Secretum ; james sirius

Prologue

The way Lucilla O'Connell twirled under the dimmed light of a chandelier was enchanting. You could watch her dress sway with every moment, flowing and wrapping around her carefully. Everything was perfect.

Twenty years had passed from the famous Battle of Hogwarts. Harry Potter, his friends and his children all surrounded a table, chattering and laughing away. He had insisted on inviting the group of Slytherins who were no doubt the misfits of this group.

They sat in a corner, on the table right by the drinks. Draco Malfoy slumped his shoulders as he spoke to Blaise Zabini, Cullen O'Connell and Georgia Donovan. He was still grieving over the loss of his wife, Astoria, whom everyone had known that he loved deeply.

Lucilla grabbed Ember Zabini's hand, twirling underneath it with such grace that you knew she had to be taking dance lessons of some sort. Iris Donovan was not so far behind, having just graduated Hogwarts she attended with her girlfriend, Beth Parker. The two of them danced wildly together, grinning. Scorpius Malfoy was seated at the table next to his best friend, Adelaide Zabini and his father.

"Addy, Scorp, come dance," Lucy said, waltzing over to the two. "You need to relax and have some fun tonight after all this is the only chance you'll get before we all head back to school."

"I don't want to dance, Lucy, I want to stay here and talk with Father. Addy and I are having the time of our lives, aren't we?" Scorpius said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Addy had her cheek rested on her elbow, looking as if she were already falling asleep, "Wha - Oh, yeah - I agree with Scorp." she said tiredly, blinking a few times to adjust her eyes.

"You two are totally bored, come on!" EJ encouraged. "You're friends with one of the Potter boys, just go over and ask him if he wants to dance... Addy, I know you want to."

With that comment, the youngest Zabini looked wide awake as she stared at her sister in horror, "There is no way in hell that I fancy Albus Potter! Merlin, EJ, I want to murder you right now, if only I could use magic -"

"Hey, hey, no murdering siblings," their father said, only just hearing what the two of them were saying. "EJ, drag your sister up there to dance... and bring that miserable blond with you," he added, nodding his head to Scorpius.

"Seriously, Blaise? You're my godfather! You're supposed to support my decisions in being a moody teenager because today is that day for me." Scorpius exclaimed, glaring at Blaise.

Blaise rolled his eyes, "Mate, your dad is the one being a moody teenager, now grab Lucy's hand and dance or I will be the one committing murder and not Addy."

That seemed to settle it because Scorpius pouted and got up, taking Lucy's hand, "Just so you know, I am so not going to enjoy this."

"Yeah, of course," said Lucy sarcastically, nodding her head mockingly. "I'm the master of dance, Scorp, you can't resist. I know that those ballet lessons you took when you were five must've paid off somehow -"

"Hey, you don't need to go and say it so loudly!" Scorpius hissed, scowling.

Lucy grinned, shaking her head with a laugh. Scorpius was usually a blast to hang out with when he wasn't worried that someone would see him make a mistake.

It was a pretty perfect night. The place that the Potter's had hired out was decorated with the same starry sky the was enchanted over the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Everyone seemed to be having fun, even Cullen convinced Draco to cheer up. There was a stage at the front of the room and the whole room went quiet as Harry Potter advanced towards it.

"Lucy, Scorp, we've got to sit and listen," Iris said, directing all of the children over to a table separate from the one the parents were sitting at.