Azalea read the words on the page, which soothed her a bit. It was almost ritualistic at this point, her reading this particular book. She was so immersed in it, that she didn't even hear her aunt and grandpa calling her until someone touched her shoulder and she jumped a meter in the air.
"Oh goodness! Azalea, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. It's time, the floo will be spitting Augusta and Neville out into the parlor any minute. Come along now, neaten yourself up." Cassiopeia spoke soothingly.
Azalea scurried to put the book back, and smoothed out her burgundy dress from the slight wrinkles in her sitting down in it. She rushed over and made it just in time to see the floo flare to life. Out walked, or in her case, glided, Augusta Longbottom in all of her glory. She was wearing an emerald green silhouette dress with a matching lace jacket. Neville was two steps behind her, in a rather dashing blue pinstripe shirt and bow tie with black trousers and black suspenders. Azalea got into position and formally welcomed the two of them into her home.
"Augusta, it's so good to see you again. Welcome, as always, to Black Manor. The party will start in exactly two hours time, in the back garden, so make your way over there at your leisure. For now, we shall stay in the parlor until our other guests arrive in approximately two hours time. Neville, you are more than welcome to stay the night, if you so wish. I can have a room in Azalea's wing made up for you in an instant." Cassiopeia said smoothly.
Neville bowed towards her, and formally replied. "I graciously thank you for welcoming us into your home, and I accept the offer of spending the night, on the grounds of the party running later than expected."
With that, the five of them made themselves comfortable in the chairs placed across the room. Azalea grabbed Neville's hand and nearly dragged him over to her bookshelf and sitting area in excitement.
"Neville, look at this! Auntie Cia got it for me because I've read all my other books a million times already. It's about herbs from common gardens and their uses in potions making! And look! There's an entire section on how to forage for beginners, too! Isn't it perfect?" She gushed excitedly to her first friend.
"Oh wow! Really? Can I read some of it?" Neville exclaimed.
"Of course, silly, that's why I'm showing you. Go on, read it!" Was her bubbly reply.
And just like that they were immersed into the book, both of them peering over each other's shoulders as they read the passages.
It was déjà vu for Azalea, but this time it was Theo himself, around one thirty pm, interrupting the two of them. Soon, the two became three, all immersed without fussing into the new book. It was both Augusta and Arcturus that drew the three children out of their trance like state.
"Come, children, the party will be starting shortly. We are waiting on Alastor and a few others, and I have given the house elves a direct order to lead them outside to wherever we are situated in the gardens. Come now, let's enjoy the party while it begins." Arcturus said.
Arcturus and Cassiopeia lead Azalea, Augusta, Neville and Theo through the manor and to the beautifully decorated garden area. There were two long tables, decorated in the finest sea foam acromantula silk that galleons could buy. On one table were two massive piles of gifts, one in a beautiful purple hue, and one in a nice navy blue. On the other table were many place settings, one for each of her friends and family, and her guests. There were white candles in the center of both tables, with white and purple hibiscus flower blossoms surrounding them, charmed not to wilt.
In the trees and the sky were fairy lights that shifted from a soft blue to a light green, and the lake had lotus flower candles floating in it. Underneath the willow tree was a jade colored picnic blanket with mint green, white, and powder blue pillows to sit on. To the right of the picnic blanket, was a fire pit, to make offerings to the patron gods, and for the adults to sit and gossip. Over all, the entire area looked amazingly enchanted and inviting. The house elves really outdid themselves, as usual.
It was around two thirty, nearly three pm when more guests started showing up. Azalea and Neville's teachers and one of their children. At Neville's request, his great uncle Algie was not invited. Only the people they wanted were there.
Azalea beamed happily while looking around her. She was surrounded by the people who she loved and cared about, and they felt the same for her. All in all the day was going very smoothly. Everything so far was going off without a hitch, and Cassiopeia and Augusta were very happy about that. A lot of planning had gone into this special day for the two birthday kids. For the sake of the children, cold drinks and refreshments were brought out throughout the day on hovering trays, charmed to stay cold until picked up off of the platform. They were frequently passed around, to keep the merrymakers cool and content.
She drank in all the fashion of the different types of people. Everyone was wearing the highest fashion, and she was living for it. Of course, Augusta and Neville were always on point with their clothing choices, but this was the first time she was really seeing some of these people in not their day to day clothing or business attire.
Mister Moody was wearing a white button down dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and charcoal dress slacks; something completely different from his brown dragon hide trench coat and buckled dragon hide shirt.
Tutors Andromeda and Ted, who usually wore button down cotton shirts and nice pants, really cleaned up well. Andromeda wore a shoulderless black gown with a daring slit up the side, with tulle and lace and sparkles to the nines. Ted matched her elegant dress with a solid black four-piece designer suit and shoes to match. Their daughter also was invited to the party, and although Azalea and Neville didn't exactly know her very well, she was also dressed rather prettily in a navy blue long sleeve lace dress, decorated in hand made glass beads and jewels. Her hair was splendid as well, shoulder-length and dark blue to match the dress.
Lady Ironwood, as usual, was a classic beauty. She was known for having her hair half up, with long intricate braids wrapping around her face to frame it beautifully, but today her hair took beyond the realm. And her dress, it was breathtaking. It was a simple dark navy dress with a black gold belt around the waist, with a long flowing cape. She looked awesome.
And Mister MacLeod, a teen himself, stood out as well. His fine wavy copper colored hair shone against the sunlight. He was distinguished in his Scottish attire of a black Prince Charlie jacket with shining silver buttons, a white kilt shirt and a yellow tartan kilt with belt and buckle and a dragon hide sporran over top of it. He also had on a pair of kilt hose and flashes tucked into it, along with a traditional Scottish Dirk. He had decided against the fly plaid it seemed though.
Prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe with balsamic reduction, bite sized pieces of duck confit, Kobe beef squares, shrimp cocktail in fancy glasses, fresh Scottish salmon on bruschetta crackers, crab dip, lobster tails, oysters Rockefeller, and all different types of caviar all appeared at once on the buffet table, allowing the celebrators to graze as they liked.
Soon enough, it was cake time. The elves made an exceptional three tier cake, decorated with white buttercream frosting with blue squiggly lines around the base of the cake. The top tier was lemon chiffon, the middle tier was a delectable strawberry, and the very bottom tier of the cake was a vanilla bean. All three tiers were stacked neatly on an ornately made silver platter.
The cake was soon devoured and not a single crumb was left to clean up.
"I must say, your elves really outdid themselves. The food was exquisite, far outside of any realm I could ever imagine. Especially for a child's birthday party." Andromeda quietly tutted to Ted.
"Oh, absolutely, I have no clue how they will outdo themselves for next year when the two of them turn nine." He replied in earnest. This party was over the top extravagant, and yet, it was very laid back as well. Things flowed at their own pace, and were just timed right enough that it was structured at the very same time.
And so the party continued. After the cake, it was time to open up the extravagantly high pile of presents for the two children.
The party was winding down, when a loud crash was heard. A tall, lanky woman with mismatched purple and sandy brown hair had tripped over an out-of-place chair and crashed into a hovering tray of food.
"Oh how unfortunate. She's wearing the shrimp cocktail. I was looking forward to trying some of that, it looked marvelous." Augusta said to Lady Ironwood, who was one of Azalea and Neville's tutors, along with Ted and Andromeda Tonks.
"A shame indeed, it was. I wonder who that is?" Lady Ironwood inquired back.
"Oh Nymphadora, dear, are you ok?" Cassiopeia came gliding over, concern written all over her face, if you knew how to read it.
"I'm ok. A little worse for wear, seeing as I'm wearing the food instead of eating it. Sorry about that, Lady Cassiopeia." The youngest Tonks replied.
"It's okay dear, let's just get you cleaned up. Daemon, Mors; come help this young lady get freshened up. Have her return back here when she's ready." Cassiopeia called to her house elves.
"Auntie Cia, who was that?" Azalea asked.
"That was Nymphadora Tonks. She is Andromeda and Ted Tonks' daughter." Was her aunt's reply.
"Oh. She would be Sirius's cousin, correct?" Azalea asked.
"Yes. Although I would not mention him to them. It's rather a... sore topic for them." She told her niece.
"Ahh, okay. I wanted to ask if we could play in the lake again. Not swimming, but maybe some wading?"Azalea implored to her aunt.
"Sure, would you like me to transfigure your clothing or do you want to change?" Cassiopeia inquired as she turned to the birthday girl in question.
"Transfiguration please? And can you do Theo and Neville too?" She answered.
"Sure. Neville! Theodore! Come over here for a minute!" Cia called out to the boys.
The two boys wandered over when they heard their name called.
"Is there something wrong, ma'am?" Theo asked politely.
"No dear child." Replied Cassiopeia.
"Then please call me Theo, Theodore is much too stuffy for me yet." The boy said with a playful grin.
"I am going to transfigure Azalea's dress into a bathing suit, so she might go wading in the lake. Would you like me to do the same for you as well?" Asked the distinguished woman.
"Yes please. It will help us cool off nicely." Theo said, while Neville shyly nodded along.
Cassiopeia first transfigured the three children's outfits, then sent them on their way.
"Zilly, I want you to keep an eye on the kids, make sure they don't go too deep." She commanded the elf.
With a nod, the elf popped away after the three rambunctious children, the goal in mind to keep them safe.
Azalea was having the time of her life splashing around in the lake when she looked across the water to the other shore and what she saw took her breath away.
"Look! Neville, Theo... There are unicorns!" Azalea exclaimed in awe.
"What? Where?" They whipped their heads around trying to see them.
"Over there! Across the lake! It's a mother and her foal. They're so beautiful." She replied while pointing in the direction of the animals.
"According to the book I read on mythical creatures, a unicorn sighting alone is super rare and special, but to see one with her foal is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Theo informed the others.
Eventually they got back to splashing around in the lake and decided to stay far away from the other shore so as to not disturb the mother and child unicorns. They tired themselves out and decided to make their way out of the lake to sit under one of the trees to dry off in the warm breeze.
"Ya know, Azalea, we can always go to Lord Black or any other of the adults here and ask them to cast drying charms on us, as well as transfigure the clothing back to be our original party going outfits." Theo told the shorter girl.
"Hmm, why didn't I think of that?" She questioned, tilting her head.
"Because I'm the genius of the three of us, clearly." Theo dryly stated with a quirked brow.
"Race you to the others!" Azalea shouted and ran off in a fit of giggles. But seeing as she was the shortest of the three of them, they both caught up to her quickly, and they tripped together in a mess of gangly limbs and laughter.
They untangled themselves and this time walked at a much slower pace, talking all the while.
"What's your favorite color, Azalea?" Theo asked.
"Purple, of course! What's your favorite plant, Nev?" She turned to the other boy and cocked her head to the side.
"Uhh... Right now it's Mimbulus Mibletonia, but it changes frequently. Hey Theo, what's your poison of choice?" Neville asked Theo as they got nearer to the others.
"Viper venom. It's from a muggle snake, but it kills in as quick as 10 minutes." Was the fast reply.
As time went on, they all found out each other's favorite colors and other things like that. It was a nice time bonding. Meanwhile, the adults were gossiping. As in, Mad Eye Moody was on the hunt for answers, and he would not stop until he got them.
"So, Lord Black, tell me more about little Azalea. How did you encounter her? I must say, it is a bit concerning."
Arcturus then explained the public version of how Cassiopeia had run into the girl, almost quite literally, and how it spiraled from there. He left out the more grizzly details about her abuse and neglect.
"Now, I am guessing you know her parentage, seeing as she is the girl who lived. Lily Evans and James Potter, correct?" Moody asked.
Arcturus could see exactly where this was leading, he wasn't fooled. He turned to look Moody directly in the eyes, well, eye. Not something to be done lightly. It was a good thing he had impervious oculemency shields. He could feel the gentle pressure on his mental shields. As if he wouldn't feel or notice, as if. He pushed Moody out as soon as he felt the pressure. This would be something he would have to make sure Azalea knew. It was a necessity to protect both the Black family's secrets and her own safety.
"I know you know, now stop fishing. I will tell you what you want to know, but not here, not now. Another time at a later date, yes?" The conversation ended, over as soon as it began.
The kids approached as the sun finally started to set, and they changed their clothing back and camped out around the lit fire pit, a lovely way to end the evening, talking and drinking mulled wine and fresh pumpkin juice.
"Hello Azalea, my name is Nymphadora, but you can call me Dora. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, er, feet I guess in this case. It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Heirs Longbottom and Nott." The young woman said cheerfully.
"No, the pleasure is all mine, Miss Dora. I do hope you're feeling a bit better, yes?" Azalea asked.
"Yes; it's safe to say I am now, seeing as I was wearing today's seafood catch. Terribly clumsy, I am. Awfully sorry about that." Dora apologized sheepishly.
"No, no, it's okay. Accidents happen." Azalea reassured the older teen.
Azalea turned to her Auntie Cia, the one who orchestrated the party to begin with, and hugged her profusely.
"Thank you Auntie. You gave me my first real birthday party, and I'll never forget this for as long as I live. I love you." She numbered into her aunt's stomach. All was right with the world.
After the party goers left for home, when it was just her, Neville, her aunt and Uncle, and Augusta, did Azalea finally relax. Oh! That was right! Azalea had almost forgotten. Neville would be sleeping over for the first time, as they would be starting their official tutor lessons that coming day, Monday, August 8th.