Ministry parties were not something Amelia particularly enjoyed, but they had become a necessary evil. While she’d always been friendly, she’d never enjoyed schmoozing or seeing her coworkers in various, embarrassing states of drunkenness. Tonight was no different.
The party was lovely, of course, but her heart wasn’t in it.
Tiny house elves roamed the room like walking tables, carrying trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres over their heads. Fairy lights winked and danced in the bushes and fantastically decorated christmas trees lined the walls. Her spirits should have been soaring, but the party made her miss her family and Christmases back at Hogwarts. The people here were more concerned with networking and getting ahead than the true spirit of the holiday which was why she’d spent most of the night standing off to the side and simply watching the ebb and flow of the party in front of her.
"Not enjoying yourself, Miss Bones?"
The silky voice behind her made her jump and whirl around, her hand clutching at her throat. “Mr. Malfoy! You startled me.”
"My humble apologies, madam, I did not intend to scare you. I simply noticed you standing alone and thought it a shame," he explained. "My wife worked very hard on this event, I’d hate to think there were people who found it disappointing."
"Oh, no, it’s beautiful, honestly," Amelia replied quickly, a faint blush staining her cheeks, "Please, tell her she did a wonderful job. I’m just, uhh, a bit tired, that’s all."
"Not too tired for a dance, I hope?"
Blue eyes widened at the hand held out to her, finding it as strange as the little smirk that lifted the corner of Lucius’s mouth. Why the devil did he want to dance with her? “Of course not, thank you for offering.”
She gently placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor, finding herself grateful for the dance lessons her mother had insisted on. Lucius was the picture of propriety as he lead her in a waltz, keeping up polite, if slightly odd, conversation the entire time. Interspersed with the questions about her family’s health and ages of her brother’s children were little remarks about her job — had she heard about the strange death near Picadilly? What did she think of the Alastor Moody? Little question slipped in so smoothly that she almost missed the fact that she was being subtly interrogated.
By the time the song ended and they parted ways, Amelia had decided she’d stayed long enough. Slipping from the room, she didn’t see Lucius grab another flute of champagne and join the Lestranges in the opposite corner. “She knows something's up,” he informed them, “Doesn’t know what, yet, but we’ll need to watch her.”