Re: Draco/Tracey
Draco knew that look from Tracey, and that tone. He squeezed her hand again, relaxing ever so slightly as he looked at her.
"Of course I don't prefer you to go see someone else," he said, keeping his tone mild. "But I get the feeling you're finding my company a bit dull just now, and I don't want to interfere with you having a nice evening."
Draco's face stayed stoic, though inwardly he sighed. He'd never been one for dancing and larking about even under the best circumstances. And for him, these were hardly that. He'd thought having Tracey at his side would make the evening easier, that perhaps he could shut out the world and just focus on the woman beside him, but he was finding that harder in practice than it had been in theory. He was simply too aware of the eyes on them.
Her dress wasn't helping, though Draco appreciated how stunning it was on her. He cast a glance along her length now, taking it all in. What he would like to do would be to sweep her off somewhere private, and determine exactly how it was staying on her. But propriety demanded he stay at the gala for a significant amount of time, so they were stuck here for the time being.
Someone from his department approached, and Draco exchanged small talk and introduced Tracey. They chatted about a pending case for a few minutes, and then the man spotted someone else he knew and excused himself. The whole time Draco was aware of Tracey, distracted by his concern for her. He felt like this was going badly, though he couldn't quite put a pin in why.
Gratefully, he took two flutes of champagne from a passing tray, handing one to Tracey. "A toast, perhaps? To our first gala together?"