𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝟑.𝟗 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲

Just as Slughorn promised, you received your invitation to the supper party by the end of the week. Out of the four of you, only Harry, Hermione, and you were invited. Ron didn't seem to care much, thankfully. He was still preoccupied with Quidditch practices and showing off in front of Lavender Brown who insisted on being in attendance every single time he was on the field. 

Honestly, you didn't think she'd even know what Quidditch was if Ron didn't play it.

You wore a plain (Y/F/C) evening gown that brushed against your ankles when you walked. It was the first time since the Yule Ball that you had a reason to get dressed up during the school year. Except this time, you knew from the start that it was going to be a dreadful night.

Somehow you managed to escape being the matter of discussion all throughout the appetizer and main course. But now, everyone was idly spooning up their servings of flaked caramel ice cream and Slughorn was calling on students left and right, asking them about their impressive lifestyles. You were actually quite surprised that Draco hadn't been invited. Before you and Harry stepped up, he had been near the top of the class for quite some time.

Harry sat immediately to your right with Hermione on the other side of him. Neville had also been invited and he was at your left, nervously prodding at his portion of dessert. There weren't many other faces that you recognized at the party besides Blaise Zabini who was perched right beside Slughorn himself.

He was a stoic boy and you respected him for never disappearing inside Draco's posse of nameless Slytherin wannabe's. He put his foot down when needed be and knew exactly when not to laugh at one of his friend's jokes. 

Every so often, his serpent-like eyes would glide over to you from across the table and make uncomfortable shivers roll down your spine. You respected him, yeah, but he still gave you the creeps.

You met Blaise's mother briefly at the Malfoy Christmas party last year. She was extraordinarily beautiful and when first shaking her hand, you assumed she was at least half Veela. After a little digging (Pansy always had dirt on other pureblooded families) you learned that Blaise has had around six step-fathers throughout the course of his life, all of whom had gone missing or died mysteriously a little less than a year after the wedding. It was enough to almost made you feel bad for him.

The interesting thing was, you didn't think Blaise even liked Voldemort. He never went out of his way to show his disdain for your muggle-born classmates or anything like that. He enjoyed the chaos of war and it didn't matter to him which side won as long as he could revel in their bloody victories.

There was a short lull in conversation and Slughorn pushed his empty bowl aside, clearing his throat loudly. "And you, Mr. McLaggen?" He asked, looking to his left where Cormac was sitting. "Have you heard much of your Uncle Tiberius lately?"

"Why yes, sir," Cormac grinned like he had been anticipating the question all evening. "In fact, I'm meant to go hunting with him and the Minister over the holiday."

As much as you wanted to pretend like you weren't listening, this news struck a chord with you. You were surprised that Fudge was still in office after his blatant mistreatment of the Death Eater scare last year. A good many people died because of his negligence. Including but not limited to Sirius Black. It won't be the best image if he left the country to go hunting with Cormac and whatever relative he had been boasting about.

"Oh my," Slughorn chuckled. "Well, make sure to give them both my best."

When you looked up again, Cormac was looking directly at you. He looked prideful, like he was expecting a reaction out of you. Before you could subtly tell him to leave you alone with your eyes, Slughorn tapped on the glass bowl with his spoon.