The other Auror Commanders of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had received invitations for the evening's soiree. They were well-born, their families weren't disgraced. But she was not Commander Maxine Squint, here. She was just Max, brought along only because someone of better stock wanted company.
And aside from her co-workers, and Theo... Max had no idea who anyone here, was. Not personally, at least. She saw their faces in newspapers and knew their names, vaguely, but Max didn't know any of them personally. So when Theo went out to answer an urgent owl, Max was left alone in the ballroom full of rich wix who wanted nothing to do with her.
Max raised her chin and strolled to a table with some prepared refreshments, admiring a champagne tower that was constantly refilling itself, before taking a glass and having a sip. It tasted deliciously expensive, and Max hummed, wishing she could see the bottle to find it in a store some time.
She hummed over the beautifully adorned grazing table, taking a selection of dried fig, cheese and cured meat to taste in one swift mouthful. Max was just about to try another concoction when a green, stick-insect looking creature scrambled across the table, grabbing the dried apricot out of her hand. Max gasped, spilling her champagne as she pulled her hand back.
She looked around incredulously as the creature shoved the dried apricot into its mouth, swelling the little thing's head to almost double in size. She reached for a different piece, but the creature swatted her fingers away, spreading itself over its mount of apricots protectively. "Well, am I allowed any of them?" Max asked, raising her brows at it.
