Harry rolled his eyes. "What happened to your Ravenclaw?" Harry asked.
"I was going to keep her for a few more months, but if I had you, I'd get rid of her immediately. After all, you'd be a betrothal match, not just a girlfriend."
"I feel so special." Harry said with heavy sarcasm.
"Oh no. Rowle's spotted you, Harry." Draco said, looking high over his head. "He's coming right over."
"Damn. It hasn't even been ten minutes yet!" Harry groaned before he weaved his way past Draco and snatched a drink before diving into the mingling people. He evaded Rowle while making mindless small talk for a full half an hour, which Harry thought was quite impressive, but ultimately, he almost barrelled into the other man after he'd stopped at a table to refill his glass.
"There you are. I've been looking for you since the beginning of the night."
Harry looked up at the tall, blonde, blue-eyed man. He was broad and muscled and if he had to guess, then Harry would have put him in his early to mid-thirties. He was very, very good looking and his eyes were all over Harry, taking in the tailored cut of his robes which accentuated his trim waist and the slim line of his body.
Harry calmed himself, took a deliberate breath and took a moment to peruse Rowle slowly as he slipped into his 'Lord Potter-Black' persona that he used in the Wizengamot. He'd been slipping in and out of this persona since the party had begun and he had used it in all his previous conversations when meeting up with other members of the Wizengamot, who all wanted to introduce him to their wives, children, brothers, and friends. It was tiring.
"I'm not exactly hard to miss." Harry replied calmly as he indicated the bright red robes that he was wearing. He was the only one tonight wearing red and the only thing that came closest to his robes was Millicent's mandarin orange dress and a few spots of pink here or there from some of the women's dresses.
"It is a lovely colour on you." Rowle complimented easily. "It brings out a nice flush to your cheeks…unless you've been sneaking wine." He joked.
Harry laughed politely. "No, just pumpkin juice for me. I have no wish to kill off my brain cells before I'm even an adult."
"It's refreshing to meet someone so young who recognises that they're not adults yet. Most of the little shin lickers here tonight would insist that they're mature, in the process proving just how immature they actually are. By recognising that you still have room to grow, well…I think that you're the most mature person in this room who is actually under the age of seventeen."
"Thank you. It helps that I sit on the Wizengamot."
"Ah, yes. Spending that amount of time around a table with very old men tends to age people."
Harry couldn't stop the genuine laugh that came out.
"You came over to get a drink, may I have the honour of refilling your glass?"
Harry nodded and watched as Rowle took his empty glass from his hand and refilled it with the jug of pumpkin juice. He handed it back and his hand lingered longer than strictly necessary. "I'm Thorfinn, everyone just calls me Finn, however."
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Harry."
Thorfinn laughed. "You are probably the single most known person in this room. Everyone knows about you and your adoption."
Harry nodded. "The papers have been going on about it a lot." He replied ambiguously. Of course, he knew Rowle was talking about Voldemort and his current orders for his Death Eaters, but Harry didn't want to ruin his night so early on by thinking about it.
"Indeed. So, I suppose you already have a betrothal match?"
"I do. Rabastan Lestrange and I are betrothed together."
"You could do so much better than him." Rowle insisted. "I had the thought that Lucius was punishing you by pairing you with that old cripple. I'll have a word with him and see if he won't reconsider."
Harry frowned and blinked as Rowle looked around the room before he patted Harry's shoulder and walked away determinedly, apparently he'd spotted Lucius. Harry turned to look at him walking away and he was sure that he was gaping. Rowle had asked about his betrothal despite apparently already knowing about it and now, instead of asking him if he liked Rabastan and wanted to be betrothed to him, he was assuming that he didn't and was taking it upon himself to 'liberate' Harry in order to be betrothed to him himself.
He definitely understood what Lucius and Draco had meant by possessive…they'd only just met one another and Rowle was already treating him as if he couldn't think for himself. It didn't bode well for anyone who married Rowle in the future, but he knew that it definitely wouldn't be him! He shook his head in bemusement and moved off, greeting some of the lords he knew from the Wizengamot politely and allowing himself to again be introduced to their wives or children. Really, it seemed that that's all they wanted to do tonight was introduce him to everyone under the sun that they knew.
He smiled the most at the shy preteens, he knew from Draco that these were adult parties and that it was incredibly unlikely that anyone under the age of eleven would be there, so he was extra kind to them when he did see some twelve-year-olds and there was one newborn sleeping in a tiny little gown in her mother's arms.
This entire gala seemed to be over the top and extravagant. There were ice sculptures everywhere, depicting winter animals that he assumed were magically made and hollow, with charms to prevent them from melting. Everywhere he looked frosted glass tables were holding an array of drinks in frosted glasses and on frosted glass plates there was every canapé and appetiser ever invented. Everything was white and glittered oddly, like freshly fallen snow and the massive glass doors on the one side of the ballroom were flung open into the softly lit garden beyond, though the ballroom was quite warm. Draco was right, it was very over the top and gaudily showy.
"I will not allow you to speak of my brother in such a manner!"
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