The Smart Choice

Chapter 12 - Happy Yuletide

A few days later was 24th December and the Greengrass Yule dinner. It was rather clear that Harry was nervous, something that Sirius was enjoying teasing him about very much. They were to leave for Greengrass manor at seven and Harry and Sirius were waiting in the living room for the women to finish getting ready.
"What are you so nervous about pup?" Sirius asked.
"Well this is my first time actually having to be Lord Potter in the presence of other Lords. I just don't want to make any mistakes." Harry replied.
"I'm sure you will be fine. Besides, you really only need to be Lord Potter for the introductions. After that you can be Harry again." Sirius said trying to relax his godson.
"Yeah I suppose you're right." Harry said with a half smile.
"Well don't you two look handsome." Came Amelia's voice from the door of the lounge they were sitting in. Harry was wearing smart black dress robes with silver accents and the Potter crest in silver on the right of his chest, a dark green dress shirt with a black tie and silver waistcoat. Sirius was dressed very similarly with the same dress robes however with the Black crest and accents in gold. He wore a plain white dress shirt with a burgundy tie and waistcoat. Both of them having everything made out of extremely expensive acromantula silk.
"Thank you my dear, you and Susan look rather fine yourselves." Sirius replied. Amelia was wearing a long, flowing dress in the same burgundy as Sirius' tie and waistcoat, while Susan was wearing a similar looking dress in a dark blue.
"Thank you Sirius, I need to enjoy dressing up while I can, I won't be able to fit into this dress in a few months." Amelia said with a smile as the four of them walked to the entrance hall of Black manor, towards the fireplace.
"You look like you're trying to impress someone Harry." Amelia said with a little smirk.
"I have no idea what you're talking about Amy." Harry replied seriously. At this, Sirius and Amelia shared a knowing look but didn't say anything else.
After casting a 'tempus' Sirius turned to them, "Right, that's seven, let's go." He grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it in calling out "Greengrass manor" causing the fire to flash green and the group walked into the flames.

As they family emerged from the fireplace in Greengrass manor, they were met by Cyrus Greengrass dressed in a smart set of dress robes. He
"Ah Sirius, right on time." He said shaking his hand, "And a pleasure to see you as always Amelia." He continued kissing her hand.
"Good evening Cyrus." Amelia replied as Sirius smiled.
"My family are in the main living room with the Longbottoms and the Granger family. Rather nice muggles I must say." Cyrus said to the group. "Millie here will escort you." He finished gesturing to a house elf stood off to the side.
"Thank you Cyrus." Sirius replied as he began to walk.
"Good evening Harry, good evening Susan. Thank you very much for coming. I know Daphne and Tori will appreciate having a few more people their own age here tonight." He said to the two.
"Thank you for the invitation sir." Susan said.
"Please call me Cyrus dear. Calling me sir makes me feel ever so old." He said with a chuckle. Susan nodded and smiled at this.
"I must say it's nice to have a little more company at Yule." Harry said.
"I fully agree Harry, now I'm afraid you must excuse me as the others will be arriving shortly." Cyrus smiled and nodded as Harry and Susan followed Sirius and Amelia to the living room.
As they walked into the living room, they saw a nervous looking Neville, probably due to the fact he was in a room surrounded with so many women. Neville was accompanied by his grandmother. From what Sirius had told him, Augusta Longbottom was someone you didn't trifle with. She was a feared member of the Wizengamot, known for her powerful speeches. Neville had mentioned that she was very firm but also protective of her family, especially since the incapacitation of her son and daughter-in-law.
Although her choice in headwear was rather odd.
Across from them was the Grangers, Hermione had mentioned that both of her parents were dentists and were relatively well off (although they were most likely the least wealthy family to be in attendance that evening). Hermione was a mix of her parents, her mother had very similar looking hair and body frame as Hermione, while she got a lot of her facial features, as well as her eyes from her father. They were sat talking amiably with Augusta Longbottom and Elizabeth Greengrass. While the children were having a conversation of their own.
Elizabeth saw them arrive and stood up and said,
"Ah good evening Sirius, Amelia so good to see you."
The adults smiled and went forward to introduce themselves to the Grangers.
"Harry, Susan, lovely to see you." Elizabeth said.
"Nice to see you too Elizabeth." Harry replied smiling.
"It's nice to be here." Susan added.
Harry then noticed Augusta Longbottom looking at him and decided to introduce himself properly.
"It's an honour to finally meet you Lady Longbottom, Lord Hadrian Potter at your service." Harry said with a small bow.
"It's nice to finally see you again Lord Potter, it has been a very long time." She said with a small smile.
"Please call me Hadrian or Harry, whichever you prefer. I understand my parents were very close to your son and daughter-in-law, I am so very sorry for what happened to them." Harry said sadly.
"Thank you Harry, seeing you now, I know your parents would have been very proud of the young man you're becoming." She replied. Harry smiled and bowed his head. Then as Susan introduced herself to Augusta, Harry moved to the Grangers.
"Mr and Mrs Granger, a pleasure to meet you. Harry Potter, I must say you have done a fine job raising Hermione, she is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met." Harry said with a smile while shaking their hands.
"Thank you Mr Potter, it is nice to meet you as well. Thank you, we are very proud of our daughter and we're glad she has made such nice friends." Mr Granger replied.
While the introductions were being made, Hermione watched on confused.
"Why's Harry acting so different than usual?" She whispered to Daphne.
"Because, at least for the start of the night he isn't just Harry. He is having to be Lord Potter and this is the way a Lord should conduct themselves, being polite and courteous to his new acquaintances." Daphne explained. "You'll see it again when Blaise and Tracey arrive." She finished. Just then Harry approached them.
"Good evening ladies and Neville. A pleasure to see you all as always." He said before kissing the hand of Daphne, Hermione and Astoria before shaking Neville's.
"I like this Harry, can we keep him and not have the other one back." Hermione stage whispered to Daphne causing both of them to giggle.
"I'm afraid not, once all introductions are completed I'm sorry to say you shall be stuck with regular Harry." Harry said with is regular half smile.
At this moment, Cyrus entered the room with the Davis and Zabinis. There was then another round of introductions.
"Lord and Lady Davis, a pleasure to meet you, Hadrian Potter, at your service." Harry said shaking Lord Davis' hand and placing kiss on the hand of Lady Davis.
"Lord Potter, a pleasure it is indeed. My name is Anthony and this is my wife Sophia. Of course you already know Tracey and this is our son Hugo." Anthony Davis finished gesturing to a boy Harry guessed to be about seven.
"Please call me Harry or Hadrian then Anthony, I must say you have raised a wonderful daughter. She has been a good friend since we started Hogwarts." Harry said eliciting proud smiles from the elder Davis'. Harry then moved over to Blaise and his mother.
"Lady Zabini, a pleasure to meet you. Hadrian Potter, at your service." Harry said kissing her hand.
"Lord Potter, please call me Rosa. Blaise has mentioned you often. He says you have been a good friend and roommate." She said smiling.
"Thank you Rosa, Blaise has also been a great friend and roommate. And please, call me Hadrian or Harry." Harry replied with a smile.
When everyone was acquainted, Millie the house elf popped in to inform everyone that dinner was ready to eat.
Hermione for some reason seemed a little angry however. "You condone slavery?" She asked incredulously to her friends.
"Not exactly Hermione." Daphne said
"But that elf just called your father master." Hermione interrupted.
"Hermione, a house elf needs a master to survive. The elf's magic comes from its master, without one, the elf would lose its magic and eventually die. It's a kind of sim biotic relationship. They use our magic to survive and so they serve us." Harry explained.
"Oh, sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that." Hermione said sounding a little abashed.
"It's alright Hermione, we all make mistakes." Susan said smiling.
The group entered the large dining room to see a long table through the middle of the room fully set for everyone. The group subconsciously split, the adults to one end of the table and the children to the other. This was so the two different age groups could talk and not have overlapping and confusing conversations. Harry was one of the last to enter the dining room and saw he'd been left the end of the table, facing all the way down to Cyrus at the other end. Needless to say, this was a little intimidating and he knew Sirius would say something about it. On one side of him was Susan and the other was Daphne. Harry could feel Cyrus' appraising eye on him, so Harry simply smiled and sat in his spot with as much confidence as he could possibly muster.
"Oh look at you at the head of the table." Susan said in a teasing voice.
"I'm only sat here because it was the only place left." Harry replied calmly.
"Yeah right, we all know you're the de facto leader of our group. It's where you belong Harry." Daphne said with a smile.
"If you say so." He replied with a smile to his friend.
As the meal progresses, the most interesting thing to Harry was seeing the interactions between the adults. Especially the ones involving the Grangers, which to his delight were all very amiable conversations. It was somewhat clear that they were nervous about their daughter being a witch and coming into this world, however, coming to this dinner appeared to reassure them that their daughter was safe and there were good people in the wizarding world.