Harry-July 30th
The rest of July went by in what felt like the blink of an eye. The entire group continued their normal routine up until the following weekend. Now Harry stood in front of the full-length mirror in Draco'sroom. It had been a blessing that he had managed to get some much-needed clothing that was more appropriate for the kind of company he was now keeping. Currently though, he was standing in his dress robes from the Yule Ball. Harry smirked looking at his image in the mirror, "Draco can I borrow some of your gel. My hair needs some major work." The blonde chuckled, "I can imagine Potter."
Harry had spent the night at the manor after going shopping with Draco for Pansy's birthday present. Draco smirked, "I'm glad that mom is insistent on teaching you etiquette. I never would have imagined that anyone our age had not been to a birthday party." Harry shrugged, "I was never invited to one. Dudley made sure that I had no friends in Primary and well then, I was isolated every summer after starting Hogwarts until Dumbledore decided that I was allowed to leave my personal version of hell."
Harry hadn't heard from either Ron or Hermione since they got off of the train, but at least he wasn't alone. Looking over at Malfoy, "it's amazing isn't it how much things can change in a matter of weeks." Draco smiled, "it sure is Potter; it sure is." Harry had been surprised to get an invitation to Pansy birthday party after all, why would he? The petite brunette had just smirked, "why wouldn't I invited you? Did you know that we've invited you to things every summer? You just never responded!"
So, after a minor panic attack, one which had required Theo to again lead him through breathing exercises Harry had asked Draco what he should get the brunette witch for her birthday present. That had caught the ear of Draco's mother who of course loved any excuse to go shopping.
They had gone into a nice shop that Narcissa, or Aunt Cissa, insisted that Harry call her loved. Harry had selected an assortment of bath products and hair products that all smelled of lavender and vanilla and the shopkeeper had even arranged them in a lovely basket. Draco had selected some beautiful Hair combs for more formal occasions that were silver with emerald stones set in them that mirrored the tone of the Slytherin robes. They were charmed to keep her hair neat and prevent her hair from becoming too unruly. Draco had asked the shopkeeper to wrap it for him.
Both boys had been glad to get out of the shop since this was hardly of the boy's idea of fun. So, Draco and Harry finished getting themselves ready to go to Parkinson House where Pansy would be "in her element," according to Draco. Harry and Draco arrived and were immediately escorted by an excitable house elf intothe ballroom which was large and decorated in light wood and had twenty-five circular tables spread out around the dance floor. White table clothes and silver candle holders adorned each table. Six chairs in matching wood to the tables were spread around each of the tables where the guest would be seated. The boys settled into the table nearest the door, "just in case they needed to make a quick escape.
The party started out nice enough after Pansy's family had formally greeted everyone and most of their year at school had shown up with some notable exceptions. Then the food was brought out to the tables. Harry was grateful to find that Pansy liked shepherd's pie and treacle tart as much as he did. Pansy, Daphne, and Theo had joined them at the table where they sat.
Once everyone had a chance to eat Pansy dragged Draco out onto the dance floor as a Weird Sisters song started playing on the wireless. Harry still not fully recovered from making a fool of himself during the Yule Ball wasgrateful not to be in a relationship at the moment. Daphne's sister came over and yanked her away to help her with something, and that left Harry and Theo alone at the table.
Theo smirked, "I'm thinking it's time for our generation to shake things up just a bit!" Harry raised an eyebrow. Nott smirked, "the old coot will never see it coming if you decide to claim your seat. Then, we can start making some moves politically speaking." Harry nodded and then something struck him, "Nott, where is your betrothed?" The taller boy just laughed, "that is one battle with my father that I actually won. Back when my mother was still alive, I told her that I didn't want who I married to be chosen for me. You know, it just doesn't feel like something that needs to be done anymore? Mother actually respected how I felt about that among other things and so she made father dearest take an oath not to sign any contracts for me."
Harry nodded and took a drink of his butterbeer. Considering what Nott had said he found that he was more in agreement with the way of thinking that Nott laid out regarding the practice of betrothal. Harry didn't get to think too long about it though. Parvati walked over to where they were sitting and gave him no choice but to join her on the dance floor. As they dance or rather Parvati danced and Harry tried not to step on her feet, the Indian girl smirked, "Hi Harry!" Her eyes were searching for something in his face as they moved around on the floor, "why did you ask me to the ball when you clearly hadn't wanted to dance with me and showed no interests in getting to know me." As the song slowly started to come to it's conclusion Harry gulped, "I never meant to hurt you or insult you. The truth is that I just didn't know what to do. I never really got the hang of dancing and was given no choice in the matter. I also had to go even though I had never been to such an event in my life." She nodded, before Harry could continue, "I'm sorry, it really wasn't intentional. Truth, is I don't know if there is anyone that I would have really enjoyed going to that bloody dance with."
Parvati nodded and allowed Harry to return to his table. Once there Harry signaledto Nott that he needed some fresh air, and the taller boy led him out to the gardens. They were quite extensive Harry realized as the stepped out of the French doors into the hedge garden that ran like a maze just off of the ballroom. Harry needed to talk to someone who could give him help navigating a very tricky issue, unfortunately there was only one person he knew of who could get what he was afraid of. So, he hesitantly asked, "Nott, how would I find out if I was betrothed?"
The taller boy nodded, "Gringotts would be your best bet for seeing if you could get that information. Why do you have someone in mind?" Theo blushed, indicating that for once the boy had spoken without realizing what had come out of his mouth. Harry did them both a favor and tried to ignore what that might mean. He wasn't ready to navigate relationships yet.
The rest of the evening flew by until they had to go back to the manor. Draco grumbling about how sore his feet were. That was until an arm pulled Harry back as he attempted to enter the floo to return to Malfoy Manor.