Maxim Potter was usually a mild-mannered young man
Hello, this is my new story. It's written differently and is much more light-hearted than my other two stories. I hope new readers and loyal readers of my stories alike enjoy this chapter. Please review and let me know whether it is good or bad. I am working on the update for The Quidditch Chronicles as well. Again thank you for reading. -Prinadean
Loving Like a Potter I
Maxim Potter was usually a mild-mannered young man.
"I really think I should tell the story" interrupted a female voice that although usually pleasant was currently marked with a decidedly argumentative tone. The voice was none other than the voice of the narrator's wife.
"You, but you don't know how it began" said the original male storyteller in a tone a fraction more accusatory than necessary.
"Oh don't I, because I'm pretty sure the protagonist role is a shared one when it comes to love stories" the irritation in the voice was becoming more obvious with every word.
"Yes, but you never get the man's point of view in a love story. It's always about the woman's…feelings" the last word lingered with a shade of mild disgust.
"There happen to be nothing wrong with feelings. Besides, it will sound much better when I tell it. After all, I'm the writer" this time the voice was tinged with indignation,
"This is exactly why you should let me join in on the storytelling every now and then. Let's learn to share, darling" said the male voice veering now towards a tone of placating.
"Knowing you, you'll just keep going about the story and never let me get a word in edgewise, honey" Honey might as well have been a curse word.
"Me, yeah right, you always have to get the last word. Not to mention the first word and every word in the middle as well," The narrator said.
Since truth be told this was a point the female could not exactly dispute as she was notoriously verbose, the female conceded, "Fine you can start"
"Anyway, where was I, oh yeah…"
Maxim Potter was usually a mild-mannered young man. In fact, of all the Potter children he was the least temperamental and the least likely to fall into dramatic antics. His mother had always said that he was the easiest baby, calm and well behaved, never fussy. Very few things annoyed Maxim James Potter. Not the incessant fighting of his youngest siblings Tierney age seven and Dane age nine. Not the paparazzi that seemed to follow him whenever he enjoyed a night out on the town. Not the whining of his sister Charlotte's cat at two in the morning. No, Maxim was the easygoing, relaxed type. Except for when it came to her.
The aforementioned "her" currently was twirling around the dance floor in a blue chiffon dress that accentuated every movement of her willowy frame. Not that Maxim noticed.
What he would admit to noticing is the way in which the man she was dancing with was surreptitiously sliding his hand farther down her bare back with every dance step. That was most certainly behavior of which "her" brother Sebastian would most certainly not approve of. And "her" brother had entrusted Maxim to keep an eye on his younger sister, his only sister no less. It wasn't really a problem as it meant he also was able to keep an eye on "her" best friend and his sister as well.
The "her" happened to be Delilah Daisy Longbottom. And, it would be a lot easier for Maxim to keep an eye on the pretty blonde if she didn't seem to be attracting the attentions of nearly every single, and some not so single, men present at Georgina Biltmore's annual Summer Solstice Ball. She was only barely seventeen after all, it was positively indecent for some of these men to be gawking at her the way that they were.
Then again, Delilah did seem to look particularly beautiful tonight with her long blonde hair shimmering in the light of the ballroom of the Grosvenor Square mansion owned by the Biltmore family. The ends of her flaxen locks tickled her bare back and were practically forcing Maxim's gaze down to her perfect…But now was not the time to be thinking of bare skin and tickling.
Now was the time to step in before some society prat groped Delilah on the dance floor. Maxim finally caught a glimpse of the man she was dancing with. It was Christopher Hardwick of all people. Not that Christopher wasn't a fairly decent human being; but he was as dumb as a doorknob and currently struggling through law school before his father gave him a pity position at his prestigious law firm.
Maxim swiftly made his way to the middle of the dance floor, as the song ended standing no more than a foot from Delilah and Christopher.
"May I have the next dance?" Max asked, though it wasn't much of a question as Max had deftly stepped in front of Christopher and slipped an arm around Delilah's tiny waist. The maneuver carried out with surprising grace elicited an irritated noise from behind Maxim, though he only turned to see a miffed Cameron Smythson who had apparently wanted the next dance. Max simply turned around to place a more firm hold on Delilah's waist.
Delilah placed one arm on Maxim's shoulder and her other hand in his free hand as they began to dance.
"So, Christopher Hardwick?" questioned Maxim.
Delilah grimaced but restrained an eye roll, "Insufferable bore"
"Glad to hear it", Max said with a slight smirk.
"Oh really, do you consider yourself so much better? Besides I believe he wanted to escort me on a private walk in the gardens" Delilah teased.
"Please, don't insult me. Besides knowing Christopher he'd lead you all the way to Edinburgh before you encountered a single of the Biltmore's rosebushes", Maxim said trying to downplay the remark, but everyone knew what happened in the gardens during balls.
Delilah laughed softly and looked up at Max, her clear grey-blue eyes making contact with his brilliant green eyes. The eyes he inherited from his father.
Maxim examined every feature of her beautiful face. She had perfect doll-like features: a heart-shaped face, small pert nose, high rounded cheekbones, and big, round eyes. Her face was so innocent and pure that Maxim had to fight the thoughts of corrupting her until she was the devil himself.
But then there was that mouth. She possessed full, perfect lips with a prominent cupid's bow for a mouth that was so sensuous that he suspected the men were lining up to dance with her with the sole purpose of receiving a smile from those curvaceous lips.
It was infuriating that little Delilah Longbottom was making him feel this way, making him think…impure thoughts. It was so infuriating, that he twirled Delilah a little harder than was necessary and she looked at him with an arched eyebrow. He mumbled a sorry. She rolled her eyes, but didn't make the sarcastic comment that was surely on the tip of her tongue.
"Thanks for the rescue" Delilah said as the dance ended and she made her way towards her best friend and Maxim's sister Charlotte who had just extracted herself from the clutches of some other society kid.
Maxim sighed and walked off to meet up with his best friend Noah Pearlsteen by the bar. What he really needed was to stop thinking about Delilah Longbottom and the only way to do that it seems was to start drinking.
Except his eyes couldn't help but fall to Delilah laughing and gossiping with Charlotte across the room. Her smile was bright and her laugh light and bell-like. Well, Maxim couldn't actually hear her laugh over the jovial chatter and music that filled the expansive ballroom, but he knew what it sounded like all the same.
Yes, Max definitely needed a drink.
"Scotch please" he ordered quickly from the bartender.
"Did you see Royston Vaughn?" Noah asked gesturing to the ballroom entrance.
There stood a handsome, distinguished gentleman in a well-cut black tuxedo. He had a presence that demanded attention with perfectly coiffed brown hair, a tanned face that bared lines of a life well indulged, and gray eyes that tended to mesmerize the least flirtatious of women.
"What is he doing here? He hasn't been in England for ten years at least" Maxim said taking a little more than a sip of his scotch.
"Thirteen actually" said Aithley Weasley, a pretty redhead who happened to be Noah's wife and Maxim's cousin as she approached Noah and Maxim.
"Counting down the days till his return" Maxim teased.
"Please, I simply make it my business to know these things," said Aithley, but nevertheless draping her arms around Noah's neck. He pulled her closer and kissed her softly on the lips. Maxim looked away at the intimacy of their little gesture, but was still distracted by the thought of what it would be like to be able to kiss Delilah like that.
"Oh speaking of which, I have an excellent bit of gossip. You know Sienna Smythson, that blond girl that was the same year as Caliber in school only she went to Beauxbatons because she lived in Paris with her mum. Well, guess what the little slut is up to now?", said Aithley.
"Darling, we don't care, but it doesn't matter since I'm sure you're going to tell us anyway" Noah said.
Aithley ignored him, "Apparently she's pregnant, which, you know, was bound to happen sooner or later, so that's not really news. But the potential father list is outrageous: Gaspard Garrel, a married Beauxbatons professor; Michael Tyler, the unfortunate-looking Interior Minister's son with bad skin; and her chauffer, who is actually quite attractive. Oh, but don't tell anyone, she doesn't want anyone to know she's knocked up until she gets a paternity test"
"Well how do you know all this then?" Maxim asked suspiciously.
"Poor girl had a meltdown in the powder room, and she spilled the whole story" said Aithley, looking only slightly sympathetic.
"You're a terrible gossip," Noah said, though the way he was stroking her voluminous red wavy hair indicated it didn't bother him in the slightest.
"I swear I don't search out gossip, gossip finds me"
"Alright then, since it seems you really do know everything about everyone, why is Royston Vaughn back in England"?
"Well as you know he was living quite well in Vienna; plenty of money, women, glamorous holidays. But apparently, he recently had a falling out with his business partner"
"I didn't hear anything about it," said Noah who happened to work for his family's hotelier Pearlsteen International, a rival of the Guggenheim-Vaughn Group.
"Well you wouldn't because it wasn't exactly business related. Apparently Josef Guggenheim caught Vaughn in a little dalliance with his wife. Anyway, you'll be interested to know Vaughn's about to sell his portion of the company and open up his own firm here in London"
"Darling, you are pure genius", said Noah foreseeing a multi-million-galleon acquisition in his very near future, now that he knew of Vaughn's business troubles.
"Don't ever forget it" Aithley responded with a sardonic smile.
"Noah, it looks like you're going to be fighting for his attention for awhile, what with the way those girls are throwing themselves at him" Maxim said raising his glass towards where Royston Vaughn was flirting with no less than four or five women.
"Clearly they know about the six houses, two yachts, and his status as the richest man in Europe under 40" said Charlotte Potter joining the conversation, champagne glass in hand. Delilah Longbottom happened to be with her.
"Yes, but why do you know that?" Maxim asked accusingly removing her champagne glass and replacing it with lemonade from a passing waiter.
Charlotte waved the comment off before promptly grabbing another champagne glass from a different waiter.
"How old is he anyway?" asked Noah.
"Thirty-four", Charlotte, Delilah and Aithley responded in unison.
"You're ridiculous, all of you" Maxim said with an incredulous laugh.
"He is handsome," remarked Charlotte.
"Yes, and much too old for you. Isn't there any other guy you might be interested in, not that I'm encouraging it, but at least someone more appropriate than Royston Vaughn"
"That's why we came over here. Aidan Finnegan was following Charlotte around the ballroom like a lovesick puppy" Delilah said with a giggle.
"He wrote me a sonnet, not just a poem but a sonnet; it was a terrible one actually. He rhymed 'Charlotte' with 'I'll never treat you like a harlot'" said Charlotte exasperated by the boy who continued to send her flowers now that the school year was over, though perhaps it was better than the constant love notes in class.
"I see, do you think you two could stop the boys from falling in love with you for one night? Besides Charlotte, you have two other brothers why can't they keep a track of you and Dee for one night. How am I supposed to enjoy myself when I'm fighting off your constant suitors"
Charlotte laughed while Delilah said, "You're right, I apologize on behalf of Charlotte and I for being so gorgeous and desirable. Next time there's a ball we'll dress in Hogwarts robes, which do absolutely nothing for our figures and we'll be sure not to bathe that week either"
"Thank you, that's all I'm asking for. Next time Cal and Jude are going to do this though" Maxim replied.
"Please Cal's too busy with other women to pay attention to us and Jude hates parties and kind of people in general, so good luck with that one. Besides I think you secretly enjoy your role"
"Yes and you do fetch lemonade and champagne with a certain panache" added Delilah.
"Um, Charlotte" said a shaky voice from behind, "wo- would you like to dance?"
It was Sheldon McCleary a Hufflepuff in Charlotte and Delilah's year at Hogwarts, and another of Charlotte's many admirers. Charlotte gave him a gracious smile before following him out to the dance floor her black silk gown trailing behind her. Still, she looked back at Maxim, Delilah, Aithley and Noah with a desperate look.
"Come on Aithley, let's dance before some guy tries to whisk you away from me too" said Noah, placing an arm around her narrow waist and steering her towards the dance floor. She kissed him subtly and sweetly on the cheek as they headed to the dance floor.
"One day I'll be in love like them" said Delilah with a smile.
"Noah and Aithley? Yeah, they're pretty perfect together. I introduced them, you know" Maxim said with a wistful smile.
"Yes, I do actually. Don't you remember I was there?" Delilah teased
"That's right at the villa in Ibiza two summers ago. You're coming with us again this summer, right?"
"Yes, Sebastian has been in Spain for the past two months doing herbology research there so my mum and dad figured it was the best place for us to all join up for summer vacation" Delilah said. Her father Neville Longbottom owned Longbottom Botanicals, a world famous greenhouse and lab in the hills above Hogsmeade, where academic types and tourists alike came from allover to see the exotic and powerful plants. Sebastian, Delilah's nineteen year-old brother had inherited the plant passion and was currently doing field research for his father's lab.
"That's great!" Maxim said with a little too much enthusiasm, his voice an octave too high.
He cleared his throat and began again, "I mean, I'm glad you're joining us, because Ibiza is always really fun; you know there's a lot to do"
"Yeah, I'm really exci-"
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Miss?" said the dashing Royston Vaughn interrupting the conversation. Maxim didn't think he looked the least bit sorry.
"Delilah, Delilah Longbottom", Delilah said smoothly.
"Delilah" Royston repeated, his voice like honey as his narcotic grey eyes gazed at her lustily. Delilah blushed under his gaze.
"Yes, and I'm Maxim Potter" Maxim interrupted suddenly extending a hand towards Royston and forcing his attention away from Delilah.
"Very nice to meet you" Royston said shaking his hand all manners and easy confidence.
Maxim noticed that his eyes barely flickered towards him and away from Delilah though. He did not at all appreciate the way Royston looked at Delilah like a ripe piece of fruit he very much wanted to eat. Couldn't he be a little subtler about his intentions?
Maxim had been so caught in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Royston escorting Delilah to the dance floor until it was too late. He wondered if he should go over and break them up somehow. But, Delilah didn't seem too miserable in Royston's arms and was laughing because apparently Royston was a very witty guy, much to Maxim's chagrin. Maxim didn't really think he could really do witty.
This was ridiculous, Maxim Potter was twenty-years old, he was a single, successful businessman who had three months out of business school opened the hottest new nightclub in London called Glitterati and was working on opening a brand new restaurant in the exclusive Mayfair neighborhood. Not to mention he was a scion of one the wealthiest, most well respected families in the wizarding world. He did not need to be distracted by and interested in his little sister's best friend, especially when she still had a year of school left and whom he had known her entire life. No, he was Maxim Potter and he could have any one of the beautiful young women flirting their way around the ballroom if he wanted to have them.
Maxim scoped the room out quickly searching for a distraction, but not a one of the exquisitely dressed society girls tempted him much. And so Max turned back to the bar, and ordered himself another scotch.
"Why are we writing this again?" Said the male narrator otherwise known as Maxim Potter
"It's our story, our very own love story," explained the female, his fiancé Delilah Longbottom. They were to be married in two days.
"Yes, I know what it is, but we know the story so why do we need to write it" Maxim protested.
Delilah sighed heavily and then began, "Because when we get our first letter from Hogwarts saying our oldest kid threw a party in the trophy room and broke all the glass casing and our middle one has the flu and is throwing up all over the place and our youngest has just gotten into the naked stage and refuses to wear clothes and runs around the house completely nude and we haven't had more than ten minutes alone in six months and I'm wondering why I ever moved out of my awesome Notting Hill bachelorette pad and your new secretary is only twenty with no puke stains on her blouse and she's tempting you, we can say 'Oh- so that's why we got married'"
"Merlin…Sorry I asked"