We apparated to the Parkinson's Manor, like most of the other families did. We just stood there for a moment. Then somehow we put our masks on simultaneously. My father's was grey to match his suit. My mother's was magenta to match her dress and her shoes. Daphne's was white, to match the thin belt around her waste and the sparkles on her light blue, satin gown. My mask was well, purple. The same dark purple as my dress.
All of us walked through the double doors in a straight line. We were greeted by the house elves taking coats and bags and also by the other people ahead of us. After we gave our coats and bags to the house elves, mother and father left Daphne and me alone. She looked at me with confused eyes as she noticed I still had my beret and my black lace gloves on.
"Aren't you going to take those off?" She asked, pointing.
"Um…No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to. I thought that since I wouldn't have enough time to put on as much of my make-up like you did, that I could have enough time to add more accessories to stand out. Does it look bad? If it does, I'll take them off." I started to worry at the last part.
"Oh, no it doesn't look bad. Don't worry, I was just wondering. It looks good actually. Very different, but cute."
I blew out a huge sigh of relief. "Good. Thanks. I just think that sometimes you need to stand out with what you wear, not with make-up. Look different, but still good and…pretty without over doing it with other things."
"Great idea Tori. I'll think about that next time there's a party."
"It's good experimentation."
"I'll say. Oh look, there's Pansy and my friends. I'll see you later."
"Okay, bye." Now the ignoring, mean, glaring Daphne comes out. Or so I thought. Her friends were pointing at me. They were probably asking her who she was talking to. I was expecting her to look at me, roll her eyes, and just say I was nobody, but instead, she smiled and motioned for me to go over there.
I walked over to her with caution. I didn't know what would happen when I got there, but I was certainly sure that I was confused. Then Daphne did something even more surprising. She introduced me to her friends.
"Alright everyone, this is my litter sister, Astoria."
I was speechless and completely taken aback by her recent mood. She usually didn't do this unless she was told. I could only manage to say, "Hi." as I was still in shock. Everyone greeted back in unison. Daphne then began to introduce me to everyone properly by name.
"Astoria this is Theodore Nott, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini, Gregory Goyle, Milicent Bullstrode, of course you know you Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy.
I scoffed at the last name said. I had finally come out of shock…Sort of.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you."
I heard a slight noise coming from Malfoy's area, but I ignored it.
"Daphne, can I speak to you for a moment?" I asked.
"Sure. I'll be right back." She said to her friends.
I led her to an open area where no one else was.
I asked her, "Daff, why are you introducing me to your friends. You never did that before."
"Well, I thought that maybe I have been too harsh to you at gatherings. You know, I always glare at you. I thought that introducing you to my friends would make things better, since every time I'm around them I act differently towards you."
"Oh. That's very sweet of you." I was still a bit confused.
She laughed. "Yeah. Since we're both out of school now, we can both hang around the same group, without you getting judged by other, immature people."
"So, is that why you wanted me to change my hair color? So that I didn't look like you, and get judged."
"That and I didn't want people to get us mixed up." She grinned.
"I thought so."
"But, I made you do it so you wouldn't get judged by my mistakes. I was a bully at Hogwarts. I thought that if you didn't look like me, people would think that you were nothing like me. I wanted you to have friends, not followers for having a tough sister."
"If I would've kept my hair the same, people would have acted as if I were just like you at school? Mean, arrogant, and a bully? Kids from my grade would only be my followers to make sure they wouldn't get hurt."
"Exactly."
"Okay, I understand now, thank you."
"No problem. That's what sisters are for."
We smiled at each other.
"Alright, did you find any of your friends yet?"
"No, not yet. It's kind of hard because of all the masks."
"Right. Well, why don't you just hang out with me and my friends until you find them."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Alright, then."
Daphne and I headed back to her group of friends. All of them fell quiet as they saw I was tagging along side her.
"She's just going to stay here until she finds her friends." Daphne explained.
Pansy replied. "Okay, that's fine. By the way, you look very cute, Astoria. Both of you do."
They all agreed.
"Thanks. You look great yourself." I complimented.
"Thanks."
All of them continued to talk about the party. I just stood there bored out of my mind. Draco was talking about his job at the Ministry. Surprisingly, he wasn't working along side his father. He was working with Harry Potter, watching over Hogwarts. They read about the first year students and see how they do as the year goes on. Once a year they go to the school and evaluate the teachers.
Malfoy just kept going on and on about it. Pansy looked interested to hear him talk while she clang to his arm. Daphne did the same. I, on the other hand just stood there looking interested but, really, was completely annoyed about his bragging. I didn't think he cared that Daphne and Theo had a job at the Ministry as well. Daphne worked as a secretary for my father, while Theo had the same job as Draco.
My father wanted me to work at the Ministry as well, but I told him that for now I will work for a couple of days at different shops on Diagon Alley. Then, I'll try St. Mungo's, and last the Ministry. Which ever place that I like the best, I will work there. He agreed to my decision eventually. Knowing my father, he'd try to make my visit to the Ministry exciting.
It's been nearly an hour and I still couldn't find any of my friends anywhere. I wasn't enjoying tagging along Daphne and her friends. When we stopped by the snack table, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey, Tori. It's me Miranda." She said that as she took off her mask to prove it.
"Hey! I've been looking for a familiar face since I got here."
"Sorry. I've been looking for you too. It's kind of hard with all these people around."
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, the others are waiting over there. Let's go."
"Alright. I'll be right there."
"Okay." Miranda smiled and left.
I approached Daphne to tell her I was going.
"Hey, Daff. I just found my friends. I'm going to go by them."
"That's good. Have fun."
"I will. See you later. Oh, and save your little sister a dance when a fast song comes on."
"No worries. I was just going to say the same thing."
"It was nice meeting you all."
"Likewise." Everyone said, except for Malfoy.
As I started to walk away, I heard someone say, "Wait."
I turned to see that Draco was the one to call out.
"What?" I said.
"Was that girl you were talking to Miranda Hampton? A Ravenclaw?"
"Yes. Why?"
"You actually hang out with them?"
"Not just them. There's some from every house."
"Whoever knew Slytherins could be friends with Gryfindors." He scoffed.
"Well you know things have changed a lot. People from other houses can trust Slytherins, now that you've gone and graduated. No more fear lurks in the halls because you're not there anymore. No more death eaters are around."
And with that I left him shocked and angry. Everyone else was surprised that I, of all people, actually mouthed off at him. He tried to respond but, I didn't hear him.
I met up with my friends giving them all happy looks. We talked about how we were doing. They asked what I was doing over there with my sister and her friends. I told them everything. I danced with all of them and got the chance to dance with Daphne. I had a great time. It was the best Masquerade Ball yet.
