Diana got ready in an hour, just like she had promised her mother, and put on the best gown she could find in her wardrobe. To her relief, her mother approved of her dress.

     Diana noticed that even both her parents were wearing their best and finest robes; probably the most expensive ones they owned. They usually only wore these robes for special occasions, for example when the Minister had thrown an elegant Ball a few years ago.

     Diana had no idea where her parents were taking her, and she was afraid to ask. Her mother had apparently told her all about it a few nights ago, but Diana had failed to listen to a word she was saying, dozing off. So, not wanting to be scolded for never paying attention and receiving a long lecture on how disappointing she was, she decided not to ask again.

     Diana stood in their yard alongside her parents, her cloak around her. She held her mother's hand, and watched as Mrs. Greengrass grabbed onto her husband's hand as well, all three of them Disapparating away. The only times she had seen her parents holding hands was when they wanted to use Apparition.

     The world suddenly went dark and Diana felt as though she was pressed very hard from all directions, finding it hard to breathe for a few moments. She hated Side-Apparition.

The moment Diana felt her feet hitting the ground again, she opened her eyes and looked up, finding herself in front of an enormous manor house. The manor was five times bigger than their own house, with walls made of stone and tall windows all around it.

     The Malfoy Manor? Diana mused to herself as she began to walk down the long lane that stretched out to the house, with her parents at her side.

      But she then shook her head at the thought. No. Can't be. We'd been to their manor for their Christmas Ball years ago. Their house didn't look like this.

     Then who's house was this? she kept wondering.

     The Greengrass family went around the fountain in front of the manor and walked up to the large entrance doors of the house, which magically opened at their arrival.

      As she walked inside the house with her parents, Diana looked around her in awe, watching the grand hall. The walls inside were dark and the floor was made of black marble, with old paintings stuck on the wall and chandeliers hanging off the high ceiling.

Diana suddenly heard the sound of footsteps echoing through the hall. When she turned around to look over at the grand staircase, she saw a man and a woman walking elegantly down the stairs and toward them, both of them tall and pallid.

Once they got closer, Diana realized that they looked extremely familiar to her and that she had seen them many times before. Specially the woman; Diana was sure she had seen her at King's Cross station a few times.

"Welcome, welcome!" the tall woman said with a bright smile, hugging Mrs. Greengrass as soon as she reached her, and the two men shook hands firmly, sharing only a small, polite nod. "How are you, Astoria?"

"Quite well. It's so good to see you, Félice," said Mrs. Greengrass. "It's been so long."

     "So it has." Félice smiled, before turning to face the two men. "And surely you two are already acquainted?"

     "Of course." Her husband nodded warmly, speaking in a thick French accent. "We 'ave met many times at the Ministry before."

     "And this must be," Félice turned her head and looked over at Diana with a smile, "Miss Diana Greengrass."

     "It's a pleasure to meet you." Diana gave a small and polite bow, just as her mother had taught her years ago.

     It's never a pleasure to meet new people, she thought to herself bitterly.

     "And where is your lovely son?" Mrs. Greengrass asked.

     "Oh, that boy." Félice sighed. "He was getting ready. I'm sure he'll be done any moment n —"

      "Good afternoon. I apologize for my tardiness," a familiar voice came from the top of the grand staircase, and when Diana looked up, her eyes widened in horror.

     It was Evan Rosier.

     He gracefully walked down the stairs and politely shook Mr. Greengrass's hand, and then when he took Msr. Greengrass's hand in his, he placed a small kiss on her knuckle.

      "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Madam."

     Mrs. Greengrass chuckled. "Oh, what a charming boy you have, Félice."

      "He takes after his father. They're both romantics," Mrs. Rosier let out a light and graceful laughter.

     Diana rolled her eyes before she could stop herself, and right at that moment, Evan looked up at her direction, the smallest hint of a smirk appearing at the edge of his lips.

     "Well, if it isn't lovely Miss Greengrass," Evan said charmingly, his smirk growing as he approached her.

      He then took her hand in his, but Diana snarled in a small and almost inaudible voice, "If your lips touch my hand, I'll cut your tongue off."

     Evan was standing close enough to hear her, and so he merely shook her hand and took a step back from her. Although he didn't look scared at all. If anything, he looked more smug. There was a strange glimmer in his eyes, the way that people do when they're hiding a secret that causes them great pleasure.

     "Well, lunch is almost ready. Shall we go to the dining room?" Félice said brightly.

     When Mrs. Greengrass nodded, Félice clapped her hands together twice, and on cue, two house elves appeared out of thin air in front of them, bowing deeply.

     "Would you like them to take your cloaks?" Félice asked the Greengrass family. The elves weren't allowed to speak to their guests in the Rosier Household.

     "Yes, of course." Mrs. Greengrass nodded again, although she didn't seem too pleased. In her idea, the sign of a good house elf was not to be seen. French Wizarding families such as the Rosiers, however, didn't share this belief.

     With a snap of his tiny fingers, the house elf caused the cloaks to float off the guests' shoulders and then caught them, disappearing once more.

     Mrs. Rosier turned to the other elf. "Get the table ready."

    With one last deep bow at her mistress, the second house elf disappeared as well.

     While the six of them made their way down the long corridor and toward the Dining Hall, Diana kept glaring sideways at Evan, cursing her luck over and over again for having to come here.

     Once or twice a year, Diana's family would be invited to another Pureblood family's house so they could get better acquainted and keep their bond strong in a world that Muggles and Mudbloods were taking over, as they said. Even Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass invited one Pureblood family to their house each year, as tradition was.

     So far, Diana had been lucky to miss many of these gatherings because she would usually be away at Hogwarts, unable to attend the dinner parties or lunch gatherings. She cursed her luck that her parents had decided to come to the Rosiers' house during summer and that she had to come along with them. There was no one in this world she despised more than Evan Rosier.

      In the dining room, Mr. and Mrs. Rosier each sat at one end of the table — which had been shrank to contain space for only six chairs, instead of its usual twenty-four. Diana's parents sat beside each other on one side, and Diana had to take a seat next to Evan.

     This sitting arrangement certainly didn't help Diana's anger issues, and she was afraid that she would pounce and punch Evan in the face if he opened his louth to speak one more time.

      "So, Diana," Mr. Rosier began near the end of their meal, taking a sip of his wine glass, "you have only one year left at Hogwarts, no? You're seventeen?"

     "Yes, sir," Diana said as politely as she could manage, which was growing harder and harder to do. She tried to speak as few words as possible.

      "You should've seen Beauxbatons. It was magnificent," said Mrs. Rosier. Diana noticed that even she had a slight hint of a French accent when she spoke.

      "Oui." Mr. Rosier nodded with glee. "We wanted Evan to study there as well, but I had a better job opportunity at your Ministry of Magic, so we moved to zis country when Evan was young."

      "Oh, enough about this." Mrs. Rosier chuckled. "We're not here to talk about old days. We're supposed to talk about the future, are we not?"

      "Of course, of course." Mrs. Greengrass nodded, while her husband remained quiet as he usually did. "Well, in my opinion, neither of our families could've chosen a better match."

     "I couldn't agree more," Mr. Rosier smiled charmingly.

      "Wonderful!" Mrs. Rosier clapped her hands together happily. "Then should we proceed to choose a date? I'm sure Diana would like to take part in the planning as well. It is the day of every girl's dream, after all."

     Diana placed down her fork awkwardly and glanced up, seeing that everyome around the table was looking at her.

     She gulped. "Er... a date for what?"

     Mrs. Rosier laughed, as though she thought Diana was only joking. Diana even caught her mother giving her a warning glare.

     At last, it was Evan himself who answered her, smirking at her sideways as he said, "A date for our wedding, of course."