December 31st, 1991 Potter Manor 6:00PM
Potter manor was a buzz. The house elves were running around finishing the final touches for the ball before the guests arrived. The wards of the manor had been instructed to let anyone who possessed a special invitation into wards just for the event. Each invitation listed who would be arriving.
Harry was standing in the mirror looking at himself dressed in his tux. He had had his hair tied back in a low pony tail, the front of his hair still free and styled to the right completely hiding his scar. Sirius had helped him style his hair to keep his scar hidden. He smiles a bit then heads down stairs.
James and Lily were waiting at the bottom of the stair case for him. Lily was wearing a silk skin tight purple gown the hem of the dress was loose and looked like a flower was around her ankles. She wore a lavender shawl around her shoulders. Her hair was tied up in an elegant bun with silver hair ornament in the shape of a lily flower on each side, a thin silver chain ran from each hair ornament to the bun dangling gently on the side.
James was wearing a classic black tuxedo. His cummerbund and bow tie were a pale lavender that matcher his wife's shawl. Harry came down and stood beside them as the front door opened as the first guests arrived. "Welcome." The three of them said in unison smiling.
"Please this way." James said gesturing to the ball room area. Guest came in one after the other after that. Lord and Lady Greengrass descended the stairs as well. Castor was wearing the sharp suit he had chosen from the tux shop. Drusilla was wearing a silky white dress that was bedazzled with silver rhinestones.
"James dear we will head to the ballroom to keep people entertained." Drusilla said smiling.
"Excellent." He smiled to his friends as they slipped past them down the hall. "Ah the Granger's have arrived." He says as his friends come down the stairs behind the others. Daniel, like James, was wearing a classic black tuxedo. Emma was wearing a sleek black dress, white silky gloves, with a set of pearls adorning her neck. "Sirius, Frank, Alice, Neville, and Castor's girls are already in the hall. Shall we join them?" James holds out his arm to Lily. She takes it and they begin walking down the hall. The other adults walked past Harry who remained there.
Emma and Daniel stopped beside him, "Harry dear Hermione will be down in a moment would you wait for her." Emma asks.
Harry nods, "Of course Mrs. Granger."
The Grangers walk down the hall with the other adults. Harry stood there waiting for a moment when he heard foot steps behind. He turns his head and his eyes widen. "Hey Harry." Hermione stood at the top of the staircase. She was wearing a midnight blue dress, the lower half of the dress was layered all the way down to her ankles. Harry could see her dress had thin straps. And to cover them she wore a midnight blue wrap that covered her shoulders, the sleeves went down to just above her forearms. Her hair was twisted up into a small bun, not all of her hair was secure. Her curls hanging out of the back of her hair. On the right side of her head was a silver beret that had three silver chains hang from it on the end of each one was a small sapphire jewel attached to each end.
Harry stared at her his cheeks suddenly going red. When he realized his face was hotter than usual he quickly looked away, "You look great 'Mione. Come on everyone is waiting." He held out his arm for her just as Sirius taught him for when he's escorting a lady.
Hermione smiled and descended the steps taking his arm in hers, "Lets go." She said. Harry nodded a gently guided her to the ball room.
Inside the halls had been decorated extravagantly. Magical lights floated around the ceiling, there were three tables full of food, a few hired servers walked around carrying drinks for guests. There were at least thirty-five people I the hall all standing around talking. Harry spotted their other friends and guided Hermione over to them. "Hey guys." He said to them.
Neville was wearing a black fitted tux with teal bow tie and cummerbund with his hair comb to the side. Daphne's dress matched the color of Neville's tie and cummerbund. It had soft partially see through sleeves her hair was held in a soft pony tail on the right side of her head. "Hey Harry…" Daphne said then spotted her friend Hermione, "'Mione you look amazing…when you asked me to do your make up I knew you were going all out but wow I think you beat me."
Hermione chuckled, "Was it a contest?"
"Well you know girls always have a contest of who rocks it best." She chuckles.
Hermione chuckled smiling at her friends, "Well I was not aware of this so the win goes to you." She says.
"I'm going to get us some drinks." Harry said to Hermione and slipped off to the refreshment table.
As he walked towards it he was stopped by multiple grown adults who would immediately ingratiate themselves to him, him an eleven year old boy. It was weird, but due to his lessons from Sirius and Lord Greengrass managed the encounters by trading pleasantries and small compliments as he made his way by. He finally made his way to the refreshment table and back to his friends passing Hermione her glass flute of sparkling apple cider.
"Nice work Potter you handled that well." Daphne said, "I see my fathers lessons paid off."
"Definitely, but its super weird to have adults bowing to me." He said chuckling nervously.
Hermione had watched the encounter she had been shocked to see the adults bowing and curtsying to him. She couldn't wrap her head around it through she had grown up around them; seeing the high society of the wizarding world was a shock to her muggle sensibilities. She could tell Harry wasn't exactly keen on the special treatment he had been received. "Are you okay Harry?" she asked him.
He smiles to her, "I'll be fine 'Mione." He said with his usual kind smile.
Hermione felt her face get hot a bit at his kind smile and quickly looked away. Harry was dressed so dashingly; his long hair had been slicked to the right side of his face covering his scar, the back of his hair was tied back in a tight ponytail.
Daphne did not miss this and grinned, "So Harry I assume your Hermione's escort tonight?"
"Huh? Escort?" he asked confused.
"Yes at events such as these young ladies are always escorted by a young gentleman." Daphne explained, "Meaning your meant to be her dance partner for the night and body guard."
This statement caused both of their faces to turn red. Neville saw this reaction and realized what Daphne was doing, "Yea exactly I'm Daphne's escort tonight, Susan invited one of her Housemates to be hers. In fact there is this superstition if you have the same escort for three events you'll end up dating."
Daphne grinned as Neville had caught on rather quicker than usual, "Exactly! So a lot of people end up only bringing the person they like to these events."
Harry and Hermione's faces were really red now, "It just ended up that way." Hermione said.
"Yea exactly because we were all staying together at the manor." Harry said.
"Yea I didn't choose Harry mom did." Hermione said then immediately regretting it. She saw Harry's facial expression shift a bit the redness was fading and his kind eyes suddenly filled with a bit of sadness.
"Opps." Daphne mumbled before leaning over to Neville and whispering, "I think we pushed it to hard." She whispered.
"Yea I noticed," He mumbled back before looking to his two friends, "Hey guys we were just teasing you guys no need to take us seriously." He said trying to diffuse the tension they had caused.
Harry smiled his usual kind smiled, "Yea I figured." He said chuckling nervously.
"I'm sorry Harry I really didn't mean anything bad by it." Hermione tried explaining.
"Its okay 'Mione I get it really." He smiled again turning back to her.
Hermione was about to say something else when a group of people had suddenly surrounded them. Pairs of them, men with their daughters or women with their daughters. "Master Harry I was hoping to introduce you to my daughter."
Multiple others said the same thing Harry was clearly uncomfortable but kept his cool, "Its lovely to meet you all." He said smiling.
"I was hoping you'd do us the honor of dancing with her." One of them said. The other immediately agreed.
Harry immediately smiled, "I would love to however I'm actually escorting the Young Lady Granger this evening and I'm afraid I must be diligent in my duties." He said with his plastered on smile, "Perhaps at another function."
The adults smiled at him however Hermione noticed a few of the young ladies eyed her with disgust. Daphne had moved herself closer to Hermione at the sight of this smiling. Basically using her status to block any ill intent toward her muggle born friend.
At that moment the group got a sudden reprieve from the surround Lords and Ladies when the doors to the Hall opened and in walked Minerva McGonagall, She was dress in a ravishing black, sleeveless, V-neck gown that hugged her curves. Her hair which was normally in a tight bun, was down and elegantly braided down the right side and draped over her shoulder. On her arm was a man anyone hardly recognized, Harry however knew who it was immediately.
Severus Snape, was dressed in a form fitted Midnight Black tux with a Slytherin green neck tie and vest. His usual loose black hair had been replaced with a slicked back style that complimented his face. The pair walked in arm in arm for a moment. When they took a few strides into the room the two gave a gentle nod to each other before splitting apart. Harry watched his aunt walk over the his parents who were chatting with a few people; whilst his uncle Sev walked over to him and his friends. The adults that had surrounded them suddenly dispersed taking their kids with them.
"Evening children." He said in his cool voice, "Having a good time at the ball I hope." He says trying to smile kindly.
"Uncle Sev stop trying so hard when you force a smile it looks a bit creepy." Harry says, "Just be yourself."
Severus relaxed, "Thank you, this type of formal function is not my thing" he said and as he finally sighed in relief when he suddenly had an arm around his neck.
"There you are love." Sirius said smooching Severus's cheek.
"Padfoot please there are so many people around." Severus said.
"Sorry I've missed you." He said then looked down to Harry and his friends, "So the first dance is about to begin you guys ready?"
"I think I'm going to go talk to my parents for a bit." Harry said before turning and walking off with a saddened expression.
Sirius watched his godson walk away looking dejected. He turned to Harry's friends, "What happened?" he asked curiously.
"Oh well Neville and I had been teasing him a bit about being Hermione's escort to the ball tonight, but Hermione protested a little too much which kinda made Harry a little bummed." Daphne said chuckling nervously.
Severus face palmed himself after hearing this, "You two should stop poking your nose into their affairs." He said looking down at them, "Because of your teasing now there is tension between the two of them."
Daphne looked down embarrassed by the scolding she received from the older Slytherin. "I'm sorry sir it really wasn't intentional I swear."
"Intentional or not now Harry is upset with me cause you guys kept prodding me." Hermione said in a huff.
"Sorry 'Mione won't happen again I swear." Neville said rubbing the back of his head nervously.
On the other side of the hall Harry walked up to his parents who were chatting with another noble. Lily spotted him and smiled, "Harry darling is everything alright?" she asked as she turned to him.
He nodded, "Yes everything's fine mum." He said sounding disheartened.
Lily who had been standing next to Emma walked with her friend behind her both with concerned looks on their faces. "Harry are you sure you're alright? You know you can talk to us?" Emma said.
"Its…its just Neville and Daphne were teasing me about being Hermione's escort. Then she said she only came with me cause Mrs. Emma told her to." He said his eyes still sad.
This time it was Emma's turn to face palm herself. Her daughter, who hours ago had been so excited to dance with Harry, got embarrassed by a little teasing an said something that hurt the poor boy's feeling. She made a mental note to advise her daughter how to deal with teasing without blurting out things that hurt others feelings. "Harry dear I'm going to let you in on a little secret." Emma says kneeling down to get eye level with him, "More often than not girls say the exact opposite of what they feel…" she leans closer and whispers, "especially when they are embarrassed." She giggles.
Lily nods, "Exactly son so don't be discouraged she didn't mean it. She just got too shy from the teasing."
"Oh really…" he looked down a small smile creeping on his face. He felt a bit of relief when he heard this.
Before anyone else could say anything else the orchestra began to play signaling the beginning of the first dance. "Its time Lily dear." James Potter walked up holding out his arm to his wife.
"Oh yes." Lily began standing up giving Harry's forehead a small kiss before she stood up straight, "You should go find Hermione I'm sure she's eager to dance with you." She pats his head before taking her husbands arm and being guided to the dance floor. The Lord and Lady Potter were to be the first to dance.
Harry watched as his parents glided across the floor in an elegant dance. Soon others joined: Drusilla and Castor were first, followed by Frank and Alice then Emma and Daniel. Soon the hall was filled with people elegantly twirling around the dance floor.
Harry watched in awe as the people seemed to move in sync when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned his head to find a blushing Hermione, "I…I'm sorry Harry…I…I didn't mean it." She stammered.
Harry smiled to her he was glad his mother was right, "Okay….wanna dance?" he asked holding out his hand.
The girl grinned immediately, "Yes!" she took his hand as he pulled her onto the dance floor. The pair dance and twirled across the floor. They glided around the floor passing Neville and Daphne a they dance the as well.
"You've gotten much better 'Mione." Harry says.
"I practiced with Neville a few hours a day." She said her face getting a little red.
He smiled, "Seems Nev will make a great teacher one day." He says as he performs a lift, spinning his friend around before gently setting her back on the floor and resuming their dance. The evening became much more pleasant now the two friends had made up dancing the night away.
Unbeknownst to the party goers at that moment an undesirable guest was arriving to the Potter's grand ball.
A/N: Thank you all again for your support however my posts may be shortened due to another loss. My beta reader Mrs. Agget has recently pass. So I must find a new beta reader. If you're interested please message me. RIP Mrs. Agget I'll miss you big sis!
Up Next: An undesirable guest arrives shocking the Potter's and their friends. James and Lily are informed of a recent incident involving Harry while at Hogwarts.