8: A Slytherin Engagement

If there was something you could recognise easily it was when Diantha was not amused, and it was one of those days. She had believed that she could go with any dress she would choose but Newt´s mother who chose her son´s suit, would also choose Diantha´s dress, and she had thought that this dress would fit her well. Her dress was long, almost a mermaid cut dress, in the color baby pink. A white lace from the waist until the bottom of the dress, seperating the left from the right. A pink corset and on top of it pink and golden lace, covered with red and green gems. And to put the cherry on the cake a golden lace covering the pink lace.

Netwon´s mother had curled her hair and placed a pink ribbon in her hair, she was ready to become the talk of the party. "Everyone will be talking about your dress at the end of the evening!" – "Not positively for sure" she complained, letting her relative finishing on her hair. The door suddenly opened and it was Newt, for a minute even Diantha dropped her jaw to see her cousin. He worse a black blazer until the end of his hips, under it a grey vest and white blouse with some matching black trousers. "Someone looks nice" she complimented him."So do you cousin" – "Have you actually looked at me?" – "We are our best critics, that is why you will never like what you are wearing, now off you go!" his mother pushed her away.

Still pouting she apparated with her cousin to the garden where this party would be held. They could hear a lot of people laughing and talking, but neither of them dared to go in without Thalia. She would know how to rub off the Slytherin´s off them. "What are you two doing here?" they heard a familiar voice. Thalia had a beautiful ponytail falling down ver her shoulders. Wearing a sleeved pink corset, with silver lace around her chest, as for the dress it fell in a beautiful ball dress. "Are you the one engaged with Orion?!" Diantha yelled suprised by her friend´s dress. "No, apparently, my mother knew about this engagement party, and yesterday at night she send me this, you like it?" Diantha nodded. "Come on! We were waiting for you!" she pulled at her friend´s arm.

Newt quickly followed them, not able to speak to them or anyone in that room though. "You will tell me who I should not speak, will you not?" – "Nobody here is your enemy, will you calm down?" Thalia tried to push her away from her arm when she suddenly realized that Diantha was wearing pink. Diantha rarely weared pink. "This was not your choice of dress, wasn´t it?" – "You know me better than that, my cousin´s mother, thought that this was the finest of dress of now" – "She clearly needs a checkup" Thalia whispered ironically before she left them to speak to some pure blooded families.

"Well she left us Newt" Diantha said ironically, but to her suprised she was left to be talking on her own. "Why is everyone leaving me, now if Orion appears I have to talk with him" – "Is that not the purpose of this party? To celebrate his engagement?" a man approached Diantha, a much older and taller man. He had black hair, but she could see some grey hairs shining through. He had dark eyes and he seemed of a very high class. "Hello sir, I am not talking to myself, I swear it" she tried not to sound too insane. This man seemed to good looking to be judging her 2 minutes after they had exchanged some words.

"Ehm.. Clearly but- Well, there are things" – "Things?" he asked confused. Even Diantha was confused, of everything she could have used, she decided to use the word things, she could slap herself. "Issues, I meant to say" – "I see, I did not catch your name" – "I did not tell you sir" – "That hurt, I am not that old, please call me Graves, Percival Graves" she smiled. "Of course, my name is Diantha Blakesley" – "Of the family from Scamander" she quickly nodded. "You are aware of my cousins?" – "I do, but I am more interested in you, tell me what does a young girl like you does here by herself" – "I was not by myself I was complaining to my cousin and my friend how unhappy I am about this and they poof dissapeared" – "Unhappy about what if I may ask?" by now he had offered her something to drink. "Everything, My cousin´s mother is great at raising hippogryffs but terrible in fashion. This dress is absolutly horrible, where did she even find this thing?!" – "True, but you make it look good" he flirted, hoping she would leave the dress to rest" – "It is still ugly as hell, I could be looking much better" she teased back.

Thalia suddenly pulled on Newt´s sleeve. "Hey you, with who is your cousin?" she asked worried. "Uh where?" he asked, not exchanging eye contact with his friend. "I do not know, should we be worried?" – "I guess not, he must have been invited though, security is thight here." He nodded, not moving away. "Newt, what in Merlin´s beard is wrong with you? You are acting strange" – "I don´t do well on social gatherings like this..." – "That is nonsence, come on, dance with me" she pulled him but he strongly dissaproved. "I rather not" – "Newt, come on, I rarely wear a dress like this!" – "that is the whole problem" he whispered defeated, being pulled by Thalia.

"You are an Auror?" Thalia asked suprised. "Not yet, but I intend to be, the ministery opens doors for those who do not know what to do with this magic we are given" – "What do you mean?" – "We all go to Hogwards, ain´t I correct? In what year are you?" – "My third year" Graves was suprised he had suspected her to be older, now he understood the strange glares he was being given, but she did not seem to pull away from it. "After Hogwards what do you intend to do?" – "Not sure, maybe travelling around the world, meeting new creatures, helping those in need?" – "You do not have a clear path do you?" she shook her head, she was young either way.

He smiled as he pulled something from his wallet. "I am from across the sea, in case you haven´t notice" – "Oh that is the strange accent, you are American" he smiled. "indeed, I live in New York. When you graduate and travel around the world, as you say you intend to do, please come and see me at the Ministery of Magic" he gave her a card, it was a business card, with his picture, she would surely do so. "What is a Auror of the United States of America, doing here on a engagement party from Orion Malfoy?" she asked curiously. "I am a friend of Orion´s father, I was around and got convinced into this" – "Seems pretty much the same what I did to Thalia" she whispered annoyed on her own actions.

"We can complain, but we could take advantage of this party they set up, care to dance Miss Blakesley" – "Even though I look horrid, i cannot possible say no to that" she accepted his invitation, and got slightly suprised when she saw Newt and Thalia to be doing the same.

Newt was quickly to give up, he honestly was not good in receiving so many stares and eventually dragged Thalia away from the people while they stole some food from a table with no people. "You are acting very strange" Thalia sat down, pulling some graves into her mouth. Investigating Newt who seemed unconfortable since the beginning. "I know these parties are not really your thing, but try to enjoy them Newt, when you get older you will have to go to many of them" – "I am older than you, yet you get to lecture me?" he teased. That was the Newt she was missing on this party.

"Diantha seemed to be interested in that young man" Diantha suddenly realized. "Is she? He seems just to be nice to her, he must be much older than her" – "I suppose" Thalia agreed. It was strange that Newt suspected Vincent for everything he did and said to Diantha, but this unknown man was everything alright. "Ehm Thalia?" – "Catch" she answered. He widened his eyes as she threw a grape at him and he quickly got it with his teeth. "Fast reaction" she praised. "Seriously, we are at an engagement party, behave, you are not like your usual self" – "That is because mostly we are never alone, we are always surounded by someone" she said softly. "Is that bad?" – "No, I enjoy being with you Newt, I wished you would relax a little, you feel so tense"

Newt sighed, it was the whole situation. His cousin was with a unkown much older man, he was surouned by Slytherin and other house, and Thalia seemed lovely trying to calm him down and it seemed he was only making everything worse. "You look lovely you know, the dress fits you well" – "Really?" she asked unsure, he could just say something to make conversation. "Y-yes, you do." She smiled at him. "That is sweet, however how can you let your cousin walk like that" – "I don´t have anything to do with it..." he defended himself.

"Thank you for the other day" Thalia thanked. She never truly thanked him in private, in the end she was aware of her uncle´s magic, it could have ended much worse than that, for all of them. "I could not possible let him take you, Diantha would never forgive me" – "Is that so?" – "Well... Neither would I... I appologize for intruding though. Your family matters are yours only." – "They are mine only if I want them to be mine only" – "What do you mean?" – "Nothing, everyone have their own issues to deal with, ain´t that right?" – "O-Ofcourse, but if you ever need-" – "Look who we have here!"

Sadly their conversation was interrupted by their friend from Gryffindor. "Oh you found food" Vincent ate some of the fruit that they had found. "Vincent, Mirian, you are here" – "Some while, we found Diantha talking with some mysterious man, but you two dissapeared." Mirian joined them. "Dissapeared, I was worried Newt had taken-" – Enough about that" Thalia stopped her friend from talking before he would say anything that would embarass Newt more than he already was.

"Have any of you seen Orion though? I thought he would be with Diantha" – "Why?" Newt asked suprised. "Because I honestly thought those two would eventually hook up" Mirian said with no remorses. "Excuse me?" Newt asked worried, looking as for him the only sane person at the table. "Don´t look at me, this is the first time I hear this too" – "Oh come one, they are both from your house, you are telling me they never got involved?" – "Do I look like I undestand her love life? No, they have not from what I know, but please go and ask her" Thalia invited.

Newt was about to stand up up but Thalia stopped him. "Not you" – "But" but she shook her head. She could imagine Diantha´s wrath, if Newt walked up to her and asked her straight if this was true, she might never hear the end of it again. "That is Orion´s father" Mirian pointed to a tall man, he had long blond hair, and his son looked very much like him. "Oh a typical Malfoy, I can hear his voice from this distance" Thalia complained. "It seems like all Malfoys are the same" Vincent added. "Completly, Newton is lucky he doesn´t need to deal with them" Thalia teased him. But there was not much reaction from Newt, he must be in though with something.

"Well it was a pleasure Mr. Graves" Diantha, thanked the man from a joyful evening. "You are welcome Miss. If it was not for you, I might have a judgefull evening" – "Judgeful?" – "I would have kept standing against that wall, with a drink in my left hand and a cigaret in my right. Judging everyone that would pass me, if they were halfblood, or full blood. And what kind of relationship they could possible have with the Malfoys" Diantha was capture by the interests of this man, he was unlike anyone here. "We should definitly meet each other when I am not dressed like this" Diantha remembered of not judging her by her dress. "It was a pleasure Miss Blakesley, but I have some issues to be on tomorrow early in the morning. It was nice to meet you" he kissed her hand as he bid her goodbye. "Well this dress might have give me some luck, but it is still ughly as everything" she told herself.