'I hate these events,' she mentally complained while looking over at her twin, who looked back at her in silent agreement, almost reading her thoughts in a way that only a magical twin could truly do. Why couldn't her father just leave the pair of them at home to their own devices or allow them to go to a friend's house for the evening, rather than dragging them around like prize cattle on display.
Looking over her shoulder at the hanging magical clock above the stage, she saw that it wasn't even 9 o'clock yet.
She resisted the urge to yawn valiantly, as it would only bring looks of disapproval from both her parents and their friends, followed quickly by a lengthy lecture as soon as they got home on what constituted proper behavior in public.
Feeling a light tap on her shoulder, she quickly spun around, noticing her sister in motion as well out of the corner of her eye, just to be greeted by the welcome sight of her best friend, Harry. After all, her twin sister didn't count as a 'friend'; she was automatically ranked first by default.
"Ladies, Padma, Pav," he said, getting their names right seemingly effortlessly, just like he did every time they met. She and her sister were still trying to work out how he did it, as even their parents got confused between them sometimes, but Harry never did.
"Harry," they both said in unison, looking at each other in amusement before her twin spoke up for the both of them.
"You look nice this evening, Harry," voicing her own opinion as well, although she felt that that was a bit of an understatement. She had immediately taken notice of the forming muscles on his arms and chest beneath the fine midnight-black acromantula silk shirt, with matching trousers and polished shoes. The ensemble did wonders to make his mesmerizing eyes stand out even more by the simple style of clothing, even if it all was of the finest quality. Then there was the ever-present silver chain hanging visibly around his neck, thanks to the two top buttons of his shirt being undone, with the all-too-familiar ring she always saw him wearing around the school. Many of the girls thought that it was some type of token from his late mother, but none dared ask him as it seemed terribly private and personal.
However, the style suited him well; it was a simple, refined look that said, 'I have no need to boast or show off.' Something like that could only come from great self-confidence in one's abilities and helped showcase his strongest and most attractive feature, his bright emerald eyes, which seemed to pulse with magical power. She knew his eyes quite literally held power; she knew full well that in time Harry would be able to simply meet a person's gaze and see their thoughts, their secrets, their deepest desires… a mental shiver went through her at that, but it was not of fear. Then there was his hair, which seemed to be styled more in the windswept fashion of professional Quidditch players. 'Like a lion's mane,' as her sister would put it whenever they discussed with Lavender and Sally Anne which boys were the hottest in Hogwarts. Already there was a list of sorts that Lavender had created ranking the male population of their year, with Harry undeniably being the hottest, with Neville a distant second on account that the boy still had baby fat, quite unlike Harry.
"Thank you, Pav. Both of you look lovely this evening," he said, offering them a heart-stopping smile, then taking her sister's hand and giving it a soft kiss before doing the same to her, causing her to blush, though this was thankfully hidden by her dark skin. She knew that the charm was just as much an act as a real gesture, but it was the fact that her friend could be so charming when he wanted to be that intensified his already considerable appeal.
"Would either of you lovely ladies care to dance?" he asked, taking them both by surprise at the question, before they both looked at each other and silently communicated again, 'Sweet Merlin, he can dance too?!' They both moved him up another notch on the Hogwarts' hottest male list.
However, before she could say 'yes!' her sister beat her to the punch.
"Sure, Harry," offering her hand to him. "Just don't tread on my toes." Her jealousy flared spectacularly at her sister's sheer nerve. Harry was hers!
"Don't worry, Pav, your feet are quite safe with me," Harry said confidently with another of those ridiculously distracting smiles before looking over to her and somehow sensing her annoyance.
"I'll be back in a couple of minutes for your turn next, if you'll have me," he added before giving her a roguish wink, as if she would really deny him. "You get two dances since your sister got the first one."
"It's fine," she offered, waving them on before Harry pulled her younger sister away toward the dance floor, the dragon spitting out more blue flames. She already knew she wasn't going to be talking to her sister for the rest of the evening and probably a good part of tomorrow as well.
Just then her mother appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Where is your sister going?"
"To dance with Harry," she voiced, almost bitterly, at being beaten to saying yes.
"Your sister beat you to answering 'yes' first then," her mother said with a good amount of amusement, clearly having heard the whole exchange and was just teasing her now.
"Yes," she stated, trying not to sound like a petulant child who had just lost their favorite toy.
"Well, you get two dances now, don't you?" her mother voiced with even more amusement at the incident. "Just think of it this way—she's warming him up for you," causing her to smile at the idea.
"Feeling better?"
She nodded her head at feeling better; the idea of her sister being the 'warm-up' was much more palatable.
"As long as she doesn't kiss him," she voiced, watching as the pair moved around on the ballroom floor.
There was truly no elaborate dancing taking place; it was basic but graceful. It was ultimately the gesture that counted the most, and that meant something to her—especially at his age, where boys didn't often offer to dance with girls so readily. A couple of minutes later she spotted Draco and Pansy joining Harry and her sister on the dance floor, but looking far more stiff and uncertain as they moved around. Knowing that they had had far more training as pure-blood scions than Harry had ever had spoke well for his skill and natural talent at dancing. However, both pairs were outshone in skill when Daphne stepped onto the dance floor, with Blaise following dutifully behind her, the young couple easily moving about the dance floor like they had been doing it expertly for years… and they likely had.
---
Damn, was he enjoying himself, in fact far more than he had expected, as he had spent the last hour and a half dancing with the twins around the dance floor, taking turns with each of them. After all, it was better than standing around listening to old politicians talking about various bills and laws that he had no understanding of.
"Harry, I've been looking all over for you!" his godfather exclaimed, taking a seat next to Harry at the table.
"I've just been dancing, but before that I was actually looking for you too, Sirius," he offered casually. "Please let me introduce you to Lord and Lady Patil," gesturing formally to the pair sitting across the table. "And these two beautiful ladies are their daughters, Parvati and Padma." Each twin nodded in turn with a small smile as their name came up.
"This is my godfather and guardian, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black." He finished the introductions as formally as he could, given the unusual nature of Sirius' entrance.
"Good evening. Sorry about table crashing," his godfather offered, favoring them with a boyish smile. "It's good to see you again, Lord Patil. Have you had a good Christmas?" he asked, as the band started playing a new song, this time with a singer.
"Yes, it's good to have my daughters back home with us for the holidays," the Indian lord expressed with a smile, looking at both his daughters with pride and love in his eyes. "Have you considered the proposal I've made?"
It took several seconds for his godfather to respond, so clearly the question and subject were important enough that it needed to be addressed correctly or else great insult might be caused.
"I have, but I do not believe the time is quite right to make such choices. Perhaps in a couple of years we can revisit the matter," Sirius answered back cryptically.
"Of course," Lord Patil offered, not seeming too upset that whatever business proposal he had offered was shot down—at least temporarily, it seemed. He just accepted it with a smile as if it had been expected all along. "We all want to get the best deal we can."
Seeing the opening he needed to speak up, he turned to his godfather.
"So, Sirius? Why were you looking for me?" wondering what had gotten his knickers in a twist all of a sudden, since he had seen his godfather several times whilst dancing and chatting up many ladies of different ages.
"I didn't know where you were and just wanted to make sure that you were safe," Sirius offered as a reasonable explanation. "Plus, I wanted to introduce you to someone."
He nodded his head in understanding.
"Excuse me, please, it seems that I'm required elsewhere." After giving his apologies to Lord and Lady Patil and their two daughters, he left with Sirius. Seeing the disappointed looks on the twins' faces—Parvati the easier to read of the pair—he offered a compromise.
"Hopefully, there will be time for a couple more dances later this evening."
"Bye, Harry," the twins cooed together before giggling between themselves.
...
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