Parminder Advani had never seen such opulence. Fairies glittered around candles, drunkenly giggling and tossing dust into the air. An enchanted, unmanned orchestra filled the hall with [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHVsHvgPtP4]music[/url]. The table was set with gold and luxurious burgundy velvet. A pang of nostalgia for the Gryffindor common room struck her then, lighting her features with a smile.

Eric’s arm looped about her chair comfortably. He leaned in to whisper in her ear, a wicked grin toying about his lips. 
“Looks like our favorite socialite hooked up with Hawkes. This’ll be entertaining.”

She followed his gaze to a fabulously beautiful redhead on the arm of heavily bearded man, suppressing a snort with some difficulty. Hawkes was a good Auror, but Merlin he had poor judgment. Dating his coworkers’ daughter? That was going to end in hexes before long.

“Nudd’s going to toss him through a window when he finds out,” she grinned conspiratorially to Eric, almost looking forward to the drama. Undoubtedly, she would have been less eager had she worked closely with Hawkes or Nudd. As it was, she had little to worry about.

A man had joined their table. She withdrew her attention from the ticking time bomb that was Hawkes to study their new dining companion. Silver lights danced in the corners of her vision, swirling about his form. Now [i]that[/i] was interesting. Parminder had been seeing glimpses of magic her whole life, but rarely did the flickers of light cling to wizards so brazenly. She straightened in her seat, aware of Eric’s tensing beside her.

He was familiar with Morgania and Bernard, both of whom seemed very pleased to see him. He introduced himself to Eric, who smiled charmingly enough. She felt his thumb tap her shoulder twice. He’d noticed her tensing, and his reassurance was welcome. Whoever this wizard—this Trenton—was, he must have been a remarkable spellcaster. But with Eric at her side, she permitted herself to relax.

He took her hand, and in a perfect display of old world mannerisms, kissed it. Her eyebrows elevated in amusement, her lips quirking into a grin. She didn’t think she’d [i]ever[/i] had such a greeting, and it was oddly charming. She couldn’t help but duck her gaze momentarily, trying not to be too embarrassed. She’d never been a particularly flirtatious woman, always too busy to bother with men. Eric insisted she was oblivious to numerous potential suitors, but she found that a bit hard to believe. She was a tracker, well versed in reading people and magic—even if he was right and she [i]was[/i] oblivious, it wasn’t like she was a prime catch. An Auror and a muggleborn; how many wizards would bother with that?

“Parminder Advani. It’s a pleasure,” she introduced when she trusted herself to meet his gaze without laughing.

“Eric Pucey,” her partner commented, his smile pleasant but his eyes calculating. “Durmstrang, right? You look a little familiar.”

Parminder quirked a brow. That was interesting. Few Englishmen studied at Durmstrang, and those that did tended to fall into a particular… category, as it was. No wonder Eric was on edge. Still, her friendship with Pucey had proven that she could hardly paint all Durmstrang alumni as blood elitist psychopaths, and she chose to reserve judgment for the time being.

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