Memento Mori - Sirius Black

Chapter 34

December 24th, 1975.

Morgan was a swirl of silver chiffon as she danced with almost every male guest and talked with every female that she came across, or deliberately looked for. Most were interested in her new acquisition. Said acquisition had the name of Sirius Black and the endless questions she had to answer about it had left her head spinning. They were so interested in her silly little fake romance that whenever Morgan tried to talk about anything important she'd get stopped by, surprise, more stupid questions.

Morvian had told her about an hour ago to stop talking with James and Sirius and go do something useful. And she was really trying, but damn, these idiots were making it hard.

When she saw the Lestranges Morgan decided to try her luck and go talk to them. She sidestepped couples dancing and people who wanted to talk to her, all with a graceful smile on her face that was starting to ache. She generally loved the ball, but this year was going to leave her completely drained, she didn't have any doubt.

Mrs. Lestrange saw her approaching and smiled at her. The woman was tall, her dark hair was pinned back and her light blue dress made her look like a queen. The man next to her was a piece of shit and it showed. Well, it didn't actually. He was all aristocratic grace and elegance, but Morgan despised him for all the things she knew he put in Rab's head.

"Mister and Misses Lestrange, what a pleasure to see you tonight," Morgan didn't let any of her emotions show, the polite mask never slipping

"You know we'd never miss it, Morgan," The dark-haired woman replied with a charming laugh.

"And you know we love to have you," She shot back. "How's the wedding coming along? A few nights ago Bella was supposed to come for dinner to the Blacks, but they said she was busy with preparations. Is everything going smoothly? I would've thought everything would be arranged by now,"

The shared look of the couple at her questions made Morgan curious. It wasn't much, but a silent conversation was there between them as if warning each other. The girl pretended to be oblivious as she drank from her glass and laughed at a couple joyfully dancing close by.

"Everything is ready, yes. But you know... last minute details," Mrs. Lestrange explained. It would've been perfectly believable if they hadn't given themselves away.

Morgan had believed Bella and Cissa had never actually been invited. But maybe they had been and couldn't come. Like Walburga had said. She didn't know what devil to trust, to be honest.

"Of course. A wedding is a tricky thing," Morgan slipped a glass of champagne into both adults.

They kept talking about the ball, school, and more boring stuff. At the same time, Morgan tried to get them drunk, and three glasses later the girl decided it was probably time to ask what she wanted to know. After all, it was getting weird to spend so much time with the Lestranges.

"Oh, won't you look at that," Morgan said in a low conspiratorial tone, her face painted with disinterest while she looked at a woman talking with her son across the dancefloor. "Mrs. Carter and her son are over there. They're still in mourning, of course. But her husband, Frederick, worked with my father and they'd already been invited, so..."

"The Carters? I'm afraid we've never-" Mr. Lestrange started but Morgan cut him off.

"Oh, yes, you have. Mr. Carter was high up in the Ministry. A different department from yours, Mr. Lestrange, but he had a lot of influence," the girl explained, her voice even as she tried to spin the conversation in the direction she wanted. She might have been a bit obvious, but then again, the night wasn't  eternal.