Harry strolled around the room, barely listening to Dudley recapping of his most recent bout with Crabbe. Instead, he was gazing intently around the room, trying to find out just how many people from school were present. So far it seemed that the party was mainly made up of Slytherin's, mostly from his year and three above, but he also recognised a few from the year below. There was also a scattering of Ravenclaw's from various years, as well as two or three Hufflepuff's. Purebloods, the lot of them Harry thought to himself. There were absolutely no Gryffindor's there at the party, well, besides himself of course. Why am I not surprised.
He had barely finished his observations when Pansy turned up to claim Dudley. "Sorry to have taken so long," she simpered at him, "I hope that you haven't been to overly bored in my absence." Rounding on Harry she added, "I do hope that you can manage with out your cousin for a while. You'll be alright, won't you darling." Harry, taken back by the slight trace of concern in Pansy's voice simply nodded his head dumbly in shock. "It's all right, not like anyone bites." Harry's eyes widened with further shock. It's not a bite I'm worried about. Pansy enveloped him in a reassuring hug and whispered into his ear, "I was only joking sweetie. If you have any problems, just find me, and I'll sort it out, ok?" She pulled back and smiled at him before turning to Dudley and placing her hand on his arm and leading him back through the crowd.
"Your cousin is such a sweet, delicate, tiny little thing. She will be all right by herself, won't she?" she asked concernedly.
"Harmony? She's just a little shy, but I'm sure she'll be just fine. But enough about her. Tell me a little about your self," Dudley cooed at Pansy, sending her off into another fit of giggles.
Still slightly shaken from Pansy's kind hearted offer, Harry wondered over to a table and picked up a glass of champagne. Turning around, Harry slowly sipping the bubbly beverage, eyes roaming around the room, paying greater attention to who was present. His eyes momentarily lingered on Dudley, who was clearly concentrating on Pansy's animated conversation with Crabbe, and then widened with the realisation that everyone else present was at least a head taller than him, even with his heals on. He shuddered and quickly drained the glass, slamming down another as it dawned on him that Pansy was flirting heavily with his cousin. Ugh, gross, he thought to himself. Not only am I a midget, but now I'm also going to be scared for life.
"Why hello there, sexy," a low gravely voice cut through his thoughts. Harry spun around only to find himself almost pressed up against some guy. Taking a quick step back, Harry recognized the leering figure standing there.
"Marcus Flint," the burly bloke offered a large, slightly sweaty hand, "Must be your first time here. I've never seen you before, and I'm sure I'd remember some one as beautiful as you." Shit, Harry thought to himself. The great big ugly brute is flirting with me. Shit.
"Do you play Quidditch?"
"Quidditch?" Harry repeated, blinking a few times. Better not be too much like my old self. Plus, hopefully he'll go away if he thinks I'm boring. "Um, no. I don't."
"That's such a pity. I play professionally, as a chaser for the Wimbourne Wasps. If you came come along to one of our training sessions, I could give you a private lesson. I'm sure you'd be a natural," he added, obviously mentally undressing an increasingly nervous Harry.
Harry quickly looked away from Flint and began to desperately search for a way out. Was that…..oh my god, it was. He's hitting on me. I think I'm going to be sick. How the hell am I going to get away from him. Where the fuck is Pansy when you need her. Smiling faintly at Flint, Harry indicated silently at his empty glass. He stepped around him to approach the table only to have Flint grab his wrist.
"How about you come with me, on a special tour of the house. I'm sure I could show you some of the more, er... fascinating rooms," Flint offered, leering again and indicating to a near by doorway. Harry, struggling to get his wrist out of Flint's iron grip, looked away from his lustful gaze. It's not like I can hit him – he's twice my size. Now I know I'm going to be sick.
"Flint, could you finally see fit to move out of the way. You're blocking the table," a silky voice drawled icily. Harry looked up, and recognizing its owner he quickly threw him a look of mixed panic, fear and apprehension. "Harmony, my dear, I was just looking for you. I do hope that Flint here hasn't been hassling you, has he?"
"Um, no," Harry quickly stammered, playing along, eternally grateful. "We were just discussing his Quidditch career." Harry shrugged his wrist out of Flint's now lax grip and hastily stepped towards Blaise Zabini. "Shall we?" Zabini simply smiled and picked two glasses, offering one to Harry along with his arm.
"Flint," he offered coldly to the now apologetic looking chaser before sweeping Harry off across the now emptying room, through a hallway and into a large, ornately decorated dining room.
Harry sat down next to Blaise, near the head of the table next to where Crabbe and Goyle were already seated. "Um, how did you know.…?"
"Who you were? Pansy asked to me to keep an eye on the new girl, Harmony. Just as well she did too. If I hadn't found you when I did ….." Blaise shuddered at the expression of disgust which flashed across Harry's face, indicating how close Flint was to fulfilling the unsaid statement. "How did he get you cornered anyway?"
"I just turned around and he there he was, blocking my way. Thank you for rescuing me back there, Blaise. I was getting very desperate."
"Not a problem at all, Harmony," Blaise replied, inclining his head. "I'd do it again in a heart beat. No one deserves the pleasure of his company." A puzzled look suddenly flitted across his face. "How did you that my names ……?"
"Zabini?"
They both jumped guiltily. Gazing across the table, Harry found himself looking into a pair of soft, grey rimmed silvery blue iris's, which were quickly flitting back and forth between him and Blaise. Holy shit he thought. It can't be, please don't let it be…..
"Draco," Blaise responded as Harry inwardly groaned, still looking across at the normally expressionless blonde, who smirking in a mildly amused fashion.
"I heard Flint muttering on his way out bitching something along the lines that you'd stolen his dainty little pixie. I thought he'd finally cracked and was trying to pick up one of your … what!" Draco snapped when Blaise began to softly laugh.
"Draco, Draco, Draco," he chuckled, prompting Draco to scowl darkly. "I was only rescuing young Harmony here from Flint's unwanted attentions. That thick witted idiot was all but ready to club the poor thing over the head and drag her off to the nearest guest room."
On hearing these words, Draco immediately stopped scowling and looked at Harry, his eyes filled with concern and pity. "I'm terribly sorry to hear of your ordeal, miss…."
"James. Harmony James," Harry hastily added, offering his hand.
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," Draco replied smoothly, smiling as he took Harry's hand and kissed it. "Considering the serious nature of your recent ordeal," he drawled, "would you like me to preform a simple memory charm on you? No one should have to remember something as disturbing as Flint's advances," he half laughed, raising an eyebrow at Harry.
"As tempting as that sounds," Harry responded, nearly craning his neck to look into Draco's eyes, "I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I should retain that particularly unpleasant memory so that when the Ministry asks, I'll have a legitimate reason to have hexed his balls off." The three of them immediately chuckled. Wait a minute, was that an offer to help me. Draco was nice to me?
"Perfectly understandable." Yes, he was. Harry took the opportunity to pay closer attention to Draco and Blaise while their attention was on their recently arrived entrées. Blaise was wearing black dress pants, soft bronze silk shirt and a casual blazer. Draco, on the other hand was wearing an expensive looking, stylish tailored charcoal suit with a soft, equally expensive looking powder blue shirt, the top two buttons undone. Both had their hair gelled in the same manner in which they wore it every day at school, and were chatting animatedly. Despite the large differences in their attire, they both managed to look, in Harry's opinion equally suave, sophisticated, and beautiful….
Wait a minute. Suave, yes. But beautiful? Is it just me or are they acting, well, normal? Obviously my brain is in still shock from Flint.
"Harmony?" Blaise ventured. "Are you all right? You haven't touched your food yet."
"Hmmm," Harry murmured, looking up. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm still feeling a little nauseous. From earlier, you know." The three of them exchanged knowing glances as Goyle stood up and called for silence.
"We've all gathered her for the traditional pre-school gathering, and for Crabbe's birthday. We have two new friends here with us this year. Vincent's muggle boxing partner, Dudley Dursley," he proudly proclaimed, nodding in his direction, "and his witch cousin, Harmony James. Before we eat, I'd like to propose a toast. To my best friend Vin – Happy birthday."
"Happy birthday," everyone seated at the table said in unison, raising their glasses.
"To the new year," came a voice from the end of the table.
"To the new year," Harry mumbled along with the rest of the guests, conscious of the curious looks being cast his way. He sat back down to discover that the first course had arrived while they were busy toasting. Inhaling deeply, Harry breathed in the delicious, exotic smell wafting up from his plate. Tentativly, he picked up his fork and slowly sampled the mysterious dish. Harry nearly choked as a mass of chilli suddenly assaulted his senses. Hastily gulping down a glass of water he cast a furtive glance around the table. No one else seems effected. He softly nudged Blaise.
"What on earth is it?"
"Chilli Mud Crab, tai style. Delicious isn't it." Draco replied. Harry looked across into his eyes. "It's pointless talking to Blaise while he is eating. Do you like it?"
"It's a little hotter than I'm used to."
"Try adding some coconut cream then," Draco advised, handing a small jug to Harry, "You'll find it more palatable that way."
Harry blushed slightly as their fingers brushed when he accepted the container. Draco simply raised a brow at Harry before returning to his food. Thankyou? Harry scolded himself. Did I just thank Malfoy? Did I just blush at him? The champagne must be going to my head!
He looked up from the crab he had been absently pushing around his plate only to see Dudley, who sitting next to Pansy across the table a little further down from himself, scowling darkly at him. Harry dutifully picked up some of the food and ate it. Dudley smiled then returned to his own meal. Harry looked forlornly down at his now not so appealing mud crab. Great, not only am I going completely insane, but just when I was starting to feel hungry, I've gone and lost my appetite……..
"You know, you really should eat something." Harry looked up to discover a concerned looking Blaise gazing at Harry's rearranged plate.
"I found the crab too spicy." Why does everyone keep telling me to eat something. Do I look anorexic or something? It's not like I'm that thin
"Did you add some cream? It weakens the flavour."
"Um," Harry stalled, eyes flitting across to Malfoy who was, gratefully, was currently engrossed in his own meal. "Yes, I did. Unfortunately it was still too strong for me to enjoy."
"That's a pity, Harmony. It's a really good crab."
Thankyou to all my reviewers - love you all dearly and are enormously pleased that you like my story. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and don't hesisitate to come again! The next one will be faster comming, I promise.