46) The Dinner with The Rocheforts

Severus looked at Lucius as he had spoken about talking privately with him for some reason.

"You wanted to talk about something?"Severus asked looking at the face of Lucius Malfoy who was fidgeting a little.

"When are you going back to Hogwarts?" Lucius asked looking back at him with a questioning look.

"Tomorrow early morning. Are there any problems?" He asked looking at Lucius for anything which might indicate his intentions or worries.

"I wanted to know about your schedule to check if you were free this evening. We have a dinner to attend today," Lucius spoke smoothly as if he was stating a urgent and important task.

"Dinner," Severus mused slowly looking confused at him. He couldn't understand what Lucius meant by dinner.

"It is time I introduce myself to Evelyn's family," Lucius spoke up with a small nervous look on his face.

"Don't tell me that even after three years of being with her you still hadn't talked with her family," Severus asked looking incredibly at him.

"They don't know about me and her till now but I am thinking of approaching her family to ask for her hand," Lucius said a little nervous. He didn't wanted to be alone at the party where he will be introduced to her family. He wanted an alibi with him and a friendly face to talk to during the dinner which was the reason he was asking him. Besides if things didn't went well then he could go with Severus to a bar to drink his heartache off.

"What in the world would I do there in the dinner party?" He asked looking at him with a bewildered face.

"Oh come on Severus. You did the same with taking your mother to the party when Alice's father called you," Lucius reminded him with a pleading look.

"I did," Severus admitted slowly, his mother had been ecstatic to be the part of dinner as she wanted to assure the Fortescue family that he was a gentleman with Alice.

"Please, you are like my best friend and business partner," Lucius pleaded him. He was nervous like ever, besides Evelyn had told that her parents would not be angry at them but Lucius wanted Severus to be there. He had doubts that he would become too nervous there and would blabber something incoherent. While Severus was hardly a people person, he had a silvertongue which came out occasionally when he tried to pull something off in his favour. And he dearly wanted that silvertongue on his side, to be there at the dinner.

"Fine but I will only intervene when needed," Severus spoke up after pondering for some moments.

"Good then," Lucius spoke up with a relieved sigh of his own.

__________________________________________________________________________

Regulus Black looked at the meeting room of Grimmauld Place. The home of his was still as ever. Furniture and paintings all going for their alignment to House Slytherin. Every corner and wall of the house in dark colours or the green and silver of house Slytherin.

"I persume that you have an idea about what this is going to be about," Orion Black said as he looked at his son Regulus. Beside him was his cousin and brother in law Cygnus Black and his father Arcturus Black along with his uncle Pollux Black.

"I have an idea," Regulus admitted, not admitting would only result in a taunt from his father or grandfather.

"Good, the 'Daily Prophet' says that Andromeda has returned to the wizarding world. I want you to alert this Severus Prince who is also in Slytherin and the owner of this Prince Potions Factory to remove her from job or that he might face consequences," Orion Black spoke calmly but his voice was firm. He sighed inwardly why did his niece had to go and come back again this time in wizarding world. Till now the sole reason she was alive was because she had been hiding and Orion had decided to simply let it be.

"Severus Prince is a little headstrong father. He might take this message as a threat," Regulus said a little slowly, his voice was soft but it had a firm quality to it. Anything less would be unacceptable for the new Black Heir.

"It is a threat and it should be carried on as one and you must say it in public infront of everyone," Arcturus Black commented as he looked at his grandson. The Prince family were a good and dark family but all had been spoiled when their daughter ran away with a filthy muggle and now a simple halfblood brat dared to mess with their family.

"I agree, the boy may be a Prince but he must remember that he is not in Italy but rather in Wizarding Britain," Pollux agreed as he spoke up in agreement.

Regulus saw that only his Uncle Cygnus was sitting calmly as usual. It made him a little anxious as Andromeda was his daugter and the man had yet to say something till now.

"Ask Heir Prince politely as Orion had instructed you to do so. If he says no, then warn him that there will be consequences from the Black family towards Andromeda and he have no right to interfere there," Cygnus Black spoke finally. He had long desired for a son but all of his children had been daughters. He had nonetheless cared for his daughters giving them everything they needed, all ever he wanted in return was them to follow and act like their station demanded. Andromeda had not followed it and simply eloped away never thinking of the consequences.

Her marriage was set to Heir Selwyn, a good match it was; he remembered. A noble family like theirs in Sacred 28. The family was influential and Andromeda would have got everything she desired from the man. Her elopement had caused much tension between their family and Selwyns as grudges among wizards were kept for long.

He had nonetheless accepted the elopement and had been glad a little that his daughter had laid off from the radar preventing actions taken to be against her. But now that foolish girl had gone and dared back to return to the wizarding world once again blowing back this much years of silence.

Despite all of his blood purity and Black family values he was proud of his daughter a little, that atleast she had the guts to go and be apart from the values of this family. Something he himself had not been able to do, for all of Bellatrix's talks about guts and dare filled in her - it was her younger sister who had surpassed hers in the field of guts and daring.

"I will," Regulus said slowly as he looked at the members of his family. Being the Heir to the Black family was not something he had ever wanted to be, but after the escape of Sirius he was thrusted in this position. A position he was trying so much to be a good in afterall he will not abandon his family's hopes and ideals.

A little flawed some of the family members may be but blood was blood at the end of the day; and he sure was not going to betray his own blood at the end of day.

__________________________________________________________________________

"Am I looking good enough?" Lucius asked Severus as he checked himself infront of the mirror.

"Oh for crying out loud!," Severus groaned with a miserable expression. This was the thirty sixth shirt which Lucius had shown him to ask if it was good enough to be worn to the party.

"Get a grab on yourself and put on that white shirt you showed five minutes ago," Severus spoke up grabbing his head in his palm as he tried to reason with the half assed twat which Lucius was acting like.

"But that's completely plain," Lucius spoke up immediately telling him more about his problem with the shirt.

"Exactly, we are going to a family dinner not some beach or cruising for you to wear shirts with flower patterns or ones with intricate bordering. Give the plain one a chance like I did," Severus tried to reason with Lucius about the shirts he was seeing. Trust Lucius to have shirts with such intricate designing and patterns. But then again the man pretty much considered himself to be a fashion specialist so he wasn't going to hurt his ego for a simple thing.

Lucius eyed him for a second before he scoffed "you look as if you are going to a funeral with all the black shirt and pants you are wearing,"

"Black has a class of its own," was the only reply from Severus at that.

An hour later Severus and Lucius both appeared at a sitting room which was in pristine condition. The books were neatly lined and were on general topics such as some advanced basic charms and the household ones used in daily work.

"Hello, are you the friends Evelyn mentioned?" a voice came from the doorway and Severus looked to see a woman in her early fourties present there. She had the same eyes as that of Evelyn and had a warm air with her.

"We are," Severus replied in his usual British accent as he looked at the lady with a smile while Lucius too nodded with a smile aimed at her.

"Come in then dears," the lady said as Severus followed with an extremely nervous Lucius Malfoy.

Ten minutes later in the dining table, Severus sat besides a girl who had recently turned fifteen and possessed the same features such as Evelyn. Besides the girl sat another handsome boy who was the same age as hers. Both the boy and the girl were twins and named as Eric and Elizabeth Rochefort.

"Are you Evelyn's friends and bosses?" the girl besides him asked with a small curious look in her face.

"Well you could say that for me, but Lucius is your sister's boyfriend," Severus said calmly looking at the girl. Lucius had yet to say anything till now and it was getting a little bother so he took it upon himself to break the ice. But then again he should have remembered that he was never a type of person who was successful in that.

"What?" came three shocked voices from the table among which one of them was louder than two others. It also ommited the word h too.

The last voice belonging to the Head of the family Louis Rochefort. The man instantly started glaring at Lucius who too was in same shock that Evelyn hadn't told about them to her family.

"Bugger!" Severus muttered under his breath as the girl besides him laughed at that.

At that precise moment Evelyn entered with a yellow dress and saw her father glaring at Lucius and immediately understood everything.

"Père, c'est mon..." Evelyn started to say as she took the seat besides her father and started to explain as her little siblings tried to understand everything along with her mother who had returned from the kitchen after hearing the loud exclamations.

__________________________________________________________________________

Send powerstones.

I won't be writing french accent as it gets much hard for me to write it. If anyone have shortcuts or experience in it can comment here to drop hints.

Next chapter will be Severus returning Hogwarts.