Minister's 1st Spring Gala

Fin, clearly annoyed that Dora’s attention was taken off him for any amount of time, greeted Evie with her full name. Dora eyed him without turning her head but otherwise allowed him to go on sulking about not having all of Dora’s focus – which was clearly the only thing anyone would want from an evening like this. Dora was a spectacular date for the evening, everyone at this obnoxiously large table should have been climbing over each other to get a chance to speak with her. Or maybe she was just having a not-so-rare moment of fleeting superiority. She did look like a million galleons tonight. Literally.

Dora smirked as Evie wove a tale of lies meant to entertain her friend. “Oh, of course,” she remarked softly. “What sort of a witch in her right mind would dash off to the loo with a bloke in the middle of a party?” Dora would. She was precisely that sort of a witch and had she any real chance with a man like Rodolphus Lestrange she would agree to shag him just about anywhere. Dora gave a sassy grin. She was completely ignorant to Mr Lestrange’s true personality – she hardly knew the one he put on for the public beyond what the newspapers and tabloids had to say about him, and the rare occasions she had bumped into him in passing while she’d been living with Fin. Dora, for all her libertine ways, would have been quite shocked to find out what Rodolphus was really like and had she known she certainly wouldn’t have blamed Evie for not wanting in on such a seemingly luxurious opportunity. But Dora didn’t know and from the outside looking in, Evie was ten times the fool for not at least making a play for his affections.

“My birthday gift to myself,” she cooed, and ran her hands down the shimmery material of her bodice. “Though I still have to figure out how to properly thank my Fin, since technically he’s the one who bought it.” Dora turned slightly in Fin’s direction and leaned her head on his shoulder, looking up at his face. “I’ve been told shagging in the carriage is off the table.” She laughed and looked back to Evie excitedly. “Look! It’s got pockets!”

Ignoring the crude remark disguised as a fun comment or even a possible compliment toward Dorcas and Tersha, Dorian smiled, his jaw set. “Forgive my rudeness,” though it wasn’t his rudeness that should need to be forgiven. “Julian, this is Tersha Knight. A journalist and fine writer.” He looked from Julian to Tersha. “Tersha,” he gestured at the blond man across the table, “Julian Blackthorne. My brother. You’ve met Lunete at the Ministry, haven’t you?” he asked Tersha, not wanting to be rude by not introducing the women but almost certain he had seen them around the Auror department while Tersha was interviewing agents on a story at some point. “And of course, you all know Miss Meadowes.” Merlin have mercy on him if he forgot to remark on the little brunette witch sitting next to him, despite her knowing each of them better than Dorian knew any of them, aside from his brother who Dorian could admit he didn’t know much better than Dorcas did.

Dishes began appearing on the table, each one different from the one beside it for the most part. It was quite an undertaking on the Minister’s part to have provided so many options for her guests but Dorian had decided to be simple and had requested the soup. An elegant bowl appeared in front of him, the soup within piping hot. Dorian would have been pleased for the distraction the food might have created were it not for the fact that he knew first hand, from far too many occasions, that food would not keep his date’s inappropriate conversation topics (which were bound to come out sooner rather than later) at bay. Throughout the meal, Dorian attempted to keep conversation rather neutral and, given the company, he listened more than he spoke, nodding and making thoughtful noises every now and again.

Small talk soon turned to deeper conversation as the meal progressed, and soon enough Minister Galanis had not so slyly turned the conversation toward politics, as expected. She had a reason all mapped out for the memo debacle and instead of addressing the contents of the leaked government memo, she focused her attention on the leaking itself and how appalling it was that there were moles in the Ministry of Magic. Rodolphus had already heard this line before and was growing weary of faking his interest in the subject and in the evening itself. His gaze continued to flick down the table, hesitating each time on Dorcas as she laughed with her gentleman friend, the reporter, and the pair on the other side of the table. When Dorcas stood and excused herself from the table, it quickly caught Rod’s eye. He had had enough of this night and of seeing Dorcas flirt with that Auror right in front of him as if she hadn’t just confessed to aborting Rodolphus’ child. He was annoyed, possibly angry, and definitely something else that he wouldn’t confess to feeling. He had had enough of this pathetic excuse for a gala.

Leaning over toward his brother and speaking in a low volume, Rodolphus explained his next actions. “Sorry to ditch you, brother, but I simply cannot stand another minute with this woman. If I don’t leave now, we might be in need of another Minister shortly.” His eyes flashed something dark at the casual threat of murder, though in honesty it was not Minister Galanis alone that caused Rodolphus to want to strangle someone with his bare hands. “Make up some excuse about Aurora for me. I’ll owe you one.” Rodolphus next excused himself from the table as the Minister was engaged in conversation with Rod’s old school mate, Nicolas Bellerose, and couldn’t make a fuss about him leaving without being rude.

He was a few moments behind her but had followed Dorcas out of the ballroom and into a more deserted area of the cheaply decorated manor. He watched her silently for a while, stalking her like a predator in the night, having not yet decided whether he wanted to hurt her or shag her. He couldn’t very well do both without drawing someone’s attention, and the last time he released all of his aggression onto the petite brunette he had managed to stop her heart for a few minutes. Minutes that felt like hours that felt like complete terror. No, he wouldn’t be going that far here tonight, but as the gap between Rodolphus and Dorcas closed, he had decided there was no stopping now.

It was reminiscent of their earlier rendezvous when their younger selves would sneak into deserted classrooms and store cupboards at Hogwarts. She pretended to loathe him – no, she truly did loathe him then, but she pretended to loathe how he made her feel when they were together – and he would take pleasure in catching her off-guard, making her uncomfortable thinking someone might spy them together and her shameful secret would be out. As adults, their secrets were far darker than teenagers could have imagined, and she had already shown the skeleton in her closet to him. There was nothing but the rest of society to hide from now as Rodolphus stood several long strides to catch up to her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into the nearest room which happened to be a toilet.

“You are fucking stunning,” he complimented, as he pushed the door shut behind him. He looked over her appreciatively and hungrily, his eyes telling a very vivid tale of just how much he was enjoying looking at her. He didn’t leave her much time to speak as Rodolphus grabbed her again and pulled her against his muscular frame. He breathed heavily as he looked down at her, gathering the skirt of her dress in his hands and finally finding the hem where he slid his hand onto her bare arse and grabbed it firmly. “Has your date had a taste yet, or am I ruining the evening for him?” Rodolphus didn’t care and he didn’t wait for a response as he picked Dorcas up by her firm, plump bum and set her on the sink counter, burying himself under the layers of flowery fabric that made up her gown.

A hunger like he had rarely experienced was hard to satiate at such a public event without raising suspicions, but Roddy made due with the time he was afforded. His brother and friends had assumed he had gone home for the night, but he had been sitting too far away from where Dorcas and her Auror date were seated to know what excuse she had given them for leaving the table. He wouldn’t have much time before her absence potentially drew their attention, but he made the most of the time they had in the small loo and even left Dorcas with a lovely purple mark on her inner thigh before pulling up the zipper on his trousers and running his hand through his hair. He was gentler and kinder than he wanted to be with her, but no good would come from making her cry out in pain at the Minister’s home in front of so many people. Instead, he settled for getting himself off and leaving a fresh mark on her so that Agent Humbert knew she belonged to someone else. The pair exchanged a few quick words and then Roddy left, not bothering to ask her why she had left her date in the first place. Perhaps he really would spend a bit of time with his daughter when he arrived home, though she was likely to be in bed when he arrived. At least Bellatrix had had sense enough to bring Rodolphus’ child to term, unlike the witch he had just left in the bathroom cleaning herself of his excitement before she whored herself out to another bloke.

“Oh, but I just adore your handbag!” Dora cooed over the floral accessory. It was rather large for such an event but it matched perfectly and Dora loved a matching set. She could have carried on talking about dresses and handbags and jewelry and the like, but Fin was asking over her head what their meals were and it was clear to Dora that he was unsatisfied his food. A quick glance in the direction of his bowl showed why. The poor thing had ordered the meal typically reserved for fasting witches looking to appear dainty in front of their dates. Dora’s metabolism took care of any of that worry for her, so she had no qualms about order a real meal in front of a bloke, and tonight was no exception. “Here,” she said softly, nudging her plate of smoked salmon over rice a little closer to him so he could have a few bites. “Stop being such a baby,” she teased, resting her hand on his thigh and petting him lovingly.

The night carried on without incident and, sadly, without much excitement either. Guests started to filter out of the ballroom and disappear, some into the rest of the mansion and others onto the grounds. It was clear the party was beginning to wrap up and Dora hadn’t made any new friends. Not that she would have wanted to in this group, beyond Mr Rich and Single that Fin was adamantly objecting to. It was a fun enough evening with her friends, and for that she was thankful. As they headed toward the drive where the Avery carriage was waiting, Dora gave Evie a tight hug. “It was absolutely lovely to see you, E. We definitely need to get together without this one,” she jabbed her elbow lightly in Fin’s direction, “and have a real witches’ night out.”