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Numen Pumilum	By : AuctorRubra Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 15661 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the characters and places of Potterverse belong to the brilliant J.K. Rowling. Everything else is mine so keep your hands
off of it unless you want me to sic Severus on you!

A/N: Greetings everyone! I�m sorry that I didn�t get anything posted
yesterday, but I took the day to reread all the chapters and do a little
cleaning up. I just wanted to fix a few
plot discrepancies that had been brought to my attention and clean up any typos
I came across along the way. I know
there are probably still some mistakes, but I�m sure I�ll end up going through
everything at least one more time when the story is finished to clean up the
last of the mistakes. If any of you go
back to look at things you�ll notice that I deleted most of my in text author�s
notes. If you have any questions, please
feel free to email me. I don�t mind the
mail and I�ll try to get back to you in a timely fashion. Hope you�ve all been enjoying the chapters
and thank you for the kind reviews!
Read, Review, and Enjoy

_______________________________________________________________________

Chapter 22: The Queen of Halloween

October 5^th

It was
very early on Sunday morning when the tired band of young Order members and
their watchdogs returned to Hogwarts, but at least they returned
victorious. Draco mostly just wanted to
climb into his dorm room bed (preferably with Harry cuddled against him if he
could convince the other wizard) and go to sleep. This however didn�t really seem to be a
feasible option. He knew that he would
simply sleep the entire day, and all his homework time, away if he did so. The girls had mentioned that they were all
going to stay awake together while they did the remainder of their weekend work
and then turn in early that night. It
seemed like a good plan and he was going to ask to
join them unless Harry had other plans.

Looking up ahead as the group
moved quietly through the corridors, Draco saw Severus and Eris speaking
quietly together so he moved up to see what was going on. Eris sounded quiet exhausted as she whispered
to Severus. �Shall we keep this one
intact as well once the Horcrux element is removed?�

�Yes, for now anyway,� Severus responded
quietly. �I will take the cup straight
to my lab and destroy the Horcrux.�

�Do you need assistance,� Eris asked.

Severus shook his head. �Lupin will be assisting me. Are you still planning on your act of sleep deprivation?�

�Of course,� Eris said with a soft laugh. �Its already three
in the morning. Seems
pointless to go to bed now when I have so much to do.�

This
seemed like Draco�s cue to cut in so he tapped Eris on the shoulder. �Do you mind if I camp out with you girls?�

�Not planning on spending some quality time
with my brother,� Eris asked with a coy smile.

Draco tutted softly.
�We�re taking our time, minx. Now,
can I play the fox in the hen house, or will you chase me away?�

�Well, Blaise and Greg were going to be
studying with us too, so I don�t see any reason for you to stay away. Harry could always just come along too and
crash. Maybe Ron would come then,
because right now he�s planning on hiding from Hermione and her homework
planner.�

�I heard that,� Ron hissed quietly.

Draco looked over at Severus and
saw that his godfather was looking a bit disapproving. One and head of house,
always a head of house. The elder
Slytherin was quick to lay down the law.
�I believe the common room would be suitable for this little get
together.�

�Of course, Severus,� Eris said
contritely. Draco was a bit amazed at
how quickly the witch gave in, but he supposed he shouldn�t be. If he faced the facts there were many reasons
for Eris to do whatever Severus told her to. He was her mentor. He�d been saving her hind end
repeatedly. Most importantly, the
black-haired little vixen was quite smitten with the man. From personal experience, Draco knew that
strong attraction was an amazing incentive for obedience.

Harry walked up next to him then,
swaying a bit in his fatigue. Draco
quickly pulled the boy into a one-armed embrace to give him some support. It was strange really that Harry seemed so
much smaller than him now. When the
twins had first gone through their transformations it seemed the pair was well
matched in height, with Eris being an inch or two taller. That should have made Harry about the same
height as Draco, but instead, once he�d started getting physically closer to
the �Chosen One�, he found that Harry was at least three inches shorter than
him, maybe more. It was almost as if
Harry had shrunk. Draco thought hard for
a moment. The math just wasn�t adding
up, so he pulled Eris close to him with his other arm. Surprisingly, he found himself to be a bit a
good bit taller than her. What the
devil? Was it even possible for a normal
wizard to grow that much in only two months?
If so, it seemed like one hell of a growth spurt. Oh well, he wasn�t one to look a gift horse
in the mouth.

With tall
wizards like Severus, Sirius and Remus walking about he had often felt like a
little boy trying to keep up. Hell, even
Weasley had put on a nice chunk of height over the past two years. Hopefully, Draco�s new found height would
help him settle into his somewhat new role of grown up more easily.

When they all got back to the
common room, all the students, Sirius included (poor old man), went to get
their homework and some pillows and blankets before congregating around the
fire. Draco wasn�t surprised to see
Ginny and Blaise looking quite cozy, though still very G-rated. What did surprise him was how comfortable
Greg and Eris looked together. Draco�s
newly acquired sister was nonchalantly settled before Greg�s chair with her
head resting on his knee. It seemed that
Harry was quite right when he said that Greg would be just fine. His old Slytherin pal was still as quiet as
ever, but he seemed happier in some way.

Blaise and Ginny were sitting
right next to Greg and Eris in a similar position and Draco smiled to see Blaise
occasionally reach over to stroke a hand through Eris� hair. He glanced at Sirius, and while the older
wizard didn�t seem upset he did appear a mite sad. Draco hoped that this was a sign that his
cousin was coming to accept the fact that perhaps Eris needed this time
becoming comfortable with the physical attention of platonic friends before she
could accept something romantic.

Draco sighed and gently rubbed
circles on Harry�s back. His gorgeous
little mate was peacefully sleeping with his head resting on Draco�s
thigh. It was a bit awkward for him to
work on his homework with Harry positioned this way, but it felt too restful to
give up. Merlin only knew how long such
peace would last for them all.

__________________________________________________________________

Eris sighed as she felt Greg give
her shoulder a soft squeeze. She turned
a bit smile at him. �So, how have you
and Felicity been getting along when I can�t be around?�

Greg smiled.
�Really well. She reminds me a
lot of my gran before she passed away. Madam Pomfrey thinks that it will be safe for
her to either move back to the manor or in here with all of us soon.�

Eris nodded.
�She said as much when I stopped by earlier this week. I�m glad that the tremors have almost gone
completely. Its
hard to believe that there was actually a short time there when Madam Pomfrey
thought we were going to lose her.�

�She�s a tough old bird and she takes her
responsibilities to you very seriously,� Greg said with a smirk. �I think she�s determined to stick around
long enough to make sure her adoptive great-grandchildren are being raised
properly.�

Eris frowned a bit at that, but
tried to keep her tone light. �She could
be waiting a while for that.�

�Only if you keep being stubborn.� Greg shook his head a bit. �There�re too many things in our world that
can go wrong in the current state, too many to sit on your duff when a bit of
happiness is staring you in the face.�

�Maybe,� Eris said carefully. Greg was too smart by half, even if he did
usually do an excellent job at hiding it.
�Still, it can end up being a very irresponsible choice.�

Greg sighed then and began to
fiddle with a piece of Eris� extra long hair.
�No one is safe right now, Eris.
Don�t be obstinate when he�s going to be fighting for his life anyway,
just like you.�

Eris gazed off into the fire. �Yes, but what about those who can�t defend
themselves?�

Only Ginny seemed to hear her,
offering a sad little look. She knew
that the girl understood on some small level.
Anyone would understand that Eris wouldn�t want to endanger the child
she would have with Sirius immediately after their bonding. What they wouldn�t understand�what they couldn�t
because of the things she was hiding�was that she didn�t expect to live long
enough for such a child to have a chance to be born. The final battle was certain to come by the
end of the school year and any baby she conceived now wouldn�t be due until the
middle of summer. No matter how she felt
about Sirius, she would not be responsible for the death of her own child. She was certain that Sirius would agree if he
knew the whole truth. For that reason,
she decided it would be best to simply go back to maintaining a healthy
distance from the handsome man.

______________________________________________________________________

October 25^th, Saturday

Harry laughed as Ginny came
bouncing over to him. She had become
even happier than usual since she and Blaise had made their little romance
official two weeks earlier. The boyfriend
and girlfriend could often be seen sharing a sweet kiss or quick hug. Blaise was a complete gentleman, much to
everyone�s approval (especially Molly�s).
Harry had no doubt that it was love (considering Eris� matchmaking skills)
and hoped that they would have a long and happy life together once the war was
over.

�Hello, Ginny,� he said pleasantly. �How�s the weather outside?�

�Well, you�d know if you�d come out with us,�
the redhead said cheerfully. �You should
drop the Potions book and come frolic!�

Harry wrinkled up his nose. �Frolic? I don�t think boys do that.�

�Maybe not, but horses apparently do,� Ginny
said, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him to his feet. �It�s a surprise Hogsmeade
weekend, Harry. You shouldn�t be stuffed
up in here. We all need a break now and
then, war or no. Now come on! This will give us all a chance to look for
costumes for the Halloween Ball!�

Harry gave in with a small smile
and allowed Ginny to drag him through the corridors and out on to the
grounds. He still wasn�t sure about this
whole �ball� thing. The Yule Ball in his
fourth year had pretty much been a disaster for him. More importantly, he wasn�t sure how the
school (and the world) would react to him showing up on the arm of Draco
Malfoy. No matter how many times
everyone reassured him that everything would be alright, he was still reluctant
to allow their relationship to be known.
He could barely give Draco a kiss on the cheek without blushing, for
Merlin�s sake! How would he be able to
handle walking about hand-in-hand? At
least Draco didn�t seem too upset by the secrecy, as long as Harry allowed him
close all the rest of the time. He still
drew the line at letting the blond sleep in his bed (timid of what it would
lead to) and Draco was loving and understanding. He never would have thought before that the
Slytherin had it in him.

�There she is,� Ginny called. �It looks like some of those little first
year Slytherins talked her into giving them a ride down to Hogsmeade.�

Harry looked up ahead and saw his
sister in her Abraxan form with about twenty little
children hopping about around her begging for rides. �How many do you think she can carry?�

Ginny shrugged. �She�s huge and Abraxan
are really strong. She could probably
handle them all so it�s more a question of finding places to put them. I don�t think more than seven or eight could
actually find the space.�

Harry smiled and jogged over to
his sister. He was happy to see that it
wasn�t just Slytherins begging for a ride, but first years from every house
with a few second years thrown in for good measure. �Hello, everyone! Why don�t we split you up a bit? Some of you will have to wait and get your
ride on the way back I think, but don�t worry, I think
I can handle about three of you.�

Harry motioned Ginny over and
smirked at Draco, Hermione, and Ron before shifting into his Arabian stallion
form. The first years giggled, but
didn�t seem overly impressed beyond adoring the fact that he was an animagus. He
couldn�t blame them. Eris� Abraxan form was very impressive. He pawed the ground and Ron and Draco quickly
began helping the first group of children mount up.

He and Eris moved along at an easy
pace so that the rest of their friends and the children could keep up. When they reached Hogsmeade
they sent all the children scampering on their way. He and Eris quickly transformed back and
Harry quickly turned a mischievous smirk on his sister. �I thought you didn�t like kids? You seem to go against that rather often.�

�My time with Quentin has given me a healthy
appreciation for the wicked and evil sense of humor little rugrats
seem to have,� Eris said with a sniff.

�Whatever you say, sister dear,� Harry said
playfully. �Why don�t we all head over
to Gladrags and see what they have for costumes?�

It was a
nice sized group they had actually, with Blaise and Ginny walking hand-in-hand
and Ron and Hermione following suit.
Greg was loping along beside Eris and Draco was close at Harry�s back
talking quietly with Sirius. Glancing
around, he saw that quite a few of their classmates were stopping to observe
their movements. He knew that he and
Eris had been a serious point of interest with their elven
heritage. More than a few of the younger
students had come to ask him questions about elves and to get a look at his
pointy ears. He didn�t mind, he was used
to close scrutiny and at least they weren�t just staring at his scar anymore.

The
moment they entered Gladrags, a store attendant with
a name tag that read �Maurice� stepped forward and greeted them warmly. �Hello, young ones! I�m so glad that you�ve all come by,
especially you, Mr. Potter! I was hoping
that you would bring your lovely sister into the store. Am I right in assuming that you�re Miss
Eris?�

�Yes,� Eris said with a small note of
suspicion.

�Excellent,� Maurice cried happily. �I have just the thing for your costume. I saw it while I was traveling in Eastern
Europe last week. After the
lovely vendor explained to me what it was I knew that you would just adore it
for you costume. Please, follow me and
I�ll show it to you.�

Eris looked uncertain for a moment, but Harry
offered her an encouraging smile. �Go
on, we�ll all find something out here.
Go see what he has.�

Eris nodded and turned to
Maurice. �I would love to see it.�

The pair
disappeared into the back room and Harry quickly began to peruse the shop. It didn�t take him long to find something
that piqued his interest, the problem was that it was an ensemble. A wonderful idea formed in his head
then. He called all his friends over,
noticing that Sirius was conspicuously absent.
Harry shrugged it off, assuming that his godfather had simply found
something he liked and was trying it on.

�Look what I found guys,� Harry said,
motioning to the costume display behind him.
The main centerpieces were two mannequins dressed up as King Arthur and
Guinevere. A court jester knelt before
them and Merlin was off to the side. A
lady in waiting stood beside the queen and a handsomely dressed herald was next
to the king. Flanking the display were
two knights. �If you guys like the idea,
I think we should get these costumes and go with a sort of group theme. As a matter-of-fat, I would like to buy you
guys the costumes.�

�Oh Harry,� Ginny breathed, eyeing the elegant
dress of the lady in waiting. �That�s
kind of you, but��

�Not a word of protest. Think of it as an early
Christmas present to each of you.�
Harry eyed the costumes for a moment.
�Ron and Hermione, I think you should go as Arthur and Guinevere. Blaise and Ginny could be the herald and hand
maiden. Draco and I can be the knights
and Greg and be Merlin.�

�You want me to dress up as Merlin,� Greg
asked in a bewildered tone. �Maybe I
should be a knight and you could be Merlin.�

�Nonsense,� Harry said with a laugh. �I think you�ll look great in that green robe
with the purple trimmings. Not to
mention I think you�ll look better than me with the beard.�

Greg just nodded. And so each of them picked out the correct
costume in the correct size from the rack and tried them on. By the time they were done, Eris had returned
with a neatly wrapped package tucked beneath her arm. Hermione and Ginny tried to question her
about it, but Eris insisted that it was a surprise.

Sirius showed up then. �Did you all find something?�

�Sure did,� Harry said happily. �Where�s yours?�

�Oh, I don�t do the whole costume thing
anymore, Harry,� Sirius said with a small smile.

�Oh no you don�t,� Draco said with a sly smile.

Ron quickly joined him with that opinion. �Yeah, Sirius, you have to go to the ball
with the rest of us. It will be fun.�

�I don�t have to dress up,� Sirius said firmly.

Hermione spoke then in a superior
tone. �Professor McGonagall said that
you have to be in costume to gain admittance.
No acceptations. That�s the only
way they can choose the king and queen of Halloween.�

Sirius sighed. �Very well. Why don�t you lot just go ahead and pick
something for me.�

Harry smirked. �Well, there was one costume left from the
ensemble we chose.�

______________________________________________________________________

Friday,
October 31^st, Halloween

Eris waited until Hermione and
Ginny had dressed and left to join the beaus before pulling out her
costume. She had asked Ginny to send
Draco up knowing she would need help with the elaborate hair ornamentation
required for the costume. When Maurice
had taken her into the storage room and showed her his fine she had been
stunned. How the wizard had gotten a Numem Pumilum to sell him the formal
costume was beyond her. He claimed that
he had come across a group of elven vendors, but it
all just seemed too lucky to her. Still,
she wasn�t going to pass up the opportunity to gain the garment. Perhaps fate was just passing her a gift and
a wink.

What
Maurice had managed to attain was a traditional elven
blood feud gown. It was the gown worn by
elven women when they were locked in a life contest
with another soul. She found it rather
fitting considering her current position with both Lucius Malfoy and
Voldemort. The pure bloods would all know
what it meant since such matters of protocol were a part of their traditional
upbringing before they ever entered Hogwarts.
It was important to know when an elf was involved with a blood feud
because one wrong move could add you to the list of those he or she intended to
deal death to.

She
looked in the mirror, spinning left and right to see how the gown hung upon
her. It was completely black, of course,
and a tad on the scant side considering her usual tastes. The top was a soft leather corset setup that
started about five inches below her collar bone and ended just above her hips. With a flick of her wand it was laced up
tightly, leaving her shoulders and arms bare.
When the corset was in place, she felt a wave of magic flow through the
gown as it altered to make her back appear bare from the base of her neck to
the small of her back. Strings of black
crystals were then draped across her back.
It was all part of the illusion.
From the front, it would still appear that Eris was wearing a full
corset. The invisibility spell on the
corset was simply a part of making the elf encased in the dress appear less
threatening. There were also pockets
fitted into the gown in such a way (and with certain spells put on them) that
an outsider would never know weapons were concealed.

The dress continued with black
silk from her waist to an inch above the floor (in her bare feet) and was slit
on the right and left side to three inches above the knee, allowing for a
greater range of movement. The illusion
spells kicked in again, causing strings of black crystals to appear connecting
either side of the slit on both sides of the gown. On the front part of the silken area of the
dress the elven totem of the blood feud was
embroidered in black floss. It
contrasted just enough with the shimmer of the silk to be perfectly visible. The totem was spelled to alter to suit the
wearer and Eris watched in fascination as it shifter. It began at the base, with a dragon, facing
forward with its wings spread wide and a serpent clutched beneath its
claws. On top of the dragon were two winged
horses standing on their hind legs with their backs to each other. The totem ended with the head of what looked
like the Grim and a ferret resting on its head like a crown.

Satisfied that the totem had set
itself, Eris pulled on her knee-high, black leather boots and laced them
up. They weren�t exactly formal dress
wear, but she thought they went well with the corseted dress. Draco entered the room then, just in time to
help her add the final touches to the costume by adorning her hair with the
thirty or so spicula that had come with the
costume. These specula were a good deal
smaller than the large, arrowhead adornment that she�d placed in Harry�s hair
for Bill�s wedding, but were authentic and therefore lethal if wielded properly. She probably could have fit twice as many
into her hair, but it was only for show tonight, not for battle. She was actually quite partial to the dragon
tail style she�d given to Harry that day.
The ones she was to wear tonight were known as hydra style. They were silver in color, each with a black
crystal set in the center as part of the blood feud dress.

�Wow, Eris, where on earth did that man find
this,� Draco said in awe. �I didn�t
think any regular wizard could ever get their hands on something like this.�

�Me either,� Eris said quietly. �It was almost as if someone knew I�d need
it.�

�Yeah, the same way they knew to send someone
here for you and Harry,� Draco said thoughtfully. �Anyway, I take it that you need me to weave
those contraptions into your hair?�

�Yes please.
I�d like it pulled away from my face, half up, with a small braid for
each of the specula.�

�The what,� Draco asked with a frown.

�Spicula, it means
arrowhead,� Eris said with a smile. �You
know how the elves are. They never gave
them a name so wizards did and it ended up being Latin of course.�

�Of course, now let�s get to work on you. I want your hair to be as sexy as that
dress,� Draco said in a suggestive purr.

�It�s not meant to be sexy. Its meant to be distracting,� Eris said
firmly.

�Yeah, by making every man who sees you drool
all over themselves.�

Eris just rolled her eyes. She knew that Draco was right so there was no
point in arguing. She couldn�t help but
wonder though, would she be able to distract Sirius
with it as well? More importantly, did
she want to?

_______________________________________________________________________

Severus sat in his chair by the
fire, happily reading his personal copy of Moste Potente Potions. It was a wonderful Friday night and all his
little charges were going to be gone until the wee hours. They would be surrounded by teachers so there
was no worrying about anything happening to them. He could just sit back, relax, and breathe
easy for one night. He wondered what the
devil was taking Draco and Eris so long.
Harry and the others had gone to wait outside the Great Hall doors,
claiming it was too hot in the common room.
Severus suspected that Hermione and Ginny wanted to make sure that
nothing scared Eris away before she was in the party and stuck there.

That was when he heard the girls�
dorm room door open and looked up to see Draco exit in his knight costume. Eris wasn�t behind him. �What, has she changed her mind or something?�

�No,� Draco said softly. He looked a bit shell shocked actually. �She�s just putting on a pit of makeup and
spelling her fingernails black to match her dress.�

Severus frowned. �What is she going as, a hag?�

Draco actually began to choke a
bit before he spoke. �No�definitely not
that. I�m not sure you want to know.�

�Well, I don�t care what she�s going as so
long as it doesn�t interfere with me having a nice, relaxing, carefree��

Severus trailed off as he saw Eris step into
view. He was completely silent and she
came down the steps and moved up beside Draco.
She looked lethal. She looked
breathtaking. She looked like she was
half naked!

�You are not going anywhere young lady,�
Severus roared. Where the devil had she
gotten a blood feud gown? He didn�t care
at the moment that it was part of her traditional heritage. She looked�edible�arg�no,
she looked like she would probably be jumped by no less than twenty hormonal
teenage wizards. How was he supposed to
have a quiet evening when he would be day-dream�grrr�worrying
about that?

�I am too, Severus,� Eris said with a tilt of
her chin. �This is a perfectly
acceptable outfit and you know it. Its
part of my elven tradition.

�But you look�you look�� Severus trailed off
and Draco helped him out.

�Utterly shagable,
and mind you I am gay.� That boy�s cheek
was going to get him hexed quite soon.

�Draco, you go meet with the others. I need to have a word with Eris before you
comes along,� Severus said sternly.

The boy
left with a small smile and Severus turned back to Eris trying to maintain
control of his tumultuous emotions. The
vixen smiled warmly at him. �There�s
nothing to worry about, Severus. Harry
and Draco are going to be my dates. They
won�t let anything happen to me.
Besides, you know that most of the students will have a healthy bit of
respect for what this costume represents.�

�I know that it�s just that you look so�so
grown up.� Yes, that was it
Severus. Way to go, old boy, you�re
reeling in the points now.

Eris walked over to him and took his hands in
her own. �Does that mean I�m grown up
enough for a little kiss?�

Severus closed his eyes. �Eris, you need to worry about finding your
mate right now, not being infatuated with your bitter, old mentor.�

�No older than the mate that fate seems to
want me saddled with,� Eris said softly.
�I�m telling you right now, Severus, that any mate of mine is going to
have to accept the fact that I love you quite a bit. I miss you holding me. I miss you kissing me.�

�I should have never taken such liberties
considering your state of mind and past,� Severus said firmly. �I would only get in the way of the
relationship you must form.�

Eris pulled him into a hug then
and whispered softly against his chest, �Am I so damaged then that even you
can�t love me, the one person I thought could truly understand and look passed
what was done to me?�

Severus gave in then, how could he
not? He ran a hand through her hair,
mindful of the specula. �Of course I
love you, Eris. I love you so much more
than I should. You should be a daughter
to me, but I find myself wishing�wishing that��

�That you could be the one,� Eris finished for
him. �I feel that way as well. Its not that I can�t accept Sirius�its just that there are so many things complicating the
connection.�

�And I�m one of them,� Severus asked
quietly. �And what if I tried to get
along a bit better with Black?�

�In another situation...hell in another life
that would make things so much easier,� Eris said haltingly. �There�s more to it than that, Severus.�

Severus sighed and pushed the girl
back a bit. �We�re going to have a talk
about this soon, but for now you have a party to get to and a potential mate to
knock on his arse.�

Eris smiled and leaned in close to him. �My kiss, please.�

He couldn�t resist. He�d been missing this proximity ever since
that damned mess at the Weasley wedding.
Leaning his head down a bit, he pressed his lips to hers in a soft,
sweet kiss. It was rather chaste and he
allowed himself to savor the feel of her for only a moment before pulling
gently away. �Go on to your party,
love.�

Eris smiled sadly at him and hurried
out the door. So much
for his quiet, worriless night.
He now needed a bloody strong drink and a cold shower.

_____________________________________________________________________

Sirius couldn�t believe that he�d
been talked into this. How the devil had
he ended up dressed in a jester suit? Oh
well, he�d just make the best of it and spend the night clowning around. Perhaps he could coax a few laughs out of
Eris. He often found that a good deal of
intoxicating humor could loosen up a girl.
Perhaps he could get that goodnight kiss out her yet. Where was she anyway?

He heard a surprised gasp behind
him them. It sounded like Hermione. He turned around to see Ginny and Hermione
tugging on their respective boyfriends� sleeves and pointing towards the
stairs. When he turned to see what they
were looking at he nearly passed out.
That couldn�t be Eris�it just couldn�t.
Merlin knew that Lily had never looked like that. Of course, Lily wasn�t part elf and therefore
entitled to dress in an elven blood feud gown. Egad, why didn�t more witches dress like
this? Screw robes! Who needed them? Why hadn�t the elven
trend of dress been adopted yet?

�Sirius? Sirius, are you alright? Hey, Sirius!� Harry�s shout directly in his ear finally
gained his attention.

�Yes, Harry,� he asked in a daze.

�I asked you if you like Eris� dress, but I
figure the answer is yes. You�re
drooling by the way,� the boy added with a smug smile.

�Oh shut it, Harry,� Sirius hissed as Eris and
Draco came near. �Take care of your
mate.�

He stepped over to Eris then and
bowed deeply. �Hello, my beautiful, elven lady. If you
are currently engaged in a blood feud then perhaps you could use the services
of a jester to lighten your mood?�

Eris offered him a slightly unsure
smile, but still nodded. �That would be
nice, but only if you promise to smash a pie in the face of any wizard who gets
fresh with me.�

�No problem,� Sirius said with a grin and took
Eris� hand loosely in his own. �Shall
we?�

Eris nodded and they got in
position behind Harry and the rest of the group. As they walked into the Great Hall, Blaise
and Ginny were in the lead. Blaise
stopped and called for attention, playing up his role of herald. �Lords and ladies, your
attention please. I give you King
Arthur and his queen, Guinevere.�

Ron and Hermione entered then with their heads held high and there was a
loud applause. Blaise announced Ginny
next. �Queen Guinevere�s hand maiden,
Lady Ginerva.�

Next were the knights. �Guarding the king tonight are Sir Potter and
Sir Malfoy.�

Then Greg. �The greatest wizard our
world has ever known, Merlin, here to advise King Arthur in all things.�

Then it was his and Eris�
turn. �King Arthur currently has in his
court a visiting dignitary, Eris, an elven lady
currently engaged in blood feud.
Escorting her for her amusement is the king�s fool, Sirius.�

The laughter and applause took a
while to die down. All of the teachers
looked extremely pleased and Sirius felt a small pang of regret that Albus
wasn�t here to see it. Nothing had ever
pleased the old man more than seeing his students having a good time together.

The night seemed to go by in a
flash. Sirius did not, to his dismay,
get to keep Eris all to himself. Draco and Harry were still keeping their
relationship quiet and therefore took turns stealing Eris away. There was also the problem that several
people were taking Eris� chosen dress quite seriously and came to pledge aid to
her side of the cause. They weren�t
fools. They knew who she was feuding
against. Added to that though, was the
fact that every single wizard who came to speak with her pulled her into a
dance. They were all perfect gentleman
(who wouldn�t be with a feuding elf maiden?), but that didn�t stop Sirius from
being a tad jealous. Still, he wasn�t
going to complain since she spent every other moment with him, making no effort
to avoid his presence.

Soon it was time for the king and
queen to be announced. All the students
had entered ballots during the evening to vote for their favorite male and
female costumes. Professor McGonagall
called for attention and soon the Great Hall fell silent. �I would like to announce your choices for
king and queen of Halloween. First we
will announce the king. Your king of
Halloween is�Sirius Delacour-Black.�

There was a loud applause and
Sirius made his way forward in surprise.
He knew that everyone had been getting a laugh out of his antics all
night, but he never suspected this would happen. He tossed his jester hat to Harry, who was
smiling brightly at him, and made his way forward to receive his crown. When it was on his head, McGonagall announced
the queen. �The queen you have all
chosen is�Miss Eris Potter. Eris please come forward.�

Sirius was smiling broadly
now. How perfect was this? He adored the shocked look on Eris� face as
McGonagall placed the tiara on her head and then offered her his hand. She smiled timidly and took it, allowing him
to lead her back onto the floor for the final dance of the evening.

As the music began to play, Sirius
gently pulled Eris flush against him and urged her to lay her head on his
shoulder. �Go on, sweetheart, I won�t
bite.�

Eris sighed softly and tucked her
head close to his neck. �Thank you for
being so much fun this evening.�

�It was my pleasure,� he said quietly. �My only hope is that I�ll have pleased my
lady enough for her to grant me a small kiss before retiring.�

Eris stiffened a bit and pulled
back from him. �And if I say no?�

Sirius shrugged. �Then I hope that I earn it another day. I�m willing to try and move slower like you
asked. I care for you too much to lose
you by being stupid.�

�Learned that lesson have you,� Eris asked sweetly.

Sirius leaned in until his lips
were only a breath away from hers. �Quite well. I can�t
stand to be distant from you.�

�Then don�t be,� Eris whispered and he was
undone. He pulled her in for a deep
kiss, swiping his tongue across her lips to beg for entrance. She opened up to him and he dipped his tongue
in just a bit to taste her before he pulled back. He gave her one more quick
kiss before smiling serenely.

�I feel much better now,� he said
quietly. �I think I could sleep well
forever with a sweet kiss like that each night.�

�Don�t be silly,� Eris said with a
giggle. �What a dreadful love life that
would lead to for you, falling asleep after one kiss, you poor dear.�

Sirius waggled his eyebrows. �Well, we can�t have that now can we? How would we
ever managed to make Harry an uncle.�

It was a stupid thing to say he
supposed, thinking about it later on.
Eris immediately stopped dancing, a frightened
and somewhat ashamed look in her eyes.
�I�m sorry, Sirius. I have to
go. I really did have a nice night.�

With that, Eris fled from the
Great Hall, leaving Sirius feeling even more heavy
hearted than he had before. He needed to
discover the secret of why Eris was insistent upon holding herself back from
him. He needed to find it soon.
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