(Word Count: 1,449)
(Sirius POV, 3rd person)
Sirius spun Amelia away, shooting a wink at Harry over her shoulder. She laughed wryly to herself.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Oh, it's nothing. Susan's probably having a tough time seeing me actually dance for once. In her mind, I'm probably the stern old spinster that's serious all the time," Amelia explained with a self depreciating chuckle. "Well, she's not exactly wrong."
Sirius shoved down the childish impulse to joke, 'You can't be Sirius all the time, because that's me!' And instead took a moment to take in what she said. To look at her.
She had a wry, melancholic smile on her face.
Amelia was a very serious woman. There was no doubt about that. She had been since they were in school together. She was two years above them during their marauding days. One of the most beautiful in the school! Sirius would have tried to go after her, but she was Edgar's brother, so she was off limits. When she became a prefect, she was the one most dedicated to putting a stop to schoolyard bullying, and in chasing after them when they pulled their pranks.
She wasn't always like that. She used to be carefree like any other girl their age, but that changed when her parents died when she was only a third year. She had a younger brother to take care of and no one that would take them in. That had forced her to grow up quickly.
Then, only a few years after they had graduated, Edgar and his wife were killed and once again, Amelia was left to pick up the pieces of her family and took in the young baby Susan. Sirius was incarcerated in Azkaban soon after that.
Now here she was, the head of the DMLE, and life had left its mark on her. Instead of long flowing hair like, say, Lady Greengrass, Amelia had much shorter hair that barely fell past her ears. She wore a very conservative dress-robe, almost masculine in cut, like she was wearing a uniform instead of a dress to a ball.
She was beautiful.
"What is it?" Amelia looked at him, confused. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Er…" Sirius cleared his throat awkwardly, realizing he had been staring. "It's nothing. I just realized I never got to thank you enough for everything you did in getting me out of Azkaban. Can I invite you out to dinner some time?"
Amelia brushed it off with a scoff. "Please, it was young Potter that got all the new evidence that cleared you. I barely did anything."
Sirius frowned as he had a realization. 'Did she not even think of the possibility that I was actually asking her out on a date? Then… I've got to play this slowly.'
"Still, there has to be some way I can show my appreciation. Please, I insist," Sirius said.
Amelia furrowed her brow, looking into his eyes. They were sincere. "Well… If you're serious about helping, then I wouldn't mind a donation to the DMLE. The minister, in his infinite wisdom, decided to cut my budget in half. I barely have enough to pay my employees, nevermind actually getting them all of the supplies they need. If something doesn't change, I'll have to do some massive lay-offs! I want to avoid that, since My Aurors are stretched too thin as it is, so I came to this ball to try and scrounge up support to appeal it in the Wizengamot, but I haven't made any progress!" The more she spoke, the more frustrated she got until she was speaking with a loud voice. When she finished, she realised and calmed herself down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to unload all of that on you."
Sirius gave her his signature suave grin, "Please, I'm happy you did. I knew the budget was horrible for your department, but I had no idea it was this bad. If so, I would have made some donations a long time ago! I'll bring it up in our next meeting. In the meantime, how much do you need?"
Amelia looked at him in surprise. "You will? But I thought you hated the DMLE."
"What happened to me was all Crouch's and Bagnold's fault. It had nothing to do with you. I know you've been doing your very best," Sirius replied honestly.
It was faint, but he could swear Amelia blushed at that. "Well, if you're sure, then I need about 50,000 galleons. That would let me get new-"
"100,000. I have a feeling you're lowballing to only get some bare necessities. Actually, let's just make that 200,000. This way, you can get everything you need and more."
Amelia gaped, "Lord Black, I can't accept that much!"
"Oof," Sirius feigned pain, "See, now that just hurts! I thought we were friends, Amelia! Just call me Sirius. And it's too late for you to deny it, I've already said I'd make the donation." He grinned cheekily.
"... Thank you."
~~ ITW,H ~~
(Harry POV, 3rd Person)
The first dance ended, and he led Susan back over to the side to meet up with Neville and Hannah. After meeting up with them, they switched dance partners. Harry was now dancing with Hannah, Neville dancing with Susan. Looking across the room, Daphne was dancing with Blaise now, and Draco with Pansy.
The dance went on normally. Harry didn't try to tease Hannah about Neville. There wasn't much point in that. The dance ended quickly, and soon Harry went over to Daphne.
"Excuse me, Daphne, but may I have this next dance with you?" Harry bowed slightly, hand extended.
"Of course," Daphne said and took his hand. He led them out onto the dance floor as the next song started playing.
It felt like Daphne wanted to say something, so Harry waited until she could find the words. As a result, they danced silently for a few moments.
"I…" She seemed to rethink what she was going to say, then leaned in close to whisper. "Are you really planning on becoming a grey family?"
"You saw that, huh? Yes, though I imagine that on the political spectrum, I would still be leaning mostly in favor of the light. Similar to how Madam Zabini is largely dark, but still technically grey," Harry explained.
She nodded thoughtfully. "I see. But the Potter's have always been light, so why the change now?"
"Partly because I will also be holding lordship of the Black family, but also because I want to bring ritualism and some of the older traditions back. I think it's a shame we've lost those in favor of Santa Claus, Halloween candy, and the Easter Bunny. Just look at the magical communities in Central and South Americas. They still practice the Day of the Dead and their other traditions. In fact, most other magical communities still have at least some of their magical traditions," Harry explained.
It wasn't that he disliked Christmas, or any of the other muggle holidays. In fact, he loved Christmas! But he didn't want to lose a large part of wizarding kind's culture. Most of them were the types of "pagan" practices in the muggle world. Back in his past life, Harry remembered his mother geeking out over the "witchy pagan" holidays, and she would try to include some of those traditions into their holidays.
Back then, it was kind of endearing, and everyone just kind of went along with it just to satisfy her. Now though, it was a way to remember her and connect with his past life a little.
"You know, my dad told me that most of what you said came from Headmaster Dumbledore. I thought he was a family friend of yours?" Daphne said, but she looked pleased.
"He is. That doesn't mean we agree on everything though. I feel like he's overcorrecting from the past two dark lords he's fought. I do hate the pureblood idealism, and I do think a lot of curses should be illegal, but rituals? There are plenty of rituals that aren't dark at all, and it's still a major form of magic in a lot of other countries."
"Well then… It seems we agree on a lot of things."
With that, the rest of the dances went by quickly. Harry made sure to dance with everyone close to his age, as Arcturus wanted, and even danced with Pansy Parkinson and Milicent Bulstrode.
Hannah, as it turned out, had nothing to worry about. None of the older Slytherin boys gave her any trouble.
Soon enough, Harry said his goodbyes to his friends and he, Sirius, and Arcturus floo'ed away back home.