Julia was surprised as the two had spoken. She frowned at his words about her family. Her family never took anything; Grimmauld Place was left to her family by Sirius Black. Before she could say anything to defend either of them, the fight had broken out. She had dove in, trying to pull the two apart. All that she achieved was getting punched in the face by Morpheus in the process before the headmaster and Professor Prince managed to stop things. She watched them take the attacker away and turned to Caelum, gently helping adjust his robes,"Are you okay?" She asked softly, still looking shocked at what had just happened.

When she saw the punch to her friend's face, Amira looked at Aren,"What was that about?" She gently took his hand,"Let's go make sure they are okay." She walked with him over to Julia and Caelum,"Are you two alright?" She asked,"What on Earth just happened?"

Olivia was with Frank when she noticed what was going on,"Let's check on our friends first though." She said,"That isn't looking really good..."

"I should be asking you that." Caelum sighed as his fingers ghosted over Julia's cheek, frowning as he remembered Morpheus' filthy fist on her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. Especially tonight."


Aren answered for the two after hearing Amira question them. "That inbred worm wanted to pick a fight, that's what happened. It's a good thing the professors were nearby and that Madame Pomfrey happened to be here."


Frank rushed to his two friends, and like a worried mother, looked them over, turning one cheek over the other for bruises. "Thank goodness you two are alright. You had us worried!" He scolded.

Julia nodded, gently rubbing her face, "My family took Grimmauld Place? It was left to my family by Sirius Black. If the rest of his family hadn't been full of dark wizards, he would know that..." She sighed, "Leave it for a jerk to ruin a fun night." She sighed.

Amira amiled at her friend gently, "Who says its ruined ?" She asked, "Its still early... the dance has just begun. Who says we have to let it ruin the night?"

Olivia nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Frank and I were going to get something to eat. You guys wanna join us?"

Caelum smiled at the group (woah, mister Slytherin is smiling a lot these days) but rejected Olivia's offer. "They've just started to play a very interesting waltz." He turned to Julia and extended an arm as he bent his back, bowing a little. "May I have this dance?"

Aren shivered at the 'cheesiness' of the whole scene playing in front of him, never imagining that Caelum would be able to do anything ... like that ... at all. But if he were to say so himself, his friend's been a charming gentleman since the start of the ball, excluding the little scramble they had with Black earlier. He turned to his own date and grinned as he whispered. "Let's leave Frank with Olivia for a while, give them some alone time by the buffet table." He pulled back and joked to his friend. "This, Caelum, is how you ask a girl to dance."

He bowed extravagantly, his robes fluttering behind him as his arms pushed them away. He took a hold of Amira's hand and once again lightly kissed her knuckles. "My lady, would you give this humbled gentleman a chance to take you to dance on this beautiful night?"


Frank reddened at his friend's antics and steered Olivia to the buffet table, not wanting any part of that foolery.

Amira couldn't help but giggle as Aren spoke but when he asked, she nodded,"Of course~" She said, letting Aren lead her away. She waved to them as they went off to dance.

Olivia looked over at Frank,"It's alright." She said softly, knowing it was just a joke,"Let's just relax and enjoy the evening, alright?" She gently patted his hand, walking with him towards the buffet table so they could eat something,"I must admit, with all the excitement today, I'm fairly hungry." She blushed a bit in embarrassment at her admission.

Julia shook her head at Aren's words, watching her friends go off with their dates before looking at Caelum,"It may be a little cheesy," She said,"But I wouldn't have it any other way." She gently took Caelum's hand,"I would love to dance with you." She said

The Merry Widow Waltz had just started playing and the sweet melody washed over the crowd. The pairs dancing on the floor had already started to move in threes, swaying together with the music.

Caelum led Julia to a somewhat unoccupied area of the dance floor and joined the crowd. He took her hand and held her close as he let her follow where he led. His eyes caught the wonky dance movements of his Italian friend on the far side of the hall and chuckled, shaking his head.

Julia let him lead, doing her best to keep in time and not miss any steps. She never danced much before so this was somewhat new to her anyway. But she was having the time of her life. She saw Amira and Aren dancing together and smiled. She was glad they seemed to really hit it off. She knew Amira had been iffy at first about going with Aren but she knew now Amira was probably so glad she chose to go with him.

While dancing, she also happened to see Frank and Olivia sitting together, talking about things and smiling as they nibbled on some of the things they had brought with them from the table. She could see they were having a good time and looked over at Caelum and smiled,"Despite the instance earlier, this has really been a wonderful night."

Caelum stood by the Thestral-drawn carriages, covered in warm cloth and a thin layer of snow. His two closest friends stood before him, equally covered in warm cloth and a thin layer of snow, and a toad croaking from beneath a pocket.

"You better send us some letters, Malfoy."
"And don't forget to owl your parents as well."

His two friends were to make their way to Hogsmeade Station where they will ride the Hogwarts Express. He once asked the two why they didn't opt for Flooing out of Hogwarts, but they only answered with looks of disdain. The soot, Caelum decided, was the reason for their contempt.

A bunch of farewells and an awkward group hug later, the two left for their destination, leaving a pale Malfoy standing alone, watching the two disappear into the snow.

"I'll see you two next year." He whispered into the air, the mist of his breath floating away with it.

Julia couldn't believe the year was over. It made her sad knowing she wouldn't see her friends again for a little while. At the moment she was looking for Caelum. She wanted to say bye before going home. She hurried outside where the thestral carriages and saw him standing there. "Darn... I must have missed Frank and Aren." She said quietly, she knew she should have come a bit earlier. She went over to him,"Hey." She said gently,"You taking Floo powder home?" She wished she could have hung out with him more this year, but it had been really hard to with the snakes after them both.

Caelum heard the snow crunching and turned to see Julia walking towards him. He gave a small smile and looked back to where his two friends have gone off as he hid both hands in his pockets and let out a sigh. He saw her figure stop beside him from the corner of his eye but he still kept looking to the distance.

"I'm ... not." he shifted onto the balls of his feet and back, small unconscious movements from the biting cold of winter. "My parents have gone to Switzerland and I can neither go with them nor stay alone at the manor." He turned to Julia, and one corner of his lips turned up as he spoke. "I couldn't be trusted to stay at the manor without adult supervision, apparently."

He looked at her for a few seconds before deciding to take his scarf off and wrapped it around her neck, covering half of her face with the silver and green fabric. "And what about you, Miss Potter? Taking the Floo or making your way home on a flying muggle automobile? Because that was the last carriage to Hogsmeade." he teased.