In The Shadow of Love

Chapter 29: Dancing Lessons

After breakfast in town, they decided it would be best to get the shopping for their clothing done early, to make sure they had their pick of outfits for the masquerade. Walking to Hogsmeade in the snow was a bit more difficult, but the snow falling around them made it seem magical, like walking in a snow globe.

After they were at Gladrags, Ominis let her choose an outfit on her own, while he went to talk to the shop owner about what he wanted to find. Augustus was more than happy to help, excited that Ominis and Diane were going to their first masquerade. He even packaged his outfit he'd chosen discreetly in packaging so it would still be secret from Diane until the day of the dance.

She chose her own outfit, talking excitedly in hushed tones across the shop as he waited by the entrance for her.

"I can't wait," Diane said happily, carrying her bag in her arms, holding it against her chest excitedly. She suddenly seemed to realize something. "Wait!" She stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. Ominis heard her footsteps stop and turned around in concern.

"Ominis, I... do you know how to dance? Because I don't." She said sheepishly.

Ominis couldn't help but laugh, that Diane had been so excited about this, talking about it for days, and forgot entirely that she didn't know how to dance. She was adorable. "Don't worry, I'll teach you. It's probably for the best, because you'll have to keep us from being a menace on the dance floor."

"Have you been to a dance before?" She asked curiously.

"No, I haven't. This will be my first. My family is under the delusion that they're part of high society, so all of us are trained in etiquette from when we were young."

That explained why his bow to Highwing seemed so formal.

"It seems so strange that they would pretend to be part of... high society like that." Diane shook her head. Her family was one of the more prominent in the Wizard community of London, but she wasn't really counted as one of them. She had definitely ever been trained in anything Iike that. If anything she'd been just a step above a street urchin, left mostly to her own devices as a child.

"The Gaunts are a proud family, even if they have little reason to be." Ominis sighed. "They like to try and keep the family line 'pure', to the point of marriage among cousins."

Diane wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Seriously? That's nasty."

"Exactly." Ominis shook his head. He bumped her playfully with his side as he smiled. "Not that any of that matters anymore."

"Nope!" She agreed with a smile. She was glad that he had finally accepted that he shouldn't be thinking of his family as much. Blood relatives or not, they weren't his actual family. She and Sebastian were. Just as he and Sebastian were her family. They were connected in a way that went far beyond any blood relations ever could.

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"I wish we had a record player." Ominis said in frustration. "It won't be easy dancing when there's no music."

"Oh, I can do that." Diane said eagerly.

"What?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I got a summoning spellcraft for one last year." Diane said, taking her wand out. She grinned as Ominis chuckled.

"At this rate we'll never need to buy furniture ever again." He mused.

"Well, I had to summon everything for my room back at Hogwarts." She said playfully. "And I wanted to listen to music while I watered plants."

"Of course." Ominis chuckled, as if that explained it all.

Diane cast her summoning spell in the corner of the parlor, the record player swirling into place and settling against the floor with a soft landing thud. A record fell into place as well, clanging a bit and making Ominis wince as he hoped it wasn't scratched from the impact.