Chương 43: ITW,H - Chapter 43 - (1) Ministry Ball

(Word Count: 2, 278) Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, though he managed to catch himself and not fall on his face on the hard flooring. A wave of magic hit him as he passed through a cleaning ward set up around the fireplace that removed all of the ash and soot that came with floo travel.

"Come on, Harry! This way," Sirius called. Sirius was a ways away, dressed sharply in a modern wizard's suit/robe. Black, with christmas colored accessories, and the Black family crest embroidered on his chest. Harry was actually dressed to match, but with the Potter family crest on his chest. Arcturus was there beside him, dressed in more traditional robes. All black, of course.

Sirius wanted to bring the Tonks family along, as they were now considered a part of House Black, but Andromeda wanted nothing to do with it. They were heading over to the Ministry's ball, held in one of the many large halls found in the ministry building. As they made their way through the hallways, Harry noticed that the building itself wasn't very decorated, though there was the occasional wreath hung on a door here and there. The entrance to the ballroom was a stark difference.

It had long flowing silver silk curtains framing the entrance, with floating white candles to light the way approaching it. There was a single reporter waiting off to the side that snapped their picture as they approached, though he didn't try to stop them for questions. He was likely only there to help document the event. They entered to find almost everyone already there. They intentionally arrived somewhat late to the party.

The hall itself was decorated to be full of white, making the room feel like some sort of winter wonderland, and gold, giving it a warm contrast.

"Announcing the arrival of Lord Arcturus Black, and Lord of House Black, Sirius Black! As well as the Heir of House Potter and House Black, Harry Potter-Black!" A floating list announced, animated in much the same way as a howler. Many eyes turned to watch them enter. Arcturus Black turned to Harry, "Remember, you'll be expected to dance with all the young ladies here tonight, so don't waste any time. It's best to start with the young ladies you're familiar with if you're uncomfortable." Harry nodded.

"I'll be fine." Arcturus nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Sirius and I will be talking to some of my colleagues, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to come over." They walked off, leaving Harry alone. He looked around to see who was here. Dumbledore wasn't. The man preferred to spend his Christmas at the school with his teachers and students that remained. Not that there was anything wrong with that, if taken by itself. Harry would have felt the same way, honestly.

But considering that Dumbledore was also the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, it was a serious lack of foresight for him to miss this event. This ball was considered one of the biggest events of the year, and it was the only event outside of actual court sessions where members of all three factions of Wizengamot got together. It was the best time of the year to do some politicking, so everyone that comes here comes with an agenda they need to get through before the night is out. Harry sighed to himself.

Really, Dumbledore should just resign from politics and focus on being a headmaster. He would be able to accomplish so much more that way. Harry spotted Neville over by the table of refreshments. He wasn't alone though. Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones were there as well. Unlike Harry, the three of them wore a more traditional style of formal wear. Neville's robes were green and yellow, the colors of his house. Susan and Hannah ended up looking like young noble girls from the Victorian era.

Susan's dress had thin sleeves that ended at her elbows and had frills. Hannah's dress had large poofs on her shoulders. Luckily, neither of their dresses' skirts poofed out too much to get in the way of things. Seeing some friendly faces, Harry walked over, smiling. Of course, kids Harry's age didn't have to do much. Their purpose here was to just make their rounds in the dances to get familiar with the faces of their peers. As they grew though, they would get more and more responsibilities.

Unfortunately for Harry, he was the only Potter left, so he had to do more than just dance. Not too much more, since he had Sirius and Arcturus helping, but he did need to make sure he talked to Lord Greengrass. He was de facto head of the Grey faction, so he had to imply to him that he was leaning in favor of the greys.

"Hey, Neville, Susan, Hannah!" He greeted.

"How are you guys?"

"Harry! You're here!" Neville cheered.

"Hey, Harry!" Susan and Hannah said.

"So what have you guys been doing? Anything fun to do here?" Harry asked.

"Not until the dancing starts!" Susan said.

"Honestly, I don't know why my Aunt insisted I come to this thing."

"I'm not looking forward to the dancing," Hannah said shyly.

"Especially since mom said I would have to dance with most people my age. There's a bunch of boys here that I don't like one bit." Harry and Neville nodded in agreement, glancing towards where Draco was. He was there with most of the Slytherin kids. Around the hall, they could see many other upperclassmen from Slytherin as well. Most of them were from the dark faction, and they didn't take too friendly to the light faction.

"Don't worry too much, Hannah. I'm sure your mum was only talking about the boys in our year. At most, she was including the second-years," Harry said. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"That's right, and if you don't like anyone, you can always say no by giving them the excuse that you need to run to the powder room to fix your makeup!" Susan chimed in.

"And if someone's bothering you, you can send me—I mean, us! —a signal and we'll come help," Neville said, blushing a bit at his slip. Hannah blushed a bit as well.

"Thank you, everyone. That makes me feel loads better. I can't tell you how nervous this all made me."

"Speaking of dancing," Susan said, "That should begin later tonight, but we'll need to figure out who our first dance partner will need to be. Neville, why don't you dance first with Hannah, and Harry, you can dance with me?" Harry shrugged.

"That works for me, I'd be happy to dance with you." Neville and Hannah looked at each other and agreed shyly.

"You know, I was kind of expecting to see the Patil twins here. Do you know if they're coming?" Harry asked. Susan shook her head.

"No, their family is back in India for Christmas this year. Their grandfather is stepping down. Though they'll be back. Their father's only the third son, so he's not becoming the next lord. That's why they've moved here, you know? Their father wouldn't have been able to inherit anything, if he hadn't been able to expand their family's business here."

"How do you know all that?" Neville asked.

"We're friends with them, Neville," Hannah said.

"And unlike you guys, we actually ask about our friend's lives," Susan finished. Harry and Neville looked at each other, and shrugged.

"Alright, nevermind that. I do see Daphne and Blaise over there, so I think I'll go and say hello. Though I might be back quickly, we'll have to see how it goes. If not, I'll see you when the dancing starts, Susan," Harry said. He left them, and made his way across the room to say hello with Daphne. Unlike Neville, Susan, and Hannah, who were by themselves without their parents, Daphne and Blaise were still together with theirs.

Lord and Lady Greengrass were talking with Madam Zabini while Daphne and Blaise were standing there quietly listening. Lord Greengrass had platinum blonde hair, making him look like a kinder Lucius malfoy. He was dressed in the same modern suit/robes look as Harry and Sirius were, but instead of black, he wore a deep emerald green robe with silver highlights. Lady Greengrass had raven black hair that fell past her shoulders in waves. She was dressed in a beautiful silver dress with emerald green highlights.

Daphne was dressed in a similar dress as her mother, but in a much more modest cut. It was obvious now who Daphne got her hair from. Platinum blonde, just like her father. Madam Zabini was a very beautiful woman. She was Italian, with high cheekbones and long, slanting, green eyes and deep black hair. Blaise had dark skin from his father and inherited his mother's cheekbones and eyes. Both of them together made a stunning mother and son pair.

Madam Zabini's dress was cut scandalously low, with a high slit in the side to occasionally reveal smooth pale legs. Beautiful as she was, Harry didn't want anything to do with her. She was a black widow that married and killed rich men for their money. Of course, nobody could actually prove she killed them. On the seventh husband's death, she was even questioned under veritaserum, at her own request, and she was cleared of any legal suspicion.

She had a wicked gleam in her eye as she eyed Harry up and down, as if appraising if it would be worth the trouble to do the same to him. Luckily, it seemed like she decided against it, but he caught her glancing over to where Sirius was with a smirk.

"Good evening, Lord and Lady Greengrass, Madam Zabini, Daphne, Blaise," Harry bowed slightly, adhering to formal customs. Daphne and Blaise didn't respond yet, waiting for their parents to do so first. Lord Greengrass eyed him thoughtfully before nodding slightly in approval.

"Good evening, Potter. I've heard a lot about you from my daughter, Daphne." Harry glanced over to Daphne, who just looked back cooly. She seemed to be unreadable, at least visually, but Harry could feel from her emotions that she was a bit embarrassed with this situation.

'Man, she's got her poker face perfected.' Harry looked back to Lord Greengrass.

"Daphne is a good friend. We have a study group together, along with Blaise here. I look forward to continuing working with them, even after Hogwarts," he said.

"Really?" Madam Zabini questioned, pouting at her son.

"Baise darling, why didn't I hear about this?" She sounded like she was sad to have missed some sort of gossip, but Harry picked up more than a little bit of annoyance, with anger starting to creep up. Though Blaise shrugged nonchalantly, Harry felt a bit of fear from him.

"This was a recent arrangement, Mother. I was waiting to see if it would actually last." From living here in an actual world, Harry knew that the Zabini family, while technically still a part of the grey faction, was very dark, and held to the pureblood belief. Blaise would have been raised towards the same goal. They were only really considered grey because they voted on what would benefit their interests personally.

Most of the time, that would lay with the dark faction, but there were occasionally times when she would vote in favor of the light's policies.' Poor Blaise,' Harry thought. He knew from canon that Blaise did end up as a death eater. He was probably pressured into it by his mother. He did seem to find Ginny, who is considered a blood traitor, attractive in the books, but whether or not that indicated some deeper level of how he actually felt towards the pureblood ideology, Harry couldn't say.

All he knew at the moment was that this Blaise, the real person standing in front of him, was not yet a supporter of the pureblood supremacists. Madam Zabini's annoyance disappeared. Blaise must have been able to see something on her face, because his own fear disappeared as well.

"Husband, why don't we let the kids go off to find the rest of their friends to play? I would hate to keep them here with nothing to do," Lady Greengrass stepped forward, urging Daphne towards Harry.

"Yes, that's an excellent idea. I wouldn't want to keep you from your friends, Daphne," Lord Greengrass agreed. Madam Zabini glanced in Sirius's direction again, and Harry could feel her greed. She nodded in agreement with Lady Greengrass, and turned to Blaise.

"Blaise darling, why don't you go with them? I'm sure you'll want to spend some time with your friends?" Harry suppressed a grimace.' How can a woman be so beautiful, but feel so foul? Sirius is smart enough to not get involved with her, but I should warn him just in case.' Harry led Daphne and Blaise back over to where Neville, Susan, and Hannah were. Once there, Harry sighed in relief.

"Your mother's a real treat, Blaise. I'm sorry you have to live with that." Blaise looked at him, shocked.

"You can see through her? Everyone usually falls for her act of innocence when they first meet her."

"She may be beautiful," Daphne scoffed when Harry said that, "but she feels evil. I could see her planning in her head how to strip me of all my wealth." Blaise sighed heavily.

"She probably was. I love her—she's my mum, you know? —but I do wish she weren't so… her." Harry patted him on the shoulder sympathetically.

"I understand, Blaise. Now, if you would all excuse me, I have to go warn Sirius to stay away from her."