I know, I know; I'm the worst Fanfiction author on the planet! I'm sorry this chapter took only an eternity to write, loves. Hope you're all still out there. Also, this chapter is incredibly, horribly, riddiculously short compared to my usual ones. I feel so bad...But rest assured, the next one is on the way!
Disclaimer: Bah! I'm too tired right now to write one. I think you guys get the point by now.
Three o'clock on the following afternoon found Levina staring hopelessly in the mirror, critically fixing her appearance. She'd woken up with horrible red bed hair, which refused to fall in the right way, even after three uses of "Witch's Dream Cream." She'd adorned herself in a nice, pale pink dress, one that Destiny had insisted over and over again that she wear. She didn't like the dress much, as she had an aversion to the many frills lining it, but she was going to be invisible during most of the wedding, so what did it matter anyway?
"Oh, stop fussing," said Destiny. "You look fine."
This, of course, was easy for her to say; Destiny's silky black hair fell in pretty, perfect curls down her shoulders, and her flawless figure was outlined by a soapy blue dress the exact color of her icy eyes.
Damn Siren genes, thought Levina as she attempted to use her wand to neaten up her hair.
"Aren't you excited?" Destiny continued, eyeing Levina as though she had done something to offend her. "This is your first wedding, isn't it?"
"It is," Levina confirmed, still tugging at a loose strand of hair. "But why are you so giddy? I thought you said you already went to one before?"
Destiny rolled her eyes and gave a little huff. "Yes, but that was my cousin Josephine's wedding. Terribly boring. Now, granted it was very sweet, but it dragged on for hours and hours, and Eric wasn't there with me, so it was just my dad and me."
"Sorry to hear it," said Levina in feigned-pity; Uncle Nicholas had already told her the entire wedding story, of how gorgeous the place was, how amazing the food was…But then again, when you're rich like Destiny, you tend to not appreciate things as much.
"Come on, Levina!" Destiny groaned, tugging at her arm. "Harry, Ron, and our boys are greeting the guests right now. Don't you want to go say hi to them?"
"In this state? No."
"Levina…"
"Oh, all right, all right…"
Levina followed Destiny back downstairs, toward the entrance, where the crowd of witches and wizards were filing in. A host of white-robed waiters had arrived an hour earlier, along with a golden jacketed band, and all of these wizards were currently sitting a short distance away under a tree. Levina could see a blue haze of pipe smoke issuing from the spot. The entrance to the marquee revealed rows and rows of fragile golden chairs set on either side of a long purple carpet. The supporting poles were entwined with white and gold flowers. Fred and George had fastened an enormous bunch of golden balloons over the exact point where Bill and Fleur would shortly become husband and wife. Outside, butterflies and bees were hovering lazily over the grass and hedgerow.
"George, you look so handsome!" Destiny gushed, running to plant a quick peck on the twin's cheek.
"And you look beautiful," said George, slightly breathless as he looked her over.
Levina could feel herself shrinking as she approached Fred. "Hi," she said sheepishly.
"Hello, good-looking," said Fred, bending to kiss her cheek. "Hair giving you fits?"
"Oh, you did notice!" Levina groaned, still annoyed by her tangled hair and dress but nevertheless pleased by his first compliment.
"Don't sweat it." Fred tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
"The second I go invisible, the better. The dress robes are kind of itchy," she added as an afterthought. "And hot."
Fred nodded in agreement."When I get married," said Fred, tugging at the collar of his own robes, "I won't be bothering with any of this nonsense. You can all wear what you like, and I'll put a full Body Bird Curse on Mum until it's all over. If that's all right with you," he added to Levina, who nearly choked on thin air.
"I—what?" she coughed.
Fred laughed. "I'm just playing with you, Love-ina."
"She wasn't too bad this morning, considering," said George, before Levina could answer. "Cried a bit about Percy not being here, but who wants him. Oh blimey, brace yourselves, here they come, look."
Brightly colored figures were appearing, one by one out of nowhere at the distant boundary of the yard. Within minutes a procession had formed, which began to snake its way up through the garden toward the marquee. Exotic flowers and bewitched birds fluttered on the witches' hats, while precious gems glittered from many of the wizards' cravats; a hum of excited chatter grew louder and louder, drowning the sound of the bees as the crowd approached the tent.
"Well, here come people," said Levina, and after a few moments of hard concentration, she vanished, using a translucent color spell.
"Excellent, I think I see a few Veela cousins," said George, craning his neck for a better look. "They'll need help understanding our English customs, I'll look after them..."
"Oh-ho, no you won't," said Destiny sharply, narrowing her now dagger-like eyes at him.
"Not so fast, Your Holeyness," said Fred, and darting past the gaggle of middle-aged witches heading for the procession, he said, "Here—permetiez moi to assister vous," to a pair of pretty French girls, who giggled and allowed him to escort them inside. George was left to deal with the middle-aged witches and Ron took charge of Mr. Weasley's old Ministry-colleague Perkins, while a rather deaf old couple fell to Harry's lot.
"Excuse me," said Levina, placing one hand roughly onto Fred's shoulder, no doubt frightening the French girls, who looked around for the source of the disembodied voice, "but have you forgotten your girlfriend?"
Fred turned apologetically in her direction but looked a few feet off, as he could not actually see her. "Sorry, Levina. You know no men can resist Veela—"
"This one can," said Levina, taking him by the arm and leading him away. The French Veela girls looked after him curiously, still trying to figure out where the mysterious voice came from. She grit her teeth as she walked. She knew it wasn't entirely Fred's fault—if Veela were male, she'd undoubtedly be drooling over them this instant—but she still couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"Won't happen again. Just keep an eye on me, won't you?" said Fred with a wink, forcing his gaze away from the Veela.
"Wotcher," said a familiar voice as Levina came out of the marquee again and found Tonks and Lupin at the front of the queue. She had turned blonde for the occasion. "I could hear you talking. Sorry about last night," she added in a whisper as Fred and Levina led them up the aisle. "The Ministry's being very anti-werewolf at the museum and we thought our presence might not do Harry any favors."
"Anti-werewolf?" Levina repeated, slightly frightened. She dissolved the spell somewhat, so that about half of her body could be seen. "That doesn't mean…I mean, they can't do anything to…?"
"I would just keep my guard up, if I were you," said Lupin, leaning down some so he was closer to her, now that he could see where she was. "You already have a lot against you…Keep that color charm up."
"Right." Levina re-did the spell, vanishing again into nothingness.
Hagrid was causing a certain amount of disruption. Having misunderstood Fred's directions as he had sat himself, not upon the magically enlarged and reinforced seat set aside for him in the back row, but on five sets that now resembled a large pile of golden matchsticks.
While Mr. Weasley repaired the damage and Hagrid shouted apologies to anybody who would listen, Levina hurried back to the entrance to find where Eric had gone. He was supposed to be greeting the guests as they flooded in, but he was nowhere to be seen. However, instead of finding the dragon worker, Levina came face-to-face with a most eccentric-looking wizard. Slightly cross-eyed, with shoulder-length white hair the texture of candyfloss, he wore a cap whose tassel dangled in front of his nose and robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow. An odd symbol, rather like a triangular eye, glistened from a golden chain around his neck. Levina couldn't help but gawk at it; it was oddly familiar for some reason, but she couldn't quite place it…
She wouldn't have stopped if it hadn't been for the fact that Ron and Harry were also standing there, speaking with the man, slightly awkwardly.
"Xenophilius Lovegood," he said, extending a hand to Harry, "my daughter and I live just over the hill, so kind of the good Weasleys to invite us. But I think you know my Luna?" he added to Ron.
"Yes," said Ron. "Isn't she with you?"
"She lingered in that charming little garden to say hello to the gnomes, such a glorious infestation! How few wizards realize just how much we can learn from the wise little gnomes—or, to give them their correct name, the Gernumbli gardensi."
"Ours do know a lot of excellent swear words," said Ron, "but I think Fred and George taught them those."
Levina covered a snicker with her hand as it rose to her mouth, muffling the sound. The gnomes were indeed very badly behaved and quite vulgar in their vocabulary. Just yesterday Fred had to kick one of them after it referred to Levina as a "female dog," taking a jab at both her and her Werewolf genes.
Xenophilius led a party of warlocks into the marquee, just as Luna rushed up.
"Hello, Harry!" she said.
"Er—my name's Barry," said Harry, flummoxed.
"Oh, have you changed that too?" she asked brightly.
"How did you know—?"
"Oh, just your expression," she said.
Like her father, Luna was wearing vibrantly bright yellow robes, which she had accessorized with a large sunflower in her hair. Once you get over the brightness of it all, it really did look quite nice. Levina was glad she'd left behind her radish earrings and butterbeer necklace.
"Hello there, Levina," she added, turning to look straight at her. Levina returned the stare, taken aback.
"What? You can see me, Luna?"
"No," said Luna pleasantly, "but you have quite the handful of wrackspurts surrounding your head."
Levina blinked. If Harry and Ron could see her, she would've shot them a raised-eyebrow look. "Uh, right…How silly of me."
"I know!" Luna agreed, delighted. "I mean, it was pretty obvious."
Xenophilius, who was deep in conversation with an acquaintance, had missed the exchange between Luna, Harry, and Levina. Biding the wizard farewell, he turned to his daughter, who held up her finger and said, "Daddy, look—one of the gnomes actually bit me."
"How wonderful! Gnome saliva is enormously beneficial." Said Mr. Lovegood, seizing Luna's outstretched fingers and examining the bleeding puncture marks. "Luna, my love, if you should feel any burgeoning talent today—perhaps an unexpected urge to sing opera or to declaims in Mermish—do not repress it! You may have been gifted by the Gernumblies!"
Ron, passing them in the opposite direction, let out a loud snort. Levina glared at him, forgetting she was invisible. She didn't want to offend Luna or her father, no matter how ridiculous the idea was.
"Ron can laugh," said Luna serenely as Harry led her and Xenophilius toward their seats, Levina silently moving at their heels, "but my father has done a lot of research on Gernumbli magic."
"Really?" said Harry. "Are you sure you don't want to put anything on that bite, though?"
"Oh, it's fine," said Luna, sucking her finger in a dreamy fashion and looking Harry up and down. Levina looked on at her in disgust, once again glad that she was invisible. "You look smart. I told Daddy most people would probably wear dress robes, but he believes you ought to wear sun colors to a wedding, for luck, you know."
"Right," said Levina. "Because the sun's…lucky."
As she drifted off after her father, Ron reappeared with an elderly witch clutching his arm. Her beaky nose, scarlet-rimmed eyes, and leathery pink hat gave her the look of a bad-tempered flamingo.
"...and your hair's much too long, Ronald, for a moment I thought you were Ginevra. Merlin's beard, what is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelet. And who are you?" she barked at Harry.
"Oh yeah, Auntie Muriel, this is our cousin Barny."
"Another Weasley? You breed like gnomes. Isn't Harry Potter here? I was hoping to meet him. I thought he was a friend of yours, Ronald, or have you merely been boasting?"
"No—he couldn't come—"
"Hmm. Made an excuse, did he? Harry's as gormless as he looks in press photographs, then. Is that Snowpetal girl here?"
"No, she was…also busy—"
"'Course she was," she said sarcastically. "Because I'm sure she's got a lot more important stuff to do. She's not as famous as she was. Now she's just another pretty face…Well, another face, anyway."
Levina's lip curled and she almost made a move toward her, but Harry nudged the air beside her with his elbow, in an attempt to elbow her back, evidently knowing that she was going to do something.
"I've just been instructing the bride on how best to wear my tiara," she shouted at Harry. "Goblin-made, you know, and been in my family for centuries. She's a good-looking girl, but still—French. Well, well, find me a good seat, Ronald, I am a hundred and seven and I ought not to be on my feet too long."
"You know, she has a good point," said Levina half-bitterly, dissolving out of her color spell and startling Harry. "I'm not anything special. Who would want to attack me here?"
"You can never be too sure," said Harry. "It might be a good idea to keep that charm going—"
"I'll just alternate it," said Levina, shrugging. "Sometimes off, sometimes on, depending on who I'm with."
"Just be careful…"
While Harry went one way, Levina went the other. The Marquee was nearly full now, making it difficult to navigate her way through the crowd. It wasn't for another six minutes or so until she finally found Hermione, who was deep in a heated conversation with Destiny. Hermione looked the way Levina currently wished she did, wearing a floaty, lilac-colored dress with matching high heels; her hair was sleek and shiny.
"…and therefore generally do not partake in political affairs," said Hermione firmly.
"No," Destiny argued, her voice raised, "Mum was always going on about affairs of state and such, and she said Aunt Aglaophonos had an incredibly high opinion when it came to it—"
"—which is uncommon among most Sirens, as "Observations of the Merpeople" says—"
"Oh, what does Grant Hanson know anyway? There's no possible way he could have gotten close enough to the Sirens to actually get an accurate reading—"
"Uh, guys?" said Levina. Destiny and Hermione both turned, apparently surprised that any other people were around to witness their conversation.
"Oh! Hello, Levina," said Hermione. "Sorry, we were having a debate—"
"—over Siren political behavior—"
Levina put up her hands, motioning for them to stop. "No need to explain. You look really nice, Hermione," she added.
"Thank you!"
"But can't you two drop it for now? I'm still trying to figure out where your cousin wandered off to. He's supposed to be greeting the guests."
"Eric?" said Destiny. "Oh, I think he's with Charlie right now. But I'm sure most everyone is already in the marquee by now…"
"There's Ron!" said Hermione. Their argument forgotten, she took off toward the left, where Harry and Ron had congregated by together again. Destiny and Levina followed closely behind, coming to a halt in front of the boys.
"Wow," said Ron, blinking rather rapidly at Hermione. "You look great!"
"Always the tone of surprise," said Hermione, though she smiled.. "Your Great-Aunt Muriel doesn't agree; I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the tiara. She said, 'Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born?' and then, 'Bad posture and skinny ankles.'"
"Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone," said Ron.
"Talking about Muriel?" inquired George, reemerging from the marquee with Fred. "Yeah, she's just told me my ears are lopsided. Old bat. I wish old Uncle Bilius was still with us, though; he was a right laugh at weddings."
"Wasn't he the one who saw a Grim and died twenty-four hours later?" asked Hermione.
"Wait, a real Grim?" said Levina. She never did fully believe in the creature, after Trelawney's predictions.
"Well, yeah, he went a bit odd toward the end," conceded George.
"But before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party," said Fred. "He used to down an entire bottle of firewhisky, then run onto the dance floor, hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of flowers out of his—"
"Yes, he sounds a real charmer," said Hermione, while Harry and Levina roared with laughter.
"Never married, for some reason," said Ron.
"You amaze me," said Hermione.
They were all laughing so much that none of them noticed the latecomer, a dark-haired young man with a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows, until he held out his invitation to Ron and said, with his eyes on Hermione, "You look vunderful."
"Viktor!" she shrieked, and dropped her small beaded bag, which made a loud thump quite disproportionate to its size. As she scrambled, blushing, to pick it up, she said "I didn't know you were— goodness—it's lovely to see—how are you?"
Ron's ears had turned bright red again. After glancing at Krum's invitation as if he did not believe a word of it, he said, much too loudly, "How come you're here?"
"Fleur invited me," said Krum, eyebrows raised.
Levina took the momentary distraction as a good time to return to invisibility, vanishing from sight once again. She didn't want to speak with him for a multiple number of reasons, one of them being wounding Ron's ego. To avoid further tension, Harry led Krum down the aisle to his seat. His appearance was causing a stir, particularly amongst the Veela cousins: He was, after all, a famous Quidditch player. While people were still craning their necks to get a good look at him, Ron, Levina, Destiny, Hermione, Fred, and George came hurrying down the aisle.
"Time to sit down," Fred told the thin air next to Levina, unsure of where she was, "or we're going to get run over by the bride."
Harry, Ron and Hermione took their seats in the second row behind Fred and George. Levina and Destiny took seats next to their boyfriends, but as they were now in a large group of people, Levina had to use her color spell again, vanishing from sight and making it look as though her seat were empty. She placed an invite in her lap, to make it look like the seat was already taken. Behind them, Hermione looked rather pink and Ron's ears were still scarlet.
A sense of jittery anticipation had filled the warm tent, the general murmuring broken by occasional spurts of excited laughter. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley strolled up the aisle, smiling and waving at relatives; Mrs. Weasley was wearing a brand-new set of amethyst colored robes with a matching hat.
A moment later Bill and Charlie stood up at the front of the marquee, both wearing dress robes, with larger white roses in their buttonholes; Fred wolf-whistled and there was an outbreak of giggling from the Veela cousins. Then the crowd fell silent as music swelled from what seemed to be the golden balloons.
"Ooooh!" said Hermione, swiveling around in her seat to look at the entrance.
Levina also turned around, more excited than she'd been before. Destiny had been right; although she wasn't in the best of moods that morning, now a swell of excitement rose inside of her. Her first wedding! What Fred had mentioned earlier, as a joke, still stuck with Levina as something real…What, she wondered, if they really did get married? She cursed herself for thinking it so early on, but…She couldn't help but allow an image of her and Fred walking down the aisle overwhelm her mind…
A great collective sigh issued from the assembled witches and wizards as Monsieur Delacour and Fleur came walking up the aisle, Fleur gliding, Monsieur Delacour bouncing and beaming. Fleur was wearing a very simple white dress and seemed to be emitting a strong, silvery glow. While her radiance usually dimmed everyone else by comparison, today it beautified everybody it fell upon. Ginny and Gabrielle, both wearing golden dresses, looked even prettier than usual and once Fleur had reached for him, Bill did not look as though he had ever met Fenrir Greyback.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said a slightly singsong voice, and with a minor shock, Levina saw the same small, tufty-haired wizard who had presided at Dumbledore's funeral, now standing in front of Bill and Fleur, "we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls..."
"Yes, my tiara set off the whole thing nicely," said Auntie Muriel in a rather carrying whisper. "But I must say, Ginerva's dress is far too low cut."
Levina rolled her eyes. Of course that was all she would notice…
"Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle...?"
In the front row, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Delacour were both sobbing quietly into scraps of lace. Trumpetlike sounds from the back of the marquee told everyone that Hagrid had taken out one of his own tablecloth-sized handkerchiefs. Hermione tapped Levina's shoulder so that she turned to look at her; she was beaming, and her eyes too were full of tears.
"...then I declare you bonded for life."
The tufty-haired wizard waved his hand high over the heads of Bill and Fleur and a shower of silver stars fell upon them, spiraling around their now entwined figures. As Fred and George led a round of applause, the golden balloons overhead burst. Birds of paradise and tiny golden bells flew and floated out of them, adding their songs and chimes to the din.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" called the tufty-haired wizard. "If you would please stand up!"
They all did so, Auntie Muriel grumbling audibly; he waved his wand again. The chairs on which they had been sitting rose gracefully into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished, so that they stood beneath a canopy supported by golden poles, with a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding countryside. Next, a pool of molten gold spread from the center of the tent to form a gleaming dance floor; the hovering chairs grouped themselves around small, white-clothed tables, which all floated gracefully back to earth round it, and the golden-jacketed hand trooped toward a podium.
"Smooth," said Ron approvingly as the waiters popped up on all sides, some carrying silver trays of pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and firewhisky, others tottering piles of tarts and sandwiches.
"We should go and congratulate them!" said Hermione, standing on tiptoe to see the place where Bill and Fleur had vanished amid a crowd of well-wishers.
"Yeah," said Levina, in a dream-like sort of trance. Normally, she was not generally the gushy-type, but it was all so beautifully put together that she couldn't help but gawk around in utter awe.
"We'll have time later," shrugged Ron, snatching some butterbeers from a passing tray and handing one to Harry. "Hermione, cop hold, let's grab a table...Not there! Nowhere near Muriel—"
Ron led the way across the empty dance floor, glancing left and right as he went; Levina had a distinct feeling that he was keeping an eye out for Krum. By the time they had reached the other side of the marquee, most of the tables were occupied: The emptiest was the one where Luna sat alone.
"All right if we join you?" asked Ron.
"Oh yes," she said happily. "Daddy's just gone to give Bill and Fleur our present."
"What is it, a lifetime's supply of Gurdyroots?" asked Ron.
Levina re-materialized herself back, so that he could actually see her glare this time. "Shut up, Ron."
The band had begun to play, Bill and Fleur took to the dance floor first, to great applause; after a while, Mr. Weasley led Madame Delacour onto the floor, followed by Mr. Weasley and Fleur's father.
"I like this song," said Luna, swaying in time to the waltzlike tune, and a few seconds later she stood up and glided onto the dance floor, where she revolved on the spot, quite alone, eyes closed and waving her arms.
"She's great isn't she?" said Ron admiringly. "Always good value."
"May I have this dance?"
Levina turned slightly in the direction of the familiar voice. Fred had actually gotten down onto one knee, extending his hand out to Levina, who flushed magenta.
"Did you just completely forget about the Yule Ball?" she asked.
"What, all the gigantic sores you made on my feet?" Fred shrugged. "They went away…eventually."
"You didn't tell me it was that bad!" said Levina. "Merlin's beard, Fred, why on Earth would you want to dance with me again after that?"
"Because you're my girl, and no matter how badly you dance, you're still perfect to me. Now come on, get up!"
Levina positively beamed, finally taking his hand. "Oh, all right, Mr. Charming. You've got me."
It wasn't pretty by any means; at least at the Yule ball, Destiny's lessons had been fresh in Levina's mind…but now? She stepped on Fred's feet at least seven times in just the first five minutes, and she even managed to somehow knee him in the shin, whilst attempting a spin.
"Oh, Fred, I'm sorry!" Levina's hands flew up to her mouth. "I swear I'm not doing this on purpose…"
"It's…fine," said Fred, with a wince. "But your heels are killer. Do girls just wear them in case they want to attack someone?"
"I don't think that's the case," said Levina apologetically.
They continued to maneuver about the dance floor for some time, but by the end of their fifth or sixth song, Levina was pretty sure she had almost sliced Fred's feet clean off. He protested against it, saying he felt fine, but Levina ignored his objections and led him back to her table, stuffing a sandwich in her mouth as she went. That was one of the perks of being his girlfriend; she didn't have to do anything to impress him, as they were already dating, and could be herself.
Levina held hands with Fred and they sat side-by-side, watching the wedding cake be sliced. It was topped with two model phoenixes that took flight when the cake was cut, earning some "ooh"s and "ah"s from the crowd.
"Beautiful," Levina commented, sighing as she leaned her head onto his shoulder.
As the evening drew in, and moths began to swoop under the canopy, now lit with floating golden lanterns, the revelry became more and more uncontained. Levina leaned into Fred's shoulder tiredly. Charlie, Hagrid, and a squat wizard in a purple porkpie hat were singing "Odo the Hero" in the corner.
Levina watched Fleur and Bill dance together, gazing dreamily into each other's eyes. Levina envisioned herself and Fred in their place…Levina in a white dress, Fred in dark wedding robes…The only obvious difference would be that they would be continually apologizing, rubbing their feet in pain. But the image was still pretty…
"Levina," said a voice suddenly, breaking into Levina's thoughts. Levina looked around, half-annoyed at the interruption. Destiny and George were standing hovering over her and Fred, also holding hands.
"Whazzup?" Levina slurred. She'd downed a decent amount of Butterbeers (Avoiding the Firewhiskey, as it seemed to have more of an effect on her), and now wanted nothing more than to nuzzle into Fred's chest and sleep.
"Could you help me find Eric? That idiot's disappeared on me again, I only just found him." She shook her head, annoyed. "There was this group of Veela crowding him…I wanted to speak with him, but he's not around…Help me?" Two pleading blue eyes blinked at her.
"Damn you and your Siren charms," Levina muttered, getting slowly to her feet. "Don't go anywhere," she added to Fred, who did not look as though he were going to move anytime soon anyhow.
Harry approached him.
The task seemed fruitless, but Levina searched around the tent nevertheless, looking for Eric's dark hair. She made a circle around the area, checking every table and every couple on the dance floor, but he was nowhere to be seen. She began to pull back the curtains, tugging them roughly aside as she went, only to find empty spaces. Just as she was about to give up, Levina yanked back one exceptionally billowy curtain and finally found the dragon worker. But he was not alone.
Eric was entwined closely with a dark haired woman, heavily snogging her with his hands entangled in her hair, his piercing golden eyes shut. At the sound of the curtain being drawn, the couple broke apart with a start, surprised. Eric turned his sharp gaze back behind him, landing it on Levina, who cowered.
"Oh—sorry, Eric, I didn't see—I mean, Destiny told me to—"she spluttered.
Eric rolled his eyes, but he seemed more aggravated than he let on. "It's all right. What do you want?"
"Er—Destiny wanted to say something to you—"
"Well, she can wait," said Eric, curling one arm around the woman's waist. "I've only just gotten Mirela to myself. All of Fleur's Veela cousins have been swarming around me like bees, it was mad—"
"Don't keep your cousin waiting because of me," said the girl politely, smiling up at him. She was wearing a beautiful blue and purple dress made out of silky, flowing fabric with three layers, matching the ribbon in her hair. She was very pretty.
Eric looked between the two, disappointed. "But Mira—" he protested.
Levina bit her lip to stifle a small giggle forming at her mouth. It was pretty amusing, she had to admit, seeing cool, reserved Eric making a plea of sorts to anyone.
Mirela put one finger to his mouth, then glanced at the other girl and quickly let her hand fall back to her side. "You should go see what Destiny wants," she told Eric, "Don't worry, I'll be right here."
Eric sighed into her finger in defeat, still looking slightly annoyed. "All right...Levina, this is Mirela, my...girlfriend." The word seemed almost painful to him. Levina couldn't blame him; ever since Destiny knew about his relationship, she wouldn't stop pestering him about it.
"Nice to meet you," said Levina, extending her hand to the girl. "I'm Levina, Levina Snowpetal. I'm...kind of supposed to be invisible right now—"
"—and you know you could get in trouble for not doing so—" added Eric.
"—but hey, it's no fun talking to thin air," Levina finished.
"Oh, Levina! It's nice to meet you, too. I'm Mirela Loveanu," she introduced herself, smiling easily again. "You're quite right—and it would be much harder to meet you if you were invisible...as I suppose you should be."
Levina shrugged in a sheepish sort of way. "Well, I kind of did some dancing with Fred—"
"You what?" Eric quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Er…nothing. It was more like killing each other's feet, anyway…But you should be going to see Destiny now!" she added, drawing his attention away.
Eric rolled his eyes. "Why do I always have to keep an eye on you and Destiny? Like children, honestly…" He took Mirela by the hand, then led her across the tent, vanishing back into the crowd.
Levina didn't honestly see what the big deal was…So far, no imposters or anything had jumped out and attacked her or anything…But then, he was only thinking of her safety.
She scanned the room several times, looking for Harry. She wanted to divide her time evenly between her boyfriend and her friend, as he seemed kind of neglected lately, unable to truly "be" with Ginny. For a good couple of minutes, she forgot that he was currently a Weasley, and she overlooked him three times before realizing where he was.
He was sitting at a table with Mr. Doge and Ron's Auntie Muriel, wearing a strangely wide-eyed expression. Levina frowned, then headed over to the table, sliding in next to him, turning invisible again as she did so.
"Boo," she whispered, causing him to jump nearly a foot in the air.
"Levina?"
"Yeah. What's up? You look kind of pale."
Harry blinked in her direction, then shook his head. "It's…nothing. Nothing."
Levina gave him an "I-know-you're-lying" look that he did not receive. "Come on, Harry. Spill."
Harry opened his mouth, then closed it again. Hermione had just dropped into the open seat on Harry's other side, breathing heavily and slipping off one of her shoes, rubbing the sole of her foot.
"I simply can't dance anymore," she panted. "Ron's gone looking to find more butterbeers. It's a bit odd. I've just seen Viktor storming away from Luna's father, it looked like they'd been arguing—" She dropped her voice, staring at him. "Harry, are you okay?"
"No," said Levina.
Hermione peered over in Levina's direction, looking not in the least bit surprised to hear her voice. "How come?"
If Harry was going to answer them or not, it didn't matter, for at that moment, something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
Once again, I'm really sorry, guys. This chapter was bloody short, but I was actually thinking recently: The longer the chapter, the shorter the amount of chapters. So I may start spacing them out more from here on, I'm not sure yet...
Guest: Merlin's beard, thank you so much! That means a lot to me:) And well, you never know; you'll just have to keep reading to find out what happens ;)
Kaitie131: Thanks! And actually, I'm planning to release an "extra" thing after this book, with "deleted scenes" and such, as well as things with Eric and other characters you don't see as much. :)
WingardiumLeviosa1067: Thank you! :D Of course, what would it be without the Frevina moments? ;)