Butterfly

Rated M: Warnings for coarse language, character death (death of teengers), kidnapping, underage drinking and sexual situations. Please be cautious when reading this fic as it contains issues that may be offensive or confronting in later chapters. Warnings are placed at the beginning of each chapter when required.

Author Notes: I'm astounded by the resonse Butterfly has received - so thanks so much for reading and reviewing! This is an unbeta'd, now complete, AU fic that continues past GOF. There is no character bashing and this story actually involves magic :) Constructive criticism and critique is encouraged and welcome!

"Harry?"

Jerked out of his preoccupied thoughts (Stupid Diggory, I can't believe Cho is enjoying herself...), Harry turned towards the source of the voice, his black hair falling into his eyes.

Parvati sighed inwardly. He doesn't even know how good he looks! She outwardly smiled at the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry realised that he was supposed to answer the Gryffindor girl. "Yes, Parvati?"

"Do you want to dance?"

Harry bit his lip. "Uhh, not really…" he answered truthfully.

Parvati wasn't going to let those bright green eyes tempt her to agree. She wanted to dance.

"C'mon, it'll be fun, Harry! And besides," she added in a lower voice, nodding towards the surly Ron and the miffed Padma, "I don't want to be around those two for much longer."

Casting a look towards them, Harry relented. "Okay, Parvati, I'll dance with you. But no complex moves."

Parvati smiled. "It's a deal."

Harry rose from his seat (Parvati was already standing) and did something his partner didn't expect him to do; he bent down slightly, offered his arm and said in a most regal voice, "May I have this dance?"

Parvati giggled. "You may, kind sir," she replied, and took the offered hand as Harry led them out to the dance floor.

Once on the crowded floor, Harry dropped the pretence of someone confident. His ruffled his hair, and said in an amused voice, "So, ah, what do we do now?"

Parvati giggled again, and quickly noticed the pained expression that had darted across her partner's face. She stopped giggling immediately, dropped her gaze to the floor and mumbled, "Well…you take my hand, and then put your other one on my waist…"

Harry frowned at Parvati's sudden shyness. That wasn't like her.

Parvati now decided to look up, and instead of giggling, actually laughed. "Lucky this is a slow song, Harry. You haven't even put your hands on me yet!"

Harry blinked. "That just sounded awfully strange."

Parvati's brain jammed. 'You haven't even put your hands on me yet'… oh, no! It had!

"Um…err…" stammered Parvati and Harry smiled bashfully.

"It's just; I've never heard you actually laugh before…you and Lavender just usually…"

Parvati was confused for moment -he hadn't meant it that way! - And then grinned.

"Giggle like little girls?"

Harry too grinned. "Yeah, like that."

Suddenly, a tall, slender blonde boy wearing smart dress robes walked up to the two Gryffindor's.

"Parvati," he greeted with a French accent, completely ignoring Harry, "Look, seence your partner can't even dance…are you quite sure you do not want to dance with moi instead?"

Parvati looked angry. "Yes, I'm quite sure, Luc, that I do not want to dance with you. No go away and harass someone else."

The boy from Beauxbatons sneered as the amount of couples on the dance floor seemed to double, and the three of them found that they were quite invisible.

'Luc', as Pavarti had called him, grabbed Parvati's wrists, yanking her towards him.

"Nobody turns down moi," he leered, pulling her closer, and in doing so, broke one of the golden bangles that had been dangling from her arms.

Harry, outraged at what was happening, deftly kicked the French boy in the back of his knee, making him double over in pain. He then got his wand and threatened it at Luc.

"I believe she just did. Do not try to come near her again, or so help me I will make your face look like that bangle."

The gold bangle in question which was on the floor was snapped cleanly in two.

Luc whimpered a 'It won't 'appen again!' and made a quick exit.

Harry turned to Parvati, who was visibly shaken. He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Parvati nodded, and bent down to pick up the remnants of her bangle. Looking at it up close, Harry noticed that it had an inscription of a butterfly on it.

"Bloody jerk," she muttered. She gave Harry a weary look.

"Could we just sit down for a bit?"

"Sure," agreed Harry, and they both found a spot decorated with a number of Christmas ornaments, to which they sat under.

They were silent for a while, until Harry asked again; "Are you quite sure you're alright, Parvati?"

Parvati grinned. "Yes, Harry, I'm fine. I'm not some fragile thing that's about to break."

Instead of the reply of 'I was just making sure' Parvati was expecting, Harry gave quite a different one.

"I honestly didn't know you were that brave."

At Parvati's shocked expression, Harry smiled sheepishly and continued.

"You were manhandled by a guy two years older than you, stronger than you, taller than you. Someone like Hermione or Lavender would have freaked out."

Parvati honestly didn't know what to say. It was Harry again who broke the silence; but this time, with the most random thing;

"I like that butterfly clip you wear in your hair. You know the one that McGonagall told you to take out when the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students came? It…looks really…pretty."

Parvati suddenly laughed. Laughed. She could honestly say that she liked laughing a whole lot more than giggling.

"Do you have habit of stunning girls into silence, Mr Potter?"

Harry squirmed uncomfortably. "No! I-I'm sorry ab-about doing that I-"

"I was only teasing you, Harry!" Parvati said, and then quickly sobered. "But thank you, for the compliment."

Harry blushed. "It's alright."

He cast a sideways look to where Cho and Cedric were dancing together, and his mood suddenly became melancholy. "So…are you enjoying tonight?"

Parvati thought for a moment, then answered truthfully, "No, not really…"

"Oh."

"What about you?"

"It's okay."

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you get that funny look when I giggled before?"

"I don't really like it when girls giggle, that's all."

"Oh," replied Parvati, and laughed lightly.

Harry suddenly spied the broken bangle. "Here," he said, and Parvati handed over it, "I can fix it for you…reparo!"

"Thanks, Harry," commented Pavarti, and then blushed. "Thanks for everything, tonight…if you hadn't been there…"

"But I was," said Harry firmly, placing the bangle back on Parvati's wrist, shivering slightly as a jolt of electricity seemed to course through him at the touch, not noticing that Parvati had shivered too, "And that's all that matters."

He sighed again. This hadn't been a great night.

Parvati cleared her throat. "You fixing my bracelet just made my night seem a whole lot brighter…I wish I could do that to your night in return, Harry. You're really sweet."

Harry looked up through his long fringe, and flicked it out of view with a turn of his head.

He doesn't realise what he's doing to me, thought Parvati, her breathing hitched and the butterfly in her stomach fluttering its wings a hundredfold times faster.

"Maybe if you…" Harry left the sentence hanging and leaned towards Parvati, closing his eyes as their lips touched.

Deepening the kiss, Parvati was truly glad that she had asked Harry to dance.