Chapter 21.6- Doom Days

The rest of the dinner went in that manner- topics came and went but no matter what the topic was, it always came to some sort of argument. At some point, I had to relent and just accept that this group of people just liked arguing with each other. They did it over the most insane of things. Even cauldron bottoms had become a point of contention after Percy Weasley brought them up- how he had ended up on the large table was beyond me, and I did not care enough about the inner workings of Fudge’s ministry to find out.

Either way, by the time the dancing was scheduled to continue, I enjoyed waving away every attempt to converse further in favour of taking my date out on the floor. It was the far lesser evil by all metrics- not that having Fleur’s shapely body in my hands was an evil at all, mind you. Oh she was such a woman. We danced for the first song at arm’s length as was only proper, and so did we for the second. By the third, she had stepped into my space so I could feel her breath against my skin and her bosom against my chest.

When the fifth song came around, I was certain I could feel her heart beating even better than I could feel my own- that was how close we were standing. I was not a big fan of public displays of affection by any means but I could tell she was turning this into some sort of competition, and I was a much smaller fan of losing or admitting defeat. Her smirk deepened as I stepped even closer and pulled her waist against my lower body. My very awake lower body, for lack of a better word.

“Someone is having a great time” She whispered in my ear.

“Yes, he does tend to come out and play in the presence of the divine. And you, my dear, are a goddess” I said in reply. She chuckled and tapped my chest lightly.

“Such a flirt you are” She whispered back. And then like the universe had smiled upon me for once, the music switched to a much slower tune. I pulled her even closer to me- not like there was any space between us to begin with as we swayed to the music. All was right in the world.

Of course, that was when shit hit the fan. I didn’t know what happened first, but I did know what I noticed first.

The massive chandelier with nearly a million crystals across it clattered to the floor, shattering. “Avada Kedavra” I heard multiple voices cry out as I pulled Fleur to the ground with me. My wand snapped from its holster and tapped the ground in a second even as my heart beat relentlessly against my chest. A cocoon of earth rose around us even as I pressed down on the castle and forced the ground of the Great Hall to obey my will.