Harry Potter: Ero World-Chapter 169: Before the Ball! Part-1

{Daphne's Room, East Wing, Greengrass Manor}

{31th Oct 1991} 

{Rigel's POV}

...

The sound of the door opening caused me to back away. Still, by the smile on Astoria's face, she saw us making out. Daphne glared at her sister for disturbing us, but Astoria quickly interrupted her by saying, "Mother wants you to hurry up. It's almost 7. Guests should begin arriving soon."

She then teased Daphne with her tongue out before she ran away. Her retreating footsteps filled the hallway as I looked at Daphne. She took a deep breath. Her eyes peeked at me before she looked away.

"Shall we go?" I asked as I let go of her waist and presented my arm to her. She looked at the offered appendage and then shook her head.

"Give me a moment. I'm going to touch up on my makeup a little... and um—" she hesitated before she picked up a tissue and handed it to me. I looked at her, confused, before she pointed to the mirror. A quick peek revealed that my lips were smudged with her lipstick.

"Uhhh...you want me to leave it like this, stake your claim on me tonight?" I teased her, only to receive a glare in return. I grinned at her as I wiped the marks of her lipstick from my mouth. Making sure I got it all, I looked at Daphne, who was almost finished retouching her makeup and was putting on a grey loose robe, ready to go.

This time, her slim arm slid in with mine as I led her out of the door; chivalry aside, I didn't know where the ballroom was, so I let her lead. "Do you know what you want me to do other than smile and look pretty?"

"Stop teasing me," Daphne smiled as she started explaining, "There is not much formality that goes into these balls nowadays. We must greet guests with my parents, the main hosts. However, our presence will be compulsory at the start when most of the important guests arrive. We will be free from the formalities after a while while Mother and Father have to greet almost everyone. Other than that, we would be opening the dance with my Parents, and that's it."

'Huh, that's a little different than I expected.'

"The important guests will arrive early. I was expecting it to be the other way around." I voiced my concern.

"No. Every invitation has a personalized time when they are expected to arrive at the manor's entrance. The names are cataloged in order of their importance in Wizarding Britain. As the important guests arrive early, they can mingle with other guests of similar standings before the ball officially starts." She explained as she walked down the grand staircase. Till now, I had only toured the manor around the main hallway and its connected area. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

The Ballroom was a standalone building behind the manor. Neatly cut grass swept across the soles of my shoes as we crossed the well-maintained garden toward it. The white marble of the building gave way to a glorious golden interior. The theme of the ball was clear; there were no decorations for Halloween like I expected. The entire point of the ball, it seemed, was to show the wealth the Greengrass family possessed.

Pillars encased in gold supported a high ceiling, and a massive chandelier emitting multicolored shades of yellow and gold hung in the center. It was shaped like an upside-down tree, with each of its petals consisting of a gold filament encased in glass.

Three people were already in the room. Astoria pranced around the room in her white dress, and Daniel wore black robes as he waited by the entrance. Adorabella was dolled up in a set of yellow and black dress, with a black and golden robe covering her shoulders. The high-cut nature of her dress revealed her creamy thighs and large cleavage as she looked at us approaching.

"Good, you're here," Adora said, looking at both of us and smiling. I noticed that her and Daniel's robes matched; it was similar to Daphne and me.

'I guess they are making a political play as well. I feel a little used but might take it out on her later.' My eyes were lost in Adorabella's cleavage, and it was Daphne's elbow that woke me up.

"At least don't leer at my mom," She grumbled as she led me toward the other end of the doorway.

"No, I wasn't," I lied easily. Her narrowed eyes told me she didn't believe me, but didn't say anything.

Astoria sensed something popped up behind us, though I was perfectly aware of her sneaking. Daphne jumped slightly when she spoke, "Hi!"

Before the sisters could begin quarreling, a pop signified someone had just arrived at the manor. The apparition point was quite close to the gate, as I could sense a presence suddenly appear. I was familiar with this mana signature as I had dealt with him just this morning.

"Welcome, Minister," Daniel greeted as Adorabella just smiled. I saw how Fudge's eyes dipped toward her cleavage before he nodded and greeted back. A couple of meaningless pleasantries were exchanged as Daphne greeted Fudge as well. While he wasn't as impressive to my eyes, my view of him is colored by my understanding of canon. Fudge still was the second most influential man in Britain.

We both eyed each other as I nodded to him, and he nodded back with a smile. I need to reevaluate my strategy when dealing with him. Needlessly antagonizing him won't do anything good.

'I wonder if I can deal with him the same way Malfoy deals with him. Shoving some form of bribe into his arms would make him hesitate to favor Malfoy, especially since I would become the heir to the Black House after the ritual tonight.'

"How much bribe do you think Malfoy gives to the Minister for every incident?" I whispered in Daphne's ear, and she froze. Our eyes met momentarily before she hesitated and replied, "I'll ask Father."

As I turned back to greet the next guest, I noticed Daphne stiffen slightly. I didn't need to look toward the doorway, as I knew who it was.

'Lucius likely ignored the order by arriving right after the minister,' I thought. Still, my attention was not on the blond man as my eyes met Narcissa's before they dipped down to examine her dress.

'Yeah, making good on my promise to Daphne won't be easy.'

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