Author's notes: A huge thank you, as always, to Mike from CoS forums. You're doing an awesome job catching all my mistakes.
Thank you also for the reviews from Lilybet Edyvean, SahsaBT245, Penhierarchy and Iridescent-Raven92.
I'm so glad ya'll like my story, and hope you enjoy chapter six.
I'm so excited about this chapter, it was so much fun to write. I had a huge fangirl moment, so hope everyone likes it as much as I do. Just be warned, it's pretty long.
Chapter Six: The Big Night
At six-thirty on Friday morning, Dobby awoke Amelia with his screeching high-pitched voice.
"Miss Malfoy! Miss Malfoy! You needs to get up now, Miss. The hangings in your room needs to be washed, and Dobby has many many other things to do!" he wailed.
Amelia opened her eyes to find the house-elf sitting on her bed, barely inches away from her face. Both of his hands were poorly bandaged with old tea towels.
"Alright, alright. I'm getting up," Amelia said, pulling on her dressing gown and climbing out of the large four-poster bed.
"Your aunt and uncle is wanting you to meet them in the dining room," Dobby informed her.
"Thanks, I will be straight there," she replied.
Putting on her slippers, Amelia padded across the hall and down the staircase to the dinning room. Lucius and Narcissa, along with Bellatrix and Rodolphus, were already fully dressed and seated around the large oak table.
At the sight of Amelia in her fluffy slippers, pale blue bed robe and her hair askew looking like a lost child, Bellatrix let out a dry laugh. She whispered something to her husband, which caused him to laugh, too.
"Hurry, go back upstairs and get dressed. Quickly! We have lots to do today." Narcissa barked, sounding a lot more cold than usual. Lucius rolled his eyes, and the Lestranges let out another burst of laughter as Amelia hurried away.
After ten minutes she returned, fully dressed, to the gathering of people waiting.
"Right, first of all Amelia, I want you to into the garden and pick a collection of flowers for the house," ordered Narcissa.
"Yes Aunt Narcissa, straight away." Amelia replied, then following her order, she made her way to the garden.
When Amelia arrived in the garden, she was shocked to see that it looked very different to how it had the previous night. A large marquee had been erected and lavish statues were dotted in prominent places around the lawn. All the bushes and flowers appeared to have been pruned and the grass was a gleaming emerald.
The small pond down near the bench, where Amelia had first met Regulus, looked cleaner than it had in years and a beautiful stone angel, holding a bowl, had been placed just on the water's edge. Amelia took out her wand and began to summon flowers for the house.
"Accio Pansies, Accio Poppies, Accio Irises, Accio Foxgloves, Accio Roses!" she cried out, pointing her wand in various directions around the garden. When Amelia felt she had gathered enough flowers, she returned to the house.
Lucius, Bellatrix, and Rodolphus had left so that Narcissa remained, alone in the dining room, waiting to give Amelia more orders. The older woman took the flowers from her niece and arranged them in vases. Narcissa then turned to Amelia, to give more instructions.
"Next, I want you to go into the attic and find the Wizard's Wireless that we keep for special occasions. It will need dusting, so you should do that, too."
Amelia obeyed and made her way to the attic, thinking that this was a stupid task as they had a house-elf for this sort of thing. Amelia always disliked the attic, as it was dark and full of spiders.
In her search for the Wizard's Wireless, Amelia stumbled upon a journal she recognised as her mother's. She pocketed the battered journal, intending to read it later if she had the chance. Thankfully she encountered no spiders during her search and found the Wireless pretty easily, as it had been used at Christmas.
Amelia then made her way to the kitchen, to polish the radio. Upon arriving in the kitchen, Amelia found Dobby on his hands and knees, frantically scrubbing her bed hangings.
"Miss Malfoy, you is startling Dobby. I is having such a hard time cleaning your hangings," then the elf noticed the Wizard's Wireless and dropped the hangings, "Miss Malfoy, you is not meant to be cleaning. Here, let me takes it."
"No, it's alright -- really -- Dobby, I can do it," Amelia protested.
"But you is needing to be getting ready. You is not meant to be cleaning, Dobby is meant to be doings it," he wailed.
"Honestly Dobby, its fine. Aunt Cissy asked me to do it, so it's no problem."
"Dobby is thinking that if Mistress Malfoy asks you to do it, then it must be alright," replied the elf, resignation in his voice.
Dobby returned to the hangings and Amelia began to scourgify the dusty Wireless. With the magical radio now gleaming, Amelia returned to the dining room for further instructions.
When Amelia entered the dining room, she noticed that its appearance had drastically changed. The long oak dining table had gone and the walls had been covered in green and silver hangings. In the middle of the room stood a large ice sculptor of an Occamy -- a beautiful, winged creature, resembling a snake, but having two legs -- that had obviously been enchanted, as it changed from sleeping to wide-awake if anyone got close to it.
The room was empty, apart from the ice Occamy, and Amelia guessed that her aunt must have been in her chamber. Taking one last glance at the now sleeping snake like creature, Amelia made her way to Narcissa's room.
After knocking, Amelia entered her aunt's sleeping quarters to find the woman sitting in front of her ornate dressing table. Narcissa appeared almost ready for the party tonight. Her hair was pinned up, with loose golden curls falling down her neck and around her ears.
She was wearing the new dress robes she had brought the previous day -- they were a deep burgundy colour, and the dress appeared fitted and flared out at the bottom, with a small trail -- aswell as a sparkling diamond choker around her neck, matching drop earrings and a small rose on her wrist. Narcissa's lips were painted in a rich luxurious red, her face a stark contrast, looking like that of a porcelain doll, and her eyes were lined in black, flicking out at the corners. She looked like a beautiful Japanese Geisha girl, yet some how more gothic, too.
Noticing her niece's reflection behind her, Narcissa stopped what she was doing, and turned to the child.
"Amelia, you should be ready by now. Here, let me help you, we don't want to embarrass your uncle by looking nothing put perfect," said Narcissa.
Amelia nodded in agreement, as Narcissa reached into her wardrobe and took out another dress robe. This one was breath taking, it was made up of silk, lace panels, and was the most beautiful, and elegant thing Amelia had ever seen. The light in the room played off the deep colours of the sapphire and gold in the material. The younger woman let out a small gasp; sure that something so magnificent was not intended for her. Narcissa simply smiled and handed the robes to Amelia.
She quickly changed into it and was, even with out make-up and jewelry, amazed at her reflection. Narcissa then steered Amelia into the seat in front of the dressing table, and began to attend to her hair. With a few quick wand movements, Amelia's hair was transformed into a short wavy bob, similar to the style women wore in the 1920's.
After another quick wave of Narcissa's wand, Amelia's face was beautifully made up too; with pale skin, crimson lips and dark eye shadow.
Amelia's transformation, from childish schoolgirl to a stunning woman, was completed with the addition of a pearl necklace, matching earrings, and a corsage of Canterbury bells on her wrist.
"Amelia, you look perfect. I will be very surprised if we don't find you a suitor tonight," said Narcissa.
"Thank you, Aunt Cissy."
"Now remember, tonight's party isn't just about you. With the Ministry of Magic making wild accusations about Voldemort, your uncle will want to use this as an opportunity to show everyone that old pure-blood families are still highly regarded. Hopefully, after tonight everyone will be speaking the Malfoy name, and people will know we are a family to be admired and respected."
Amelia was taken aback by her aunt's mention of Voldemort, as it was a name The Daily Prophet no longer used. For many months, there had been reports of a dark wizard killing Muggles and Muggle-borns in his attempt to gain power.
Lucius had informed Amelia that none of this was true, and that The Daily Prophet disliked Voldemort because he went against some of their newer Muggle-abiding views.
Personally, Amelia found all of this a little strange. She was against murder, but felt that mixing with Muggles and Muggle-borns could be dangerous to old pure-blood traditions.
Part of Amelia also saw herself as better than Muggles and Muggle-borns and she did not want her world contaminated by lessers. It was actually typical of the Ministry of Magic and The Daily Prophet to come out with these new-age ideals, and Amelia remembered reading an article during her childhood stating that the Ministry of Magic wanted to outlaw house-elf servitude.
Amelia found nothing wrong with the idea that people with more money and power wanted the highest positions in life. It was their privilege for keeping their blood pure and something Amelia wanted for herself, if she was honest.
Amelia was shaken out of her thoughts about Voldemort and Muggles by Dobby's voice, ringing up the stairs.
"Mistress Malfoy! The guests is hear ma'am. You needs to be coming down to greet them."
"Right, remember what I said Amelia. Tonight isn't just about you, and I don't want you showing up the family name under any circumstances, understand?" reiterated Narcissa, before she swept out of the room and went to meet the guests.
Amelia's stomach turned, they were here, the party was about to begin. Gathering as much courage as she could muster, Amelia shakily left her aunt's room and made her way to the party.
As she approached the top of the stairs, Amelia heard the house fill with the sound of music and friendly chatter. Feeling that if she did not go downstairs now, she never would, Amelia descended the regal staircase of Malfoy Manor, that lead into the dining room, where most of the guests were situated.
Halfway down the steps, Amelia stopped to scan the room that was now full of people in beautiful dress robes, all merrily chatting away. Over in the corner, she spotted Bellatrix and her husband, locked in conversation with an unknown male. Narcissa was gliding from person to person, giving each a warm hello and air-kisses. Towards the far end of the room, Amelia saw the man she knew as Severus Snape. He had been two years above her in Slytherin and not very popular. Nothing seemed to have had changed, as he stood now silently alone.
Then she spotted him, there in the centre of the room, Regulus Black, in deep conversation with her uncle Lucius. Seeing the raven-haired man there, in flattering dark forest coloured dress robes; Amelia lost her nerve and retreated upstairs. Her heart was pounding heavily and she had begun to sweat. To steady herself, Amelia took a seat on the small bench outside the main bathroom, her head spinning at the mere sight of the object of her affection.
What Amelia did not see when she retreated was Lucius pulling Regulus to one side. The older man whispered something threateningly in the younger's ear. Regulus looked shocked by Lucius' suggestion, and was about to back away when Bellatrix and Narcissa descended on the pair. Seemingly unable to protest against two of his cousins and Lucius, Regulus lost his resolve and agreed to whatever it was Lucius had asked him to do.
Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and startled Amelia from her daydream. Standing there in the doorway was Barty Crouch Jr. Amelia knew him from school as he was in her year and hugely popular. The straw-colour haired boy had no ends of female admirers, and was constantly surrounded by many students.
Spotting Amelia alone, Crouch made his way over, and sat himself down very close to her, his body mere inches away from her own.
"Hello Millie, why haven't you changed over the summer. They say ugly ducklings turn into beautiful swans but you're something else," he sneered.
"They also say that boys mature as they get older, obviously not with you," Amelia bit back.
"Now Millie, such talk is unbecoming in a lovely woman," Crouch replied, edging closer to Amelia.
Amelia shifted nervously in her seat, uncomfortable with Crouch's closeness. Usually, at school, Crouch was nothing but cruel to Amelia, so this new attitude of his was quite creepy and alarming.
Trying to back away a little, Amelia found her back already pushed against the arm of the bench as far as it could go. Not taking the hint, Crouch moved closer still, placing a hand on Amelia's bare knee. Daunted by the sudden physical contact Amelia shuddered. Couch's lips formed into a vile smirk on his face and he raised his hand to Amelia's cheek and brushed away a stray strand of hair. Amelia's heartbeat harder then it had when she had just seen Regulus in the dining room.
Her head swam with fear as to what Crouch would do next. Was his interest in her genuine or just some sick joke he would brag about to his school friends come September. If they were genuine, what would he do next? They were completely alone upstairs, and the other guests were probably too busy having a good time to come and look for them. Still Crouch moved closer, his face less than an inch from Amelia's, so that she could feel his hot breath on her skin. She felt as though she might pass out from fear.
"Back off Crouch! Can't you see the lady isn't interested!" came a voice, so low it was almost a bark.
The sudden appearance of another made Crouch jump to his feet, and Amelia now saw Regulus Black, his wand raised to Crouch's throat.
"I said back off," Regulus barked.
Crouch did not even need to see the murderous look on Regulus' face to know he was in danger, and scuttled away. Amelia was still breathing heavily from shock, a fact that was not eased by Regulus sitting next to her. His deep grey eyes were full of concern, as he turned to address her.
"Are you alright? Amelia isn't it?"
Amelia nodded and blushed at the fact he knew her name.
"No really, that creep really scared me," Amelia confessed.
"What was he doing to you?"
"I have no idea. I was waiting to use the bathroom, and the next thing I knew there was Crouch leering all over me. I was so scared he was going to hurt me."
"That guy's a git! I remember him from school, always bothering innocent people. However, to pick on a defenceless woman, for no reason, is unspeakable. You'd think his father would have taught him better manors, being a Ministry official and all," commented Regulus.
"I guess, but he's always been the same with me; teasing me and playing nasty jokes on me. Tonight was different though, he wasn't just taunting me and it really frightened me," said Amelia.
"I bet it did, and it's the last thing you need when your family are holding a huge party."
"Tell me about it. I haven't even been downstairs yet either."
"Well come on then. You can't miss the party, I hear ol' Sluggy is already making a fool of himself," laughed Regulus, grabbing Amelia's hand and leading her towards the stairs.
Amelia turned crimson at the contact, but followed Regulus all the same. They arrived at the bottom of the stairs -- still hand in hand -- to be greeted by the Hogwarts' potions master Horace Slughorn.
"Miss Malfoy, Mr Black, where have you two being going hiding upstairs alone?" asked Slughorn suggestively.
"Do you really think a lovely woman like Amelia would be cavorting with a stranger alone upstairs," retorted Regulus.
Out of the corner of his eye -- but unseen by anyone else -- Regulus saw Lucius give him an approving nod.
"Well, never-the-less, you make a charming couple," boomed Slughorn loftily, before making his way over to the Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnold.
Seeing the pair were alone, Narcissa swept over, looking like the cat that got the cream.
"Oh, how lovely, my niece and my cousin together. I knew once you had the chance to get to know each other better, that you'd get along perfectly," Narcissa said.
Both Amelia and Regulus blushed, before breaking apart. Regulus took one last look at Amelia, then giving her a warm smile he walked over to Snape.
Amelia suddenly felt awkward, having just been holding hands with the man of her dreams, and wanted nothing more than to run back to her bedroom.
Narcissa, however had other ideas, and steered Amelia in the direction of Bellatrix and Rodolphus. The four of them stood making polite small talk, as the party carried on in full swing. For about an hour, various males approached Amelia for her attention.
Rabastan came over first, egged on by his older brother. The pair chatted happily, and although Amelia got along well enough with the charming Lestrange brother, there was no real spark between the two.
Wistar Parkinson came next, escorted by his mother who looked like a pug. Wistar was less charming than Rabastan and talked mostly about himself, giving Amelia the impression he was quite arrogant.
The rather large Befle introduced her son Calvin Crabbe - who was already balding at just twenty-three. Amelia rushed to escape Calvin, because if she was honest, he was quite boring.
Finally, at might-night, after been paraded in front of Bertram Aubrey, Stefan Bulstrode and even Severus Snape, who showed no interest in her, Amelia escaped her aunt's clutches.
She quickly spotted Regulus, looking forlorn, standing at the buffet table. Not wanting to waste a chance to speak to him, Amelia rushed over.
"Hi, I just wanted to thank you again for rescuing me from Crouch earlier," she said.
Regulus raised his head to see who had spoken, and immediately his eyes shone when he saw it was Amelia.
"No need to thank me. What that jerk was doing to you was unfair. It looked as though you could have done with my help again though, you seemed pretty popular this evening," Regulus said, nodding in the direction of Stefan Bulstrode and Calvin Crabbe, who were goggling Amelia.
Amelia blushed and let out a small giggle, "Tell me about it, you have Malfoy as a last name and suddenly everyone wants your attention."
"They have a point though; you're a very attractive young woman."
The pair both turned the shade of a tomato.
Amelia spent the remainder of the night chatting to Regulus, about how being raised in a pure-blooded family can sometimes be a burden.
"All my old Hogwarts professors expected such high standards from me, because my surname is Black and I'm the younger brother of the loveable Sirius," commented Regulus.
"Yeah, and you have the charming beautiful Narcissa and Bellatrix as cousins. I find it hard sometimes comparing to Narcissa, so I can imagine how you feel," added Amelia.
"And not forgetting the lord of the manor, Lucius Malfoy, being his niece must be a high expectation to keep up with."
"Oh yes, I'm just glad they haven't got children of their own yet. I dread to think what people will say when Narcissa has a child."
"I can just hear them now, 'but you know that Amelia isn't their own child, she's nothing compared to junior'," laughed Regulus.
Amelia rolled her eyes, "I can just picture it now, the heir to the Malfoy name, what a spoiled little brat they'll be. The poor child had just better hope it's a boy. I can picture Lucius' distain discovering my mother gave birth to a girl."
"At least he has someone to marry off, I bet the dowery for you is a small fortune," joked Regulus.
Amelia burst out laughing, "I wouldn't be surprised if the invitations for tonight said, 'come see my second-rate niece, she may not be much to look at, but we'll pay you well to take her off our hands'."
Regulus let out a booming bark of a laugh, which was so loud that many of the guests turned to see what was so funny.
Feeling content that they had ripped their families apart enough, Amelia and Regulus remained silent, happy just to pick at the little remaining food and shoot puppy-eyed glances at each other.
The majestic grandfather clock struck one in the morning, and realising the lateness of the hour, guests started to pull out their travelling cloaks and bid their host and hostess farewell.
Many of the young males, and a few females, even ones that were in their forties, gave Regulus and Amelia jealous looks as they departed. Obviously, they objected to the pair spending so much time together.
Finally, all the guests had departed apart from the Lestranges and Regulus. Realising the party was over, Amelia and Regulus made their way to the front door.
"I had a really nice time with you tonight Amelia, we should get together again," said Regulus.
"I'd like that, and you never know when Crouch may be hiding around the corner, I might need the protection."
Both laughed, and the earlier incident with Crouch was now becoming a bit of an in-joke with the pair.
"Seriously though, I'd love to see you again," continued Regulus, his voice now a soft whisper.
"Me too, and I'm sure our families would more than approve. Honestly, not seeing each other again would probably be defying some age-old pure-blood tradition."
"I'll send you an owl soon arranging a day," he whispered into her ear, before placing a tender kiss on her forehead.
"I'll be waiting," Amelia whispered back.
"Good night and sweet dreams."
"You too Regulus."
Regulus then made his way out of the house, the Lestranges and Lucius following.
Amelia fell back into a chair, sighing. Despite Crouch, and the constant parading in front of every eligible male, tonight had been perfect.
Regulus was handsome, charming and so sweet and warm. Amelia could hardly believe her luck and was already eagerly awaiting the promised owl from him.
Outside, the Lestranges had disparated, leaving Regulus and Lucius alone.
"So, how is our plan coming along?" questioned Lucius.
Regulus looked uneasy, before giving his reply, "It seems to be going well. I charmed your niece and have arranged to owl her, making another date."
Lucius' lips formed a satisfied smirk, "You've done well Regulus."
Regulus did not reply to Lucius' compliment, but rather took it as more of an insult. Despite only chatting with Amelia, Regulus did not feel too proud of his actions tonight.
Back inside the manor, Narcissa was quizzing Amelia for details.
"I saw you chatting away with Regulus; you seem to be getting on well."
Amelia let out a dreamy sigh and replied, "Oh Aunt Cissy, he's perfect. He even saved me from Crouch, who was being rather awful."
Narcissa took no notice of Amelia's complaints about Crouch, and continued to press her niece for information.
"So, are you seeing each other again? If you want any chance of being married before you turn twenty you need to act fast."
Amelia lost herself at the mention of marriage, and began daydreaming of herself as a bride, walking up the aisle to meet her groom, Regulus.
Amelia Oriole Black, Amelia Oriole Malfoy-Black, Millie Black. Amelia thought to herself as she pictured her dream wedding.
"Amelia? Are you even listening to me?" questioned Narcissa.
"Um, sorry Aunt Cissy. What did you say?" said Amelia, waking from her marital fantasy.
"Oh it doesn't matter. You should be getting to bed really."
"Yeas, it is pretty late. Good night Aunt Cissy, sleep well."
"You too Millie."
Amelia made her way to her bedroom, thinking of nothing but Regulus. That night her dreams were filled with blissful visions of the two of them together, and Amelia never wanted to awake from this blissful feeling.