Chapter 38: A Night to Remember
The man also glided over, so smooth and seamless, to us and gave a deep bow to me. "A pleasure to meet you." His voice was deep and had a thick accent to it. He took my hand and gave a lingering kiss to it before nodding to Augusta and Neville. "This is Sanguini. He is a friend of Eldred Worple. I'll leave you to talk, Aethna. Neville, come along, there's someone I want you to meet." Neville went to object, but Augusta gave him a stern glare and he nodded, giving me a sad smile before following her off. I turned back to Sanguini.
"I know what you are, Sanguini. Are you here to cause trouble?" I asked, taking a step back in case he tried anything. He smirked, his teeth sharp and fangs at the ready. "Of course not. I merely was told there would be a very interesting young woman here. Eldred did not lie this time." I pursed my lips, unsure of his intentions and if he knew who I really was. He motioned for me to sit down and I did, he took the chair across from me, his eyes never leaving mine. "Aethna…what an intriguing name you have. May I ask where you got it?" "My father named me, he wanted me to have a lasting name, and unique."
He went to speak again, but someone cleared their throats and he looked up before nodding. "Forgive me, it slipped my mind. I would like to introduce my nephew." I stood up and turned to see who I was meeting now and blinked, realizing I had already met this man before. "You!" I said, staring at the man I had ran into on my way out of the house to get Neville's gift. I didn't even realize that he was a vampire, he didn't look the same as his uncle. "Aethna, nice to see you again. I must apologize for earlier as I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"No, it was my fault, and again, I'm sorry about that." I disagreed and Sanguini gave us a nod before his eyes found a group of young girls. "Uncle, here. These are delicious." the young man gave a couple treats from a tray and popped them into Sanguini's hands. "Aethna, would you honor me with a dance?" I blinked as he did a deep bow as his uncle had and held out his hand. The music had just begun a slow song and I nodded, taking his hand and letting him lead me onto the floor. His hands were on my waist and holding my hand and I placed my free hand on his shoulder.
We began to move in time with the music and I noticed his eyes weren't as dark as his uncles. "What is your name?" he smiled and I noticed his teeth were different also, his fangs were just slightly longer than his normal teeth. "Oh my, I'm truly dumbfounded by your beauty I forgot to introduce myself. I am Nikolas. Pleasure to meet you." I nodded and he twirled me before we began to sway again. "Forgive my intrusion…but what are you?" he laughed and dipped me back, leaning his mouth beside my ear. "I'm like you. I'm half-human half-vampire."
I was shocked as he lifted me back up and realized there were several people clapping for our dancing. Nikolas bowed and kissed my hand before stepping back with a huge smile on his face. I searched the crowd and saw Neville standing near the front beside Harry and the others, his face showing he was hurt at me dancing with another man. I went to pull my hand from Nikolas, but he had a tight grip on mine. "Come speak with me." he said and began to lead me away but I planted my feet firm and he turned back, confused. "I am sorry Nikolas, I must be going to see the guest of honor."
"No, my dearest Aethna, you are the guest of honor tonight. You light up this night so beautifully, I don't think another will ever compare." he gave another deep bow and disappeared, back to his uncle I assumed as I turned and looked for Neville. He was sitting under a tree back out of view of anyone, but I sensed him and found him. He looked up and met my eyes as I sank onto my knees in front of him. "I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to be alone."
He didn't say anything and I got up, sitting beside him. "Neville, are you alright?" I tried again and he lifted his face to look at me, his eyes brimming with tears. "You dance so beautifully Aethna…with that guy. Seemed awfully close." I blinked, then laughed, thinking it was a joke. When he didn't join in, I faced him and ran my hand along his cheek. "Neville, you can't be serious. That was nothing at all. He just asked and I agreed, nothing else to it. Although it was interesting to find out he is like me." that got his attention and he cocked his head to the side, "Like you?" "He's half-vampire and half-human. I've never heard of another hybrid like me."
"So you have a lot in common with this guy, dance so close with him, it's just unsettling, Aethna. I'm sorry." I shook my head and pulled him into a hug. "Neville, you are such a fool. No matter how much I am like another person, no one in this world or any other can hold my heart as you already do. Please forgive me for my actions, I should've danced with you. After all it is your birthday. Speaking of…" I pulled my gift from my dress pocket and placed it in his hands. He looked at me with a smile on his face and then undid the ribbon and opened the small box.
His face changed when he saw what was inside, lifting up the small orb into the light. "What is it?" I giggled and took it from his hands. "Watch." I held it in my palm, letting it roll for a moment before settling right in the center. After a couple seconds, the orb began to change and suddenly there was a flower starting from it's seed and growing into a miniature version of itself until was a fully bloomed. It was the flower I had bought not to long ago. "Oh wow! Look at it!" he took the ball from me and looked at the flower from all angles, making sure not to miss a piece.
"It's a flower observatory or something like that. You just hold it in your hand and think about the flower or plant you want to study and it will appear as a seed and start to grow. You can even make it grow slow or fast or stay like it is. You can imagine the flower or just picture the name and it'll happen. I thought it would be a nice gift-" I was cut off by Neville tackling me into a hug and kissing me hard. I wrapped my arms around him and broke the kiss, laughing a bit at his completely red face. "It's amazing! The most perfect gift ever! I love it!" he cleared his throat and stared deep into my eyes, "I love you as well. Always." I blushed and pulled us into a sitting position, straightening my dress up. I took his hand in mine and pressed it to my heart, replying, "I will forever love you too Neville."
We had another moment alone before I heard someone asking where Neville was and I knew we needed to get back to the party. We all sang Happy birthday to him and he blew out his candles on his cake and it was being served as he found his way back to my side, smiling at me. I was about to say something when I felt someone's eyes on me and I turned to see Sanguini and Nikolas both staring at me. I cleared my throat, turning back to Neville when I felt the dread in my spine, I felt the fear racing through me. "Father…" I breathed out, before taking off running toward the house.