See If I Care

21

*Gobbledygook*

$Parseltongue$

-December 26th, 1991-

{Alex's POV}

Alex followed Draco down the stairs and back into the entrance hall. Draco's parents were already standing there, both dressed elegantly.

"Mother, Father," Draco greeted as they stepped up to the adults.

"Draco. This is one of your friends I presume?" his father asked.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy," Alex said, bowing before each of them as they had been taught. "I am Alex Potter, heir to both Potter and Black."

"None of the formalities for me darling. Any friend of Draco's is free to call me Cissa. I didn't know that the Potter's had a child other than Harry," Lady Malfoy, Cissa, said. A small smile graced her face as she looked Alex up and down. "Your robes are delightful."

"Thank you Cissa. And I thank you for the invitation."

"Of course, Alex. Any friend of Draco is welcome in our house any time." Alex nodded in thanks at these words.

"Now, the guests will be here soon. You won't have to do much Draco, just stay in the ballroom. Your mother and I will greet the guests this year," Lord Malfoy said.

"Of course, Father. Come on Alex. You'll appreciate the decorations." Draco pulled Alex out of the entrance hall and into a room just as big. There was a table on one wall, covered in food and drinks. In another corner, a set of instruments was set up. There were tables around the edges of the room and the middle of the room was free for dancing. The decorations were elegant, just like the rest of the manor. Strings of pearls glistened across the windows, while a few rose gold ribbons hung down along the walls. There was two chandeliers hanging from the roof, diamonds glistening among the candles.

"This looks great Draco. Does your family set it up, or house elves?"

"Well, the house elves help, but mother insists that it needs a woman's touch."

The ballroom slowly filled with people and Alex recognised some of the faces. The Minister and many other ministry officials were there, along with most of the dark and neutral pureblood families. Alex and Draco stayed by the door, waiting for their friends to show. Blaise came first and Neville wasn't far behind. They spent the hall ball eating, talking, laughing and sometimes dancing. Alex enjoyed it immensely and wished the night wouldnt end.

The time passed quickly and before Alex knew it, it was 10 o'clock. They could feel their eyes starting to get heavy and their body getting weary. Despite the music and noise within the room, they just wanted to go to sleep.

"I think I'm going to call it a night guys. I suck at staying up late."

"That's too bad. But I get it. We'll see you back at school," Neville said. Blaise nodded in agreement.

"Don't forget to bring the books to school," Draco warned. Alex laughed.

"I won't."

"Do you have a way to get home?" he asked. Concern quickly crossed his face before he pulled up his mask again.

"Yeah. My guardian gave me a word activated portkey to get home when I wanted," they replied. In reality, they were just going to apparate home, but the others didn't need to know that.

"Ok then. Well, see you on the train." Alex waved as they left the room, making their way back to Draco's room to collect their bag before leaving. They grabbed their bag, shrinking it down and placing it in their robe pocket. They made their way back to the entrance hall, where they knew that the apparition and portkey wards had been removed for the day. They turned on their heel and were gone.