Perfectly Matched | ???????? ?

Katie smiled at the sight of Hermione being rocked gently on the dance floor by Cormac. She'd never thought that he'd be the one the infamous witch would finally go for, but as she looked at the pair, she had to admit the petite witch looked very good with the tall strapping wizard holding her firmly. Now that Cormac had mellowed out, she had no doubt he could be a wizard worthy of her friend. Like herself, Cormac was one of the many Hogwarts students humbled by the atrocities of the war. She couldn't even count the number of times he'd come sneak Order members to her at St. Mungo's during the dark year. As a pureblood previously unaffiliated with the Order, he was in the unique position to hold actual power in the Ministry. More often than not, his escort of various innocents would be accompanied by his own gruesome injuries. There was no way someone could go through all that and remain unchanged.

"Care to dance?"

The deep baritone sent shivers through Katie, even despite her best attempts to smother them.

"Theo," she acknowledged, barely sparing him a glance. He stood by her with his hands in his pockets, looking out onto the dance floor. To her dismay, his dark fitted robes accented by a deep emerald vest suited him all too well for her liking.

"Come on," he reached for her hand with a mischievous smile. "Let's go see what all the fuss is about."

"Actually, I'd rather-"

Her protests were swallowed by the mellow chatter of the dancers as he pulled her onto the dance floor, weaving them between gliding couples. Katie scoffed.

"I'm sure you've had a dance before at a formal event, Nott."

"You're right," he grinned. "It was just an excuse to dance with you."

"One dance," she warned.

"That's all I'll need," he said, his eyes sweeping the perimeter of the dance floor before quickly coming back to rest on her.

"So what brings you to the Remembrance Ball? Can't say I've ever seen you at one of these before." She studied him suspiciously.

"Simple really, Draco was asked to be here by the Potters and he didn't want to be outnumbered by your lot."

"Draco and the Potters are friends," Katie pointed out shrewdly.

"That they are, but we can't have this place overrun by Gryffindors, now can we?" He chuckled lightly, bringing her closer with gentle pressure on her lower back.

Katie rolled her eyes at him. Small talk. She could do this.

"Actually, I wanted to apologize," Theo said quietly, studying her apprehensively.

"In advance?" Katie raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"For whatever it is you and Malfoy are scheming? I'm assuming I'm already a tool in it, but I have no idea what you could possibly get from me. I actually happen to like Hermione and Cormac together."

"No... for that night."

Katie immediately stiffened in his arms, the small reluctant smile falling off her face.

"We didn't know how the attack would've affected Malfoy, it's not your fault," Katie assured, silently pleading for him to drop it.

"That's not the night I'm talking about," he forged on.

"Theo, I'd rather not-"

"I know you know I was there," Theo pushed ahead. "And I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you. I wanted to- I really did."