As Delilah scrutinises her appearance in the mirror, she flattens her emerald green cocktail dress and inspects the shape of her body in the dress. Cedric comes up behind her in a muggle tuxedo to match the slick look he's sporting while wearing a black tie around his neck. As Delilah glanced at the wizard, she noticed that the tie was haphazard and sighed playfully.
"Stop scrutinising your appearance," Cedric tells the witch. "You look beautiful"
Delilah begins to fix Cedric's tie, undoing the wonky knot before beginning to retie it.
"Now you look dashing," Delilah says, flattening his lapels.
"You ready?"
"I have more than enough booze to get me through this," Delilah replies.
Delilah and Cedric enter the party which was in full swing when they arrive. Delilah bats the large curtains out of her way as the Twins approach them.
"Why are you two here?" Delilah asks.
"We received an invite," George replies. "Slughorn wanted to invite two successful businessmen to his party"
"Ah, Miss Potter!" Slughorn exclaims excitedly. "Come get a picture!"
Delilah looks to Cedric and the Twins with pleading eyes but only receives laughter in response. Fred and George are quick to push Delilah towards the rotund Professor and her younger brother.
Delilah stands next to her brother as Slughorn stands behind them, a wide grin on his face. The camera flashes brightly before a popping sound fills the air. The witch is quick to escape the Professor, blending into the crowd.
Delilah's eyes scan the vicinity before pouring a hefty amount of firewhisky into her glass of punch that a student had handed her. The party was buzzing with noise as Delilah pours the drink down her throat before quickly refilling her goblet.
"Care to share?" Hermione mutters to the witch.
"Cormac not to your liking?" Delilah teases.
"Definitely not," Hermione sighs. "He's such a pig"
"I could have told you that," Delilah replies, pouring firewhisky into Hermione's goblet. "Maybe a bit of dutch courage will help you see past all of that"
"I don't think there's enough alcohol in the world to help me see past all that," Hermione replies, taking a large mouthful of the drink.
"Woah, steady on Hermione," Delilah laughs. "If you keep going that way, we're going to have to carry you back to your dorm"
A loud commotion causes the buzz of the party to fall silent as all eyes move to the curtain entrance where Draco was being pulled into the party by Argus Filch.
"Take your hands off me," Draco hisses.
"Professor Slughorn, sir," Flich begins. "I just discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party"
"Okay, okay," Draco sighs. "I was gate-crashing. Happy?"
"Professor Potter and I will escort him out," Snape says, his eyes moving to Delilah who nods.
Harry accepts the beverage with great appreciation from Delilah when she hands her goblet to him. Delilah watches in astonishment as Harry takes a large drink, savoring the burn of the alcohol against his throat as he gulps it down.
"I'm an awful influence," Delilah murmurs to herself as she follows after Draco and Snape.
The trio move to a darkened corridor as Delilah stands next to Draco facing the older wizard.
"Did you hex the Bell girl?" Snape asks and receives no response. "You foolish, foolish boy! You could have been caught in the act. Then he would have killed your mother or did you forget that small detail"
"Of course, I know that," Draco hisses. "You think I don't think about that every day? Maybe I did hex that Bell girl, maybe I didn't. What's it to you?"
"I swore to protect you," Snape snaps. "I made the Unbreakable Vow!"
"I don't need your protection," Draco snaps. "I was chosen to do this. If he thinks I'm not capable, he'll kill me and my mother anyway"
"He has a point," Delilah replies. "If Voldemort think he can't do this alone, he'll get rid of Draco straight away which undoes all of our work to keep him safe"
"So how do we help him?" Snape asks the witch.
"I'll help him," Delilah replies. "You need to just stick to what we discussed"
"What are you talking about?" Draco looks between the two.
"You can't know about it yet," Delilah replies. "I know you're being trained in legilimency but you're not advanced enough yet to conceal it from powerful legilimens"
"Will this plan help me?" Draco asks.
"Yes," Delilah replies.
"You must trust that the plan we have formulated is in your best interest Draco,"
"Do you trust me Draco?" Delilah asks the boy who nods.
"With my life,"
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