Chapter 19: Bel and Aura Go On A Date
"So how do you want to play this…?"
The question came up one evening a few weeks before the ball was set to take place, while Bel was lounging comfortably in one of the chesterfield sofas that made up the centrepiece of Aura's living room, browsing a magazine as the lady of the house sat across from him – a deck of cards laid out on the coffee table while she regarded the results of her reading with an assessing eye.
Aura's preferred deck for cartomancy was the Lenormand… and while Bel had never had any particular talent for Divination, he did enjoy watching her at work:
He'd always thought that there was something respect-worthy about a person who'd spent years perfecting their craft, and dealing with the future – with its many question marks and variables, where correct interpretation was paramount to understanding the counsel being given – was certainly an art that was said to be hard to master. Doing it correctly was all a matter of talent, practice, and dedication… all wrapped up in a neat little package granted by experience.
At the moment, concentration furrowed Aura's brow, hand coming up to absently tuck an errant curl behind her ear – but what the cards revealed to her this time, she didn't tell. She looked up at him after another moment or two and regarded him thoughtfully.
"Narcissa already knows I'm bringing someone, but I didn't tell her who it was." She admitted, "Would you prefer I give her a heads up…?"
If Aura thought it might be unkind of them to spring a royal guest on their hosts without any prior warning, nothing about her indicated that. Bel found this amusing, but keeping a low profile wasn't really the point of his upcoming trip to England, so…
"A heads up might be prudent."
Aura nodded, "I'll see to it that our hosts are informed then."
With that, she turned back to her cards and started picking them up again, gathering everything into a neat stack of thirty-six before tucking them back into their box.
"You might want to keep an eye out," She finally said, "I keep getting these warnings about an old man – a fatherly kind of figure with great ambitious who you ought to be cautious around. You might want to keep an eye out for Abraxas Malfoy, in that case, I suspect he'd be delighted to make a prince out of young Draco."
"He can get in line with my great-aunt, then." Bel said, grinning lopsidedly, "Maybe they'll fight it out."
Funny as the mental image of his great-aunt rolling up her sleeves and gearing to get into a fight with some old English geezer was, Aura's warning still lingered in the back of his mind.
After all, an old man with great ambitions…?
It could be many people.
But considering the context, and assuming it wasn't about his grandfather – which, never completely out of the question now that Bel was retired and had ample free time to start 'investing more time into his royal duties' instead of 'rubbing shoulders with murderers and criminals' – the first person to come to mind was Dumbledore.
"Should I be worrying?" He asked Aura, because ignoring the cards' counsel when it had been so freely offered would be a foolish thing to do.
"Not imminently…" His companion decided after a moment, leaning back into the sofa comfortably as she elaborated, "The snake fell in your future, but it was the relatively distant one. My advice would be to proceed with caution, and watch yourself around any ambitious old men you might encounter… ah, and as for your other question – shall we pretend you're courting? I imagine that will be the easiest way to play it."
There was no such thing as attending a magical high society event as just friends, after all... so Bel had already expected something like this.
Still…
"Ushishi! Planning to make me your fourth husband, are you?" He grinned widely, "You're free to try – but I'd kill you first!"
"You really think that?" Aura laughed, returning one wicked, teasing smile with another, "That's cute, darling, but you're deceiving yourself – truth is, you wouldn't stand a chance against me."
Bel snickered again, this time struck by a sudden, wonderful idea-
"How much would we freak everyone out, do you think, if we were to imply that we're both intending to murder each other right after the wedding?"
"A fair bit, I'd imagine…" Aura gave him an amused look, "I'm all for it if you are."
"Sounds good to the Prince." Bel decided with a nod, and then continued: "I'll see about getting you some jewellery from my family's collection. If you're going to play the part, you going to have to look it, too."
At the very least, that would mean acquiring a necklace and a tiara… but preferably a set. What exactly he'd pick out would have to depend on what they chose to wear to the ball, though – and as though reading his thoughts, his friend spoke up:
"How about I take care of our outfits, then?"
Aura would get his opinion on things before any orders were placed, and she did have excellent taste, so Bel had no objections there…
He had a feeling that this was going to be fun.
…
Bel didn't have to wait long for Aura to get back to him.
That Tuesday, she swung by his house with the proposed designs for their battle gear: an elaborately beaded off-the-shoulder gown in a fetching shade of plum for Aura, and matching dress robes – to be worn over a three-piece-suit with an embroidered vest – for Belphegor.
Bel could work with that, so he gave Aura the go-ahead, holding out the sketches for her to take back. Folding them, she tucked the drawings away with a pleased smile.
…
It was almost three weeks after that, at quarter to eleven on Friday morning, that Bel stepped out of the fireplace in Aura's London home and out into a long, brightly-lit hallway. Aura, who had already arrived the night before to prepare for the weekend, stuck her head out of one of the rooms, and called him over.
"There you are!" His friend greeted Bel with a smile and a kiss on both cheeks, meeting him halfway, "And perfect timing, love. We're just about done with my dress, so it should be your turn in a moment."
Love?
Bel raised an amused eyebrow at the pet name, but leaned in to return the greeting. Aura was wearing her plum ballgown, and he could hear the hushed whispers coming from inside the room behind her, so even if she hadn't said anything to him, it would have been hint enough-
When he spoke next, he did so deliberately, voice just loud enough to reach the other room. But not loud enough for it to seem intentional, of course.
"That's good to know. I do hate waiting." Pausing so he could have a proper look at Aura's dress, he added – "You look glorious, by the way – ushishi! Not that that's surprising, since you always look glorious!"
"My. What a flatterer you are today."
"Princes are above flattery – and besides, it's hardly flattery when it's true."
Aura met his eyes, smiling playfully.
"Well thank you, My Prince. But shall we save that for later? People are waiting…"
Then she showed him into the parlour, where two witches were desperately trying to act like they hadn't been eavesdropping on their every word back in the hallway. One was a plump and older witch dressed in seafoam green, and the other was a girl no older than twenty, wearing large, round glasses perched atop her nose, hair put up into a messy bun.
"Sorry for the interruption, again." Aura said, "Madam Malkin, may I introduce you to my companion? This is Prince Asriel of the Red Kingdom. Asriel, this is Margaret Malkin – best seamstress in Diagon Alley. The young lady is her assistant, Sophie Alderton."
Aura had pointed them out in turn, so Bel inclined his head – once, then twice, in greeting. Their seamstresses each dipped into a curtsy, and judging by the awestruck but intimidated looks plastered all over their faces when their heads came up, Aura clearly hadn't bothered to tell them who their second customer actually was.
Bel grinned.
"Let's get to the fitting, shall we?"
"Oh, yes – yes of course. Sophie. Sophie, the robes please!"
…
In the end, it was another forty minutes or so later by the time the fitting was done with and they were able to show the seamstresses out the door. It had gone rather well. Before they took their leave, Madam Malkin assured them that they would get to work on the final adjustments at once, so that they could send the finished garments over by owl post on Saturday morning.
Aurelia thanked them, and saw them out.
As they returned to the living room and perched comfortably on the furniture a little time later, waiting for refreshments to be served, Bel thought to broach a subject they hadn't discussed that much yet:
"Is there anything I ought to be keeping in mind when interacting with these peers we'll be meeting?"
Thanks to Nante's work, he already had some information on a couple of the people they might end up mingling with at the party… but there was doubtlessly more to know. In circles like those, the most interesting titbits rarely left a paper trail.
Personal experience would net him much more interesting information, and Bel knew that Aura had lived in England for some time prior to moving back home to Sicily – first married to one Englishman of considerable status, and then another. She'd have experience there.
Sure enough, after Aura had slipped out of her heeled slippers, she responded:
"Well, no talking about the Mafia. But I think that should be evident."
Of course.
Even before being told this, Bel hadn't been planning on mentioning the Mafia. Omerta aside, their hosts and fellow guests were unlikely to know anything about Aura's connections to the Mafia anyway.
After all, the Zabini were magical – but that didn't mean their Family was.
Comfortably, Aurelia confirmed this, and then went on:
"As for what else you should be keeping in mind – well, it's a very closed off community, so you can expect their thoughts and opinions on certain matters to be a little bit… out of touch. You'll probably get to meet a couple of the so-called Twenty-Eight, so be prepared for that as well."
"The Twenty-Eight…?" Bel echoed, raising an eyebrow.
"Some self-aggrandising drivel." Aura responded, "They call it the Sacred Twenty-Eight. A group of families whose blood is purer than the rest – at least according to some book called the Pure-Blood Directory."
Ah. Of course.
To say that Magical Europe was also obsessed with bloodlines wouldn't be an overstatement, but back home, being able to prove a legitimate relation to ruling, magical royalty held comparatively more weight than blood purity did… in fact, many royals regarded an obsession with the latter as something distasteful and tacky: a thing smaller families clung to when they failed to marry upwards.
What was it his tutors had used to tell him?
Keeping your bloodline pure was smart – but obsessing over it was common…? Something like that.
Either way, Bel agreed with Aura… blood purity was all just useless, self-aggrandising drivel in the end. No old, ambitious magical family was ever truly pure-blooded: that was a concept that had only come about relatively recently in history, as there had been no need for it previously – or prior to the instatement of the Statute of Secrecy, with other words.
When marrying into influential muggle families had suddenly become much harder to do while also losing all of the benefits it had used to offer, people sought new ways to acquire status and distinguish themselves from the commoners.
Hence – blood-purity, and people's obsession with it.
"Some do." Aura spoke up, bringing his thoughts back to the conversation at hand, "Most of the people there probably will though, and I can already tell you that our hosts are staunch supporters of the pure-blood ideology." Yes, Lucius Malfoy being a known Death Eater would imply that. "If you can manage to overlook her prejudices, Narcissa isn't half bad though. As sharp as they come, and twice as cunning. She'll be wanting to introduce you to everyone she can – the Greengrasses, the Averys, the – oh, the Selwyns. Might want to try and avoid them, actually."
Bel raised an eyebrow, at which Aura cracked a smile.
"Let's just say that it involves the family's last male heir, my second wedding, and a murder. Needless to say… we didn't part on the best of terms."
"Shishishi! No, doesn't sound like it."
Either way, the conversation seemed to be dying out now, so it could be continued later. It was getting pretty late anyway, and Aura still wanted to show him around before brunch.
…
The tour of the house turned out to be interesting.
Apparently, Aura had inherited the place after the tragic death of Husband Number Two: Jasper Selwyn, who had died after a little less than two years of marriage, having been hit by a backfiring spell which had split his skull in half.
That sounded delightfully gory, and had allowed Bel to nudge the conversation into a more fun direction, so it had been an afternoon well-spent.
But Bel hadn't only come here for the holiday, of course. He hadn't told Aura as much, but Hel was also in England right now – at one of the Varia safehouses and accompanied by Nante, as well as Fran and four other Varia who were under his command.
Nante was mostly there to stand in for Bel and act as his mouthpiece, but the five Varia Bel had hired were all there to guard Hel. They would be visiting Hel's aunt on Saturday and then spending that and the next day working on Hel's little genealogy project, but Bel had made it clear to her that this was all the time she would be getting for this. She was going back home on Sunday evening, done or not.
In the meantime, Bel was planning to serve as a little bit of a distraction. Ensure all eyes were on him and Aura, so that Hel could get in and out of the country as smoothly and swiftly as possible. It was why he'd asked Aura to let their hostess know exactly who she was bringing with her to the ball, and why he'd been so sure to play up his relationship with Aura during the fitting.
Madam Malkin reportedly had a vast and varied clientele, and since the Alderton girl had looked like an airhead prone to babbling, news of his presence should spread soon enough. Especially since the Malfoys had been dropping some pretty big hints among their various more highly-placed acquaintances already, according to Aura.
Having a royal on your guest list was big news for any ambitious family though, so Bel wasn't surprised that the place was rife with rumours already.
Either way, Bel suspected that Dumbledore would be finding out about his visit one way or the other – assuming, of course, that he didn't actually know about it already. For all his more detestable traits, it was no secret that the Hogwarts Headmaster was a very well-connected peasant. Conveniently, this would also be a good opportunity to test Lupin's loyalty, who had been hard at work writing letters for some time now, trying to convince Dumbledore to back off and abandon his plans to have Hel returned to her aunt and uncle.
The old peasant had thus far behaved himself-
Feigning ignorance and biding his time… but there was no way of telling how things would play out once the old man thought he had the upper hand. In Italy they were at least safely out of reach, but England was a different matter.
Last summer, Lupin had finally indicated that Dumbledore's focus had started to shift from Hel and Belphegor, on to his grandfather, and the Red Kingdom at large. These claims were corroborated by news from back home, and if Dumbledore's recent round of schmoozing at the International Confederation of Wizards was anything to go by, then it did seem like he was at least considering the benefits of pursuing an alliance or something similar in the future. Which was keeping him nicely in line for the time being.
Bel was choosing to be cautiously optimistic, but easy trust wasn't in his nature.
He would investigate, and if things weren't what they seemed, Lupin's head would roll.
…
"They're gorgeous," Aura complimented that evening, head tilted slightly to show off the full length of her neck as she stood in front of the standing mirror in one of the bedrooms and got a better look at the jewellery.
The set Belphegor had picked out for her was a fine one: a beautiful necklace embellished with numerous gems and tiny diamonds, along with a set of dangling earrings, a bracelet, and a matching diadem to complete the look. It had taken some work to convince the King to let him borrow the lot – but the hope that his grandson was finally courting someone seriously enough to warrant jewellery from the family's private collection seemed to have done the trick, as the set had been sent over to his home on Thursday, to do with as he pleased for the weekend.
That no Princess Consort was likely to come out of this ball would not impress Bel's grandfather, but that was only because he didn't know who the jewellery had been intended for yet: Bel doubted the King would be eager to marry off his last remaining Heir to a woman who'd been widowed thrice and nicknamed the Black Widow for it. Seemed like asking for trouble.
He'd probably still complain – but Bel could burn that bridge when he got to it.
For now, Aura had his undivided attention, as she was turning around to ask for his opinion.
"Well?" His friend asked, picking up a fan and opening it with a haughty flick of her wrist, "What do you say – do I look the part?"
She fanned herself lightly, wearing an expression of such stately grace and casual superiority, that she wouldn't have looked out of place inside a royal palace. Bel grinned widely.
"Shishishi! You'd fit right in, Aura."
She cracked a smile at that.
"Good to know." She said, closing the fan with another flick of her wrist and putting it back down on the dresser. After another moment, and with some curiosity in her gaze, she reached up to touch the gem making up the centrepiece of her necklace, "Is it charmed…? The jewellery, I mean. I know I feel some magic on the gems right now."
"Yes. Anti-theft charms and a whole bunch of other precautions – which conveniently means they'll offer a small degree of personal protection to you as well. They're perfectly safe to wear though, as long as you're not intending to run off with them."
"Well there goes that plan," Aura smiled wryly, "I was planning on pawning them off on the black market. Real diamonds, and all that – should fetch me a pretty penny."
Bel snickered.
"Better luck next time."
"Oh, so there will be a next time?"
As she said this, Aura turned back around to face the mirror but he could hear the amused smile on her lips. She took another moment to admire her gloriously regal reflection in the mirror, before starting to remove the necklace, earrings, bracelet and tiara, carefully returning them to their box one by one. Once she was done with that, Aura turned back around to face him.
She was still wearing the black morning dress she had slipped into after the fitting earlier, which was a long and flowing garment, with a steep neckline. Admittedly – the particular dress did give her a distorted Morticia Addams kind of look, but she wore it well.
Then again, it was Aura… Bel suspected that she could have worn a plastic bag and would still have rocked the look.
She was an exceptionally attractive woman.
… And she was watching him intently.
"Ushishi~ what is it?"
"You know," Aura hummed, "We've known each other for years now, but I don't think I've ever seen your eyes."
Only a handful of people had ever seen his eyes. Lussuria was one of them, and Hel was another… but it wasn't like his eyes were a closely-guarded secret or anything, so Bel snickered.
"Curious?" He teased.
"Very."
Frank in her reply, as always.
Typical Aura, Bel thought – she knew exactly what she wanted and wasn't afraid to ask for it. He had always appreciated that about her though, that she didn't dance around a subject, or play coy. So the Prince shrugged, and told her:
"It's not a secret or anything, you can have a look."
"Really?"
They readjusted their positions so Aura was facing him. Which did mean that she was now straddling him, but Bel only had the time to spare this a fleeting thought before Aura reached out to brush his bangs aside.
At this, he felt a sudden jolt of something he didn't usually experience, and promptly grew a little annoyed at himself. There was no reason to be nervous, of all things – so Bel firmly pushed the feeling aside.
He watched Aura instead, and the way her dark eyes met his. They were filled with curiosity – and increasingly now – intrigue.
"Veela eyes…" She breathed out at last, after what had almost felt like an eternity to Bel.
But Veela eyes was right:
They were a light blue, one so light that they seemed almost icy in the right surroundings.
Nothing too exceptional at first glance, but Bel knew that the longer someone looked at them, the more apparent it became that his eyes weren't quite right – at least not by human standards. Lussuria had called them 'cool and royal' that one time.
"You're handsome." Was the next thing Aura said, and-
Wait.
"Are you implying you had doubts before?"
"Well I couldn't know for sure – could I?"
Gone were the nerves, and now he just felt a little insulted. That Aura then started to laugh at the expression on his face didn't really do much to soothe his bruised ego either. By the time she had calmed back down again, she was simply smiling fondly.
"Just take the compliment, Bel."
"No – out of spite, I won't."
He looked away haughtily, which made Aura look up at the ceiling in mock-exasperation, rolling her eyes. They could both tell by the feel of their Flames that the other wasn't really annoyed though, so when she coaxed him to look at her again, he did.
"So do Veela eyes do anything special…?"
"They don't change colour according to my mood like a mood ring, if that's what you're asking,"
Aura snickered at his dry retort, and said: "Bummer. And here I was hoping to see what you'd look like with pink eyes…"
"Stunning, I'm sure – but alas."
"Wasn't meant to be." Aura shook her head. She seemed to realise at this point that she'd not let go off his face after examining his eyes because she let go, rested her hands on his shoulders instead, and cleared her throat – "I meant what I said, you know – I do think you're handsome."
"Do you?" Bel grinned playfully, "Considering how you've been staring attentively into my eyes for the past five minutes, I think the Prince will need some guarantee that you won't have fallen hopelessly in love with him by the time this trip is over."
Aura laughed.
"Oh, you wish, Bel." She returned with one of her own teasing smiles, "There's nothing between the two of us. Unless… you have some unaddressed feelings you'd like to confess…?"
She raised an inquiring eyebrow, and Bel snickered.
"Nope~" He assured her, "Nothing to confess here."
"Perfect." She said, sounding satisfied, "Then that means you won't get the wrong idea when I do this."
Then she leaned in-
And kissed him.
Oh.
… Well, that was certainly one way to pass the time.
And if Aura was offering – Bel wasn't about to refuse.
…
Having slept in, it was already almost noon by the time Bel and Aura got out of bed the next morning. Breakfast was already waiting for them downstairs, and was pleasantly comfortable as well: they didn't talk about last night, but didn't dance around the subject either, which Bel liked…
Yes, there had been sex – but that didn't mean anything had to change. Except, perhaps, for the fact that they should do it more often… because Bel had enjoyed last night very much.
Either way, by the time they were finished eating, a quartet of owls had delivered their finished garments for the ball, so after getting dressed for the day, Bel decided to go out for a walk.
He had already been in a good mood that morning, but it further improved when he noticed the spies:
Two of them, lurking around the premises, and probably thinking that they were being sneaky… but a disillusionment charm couldn't fool Varia Quality, and so the Prince lured them away from any crowds and onlookers, so they could have some privacy.
So all in all, his Saturday was off to a good start, Bel decided as he Disintegrated the blood off his striped shirt with a pinch of Storm Flames a little while later.
The presence of spies indicated the Dumbledore had already found out about the Prince's presence in England, which was good… now Bel just had to keep him occupied. Discovering his underlings' disfigured corpses might do that nicely, but he hadn't decided what he was going to do with them quite yet, so in the meantime he'd called over one of the Varia Mists to store the bodies somewhere where they wouldn't be found, and instructed them to make an effort to preserve the corpses as well.
He did have a couple of ideas already, but it would all depend on how things went.
For the time being, he was just going to have to be patient, and let the ideas take shape.
…
At eight, Aura indicated that they should probably run a bath and start getting ready for the night.
Bel – who had been lounged across one of the sofas in the drawing room, idly filling out a crossword (Aconite and Wolfsbane by a different name, 9 letters long) – looked up to give her an amused glance.
"What? Need help?"
"I don't need any help," Aura chuckled, "But I would like it."
Needing no more prompting than that, Bel discarded the crossword and decided to join her.
It was nine by the time they finally managed to actually get to the dressing part of the evening, and nine-thirty when they stepped out of the fireplace at Malfoy Manor – into a large antechamber with marble floors.
There were two other couples inside the room, waiting to be let in by a footman. One by one, the wizard inspected the invitations, and then moved aside to let the Malfoys' guests in. Another few moments later, Aura had announced their names and shown her own invitation, and they were let in as well.
It looked like the Malfoys had at least done their homework:
In the Red Kingdom, no noble family worth their salt would let a member of the royal family actually see an elf inside their house. It implied you couldn't afford to pay for servants, which was an image best avoided – and so the Malfoys had apparently taken care to hire human servers, and show them off.
"Must have been Narcissa's doing," Aura murmured, just as they caught the eye of a pale woman in an elegant green-and-blue gown. She finished greeting the guests who had come in before them, let them go on, and moved on to welcome Bel and Aura.
"Aurelia! It's so good to see you again – how are you?"
"Very well, Narcissa, thank you." Aura smiled back smoothly, "May I introduce you to my companion? This is Prince Asriel of the Red Kingdom. Asriel, this is Narcissa Malfoy."
No title, as she was only the wife to the current Lord Malfoy's Heir. Which would make her Lady Malfoy one day – but not today, so that was neither here nor there.
Narcissa Malfoy curtsied and they exchanged a few pleasantries, but there was no time for anything more in-depth than that. The Malfoys' next guests had been let in by now.
Narcissa therefore released them, and they were free to mingle.
…
"It might just be the bias talking – but if you ask me, there's really no place better than Hogwarts. Sure, it needs a few nudges in the right direction nowadays, but overall-"
"Overall, Solomon, I think you'll find that both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are considered to be far more prestigious than our good old Hoggy Warty Hogwarts."
"But that's only because they've got all that magical royalty there, Eunice. Meanwhile, we got Laverne de Montmorency! Bridget Wenlock! Ignatia Wildsmith – who invented Floo Powder! Even Merlin!"
"Sure, and that was all centuries ago. Just listen to her, Belby. With the kind of vermin Dumbledore lets into the school these days, you're only humiliating yourself anyway. Why, just think of Hagrid!"
A round of chuckles and scandalised looks went around the group, before a voice suddenly came from outside their circle:
"Ah, talking schools, are you?"
The arrival of a newcomer prompted Bel to turn his head and have a look at who it was, but taking in the pale skin and long platinum blond hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, he didn't have to guess too hard:
"Lucius Malfoy, Your Highness." The Englishman bowed politely, "It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."
Bel returned the greeting and shook Malfoy's hand.
"So… I heard you were talking about schools? You'll have to forgive us our biases – having been a student at a certain school does tend to do that to you. But I suppose your feelings would be the same towards Durmstrang…? I've heard that the royal family favours it."
All eyes turned to Belphegor at this, waiting for his opinion.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." He said with a grin, "They each have their own benefits and drawbacks. Of course, I never attended Durmstrang Institute myself, so it's not as though I have any particular attachment to it."
"Ah. Naturally."
Crabbe and Nott exchanged a look, but no one seemed to dare comment upon his status as a squib. Any mention of it had thus far been carefully avoided, and though he'd just given them an opening, none were brash enough to take it. Not even Parkinson, who'd been eyeing him contemptuously all evening.
Watching them all toe around that particular taboo was funny though, so he let the uncomfortable pause in conversation drag on for a moment longer before he continued:
"Then again, we have been sending our children there for as long as I imagine your families have been sending yours to Hogwarts, so there's clearly a lot of us who do favour it."
"Clearly," Warrington agreed, then seemed to remember something, "Weren't you there fairly recently, Your Highness? I believe I read something about it in the papers a little while ago, during your tour…?"
Bel confirmed it, which drew a chuckle out of Nott.
"What did you think of Karkaroff, eh? He's an old mate of ours."
"An old mate of Lucius's more like. Just last week he was telling me all about how Karkaroff had let him know he'd gladly offer Draco a spot at Durmstrang should he want it!"
Bel raised an eyebrow.
"Just something Narcissa and I have been discussing," Malfoy admitted, "I've always thought that Durmstrang takes a much more sensible approach to the Dark Arts than we do over here, not to mention – ah – muggleborns. But my wife doesn't want to send Draco somewhere so far away from home, so it's been hard trying to convince her. Mothers, am I right?"
"Right…" Bel drawled, "Good luck with that. But to tell you the truth, the best thing the Prince has to say about Karkaroff is that he found him woefully uninspiring and common. Durmstrang has been going rapidly downhill ever since he took over, and if you look at that coupled with Karkaroff's past and reputation… I've got to say, not my first choice for a man I'd want in charge of my children's education."
There was a guffaw from Warrington's end, but wisely, none of his conversation partners tried to pursue this topic any further. A few mutters still went around about how it had been a long time since they had had any communication with Karkaroff though, and how they'd never really liked him anyway.
Shady fellow.
Finally, as Bel drained his glass and handed it off to a passing server, he managed to slip away from Malfoy's company. He should find Aura and see what she was up to: in order to cover more ground, they'd parted ways a little while ago, but he was growing a little weary of being pulled aside and coaxed into all of these dull conversations… so it might be a good time to catch up with her.
When he made his way into the adjoining room though, all thoughts of Aura were promptly chased out of his mind. Looking around, he met a gaze without meaning to, and the glint of the newcomer's half-moon spectacles getting caught in the light gave him a pause.
… Despite not having met him before, the Prince knew exactly who the man standing there was:
It was Albus Dumbledore – the infamous old meddler, who had rather more sway internationally than his grandfather would have liked. But more to the point, he was the man who had left Hel on her aunt and uncle's doorstep one night eight years ago, with nothing but the clothes on her back, a letter, and the blanket she'd been wrapped in. Dumbledore had since managed to figure out where Hel had disappeared to, and had sent a spy into his Great-Aunt's household a couple of years ago to try and find the so called Girl-Who-Lived. Unfortunately for him, his Great-Aunt had uncovered the spy's true intentions, and they'd given him an ultimatum: do as we say, or die.
Lupin had chosen the former.
Even so, Bel knew that Dumbledore showing his face eventually had most likely been inevitable. He clearly wanted something from Hel, or else he wouldn't have gone through all the trouble he had over these past few years.
There was at least a silver lining though: if Dumbledore was here, then Hel was being left alone for the time being. Which was good.
Tearing his eyes away from Dumbledore, Bel grabbed another drink and headed for the pair of open, glass doors on his right. They led out onto a stone balcony. Aside from a couple of people hanging about and taking a break from socialising with the crowd inside, it was nicely empty.
So he walked over to the balustrade and leaned upon it, waiting.
The grounds stretched out below… dark now that night had fallen over them. Even so, Belphegor could make out the outlines of the neatly-trimmed hedges surrounding Malfoy Manor, while several smaller shapes roamed about in the distance. He'd watched them for what felt like a minute or two, before his senses alerted him to the approach of another.
"Peacocks, I believe." Dumbledore said pleasantly, "Lucius has always been fond of them."
Bel nudged his glass to the other side, where it would be well out of Dumbledore's reach, and turned to look at him.
He was dressed as eye-catchingly as he'd always been in the newspapers: in long robes which were an offending shade of magenta, and had little golden crescent moons embroidered on it. On his head he wore a pointy wizard's hat in matching colours…
Unperturbed by Bel's lack of response, Dumbledore joined him at the balustrade.
"Splendid evening, isn't it? After the weather we've been having lately, I was almost afraid it would never clear up."
"It's usually considered polite to introduce yourself when starting up a conversation with royalty."
Just because Bel knew who he was, didn't mean that he was going to let Dumbledore forget who he was talking to. Besides, he didn't like how familiar the man was already acting. Being reminded of his place should hopefully give him a hint.
"Ah! I forget my manners – Albus Dumbledore, Your Highness. At your service." With flair, the wizard bowed. Bel didn't respond to the introduction with one of his own, so the silence stretched on for a moment longer than comfortable. Dumbledore chuckled. "Not one for small-talk? That's perfectly fine, we can skip it... the thing is, I was hoping to have a word? In private?"
He'd lowered his voice right there, but it was entirely unnecessary to do so. Bel had not seen Dumbledore reach for his wand, but he'd felt the magic take all the same. It was a privacy spell – just like one of those Aura favoured.
"Looks to me like you've already decided for me, Dumbledore."
A flicker of surprise went through Dumbledore's eyes at the dry remark Bel had levelled at him, but he quickly recovered.
"You have keen senses, Your Highness."
"And? What did you want?"
"Straight to the point, then? Very well… I would like to talk to you about your daughter."
For all that Bel had seen it coming from a mile away, he still wasn't happy to hear it.
"You have no business interfering with my family – so you best choose your next words very carefully, peasant."
Dumbledore took an immediate step away from him, palms raised up in a pacifying gesture.
"I mean no harm." He assured Bel, "None at all. In fact, I do believe we're on the same side – we both want to keep Rose Potter safe, after all. Don't we?"
"Is that so?" Bel said coldly, but calmly, as she pushed away from the balustrade and turned around to properly face the old man, "And why should I care about some child you misplaced, Dumbledore? Oh yes – don't think that wasn't international news – how your joke of a Ministry entrusted you with the girl and then you lost her."
Dumbledore grimaced, and Bel got some satisfaction out of that. Sadly, it was short-lived.
"I won't deny my part in it, or the mistakes I made…" Dumbledore said, "But you should care, I believe, because that child is in your care right now. As you must very well know, Your Highness."
Bel smiled, "Are you threatening me, Dumbledore?"
"No," the peasant quickly backpedalled, sensing the danger there, "No, that was never my intention. I just wanted to point out how we – ah – how we share similar goals. I came here tonight to put all my cards on the table, so to speak. In order to request your Kingdom's help."
"So far you've succeeded in threatening my daughter and accusing me of kidnapping. So you're off to a marvellous start already."
Pretending he hadn't heard Bel, Dumbledore shouldered on:
"I promise that what I have to say will be worth your while."
It was at least, as it turned out, indeed worth Bel's while…
Over the next half hour or so, Dumbledore talked – he told Bel that he didn't believe Lord Voldemort was truly gone yet, and that it would only be a matter of time before he returned. He also told the Prince that Hel would be in great peril once that happened.
Bel had already known all that, but he hadn't known anything about a prophecy. Finding out that there was one did tie up some loose ends and answer a couple of questions he'd been wondering about. Like why Dumbledore was so obsessed with controlling what happened to Hel, or why Riddle would try and kill a baby in the first place. But if that baby was meant to bring him down… if it had been Prophesised…
Ah, of course.
So on top of everything else, they were also going to have to deal with a prophecy now.
Lovely.
Which was to say – not lovely at all. Prophecies were inconvenient.
His daughter couldn't seem to catch a break though, could she? First a madman murdered her parents, then she got stuck carrying around a piece of Riddle's fragmented soul until they figured out a way to get rid of it, and now this? That was a lot of bad luck for a nine-year-old…
… But to get back to Dumbledore, he was definitely hoping to have the Red Kingdom's support in the upcoming war, since he was also convinced that a new war was on the way. A true army would be able to accomplish much more than he could – even with a handful of blindly loyal revolutionaries at his side. Being on relatively good terms with Bel and his family was going to be imperative to ensuring their cooperation though, so it was as simple as that:
Hel was most useful to Dumbledore if she stayed exactly where she was… which was apparently enough for Dumbledore to be willing to overlook everything else and let Bel keep her at his side. As a sign of goodwill, apparently.
What that implied was a whole other can of worms, though.
One Bel didn't have the time to dig into right now, but suffice to say, no person who thought and operated like Dumbledore did was anyone trustworthy… so if that was really all of the old man's cards laid out for him to see, as he had insisted, then Bel would eat his crown.
But at least he had confirmed what he'd hoped to – that Lupin was doing his job properly.
Bel had been about to try and wheedle a little more information about that prophecy out of Dumbledore, when it finally looked like their time had ran out. A man had caught sight of them and was approaching. Realising that they had been noticed a moment after Bel had, Dumbledore dispelled the privacy spell so that they could face the newcomer.
"Dumbledore! Why, I had no idea you'd be here!"
"Well, Horace – I believe it would have been a poor surprise had I told everyone I was coming."
The man frowned.
"Yes, I suppose so. But never mind that, I see you've been keeping the most interesting guest to yourself!" As the newcomer turned towards him, he bowed with a little too much enthusiasm, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. The name is Slughorn. Horace Slughorn. Yes, delighted to meet you, I-"
He never got to tell Bel whatever he was intending to though, because then someone said-
"Excuse me, Professor – but Ms. Zabini is looking for the Prince."
Yet another newcomer had joined them – and this time it was a much younger man, probably younger than Bel as well, though he was both larger and more muscular. Slughorn cleared his throat, and though he smiled, it was rather cooler than the smile he'd greeted Bel with.
"Now now, Flint, I'm no longer a teacher. You can get away with calling me Horace."
"If you insist," Flint said, "Anyway… Your Highness?"
"Yes, I believe I should meet Aura." Bel decided, giving a nod at Slughorn, and then Dumbledore, saying: "Gentlemen."
He turned around to leave them, but before he was out the door, Dumbledore's voice still reached him:
"When you have considered what we discussed – your owls will be able to find me, Your Highness."
Belphegor grunted, and then he was back inside, Flint at his heels.
"Hopefully they didn't bother you too much." Flint said, throwing a sour look over his shoulder, "No bloody clue how Dumbledore got in – ah, but good old Sluggy probably did get an invitation. He started avoiding the Malfoys after the war, but I imagine he couldn't resist the temptation of getting to meet a real prince."
"He was certainly very eager…"
"Yes, he's always like that around famous people. I'm Jacob Flint, by the way."
"Asriel. And I suppose the bit about Ms. Zabini was a ruse?"
"It was." Flint admitted, "If you'd like, I could lead you to her? I saw Ms. Zabini on my way out."
Bel agreed that this would be a good idea, and they started walking again. Two rooms further down they did indeed find Aura, who was surrounded by a group of four and chatting with them. He already knew Eugene Warrington from an earlier encounter tonight (likely a brother or cousin of the other Warrington he'd met earlier), but the couple and the lady had to be introduced to him Lord Damocles Greengrass and his wife Claire, as well as the girl they were chaperoning tonight, Ms. Verity Smith.
"My fiancé," Eugene said easily, as he introduced her, "A 'Puff through and through, of course. But with a name like that, what else could you expect?"
"Well I'd hope so," Verity said, "We Smiths are direct descendants of Helga Hufflepuff's – oh, that's… one of the four Hogwarts founders." She added then, for Bel's benefit. "I don't suppose Durmstrang has any Houses though? Least I've never heard of anything like that."
"No," Bel agreed, "No Houses. They're not very common outside Britain."
"Beauxbatons has no House system either," Aura commented, "Though the students are divided into groups for their daily lessons. You want class sizes to be manageable, after all."
"Oh yes, of course." Said Claire Greengrass, "But I have to say, I'm a little surprised Blaise will be attending Hogwarts after all. With how fondly you speak of Beauxbatons, I had imagined you'd rather send him there."
"I'm afraid I've been outnumbered, Claire. Blaise's paternal grandparents are all for it, and Blaise isn't against it."
"Ah, in-laws," Damocles said knowingly, with a wry smile, "Say no more. But have you met Mr. and Mrs. Avery yet? I believe I see them right there."
He waved the couple over, who were then introduced to Bel as Harold Avery and his wife Clarissa. They shook hands, and the conversation turned into a new direction:
"So what does a prince do in his free time, anyway?" Clarissa wanted to know.
"Anything he wants, ushishi~ Although the Prince does enjoy hunting."
"A noble pastime, Your Highness."
"Yes, I enjoy a spot of it myself every now and then. As does Avery, I believe."
They all politely turned to look at Harry, who chuckled.
"That's right, but nothing too extravagant, I'm afraid – I was only a schoolboy back when the Blacks used to host their big hunting parties… my grandfather once caught a graphorn at one of them though. Its skull is still on display at the family manor. Right over the billiards table, actually – used to give me nightmares as a boy."
A few chuckles went around the group, then Warrington addressed him:
"And what kind of beasts do you like to hunt, Highness?"
Aura hid her smile behind a glass, but Bel didn't bother. He grinned widely.
"It's not beasts that I hunt… I prefer my prey to be a little more intelligent than that, if you know what I mean. Give them a fighting chance and it makes things much more interesting." He turned to look at his date, "Isn't that right, Aura?"
"Of course, love." She said smoothly, "It's always the most fun when they think they can outsmart you."
The awkward silence that followed wasn't only extremely funny, it also gave Bel and Aura the chance to excuse themselves. It was a ball, after all – and they hadn't even gotten to dance yet!
…
The ball lasted well into the early hours of the morning, but by three at night, the ballroom was finally starting to feel a little less crowded. Not quite deserted yet – Bel suspected it would take another hour or two for that to happen – but certainly a lot calmer than it had been.
At least, in some ways…
Since alcohol had been freely available all night and it was getting rather late now, many of the remaining guests were either already tipsy, or well on their way to being properly drunk. This wasn't all that unusual for the later stages of an event like this, but Bel had no interest in joining the peasants: he knew better than to drink in unfamiliar company, and when drinking was expected of him, he generally used his Storm Flames internally to counter the effects somewhat…
Aura of course called him a lightweight for it, but that was only because she had a stupidly high tolerance for alcohol.
As for the Malfoy's other guests… well. The night had certainly not been free of incidents:
From couples getting a little too handsy where they thought no one could see, to a very public marital spat between Nott and his wife… it had been an eventful evening. His meeting with Dumbledore aside though, it wasn't all bad: Bel had met a couple of interesting people tonight, and had been at the right place at the right time to watch Dumbledore finally get ejected from the premises.
It had been a rather undignified retreat, which the Prince had enjoyed immensely.
At some point within the last half hour though, Aura had grown tired of all the dancing and socialising, so they had retreated to the balcony for a breath of fresh air. It was cold, but thanks to the heating charms woven into their clothes, not unbearably so…
Aura leaned easily against the balustrade, and regarded him.
"Do you want to go home soon?" She asked, "I've seen everyone I wanted to, and anyone who's still here at this point is only going to get drunker."
Bel agreed, and so they left the balcony behind a little while later. Before they could actually leave they would have to find their hosts though, and say goodbye…
…
They woke up late again the next morning, and after a luxurious breakfast in bed with Aura, it was decided that they Sunday should be spent shopping.
This was how they ended up at The Golden Snitch – an upscale café located in Diagon Alley – which was a relatively new establishment, apparently… but doubtlessly leaps and bounds ahead of the gloomy and dingy-looking place that called itself The Leaky Cauldron. Bel had only caught a brief glimpse of that one, but it had been enough to determine that no self-respecting royal would be caught dead there.
The food at The Golden Snitch was good though, his company fun, and the inside of the building pleasantly toasty after having been out in the wind and drizzle for the better part of the afternoon, so in the end, Bel was all in favour.
After their trip, Bel wasn't really sure where his relationship with Aura would go now. Spending a couple of nights together didn't really mean anything, and Bel wasn't looking for a relationship or anything too serious, but he wouldn't mind something a little more casual.
After all, Aura was just his type.
Though he didn't have any particular gender preferences, he did like his partners to be interesting. Personality mattered, and though he liked good looks, they tended to bore him rather quickly. But Aura was intelligent, fun… and – as he had found out personally over during the last 48 hours or so – a little bit of a sadist as well.
Aura had indicated that she wouldn't mind some casual sex every now and then – or a lot more often than just every now and then – so that was definitely something to look forward to.
Before they left the café that evening though, Aura briefly got up to use the bathroom, which gave Belphegor some time to reflect upon other things:
Like that prophecy.
And the fact that something would have to be done about Dumbledore… preferably sooner rather than later because if last night had proved anything, it was that Dumbledore was clearly still under the impression that he could just do whatever he wanted. That Bel would yield to him, because his 'gesture of goodwill' had been just as much that as it had been an unspoken threat.
Cooperate, or else.
Two years ago, his great-aunt had advised him to stay his blade. He had... but such delusions of power simply wouldn't do now.
He'd still have to talk to Hel, though - before he did anything.
And speaking of Hel, that reminded him of something a little bit different… they'd passed a few pet shops on the way here, hadn't they? So maybe now might be a good time to look into getting his daughter that pet she wanted.
After taking some time to think about it, and sending a few letters to get second opinions, his daughter had decided that she wanted an owl: that way she wouldn't have to rely on anyone else to send her letters, and she had made a good point by pointing out that an owl would come in handy once she started school.
Bel had agreed to get her one, so an owl for Christmas it was.
He should ask Aura where he might be able to find a good selection to have a look at, but in the meantime, he might as well head over to the bar and pay for dinner. Aura would wait for him outside when she was done.
By the time Bel left The Golden Snitch, Aura was already out there. He noticed her eyeing a poster that had been taped to the shop's front window. It was black-and-white with two familiar faces printed on it side by side.
One was a moving photograph of Hel as a one-year-old, and the other was a sketch – an artist's rendition of what she might look like nowadays. Surprisingly accurate, Bel thought, even though Hel's hair was way messier than that. Generally, her hair only behaved when it wanted to.
Which wasn't all that often.
As Aura noticed his approach, he also tore his eyes away from Rose Potter's 'Missing' poster.
"Something catch your eye?" He challenged, but Aura didn't react in any particular way.
"No." She said simply, "Not at all. Shall we get going?"
Grinning, Bel held out his arm.
It really was rare to find such Quality outside the Varia.
A/N: This is now a 100k story, I can hardly believe it! Anyway, next time we get to find out what Hel has been up to.
As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review if you liked the chapter!