December 27th, 1991 Somewhere in London
The occupants of Potter Manor had had a busy week planning the New Year's Eve Ball, sending out invites, decorating the ballroom and courtyard, and also getting ready for Christmas. All the adults worked together along with their house elves to be sure the children had a great Christmas: organizing presents, setting up the family room with lavish Christmas decoration, and getting an enormous tree set up for them.
Lily, Emma, and Drusilla had spent a lot of time together during this time. They had shopped for the children's presents. Lily and Emma showed Drusilla a muggle mall, which fascinated her. Then Lily and Drusilla took Emma to a store for magical children. They had a grand time showing each other their cultures and choosing presents for the kids.
Christmas morning, the children came down to a mountain of presents around the tree. They spent hours passing around presents to each other. Harry had received a broom maintenance kit, a new jumper with the Gryffindor emblem emblazoned on it, a new quill set, some books on magic and potions, and new clothes. Hermione got many books just like she liked, but also some things most girls would be excited to receive: a locket with a gold chain and the Granger crest carved into the locket, a sparkling silver hair ornament that had sapphire gemstones in them, and numerous other accessories.
Daphne had received new extravagant dresses and an assortment of accessories as well, while Neville received some athletic gear, seeing as the boy was really getting into the martial arts Mr. Granger had been teaching him. He also got some new herbology books and seedlings, and lastly, he got a brand new broom for him to fly around with Harry.
Later, after the presents they had a breakfast feast. The table was loaded with platters of eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, and bowls of grits, oatmeal, and porridge. The dining room had been filled with the sounds of children chattering and everyone talking and eating.
Today, however, the ladies were out shopping for dresses to wear to the ball. Lily, Drusilla, Emma, Alice, Daphne, and Hermione were all at a muggle boutique. The pureblood ladies were amazed by the muggle fashion they were seeing for the first time while Lily, Emma, and Hermione giggled about their astonishment. Drusilla was picking out dresses for Daphne to try on while Lily and Emma were teaming up to find a dress that suited Hermione. Alice was perusing through some things for herself.
"How about this one?" Emma said, pulling a pink sparkly dress from the rack and holding it up to Hermione, who immediately shook her head.
"Pink is not my color, mum." The young girl shook her head.
"Oh, alright," Emma responded and continued to finger through the racks.
"We should find something to go with her new barrette she got for Christmas," Lily said and then smiled as she pulled a dress off the rack and showed Emma.
"Oh yes, it's perfect." She stepped aside so Hermione could see.
The girl smiled. "I like it much better than pink," she said.
At that moment, Drusilla came over with an arm full of dresses. "Where is the place you said the girls can try on their dresses?" she asked. Lily chuckled at seeing the stack of dresses then showed Drusilla and Daphne to the dressing room. Emma and Hermione followed, giggling a bit.
On the other side of the square, the men were visiting a tux shop. Harry was busy getting measured by the shopkeeper while Sirius and Dan were looking at themselves in the mirror. "So, Sirius, is Severus going to make it to the ball?" Daniel asked him.
"He said he will try. He was sad to miss Christmas. Being a teacher at Hogwarts keeps him busy, especially during the holidays," Sirius said as he was straightening his bow tie. He was wearing a sleek dark green suit with a matching bow tie. "I must say, muggle fashion is quite extraordinary. This suit is far more comfortable than any dress robes I've ever worn."
"I concur…" Castor Greengrass exited the dressing room, wearing a form fitted smart looking white tux. His cummerbund was an azure blue that matched the bow tie. "The fabric breathes very well. The Wizarding community ought to be jealous."
Dan chuckled. "Well, as purebloods, perhaps seeing you in these types of clothes will spur the wizarding world out of the seventeenth century."
"I bloody hope so," Sirius said before turning to Harry. "Well, Prongslet, how do I look?"
Harry smiled. "I think uncle Sev will appreciate the color choice," he teased.
Sirius' cheeks grew a bit red. "I swear, you get more and more like your mother everyday."
"It looks good, Padfoot, don't worry," Harry said, smiling, as he was finally done with his measurements. He turned to see Sirius and Daniel huddled together. "What are you two doing?" he asked and the men, whose backs were facing the young boy, quickly turned around.
Harry could see Sirius was holding his pocket mirror in his hand and assumed one of his parents had just called him. "Whatever. It's time for me to get fitted." He stepped down from the stool and headed to the dressing room.
After twenty minutes, Harry reemerged from the dressing room dressed in a sharp midnight blue suit. His cummerbund was a sapphire blue with a matching bow tie and pocket square. "This color scheme was a good choice. Nice work, Padfoot," he told his uncle as he stood in front of the mirror.
Sirius stood behind him. "I agree. The blue complements your eyes," he said as he helped his nephew straighten his collar. "Just wait until the Ball. I'll have you looking like a first class nobleman."
Harry chuckled at the thought. He had always just been Harry. Sure, there were many who lauded him as 'The Boy Who Lived' but that never stopped him from having his normal childhood. But, all this Lord Potter stuff was sinking in…he wasn't a normal boy at all. His parents did their best to keep him out of the political world, but this didn't stop his fellow classmates from sucking up to him. Not only for being 'The Boy Who Lived' but also because his father was Minister for Magic. Many of his fellow classmates would try to ingratiate themselves to him in hopes of helping their families' status. He tended to avoid these people as often as he could. He found them annoying.
But no matter how he thought about it, he was indeed the son of a nobleman. His father was a Lord and the Minister. He had no choice but to accept that his regular childhood life was not coming back. Of course, it wasn't all bad. His father got to help so many people as Minister. Sure, he had to put up with a few morons trying to ride his family's famous coattails to glory, but he could handle a few idiots here and there.
"Sickle for your thoughts, Harry," Sirius said, still standing behind his godson.
Harry smiled. "I'll be counting on you to teach me how a proper wizard nobleman acts, Padfoot," he told his godfather.
"Ugh. Just remembering the lessons my mother made me take gives me a headache," Sirius groaned. "Don't worry, though. Castor and I have you covered. I'll be covering proper etiquette and mannerisms while he will be teaching you conversational skills."
"Right. Always remember, Harry, keep your cards close to your chest," Castor told him, standing behind Sirius. "Never reveal more than necessary and, when in doubt, smile and nod."
Harry chuckled. "I'll definitely remember that," he said. He wanted to be sure not to embarrass his father at this ball.
"Now I believe we all have our suits, yes?" Daniel said, coming back from the dressing room now back in his clothes. "Let's check out."
The others followed Dan's lead and got changed before checking out at the front. Each of them left the store with their suits inside their black garment bags to protect them. They arrived at the food court area where Castor was looking at all the different kinds of food while they waited for the ladies to join them.
It took twenty more minutes before the girls arrived, each carrying their own bags. The men assumed each got a dress and shoes to match. However, when they saw Drusilla Greengrass, the men all gawked at her. Lady Greengrass had at least ten bags on each arm. Castor slapped himself in the head as she approached him, smiling. "Darling, look at all the amazing clothes I found," she said excitedly.
"Drusilla dear, you do remember we were just here for one outfit for the ball. How many times do you plan to have you and the girls change?" He asked, looking at the bags.
"These aren't all for the ball but they were so wonderful I just had to have them for us," she smiled.
Castor almost dreaded asking his next question. "How much of the muggle money we brought with us did you spend?"
Drusilla frowned a bit. "All of it…" She then smiled. "But Emma has a remarkable card that lets her get things and pay for them later." Her excited look was back.
"She didn't have enough so I helped her with the rest, though I had to convince her to put back five dresses," Emma said, chuckling as she remembered the incident.
"So you put it on our credit card?" Daniel asked, eyeing his wife.
"What's a credit card?" Castor looked to Daniel.
"Muggle banks sometimes give their customers a credit they can use to purchase things then they simply pay it back on a scheduled date," Lily explained.
"Yes, but the problem is if it isn't paid back on time, we'll end up owing more," Daniel said.
Castor smacked himself in the head again. "I apologize, Daniel. I will reimburse ten fold."
"That is not necessary, Castor," Emma said, handing him a thin sheet of paper. "This is called a receipt. They give them to you after you make a purchase in the muggle world. It shows you how much was spent. You only have to pay back what is on the receipt," she told him.
Castor looked the receipt over. "Very well. I'll get what we owe you after the ball," he told them.
"I'd appreciate that," Daniel said. "So let's get some lunch, then. I'm sure the kids are famished." He then guided the Greengrass family around the food court, telling them about the many options they had available.
They decided to introduce the Greengrass family to the wonders of pizza. Drusilla and Castor were a bit surprised when they were told they must eat the dish with their hands but, after the first bite of the hot cheesy pizza, they had no further qualms with it. Daphne and Astoria were in shock as well but quickly got over it as the freshly cooked pizza was so delicious. Drusilla stated she wanted to know how it was made, hoping she could have her house elves make it for them. But, when Daniel told her how most pizza places keep their recipes to themselves, she frowned a bit.
"Are you sure we can't convince them?" She asked the Granger couple.
"No, but there are plenty of recipes out there for pizza. We can get you a cookbook you can give to your elves. They can try each recipe until they find the one you like," Emma told her.
"That would be perfect!" She took another bite, chewing it thoroughly before saying, "It is such an extraordinary dish!" she smiled happily.
Harry, Hermione, and Neville giggled at her excitement since the three of them had had pizza many times. Harry and Hermione grew up eating it and Neville was introduced to it around the age of four while staying at Harry's. Daphne and Astoria looked at them, confused by what was so amusing. Hermione whispered to them, explaining how pizza is considered a common muggle food, which was in no way high class. The two were completely shocked by this.
"Well, we've finished lunch. Shall we return to the manor to finish setting up for the ball?" Lily asked the group, smiling.
"Very well, but I insist we get one of these recipe books soon," Drusilla told her as they all gathered their things and prepared to head back to the manor.
Up Next: The ball begins. A small misunderstanding comes between Harry and Hermione's friendship.