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The announcement of the Yule Ball was met with overwhelmingly positive praise from students and teachers alike who were excited for a night of dancing and festivities to celebrate the holiday season.
It reminded you of your days in high school, when one of your biggest worries was about who you were going to take to prom. Witnessing your students' creative and magical proposals made your heart swell in happiness.
Your students deserved this. They've worked so hard the last few months trying to prove that they can rival the other schools here for the Triwizard Tournament and a moment to relax after exams and forget all their demanding school responsibilities is exactly what they needed.
It's exactly what you need, too. With all the complications the tournament brought, as well as its overall hectic nature, you haven't had a moment to truly relax. That is to say, you and Severus haven't had a moment alone in almost a month.
All of your time and energy was allocated into aiding the other professors in preparing for the events, and the ball was no exception. You were just glad that you didn't also have to deal with the question of how the hell Harry Potter got his name in the Goblet of Fire. That was for Headmaster Dumbledore to deal with, as well as a few select teachers who were more involved in Harry's life, which included Severus.
You could tell he was increasingly getting more stressed as the month went on, so you knew he needed this moment as much as you did.
When the night of the ball finally came, you were more than ready. Preparations of the courtyard and Great Hall were complete in the late afternoon, which only left you to get dressed.
At your request, you and Severus picked out matching outfits. Well, he left the choosing of the outfit up to you, because he made it clear he didn't have a preference nor did he even plan on dressing up in the first place.
So, you abused the little power that you were given, and picked out a really nice black suit with a Slytherin green accented tie. You were quite proud of yourself for that.
And to match, your dress was a similar shade of black, with a sheer flowy lace that started at your waist and trailed down to barely graze the floor. You went with a stylish green belt to go around your waist as well as doing your hair in an elegant style you've never tried before. Your shoes were simple in comparison to the rest of your outfit- you found that choosing something both stylish and comfortable was not an easy task, so you settled on more comfortable.
You knew that all of your hard work finding the perfect outfits had paid off when you saw Severus dressed in the suit you picked. Your jaw quite literally dropped at the sight. He usually dressed quite well, but this was a whole new level. You were mad at yourself for not forcing him to wear a suit sooner.
"Gods, you are so hot."
He let out a hearty chuckle at your choice of words, linking his arm with yours. "You're quite beautiful yourself."
The two of you entered the hall like that, catching the attention of most of your students and many of the professors, as well. Minerva smiled at you from across the room, a bright twinkle in her eye at seeing the two of you together. She doubted if Severus would have even come if it wasn't for you.
"Blimey, Professor!" Said one of your fifth year students upon seeing the two of you, "You two went all out! You both look great!"
Severus looked… Well, not totally annoyed, at least. He gave the student a slight nod to show he appreciated the compliment, while you smiled and thanked them, returning the kind words and telling them to have a wonderful night.
The start of the ball went much the same, with you greeting students as they walked in and them being absolutely shocked that you managed to get Severus to dress up. One was openly shocked that he even showed up, earning a glare from Severus as you and the student laughed in agreement.
Once everyone was finally inside, Minerva took the floor to announce that the first dance of the night would be between the tournament's champions and their dates.
You watched with a bright smile as the champions and their partners began their dance. Minerva's lessons really paid off, the four pairs moved gracefully across the dance floor, capturing the attention of everyone in the room. Other couples joined in after a few minutes, you even caught sight of Dumbledore sweeping Minerva onto the dance floor. You chuckled at the sight, happy to see everyone enjoying themselves.
Severus shuffled beside you and you turned to face him with a questioning glance.
He reached his hand out, palm facing up towards you. "Would you like to dance?"
You took his hand with a giddiness that you were trying (and failing) to hide. "I would love to."
In one swift motion, Severus swept you onto the dance floor. He thoroughly surprised you with his ability to dance, twirling you around in your little corner of the dance floor.
You giggled as he spun you and then pulled you into him, "I didn't realize you knew how to dance."
"I learned from the best," he responded as he tilted his head towards Minerva.
"Oh, right! You went to school here, didn't you? Did you have any dances back then?"
Both of his hands now rested on your waist, the two of you simply swaying back and forth as you spoke.
He shook his head, "Not really, no. Slughorn had his Christmas dance, but I never attended those."
You could feel his shoulders tense under your hands once he responded. You nodded and quickly changed the subject to your time at a muggle school.
As you started to get picky and your dance was coming to an end, Severus leaned down and gingerly planted a quick, loving kiss on your lips. He wasn't usually one for public displays of affection, so it was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one.
It wasn't quick enough, though. A flash and click alerted you both to Rita Skeeter, the pesky reporter taking every opportunity she could to be a nuisance.
"Love is such a wonderful thing," she had said with a dreamy sigh. You didn't want to be rude to her face, but Severus was definitely not above shooing the lady away like the bug she is.
And the next morning, neither of you were surprised to see a magazine circulating the school with the picture of you and Severus kissing as the front cover.