Albus watched the swirling couples on the floor and stifled a yawn. He could now see why Scorpius and Alexis would want a distraction. This New Year's party was boring beyond all reason. But at least Alexis talked her Dad into allowing a few muggle songs to be played. Other wise he thought he would claw out his own eyes.
His attention was caught as flash of emerald and blonde swirled past him. He focused on the swirling couple and saw Alexis and Scorpius dancing together and wished for the hundredth time that it was him twirling her around the floor. Little did anyone in his family know, but Albus had taken ballroom dancing knowing that he would need it in the world of politics.
Albus wasn't like his brother the future Quidditch star or his sister who wanted to be an Auror like their father. No he wanted to one day be on the Wizengamot. He wanted to use his intelligence and cleverness to help advance the wizarding world.
But at the moment laws and policies were far from his mind as he watched his beautiful Alexis twirl in her brother's arms. When she had come down the stairs that night in the green number she wore now his mouth had gone dry and all he could think of was how he wanted to seen the thing on his floor.
A set of green bands, that most likely were decorated with real emeralds, attached at her shoulder crossed over her bare back and then crossed twice around her midsection under her plump breast, that were covered in green satin. Yes, Alexis wasn't buxom or overly curvy, but he knew that her breasts would fit nicely in the palm of his hands.
What he didn't know was that as Scorpius and Alexis were dancing they were plotting. Well it was more like Alexis was plotting and Scor was listening to her plans and trying to keep up. "Listen you idiot," she said keeping a smile in place as he spun her around the room, " The only way you are gong to get to dance with Rose is if I dance with Albus. Daddy will be so busy watching us and making sure that Albus doesn't get handsy that you will be free to look at her starry eyed as much as you want with out him noticing. So take the plan or leave it."
She smiled in triumph in her head as she saw him give a slight nod and say, "Fine, but I hope you aren't getting any ideas Alexis," he said and twirled her again, his false smile in place as well, faking charm coming second nature to him, since it was taught to them from the cradle.
"Oh, please Scor you should know by now that if I want Albus I will have him, and honestly would you rather I was with your best mate. Someone that you trust or someone like say … Igor Krum," she said and smirked at his scowl, "That is what I thought," she chuckled as the song drew to a close.
"Speaking of said idiot," she groaned with a false smile on her face. The tall carbon copy of Viktor Krum was walking towards her with a determined gleam in his eye. "I am afraid that the dance with Rose will have to wait. Daddy is trying his hand at matchmaking."
"It looks like Mum is in the same mind set," Scor said as Samantha Wood made her way towards him. "If Krum gets handsy let me know and I will break his face," he growled in her ear and she laughed
"Dear brother if he gets a case of Roman fingers I will just have to break them ruining his Quidditch career before it begins," she hissed darkly and he chuckled in response.
"That's my girl," he said then took Samantha's hand as she took Igor's.
Albus scowled darkly as Alexis was taken into the arms of Igor Krum and he whisked her into a waltz with his hand dangerously low on her waist. He new that he was only going to get himself in trouble if he kept watching them, but he couldn't help it. He continued to watch wishing he could hex the bastard for placing his hands on his Alexis.
"Hello Albus, Happy New Year," said a familiar voice from beside him, but when he looked beside him it was a man he had never seen before. He was a tall man with a muscular build that appeared to be in his mid twenties with chocolate brown hair and eyes. His face wasn't recognizable, but neither was it forgettable.
"I'm sorry. Have we met? I know you're not on the Wizengamot, I would know," Albus said his brow crumpling in confusion as he stared intently at the man trying to place his face.
"Damn I must be getting good at the disguises. You better tell your Dad when you see him before school that you didn't recognize me. Rose already told me she would tell Ron," the man said with a smug look on his face, and Albus knew who he was.
"Teddy! What the hell are you doing here," he hissed and gave a quick glance around to make sure no one was near by to over hear them.
"I'm here on your Dad's request. They wanted to make sure you two are alright. That Malfoy is behaving himself," he replied and Albus groaned and ran a hand over his face, "Now where is the Malfoy Heiress, Alexis? Harry and Ron wouldn't shut up about how lovely and attractive she was so I want to see the little Malfoy that was able to work two of the top Aurors around her fingers."
At that moment she was twirled by and Albus' eyes of their own accord snapped to fallow her and Teddy fallowed his gaze and gave a low whistle, "Damn! No wonder they are taken with her. She is gorgeous. Now if she is as kind as she is beautiful, that would be a woman worth crossing lines for," and before he thought better of it Albus nodded with a possessive gleam in his eye and Teddy's eyes went wide.
"Teddy shut up," Albus said his voice hard with warning as his green eyes burned at his God brother.
"Oh hell, you've already crossed the line," he said in shock, "Damn it Albus this is almost as bad as finding out that Rose is hooking up with that git Scorpius. I thought I would at least spare your Dad a heart attack. Now both Ron and Harry are going to fall over dead leaving me without any superiors to promote me for handing over this information."
Albus was about to respond when a cold voice sounded from behind them, "Mr. Lupin, do you know what my father would do to you if he found you gate crashing," and they both spun around to meet the cold blue eyes of Alexis Malfoy.
"Alexis," Albus said calmly, "I thought you were dancing with Krum?"
She looked at him and gave him a teasing smile, "He decided to call a halt to the dance when I tried to remove his hand from my ass and his wrist at the same time," and when she saw fury flash in his eyes she said, "Relax love, he wont be bothering me again. Besides it seems that we have a slightly larger issue to handle," she said and though she kept the smile on her face, her eyes snapped with blue fire as she turned her gaze back to Teddy.
Teddy regarded her with interest in his eyes, "You didn't answer my question Mr. Lupin," she said as she clasped her hands in front of her waiting for his answer.
"I'm sorry Miss Malfoy, I believe you have me confused with some one else. I am Mr. Andrews," Teddy responded with his false name and a smile.
With her hard gaze still on Teddy she said, "Albus love, please inform your God brother that it would be unwise of him to group me into the stupid blonde category, because I will destroy his world like that," and snapped her fingers quickly.
Albus smiled and a look of admiration filled his eyes, "I would listen to her Teddy," and after a moment Teddy gave a tight nod.
"Good," she said and a little of the fire left her eyes, "Now I know why you are here Mr. Lupin, and I don't care. In fact I had been expecting it and would have been a little disappointed if they hadn't sent some one to scope out the situation."
"Go ahead and tell Harry and Ron your report on the treatment of their children, because as you can tell the only mistreatment they are receiving is having to endure this extremely dull ball, but with his plans for going into politics this is a good learning experience for Albus," and both of their eyes flared wide, "Oh come now Albus you and I both know that you were made for the Wizengamot," and she smiled at him and he returned it.
Then she continued as she took Albus arm, "Walk with me please, there are a few more things that we will be discussing and there are too many listening ears," and she began to lead them into the gallery that held all the Malfoy art.
When they were far enough away she turned to a large painting and began to pretend to explain the intricacies of the painting as she spoke, "But there are a few things that you will not be including in your report. And that is the information that you have gained on my brother and my true relationship with Rose and Albus. It would not be in your best interest," and then began to move to the next piece of art.
"And why was that," Teddy asked as he pointed to a large marble statue in pretense of asking her a question about the piece and Albus had to admit that they were both very good at subterfuge and began to fallow their lead.
"Because if you decide to run your fat mouth to their parents, I will hunt you down and return you to pretty Victoire Weasley less of a man if you get my meaning," she said smile still in place as she pointed to the genital area of the statue in front of them and Teddy's eyes widened slightly.
"You can't be serious," he said as he pointed to another aspect of the statute.
At this point Albus felt he should warm Teddy again, "She isn't playing Teddy," he said as he joined in the senseless pointing, "Alexis is very aggressive when it comes to something she wants."
She pulled them to another piece of art and smiled at Albus, "Aren't you sweet," she said then to Teddy, "You see when Albus says I am aggressive, what he really means to say is that I am ruthless and will do nearly anything to get what I want. And just so you know I always get what I want," and she pointed to another statue near a set of French doors and they moved towards it.
"Now this is what is going to happen Mr. Lupin," she continued as they neared the statue, "You are going to ask me to dance and I will accept. We will dance one dance and end near the front entrance. You will bow over my hand and then leave and keep this conversation and the secret relationships in that clever brain of yours."
"Or what," Teddy countered and Albus groaned aloud as Alexis snapped cold hard eyes to him. "You mean besides my maiming you," she asked and then released Albus' arm and snatched Teddy's before he could stop her, "Excuse us Albus I need a private word with your God brother," and she drug him out onto the balcony and away before either of them could protest.
When they were out of sight and ear shot she released his arm and turned to scowl at him and he barely fought the shiver of foreboding that threatened to race up his spine, "Why are you testing me Mr. Lupin? You don't seem like an unintelligent man to me. May be you just have a death wish, is that the case?"
"Maybe I don't like being threatened by a slip of a girl," he hissed and then felt his face form one of shock when she laughed out loud.
"Mr. Lupin I don't threaten I promise. Now listen to me you silly man, you have no idea the trouble you will be in if you refuse to leave the party and keep your mouth shut. Take a good look around," she said with a sinister smile on her face as he took in their surrounding, "A dark balcony away from the crowd with no witnesses to your treachery," she said and he looked at with a quirked brow.
"What treachery you ask? Well if you refuse to leave all I have to do is destroy this coiffure," she said and patted her silver blonde hair, "snap the strap to my very expensive dress, scream at the top of my lungs and then watch my Daddy blast you into oblivion. Then I don't have to worry about you ever spilling your guts to anyone. Because honestly who will they believe, the daughter of the master of the house… or a gate crashing metamorph who lured her out here under the pretense of her showing him the lovely Statue of David in the garden," and he stared at her with mouth agape, "I will give you a moment to think it over," she finished as she examined her manicured hand.
Albus stood tensely near the door, straining to hear anything that was being said between the two and coming up empty. When they came back in he relaxed and felt a pang of sympathy for Teddy when he took in his tight eyes and Alexis triumphant smile. "I will be back with you in a moment love. You're God brother has just asked me to dance." As he watched Teddy take her waist he could see that they began a heated conversation from the first step.
"Go ahead and ask the question that is eating away at you Mr. Lupin," she said a pleasant smile in place as he twirled her around the floor.
"Why?"
"I'm sorry; you will have to elaborate on that open-ended question. I'm not a mind reader, just very good and probabilities," and she gave a soft chuckle.
"Why Albus and Rose? Why would you two set your sights on them? You could have anyone that you wanted and you chose them and I want to know why? Money, connections, status what," he asked and Alexis felt her temper spike, but kept it out of her face.
"If I was one of them and I heard this conversation I would feel insulted. You make it seems as if they are beneath our notice," she said and she saw his cheeks tinge red.
"You are right Mr. Lupin; I could have anyone I want. Krum who is extremely popular, Nott who is the sole heir to the million galleon fortune, Zambini whose connections are very vast. But you seem to forget who you are talking to. We're Malfoys, our statue, wealth and connections are twice as vast as any of theirs."
"Then you are going for a challenge," he snapped quickly.
Alexis rolled her eyes and replied straight faced, "If we wanted a challenged I would be going for Rose and Scor for Albus and we would chew them up and spit them out," she said and watched his eyes bulge slightly, "But that is not the case. Why is it such a stretch of the imagination for my brother and I to want Albus and Rose for the amazing wizard and witch that they are?"
"Because Malfoys always have an ulterior motive," he countered.
"You caught us Mr. Lupin," and she saw his smirk when she answered, "We are after the happiness our parents have in their marriage."
She saw Teddy's brow pull together as she continued, "Albus andRose are brilliant, kind, attractive people that see past our name and down to who we really are. Why wouldn't we want would be the more appropriate question, don't you think?"
"Now Mr. Lupin the song is about to end and I want to know where we stand," she hissed through the smile she held in place, "Do you still feel my brother and I have ill intentions toward Albus and Rose and the need to tell their parents for their own good; because if you do, I would like to get your castration out of the way now and start forming a battle plan."
"Battle plan?"
"Indeed," she said and looked him square in the eye, "You don't think Scor and I would let them go with out a fight do you. You can be assured that we will put everything we have to keep them by our sides, because they are worth fighting for," and he could see she was deadly serious and was decided as the song ended.
He stepped away from her and bowed over her hand and said, "Welcome to the family my dear. I will keep quiet. It will be interesting having you and your brother around once the folks find out. And you know they will," he said as he straightened.
"Of course," she said with a sincerer smile, "But I would like a little peace before that happens," and heard him laugh as left the party.
When Scorpius came up to her he asked, "Who was that and what was it about," with a frown on his face.
"Teddy Lupin and he found out about you and Rose. I talked him into keeping his mouth shut," she said when his face paled slightly, "Relax Scor you know I will always take care of you and Rosie. Now I believe you owe said red head a slow dance," she said as she slid the switch on the wall down dimming thelights.
She only had to move a few steps away from Scorpius when she ran into Albus, "May I have this dance," he asked as he held out his hand.
"I was hoping you would ask," she smiled as she took his hand with a smile
After he led her to the floor and pulled her into his arms he said, "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't," and he swirled her around to the soft beats of the muggle song 'I knew I loved you' by Savage Garden getting lost in her eyes.
When he twirled her off the floor and to the balcony to steal a few kisses he they didn't notice her parents as they watched the floor, "Do you think we should tell them that we know," Draco asked Astoria as she watched her son swirling Rose around the floor with love in his eyes.
"No love. Let them have their romance. It will be brought out soon enough when Potter and Weasley find out. Then they will need our support. For the moment Alexis seems to have a firm grasp on the situation," she said and looked up at the man she loved with a smile on her lips that he returned.