Edited by the mighty pazed!
Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!
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Chapter 61
If one thing could be said about Alison Volk it was that she was a quick study. It didn't take long for her to start noticing the patterns in how the crowd in attendance moved, or that it was a very small number of people that caused it to move the way it did.
The most noticeable of them were the ones she labeled as 'Lunkers', or trophy sized fish, they were the owners of the larger teams, or even multiple teams in some cases, those that were secure in their deals and had a firm handle on the next few years at the least. They rarely moved, and the other groups flowed around them as if they were going to eat them, only pausing to offer pleasantries at most. If one of them did move almost every eye in the place followed them, watching them for an opening, a need that could be filled, or perhaps a weakness that could be used.
Around them orbited their 'School'. There were two types of these, the drivers, each of whom had someone that stuck close to them, usually some form of press agent, and the Team Manager, the man that coordinated the team, driver and sponsorships. They stuck close to the owners both as a show of status, as well as being gatekeepers to those that wished to approach the 'Lunker'.
The smaller teams were next, she labeled them as 'Feeders', bouncing between each boulder's orbit, trying to be in the right place to be noticed by the 'Lunkers' or the other group sharing these waters with them, the 'Anglers', otherwise known as the sponsors.
She had watched each of these groups intently as Jay spoke about each one in turn. She knew the next few years would be pivotal for Volk Oil; while not exactly a small company, they had been poised to expand their market share substantially under the leadership of her father, Roger Volk. Plans had been made, and contracts signed that assured them that the capital as well as the assets would be in line to do so.
Unfortunately, her father's untimely death had upset those plans somewhat, and while she knew her brothers were up to the task of running Volk, the Board of Regents had doubts. This had forced her brothers to spend the majority of their time dealing with the fires left in their wake, leaving it up to her to become the 'face' of the company at these events, and make sure that there were no questions about their ability to uphold their part of those contracts, and if they were lucky arrange for a few more to be signed.
She had made her preliminary rounds for the weekend, and been introduced to several of the owners as well as other sponsors, all of which seemed a little stuffy for her taste. The owners, at least, had been polite, if a little… standoffish, she supposed. They had kindly offered their condolences on her father's passing, and then sniffed around, again politely, wondering if her company had made a decision about continuing their new sponsorships with NASCAR. They never asked about it directly, not wishing to offend her.
She had assured them that, yes, they did intend to continue their burgeoning relationship with NASCAR and its teams, and even looked forward to expanding those roles in the future. All in all, she felt that at least the first part of the evening had accomplished exactly what her brothers had wanted, and the appropriate assurances had been given, and apologies made for their inability to attend tonight.
It was the other part of the evening that had begun to annoy her.
The constant cooing over her by the hangers on around the team owners, their patronizing tones saying, 'Aren't you sweet?' and 'What is a delicate girl like you doing a job like this? You don't know anything about…' It sickened her.
Just because she was a girl didn't mean that she didn't like something! She didn't come with her father last year because she was spending all her time trying to graduate early! And what free time she had, she had rather been around motorcycles instead of cars!
If she had to listen to one more fawning person tell her that she was dong well representing her brothers and not Volk Oil, she'd likely rip the idiot's head off!
Alison shut her eyes, and took a deep breath, no… no she wouldn't do that. She knew this was going to happen before she ever got here. Doing something like that would only cause trouble.
Ray had stayed next to her for most of the night, telling her who each of these individuals were, as well as their associations. He was very good at his job, and seemed to have good relations with several of the people here… other than the group from Shell Oil, but that could be expected as Volk had been quietly gobbling up some of their less profitable fields and then showing that they could garner a worthwhile return where the larger more ponderous company couldn't.
There was only one oddity within the room, one she was having a hard time grasping, a young man that seemed to move within the room at will. She had watched him not only hold conversations with several 'Lunkers' but also drivers, engineers, managers, sponsors, and then to her eternal bafflement, could even hold a conversation with lawyers!
Curiosity had almost gotten the best of her when Ray pointed toward the young man in question. "The kid with the dark hair and green eyes, his name is Harry Potter. He drives for Fairgrove, in the SERRA Unlimited Class."
She watched the boy for a moment, he wore a white polo shirt with a logo on the left breast, a stylized F making up the trunk of a tree, dark slacks and comfortable looking loafers. As she watched he introduced a sandy haired man and the dark haired woman with him to one of the newer sponsor's representatives, Lion Foods if she remembered correctly.
Once introductions were done she watched him closely, he only dawdled within hearing range for a moment, then walked away, a large smile appearing as he did. Evidently pleased with himself about something.
He hadn't made it ten feet before three young women and one young girl approached him.
The first girl was possibly her own age with silver blond hair and striking blue eyes she was unbelievably beautiful and carried herself with an almost regal air, almost every eye in the room tracked her movement toward the now named Harry Potter.
The other two, while still attractive, didn't command near the attention that the first did.
The one on the right had a deep honey highlights in her brunet hair and eyes to match. She looked pleasant, and quite happy to see the young man in question, as she stepped forward and hugged him.
That action was immediately followed up by the blond girl on her right, then not to be left out the first girl did the same.
The youngest however took his hand in both of hers, and turned to stand next to him, as if staking her claim to him, it was cute actually.
"Is he any good?" she asked, without really thinking about it.
Ray nodded. "Yeah. It was only his second year in the Unlimited, using secondhand hardware Fairgrove bought for him to use, and he came in second in their overall points last year." He took a sip from a drink. "He's odds on favorite this year, now that he will be driving a car designed from the ground up by Fairgrove."
She was taken aback by that statement. "Designed an entire car?" She paused for a moment thinking. "Fairgrove… Are they someone I should have heard of?"
He shrugged. "Been racing SERRA for years… one of the founding groups. They've done a lot of work using aluminum for racing applications, and have a great reputation for both on track, and on road use."
"Mmmm…" she acknowledged. "Popular, too…." She watched as the girls dragged him toward the front of the tent and the band.
Harry chuckled lightly as he was dragged across the tent by Gabrielle toward the sound of the band playing. "What did she say Fleur?"
Fleur laughed at her sister's antics and the scrunched up look of aggravation on her face. "She says, 'You danced with all of us at the Yule ball, and tonight it is her turn!'"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't I even get the chance to ask if she'd like to dance?"
Fleur quickly translated the question to her sister, who came to a stop with a jerk and appeared to be thinking the question over for a moment, before shaking her head. "Non!" she said, then said something if French quickly then pulled Harry onto the dance floor without letting her sister translate, leaving Hermione, Luna and Fleur standing at the edge.
Hermione looked at the older girl standing next to them. "I-I caught some of that… but I think I may have misunderstood some of it…" she said.
"Non…" Fleur said, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "I think you understood all too well, Hermione. She has never been one to not say something succinctly."
Luna, at this point began laughing. "I do think she is right, Hermione. If either one of you two had your way and she waited for her maturity, she would never even get the chance to dance with Harry, let alone get him to notice her. So she is taking her chance now so she at least gets to dance with him."
Hermione's face turned a deep red, as she tried to sputter out a denial.
Fleur on the other hand looked pleased. "I think my sister is becoming very observant. Do you not agree, Hermione?" she asked.
Hermione swallowed hard and forced herself to relax. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," she said, turning away from the sight of Harry with his arms around the young girl as they began to dance. "I'm thirsty, anyone else want something to drink?" she asked looking at each of them in turn.
Both girls shook their heads, indicating they were fine. "Alright… I'll bring something back for Harry, just in case," she said, as she began to make her way toward the bar along the side wall.
As soon as she had turned, Fleur's face fell slightly. "She cares for him greatly," she said to her remaining companion.
Luna's eyes never left the adorable sight of the dancing couple in the middle of the dance floor. "She does… But she has come to understand, like you will as well, that Harry has responsibilities that have a claim on much of his time. For the moment she will content herself with learning more about him, and being his friend."
Fleur looked at the young blond, mouth agape. Slowly her mouth closed as she thought about the girl's statement.
While it was true she didn't understand everything Harry was doing, it did seem to keep him busy. Between his schooling, both magical and not, his racing, his music and all the training he did she had been amazed that he had time to sleep.
Her head turned until she could watch the young man dance with her sister. Even with all of the demands his life placed on him, there he was taking time out to make Gabrielle happy by dancing with her. He was kind and generous, a true gentleman in every sense.
A smile spread across her face. "I think Hermione is very wise," she said.
Luna smiled and nodded. "I like to think she gets it from me, but mother is a more likely source."
Alison grumbled as she walked away from yet another idiot that had all but dismissed her as just a girl, here as a place holder for her older brother. God she hated that type of condescending prick!
Storming around a table as she glared at Ray, who had abandoned her during the man's introduction of his wife, locking him in her sights, she all but ended up flat on her face tripping over the young girl she had seen step onto the dance floor earlier.
The young blond sat looking at her, blue eyes wide, cola soaking into her beautiful hair and dress, as the ice was forming a twinkling tiara in her hair.
Alison glared at the girl. "Watch where you're going girl!" she hissed, only to see the young girl's expression change from surprise to confusion.
"What's the matter?" she asked. "Don't you speak English?"
A male voice answered for Gabrielle from just to Alison's right. "As a matter of fact, she doesn't," it supplied.
Two slender arms helped the girl stand as the older blond, her sister presumably helped her back to her feet and began dusting ice from her hair. The dark haired Harry Potter stepped between the sisters and Alison, as the pair began speaking quietly in another language.
"She only knows a few words of English so far," he said his eyes boring in on hers, as he offered her a hand up.
"She shouldn't be here!" Alison spat as she stood, ignoring his hand. "This reception is..."
"A party!" Harry said cutting her off. "Look, I don't know what has you in such a snit, but there are just as many people here to enjoy this party as there are here for business!"
"I am not…" she started.
"You are in a snit!" he said, aggravated. "Gabrielle was getting ready to sit down!" He pointed at the chair lying on its side next to the table. "You were the one charging across the room like a bull!"
Alison looked down at the chair, her eyes widening as she glanced around. She had been weaving through the tables on her way to yell at Ray! She hadn't even considered…
She sighed, and leaned to the side so she could see the little girl, who was now being comforted by her elder sister. " Crap…" she said softly. "Look… ummm…"
"Harry, Harry Potter," he supplied.
"Right… Look, Mr. Potter," she said straightening her back as she opened her small clutch purse and pulled out a business card. "My name is Alison Volk, of Volk Oil. Could you apologise…"
He smiled a lopsided grin, and shook his head, as he cut her off yet again. "Ahhh… Sorry, I don't speak French. You'll need to talk to her sister, and ask her to translate," he said, stepping to the side and allowing her to be hit fully by Fleur's angry glare.
Not one to be intimidated, Alison stepped forward, offering the card. "I wish to convey my apologies to your sister," she said looking down at the girl as she spoke. "I am very sorry, I was not paying attention to where I was going, and my attitude following the incident was inexcusable." She looked back up to Fleur. "My name is Alison Volk, of Volk Oil. If you will call this number tomorrow morning and tell me where you are staying, I will make arrangements for her dress to be picked up, dry cleaned and returned as soon as possible, at my expense of course."
Fleur looked at Harry, who smiled at her and nodded. She turned back to the woman. "That would be acceptable… I will make your apology to my sister, but she may continue to hold it against you."
Alison looked confused by the statement. "She was quite looking forward to dancing with Harry this evening," Fleur said, her lips curling up slightly at the ends. "I am afraid this may end her evening prematurely."
Alison looked down at the girl, who was now glaring at her, then to a chuckling Harry, who gave Alison a quick good night and began leading the group toward the nearest exit.