Chapter 34: Fancy Footwork

Disclaimer: As you are all aware, I'm afraid I own nothing. I just play on the playground.

All of this was a mistake.

It was the only thought that was going through her mind at the moment, and from the glance at Harry, she could tell he felt the same way.

About to enter the serpents' lair. surrounded by the high society and nobility of the Magical World. The guest list was long and somehow, she had warranted an introduction at the end of the list, after the room was full. Albeit she knew it was not for her specifically and more for the fact that she was here with the Boy Who Lived but the thought that she was going to be announced to a full room. "Are you ready for this?" She asked Harry who looked nervously at her.

"Not in the slightest." He responded in a deadpan tone as the door opened, their names announced to the group. A momentary pause and they entered the Hall, decorated in tastefully in a series of extravagant decorations. She smiled slightly to herself as she thought about the decorations. Not many people would combine tasteful and extravagant but the grandiose nature of the Hall itself was balanced with the decorations. Looking around the room as she entered, quickly attempting to detect any escape routes if someone decided to try something, as unlikely as it was, she would be able to grab Harry and get out.

There were three other entrances into the room, one on each side and the one that they had entered, she could see a couple of people milling about near them and part of her wondered if they were Auror's but then she dismissed that idea, the Malfoy's wouldn't have Aurors set up, it would unsettle the Darker families too much. Another thought, that it might have been some of the Werewolf employees that they had started to hire but just as quickly that thought too was pushed to one side, it was still too soon for them to involve them, tensions on the new policy were still at an all-time high.

Whoever they were, they were in the way of a potential escape route.

She continued her observation of the room, over by the buffet table she saw Lucius talking to a man, dressed in formal robes with a lime green Bowler Hat that clashed heavily with it, Narcissa was at the other end, talking to a woman in a blue dress and blonde shoulder length hair. Narcissa glanced at her and gave a slight nod of her head, the woman she was talking to looked over and a flicker of a frown crossed her features. Did she say something to anger her? As far as she was aware, she had never seen the woman before.

A glance at Harry saw that Draco was moving forwards to greet him and lead him away, leaving Elizabeth to fend for herself. She smiled slightly, knowing that Draco would not do anything to harm him. Continuing her observation of the room she saw Lucius take his leave from the man walking towards her, and he nodded his head in greeting as he reached her. "Miss DeWitt. I'm glad you could attend this evening." He greeted politely and she smiled back at him.

"Happy to attend, thankfully nothing stopped me like last year." She said with a quick glance towards Harry.

"Yes, my wife was upset when she heard what happened to him and was relieved to hear about his recovery." He said as Narcissa joined them.

"Elizabeth, how lovely to see you." She said greeting her politely as she looked over the room and saw Harry talking to Draco. "I see Draco is doing what I asked him to." She said with a small smile.

"Protect him from the politics?" Elizabeth questioned and got a nod in response. "It's not him I'm worried about," she said drawing a small chuckle from both Malfoys. "If they try to convince him I hope they have evidence. He knows to ask questions before making any decision." She said with a small smirk.

"He will still need to be careful, just because you know to ask doesn't mean you know what to ask." Narcissa said as she led Elizabeth to the Buffet table, a waiter walking over with a tray of drinks, holding it out to the two of them. "thank you." she said politely, taking two and passing one to Elizabeth. "There are many here who would like nothing more than to trap the Boy Who Lived into something with a few coy words that he misses. Draco has been raised on this kind of lifestyle, he understands the subtlety that others either overlook or believe that their blunter approach can hammer through."

"Not to mention potential magical threats." Elizabeth added quietly though Narcissa chuckled at the comment.

"I'd almost think you're calling our ability to protect him into question." She said the tone was light but the hint of warning in her voice was evident.

Quick to recover from the social faux pas she smiled sheepishly at Narcissa. "Sorry, I guess I spoke without thinking." She admitted. and Narcissa waved it off. "So, tell me who we have here? who's the man in the hat talking to Lucius as if his life demanded it?" She asked as she looked over at the man in the Lime Green Bowler hat.

"That would be the Minister, Cornelius Fudge." She explained in amusement at Elizabeth's description. "The man was elected after the end of the previous conflict." she paused to take a drink, "a good man but too easy to sway. one way or the other." She added as a slight warning, "he cares about his position, he does want to do good, but his position is everything to him. Lucius, being one with the connections is obviously someone he has gravitated towards." Narcissa explained and Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully.

'Bribes, with Lucius being the biggest donator.' She thought in amusement as she looked towards the person who had glared at her earlier. "On to another person, who is she?" Elizabeth asked with a subtle gesture to the blonde woman that was currently talking to a woman who could only be described as toad faced. Narcissa looked over at who she was referring to.

"Which one?" She asked, not able to tell with the subtle gesture.

"Both actually, the one on the right doesn't look like she'd normally be in these social circles and the one on the left gave me a look that seemed to hold a lot of hatred."

"The one on the right... Delores Umbridge, she's new in the ministry but already making her name known. she's almost fanatically loyal to the Minister and as I didn't see the Ministers wife here tonight, I am assuming she is here as his guest." She explained a frown on her features. "Currently the loudest voice against the werewolf rights that Lucius has been pushing through the Wizengamot, not a powerful voice but one to watch. The few who didn't side with Lucius have rallied to her voice and if careful steps aren't taken there could be a shift in power." She paused a moment to let the information sink in, "the other woman is Aloria Greengrass. The mother of one of the students you help teach. You will have to forgive the glare; she is not a people person. She attends these gatherings because it is expected of her, not because she wants to. She and her husband are what many would call neutral. They sided with neither and offered aid to neither with enough respect and strength behind their family name that they were left alone. The family single handily supplies enough potion ingredients for the UK."

And the conversation between the two continued, taking time to introduce the various wheelers and dealers that were at the party, there were many names and many faces and Elizabeth found herself struggling to remember each one. On the other side of the room, Harry was having a bit of an easier of a time with the group of students that had been brought along to the night, currently stood with Draco and Susan Bones he looked over the rest of the room.

"How long do these things normally last?" He asked and Susan smiled, nudging him slightly.

"The Boy who Lived wanting to flee the social gathering? And now we know why you weren't sorted into Gryffindor." She teased and Harry frowned at her.

"I'm still impressed they're keeping away from me at the moment." He said with a slight gesture to the adults that kept looking in his direction. "The first major public appearance of the Boy Who Lived, you'd think they'd be a bit more excited." He said with suspicion as Draco started chuckling.

"It's because of where they are, you're a guest, they're not going to push their luck at the moment. Oh, I'm sure some of them will come up and try and win your favour at some point, it's to be expected." Draco commented with an offhand wave. "Ignore them, relax and have fun. Besides, you have only just arrived, we've still got a while to go yet."

"Your Aunt doesn't look very happy to be here either." Harry said to Susan and the trio looked over at Amelia Bones, stood talking to someone that looked a lot like Marcus Flint the frown on her face was evident.

"She's another who's here by necessity rather than want." Susan said quietly, throwing a quick glance at Draco who shrugged already expecting it. "No offence, your family and mine hasn't exactly gotten along in recent years." Susan said drawing another chuckle from Draco.

"Understatement." Draco added.

"though that tension has dropped a little bit, the change in attitude your parents have shown recently, it's caught a lot of people by surprise." Susan paused slightly "the new Werewolf labour laws, your dad meeting with my Aunt just before the year started." She stopped seeing the surprised look from Draco and one of curiosity from Harry. "I don't know what it was about," she quickly explained, "I just know it happened." She said in a way that indicated that they were not to continue the topic. "But it changed her attitude to them a little bit or she'd probably be at work still." The conversation drifted off into an awkward silence as the three watched the various adults mingling, a few moving towards the buffet table and others switching their conversation partners but all in all, for the three teens it was shaping up to be pretty dull at the moment.

HPCVHPCVHPCV

Dumbledore walked through the Halls to the First Floor girls bathroom, the castle was almost deserted, with the majority of students home after the panic due to the attack and the professors themselves occupied with last minute work before they could enjoy the holiday for the small break from the students, it also allowed him a bit more freedom to roam the castle.

When school was in session, it would draw too much attention, too many students were in awe of him for his actions in the past, the larger than life image that had been created due to his own actions and that of the media. He could wander through, but his very presence drew the attention of students, there was a lack of privacy for him to investigate to his full capabilities, everyone would be watching. Now with only the portraits that were magically enchanted to not be able to reveal his secrets as Headmaster he could investigate a bit more thoroughly than he would have otherwise been able. It also allowed him to think, many things had changed since the arrival of Elizabeth and many things with Harry had changed because of the actions they had taken. His disappearance into the alternate timeline at the start of the year had resulted in his death... in how he understood the way it worked.

His scar had faded, Dumbledore had noticed the change, for his scar to suddenly change after eleven years of remaining vivid and easy to identify, it meant there had to be some connection between it and what had happened besides being the residue of dark magic. He had theories, he had ideas that he had investigated beforehand, but there had never been any proof that was decisive enough. He stopped in front of the writing that had been scrawled on the wall. Enemies of the Heir Beware. He knew who the heir was, at least he knew fifty years ago, now it was an entirely different game with the same dangerous stakes.

Was this Riddle? or was this someone entirely different? was this even their Riddle? the possibilities that were now open were almost limitless though each that he thought were more and more unlikely. But when you have time, acting as the aloof and grandfatherly beacon of the light, it gave you a bit of time to think. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind, turning back towards the girl's bathroom. A mental image of the scene appearing in front of him. He drew his wand, muttering quietly to himself as a fog started to fall from the tip of it. It rolled across the floor and down part of the corridor, slowly taking shape, images appearing from the white translucent fog. It was a spell Aurors used at crime scenes, allowing them to project the image from their memory. It had fallen out of use due to the power requirements, already Dumbledore could feel it eating away at his own magic as he examined what he had seen on that night, even if he had not taken notice of it before, his eye had seen it even if his mind did not register it at the time.

Water pooled in the corridor, from the floor, seeping out from underneath the door to the bathroom. it had travelled far down the hall and Dumbledore assumed that someone or something had set Myrtle off. The complaint from Argus that she caused him work more than even some of the most troublesome students had been heard many a time at staff meetings. He followed the edge of the water, taking note for any disturbance, the fog allowing him to highlight little bits like footprints that would have almost dried but not entirely, disguised by the dim light of the torches and the darkness of the night of the attack. "Ah, there we are." He said with a small smile, kneeling by a half print, it was a plain shoe print, nothing that he could determine who it was but the size of it narrowed it down. "It belonged to a boy, from the size second, maybe third year." He mused. "It's coming away from the bathroom..." he looked towards the image of the paralysed body, the child had fallen from the position he had been paralysed, bent over looking into the water, they had found him, propped against the wall underneath the message. The position he had been found in made him look like he was sitting against the wall/ but the fog showed him that little bit more, traces of drying water around him. "He had been looking into the water when it happened." He muttered thoughtfully, bent over when whatever happened to him began." He paused, letting the spell vanish as he closed his eyes to think the scene through, a mental recreation of the night-time events playing in his mind. "Returning from the trap he had set," and Dumbledore knew that he had set the trap for Elizabeth, albeit with the help of other older students. There was no definitive evidence, but Dumbledore was not completely unobservant to the enmity that the younger Zabini held towards Elizabeth. "He was looking into the water when whatever happened, paralysed him. He fell over and this other person propped him against the wall." he stopped to think if that gave any indication as to who it was but with the access to magic it made it a simple task to move something that was heavier than them. Leaving him to think the situation over, he stepped towards the bathroom and knocked on the door briefly just in case a student was in there.

After several moments of silence, he opened the door walking in. "Myrtle? Are you here?" He asked, the teenaged ghost preferred to loiter here, the place of her death and he had to be honest, he had never thought to come back and talk to her. The conversation slipping from his mind with the arrest of Hagrid, though innocent it had still drawn away his attention. Ghosts did not instantly appear upon their demise. It took time for them to form and during that time, everyone did what they could to forget about it.

He should have pushed harder; he should have looked deeper.

There was silence from the bathroom as Dumbledore looked around, his thoughts dwelling on both the incident and Harry's attempt to find out what had caused it before the year had started. His death, as temporary as it was had been a clue even if it hadn't been admissible due to the nature of the situation, but now... combined with the paralysis of Zabini, it started to build a picture.

"Headmaster." The voice of Myrtle spoke as he examined the sinks in the centre of the room. He turned slowly and smiled at her.

"Myrtle, it has been quite a while since we last spoke." Dumbledore admitted and she nodded, hovering in front of him, still dressed in the school robes that she had been found in.

"Yes professor." She said meekly, her nervousness in life transferring with her into death. "I heard about the attack." She spoke, knowing that it was what brought him down to visit her.

"Yes, a puzzle indeed, one that I'm hoping that you can help me with."

"Me? but I was... one of the students had been mean to me and..." She trailed off, Dumbledore smiled kindly to her and waved it off.

"Children, they can be cruel in an effort to make themselves feel better at times. They learn as they grow older and hopefully wiser." He said and she giggled, "but it was not this attack that I wanted to ask you about, although if you have any information it would be helpful." He paused for a moment to think before going for the blunter approach, not his usual style but he had recently learnt that sometimes it was the best possible option. "I wanted to ask you about the day you died." He said and she looked startled for a moment before almost seeming excited about the possibility of telling her story.

HPCVHPCVHPCVHPCV

Music had started after the guests had time to get food and socialise, slowly couples made their way onto the dance floor, from the side-lines, Harry watched as various parents of the children he went to school with danced away. Glancing around the room he saw Narcissa and Lucius dancing in the centre, he watched them carefully, the two looking at each and the care they held for each other was evident, he had heard Draco mention that their marriage was a political marriage, but seeing them there together, he could see that even if feelings weren't there originally, they had grown to care for each other. Others he did not know were dancing around them, to one side he saw the man Draco had pointed out was the Minister stood talking to the ministry official he had brought with him. Madame Bones stood to one side talking to someone he did not recognise, and Draco was currently dancing near the edge of the floor with Pansy though the look on his face showed a careful mask in place. the smile that was on his face not quite warm enough to show true enjoyment.

"Dance with me." A voice cut into his thoughts, startling him slightly, the drink in the glass he was holding sloshing about as he jumped.

"What?" He asked in surprise as he looked at the Red Headed girl in front of him.

"Dance with me," she said again in amusement and Harry took a moment to take a sip from his drink.

"No," he said slowly, and she put her hands on her hips, tilting her head as she looked at him.

"Why not?" She asked and Harry felt a slight tinge in his cheeks.

"I can't dance." He said quietly and Susan smiled at him.

"I don't care, as long as you don't step on my feet too often." She teased as she took his hand. "Look, it's mainly slow songs, it's not too difficult on the steps and who knows, you might have some fun." She stopped as Harry finished his drink. "Please?" She asked as he placed the glass down onto the side table.

Hesitating for a moment he finally relented with a sigh. "Fine, lead on my lady." He said dramatically as he took her offered hand. She half lead and half dragged the reluctant wizard on to the dance floor. Off to one side, away from a few other people she stopped and turned around to face him. "Relax Harry, you're red enough to light the room." She said and a look passed over his face and she apologised quickly. "I'm joking, I'm joking." She said quietly as she started to move him into position. "Ignore them," she said as they started to move slowly, Harry paying attention to his feet as they danced. "If it makes it any easier, just think of it as the two of us, the entire room empty with just the music." She said as they slowly moved.

The two moved to the music, Harry stumbling a couple of times but quickly recovering, faintly he could hear a few comments from the side-lines, but each time Susan would say something to drag his attention back to her. It helped and at the end of the first song they stopped and smiled at each other. "That wasn't so bad now was it. You're a quick learner." She complimented him as the next song started.

"I have a great teacher," He responded drawing a light blush from the girl. "Where did you learn how to dance?" He asked as they moved.

"My Aunt hired an instructor, there's a lot of dancing at these parties, I had to learn like a lot of other old family members." Susan explained, "most stop after they learn the basics, but I enjoyed it, learnt many different dances." She stopped for a second before giving him a cheeky grin. "Also learnt some Muggle ones as well." She said drawing a slight laugh from Harry as the two started to talk about more mundane aspects of life.

HPCVHPCVHPCV

Dumbledore had returned to his office, the book that he had shown Elizabeth at the beginning of the year sat on his desk. he had sent an elf to summon each of the heads of Houses to his office. His talk with Myrtle had been enlightening. Her description of her death had been the final piece to a puzzle that he had been neglecting for fifty years.

There was a knock on the door, and he looked up. "Enter." He called out and the door opened the four professors entering the room. "Thank you for joining me, I apologise for the lateness of this call, but I believe I have at least part of the mystery behind the attack solved."

"You know who was behind it?" Professor Sprout asked him, and he shook his head

"Not entirely, though I have narrowed it down to a student, most likely male and in an early year." He said drawing surprised looks from the four.

"How did you work that out?" Sprout continued, concerned that one of the students were possibly behind these attacks, willing or unwillingly.

"I took a trip down memory lane, so to speak." He explained vaguely drawing eye rolls of exasperation at his evasiveness. "But while that part is still an unknown, I believe I have found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." This little bit brought their undivided attention and Dumbledore smiled, "Myrtle had been key to solving the riddle, although there is still much left to do. When she died, she had heard a voice while crying in the bathroom, a male voice, shortly after she heard hissing. Assuming it was someone trying to scare her, she opened the stall door to tell them to get out and she died."

"Just like that?" Snape asked getting a nod from Dumbledore, "no spell? no items, no bite or scratch for which a person could be poisoned... just hissing and then death." He said, his pale complexion paling more as he looked at the book that Dumbledore had on the desk. "A Basilisk." He whispered out and the other three Heads also paled as the words registered.

"But Mr Zabini didn't die." Flitwick added and Dumbledore nodded his head.

"Correct, it was a problem we had before, the evidence didn't match with the victims. How did they survive when seeing the gaze of the Basilisk results in death?" He asked like a teacher talking to students.

"Something must have weakened the snake."

"Or something weakened it's effects. direct eye contact means death, but what if the contact was from something else?" He asked and they puzzled it over for a second before they remembered the water. Upon mentioning it Dumbledore nodded his head. "Just like before, students were found petrified and there was always something there that caused a reflection, windows, mirrors, even some of the armour has been polished enough to create a small reflection in certain lights."

"But how? how unlucky do you have to be to have all your targets only see it through a reflection?" McGonagall asked suspiciously.

"Because he couldn't have the school close." Snape said after several moments, the conversation more focused on the previous attacks now than the current one.

"Correct, Riddle knew that if the school closed then he would have been sent back to the Muggle Orphanage, he would have been stuck away from the thing that he defined himself with. His life was not a happy one at the Orphanage, so he knew that he had to keep the situation at a manageable level. If anyone had died, then the Aurors would have been here immediately and the school would have been closed."

"So, he framed Hagrid for it." Flitwick added drawing another nod from Dumbledore. "And Zabini was only paralysed by the Basilisk because of the water from the flooding." Flitwick concluded as the five sat in an uneasy silence.

"What do we do now? Do we know where the entrance is? I assume if Myrtle's recollection was accurate then the entrance has to be in there" McGonagall asked and Dumbledore nodded his head drawing a snort of amusement from Snape.

"The Entrance to the Mythical Chamber of Secrets in a woman's bathroom?" He questioned in disbelief.

"The school has changed a lot in all the years it has been open, remodelling, rooms shifting as if by magic. Hogwarts has a way to hide her secrets and what secrets would be more important to it than the secrets of those who created it?"

"You speak as if the castle is fully sentient?"

"Not in a way we know, but you cannot argue that the school doesn't have some form of intelligence, a thousand years of magic, a thousand years of people, students, parents, teachers, ghosts... all of these leaving their imprint, their magic in the very foundations, in the wards, in the classrooms." Flitwick added seeing where Dumbledore was going with the comments. "It is understandable that there would be imprints left in the school, not true intelligence but enough of one left behind."

"It is a wonderful thing, magic." Dumbledore said wistfully. "In the bathroom I discovered a tap that didn't work, normally something so simple wouldn't be much to think about but it was what was on that tap that caught my eye." He said pausing almost for dramatic effect. "There was an engraving of a snake. It could mean nothing, or it could be the entrance that we are looking for. Magic detected something behind there, more than what should have been there for a sink installation."

"Of course, pipes! That's how it must have got around before." McGonagall said, surprising everyone. "The attacks happened before I came to Hogwarts, but it was still spoken about until my final year. With no one knowing what happened the rumour mill never slept with it. But with it being a snake and a giant one at that, getting around the school would be difficult if it didn't have some other way to get around, and if the entrance is in the bathroom, pipes seem to be the only thing it could be using to get around."

"And now we come to the challenging part. Getting into the chamber," Dumbledore continued and they all looked thoughtful trying to think of ways to open the doorway in. "I believe there is only going to be one option for us."

"No, you can't be thinking of doing that..." Flitwick questioned and Dumbledore nodded with a tired sigh.

"Mr Potter may be our only chance of getting in there."

"He's a child! We can't take him into a death trap like that."

HPCVHPCVHPCV

They took a break from dancing, both of them getting drinks as the most recent song ended. The atmosphere for it all had shifted quite dramatically after their first dance. the casual conversation about music both muggle and magical, the shift to talk about classes, they didn't have classes at the same time, the shifting of which houses were paired with changed around last year had continued into their second and although it had done a lot to ease tensions, Harry still found himself at conflict with some of the Slytherins but that was definitely more a personal thing rather than house rivalries.

Across the room, he saw Elizabeth also stepping off the dance floor, separating from the last person she had been dancing with and he frowned seeing it was Marcus Flint. The look on her face as she walked away was clear enough to him on how that dance had gone. A quick glance around saw that others had noticed her annoyance and Harry turned back to Susan and Draco who had left his most recent dance partner to join the two. The evening was starting to wind to a close, a few of the guests had already made their departure and a few had been escorted out by the security due to drinking a bit too much.

Surprisingly, even though Harry had danced with multiple adults, they had pretty much kept the topics to school as well, asking him what he thought of the school and the lessons and who his favourite professor was, there had been one instance where he had been asked about the current werewolf policy though it had been a polite, 'what did you think' and not an attempt to lead him, not that he had to worry about the person asking him, it had been Narcissa herself asking him. A test from her to see how he would answer the question when asked. after that Susan had stepped back in as the next song started and now, they were stood to one side again with Draco as they people watched.

"I was expecting to be asked more."

"Your initial dance with Susan deflected a lot of it." Draco commented, "a lot of them saw the unease at first and remembered that the books about you were written without any input from you and that you're still just a kid like us, but one who hasn't been raised in this world, they figured it was better to not grill you for political information that you don't know well enough."

"That and we ran interference." Susan added with a small smile, "That's why a few of them never ended up getting near you."

"Thank you," he said happily to Susan and Draco. "You've been life savers." He said drawing laughs from the two.

"We'll get you used to them before they start to cause a problem." Susan offered and Draco just watched in amusement. "But at least you had a better end of the evening than Elizabeth did." Susan said having seen what Harry had in regard to her leaving the dance floor.

Draco, who had his back to that direction at the time spun round almost as if someone had forcefully grabbed him and twisted him around to look at Elizabeth who was currently talking quietly to the father of the Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith in their year. the look on her face showing her frustration but not directed at the man as every now and again she would glance towards where Flint was standing an angry look on her face. Draco glanced towards his father, but he was gone. looking around the room he saw Narcissa talking to a few people who were departing, and he found himself unsure as to what was happening. "She can deal with it." Harry said, his mind flicking back to Rapture and how she dealt with the two Splicers. "Don't stress, she won't see it as something that you could have prevented." He did not add that if Flint did try anything too drastic, she probably would have dumped him in the Atlantic Ocean but that did not need to be said. "I think that we should be making our way back to Hogwarts now." Harry said as he glanced at the clock, it was getting late and the party was winding down, so it felt like the best time to escape. "I'll see you back in school." He said as he walked towards Elizabeth.

He arrived, politely waiting as the two finished talking and she turned to him, giving him an exhausted smile. "I guess you're ready to leave?" She asked and Harry nodded his head. "We'll go speak to Narcissa and then leave." The slight abruptness of her response told Harry that Flint had managed to get under her skin. The two gave their farewells to Mr Smith and then walked over to Narcissa. She looked up at the two as they arrived, a small, tired smile as they stopped in front of her. "We're going to be making our way back to Hogwarts now." Elizabeth said politely.

"I hope you two enjoyed your evening at least."

"I had a lot of fun." Harry said politely and Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement. They gave their farewells and left back into the room designated for apparition and Floo. But they were not going to be leaving like that. "Want me to open the door?" Harry asked and a small nod from Elizabeth and the tear was opened allowing them to re-enter into her quarters. Harry immediately dropping onto the sofa with a tired sigh. "That was exhausting."

"You had fun though." Elizabeth said as she sat in the chair, reaching down and pulling her shoes off. "These hurt after a while." She commented as she put them to the side.

"Do you want to talk about that last dance?" Harry asked drawing a surprised look from Elizabeth. "With Flint, you didn't look very happy."

"Ugh, don't remind me of it..." She said shuddering, "he's lucky it was still pretty crowded." She said in anger, "otherwise he'd be cooling off in the North Pole." She muttered in disgust drawing a laugh from Harry.

"Okay, I thought Atlantic Ocean but close enough." Harry admitted and Elizabeth smiled at him.

"Either way, he's going to have to get the little gift I left him checked out by someone with healing experience." She stopped to look at her nails. "Well, that's annoying." She muttered as she saw one had chipped, "still, we can only hope he learns his lesson."

HPCVHPCVHPCV

Lucius had departed the Ball earlier; a guard having approached him informing him that a visitor had arrived to speak to him and was waiting for him in his study. He was angry, the one night that business like this was not supposed to be interrupting him and something happened. He pushed open the door, hand already resting on his cane ready to draw his wand and teach whoever it was a lesson about interrupting his plans but stopped as a voice spoke up.

"Hello Lucius."

TBC

Well… that chapter was a pain to write. I had ideas in my head and they just would never come to the forefront as I tried to write it down. But it's done and already I have started on the next chapter. I was going to delay uploading the chapter a few days but you know what, today is my birthday. I figured I'd get a gift for you guys and girls who have waited patiently for an update and those who still leave favourites and reviews even after these long pauses between updates.