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chapter nineteen | wine and dine
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The next night was Slughorn's dinner party, and Stella Mason didn't know what to expect. She dressed in a simple long sleeve fitted black dress and small heels, but they still flattered her figure. Not used to makeup, she decided against it. As she was looking over herself in the mirror, her charm around her necklace caught her attention. It seemed, in Stella's eyes, that the charm had dimmed a bit. After all, the star was never the same when the sun set forever. She didn't realize her eyes had welled until a tear fell on her hand as she held her necklace. Her lip quivered as she thought about her dad. No news. Nothing since Dumbledore told her he would tell her if anything happened. Stella didn't know if the silence on the Headmaster's side was a good thing or a bad thing. Pulling herself together, she took deep breaths before walking alone to the dinner. She knew she was late, she just hoped she wasn't too late.
She walked up the marble staircase to Slughorn's office as her heart raced with anxiety, the last thing wanted was to be the center of attention. She opened the door, making everyone turn to her as she walked in.
"Ah, Miss Mason," Slughorn smiled warmly, "come in, come in."
"I'm sorry, sir," the blue eyed girl spoke softly, "I'm not usually late."
She approached the empty seat next to Harry as the boy in question stood up abruptly. He knew immediately there was something wrong. She looked down at her feet as she sat down, her cheeks burning from the attention.
"No matter," Slughorn assured, "you're just in time for desert, that is, if Belby's left you any," he chuckled to himself before turning the attention back to Stella, "we were just going around talking about my passed students, both of your parents are, in fact, how is your mother?"
Stella's heart stopped. Surely the Professor knew of her mother's passing. She cleared her throat and admitted something in front of anyone only her closest friends and family knew.
"Actually, sir, my mother passed away when I was nine."
The table turned quiet, any side conversations stopped when they heard the girl. No one knew anything about her, just that she made friends with Harry Potter and his two friends randomly at the start of their fifth year.
Professor Slughorn's face dropped completely, "oh, I wasn't aware. I'm deeply sorry, my dear, she was a lovely woman."
"Thank you, sir."
Stella wasn't asked any more questions after that, the only thing she paid attention to was the hand that was holding hers under the table. Harry didn't need her to tap her bracelet for him to know she needed him.
