BLACK MANOR
The day of the ball finally arrived. Sirius had engaged the services of a catering outfit from the continent to decorate the place as tastefully as possible. The caterers worked with professional pride and efficiency. It only took them a day to decorate the ball room and the ground floor of the manor.
Most of the guests would begin to arrive by portkey at six o'clock. Some of the closer friends had arrived during the day. The Tonks, the Weasleys, Remus, Susan, Neville, Hermione, Hannah, Terry and Mandy were already there. Since the elves and the caterers were taking care of the decorations, set-up and food preparations for the ball, Harry and his friends had free time to do whatever they pleased.
Ron suggested that they play a pick-up game of Quidditch but sadly, nobody but Harry had a broom with them. Besides, the girls thought they would get cold, flying around. They eventually agreed to go for a walk around the grounds of the manor instead.
Winter had definitely come to the Black manor. Snow lay everywhere on the ground and in some places it had drifted as high as their heads. There had been no wind during the last snowfall. The bare branches of the leafless trees wore a coating of the white powder. The pines wore a thick mantle of snow in their boughs. In the brilliant winter sunshine, the effect was dazzling.
As the temperature was a bit above freezing, Hermione noticed that the snow was good for packing. She bent down and began to form a large snowball. It didn't take long for the rest of the teens to catch on to what she was doing. In a few minutes, in teams of two or four, they were all rolling huge snowballs with plans to make the world's biggest snowman. After about an hour, they levitated the final snowball to form the head of a 20-foot tall snow-giant.
After making the snowman, they decided to make teams and have a snowball fight. The game went on for about 2 hours. By the time the game ended, they were all red-faced and their clothes were wet from uncounted hits from the powdery projectiles. Harry ended the snowball fight by animating the snow-giant and having it drop its own head on the other team.
"That's cheating!", Ron spluttered as he emerged from the pile of snow that had been the snow-giant's head a second ago.
When Harry was able to stop laughing, he said, "Nope. We never made up any rules. That means there's no such thing as cheating. Besides", he said looking at the lowering sun, "It's time we went in and got dressed for the ball".
It was about four o'clock when they all filed back in to the manor, red-faced, soaked and laughing. Sirius sent them to their rooms to get ready. Harry had already dried his clothes on his way to his room. He thought it would only take him a few minutes to hand off his outdoor gear to Dobby and get dressed for the ball. But that is not the way it went.
When he arrived in his room, he was greeted by Dobby and two other house elves who had their orders from Sirius. His outfit for the ball was all laid out already. But before he could get dressed, he had a haircut, his eyebrows trimmed, a shampoo and a thorough scrubbing. By the time the elves were done with him, even his unruly hair had been tamed. As a finishing touch, they gave him a manicure cleaning up his ragged cuticles then shaping and polishing his nails to perfection.
When the elves had finished their work and Dobby approved, then and only then did they begin to dress him. His outfit consisted of a white silk shirt, black trousers, a set of Black robes with Emerald trim and accents, made of the finest silk that could be found with his house Crests on them, a cloak of the same colour and a pair of Dragon hide boots.
When Harry looked at the results in the mirror, he wondered who this well-groomed young man staring back at him might be.
He dismissed the elves, thanking them for their work. Of course, they were terribly embarrassed about being thanked by their lord.
When Harry started to leave the room to go downstairs, Kreacher popped in holding a small staff. Bowing, the ancient elf presented the staff to Harry, "This be yours, Lord Black. The ceremonial staff to show that you be have power under the roof".
Harry accepted the staff gracefully then inspected it closely. It was made of wood and worked with precious metals. The head was in the shape of an Adder.
When Harry arrived downstairs, he found all of the men and boys there, but not one of the girls or women for that matter and he was worried. He asked Sirius, "Where are the ladies? Why are none of them here? Are they alright?"
Sirius laughed heartily, "Pup, they are all still getting ready. Has no one ever told you that you could give them hours to get ready and they will still need 5 minutes more?"
Everyone laughed at this statement except for a voice which said, "What was that you just said, Sirius Black?"
Sirius turned to find Emmeline dressed up in a sky blue gown, her straight hair falling down her back. Her expert and understated make-up was just enough to draw attention to her already beautiful features and a smile to top it all off.
Sirius gave voice to what was obvious to all the other people in the room, "Emmeline, my dear, you look absolutely radiant!"
Harry stepped forward and pretended to kiss her hand, "My compliments. You certainly do look lovely. With you in the room, I am certain that nobody will even notice that I am here".
She waved him off, "You are such a charmer, Harry but it will not work on me. I am dating a man who can give a compliment in any situation and better ones than that".
Sirius walked up and hugged her. He said playfully, "Don't be so heartless to him dear. He has a chance to improve now that he is under my tutelage".
Remus who was sitting in a chair nearby rolled his eyes, "Yeah! Yeah! Aren't you the same guy who took a year to ask Marlene out on a Hogsmeade Weekend?"
Harry snorted while Sirius blushed. To his credit, Sirius rallied valiantly almost instantly, "I was a child then, Moony. I did not wait for a year because I was afraid. I was waiting for James to pluck up the courage to ask Lily out. Besides, you're the one to talk. When have you ever asked a girl out?"
Emmeline countered him, "As I recall it, James gathered courage for three years before he asked her out in fourth year, and then she turned him down. You started going out with Marlene in fifth year. By that calculation, you were the one without courage".
Harry was a little puzzled about something and he asked Emmeline, "Do you not mind when he talks about Marlene? I mean he intended to marry her at some point in time and maybe still harbours feelings for her?"
She smiled and mussed his hair, "You are yet to learn a lot about life, Harry. Yes, I do get sad at times about it but we are together now. That is what matters. Life is too short to hold grudges. We can either keep grudges or we can go out and live our life as we want. I am choosing to enjoy everything that life has to offer me".
Before the talk could continue anymore, Sirius poked him in the shoulder and pointed to the top of the staircase where Susan stood. She was dressed in a form fitting robe which accentuated her figure. It was hard to say what colour the robes were because they were iridescent, reflecting different colours depending on how the light hit them. The overall impression was that they were silver, setting off the burnished copper of her hair. Her hair which she was wearing in loose ringlets down her back, held out of her face by a circlet of gold which matched the necklace that Harry had sent her as a Christmas present. She was also wearing the earrings that Sirius had sent her. To finish off the outfit, she was wearing a pair of peep-toe pumps that matched her robes. Her make-up was subtle and it only enhanced her natural beauty.
Harry's mouth was hanging open as she descended the last few steps and sidled up to him. When she reached him, smiling, she gently put her finger under his chin and closed his mouth, "Close your mouth, Mr. Peverell. We are not a cod fish".
Sirius and Remus were laughing at his condition while Ron was looking dumb-founded not sure if he should hit his friend on the head to bring him out of his trance. Finally Emmeline had pity on him and she shook him bringing him out of his trance, "Wake up Lover boy! You have your whole life in front of you to fall in love with her".
Susan blushed at the compliment while Harry hugged her saying, "All the radiance in the world today cannot equal you, Sue".
"If the pleasantries are over, may be you would like to pay attention to your guests, Lord Black", came a voice from the doorway. Harry saw Amelia standing at the doorway to the meeting room. He rushed to greet her formally.
She, instead of offering him her hand, hugged him and said, "It is good to see you two bonding so well, Harry".
After he was done greeting her, Sirius approached him, "Pup go to the floo building and greet your guests. I will be there to take over in an hour".
Harry took Susan's arm and they walked to the floo building together. While they were going, Harry took stock of the security as he walked nonchalantly towards the floo building. There were hit-wizards patrolling the property while two were placed outside the entrance of the main building. Three Aurors were present inside the floo building standing in dark corners under Disillusionment charms. Other Aurors were present in different parts of the manor watching over the guests, keeping out of sight in the same way. Only someone who was extremely sensitive to magic could sense them standing there.
He stood with Susan at the designated spot where people would be coming by portkeys that had been sent to them.
Sirius had arranged for the portkeys to have three different landing zones in the building and the guests would arrive at two minute intervals. They would alternate between the three zones and that would allow up to six minutes each for them to sign the guest book, discretely have their identities checked by security and be directed to the main house. What they did not need to know was that anyone who attempted to crash the party would be stunned and delivered to a holding cell until their true intent could be determined.
The first one to arrive via the portkey was Luna Lovegood who landed gracefully with the Byangoma on her shoulder. She hugged him and pecked him on the cheek before she greeted Susan and then turned to him, "Thank you for inviting me, Harry. I have never been to a ball before this year. The Byangoma tells me that it will be a great year indeed".
Harry asked her with a raised eyebrow, "the Byangoma told you? What happened to the Nargles?"
She smiled, "The nargles are busy making little nargles so they gave their responsibilities to this Byangoma. Has Ginny arrived?"
Susan answered, "She would be inside the main building. Go on, we will join you soon".
The next were Ernie and Lilith. Lily's father had been invited too and he was coming by himself a bit later. Ernie and Lilith had taken the port-key which Harry had given to them. Harry liked Ernie very much as their families had been allies since before the time of the Vikings. He was also on good terms with Lilith since she had joined the Order of the Snow Leopard. He greeted Lilith while Susan greeted Ernie. They were sent inside promptly because the arrivals were speeding up. What Sirius had not carefully scheduled were the people who knew the floo address and arrived that way. A few like Frank, Alice, Moody and a number of senior Aurors had flooed in while other guests continued to land every two minutes by portkey. During his hour on duty, the time went by in a blur. Harry thought that more than a hundred guests must have arrived.
An awkward moment came when Daphne arrived with her family. She was dressed in a blue gown which accentuated her figure. She was clearly dressed to impress. Her hair was loose and falling below her shoulders. Her blue eyes beamed with joy when she saw Harry. She hugged him a little too tightly and too long for his comfort while she murmured in his ear, "It is good to see you, Harry. I have missed you so much during this vacation".
Susan saw what was happening. She said to Harry in a pointed tone, "Harry, we still have guests coming".
Daphne extricated herself from him hastily while Cyrus and Roxanne had a mysterious smile on their lips. Harry greeted the two of them and then turned to Astoria who was looking impishly amused. Harry sent them to the manor to clear the way for other guests.
Susan was incensed at Daphne's forwardness with her betrothed. If she had her way, she would have whipped out her wand and given the ice queen a huge nose and a scorching case of acne. But she thought better of it. She would have to talk to that girl soon and make it clear that Harry was hers.
The next to come were the Creevey brothers by portkey. When they came in, Colin started talking to him excitedly, "Harry, we stayed at Hogwarts for Yule. You should have seen the pranks!"
Harry cut him off before he could go any further, "Colin, I would love to hear about it but at this moment, I am busy receiving my guests. Can we talk later?"
Colin reluctantly agreed and Dennis dragged him away. Harry was interested to know how much things had progressed between Colin and Ginny. Something told him that they would be perfectly matched to each other.
Dumbledore came next. He gracefully landed when his port-key arrived and Harry greeted him joyfully, "Lord Dumbledore, welcome to the Black Manor".
Dumbledore looked like the grandfather that he always did and answered his greetings with a smile, "I thank you for the hospitality you have shown to me under your roof, Lord Peverell".
Minerva, Pomona, Aurora, Bethsheda, Martha Hughes and Filius Flitwick were also invited and they all arrived minutes after Dumbledore. Harry had invited Vikram but the mystic had refused saying that they were not ones to socialise more than necessary.
The next to come were the Delacours. Sirius had sent the invitation to them at Harry's request. Fleur stepped forward and kissed him on his cheek, "Harry, let me present you my papa Sebastian Delacour, my mamma Appolline Delacour and of course you know Gabriel".
Harry shook hands with Sebastian then pretended to kiss Appolline's knuckles saying, "Charmante my lady". Gabriel did not let him say anything but hugged him warmly. Susan had a brief moment of annoyance but it passed swiftly.
Harry turned to Sebastian, "Monsieur Delacour let me present to you my betrothed, Susan Bones".
Sebastian greeted her warmly and said to Harry playfully, "Are you not a little young to get betrothed so soon?"
Harry chuckled, "Yes, I am a leetle boy still". He had turned to look at Fleur when he emphasised on little boy and Fleur smacked him, "And I have learned my lesson since then to never underestimate you, Harry".
After the Delacours were on their way, Susan asked him, "What was the little boy thing?"
Harry chuckled at the memory, "Shortly after our names came out of the goblet of fire, I was sent into the chamber where the other champions were. Fleur had addressed me as leetle boy while talking to her headmistress. That changed quickly though. She learned her lesson at the first task".
He received many other guests during his hour-long shift. Then Sirius took charge of receiving the guests. Andromeda had agreed to take the final shift and greet the late-comers. Sirius had timed the port-keys so that those who were invited by Harry came in the first hour. Those who were invited by Sirius would arrive later. In that way, Harry was saved the trouble of making the acquaintance of everyone who came by portkey. He only greeted those who he invited.
Dinner was being served in the Ball Room. It looked more like a dinner hall at the moment. There were several well placed expansion charms. little circular tables had been arranged for most of them except for a long table where the Guest of honor and other important dignitaries were to sit. By about eight o'clock, everyone had arrived. They were being served dinner before the dance started. Harry had an aversion to mead and wine, he had to appear to take some in the view of the guests or that would have been bad manners.
Harry would have been happy to sit at one of those little circular tables with his Hogwarts friends, but his position as one of the lords of the Wizengamot and as the host made it imperative for him to sit at the long table. He sat at one end of the table while the other end was taken by Sirius as they were the hosts. Monsieur Delacour was assigned a seat beside Harry as per his preference with Frank on the other side.
As they sat talking, Sebastian asked him, "Harry, Fleur told me you wanted to ask something of me?"
Harry nodded, "May I assume that you have read the Daily Prophet recently, Monsieur? The terrorist known as Voldemort is back from the dead and active once more. I had to fight him just a few days ago. The ministry has a considerable force of 200 Aurors at the moment but what is worrying is that he has more. And he is still recruiting. I do not know if you have heard but the most savage werewolf of recent times Fenrir Greyback has been recruiting for him on the continent. Just a few weeks ago, the ministry hunted down and eliminated 30 of the worst type of criminal werewolves who had fled justice on the continent and come to Britain illegally. We need more wands at our side because I know the time will come when we will have to fight a decisive battle against him. It may not be possible for us to defeat him without the strength of numbers. General Longbottom has tried to ask for help from France, Germany and Bulgaria but so far got nothing".
Sebastian turned to Frank, "Is this true, Monsieur?"
Frank nodded, "We have had no help from any other country so far. They fear that Voldemort will turn his wrath towards them if they helped us. We are on our own and we need help. You are the head of DMLE in France. You are also well connected in your country. You can gather help for us if we need it so I implore you to think about it at least".
Sebastian nodded, "I will think about it, Monsieur".
Dinner lasted for an hour. Everyone had their fill. Then it was time for the dance. At a signal from Sirius, the guests all rose from their seats. The remains of dinner disappeared. The head table moved to one end of the room, laden with drinks and refreshments. The majority of the small tables disappeared and the remainder of them lined up along the sides of the room. An eight piece band seemed to appear out of no-where and set up on risers at the opposite end of the room from the refreshments table. It all took about two minutes and the dining hall had become a ball room once more.
Tradition dictated that the host opened the dance with their partner. Susan took Harry by the arm.
While the band finished tuning up, she whispered in his ear, "Are you going to be alright starting up this dance? I heard that you were a disaster at the Yule Ball last year".
Harry gave her his best lop-sided grin and said, "I will try not to step on those pretty pumps you are wearing".
He then lead her confidently out to the middle of the dance floor while the guests applauded whistled or cat-called according to their nature. The band counted off, then struck up a slow waltz. From the very first note, Harry lead as the young couple glided effortlessly around the dance floor. Those who had been jeering quickly changed their tune when they realized that Harry could really dance. After about 12 bars, Sirius joined them with Emmeline, the two couples perfectly synchronized as they revolved around the floor. A few bars later, the rest of the Head Table joined them with their dance partners.
Susan, pleasantly surprised that her partner was more graceful than the average troll, asked Harry, "When did you learn to dance like that?"
Harry's emerald-green orbs looked directly down into her sparkling-blue eyes and he chuckled, "Please don't distract me, Sue. I'm afraid that I'll lose count".
She smacked him playfully on the shoulder, "Get serious". Then she raised an eyebrow, "Do you mean to tell me that your friends who don't know anything but war actually taught you to dance?"
The first dance ended. The wizards bowed to their partners as the witches curtsied in reply. Those who had been watching the artful coordination of the first dance now walked on to the dance floor as the band leader counted in for the next tune. It was a popular dance number that was getting a lot of air play on Witch Radio and there was a dance that went with it. Harry and Susan changed poses and when the first note rent the air, they were off. Even Mad-Eye took a few minutes away from bossing the Aurors to join in and dance with Amelia. The dance step would have been pretty basic all by itself, but the music was fast and there were endless variations on how people moved, leapt and spun as they somehow managed to avoid colliding or stepping on each other's toes. The footwork which included a stomp and the arm movement which included a clap were part of the percussion.
The dance number ended after about five minutes and the crowd went wild with cheering, clapping and whistling. The band pumped their fists in the air three times in acknowledgement and not wanting to lose any momentum, they struck up the next number.
Harry and Susan were a bit breathless after the dance so Harry led her from the dance floor to take a break and get something to drink. The refreshments table was at the opposite end of the ballroom from the band so it was a bit quieter there.
"Harry, where did you learn to dance like that?", Susan asked him while trying to catch her breath. "You were amazing. You never missed a beat".
Harry's mind flashed back to all those laps around the lake while the mystics tried their best to keep him guessing, then all the dance lessons. Harry fondly said, "My teacher of Wizarding etiquette drilled it into me. She taught me that a proper gentleman must know how to dance. It took a lot of cursing and hexing from her to get to where I am today. Every time that I stepped on her toes, she caned me".
She looked amused, "What was she, a squib or something? Why did she have to resort to using a cane?"
Harry winced in memory, "It was not a regular stick of wood but a slim, flexible branch which hit very painfully and it left bruises on my backside. She was a witch alright but she told me that I would not learn my lesson if she used magic to punish me. The muggles have some forms of punishment which would be a torture to us".
She chuckled, "Look at you. Harold Peverell the war mage who can make Voldemort tremble is afraid of a cane".
Harry scowled, "You would not take it so lightly if you were disciplined that way".
"May I have this dance, Lord Peverell", said Astoria Greengrass, who had detached herself from Dennis Creevey.
Dennis was already asking some other girl for a dance. If Harry recognised her correctly, she was Rose Zeller the scion of the House of Zeller.
Harry looked at Susan who just shrugged meaning it was his choice to agree to it or not.
Harry agreed, "It would be my pleasure, Astoria. But I have to tell you that my keeper for the evening is very possessive and will want me back soon".
Susan scowled but said nothing. She kept watching everyone around them while Harry went to dance with Astoria when Justin approached her, "Susan, may I have this dance?"
She agreed and went to dance with him. Justin once had a bit of a crush on her which had ended last year. She came to know of it when he had asked her as a date to the Yule Ball. She had told him that she had her eyes fixed on someone already and he should find someone else.
"Harry, have you decided?" Astoria asked him.
"Decided what?", Harry asked, a little confused because he did not know what she meant.
"You had told me that you do not yet know what you feel towards Daphne and wanted to take some time to sort through your feelings. I wanted to know if you have thought about it", she reminded him of the day when she had told him that Daphne Greengrass, one of the prettiest witches in Hogwarts harboured a major crush on him.
"Ah yes, Astoria, now I understand what you are asking. That is something that I should discuss privately with your sister. This concerns me and Daphne. If she asks me anything about it, I will talk to her about it".
Astoria huffed, "Alright, keep your secrets. I suppose that I will have to bribe Tracy to get some answers. Now, can we have this dance properly before I have to return you to your keeper for the evening?"
After they had danced for about 5 minutes, Astoria dutifully returned him to Susan, "Here is your date, Heiress Bones. Can we trade partners?"
Susan passed Justin to him and started dancing with Harry again. "What did she want?" she asked him.
"She was asking about things that really do not concern her. I told her just that", he answered her vaguely.
Susan knew immediately that he was not telling her everything. She decided not to press him right now because she was happy with things as they were. Everything would happen in its own time.
"Susan, can I borrow your date for the evening?", asked Ginny who was dancing with Colin.
"Sure Ginny", she said and passed Harry to her.
Colin went to find Luna Lovegood. Conrad Du Vant asked her for a dance. Conrad was from the Ancient House of Du Vant, a capable wizard whose family had sat in the neutral faction for ages. He was also a good dancer and danced gracefully with her while Harry danced with Ginny.
"Harry, we have had so little time together this year", Ginny was saying.
"I have a lot on my plate, I suppose", Harry replied, "Besides it seems to me that you have a lot going on too. Like running the Harry Potter Fan Club for instance.".
She blushed until her face very nearly matched the colour of her hair, then spluttered, "What? How do you know about the club? It is a well-kept secret. I know that you didn't hear about it from Hermione".
Harry chuckled, "You are right that I did not learn about it from Hermione nor any other member of the club for that matter. But I have my ways that I may go anywhere unseen and unheard if I want to. I sat in on one of your sessions and learned all about it. We can talk about that another time if you like". Then he gave a glance to where Collin and Luna were dancing, "Meanwhile, I hope that you are genuinely interested in Colin. That you are not just talking about running the Harry Potter Fan Club".
She gave him a smack on his shoulder, "Stop teasing me. I really like Colin, Harry but we have to see if we are good for each other. For now, we are just going with the flow. To answer your other question, we do not discuss the club every time we talk. We are just running it. Most of the columns are written by other people".
He returned her to Colin and went to find Susan. She was sitting with a butterbeer in her hand. He sat beside her and taking one of her hands, he kissed it lightly asking, "Has no one asked my lady for a dance?"
She took a deep breath, "I only want to dance with you but you do not seem to have time for me".
Harry took her by the hand and said, "There is nothing I would rather do than dance with you, my lady".
The couple took to the dance floor. The two of them managed three dances in a row before they were interrupted again.
"If you do not mind Susan, can I borrow Harry for a dance?", asked Daphne.
Of course Susan minded. But to say so would have been unladylike, "Of course, I won't mind, Daphne but only on the condition that you will return him to me promptly after a dance".
Daphne happily agreed and Harry started dancing with her.
"Harry, I was terrified when I read about the duel that happened in the ministry. I wanted to come find you that day but I have no idea about where you live. Father told me that your place is protected by a Fidelius Charm so I could not know. Were you scared?", she asked him.
Harry took some time before answering her, "Yes Daphne, I was a little scared alright. Only a fool would not be scared. The little fear we have helps us to stay alert and stay alive. When we are afraid, we do not make mistakes or try to be the hero. I was facing the worst dark lord in recent history so I was obviously scared but not much. I realised that he is not as scary as they make him out to be".
After a few moments when they were quiet, he asked her, "How has your vacation been so far?"
"It has been very good", she replied. "Father has planned to take us to France tomorrow for a week so I am excited about it. I hope I will be seeing you at Hogwarts in a week?"
"Yes, we will be seeing each other in school", he replied, "That is , unless Voldemort has recovered from his injuries already and decides to attack us here at this moment".
She chided him, "That's not very funny, Harry. At least do not spoil the mood now. Things have been very tense since he came out in the open. Mother wanted father to close the apothecary in Diagon Alley and work by Owl Order after she read about the raids on Diagon Alley yesterday. He had not even told her about it when he returned home on the day of the raids and she took him to task for it".
When they had danced for two songs, Susan realised that Daphne was not going to release him any time soon. She motioned for Hannah to go and get her betrothed.
Hannah grabbed Neville and approached Daphne. She said to Harry, "You have danced with everyone today except for me, Harry. Do I have horns on my head or am I walking around in an invisibility cloak?"
Harry said, "Not at all, Hannah. I thought that you would want to dance with Neville alone all night so no one else can claim him. So I had to console myself with whomever I could find".
Neville protested, "Oi mate, why are you digging a hole for me?" He then turned to Daphne, "Heiress Greengrass, may I have the pleasure of a dance with you?"
Daphne gracefully accepted and Harry accepted Hannah's hand. When they were dancing, Hannah said, "Susan told me to go and get you and I had not danced with you yet".
Hermione took hold of him after that dance and they danced for some time before Susan who was dancing with Ronald reclaimed him.
Fleur, who had been dancing with Bill Weasley and sometimes Charlie or one of the twins, borrowed him from Susan.
When they were dancing, she asked him, "Have you talked to Papa?"
He nodded in affirmative, "He told me that he would consider my request and will help if he can. Thank you for the help. I owe you one".
The dancing went on for nearly three hours. Harry danced with Susan when he could but there were a lot of lovely ladies who waited their turn and kept him busy. The band did an excellent job of testing the endurance of the dancers, then mixing in some slow music to give the couples a chance to dance closer. At two minutes to midnight, the band stopped playing.
Sirius got everyone's attention, "Since my son does not feel very comfortable addressing a gathering of people, this onerous task has fallen to me". A few chuckles greeted his statement.
He continued, "I want to thank every one of you for joining us in this festivity tonight. The Houses of Peverell, Potter, Black and Rosier are very glad to have been your hosts for this ball and are hopeful of organising more balls like this in the future. I do not have too many words to say on this occasion because I have always more been a man of wand than words. So I will conclude by asking you to join me in counting down to the New Year".
Harry welcomed the New Year with Susan in his arms and a kiss on her lips while standing on the grounds of the manor. The caterers had cast warming charms on the grounds so it was not very cold out there. Harry wanted to kiss her under the stars while saying good bye to the year gone by and welcome to the year which was coming.
After another round of dance, they were taking a walk in the grounds. Sirius found them walking around the grounds and sent them to their beds, "That will be quite enough lolly-gagging, you two. Yu won't believe how soon the morning will come and you have a portkey to catch to Ireland in the morning". Making a shooing motion with the backs of his hands, he said, "Off to bed you two. Get going".
Diagon Alley
For the first time since Harry had gone to the mystics, he slept without any wards around his bed. He had been bone tired last night and did not care to set up any wards.
Sirius woke him and kissed his forehead, "Wake up son. Come downstairs soon. We don't have much time before you have to go".
When Harry descended, he found Emmeline was at the table. Moony was waking others up. Terry and Mandy joined him shortly. Nymphadora brought Hermione, Susan and Hannah downstairs. Bill brought Ronald. Remus had to wake up Neville after he diffused the ward that Neville had put around his bed. Soon breakfast was underway.
Harry asked Sirius, "How many stayed behind last night?"
"Almost all the muggle born students stayed. They were sent to stay in the guest rooms where spare beds had been prepared for them. There was another attack in Diagon Alley last night. An Auror was injured and two death eaters were killed. We could not risk sending them to public places in the dead of night without any protection. We will send them on their way later today".
Ronald was looking grumpy and blurry-eyed from a lack of sleep. He muttered, "Who's idea was it to get up at this ridiculous hour of the morning anyway?"
Bill ruffled his hair, chiding him, "You can catch up on your beauty sleep once we get there, Ron. It's not as if there aren't any beds for you lot".
"Are you coming along, Bill?", asked Ronald.
"Oh yes. Mother wanted me to keep an eye on her ickle Ronnikins to make sure he stays out of trouble", he said making others laugh.
"Alright you lot, eat quickly and join me in the entrance hall. We will floo to London before you leave England", Sirius said while getting up and dragging Emmeline with him.
They reached the Floo building after an hour and Sirius was there alone. Emmeline had flooed to her house to get ready and go to the ministry afterwards. he turned to them, "We are going to floo to the Leaky Cauldron. From there, we will go to the portkey point in Diagon Alley. There we will receive the port keys".
One by one, they all went to the Leaky Cauldron. They took the exit to Diagon Alley. There was already a guard set up for them in the Leaky Cauldron. They were escorted under cover to the portkey point. The Portkey point was set up to one side in a side alley so that no one would arrive in the middle of Diagon alley and drop on someone's head or something equally awkward.
As they all reached the portkey point, another Auror was waiting for them with pieces of rope in his hand. Sirius levelled his wand at him, "What did I tell Alastor Moody when we met in his office?"
The Auror calmly replied, "You told him that your son would always beat him in a duel".
Sirius took the portkeys from him and the Auror merged into the shadows. Harry understood that he was under the protection of Aurors or mystics at all times when he was out in the open. In fact once or twice, he had spotted an Auror on his tail but did not say anything because it would have served no purpose. This way, he at least knew what his protectors looked like. He however had not been able to spot a mystic yet.
Sirius was saying, "Now you lot, behave and enjoy the vacation. The week will be gone before you even know it. Wizarding Britain is not going anywhere. It will still be here when you return with all its problems, including the recent Dark Lord infestation. The purpose of this vacation is to enjoy it as much as you can. I will be disappointed if you failed to do that".
The first to go were Remus and Nymphadora. Harry and Susan went two minutes later. Next were Neville and Hannah. In another two minutes, Terry and Mandy went. Finally, Bill and Fleur vanished.
Ireland
The portkey deposited them outside a Manor which looked like a little palace. The grounds around the property were vast and spread out for acres. The manor was built entirely out of cut and polished basalt blocks. It looked beautiful, impervious, regal and timeless all at the same time. There was a grand main floor with 15 foot ceilings and two more floors above that. The outer wall was built of the same polished stone blocks stacked 20 feet high with guard towers at the corners and smaller towers on either side of the main gate. The stone was so carefully cut and fitted that it was hard to see the seams between them. Each wall and every tower was topped with stone crenellations made of black and pink veined granite polished to a glossy shine. The main gate was built of a mixture of forged metals with the Black family crest worked into its bars.
Harry's jaw dropped in wonder at the workmanship. He took a few steps forward to touch the gate and see for himself if it was real. As he touched the crest, the portcullis points slid free of their slots in the ground and the gate lifted smoothly upwards. Harry could feel the wards as he passed under the gate and realized that the gate was the least of the measures for keeping unwelcome guests out. Harry noticed that the others had not followed him inside. He turned to see them standing outside the gate.
He asked, "What happened? Why are you not coming in?"
Remus replied, "Call for the head of the elves here, Cub. His name is Dory. Ask him to bring the ward book. You will need to add us to the list of the persons who are allowed access to the building".
Harry could not remember doing anything like that when he visited the Potter Manor for Susan but shelved that thought for later. He called loudly, "Dory".
An elf who was older than Kreacher answered his call. His skin was hanging on his body in folds. His eyes were sunken. He could barely stand. His body shook as he bowed, "Dory welcomes master to the Black Manor".
He said to him kindly, "Dory please fetch me the ward-book".
Dory snapped his fingers and the book appeared in his hands. He handed it to Harry.
Harry took the book and first removed all the names of people allowed access to the manor that he did not recognise. Then he added the names of those who had accompanied him here today.
After they were all in, the portcullis slammed back down.
Harry turned to Dory, "Are you the only elf here or are there more?"
"There are 4 elves in total master. Lory, Sunny and Kinny are the other elves. We all do different work". Then another tremor shook the old elf's body, "Master, I have grown old and want to retire".
Harry knelt down in the snow so that the old elf did not have to look up at him and told him, "I cannot condemn you to death by freeing you. How else can I help you?"
Susan addressed him, "Harry, you do not need to give him clothes for retirement. Just give his duties to another elf and tell him that he is retired now. That will be sufficient".
He turned to Dory, "Is there someone else you can recommend in your place?"
The elf perked up, "Sunny can handle these duties, master. I would have suggested Kinny but she is making little elves".
Harry raised his voice, "Sunny".
The elf who appeared was quite a lot younger than Dory. He spoke with a voice that was loud and firm, "You called, master?"
Harry addressed him, "Sunny, I place you in charge of the elves at this manor". He turned to Dory, "Dory, I am pleased with your dedication and your service. You are hereby retired. You may continue living in the manor as you wish".
"Master is too kind", said the old elf as he bowed. Then he vanished with a pop.
Sunny showed them to their rooms. They all wasted no time getting into bed and passing out. Every one of them had stayed up late at the ball and needed a bit more sleep to feel really fit.
The plan
The manor was situated in a valley, ringed by forested hills, making it a picturesque location. As Sunny told him, it was a holiday home for an Irish Family who had married their daughter in House Black. The manor was given as part of her dowry so, it belonged to House Black now.
It was a three story structure and was surrounded on two sides by a lake which was almost as wide as the lake at Adrishpuram. On the other two sides, it was flanked by Hills making it easily defensible in case there was an attack.
When they woke up in the early afternoon, Remus had all of them come to the meeting room. There were no tables but comfortable sofas for them to sit and even some mattresses on the ground with quilts to wrap themselves in. The atmospheric charms cast in the room were working perfectly but there was no harm in wrapping themselves in quilts when it is snowing outside.
Sunny had some hot chocolate for all of them. They all sat contentedly on the mattresses or the sofas as they pleased.
Remus started speaking after they all had made themselves comfortable, "So, tomorrow you are going to start enjoying your vacation. I hope you will enjoy it to your heart's content. There are a few rules which have to be followed. While we are designated as your chaperones but we are not going to keep following you everywhere because we trust that you are all mature enough not to engage in activities that will bring you shame. Rule number one is that there will be no and I really mean no books opened during our stay. Just so you do not go looking for books, Sirius has had the library emptied already and I took extra care to remove any books which might have been in your trunks". Hermione looked distressed at this announcement. Remus continued, "The second rule is that you cannot spend all day by yourself. You have to mingle with other occupants too. The third rule is that you all have to do what I ask of you. There will be no exceptions. This rule will apply to Bill and Fleur too. Is that clear?"
They all nodded to agree to his rules. They were pretty simple rules that they could abide by and yet enjoy their vacation. It was a pity that it was snowing. They would have liked to go flying on their brooms. They could have fun by other means though, and they were determined to do so.
After Moony had his say, he retired to his room. Harry called a meeting with Fleur, Bill and Nymphadora. He included Susan in it because she was inseparable from him.
He started addressing them, "What I am about to say must not reach Moony's ears. Firstly, Nymphadora, would you speak honestly to what I am about to ask?"
She scowled, "Don't call me Nymphadora. Yes, I will answer your questions unless they are too personal".
Harry grinned, "It is your name. What else am I supposed to call you? Now to the question, Padfoot told me that you fancy Moony. Is that true?"
Susan smacked him on the head, "Of course it's true. Didn't you see how she was trying to stay as close to him as she could during the ball?"
Harry turned to her and said in his sweetest tone, "I only had eyes for you, Sweetheart. So I did not notice anything or anyone else".
Fleur swatted him on the arm, "There will be time later to flirt with her, Harry. Stay focused here".
He nodded, "Right. Our goal then, is to make Moony realise that he is being a prat by keeping her at arm's length. I propose that we have Bill show interest towards Nymphadora to make him feel jealous. If that doesn't work, we will come up with something else".
Bill hesitated, "I can understand that it is a noble purpose Harry but why do I need to be the scapegoat?"
Harry chuckled, "That should be obvious, Bill. You are extraordinarily smart, not to mention that you have a way with the witches".
Bill asked, "Why don't you become the scapegoat?"
Harry shook his head, "No, I couldn't even get a date for the Yule Ball last year, that is until Parvati had mercy on me. Besides, I give lousy compliments. I am just a leetle boy, after all".
Fleur rolled her eyes, "Will you ever stop using that Leetle boy again and again? I said I had made a mistake once Harry. If you were a couple of years older, I would have asked you to the Yule Ball last year. You would have been far better than Roger Davies who was drooling all the time".
Susan mock-glared at her, "Can you please keep your hands off this one? He is already mine and I do not share".
Harry pulled her closer to him in his arms. He kissed the side of her head, saying, "You do not need to be jealous of anyone, Miss Bones. I am yours, today and forever".
Fleur spoke then, "Fine, Bill can act like he is interested in Tonks here and I will play the heart-broken girl if that is what you want. But what if this does not work?"
Harry waved her off, "It should work. Just follow the plan I have made. If this one fails, I will follow any plan that you come up with".
The rift
The next day, they decided to explore the manor as well as the grounds and woods outside. As they agreed, they divided into pairs. Harry went with Susan. Neville paired up with Hannah. Ron and Hermione went together. Terry was with Mandy. Harry did not know if there was anything between Terry and Mandy but he thought it was the perfect time to find out.
Each pair took a chaperone with them. Harry chose Moony to start working his part of the plan with him.
They walked off towards one of the hills. The other couples did the same. They had decided to spend two hours or so out on the grounds before they returned. They found a place, sheltered from the wind, between the trees. In a few minutes, they had cleared the area of snow, adding it to the drifts around them. It did not take them much longer to set up a fire pit in the middle of the clearing, conjure some comfy chairs, get a fire going and set up some charms so that the clearing was comfortable and warm.
They each took their seats to take in the warm glow of the fire while enjoying the sight, scent and sound of the forest in winter.
Moony had closed his eyes, lost in thought when Harry asked Susan in slightly louder tones, "Sue, do you know why Bill and Fleur were fighting this morning?"
Susan, who knew about the charade, replied, "I do not know the whole story. I suppose it was because Bill was overheard saying that he thought that Tonks is very beautiful and an Auror to boot. I don't know if it is true but Fleur claimed that he was going to break off their engagement and court Nymphadora".
Remus's countenance showed no visible change but Harry could see a subtle twitch in his jaw and guessed that the werewolf was listening to every word they were saying.
Harry continued, "If it is true, I will have to ask Arthur to cancel marriage negotiations with Monsieur Delacour. It would be awkward of us to start it and finalise things only to end them abruptly. However I do think that Tonks would complement him nicely. Wouldn't they be perfect together? An Auror and a Curse Breaker both adventurous and loving life".
Susan dreamily replied, "Oh yes, they would be perfect together. But what about Fleur? What will she do?"
Harry looked a bit surprised, "Are you kidding me? She is a really talented witch, bright and charming. She's not too hard on the eyes either. She'll be fine".
Susan shook her head, "No Harry, she is quarter Veela. Veela do not choose their mates lightly. Once they have done so, they do not change their mind".
Harry did not want to lay it on too thick. It would have made Remus suspicious if they went on too long about Tonks and Bill.
Harry took in a deep appreciative breath of air as he surveyed the scene and asked, "Sue, do you like the Manor?
I like it a lot myself. Here, in the middle of nowhere, it is quiet and peaceful. We can live as we please and there is nobody around to tell us otherwise. I would like to come back here as often as I can".
She nodded, "Yes, I like it here. Since we have come here I sort of forgot that we have a war brewing back in England and that our families are embroiled in it. I wish I did not have to go back".
Harry gave her a genuine smile, "I promise that as soon as we have taken care of Tom and his followers, we will come back here and have a nice long vacation".
Two hours later, the fire was burning low and Moony was snoring softly in his chair. Harry woke up Moony, "Remus, we need to go back. It has been two hours".
Back at the manor, there was a different scene going on. When they entered the room, Neville was scowling at Bill, "Mate, some chaperone you were. You left us there by ourselves for the better part of an hour, telling us that you would be back soon, leaving us waiting. Where did you disappear to?"
Bill looked like a deer caught in wand-light, "Neville, I was coming back. Then I found a Thestral. I started to play with it and lost track of time".
Terry spoke up, "Really? I didn't know that we are Thestrals".
Harry asked him, "What do you mean by that, Terry? You look pretty substantial to me and you do not have wings either. Why would you call yourself a Thestral?"
Mandy answered, "Harry, Bill left Neville and Hannah and came over to where we were. As soon as he came over, he spent the whole time talking to Auror Tonks here. When we asked about Neville and Hannah, he vaguely replied that they were grown up and could manage without him".
Hannah turned to Bill, "If you had left us to go to Fleur I would have understood that but why to Auror Tonks? I mean she is not your girl friend".
Harry was watching Remus as the scene played out. The werewolf looked pretty uncomfortable with all the talk.
Fleur went berserk meanwhile, "What were you doing William Arthur Weasley? Why would you go to her and not me?"
Remus calmed her down, "Fleur, if you want to fight, please do it with him somewhere alone. We do not want to hear your differences being made public". With that Remus left them.
When he was gone, Harry turned to the others, "Did we overdo it? Do you think it has affected him at all?"
Fleur replied, "He sure was uncomfortable. But I do not think he will ever speak out this way. We will have to think of something else".
Mandy said, "If you all agree I have a plan".
Do you love her?
The next morning, Bill and Fleur were not talking to each other. Harry and Ron told Remus that they were all going out and that they did not need chaperones for the moment. As it was, two of their chaperones were in a bad mood. They didn't need their mood to ruin things for them.
As planned, the girls stayed back except for Mandy. She went out to the woods while the boys went out exploring. Bill stayed back ostensibly to heal the rift with Fleur. Nymphadora told Remus that she had to report to the Aurors that everything was fine and she was off to do that.
As Sirius had told him, there were Aurors looking after their security and not showing themselves. Their shift changed every eight hours. 12 Aurors had been employed for this purpose with 4 Aurors in each shift. Nymphadora was to report to them once every 8 hours that she was fine. She could do that with her Patronus but she had gone to inform them personally.
About 20 minutes after Nymphadora was gone, Mandy came running back to the manor. She was out of breath, panting, her robes torn in places, her face and arms scratched from the thorns of the plants she had run through to get here.
She saw Fleur and tried to speak while she was gasping and trying to catch her breath, "Fl... Fleu... Fleur..."
Fleur caught hold of her and asked her, "What has happened? Why are your robes torn? What made you run like this?"
Hermione hollered for Remus who came running, his wand in hand and asked her desperately, "What happened, Miss Brocklehurst?"
She lunged for him and hugged him tightly, "Prof... Professor... Death... Death Eaters in the valley. They were trying to take me captive when Auror Tonks came out of nowhere and started duelling them. She told me to come and ask for help".
Remus urgently said, "Tell me where they are". Then he turned to Bill, "Where are the others? Have they returned?"
Bill shook his head and he cursed loudly and barked orders to him, "Bill and Fleur it is your duty to keep the girls safe. I will go and rescue Dora. If the boys come back in the meanwhile, tell them to stay here".
Taking the directions from Mandy, he rushed to the East where Mandy said she came across the Death eaters. There on the top of the hill, Tonks was battling with two of them while two more stood guard over their prisoners. He could not believe his eyes! The boys were already captured. Harry had a gash on his forehead. He was unconscious and chained up with the others.
Blood rushed into his eyes and he ran forward growling throatily. In the time it took him to reach them, the two duelling Tonks had subdued her and tied her with chains. One of the death eaters who had bound Tonks turned in time to send a banishing charm his way throwing him back. As Remus stood again, he started speaking, "Oh! The might of light now depends on you, Remus Lupin?"
Remus had not heard the voice before and said to him, "Whoever you are, if you do not release them at this moment then I swear by Merlin that".
The one who was talking to him taunted him, "You are not in a position to make threats, Lupin. If you do not throw your wand on the ground this moment, my friend will not hesitate to blow her head off".
The other death eater dug his wand into Tonks's head to emphasise the point. Remus threw his wand away. Tonks shouted, "Remus, no! Why did you do that? They won't spare any of us anyway".
One of the death eaters picked up Remus's wand. He turned to the one standing guard over Nymphadora, "Blow her head off first. She talks too much".
Remus fell to his knees, "No... Please don't hurt her".
The one nearest to him cooed, "Ooh, they are love-birds!"
Tonks snapped, "We are not lovebirds?"
The one covering her asked her evilly, "Oh really? Then it should not upset you when my friend offs him?"
Tonks eyes spread in terror and her voice quivered, "No, please no. I beg you".
The fourth one said, "So they are love-birds or at least she is". He turned to Remus, "Do you love her?"
Remus shook his head albeit hesitantly, "No, I do not".
The one standing closest to him and covering him at wand point turned to the one covering Nymphadora, "We are wasting time here. Start killing them and start with her. Our work here is done. We only needed Potter and we got three others. We will be handsomely rewarded".
As the man had uttered "Reduc..." Remus jumped from his place and tackled him to the ground. They were entangled but the one who had been covering him immediately petrified him and started laughing, "Such bravado but useless. It is indeed love. Now my mind is changed. I think I will torture her slowly while he watches and then I will kill him when she has succumbed to our torture".
He turned to Remus, looking into his eyes, and asked, "Any last words you want to say to her?"
Remus had never been so helpless in his life. He was wandless, petrified and there was no way that help could arrive for them. For a brief moment, he wondered what had happened to the Aurors. Perhaps the Aurors themselves were the death eaters and had brought their cohorts here. Their biggest hope, Harry and his friends were bound and lying unconscious otherwise Harry could have saved them single-handed. It did not help that their captor stunned them every two minutes. Also Remus knew that Bill and the girls maybe could get them free but he had left them in the manor and had ordered Bill to keep them there. Even if he could send a message to them, it would be too late by the time that they could arrive. Perhaps it was the end of their lives.
His captor meanwhile had tied him down with heavy chains and unpetrified him. "Say what you wish to, Remus Lupin. Mind you, it is the last thing that you will speak".
He turned to Nymphadora and started saying earnestly, "Dora, I want to tell you something today because I do not think I will get another opportunity to do so. Ever since I met you, I have been smitten by you. I was entranced by your charms and everything you did is endearing to me. I had been dead inside after that fateful Halloween night but you made me feel alive after you stumbled into my life. I wanted to tell you how I feel about you but there is no future to our story. I am a werewolf and I am afraid that I would have transferred this condition to our children if we ended up married. I kept my distance. If I could, I would have married you in this moment".
His captor stood aside and said, "What is stopping you from stepping forward and snogging her brains out then, Moony? Go ahead, you have my blessing". Remus noticed then that the chains which had been binding him had vanished.
"And our best wishes too", said Susan who had came walking up from behind him with the others and they were all watching the scene while Remus pled to Dora's life.
He looked up to see that Harry was standing in front of him. The one who was covering Nymphadora was Neville. Ron and Terry were standing guard over the captives but who the captives were, he did not know.
"What... What is th..." he could not finish his words because Nymphadora had lunged for him at that moment kissing him and the others started whistling and cat-calling them.
After about 5 minutes, when Remus managed to extricate himself from her, he turned to Harry, "What was this, cub?"
Harry gave him an ear to ear grin, "Padfoot told us that you were being a prat and not willing to accept your feelings toward her so we had to do this. I came up with the ruse that Bill was trying to pursue Nymphadora to make you jealous and take action. But that was taking too long. So, Mandy came up with this brilliant plan".
He was still astounded at the lengths they had gone to. "But I could have harmed you seriously, Harry. It was dangerous and who are these captives".
Harry said to him sombrely, "Moony, I really do not like to brag but I do not think that you could defeat me in a duel so we decided that I should fight you instead of anyone else". He then turned to the captives, "As to these, they are homunculi that we had conjured and made them look like us. We knew you would not look closely and walk right into our trap. And that is just what you did".
Remus smiled, "I owe you for this one, Cub and I intend to pay it back with interest soon".
Harry waved him off, "Promises Uncle Promises".
The rest of the day, they spent in the sitting room lounging on mattresses laid down for them. Remus had Nymphadora sitting in his embrace covered with a blanket while Susan sat with him. Neville had Hannah with her and Bill had Fleur. Terry and Mandy were sitting apart from each other. Hermione and Ron despite having been dating for the last 6 months were still maintaining a distance from each other. Harry did not even know how their love story had started. He had just seen them walking into a broom closet one night and they were yet to come out with the details of their relationship. Harry decided that it was time they both went public. He decided to do something about it before they went back to London.
Remus told them a story about the first time that Sirius asked Marlene for a date, "There was Padfoot shaking in his boots and afraid to approach Marlene to ask her out. James and Wormtail had a bet that Sirius would not be able to ask her out. Soon other students knew about the bet and they all started making their own bets either on James's side or Wormtail's. What Wormtail did not know was that James had told Sirius about the bet and had promised to split his winnings so Padfoot had to ask her out.
The real problem was getting her by herself to approach her because Sirius was extremely popular among the witches and he was conscious of his reputation. He did not want other girls to know if Marlene turned him down. That way, his reputation would remain unblemished. On the last day when he was supposed to ask her out and win the bet, he decided to ask her when she was coming from the Girl's washroom on the fourth floor. The tiny problem was that she always seemed to be with a large group of girls.
To deal with that problem, Prongs donned the Invisibility Cloak and waited outside the door of the washroom without being noticed. He threw in a couple of Dungbombs at the opportune moment. Moments later, the girls cleared out of the washroom. In the confusion, Sirius stopped Marlene. He had to ask her three times before she managed to make out what he was saying. Marlene said yes almost immediately. Later Sirius split his share of the winnings with her".
This set every one laughing trying to imagine how it would have looked. Harry managed to ask him between his laugh, "You mean to say Sirius had done an underhanded deal with her and she agreed to it?"
Remus nodded, "She was already interested but when she knew that he was going to make a pocketful of Galleons with her help, she made a deal with him. Sirius split his winnings and spent his share on their date".
Harry turned to Nymphadora, "Sirius has told me that Remus never showed any interest in any witch while he was at school or later for his own reasons, did you date someone?"
She blushed, "Harry, I don't know if that is an appropriate question to be asking right now. But yes, I dated a boy during my last year at Hogwarts".
When she did not reply for a few moments, Bill asked her curiously, "don't keep us all in suspense, Tonks. Who was it?"
She replied, "Charlie Prewett, your brother".
Ron almost shouted, "What? He sure didn't ever let on".
Hermione slapped his shoulder, "Honestly Ronald! Why would he need to tell you?"