TGWL PT1. The girl who lived and the Founders

A Birthday Ball and a Letter

They spent the afternoon playing Quidditch before the rest of the Weasleys arrived. Charlie and Bill were welcome but the others most certainly were not. And only Charlie and Bill had been invited at that time. Those two apologised, their mother had followed them without permission. Helena said that she didn't mind. After all, they wouldn't be allowed in the private quarters that those they truly did like would be.

Lady Weasley, about two days from being Ms Prewett, did try to intercept them but they knew Founders Manor well and evaded her easily.

Soon, it was time to get ready. The men and boys were locked up by the House Elves who then proceeded to wrangle them into their formal wear. The women and girls all got ready together, fussing over Helena.

Eventually, they were all ready. When Helena saw Draco, she suspected that his mother and her mother had talked. Their clothes were matching.

Then it was time to enter the ballroom.

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The guests looked up. It was traditional to come to a ball with your soulmate and so they were all interested in who the soulmates of the 'Silver Octo' were. The parents had had a hectic day though as they had to arrange for families of soulmates to come and arrange the procession. The procession was the closest friends of the host and their parents and it was all stressful.

First came Lord Lovegood, with Lady Lovegood in white and gold, the Lovegood colours. Then Dowager Lady Longbottom in a green and grey dress. Luna and Neville were the first pair to come in. Luna's knee length hair was streaming towards the floor over a stunning green and white dress. Neville's robes were green and white as well, and they looked a perfect couple. Then came Lord and Lady Clearwater. Lord Weasley and Lady Weasley seemed barely civil to each other, which was not unusual. They weren't each other's soulmates, the rumours said- Lady Weasely had forced Lord Weasely into a marriage contract for his money, and Lord Weasley was divorcing her now because he had found his soulmate. Unlike most rumours, this was actually true.

Next came Mr and Mrs Bell, then Mr and Mrs Johnson. Finally, Fred and Katie, in green and gold came , followed by George and Angelina in red and brown. Percy and Penelope were in blue and gold. Dowager Lady Tonks entered in black and green followed by Nym on the arm of Remus Lupin. Sirius wolf whistled from his place in the crowd, next to his wife Lilith, Lucius' younger sister. Nym and Remus were in green and brown, they would be a handsome couple when Nym grew up. Helga and Salazar entered next in yellow and green. The guests held their breath- the next couple through that doorway would be Heir Hufflepuff-Slytherin's soulmate's parents. Lord and Lady Malfoy glided in in black and silver. A gasp ran through the crowd and Albus Dumbledore chocked, hoping he'd be wrong.

Through the doorway strode Draco Malfoy in blue and white robes. On his arm was Helena.

Her dress was white and floaty with a dark blue overdress over, made of the same material. The overdress was joined at the waist to the white underdress. The white dress was sleeveless so that slender white arms emerged from slit dark blue sleeves that fell in a mist to the ground. Silver and sapphire jewelley, tasteful and delicate but not too mature, adorned her wrists and neck and head. Her long black hair had a white-blond streak through it. Her huge green eyes were sparkling. Those who were not gaping at the lovely children or muttering about the twin of the Boy-Who-Lived being with the son of an accused Death Eater were whispering about what a perfect couple they made.

The ball was wonderful, and Helena loved every moment of it. The expression on Dumbledore and his loyal Order of the Flaming Chicken, no offence to Fawkes, had been priceless. Especially when Fawkes uttered a low cry and landed on her shoulder. Helga and Salazar had talked with parents and Dumbledore. Just after the dessert had disappeared, a flock of school owls came in with the letter for every Pureblood or Halfblood child who was at the ball and would start at Hogwarts.

Helena had laughed at seeing the motto of the school. Her mother had told her about the incident that led to it. It involved a drinking game, a drunk Godric and Salazar and a dare. It had apparently created a permanent imprint of a Hungarian Horntail's tail on the top of Gryffindor Tower. Godric had tried to remove it, but Rowena had charmed it permanent. Helena Ravenclaw-Gryffindor, now the Grey Lady, and her siblings had drawn several pictures of the event on the stone which were likewise permanent. They had often involved Godric's head on fire, because it was, and Salazar hiding behind a bush, because he was going to jump out a scare the dragon because he was drunk, or Salazar joining Godric with his head on fire because he had forgotten that dragons spoke a dialect of Parseltongue.

Either way, any time a female of the Founders household saw the motto, they laughed.

Helena and Draco began the first dance, with others joining them until the dance floor was filled. It was smooth and slow but got faster until there was no way you could dance it without having the Old Blood active in you. This guided you taught you through Pureblood society in the form of instinct. It was only active in those who followed the Old Ways and so the Loyal order of the Phoenix were struggling. Ryan was just standing there as Lily and James danced disco style.

Afterwards, Salazar brought a man over. He was tall and dark haired with a handsome face and dark brown eyes over. Salazar opened his mouth but Helena beat him . "Tom!" She squealed and threw herself st him. Draco smiled and hugged him and Tom Marvolo Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort (which was perfectly well known to Helena) hugged them back. He had been a part of their lives for a long time and was like an older brother to Helena. In fact, Helga and Salazar had adopted him two years ago. It wasn't necessary as her was of age but they wanted him to be part of the family. The rest of her family and friends buried him and his wife Regula in a hug, glad to see him again from his trip around the world, observing potions as he wanted to take the potions job so that Serverus could finally teach DADA as he was always griping about it.

Helena's best birthday present though, was Albus Dumbledore's face. He knew who Tom was, and he couldn't do anything. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the closeness of her friends and family. This was the best birthday ever. Even though their Pureblood masks had been torn away. It was fine. This late into a ball, everyone who was of age was a little tipsy.