Disclaimer:
"Harry Potter" and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 142: The Ladies
As the butler said, more people continued to enter over the course of the next hour.
Harry recognized some of them, like Alecto Carrow, Lord Bulstrode, and Edward Nott.
"Why is he sitting there?" Theodore Nott glared at Harry with furious eyes, as he was currently seated to the right of Pansy.
"Because I asked him to," Pansy said with a tone that left no room for arguments.
Harry received many nasty glares during the last hour, almost exclusively from the young male guests. He might still be learning about etiquette, but he at least knew what sitting on the right side of the host meant. He was being treated as the guest of honor, and many didn't seem to like that fact.
Theo was just the first one who had dared to speak up about it.
"Tsk…fine," he decided to shut his mouth and sit down, not wanting to anger Pansy any further.
Like most of the boys here, Theodore Nott had the desire to earn the engagement with the Parkinson family that the Malfoys had lost.
And by giving Harry that seat, she was practically announcing who the first candidate was, making him the target of much contempt.
Of course, Harry was not aware of all of this at the moment. After all, Slytherin gossip never leaves the Slytherin house. It is one of their unwritten rules.
The ballroom continued to fill until only a few seats remained.
At his table, most of the students were from the second year: Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent Bulstrode, Nott, Pansy, Daphne, and Tracey.
The only exception was Flora Carrow, who was currently in the third year, as well as her missing twin.
The table next to theirs had older students, most of whom were boys Harry was able to recognize from the Quidditch team, like Marcus Flint, Adrian Pucey, and Cassius Warrington, as well as a few others.
"Who are we missing?" Tracey pointed at the empty chair on their table.
"Zabini," Daphne was the first to answer.
"It seems like his portkey was left for last," Nott glanced at Pansy. "Did he offend you in any way?"
Since the portkeys were arranged in order, it was inevitable that someone had to be last.
But it was considered a mild disrespect to be left for last. So it was an 'honor' left for the least welcomed guest.
"Let's just say…" Pansy started. "I did not like the way his mother attempted to approach his engagement proposal…"
"Did Lady Zabini try to seduce your father?" asked Millicent with a grin.
"I believe she is looking for her next husband," Tracey added.
"Oh, there they are," Nott pointed at the door.
Blaise Zabini entered with a young woman at his side.
If Harry didn't already know better, he would have assumed that this was his older sister. The woman did not look a day older than twenty-five.
She was beautiful in an almost unnatural way, with her olive skin, long black hair, and a pair of clear amber eyes that were almost reaching a yellow color.
Blaise and his mother came directly towards their table without stopping once to greet any of the other guests.
"Miss Parkinson, greetings! It appears we are the last ones to arrive, how rude of me. I beg your pardon," Lady Zabini glanced at Pansy with a provoking smile.
Everyone at the table became tense after hearing her comment.
She apologized for arriving late and called herself rude. But since the order of the portkeys was decided by the Parkinsons, she was essentially calling them out for being the rude ones.
They all glanced at Pansy, wondering what her reaction was going to be like.
Harry, on the other hand, was completely focused on Lady Zabini. But it wasn't just for her alluring beauty.
'Why do I feel something off with her?...that aura, it reminds me of them…'
"Do not worry much about it, Lady Zabini. We can all get careless sometimes. We just need to be more careful next time," the voice came from behind Lady Zabini.
A gorgeous woman with pale skin and black hair stood there, looking at the other woman with barely hidden contempt.
"Mother…" Pansy muttered.
"Lady Parkinson," Lady Zabini smiled at her. "You didn't need to come all the way here. I was about to visit your husband's table next."
Harry moved his eyes away from the dark-skinned beauty and stared at the other woman.
He was not surprised to find out that Lady Parkinson was the same lady he met back at Ollivanders. It had become evident after receiving the dragon skin holster that he himself had chosen a few days back.
Lady Parkinson appeared to be extremely angry at the other woman, and Harry didn't know what could have happened between the two of them, but he had heard some of the rumors surrounding Lady Zabini.
She is also known as the Black Widow, and it is said that she has already married more than five times but all her husbands die in mysterious circumstances soon after the wedding.
"There is no need to go speak with my husband," Lady Parkinson said with an icy tone. "Your seat is on the other side of the room," she said while pointing at a faraway table.
Lady Zabini smiled with amusement, not looking bothered at all by the treatment she was receiving.
"Then I better get going to my place."
She leaned over and gave her son a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you later, dear. Have fun."
She turned around and walked with elegance across the room, turning many heads to glance at her curves.
Blaise Zabini sat down, looking very embarrassed by the whole situation.
"I had everything under control, Mother," Pansy huffed.
"Of course you did. But dealing with adults is our job."
Lady Parkinson's eyes scanned the table until they stopped at Harry.
"Mister Potter, it's so good to see you again."
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