Chapter 55 ~ The Ball.
Maxine stepped out of the fireplace, shivering slightly with excitement as she looked round the hall and walked forward, Stefan appearing a second later and coming to stand by her side. They had travelled by floo powder, but a more trusty method had been used and Maxine's outfit was still dazzling, every hair in place. Stefan himself was wearing a set of dress robes that he had been bought by Rose for Christmas, and they did make a handsome pair. Maxine didn't realise how much her joyful and eager expression beatified her and Stefan's solemn eyes seemed to enhance his excellent bone structure. There was something so natural about how they both looked that turned heads - although Maxine dashing about and greeting family members with her new-found confidence turned more.
"Fred! Roxie!" She hugged two of her older cousins, who both hid their smiles well but looked at her curiously.
"Hey Max. How are you?" Fred flashed a grin at her. "You look wonderful, by the way."
"I must ban people from saying that." She said in all seriousness, grinning bashfully. "It makes me very uncomfortable." She laughed. "But to answer your question, I'm very well. Are you guys having a nice Christmas?"
This time Roxanne, Fred's sister answered. "Yup. We had a great Weasley gathering in Christmas Day which was awesome." Roxanne turned to look at Stefan, who was standing awkwardly beside Maxine. "You have so,e friends over, we're told?"
Maxine nodded, turning to introduce Stefan. "Yes - this is Stefan, Stefan Burkhardt." She looked at her cousin. "You will have heard about him at school."
Roxanne's eyes glinted with recognition and Maxine noticed it. Fred had left school but Roxanne was in seventh year and knew full well about the matters surrounding Stefan and Maxine. It was funny how most of her relations had ignored the problems and stayed out of it - but then again, they were in different houses and years to her. Maxine had never been particularly bothered about it, though, knowing they were mainly cordial with her due to the Potters fostering her, but not much more.
"Oh yeah." Was Roxanne's answer after a small pause. "Hey Stefan. I'm Roxanne Weasley, one of Maxine's cousins."
Stefan smiled at her quickly, Fred then greeting him. "And I'm Fred, Roxanne's sister. Nice to meet you." Fred shook Stefan's hand then withdrew to put both in his pockets, turning his head to look around. "Anyway, we need to look for the buffet table." He grinned as Maxine laughed, turning to go. "See you in a bit."
"See you." Maxine answered, grinning at the pair before they went, then turning back to Stefan. "Well, that's one set of cousins done." She said, rubbing her hands in finality with humour. "Let's find the next lot."
Stefan laughed. "You're going to introduce me to all your cousins? You have like, twenty of them."
She laughed in return. "I have nine, stupid. And yes, I am going to introduce you to them all."
"Am I allowed to object?" Stefan asked with a humorous grin. "I mean, your family won't want to know who I am."
Maxine scoffed. "No, they won't, since they barely notice me, but I'm still introducing you to them anyway."
Stefan laughed, but creased his brow as they began to walk towards the buffet table where Maxine presumably intended to introduce him to more cousins. "That's what confuses me...you have all these cousins and family friends at Hogwarts but they never interact with you..." He looked at her. "Why?"
Maxine shrugged. She had long since stopped caring. "I found my place in the Potter family but I'm still a misfit in the clan of their friends and family. I think the Lestrange thing is what keeps them away. Along with the fact I rarely saw them after I turned ten."
"When you started seeing Wesen?" Stefan questioned.
She nodded. "I went through a phase of hiding that lasted till September, when I discovered what I really was and came out of my shell. By then, though, I was established as the shady Lestrange who didn't quite belong in the family."
"Doesn't that bother you, though?" Stefan asked with concern, looking at her.
She shrugged. "I'm used to it. Besides, there's nothing I can do about it." She looked round. "Anyway, let's get to the buffet table. I do believe my Aunt Hermione is round there - oh!" Maxine, in her quest to get to the buffet table, had collided with a tall, willowy woman with dreamy eyes. She withdrew in embarrassment. "Sorry, Luna."
Luna Scamander looked down at her, smiling faintly. "You don't need to apologise," she said in a floaty voice, "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm trying to find Lysander - tell me if you see him. He's dressed as a heliopath."
Stefan looked at Maxine with bemusement at the mention of heliopaths, but she ignored him, answering Luna. "Er - yes, we'll tell you if we see him."
"I am much obliged for your help." Luna said with another dreamy smile before walking off through the crowd. Maxine couldn't help but laugh slightly at the encounter, regarding Luna fondly in thought as Stefan spoke.
"Who was that?" He questioned, glancing at the retreating figure with confusion.
Maxine laughed. "That was Luna Lovegood." She looked at her friend. "Surely you've heard of her?"
Stefan creased his brow. "Well, yeah, but I didn't really expect her to be like that." He turned to look at Maxine. "And isn't she meant to have blonde hair?"
"She's dyed it, stupid." Maxine answered with a chuckle, glancing over the crowd at the woman again. Luna's hair, for some reason, was a light shade of lilac. "Or one of her spells went wrong. You never know with her."
"Hey guys!"
Rose stepped into view, arm in arm with Jack and smiling widely. Both Maxine and Stefan then turned their attention onto the couple as Rose asked; "Enjoying yourselves?"
Maxine laughed. "We only got here a few minutes ago, as did you, Rose."
Rose grinned. "Well, I'm already enjoying myself." She looked at Maxine. "I'm so glad your mum invited Jack."
"So am I." Maxine looked at Jack, smiling warmly. "I hope you're enjoying yourself."
"Well of course." The tall seventeen-year-old answered with a grin. "There's food, music and I have a beautiful date. What more could you ask for?"
They laughed, Stefan entering the conversation. "Exactly what I was going to say."
Jack looked at her, still grinning. "You and I think alike. And we are both accompanied by beauties."
Stefan looked at Maxine, who simply blushed and shook her head, protesting; "I must ban people from saying that." She laughed. "It's very nice, though not true, in my opinion, but also makes me extremely bashful." She looked at Rose, trying to change the subject again. She didn't enjoy taking compliments and didn't think they were justified, either, not used to them. "Rose does look gorgeous, though, I agree."
Jack looked back down at his date and the couple smiled at each other before turning back to Maxine and Stefan. "Anyway, we need to suss out the food. See you in a bit." Rose said, moving away.
"Enjoy." Called Maxine with a laugh, Stefan also grinning at the two. She turned to him once they were gone, saying with humour. "I'm done with all this maturity. We need to get somewhere where I can go mad."
Stefan laughed. "It's freezing outside and I don't believe there's anywhere we can go mad inside - plus you're dress..."
"You're right, I think I'm going to have to be mature and hold back the hyper this evening." She said regretfully, looking around and pulling a face. "Well, we'll just have to stuff ourselves with food." She nodded over to the buffet table with a grin. "Come on."
"Wait - Max." Stefan grabbed her hand to stop her as she headed for the table. He looked at her with teasing humour. "You wanna dance?"
She looked at him in bemusement. "Stefan, the last thing I want to do right now is navigate myself round a ball room on these heels."
He simply laughed. "Come on - we've got to show James how it's done."
Maxine looked over to the dance floor where James was waltzing unwillingly with Dominque Weasley, the latter laughing at his attempts and only making her brother's scowl deeper. ,axing laughed at the sight as well, though, and turned back to Stefan with a second answer, grinning at him. "Yes, we do."
Stefan grinned back, taking her hand and leading her onto the dance floor and assuming the correct position. It had been one night in the common room at a prominent feast, when her and Stefan had wished to avoid the noise and banter in the great hall, that they had become bored in the empty common room and challenged each other to display their ball room dancing skills. Stefan, of course, had done it with beautiful grace and expertise, whereas Maxine, who was a bit of a klutz in the dance department, had failed. However, determined to learn from her friend, she had bullied him into teaching her and by the end of the evening was doing pretty well. It was Stefan who did most of e work, though, making sure she sailed around. They made a good pair.
And sure enough, joining in to dance the waltz, they did well, certainly showing up James with grace and poise, though Stefan did most of the steering and guaranteed it to be a success with his perfect control. He was a natural, not only commandeering the pair and producing a beautiful dance, but also capturing the mood with his position and expression. During the entirety of it, his eyes were only on Maxine, laced with concentration but soft in expression. Maxine tried hard to follow up on this, but holding his gaze made her slightly uncomfortable and mostly she stared at his forehead during the duration of the dance.
The romantic, flowing waltz then turned into a polka and Maxine, completely ignorant of the different style, simply hung onto Stefan and laughed as they pranced about the ball room, narrowly avoiding other pairs. Maxine was out of breath by the end of it, though continuing to dance and laugh as the next song played. Half an hour passed and she was constantly moving, grinning at her friend and allowing him to completely control her as they pranced and glided by turns around the bustling ball room.
Howeve, once that half hour had passed, a different kind of music began to blare across the hall and a different kind of dancing began. Seeking refuge from the pop anthems, Maxine and Stefan slipped over to the somewhat depleted buffet table and, armed with sausage rolls and other eatables, stood at the other end of the hall watching the crowds.
"That's another cousin of mine, Lucy." Maxine pointed to a tall girl jigging with Lorcan Scamander, dark auburn hair flying about her. "Her Dad's Percy Weasley."
Stefan located the girl. "Another red head." He laughed. "You know, taking into account his lineage, I'm surprised James isn't ginger."
Maxine burst out laughing. "Seriously? Could you imagine him with red hair?"
Stefan creased his brow, putting on a faraway face before answering with humour. "Actually, yes. But it wouldn't suit him - he'd look like an angry carrot."
Maxine snorted, coughing as she inhaled some of her sausage roll. Stefan laughed and began to pat her on the back, putting down his own food. "I seem to have made you choke." He chuckled. Maxine continued to cough, still smiling and answering between pauses.
"Can - cough - you get me some - cough - water - cough - please?"
Stefan looked at her, putting his hand behind his ear and leaning forward with a grin. "Sorry, what was that."
Still coughing, Maxine pushed him, saying only a single word. "WATER!"
Stefan shook her off, laughing. "Ok, ok, I'll get you some." He grinned, moving to approach the drinks table. "Wait here a second."
Continuing to cough and half-choke, Maxine smiled back and nodded her thanks as he the turned. Stefan then headed for the drinks table, being sure to avoid the wines when he got there and simply filling a glass with water, grinning as his mind went back to Maxine. More than an hour into the fun, they were having a great time.admitedly, she was still blind, but their friendship was being mended, so he concentrated on that. The waltz had been an attempt to get her to realise, but Maxine, as usual, had not done so. Still, as said, if had been fun, and that was the main thing. He felt connected with her once more, proving that the Christmas invitation had indeed been a good idea. Would Theon to come between them, everything was going well. Everything was back to normal.
Seeing the cocktail umbrellas and knowing it would make Maxine laugh, Stefan reached for one, grinning to himself. But as he grasped one and was opabout to move his arms to remove it from the pot, a firm hand gripped his arm hard. Leaving the umbrella, he looked up in confusion, unsure of who this person was.
At once fear filled his body, eyes widening in terror. For his assailant was an enormous man leaning over him with hostility swept across his face - though his normal face only flashed there for a second. The next moment,my it transitioned into a that of a monstrous, dog-like creature's. Dappled sandy and dark fur spread over his face, a dog snout formed with a glistening black nose, long canine ears sprouted from his head, eyes grew viscous and teeth sharp as razors. The hand that gripped Stefan's arm also sprouted dark fur, stirring him into action a second after the Wesen had woged. Stefan had no time to think, however, just to follow his instinct and wrench his arm out of the man's grasp and start to run, pushing through the group and turning his head to scan the crowd in all directions. Obviously he had been the only one to see the transformation, no doubt because of his abilities. In his mind, though, he didn't contemplate whether the Wesen wasn't there to attack him - the look in those eyes had said it all. He, and probably some other members of the Verat - were there to take him and Maxine.
He reached her in panic where she leant against the wall and watching a display of acrobatics from Dominique and Roxanne, turned to him with humour as he came to a halt beside her.
"I've stopped choking now, it's-"
"The verat." He cut in, panting. "The verat are here. We have to get out."
She stayed at him, face suddenly washing pale. "What?"
"One just tried to attack me - there may be more." Stefan explained, looking around with worry.
"What - are you alright?" She took a step towards him with concern.
"Yes, I'm fine. I escaped his grasp because he was so shocked for me to see him involuntarily woge." Stefan answered quickly. "But Max, we need to get out of here."
She looked around, eyes wide with fear. "My parents, they can-"
"This is no time totally you parents, Max." Stefan interrupted urgently. "And you know they can never find out."
She looked at him. "Upstairs - we need to get upstairs. There are fires up there and no one will notice us leaving."
Stefan nodded. "Let's go." They turned, beginning to run. No one noticed them go, everyone else was to involved in their own affairs. Except for the four tall men, supposed squibs who had gate crashed the occasion. Yes, those four were quick to follow, hands on the slots in their belts that held the guns they hoped not to have to use.
Stefan heard them behind, turning back to Maxine in panic as they began to climb the second set of stairs. "Max, we need to hurry!"
Maxine panted, finding it diffult to speed up in her heeled shoes. Attempting to, she tripped over a stair, Stefan catching her but the two slowing down. "I-" Maxine looked at her feet, then, realising their was no time for talking, pulled off her high heels and throwing them at the party of Wesen as the attackers turned the corner and also began on the second set of stairs. They woged as she did so, one even firing his gun, missing them but motivating Stefan to haul Maxine up onto her feet and the pair to start running manically again. They reached the first floor, turning off at the landing and racing down a corridor before choosing the nearest room and running in, slamming the door shut behind them and locking it before pulling a cabinet in front. They exchanged glances as the sound of footsteps thundered along the corridor outside and the door began to bang. However, a confused voice called their gazes away and make them jump in surprise befor either could speak.
"Maxie - Stefan - what on earth are you doing?"
Neville approached them in confused disbelief, coming in from the ajoining balcony, presumably having been smoking as there was a still-glowing cigarette in his hand.
Maxine, however surprised, let out a sigh of relief and advanced at once, speaking quickly and with urgency. "Neville, the Verat are here - they're trying to get to me and Stefan." She flinched as there was another huge bang on the door. "We need to get out of here."
"We can use the fire." Explained Stefan, looking at the flickering flames in the grate. "But - there's no floo powder."
Neville reacted at once. "Don't worry - we'll get you out of here." With a quick movement of his wand, he had course a handful of the grey dust, holding it out to the two of them. "Take a pinch - quickly."
There was another huge smash on the door and the latch broke, stirring even more urgency and panic in Maixne and Stefan. The two teenagers snatched a pinch, turning to run to the fire. Stefan, however before he went, looked back at Neville, questioning in worry.
"But - what about you? You'll be torn to pieces." He flinched as the door came off its hinges and the group of assailants tore at it to pull it away.
"I'll apparate." He told them reassuringly, glancing at the door. "Now go!"
In a flash, Stefan threw the powder into the fire and stepped into the flames, crying, "Twelve Grimmauld Place!" As Maixne raised her arm, Neville apartheid with a a rack and the door was torn away. Flinging hers into the flames, she turned and enter the fireplace, looking back at the room as she cried the name of her destination, the last image in her mind being the vicious look of hated on the faces of the attackers as they burst into the room.
