Chapter 60: Wished she could be Amelia

While Olivia Greengrass and Severus Prince were talking about various things such as the date they were going to meet to discuss business between the two families, two people approached them.

"Oh, glad to find you two together, my luck!" exclaimed Slughorn happily as he approached along with another young man and Hermione.

Everyone noticed that the professor had been drinking, but he still maintained his lucidity.

Severus noticed that Hermione was giving him an apologies look...

'Yes..., she was the one who told the professor where we were,' Severus concluded with a sigh.

Then Severus searched with his gaze for Pandora and her partner, he noticed that both of them were still talking happily and writing things in Xeno's notebook, except that now they were already sitting at one of the tables next to the two vampires and the wizard that they had been with at the beginning of the feast.

Pandora seemed to be asking them all sorts of questions as she enjoyed the food with Xeno and the other mage.

On the other hand, the vampires didn't seem particularly interested or satisfied with the food on the table, so they just focused on quietly answering Pandora's questions while frowning at the things to eat on the table, apparently not in line with their tastes.

Although vampires can eat normal food, it doesn't taste the same to them as it does to humans, it loses most of its taste and would just leave a strange feeling in them.

For this reason, they would not eat anything except different types of Blood.

There were even lollipops and other sweets made from dragon's blood and other magical animals.

Of course, Professor Slughorn's carefully prepared food obviously did not include any of these things for them, although it did not seem to matter to him as he was more interested in carefully investigating the family situation of the students and asking about the famous relatives in their houses.

"Uh..., Professor, Logan, I thought you were busy talking so I came to talk a few things over with Severus," Olivia said as she saw her partner and the professor approach her and Severus when it was only a few minutes ago that she had separated from the two of them.

"Oh dear, you are so considerate. It just happens that your lovely partner commented to me that he doesn't know the new Prince heir very well despite being classmates in my class, so I felt it was my duty to formally introduce them today."

" So it was that..." said Olivia turning her gaze to her partner today who was standing next to Slughorn with a smile and elegant, aristocratic appearance.

"Everyone knows, don't you? This young man is Logan Fancourt, he goes to the same grade as all of you, so you should already know," said the professor looking at Severus and Hermione.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, the Prince family has always been on good terms with my family and the Ministry," said Fancourt formally.

Severus almost laughed at this, Fancourt and Snape had been partners for many years and the two of them never spoke to each other, and since he became Lord Prince many like Fancourt tried to strike up a conversation with him, but Severus just ignored most of them and he would mostly only talk to those who really wanted to ask or know things about subjects like Potions or other...

It seemed that Logan Fancourt took this opportunity to finally talk to him, something Olivia instantly knew.

To a certain point, Logan Fancourt is famous at Hogwarts.

Of course, his fame is not due to his own merit... no, his fame comes from his famous great-grandmother, Perpetua Fancourt, the inventor of the lunascope.

Perpetua Fancourt is a highly respected and famous witch who often appears in newspapers and magazines for her studies in Astronomy, she is an acclaimed and accomplished astronomer and celebrated throughout the magical world.

It is said that in an attempt to further the study of her area of specialisation, Ms. Fancourt invented an optical device to counteract the difficulty of working with lunar maps, which she called a lunascope.

Severus could respect someone like her, but that didn't mean he would respect Logan Fancourt, who had done nothing to earn the credit he had.

"Alright, let's sit down for a nice meal and a few moments of conversation together. We can't spend all our time on the presentation. And relax, young people, don't be so nervous, this is just an opportunity to learn more about yourselves," Slughorn said quickly with a smile.

Severus just sighed and sat down at the round table.

Next to him sat Hermione and Olivia, while Logan Fancourt sat next to Greengrass, his partner, and Slughorn who was also next to Hermione who was not currently with her partner.

"You know I had the privilege of teaching several of your families and I even graduated with some of them," Slughorn related.

Unfortunately for the professor, Severus just took a deep sip without saying anything, Olivia and Hermione just nodded politely and the only one actively following the conversation was Logan Fancourt.

"Tell me, do you usually see your great-grandmother?" Slughorn asked Logan.

He seemed eager to answer Slughorn's question with a yes but seemed to control his impulse.

"Well, I used to, these days I don't see her much, only at a few meetings," Logan Fancourt explained.

"Yes, of course, I dare say she must be very busy, I think she had to work very hard to invent the lunascope" Slughorn nodded with a questioning look at Fancourt.

"Right...well, I think so..., maybe..., this..., I really don't know, she doesn't usually talk about it and my parents don't seem to know about it either..." Fancourt answered a little nervously now, apparently, he hadn't expected this interrogation from the professor, he didn't seem to dare to continue conversing like before.

Severus, Olivia, and Hermione could only smile in amusement at this, it was only their fault for trying to show off by talking to Professor Slughorn, it was now clear that he had no close relationship with Perpetua Fancourt.

He might have been able to use her great-grandmother to gain some fame with other students at Hogwarts, but Slughorn, annoying as he was, was a Slytherin and knew how to get the information he wanted out of people.

Severus poured a glass of butterbeer for Hermione and Olivia, who had already drunk them and then simply ate, already planning to leave the table when he was full.

He wasn't going to sit here all night, accepting Slughorn's irrelevant questions and conversations.

Severus considered that he had already been more than respectful to the professor, so the favour he had asked of him had already been more than paid today.

However, Severus had to be honest in admitting that the food Slughorn was offering today was delicious and the feast was also quite entertaining despite the professor's constant annoyance.

A few minutes passed and as Severus was about to finally stand up and leave the table, another person approached them.

"Severus, I finally find you, it isn't very nice of you to leave your partner alone for so long," Amelia joked as she arrived at the table.

"Oh, Professor, Logan, Olivia it's good to see you too" she added as she approached and saw the others at the table.

"Amelia dear, the pleasure is ours, it seems we were over-entertaining your partner today, I apologise for keeping him away from you" smiled Slughorn.

While Olivia and Logan just nodded and greeted her politely.

"Hmm and you must be Hermione, Severus' cousin, we were never introduced, I'm Amelia Bones, a friend of your cousin"

"Hmm, Yes, Severus told Draco and me about you. Hermione Prince, I'm glad to finally meet you formally, despite sharing some classes we never really spoke"

"Uh-oh yes, Draco Prince, your half-brother, Severus also told me a bit about you two and your brother I've also seen him in some classes, although he doesn't stand out as much as you, I must say I'm surprised you're not a Ravenclaw, you have all the qualities of one," Amelia said with a sincere smile.

She was actually surprised that Hermione was a Gryffindor, so far she considered Severus' cousin more of a Ravenclaw than anything else, similar to Lily Evans, except that Evans had shown a lot of Gryffindor characteristics over the years. ....

Amelia thought that maybe if she gave her time Hermione would also show these typical Gryffindor characteristics.

"Thank you, I was actually pretty close to being a Ravenclaw" smiled Hermione, she had always liked Amelia Bones, she was a fair and intelligent witch who didn't allow herself to be persuaded or fooled by others.

Of course, Hermione remembered Mrs. Bones, the adult version of Amelia in the future, the woman who voted for the removal of all of Harry's charges...

Yes..., she still remembered that only a year after that, Amelia Bones was killed by Lord Voldemort himself during the summer, despite offering a good fight it wasn't enough to deal with Voldemort.

'She's really beautiful' Hermione thought as she looked at her closely, she hadn't expected Mrs. Bones to be so beautiful in her adolescence, it was hard to believe that the serious-looking, blue-eyed, brown-haired woman was the nice young woman in front of her.

"I quite understand, that makes sense," nodded Amelia.

"Well... Then, I apologise but I would like to spend some time on the dance floor with my partner if I am allowed," she added then looked at Professor Slughorn and then at Severus.

" Oh, of course, it was rude of me not to take that into account, shame on me, it's my negligence, no need to say anything else, go, go ahead and enjoy" Slughorne smiled.

Severus just smiled and stood quietly as everyone looked at him.

Amelia had made an excellent excuse, though he didn't really need it, but why not take advantage of it?

They both politely greeted all present and then went to the dance floor together as the rest watched them leave.

The two danced together for a while without noticing that some people were looking at them with different feelings and emotions.

~~~~~~~

Lily who was on the dance floor noticed Severus and Amelia together dancing very close to each other, she was feeling a lot of different things at the moment.

Things she knew she shouldn't be feeling.

She decided to clear her mind and the best thing for that was some alcohol, so she told Alice and Benjy Fenwick's group that she would go and get a bottle of liquor to drink from the professor.

Lily started walking around the room in search of the liquor, and it took her a while to find it hidden in a dark corner behind a cabinet where some potions were displayed.

Slughorn wasn't completely stupid, he knew enough to lock up liquor in a party full of teenagers, but Lily had known the professor for quite some time and it helped her to know a thing or two.

Quickly she pulled out one of the bottles and made her way to one of the tables.

She opened the bottle, which, to her surprise, had never been opened before, and she poured everything into several large glasses until she had filled about 5 of which one was for her, one for Alice, one for Alice's partner Fenwick and two more for his friends.

Lily then turned the bottle into a small stone and threw it under the table.

When everything was ready she cast a quick spell to levitate all the glasses behind her and carry them to the dance floor where her group was.

'Tonight might go well after all...' thought Lily.

"Lily, we were already thirsty, it's a good thing you brought some drinks," Alice said with a smile.

"So... did you succeed?" asked Benjy Fenwick pointing to the glasses.

"Yes, we can enjoy ourselves tonight, but don't overdo it with what you drink, I don't want to be the responsible one" replied Lily, smiling as always.

"I told you, Lily never fails to find what she wants from a professor" Alice joked.

Lily just shook her head and handed one of the glasses to each of them, then her gaze strayed again for a moment to Severus who was dancing with his partner in the other corner.

And as she guessed, Severus and Amelia were still the same as she had seen them when they entered the dance floor and when she had decided to go and get the alcohol.

Lily couldn't understand it..., of course, she wasn't stupid and she knew she was a little jealous because Severus never held her the way he was holding Amelia Bones now..., his arm wrapped around her waist, the other going up, his hand running through her hair as it fell and slipped through her fingers.

Lily looked up at the roof that showed the starry night sky with sadness at the sight of her old friend dancing in Amelia's company.

She wasn't angry, just confused...

Severus never wanted to dance with her like that, he always felt uncomfortable and refused when she offered to dance with him at parties or even when she wanted to kindly teach him.

She looked at Severus again, Lily couldn't help but be jealous but also surprised, the young man she remembered was extremely cold or awkward when it came to girls.

Even with her, he was rather clumsy.

Turning her gaze up at the night sky, she recalled the moments when she hugged Severus affectionately, which resulted in him running away while muttering "I'm not ready for that sort of thing yet!".

'What kind of things?!!!, a simple hug between friends' Lily always complained unable to understand, yet she never complained to him about it, because she didn't think it was a bad thing, in fact, it was one of the things she liked about Severus, she found it strangely adorable.

She couldn't help but smile joyfully when she remembered those moments.

Then she saw Severus with his partner again and as strange as it was a part of her wished she could be in Amelia's place...

Lily's cheeks were tinged with red and she looked away quickly.

'Must be the alcohol..., yes it's definitely that' Lily thought trying to fool herself as she took another drink from her glass.