That night, the Hawthornes had invited Aaric's friends and their families for dinner together.
The first to arrive were Sirius and Harry, with Pyra on his shoulder. Sirius exited the Floo with a laugh and a bottle of wine in his hand as he gave Simon a hug and ruffled Aaric's hair.
Aaric and Harry fist-bumped before Sirius ruffled Aaric's hair again, making Harry laugh.
"What's so funny?" Aaric asked with a raised eyebrow and heard Simon laugh as well; he was even pointing at Aaric as he laughed.
Aaric conjured a mirror in front of him and saw his hair had turned pink. Aaric smirked and shook his head, his hair turning back to its previous color.
"Impressive," Sirius muttered at the masterful use of magic.
Aaric tilted his head and glanced at Sirius' hand with a smirk. "I know," he said with a laugh.
Sirius frowned and looked at his hand to see he had seven fingers and two thumbs now.
"Aaaa!" Sirius shouted and shook his hand around as if shaking it hard enough would detach the added fingers.
The fingers did not come off and Sirius grew more fascinated and tried getting used to the extra limbs, making a game out of it.
Harry, Simon, and Aaric laughed at that as Edwina just shook her head and muttered something about boys, waiting for the other guests to arrive.
Daphne and her family were the next to arrive, leading to a smile blooming on Edwina's face.
Edwina got up and hugged Selene before patting Daphne and Astoria's cheeks with a smile.
"Finally," Edwina muttered, letting out a breath. "Now I can have a respite from these childish boys," she said and sat with Selene, ignoring the looks from Simon.
Selene giggled and joined Edwina as Daphne greeted Aaric and Harry and sat on their side.
Daphne sat beside Aaric and held his hand as they started chatting about the upcomg Yule Ball.
Ignatius and Selene noticed that and glanced at each other before going back to their own conversations.
Daphne had told them about her relationship with Aaric, to which they had naturally given a negative response; however, they did not think of Aaric as a manipulator but as greedy.
Daphne had shown them her new powers as well, that was a shock to the three.
She had casually teleported them onto a sun without causing them any damage or discomfort and given life to some planets near that sun with just a glance.
After that display, they could not say anything. They just spent a week on a planet Daphne had created and got another surprise when they returned and no time had passed in their own world.
Their daughter and Astoria's sister had gained the powers of a god in their eyes, and she had stated Aaric as the sole cause of that.
It was not like the girls were with Aaric because of the powers he had given them, but they needed to show that to their families to make them accept their unconventional relationship.
Luna and Xenophilius arrived next.
Luna was given a hug from Edwina as soon as she arrived, while Simon awkwardly shook Xenophilius' hand.
To their surprise, Xenophilius was much better put together and a little toned down from his usual self as well, allowing for normal conversation.
Edwina kissed Luna's cheek before Luna went and greeted Daphne with a hug and sat on Aaric's other side, holding his hand as she greeted the others as well.
Simon glanced at Xenophilius to see his reaction.
Xenophilius glanced at the scene before shaking his head with a little sigh and continued his conversation with Simon and Ignatius.
Half an hour later, Edwina and Selene were chatting and giggling while Simon, Ignatius, and Xenophilius were having a debate on how useless a Minister of Magic can be, with Fudge being proven as the paragon of being useless.
Harry was on his stomach with the others pinning him down as Astoria smudged her fingers in some ink and neared them to Harry's face with a grin on her face.
"I will remember this. I will have my revenge when you are the happiest and turn it into despair," Harry threatened all of them, getting only mocking laughter in return.
"Please, please not the face. You are so sweet, Astoria, you won't do this to me." When threats did not work, Harry tried flattery.
He glanced at his loyal companion, Pyra, for help, but she just tilted her head and watched the scene with anticipation as well, wanting to see what art Astoria would make on Harry's face.
At that moment, the Floo flashed green again with four people exiting the fireplace.
It was the Delacour family who exited elegantly and with smiles on their faces.
They tried not to laugh when they saw Harry in the state he was in. Well... the adults tried not to laugh.
Gabrielle did not even try to hold back and held her stomach as she pointed at Harry and laughed out loud.
Apolline picked the little girl up in her arms and closed her mouth with an apologetic expression.
"She is... more behaved usually," Apolline said with a wry smile as Gabrielle wriggled in her arms.
Edwina just waved her hand with a smile and gave Apolline a hug after she put Gabrielle back down.
"It's good to see you," Apolline said to Edwina, and a gracious la bise was exchanged as Simon was greeting Monsieur with a hand shake like the old friends they were.
Fleur and Gabrielle greeted Aaric and his group as well. Fleur had a smile on her face, and Gabrielle was still giggling a little.
Aaric removed his knee from Harry's back and got up like nothing had happened to greet the girls.
He pinched Gabrielle's nose before looking at Fleur with a raised eyebrow. "You've come to spy on me, have you... rival?" Aaric said.
Fleur scoffed and gave Aaric a hug before hugging the others as well.
Harry was still on the couch with his face buried in it. "Traitors, what face do I have left now?" he was muttering to himself as Pyra nudged his face to comfort him.
"He will recover," Aaric said with a nod as they sat together and did not disturb Harry, waiting for him to recover himself.
"Aaric, would you mind if I dug a hole in your yard to bury myself?" Harry asked with dead eyes after he got up.
"Of course I mind. Who knows what your clumsy magic will do to the grass," Aaric replied with a frown.
"Oh! I almost forgot. Hermione and her parents must be ready. I should send Dobby to bring them as well," Harry muttered, and Dobby appeared beside him and tilted his head at Harry.
"Dobby, go to Hermione's house and bring her and her family. Don't appear in front of them, go to their front door first and ring the bell," Harry instructed.
Dobby nodded and gave a salute before leaving with a pop.
Harry had helped Hermione reach her home by using Dobby as a transport, the same method he used for himself.
The Grangers arrived at the front door of the house with a pop and rang the doorbell moments after Harry had sent Dobby to bring them.
Edwina was the one who opened the door and greeted Hermione and her nervous-looking parents warmly.
"Welcome, please. Make yourselves at home," Edwina said and gestured for them to enter.
Simon nodded at Wendell and got up to greet the family with a smile.
Ignatius and Monsieur also greeted Wendell, wanting to help the nervous man and welcome him to the group.
Meanwhile, Selene and Apolline greeted Monica with a hug as well.
Hermione joined Aaric and the group, marveling at the magical objects and the look of the mansion.
"Didn't you guys invite Ron?" she asked with a raised eyebrow when she noticed a lack of redheads in the mansion.
"Ron and his brothers are still in Hogwarts," Harry mentioned, getting a tilt of the head from Hermione.
She shrugged it off after a bit and confiscated Pyra from Harry before joining in the conversation.
A/n: Give me your thought on the chapter and reviews on the fic.
And.. you got any power stones? Well, hand em over then.