She's A Liar [T.R. & R.B.]

VIII

The young couple walked down the pebble path together with other guests, some of them their colleagues, but they gave no sign of wanting to acknowledge or greet each other. Better that way.

At the entrance a large man checked their invitations and the names on the list. He frowned slightly as he noticed that the two young people were not accompanied by their families, who were also on the list.

Althea merely shrugged her shoulders and smiled exquisitely at him, if that smile had been directed at Regulus his breath would have been cut short. "I recently turned eighteen sir, we took the opportunity of this splendid ball for my debut in society."

Regulus' heart was pounding, scared that the plan would fail before it even began but he relaxed slightly when the guard mimicked her smile and let them pass without a second thought. He had forgotten how convincing Althea was, with her silver tongue she had avoided a great deal of punishment and reprimands at school.

As they entered the hall where the event was being held several gazes rested on them but most moved immediately to the newcomers. They made their way through the crowd smiling and waving to those who caught their eyes, Althea taking the opportunity to make new acquaintances among the elite of the purebloods. Despite being a member of the sacred 28 families, her household had always kept to themselves, not allowing her to expand her knowledge outside of hogwarts as a result.

Perhaps she had taken on an expression of mild rancour at the memory of the loneliness she had suffered in her childhood home because Regulus took her hand again, squeezing it lightly to induce her to look at him.

"You mustn't take it too hard you know? This alliance is very important to all of us, he doesn't want any mistakes but if he didn't have faith in your abilities he wouldn't have even given you the task."

Althea sighed and smiled slightly, Reggie knew how much she cared about the approval of others and he always tried to remind her how great she was with or without it and she always felt so special.

"Thank you Reggie, I'm just a little worn out you know? he's a man who changes his mind too often" she decided to pretend that was what was bothering her, confiding in Regulus the sadness of her childhood would have been in poor taste, especially considering that the youngest of the Blacks had it far worse.

Althea didn't catch Regulus' grimace when she called him a man. To him he was a soulless monster, or rather a very broken soul. He agreed with her, not wishing to pursue the subject further.

Between snacks and champagne, the minutes went by in a flash and soon the dances were opened by the hosts. The skirts of the ladies' dresses swelled with every turn and their scarves fluttered in the fast movements of the dances. Groups danced in circles and waiters moved quickly trying to avoid those who strayed too far from the dance floor.

Familiar and unfamiliar faces reddened from the alcohol combined with the unbridled movement, the older ones remained at the tables observing and judging the poise of those who continued to dance, muttering how the dances were more sophisticated in their day.

Seeing so many smiles the young witch felt like dancing, she turned to Regulus who immediately offered her a hand. They mingled with the dancing crowd, jumping and spinning and letting out genuine, light-hearted laughter.

The rhythm of the song slowed and without even realising it she found her hands on Regulus' shoulders as he placed his on her waist. She felt her cheeks heat at the almost intimate contact.

He leaned to the side of her face so he could whisper, "the amount of guys looking at you Althea is impressive, I don't think I've met a friendly look yet" he said with a slight chuckle as if to play down the situation. Althea looked around discreetly noting what her partner had said.