head against the back of her head, staring straight ahead at all the other people dancing around them. So far, no annoying Pansy had managed to pull him away and Draco felt relief in the fact that he'd finally escaped from her for the night. Now all he had to do was get the little vixen in his arms to get out of there with him.

He felt her hands slowly come to rest on top of his. They were cool against his, which surprised him since he was almost sweating from the strain of all their dancing. Her fingers ran over his before sliding around his and pressing his hand a little tighter against her hips. She leaned her head back and he shifted just the slightest to the side to allow her head to fall onto his shoulder.

He could hear her soft breathing and even though he couldn't see, he knew she had closed her eyes. So maybe she was being affected by him, at least a little. Draco smirked to himself and let his chin rest on her shoulder. He turned to face the side of her face and he slowly began to suck on her outer earlobe. He wasn't quite sure why, but girls always seemed to enjoy anything a guy did to their ears. It fascinated him how her breathing increased as his tongue rolled around the outside of her ear and his teeth scraped softly around the bottom lobe of her ear.

The song finally ended and Draco was relieved until the next song started up. It was just as fast paced at the previous one and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up all night. He'd last another five minutes, tops, before he'd start sweating. And Malfoys never sweated, for it wasn't businesslike and very impolite. He felt her shift against him and she managed to lean forward a little. Her hips moved even faster, yet he couldn't force his body to sway any faster than it was already moving. Her fingers squeezed his even harder and Draco almost winced at the pain. She was quite strong for a female, he realized as she finally began to relax against him again.

When she leaned back against him again, Draco let go of her ear, tiring of its bland taste. When he let the side of his face rest against hers, he noticed that when he glanced down, he could see a good ways down the front of her dress, which only added to the seducing grip she had on him. He wanted to run his tongue around down there instead.

Again the song ended and Draco let out a silent sigh of relief when a slow song started up again. He pushed her slowly around until she was facing him again. He couldn't see her face, but he saw the pink tint to her skin on her neck and the part of her chest he could see. She was just as ready to leave as he was. He wanted to get away for the night, wanted to take her away with him. At the same time, something in his gut told him he was going to regret it. Something about the way her head tilted ever so slightly to the side when she looked at him bothered him because it seemed so familiar, but he couldn't place it to save his life.

He was surprised she made the first move. And he didn't even realize she'd gotten closer to him until her lips were pressed firmly against his and her tongue was prodding around the inside of his mouth. As soon as she kissed him, it didn't matter if he was going to regret it in the morning. He had to discover more of her, all of her. He silently pulled away and stopped dancing. She looked puzzled, even with her mask on. As their feet landed back on the floor, Draco let go of her hips in order to take her hand into his. Then he quickly pulled her away from the rest of the crowd, towards the entrance of the Great Hall, ignoring the look Dumbledore gave him as they slid past the headmaster and down the hallway towards the Slytherin tower.

She didn't say a word as he led her through the tangles of walls in Hogwarts. He'd memorized the path to the tower years ago, but it seemed to take longer than usual to get to his final destination. As they half walked, half ran down the long corridor towards the back of the school, the clinking of her shoes against the stone floors filled his ears. It almost drove him crazy, the sound repeating over and over, and each time her foot hit the floor, it seemed the hallway just grew longer and longer. Finally, he stopped running and turned around to face her. "Will you please take off those bloody shoes?" he hissed, trying to remember which hallway he needed to take to get to the tower. But now he couldn't remember where they were and he suddenly felt lost.

She didn't speak a word as she slipped off her shoes. As she took off the second one, she rested her hand against his shoulder to balance herself as she pulled the high heel off of her foot. She held them up to carry them and looked up at him. Draco turned back to the hallway that stretched out in front of them. One of the teachers must have charmed it so that we couldn't get back until after the dance. They're really serious about student relationships this year. He looked back at the girl standing quietly behind him. Lot of bloody good they did, he snickered to himself.

Giving up on trying to get back to the Head Boy's room through the halls, he reached out to the girl and took her hand, quickly Apparating them both to his room. One minute, they were standing in the hallway and the next they'd finally arrived in his private room. He released her hand, feeling funny holding it. He flicked his wand towards the fireplace and light filled the room as it started to warm the room up immediately.

"You know you're not allowed to Apparate yet," she told him calmly, pulling the mask off of her face. He flopped down on the couch in front of the fire. He stared at her face, taking in all the features he'd missed with the mask on. Her face was lightly tanned without a freckle or mole on it, no blemishes at all. Her smile, which always seemed to cover her face, went from ear to ear and almost touched her nose. Her eyes twinkled with the reflection of the fire.

"Yes, I do know that," he responded just as casually, reaching for the end table. He opened the drawer and pulled out an almost full bottle of Fire Whiskey. He then produced two shot glasses, filling them to the rim. "Well, don't just stand over there."

She slowly walked over to him and sat down next to him, taking the glass he offered her. He drained his in one small swallow and set it back down on the table. Pulling off his mask, he tossed it to the floor, barely missing the fire. Almost a pity it didn't make it in, he thought before turning back to face the mystery girl. She'd drank her shot glass, but now she was just staring at him, not moving a single millimeter. He raised an eyebrow at her before she suddenly jerked up, dropping the glass onto the carpet. "I really shouldn't be here," she muttered while she looked around everywhere.

Draco took his time standing up. "What in the world are you looking for?" he asked, as if he really cared. She didn't answer, just looked around frantically for something. She finally picked up her shoes and jammed her feet into them, walking to the door as she did. Finally, he realized she was going to try to leave. After everything, she was just leaving.

He beat her to the door. Arms crossed over his chest, he looked at her, "Where in the world are you going?" he asked. She shook her head, but she didn't try to push past him. His hand came up and he brushed his fingertips against the side of her face. She shifted her head away from his touch, just barely but he noticed it. "Are you disappointed now that you know who I am? Because, honestly, I'd say it's the first time someone's been unhappy that someone turned out to be me."

She looked up at him, directly looking into his eyes, and once against he felt that he shouldn't be keeping her here, that he shouldn't have brought her in the first place. But the alcohol was in his blood stream now and she was just too sexy to let escape. "I'm not disappointed," she whispered, "but I really can't do this, Malfoy." It was weird the way she said his name. Almost no one called him by his last name. Again he wondered why he didn't recognize her.

"Just stay for tonight," he whispered. He wouldn't give up that easily. Malfoys always got what they wanted and he wanted her tonight. Even if he couldn't see her again, he wanted her tonight. He didn't know why he needed her so badly, but he just felt it. It came from the same part of him that was begging him to let her leave now before he did anything stupid he would regret.

He brushed his lips against hers, unable to resist the urges he felt anymore. She seemed to cave then, leaning against him and allowing him to devour her. "Just tonight," she whispered and he nodded, catching her lips with his.