Lily barely had time to start second-guessing her urge to get out of there as fast as she could before James was at her side, and she'd never been quite so delighted and relieved to see him. (Delighted and relieved enough to not be bothered about being passed between the men like some sort of high-performance racing broom.)
"Thank you for the dance," she said, the words and her smile as much to anyone else still paying attention as to Malfoy himself.
And as James led her away, she could finally feel the tension unknitting itself from her shoulders. Her smile widened, and she tilted her head briefly against James's shoulder, knocking against his side as they walked across the room. "Better now," she said, on a breath, and gave a little giggle. "I was so worried I was going to stand on his foot in front of bloody everyone."