Sam and Victor had come home from work, and Victor had hit the shower and was dressing in a dress suit. He had an emerald green brocade waistcoat and tie to match Ginger's dress, and, on his own, he had bought Ginger a corsage made of babys breath and beautiful red roses. Impressed that Victor cared enough about Ginger to think of a corsage, Marcus took it downstairs to help Ginger put it on her dress.
Marcus had helped both girls with their dresses to make sure they fit perfectly, and he had made sure they had perfectly coordinated and perfectly fitting shoes. Both girls had chosen little silver dress heels, and both girls had chosen to wear the gold jewelry with the tiny diamonds that Angus had given them when they first joined the family. Neither girl had ever considered even wanting someone else. On Angus's behalf, Marcus had purchased for each of them, in advance, a beautiful handpainted silk shawl to help them ward off the evening chill from their shoulders, and he had shown them how to shrink the shawls and tuck them in their clutch bags. He had gotten them little silver clutches to coordinate with their shoes, and he had made sure each clutch had a beautiful sterling silver shoulder chain so they didn't need to carry it all night.
"What do you mean are they ready? Of course not," Marcus said to Jack when he asked if the girls were ready. "Clearly, you've never dealt with a teenage girl for one of these things. It takes awhile. You both might as well come in. I'll go see what I can do to undo their nerves. I'll go see if they're done stressing over their makeup. I'll be right back."
"Jack, you know," Angus said, thinking of the best way for Jack and Jess to do their task and not be so spotlighted by the girls or their dates, "you and Jess could go ahead and go, and that way, you might be a bit less conspicuous. You would have all the freedom you want to be as close or distant from them that you want without the kids really caring one way or the other. Victor can apparate Ginger to Hogsmeade, and Dean should certainly be old enough since the papers say he's a seventh year. If he doesn't, someone's going to have to apparate him here to come and get Anise. Just a thought. You do what you like."
Victor came downstairs, and Sam followed, silently, sitting by Angus. Angus could tell it bothered Sam immensely that Anise was serious about going with another guy. Angus didn't say anything to Sam at the moment, because this wasn't the time. He would talk to him later, though.
Marcus was doing their makeup when there was a knock on the door, one Angus did not recognize. He got up and went to the door. There was a tall, young man there with muggle movie star good looks, sandy light brown hair, and hazel eyes. This was undoubtedly Dean Whitmore. So he showed up after all.
"Um...Is Anise Hawthorne here?" Whitmore asked nervously. It dawned on Angus that Angus was, likely intimidating without trying to be. At Angus's 6'4" height and his well muscled frame, he could be intimidating at first glance. And it was even more apparent in his sweat trousers without a tee shirt to even begin to try to cover his well defined muscles.
"She is. And you are?" Angus asked calmly, politely.
"Oh. Whitmore. Dean Whitmore," the young man reached out his hand to shake hands.
"Angus Donohue. Anise's guardian. Come in. She'll be up in a moment," Angus said, inviting him in.
"She said she lived in a real log cabin," Whitmore said, looking around. "This is amazing. I could like this a lot."
"Thank you. We like it," Angus said.
"Hey, Dean," Victor said, coming over, shaking hands with him.
"Vic! Good to see you," Dean grinned. And then Angus realized Victor had been a Gryffindor. They would have known each other from being in the same house, even though Victor had been ahead of him. "You live here too?"
"Yeah. Its confusing, but somehow it works," Victor laughed.
"So Anise is your..."
"Not legally my sister, no. Legally, she and Ginger are friends, but they feel like family," Victor clarified.
"I get it," Dean said, not entirely getting it. Marcus came back upstairs and looked at Angus and nodded. The girls were ready. Angus watched the girls come upstairs. Ginger looked great in her sequined emerald green party dress, and Angus thought it was perfect with her red hair. She still looked a bit thin to him, but she was healthy, and that was what mattered to Angus. Anise came upstairs, in the sequined hot pink party dress, and Angus noticed how long Anise's legs were compared to Ginger's. Ginger was definitely thinner than Anise, but Anise, for some reason had some very shapely long legs.
"I effed this up," Sam said in a whisper to Angus, so soft that only Angus could hear. Angus reached over and patted Sam's arm understandingly. Sam was so grown up in some ways and still a boy in some others. He'd learn. And seeing Anise dressed to the nines to go out with someone else, that was a powerful message.
"You look amazing," Dean said to her softly, handing her a corsage with bright pink flowers that were almost a perfect match to her dress. And he had remembered to wear a pink waistcoat and tie.
"Thank you," she smiled, beaming.
"Shall I help you put that on?" Marcus asked quietly.
"Please?" she asked. Marcus pinned the corsage on her dress.
"May we go?" Ansie asked, looking at Angus.
"Absolutely. Be safe. When does the dance end?"
"Midnight," Victor said.
"Then I expect you home at midnight when it ends, not a minute later," Angus said
"I'll have her back on time, Mr. Donohue," Dean said.
"Thank you."
"We'll be back by then," Victor nodded.
"Then go, and have a great time," Angus said.
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