Whilst he was new to the whole physical attraction for beautiful women thing, he was willing to admit privately to himself that Lady Greengrass was extremely attractive, if you could stomach the cold-hearted vibes coming from her. Daphne was also on her way to being a great beauty as well.
...
Moving over to Sirius, he shook him roughly to wake him. "I want to sleep, James," Sirius muttered.
'I'm so going to get him back for this embarrassment,' he mentally promised, already scheming his revenge as he pulled Sirius upright, showing a surprising amount of physical strength for his small frame.
"Let me help you, Harry," Nicholas offered, taking his godfather to his feet.
"Thank you. Trust me, I'll be having words with my godfather about his deplorable conduct tonight," Harry stated firmly, feeling his cheeks heat.
Walking over to the floo, Nicholas handed Sirius off to him, his godfather's arm wrapped around his shoulders like dead weight. "Harry, will you and your godfather be attending the Ministry New Year's Eve Ball?" Lady Greengrass enquired as her husband activated the floo for them before offering some floo powder as well.
Taking some powder with his free hand, "If I can trust Sirius not to embarrass me, Lady Greengrass," he voiced bitterly, struggling with his godfather's weight, but he wouldn't ask for help. He would never show weakness in front of anyone but close family and those he could trust implicitly not to take advantage.
...
**(Ministry New Year's Eve Ball)**
Noticing that his godfather had a distinct spring in his step made him a little nervous as they walked up the carved stone path to Greystone Castle. Looking up at the imposing castle, he noticed its gothic features and many exquisitely carved gargoyles hanging from the rooftops.
This castle was clearly of later construction than Hogwarts, probably around the 12th or 13th century if he had to guess. Personally, he found the castle design far too gloomy for his tastes, preferring the simpler, more practical design of Hogwarts. Looking over at his godfather, memories of their previous social event surfaced.
"Try not to embarrass me tonight, Sirius," Harry warned, still not believing that Sirius had passed out drunk at the Greengrasses'. "You're meant to be the one taking care of me, not the other way around; do you know how difficult it was carrying you through the floo?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," his godfather replied with embarrassment. "But I think you got me back enough for that; waking up snuggling with a Professor McGonagall doll was quite ingenious… I did like the purring sounds you charmed the doll to make. That was a very nice touch."
He knew his godfather had said something to Lord Greengrass while they were alone, something important, but Sirius himself couldn't remember what he had said that evening, no matter how hard he tried. Hopefully, it wasn't anything too damaging, but for now, he was going to let it slide since he had no way of actually finding out what had been said, short of asking Lord Greengrass.
Instead, he had drilled into Sirius many times over the last couple of days to watch how much he drank and had taken the precaution of buying some potions to neutralize the effects of alcohol, but he knew he would be keeping a close eye on his godfather tonight and long into the future.
"Let it be a warning to you; if you embarrass me tonight, you'll find yourself waking up next to the real thing," he threatened, already trying to work out how he would actually carry through on his threat.
He never made idle threats. 'Maybe he could ask Tonks to help with the prank? Shift her form to take on the appearance of the deputy headmistress and have her sneak into Sirius' room?' A spell shot into the sky up ahead of them before falling down like a shooting star.
"That would be a stunt worthy of a marauder if you did," Sirius joked, his smile shifting into a mischievous grin as he too watched the falling star. "Maybe I should make that your first heir task? But instead of me, match her up with Snape. The man has probably never had a woman in his bed," mocking his school rival.
"Possibly," he answered with a smirk, happy that Sirius was back to his normal self. "But don't judge a book by its cover. For all we know, Snape could be a secret ladies' man," although he personally found that a rather unlikely scenario; the man was just too bitter, and did the man ever wash his hair? "Speaking of, I haven't seen you bedding any ladies lately, Sirius.
After all, you're the self-proclaimed ladies' man. What happened?" teasing his godfather while wondering what the man's reaction would be to knowing that he had already bedded a girl himself, even if there wasn't anything sexual about it, just hugging really. Or how Sirius would react to the news that he had seen Tonks naked, spread-eagle across a desk. A pair of spells shot into the sky before again falling back down to Earth. The Ministry was certainly trying to create an ambiance for the ball tonight, he thought.
Thinking of Penny, he wondered how her Christmas was going at her mother's and whether she liked his gift of a set of custom quills with her initials on them, hoping it was acceptable since Penny had a thing about accepting money and what she thought of as charity. That was something he simply didn't understand. After all, he had even struggled to get her to accept her share of the loot after their midnight raid. This brought back a fond smile to his lips. Damn, how he missed her, only just now realizing how attached he had grown to her after almost a year of continuous friendship.
Truthfully, it was kind of funny, considering the only reason he had really befriended her was to annoy Percy and get an advantage in his studies. It was the same thing that happened with Tonks, Daphne, and Tracy. They had all started out as merely useful associates, as beneficial partners working together for mutual gain, but now they were real friends.
"That sounds like a challenge, pup," his dogfather declared with a predatory smirk, which he immediately recognized as the warning sign for an approaching prank and ultimately embarrassment on his part.
"If you must know, I looked nearly half-dead for the last half year. It was only recently that I have felt semi-normal again… plus full functionality has returned to all areas of my body, if you know what I mean," Sirius, of course, decided that throwing an outrageous wink at him was necessary to accompany this statement; Harry's face remained firmly behind a mask of impassivity, unwilling to show any signs that he had heard his godfather, though that was quite a struggle.
"But I'll accept your challenge anyway. After all, might as well start the new year off with a good 'bang,'" Sirius declared with boyish arrogance as several bangs went off in the night sky, seeming to emphasize Sirius' statement. "I'll even allow you to pick my quarry for the evening." He mentally recoiled at the sheer arrogance on display, whilst wondering if his own was just as bad. 'Probably worse,' he admitted if he had Sirius baiting him on like this. They stepped up to the security checkpoint and joined the queue of couples as the trio of aurors kept watch whilst a smartly dressed man greeted them.
He leaned close to his godfather to whisper his reply, "Are you sure you don't want to add terms to this little challenge?" he asked discreetly, but the mischief was easily detectable in his voice as he considered setting him up with a stern, ball-busting witch like Madam Bones.
Catching Sirius' look, Sirius had finally realized that his godson wouldn't likely play fair. "No married women, or underage girls, or grandmothers…" Sirius whispered back as the couple in front of them stepped forward as magical snow started to gently fall all around them but never quite reached them. It was actually quite pretty.
"That's fair," he acknowledged in response as they stepped forward to be acknowledged and greeted by the doorman.
"Names?" the man greeted succinctly. He was not hostile nor warm, just purely professional in demeanor, as they handed over their wands to the aurors to be checked.
"Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, with Harry James Potter, heir to the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter and Black," Sirius said firmly and clearly as he had been taught from childhood and then handed over their personal invitations. The doorman's posture abruptly changed at that, his eyes taking in the elaborate family crests on their exquisite cloaks of pure acromantula silk as the auror handed them back their wands.
"The Minister extends his sincerest welcome to you both and hopes that you will greatly enjoy the evening," the doorman expressed with a wide, fake smile and immediately granted them entrance.
...
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