A.N: Written for the Lottery Competition. My numbers (prompts) are: 11. Romance (Genre), 15. Spark, 24. Love Struck, 34. Castle, 42. Dancing.

Please note: Of course year 1000 was possibly nearer Old English times, so it's likely that the founders of Hogwarts didn't even speak modern English. But I've kind of freelanced here, and given them a bit of a Shakespearean dialogue. So, just so you know – I am aware that I'm about 500 years prior to Shakespeare's birth, but I can't always win.

[Tell me life is beautiful, they all think I have it all. I'm nothing, without you.]

It was the eve of the first millennium, and the Great Hall of our wonderful school was aglow with dancing. We were hosting a Yule Ball, in celebration of a new, virginal millennium.

The majority of the student body had remained at the castle during the Christmas holidays, in order to celebrate with us. And my, was it a celebration. The Great Hall looked grander and finer than it had ever done before; the enchanted ceiling was midnight blue and glittering with sparkling stars, there were great ice sculptures in all corners of the room, and the usual four house tables had been removed and replaced with dozens of small, circular glass ones. Tinkling music played in the air, and all the students were dancing, in their finest dress robes, swishing and swirling through the floor, their laughter echoing around the hall. It was times like this, when I was utterly proud of the part I had played in the creation of this magnificent institute of learning.

I looked over, and saw my daughter, Helena, amidst the crowd of students, wearing robes the colour of the summer sky, entwined in the arms of the dark haired Slytherin boy I knew as Marvolo. I knew of course, he was Salazar's son, a young man who had only recently left Hogwarts, but had returned for the festivities. I raised my eyebrows across the four-seated table I was sitting at, towards Marvolo's father; Salazar.

Salazar was watching them too, a smirk playing on his thin lips. He adjusted his hat over his head, and then looked back towards me, the smile only widening. He stood up, and then nodded towards our fellows, Helga and Godric, who were dancing a wild jig in the centre of a group of clapping students. "Care to dance, Rowena?" he asked softly, his voice sending sparks to my nether regions. I would never admit it to him, but I did hold a deep, dark desire for Salazar. He reached out with his long, slim fingers, and took my hand in his. My breath hitched in my throat as he pressed his cold lips to my knuckles briefly, and then pulled me to my feet.

The hand he had kissed remained in his, and his other hand found my waist, and he whirled me onto into the crowd with a strength I was unaware he possessed. I was wearing floor length dress robes, the same shade of the enchanted ceiling, and the skirts swirled around my legs as Salazar spun me around in his arms.

The music grew slower, and his palm flattened against my back, his face drawing into my neck. I felt his goatee prickle my skin, and he released my hand, allowing me to rest my own on his chest. He pulled my long, brown hair from my shoulders, and his icy mouth laid a soft kiss upon me, on the spot where my shoulder blade connected to my neck.

I gasped involuntarily, and felt those blinding sparks again. Salazar was sinfully enticing; and I was becoming more aware of his hold on me, as he continued to fluidly move me around the hall. I may have been intelligent, but even the Diadem upon my head did not help me formulate an answer as to why I was so wickedly attracted to this man before me.

The night wore on, and after what seemed like hours, Salazar led me back to our table. However, he continued to walk, his large hand still flat against the small of my back.

"Salazar, where are thou taking me?"

"Hush, m'lady. I hoped we could take a stroll to the Tower of Astronomy, and watch the millennium rise together."

It was such a beautiful and romantic notion, and so unlike anything I imagined Salazar was capable of, so I allowed him to lead me to the tallest tower of the castle. When we approached the perch, looking over the vast lake, and the stretching grounds of Hogwarts, I breathed out a sigh. The night was fresh; the air was crisp and cool, and the moon was large, full and beautiful, and hung like a ghostly, glowing orb in the sombre night sky.

I turned to my companion, to notice that he wasn't even paying attention to the exquisite view; his gaze was instead set upon me. His green eyes glittered, flittered across my face, my hair, my entire body. I felt like I was being undressed with his eyes, but while it should have felt impure, it was unusually arousing to be observed in such a manner.

"Salazar, I feel as though there is something that you would care to say to me," I murmured quietly. As if in answer, Salazar raised his hand and cupped my cheek, and continued to gaze at me.

"'Tis unlike me to have feelings for a woman, Rowena," Salazar replied, his voice a low, seductive hum. "But you are an exception."

I didn't let my eyes leave his, determined to hear him out.

"I have loved you since we first met. I have always loved you," he continued. I parted my lips, but before I could answer, Salazar had advanced upon me. Both of his long-fingered hands cupped my face in his and his lips pressed against mine in a frosty, breathy kiss. I was momentarily mesmerised, but I soon recovered. My arms curled around his neck, and I returned his kiss warmly, pressing my body against his. He spun me so that my back was against the wall that looked over the grounds, and leaned against me, so that I was almost suspending backwards over the humongous drop, my safety entirely in his hands. My head arched back, my hair tumbling behind my shoulders, as he laid feathery kisses along my throat and breastbone. His lips reached my cleavage, which was peeping over the bodice of my robes, and I felt his breath against my skin. "Rowena, do you trust me?"

"Always," I replied, and he pulled me back so that I was no longer hanging over the balcony. He fell gracefully to the floor, holding my hands so that I dropped down with him. I was suddenly straddling him skilfully, my hands on the floor besides his head. His hat had slipped off, and was laying on the ground a few yards to his left.

We stared at each other for a few moments, and then I leaned down and kissed him. His hands entangled in my hair, and he rolled us over, so that he was swiftly the dominating force. Instead of kissing my mouth, he continued his early ministrations of caressing my neck and chest with his lips, his hands smoothing across the expanse of my body.

In one sudden, fluid motion, he had ripped open the bodice at my waist, looking alluringly delighted at the satisfying popping sound that the buttons made as he tore the material away. He sat back to admire my physique, pushing aside the remaining cloth that covered my upper body, leaving me bare breasted, and utterly at his mercy.

His fingers entwined with mine, and he pressed my hands to the floor as he reached down and took one breast in his mouth possessively. I arched my back into his touch, feeling a moan escape my throat. He swirled his tongue around the bud of my nipple, and then freed one of my hands, so that he could caress my other, neglected breast. I closed my eyes, delighting in the feel of him all over me, and surrendered myself to his pleasure.

He continued to dip lower, undressing me as he went. He removed my skirts and petticoat slowly, almost agonisingly, and littered feather-light kisses across my stomach and thighs. I ached south of my navel; desperate for him to touch me there, but I was too proud to make any demands.

I felt his smirk against my inner thigh, and I was sure that he knew what I wanted. "Tell me, Rowena," he purred softly, his breath hot against the most sensitive part of me.

"Please," I whispered breathily. "Please, Salazar."

"As you wish, lover," he replied greedily, and suddenly his wet mouth was consuming me.

I cried out in bliss, and rocked my hips back and forth. He clamped his hands on my hips to keep me still, and continued to hypnotise me with the steady ministrations of his tongue. I covered my face with my arms, and then felt him rise.

I removed my arms and looked up at him. He was removing his robes, his pale skin glowing silvery in the moonlight. I watched him in awe, and wound my legs around his waist as he crawled atop of me. "I will always love you, Rowena," he drawled in my ear. I could smell the musky scent of his skin; feel every hair on his back. His manhood pressed against me, and I was overcome with a sense of pure, drunken, desperate desire.

"I love you," I whispered back, gazing into his sparkling emerald eyes. He pushed his way into my centre, and we both cried out in unison.

After half an hour of blissful lovemaking, I was sprawled out across the chest of my lover, listening to his steady heartbeat, and feeling the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. I was content, and utterly spent.

The music many floors below us had quietened, and there was suddenly a roar of cheer and delight. The moon was hanging directly above us in the sky. The New Year had arrived.

"Welcome to the new millennium, Rowena," Salazar mused, a single finger stroking a strand of my hair from my face.

And what a wonderful welcome it was.

oOo