Star Crossed

Chapter Twenty Two- Welcome

The night of the party had arrived, I waved my wand and my hair fell into soft bouncy waves before I pulled them into a low pony tail. I did my favourite smokey eye and added some soft peach matt lipstick. I looked over to my dresser were a peach silk fitted dress with lace detailing around the straps and chest waited for me, I took it off of the hanger and ran my hands over the soft fabric. Opening the zip I stood into it and slid it up my body, 
"Need some help," Amber smiled, who had been reading a book on her bed behind me, 
"Thanks," I replied with a smile, she got up and came over to me and helped to zip up the back of the dress,
"You look stunning, I wish I was invited to Slughorn's parties," she pouted playfully, 
"I would swap with you if I could," I muttered, I had been dreading having to attend it since he had given us the invitation, Tom had seemed very distant over the last few weeks, which filled me with unease, what he was doing in those long stretches of Tom were none of us heard from him I dreaded to think. I don't think he was looking forward to the event either... which reluctantly gave me a sinking feeling in my chest, but then I suppose I wasn't dreading it as much as poor Lazarus must be, I still hadn't heard whether he had found a date or not. 
"You're kidding right!? Here," Amber said picking up my necklace and fastening it around my neck, "and..." she mumbled as she also slid the ear rings onto my ears. "There perfect," she smiled, "So are you going with a date? I've heard people usually always take dates," 
I bit my lower lip as I continued to slip on my nude heels, 
"Erm, yes by request of Slughorn..." I replied hesitantly,
"Oooo who?" Amber asked excitedly, moving herself around to the front of me to face me, her face full of eager anticipation. 

 "Tom," I said quietly,
"What!? As in Tom Riddle? THE Tom Riddle!?" Amber blurted, 
"Yes!" I shushed her, "The one and only," I groaned, "and I don't think he is very happy about it." 
"Well he will be when he see's you! Now go and get him my little fellow lioness!" she beamed, almost pushing me out of the dormitory door,
"I wont be going and getting-" I was cut off as she waved and closed the door behind me, I shook my head and walked down into the empty common room, most of the students were still at dinner. 

I had arranged briefly with Tom to meet him at the front of Slughorns office, where Wiglaf and Charlotte and Lazarus were also due to meet us, I really did hope that Lazarus had brought someone along. 
As I rounded the corner in the dungeons, I saw a girl walking towards me, who I recognised instantly as Charlotte, her chocolate brown hair bouncing upon her shoulders as she walked, she was wearing a royal blue off the shoulder satin a-line dress with a matching pair of heels, she looked beautiful, Wiglaf was a lucky man I thought to myself with a smile. 
"Evening Grisha, you look amazing," She smiled, "The boy's are just waiting down here for us," she slipped her arm around mine and we began walking down the corridor together. I had never really spoken to her before now, only really seeing her briefly in the Great Hall, the corridors and library but I had already decided that I liked her, she was one of those rare people who always seemed to radiate positivity, I don't think I had ever not seen her smiling. She was bubbly and extroverted, a complete opposite to Wiglaf, which I suppose was what made them such a good pair.
My mouth suddenly became very dry as I seemed to lose the ability to swallow. I stared ahead at him, there he was leaning on the stone wall. He was dressed in an all black tailored satin three piece suit over a black shirt with a black ascot tie that was clasped through the middle with a simple silver broach. Although still parted neatly to one side, he had not smoothed his hair down as much as usual, instead it held a lot more volume and small waves dropped forward onto his forehead, my heart was beating faster and faster as I approached him.  
His blue eyes standing out against his all black attire landed upon me as I came to a stop in front of him, they traveled from my face all the way down to my feet and back up again, lingering for a while on my dress. Staring at each other we had not realised the awkward silence we had created, a small cough broke my trance as I looked over to Charlotte who was smirking over at me, I tried desperately to hide my embarrassment. 
"Where do you suppose Lazarus is? We are going to have to go in soon," She stated,
"I don't know if he is going to come," Wiglaf replied, a faint hint of pity in his voice. Wiglaf was wearing a royal blue tuxedo that matched Charlotte's dress perfectly, he looked dashing I thought.
"He said that to you?" I asked disappointed, I could still feel Tom staring at me from the corners of his eyes. 
"No, but-" Wiglaf began but at that moment the thick wooden office door flew open, revealing a very pompously dressed Horace Slughorn, who judging my his rouged cheeks had already had a fair few sherries. 
"There you are!" He beamed, "My little stars of the show! I had begun to worry," he chuckled as he quickly ushered us into the room, I tried to take one last look behind me in the hopes that Lazarus would be on his way down the corridor but it remained empty. As I tore my eyes back around, I had to blink rapidly to adjust my eyes to the change in light, lit by just a few candles the room was cast in a low intimate glow.  In the center of the large room was a long black wooden table lined with matching chairs, it seemed to go on forever there must have been space for at least twenty people. A cream table cloth with a satin sheen was draped across it, a golden strip of fabric running through the middle, where there where equally distributed  centerpieces of candles wrapped in a deep green ivy. The expensive looking table wear was already laid out neatly waiting for us, most of the guest's had already taken their seats, Avery, Lestrange and Malfoy sat smirking with their dates, Flint, Zabini and Black (Tom had obviously managed to iron out her and Malfoys' little disagreement in Hogsmeade). I was much happier to see the much more friendly faces of Ada Shacklebolt, a Ravenclaw in my year and her date Edward Parcy a fellow Gryffindor along with Garret Prewitt a sixth year Gryffindor and his date Margaret Dorse, a seventh year Hufflepuff, there were a few more people dotted around who I recognised in passing but did not know the names of, It was noticeable however that there were far more of Slughorns own house here than any other. We walked around to the four of the remaining six chairs left at the table, I almost stumbled over my own feet as Tom moved suddenly in front of me and pulled out a chair, I looked at him in shock as I sat down and pulled myself in, Tom was not usually the chivalrous type, at least not when we were alone. As Tom took his seat next to me, I got a strong smell of his cologne, which made my stomach do a strange loop, it was a deep musky smell, that reminded me of rich cedar wood. 
The table had fallen into idle conversation as everyone waited for their host to officially greet everyone and begin the dinner. Tom was talking to Lestrange about his Father's new job at the Ministry, I rolled my eyes. I looked to the empty two seats opposite me and sighed, just then the door of the room was gently pushed upon. Lazarus! I beamed, he looked incredibly smart, wearing a dark grey suit, white shirt and a thin brown tie, my smile was very quickly wiped off my face however when a second person walked into the room behind him, a low rumble of chuckles and gasps floated around the table, 
I heard Tom cough to the right of me, I glanced over to him to see him staring at the door, his wine glass suspended in his hand halfway between the table and his mouth, having almost choked on the rich liquid. Wiglaf and Charlotte also wore expressions of disbelief as the room went suddenly silent.  A short girl stood behind Lazarus, her mousy brown hair was up in a what only can be described as a kin to a birds nest atop her head with large pink flowers scattered around it, she wore garishly bright pink eye-shadow to match behind a pair of wire rimmed circle glasses. My eyes traveled downwards, were they widened in shock at the bright pink sequenced dress that was covered in large frills around the seams. I tried to look away politely, aware that I was staring and feeling deeply sorry for Lazarus who was by this point looking mortified. 
"Who is it?" I whispered out of the corner of my mouth to Tom, as they walked over guided by an equally surprised Slughorn (who had muttered something about an eye catching outfit) to their seats. 
"A disgrace." he whispered back, I shook my head at him, 
Wiglaf leaned over, "Myrtle Warren, she is a third year Ravenclaw," he informed in hushed tones,
"Ravenclaw!?" I almost blurted, I put a hand to my mouth to stifle my voice, 
"Well no one every said that Ravenclaw's had style and social grace," Tom smirked, looking towards Wiglaf, who gave him a shake of the head and rolled his eyes. 
I pulled my finger quickly across my neck to indicate an abrupt stop to the conversation as I heard the chairs in front of me scrap along the floor. I looked ahead,
"Hi Lazarus," I smiled, trying my best to act normally, "Hi Myrtle," I waved at her from around Lazarus, attempting to be as welcoming as I could. 
"Hello Grisha McLaggen," her overly large mouth beaming at me, "I know almost everything about you, all of you actually." She said proudly, "I have been looking up all of Lazarus friends as soon as he asked me to the party!" 
"Oh... how... sweet," I cringed, unsure of what to say in response to her, I looked around the room as to avoid eye contact with Tom or Wiglaf. Lazarus was gripping onto his wine glass very tightly and had a face of pure mutiny as he to avoided looking at Tom's now smug face. In perfect timing there was a loud clinking of glass and Slughorn stood at the top of the table, distracting everyone's attention now from the newcomers to him.
"Now then, now then, now we all settled I would like to take this opportunity to welcome each of you here tonight as we celebrate the wondrous time of year that is Christmas with like minded , talented individuals, for a night of sophistication." He gave a quick glance towards Myrtle who was now, blowing her noise on one of the neatly folded napkins. I focused my gaze on one of the flickering candles trying to keep my face as blank as possible, I could almost feel Tom's smirk from where I sat beside him, he was enjoying every minute. 
"So without further or do," Slughorn continued, "Engorge yourselves," he chuckled, as a number of plump freshly cooked turkeys appeared on the table, accompanied by piles of buttery seasoned potatoes, crunchy Yorkshire puddings, platters of mixed vegetables and pots of steaming thick gravy. Myrtle rubbed her hands together with glee and began pilling food upon her plate before anyone else had so much as picked up a serving fork. Wiglaf and Charlotte looked on at Lazarus in a mixture of shock and pity, while Tom sat swirling his wine, a large smirk on is face and an eyebrow raised as he watched the scene play out before him clearly amused. 
"You have out done yourself this time Laz," Tom said, elegantly placing a cutting of turkey onto his plate. 
"Don't," said Lazarus warning, poking his fork at Tom, Tom raised a hand, chuckling darkly. 
"Trust you Smith to lower the class of an event," Malfoy drawled, "Couldn't find a date and so you brought that," he laughed, the surrounding group of Slytherin sniggered nastily. 
"Hey, there's no need for that," I whispered angrily, Lazarus had to suffer enough without them sticking their inbred noises into the situation. 
"Oh yes Grisha will be glad that she has been invited, it makes her one up from the worst in the room." Celia Flint jeered, but her face soon fell as she looked down at her plate, confused by her sudden change in persona I looked around and found Tom fixing her with a deadly glare, I felt a sudden flutter in my stomach, as I looked at her defeated face smugly. 
The main course had now finished and Myrtle had already managed to get gravy all down the front of her dress and had tried on numerous occasions to poke lumps of half eaten potatoes into Lazarus's mouth to his utter dismay and Tom's delight. 

The left over food had been taken away to be replaced by platters upon platters of cakes and other desserts, which Myrtle was managing to get all over her face. Slughorn had now taken control of the conversation and addressed the party as a whole, calling upon certain guests to talk, it was almost like playing a game, each conversation was strategic. He had turned his attention towards me now, I sighed quietly. 
"So Miss McLaggen, how is your Father these days? Last I heard he was doing very important business indeed." He beamed rubbing his round fat belly. Why did everyone want to know about my Father!? Honestly it's me that could do with learning more about him. I felt Tom's gaze upon me, 
"He is doing well Professor, yes he is still working a lot of the time, I don't see him or hear from him much," I replied, keeping my attention on the bubbling fizzy liquid within my glass. Slughorn winked at me, 
"Top secret ay? You must be very proud, you have quiet the reputation to live up to!" He chuckled, "But with Mr. Riddle at your side there, I don't think you will have any problem with that," I bit my lips together and forced out a rigid smile, feeling the heat rise up through my neck and into my face, I resisted the urge to snap back at Slughorn that I certainly did not need Tom for that or anyone else for that matter. I could see from the corner of my eye that Tom's jaw was clenched slightly, but it was the intense stare I was receiving from across the table that was really making me uncomfortable. Lazarus was glaring at me and Tom as he threw back yet another glass of wine, the whites of his eyes starting to get a bloody look to them. Wiglaf leaned over to Lazarus and hissed quietly, 
"Don't you think you should slow down a bit Lazarus," he suggested sympathetically,
Lazarus just looked at him and took another large gulp of the crimson liquid from his glass which continued to refill. Myrtle was at this point laughing hysterically at everything anyone said and persisted in nudging Lazarus hard in the arm after every word, she did so with so much enthusiasm at one time that Lazarus's wine sloshed out of his glass and landed all down his pristine grey suit. 
Slughorn grinned at his most prized possession yet, "Tell me Tom, have you given any further thought as to what subjects you are going to be taking next year? We all know you are going to be receiving the very best OWL's possible in all of your subjects this year." 

Tom flashed him a handsome smile, "Well potions of course, I would never chance missing out on your superior teaching," Slughorn beamed at having been lauded by Tom, Tom's 'friends' shot him admiring looks as they smirked at him, 
"But I wish to continue with as many subjects as I can Professor," he continued,
"Why of course you do, of course you do you clever boy. Alas you still don't have a plan for what career you would like to peruse?" Slughorn questioned eagerly. 
I could sense Tom's irritation, but yet not one ounce of it was displayed upon his innocent face which smiled pleasantly up at the gullible Professor, I resisted the urge to scoff at the stranger sat beside me.
"Not yet Sir no, I am still enjoying my time here at Hogwarts, studying and learning all that I can," 
"Of course, of course! Why I would keep you forever if I could Tom," Slughorn looked at him fondly as if he was looking at his own beloved Son. 
I could see that tonight was all on big game and it was only just beginning.