After I got home from practice that night, I was stumped; what did you wear to these things? Leo said it was causal, but I highly doubted I could waltz in there in my practice clothes. After a quick shower, I finally decided on black pants with a white button-down shirt and some Quidditch boots in good condition. Instead of dress robes, I pulled on some clean but plain black ones. I was searching though my jewellery box to find something to wear on my neck when I found a dragon necklace. It wasn’t just any dragon necklace “ it was the one Charlie gave me for Christmas in our sixth year. I closed my eyes, remembering Charlie’s fingers sending lightning shocks down my spine as he fastened it around my neck. And then…we were sharing our first kiss. I held the necklace so tightly that it cut into my fingers. Ignoring the blood, I fastened it around my neck and felt the pendant slide down to my breastbone.
I realized that I had no idea where Leo was, where the party was, or how I was going to get there. I curled up on my bed, not able to get Charlie out of my head, when a knock on the door startled me out of my daydreams. I opened the door and stood face to face with Leo.
“Ready, Mimi?” he asked with a smile. I nodded, and then remembering my question, asked, “Where is the party?”
Leo shook his hair out of his eyes. “Stratford-Upon-Avon, I believe,” he said with a shrug. He looked around. “Do you have a fireplace?”
I grimaced. “Well, no…,” I began. “But Tom has one in the Leaky Cauldron that we can use.” I added, reassuring Leo.
After arriving at the Leaky Cauldron (And asking permission to use the fireplace), Leo pulled out some Floo Powder he had wrapped up tightly in a cloth. “Ladies first,” he said, stepping to the side and offering me the cloth.
Taking a pinch of the powder, I suddenly realized something. “Umm, Leo?”
“Yes?”
“What is the address? Or is it a specific name?”
Leo chuckled. “It’d be a bit hard to get there if you didn’t know the exact location, huh? It’s called ‘The Crest’.”
I took a deep breath, threw the powder, stepped into the emerald flames, and yelled out, “The Crest!”
Considering the distance from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the travel by Floo Powder was rather short. My ending point was a small room with crimson walls, a bookshelf, and some paintings. A house elf stood to one side, dressed in a crisp, white pillowcase.
“Allow me, Miss,” the elf squeaked, and with a snap of his fingers, the dust and soot vanished.
Ahh, I thought. This must be a welcoming elf. I was about to thank him when Leo entered the room. When the elf cleared him from the ash, we both nodded our thanks and left the room.
“His master allows him to use magic?” I whispered to Leo when we were out of the room.
“It’s just for the party,” he whispered back. “More than anything, it’s showing off.”
We stepped into the main room, and I thought I had stepped onto another planet. The room was enormous and white with the ceiling stretching up into the sky (no doubt bewitched to look that way). Glittering golden curtains framed windows the size of a giant. Silver and golden ribbons hung from the vast ceiling studded with what looked like diamonds. An enormous glass table lined a wall filled with shrimps, biscuits, and small sandwiches. Glasses of champaign lined the other part of the table.
I was so shocked by the décor that I didn’t even notice the guests. Ladislaw Zamojski (Poland’s top Chaser) was chatting casually with Myron Wogtail (lead singer of the Weird Sisters). Gwenog Jones (captain of the Holyhead Harpies) was a bit drunk already with a beetle in her hair and flirting with Ludo Bagman (head of the Department of Games and Sports).
A man with spiked blonde hair and startling jade eyes walked up and shook Leo’s hand vigorously. “Leo, my friend, you always bring the most beautiful women,” he said, gesturing to me with a smile.
My eyes widened. Was it a mistake to come here with Leo? “We’re not…” I began hastily, before seeing the glimmer in the man’s eyes that told me he already knew.
“Mimi, this is Noah Lords, the person responsible for this get together.” said Leo. “Noah, this is Mim- Arianna Perry.”
Noah’s eyebrows shot up and gave Leo a rather stern look when he heard the name ‘Mimi’, but he shook my hand anyways. “Nice to meet you, Arianna.” He said.
I shook my head. “Please, call me Ari.”
Noah stood by us most of the evening, except for when he had to greet other guests (not as frequently as I would have thought; Leo and I seemed to be one of the later guests). Leo pointed out “ and introduced me to “ more stars than in Astronomy class. Seeing that champaign was the only thing there was to drink, I was hesitant at first, but decided to at least try it. The drink was bitter, but I kept sipping at it, as everyone else did. Before I knew it, another glass was in my hand.
The evening went by in a whirl of colour and face I would never be able to remember. I didn’t remember much of the night, as it turned out. I had just set down my empty glass and was walking towards Noah to ask him how he and Leo knew each other in the first place…
…when everything turned black.
Ultimate by Ivona Queens
Chapter Notes: A BIIIIG thanks to fireflower for being my Beta again. Seriously, I don't know how she puts up with my silly spelling mistakes. =)