The Malfoys and the Lestranges

[Bellatrix Black]

As Lucius spoke Bellatrix couldn't help but to laugh. Claudia, her 'biggest rival' was a simple mudblood? How stupid Bellatrix felt, though it didn't stop her from hating the woman further. "You must be joking Lucius! And the Dark Lord knows nothing of this?" It was shocking to think that this deceitful woman was such a skilled witch that she could hide something so huge from her master. "No," she said, speaking this time to herself, "he mustn't know. He would never knowingly allow such filth in our ranks."

"And she's related to that hag Rothschild? Blood traitorous b*tch! You don't suppose they are in on something together, do you?" She looked around to the faces at the table for some sort of answer.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Lucius frowned distastefully. "I cannot imagine that he would let her in if he knew, but I also find it difficult to believe that woman is cunning and clever enough to hide the truth of her identity from him, of all people! Perhaps she is performing some service or duty that he cannot get from anyone else. Or perhaps he's leading her on, while he secretly plots her destruction." His face broke into a smile at that thought. It seemed just like the kind of thing he would do; it was so completely brilliant. Let the woman believe she was in, she was trusted, but set her up to fail.

"I rather doubt, however, that she is working with Rothschild. One thing I can be clear of where that woman is concerned is the fact that she doesn't work well with others. Her unpleasant and unlikable demeanor may well be the only thing genuine about her. I highly doubt a woman like Rothschild would tolerate her."

[Bellatrix Black]

"I wish I knew more about the situation. I wonder if they have any records of her still at the school. I might be able to charm one of the professors into letting me into the staff lounge alone. Or wherever they keep that sort of thing." She was thinking aloud now, not really talking to any one person at the table. The urge to destroy Claudia Morley had replaced the need to be sociable. Without really thinking about it she lifted her glass and swallowed the last of the champagne within.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Lucius smiled. "Ah, Bella, I knew you would find this of interest. I was rather hoping you'd be willing to use your position at the school to do a little research and see what you can come up with. If the woman truly is a fraud, she should be exposed and suffer the Dark Lord's wrath. I know I can trust you to take care of this little matter."

He caught a bit of movement towards the edge of the room, and he realized that the wait staff was preparing to bring out their meals. There were several waiters and waitresses gathering and looking in their direction with trays in their hands.

"My dear friends," he remarked, nodding in the direction of the waiters, "it seems as if our food is ready. Let us hold the rest of the conversation until after we eat. After all, this is not intended to be a purely business dinner, it is social as well."

[Molly Prewett]

"Any other table," Molly pleaded when she saw who she was supposed to be serving. "I'll take *every* other table!"

The waiter in charge, a good friend, actually, just shoved a tray laden with dishes into her hands. "These go to the two on the end," he said, nodding discreetly.

"Of course they do," she murmured, following his gaze and letting her eyes land on Bellatrix and Rodolphus. She sighed, falling into step behind another waitress with the side dishes. Maybe this would be an encounter that none of them even noticed. Her mother had been a blood traitor, afterall, and, guilty be association, Molly was as well. And they were supposed to ignore blood traitors. She took a deep breath, and took the first plate, setting it in front of Bellatrix.

[Bellatrix Black]

Bellatrix was brought out of her own head by Lucius' voice. He had thought the same way she had. Narcissa was lucky to have such a clever man. "Of course, Lucius. It would be my pleasure." She looked at Rodolphus and smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder to make up for how she had acted towards him earlier.

And then their food had arrived. Normally Bellatrix didn't bother to look at the help, but she had noticed her glass had a chip in it, and wanted another one. As the waitress laid her plate in front of her, Bellatrix held her glass up. "I'd like a new glass," she said before looking at the woman. Upon recognizing the woman as her third cousin Molly Prewett, Bellatrix's mouth curled into a smirk. "Well, well, well. Look what the hippogriff dragged in. Honestly, they let you serve people here? Isn't a social position a little above your standing?"

[Rodolphus Lestrange]

Rodolphus laughed and said "Good help is hard to find if they are resorting to you." honestly blood traitors where they serve food? it was almost enough to put one off their appetite. He waited for another server to pour their wine and made sure to check the cork, it didn't seem likely that they would be switching out bottles of wine at their table, but it never hurt to check. Satisfied with the bottle he waved the server off

[Molly Prewett]

Molly took a breath. Don't take the bait, she told herself. It wasn't worth it. These people were like children the way you couldn't reason with them. Besides, she liked her job, and she had a feeling that getting into a verbal spat with her cousin would render her unemployed.

She reached past Rodolphus and took Bella's glass. "I'll be right back with another," she said, as if she hadn't heard their remarks.

[Bellatrix Black]

It amused her, the way Molly tried to ignore their comments. It also was only making the situation worse for herself. Bellatrix did not like to be ignored. And she loved to make life hard for bloodtraitors. "I do hope she can manage such a task," she remarked loudly to the rest of her group. "It must take such great skill to be a pathetic little waitress." Bellatrix cackled loudly, watching the girl run off with the chipped wine glass. "This evening just keeps getting better," she said in a more natural volume. Dinner with good friends. Wicked rumors about Claudia Morley. And now Molly Prewett serving them. Nothing could possibly happen to ruin this evening for her.

[Molly Prewett]

Molly went to the back, grabbing a glass from the dirty dishes that had yet to be washed. She charmed it to look clean, spotless, actually, put it on a little tray, and carried it back out. Some people never learned.

Besides, she thought. Shouldn't they be thrilled that she was in a position *serving* them, where they could order her around? They were definitely like little children. Logic failed them.

She came back to the table, smiling tightly. "A new glass. Enjoy your meal," she said, setting it in front of her cousin, and turning to leave.

[Ted Tonks]

Ted never remembered trying so hard to impress a girl. He had shaved, twice, and made sure that his hair was perfect. Normally he never worried about it since it was usually pretty short, but he wanted to show Andi that he could clean up nice. He made sure his robes were wrinkle free, and even opted for the dress robes over muggle clothes, since it was a wizarding restaurant. If anyone had been watching him, they would have laughed at how he was obsessing over this like a girl. But impressing Andi meant a lot to him.

He had knocked on her door, teasing that he had come so far to pick her up. He even had a rose in his hand to give her. It was a nice, formal restaurant, he was going to do everything nice and formal.

When they arrived, like a gentleman, he opened the door for her and ushered her inside. He had never been to La Repas Cher before, and just before walking in, he found himself praying that he didn't stick out like a sore thumb.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi actually felt nervous butterflies in her stomach as she got ready for their date that night. Despite her upbringing, she wasn't exactly comfortable in formal occasions where she had to dress up. She was still a tomboy at heart, and liked nothing better than dressing casually and playing quidditch like one of the boys.

She'd gone shopping just for the occasion, and had bought an exquisite dress robe in a deep garnet red color. It was cut similar to a muggle dress, with the waist cinched in by a shimmery belt, and the skirt flared out, creating an elegant silhouette. She'd even spent hours on her hair, twisting it up into a sophisticated knot at the back of her head. She wore a simple garnet pendant to match the robes, and even a pair of gold earrings. She barely even recognized herself when she looked in the mirror. She looked like a lady.

By the time Ted arrived, she was nervous as could be, but as soon as she saw him, she forgot all about her nerves. He looked incredible... so handsome and sophisticated. She hadn't over dressed, which was a big relief. Still, she'd never been to Le Repas Cher, and she had no idea what to expect.

Pausing at the door, she gripped his hand and squeezed it lightly. "I hope the food is as good as they say," she said with a wink.

[Ted Tonks]

Ted pulled on her hand to get her to come away from the door for a second, and closer to him. "Do you remember at your apartment... when I said you looked lovely?" He asked. He did not wait for her to give him an answer before he continued. "I lied. You look beautiful." Even that was a lie. She looked breathtakingly beautiful. She was the first girl who honestly made it difficult for him to breathe when he saw her.

He squeezed her hand back. "I'm sure the food's wonderful. Only one way to find out, though," he nodded inside.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi was half-tempted to tell him to forget the restaurant and come back home with her. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to kiss him passionately right then and there. When he looked at her like that, he made her feel truly beautiful, which was a new feeling for her. "Thank you," she said shyly, beaming up at him. "You don't look half bad yourself."

She brushed non-existent wrinkles and dust particles from her robes and took a breath as she waited for him to open the door.

[Ted Tonks]

Ted laughed, and looked at her before opening the door. "Are you as nervous as I am going in here?" He wanted to set her at ease. Even though he was nervous too, really, it was a restaurant. How bad could it be?

He reached out and opened the door for her. "After you, milady."

(I'm sorry that was so short)

[Andromeda Tonks]

"I'm nervous, too," she confessed.

Andi stepped into the restaurant and looked around. It was, as she'd expected, exquisitely decorated, obviously modeled after the inside of a French chateau. All the furniture was styled after antiques, with heavily guilded and brocaded chairs, large tables with fancy legs in the shape of lion's paws and lacy tablecloths. Little golden sculptures of creepy little babies adorned the walls, and heavy crystal chandeliers--lit by real candles--hung from the ceilings.

It was--in a word--nauseating.

While she appreciated the attempts, it was all completely overdone, in her opinion. It was almost laughable. The only thing she liked was the enchanted ceiling, similiar to the one at Hogwarts, that showed an imaqe of the night sky. If one overlooked the ostentatious furniture and the creepy golden babies, it was almost like sitting out under the stars for a romantic meal. In fact, if not for those stars, she might have told him they should go somewhere else. But she felt she could overlook the rest of it, for the sake of those stars.

"Wow," was all she could say.

[Ted Tonks]

Ted pulled his lips between his teeth as he looked around. This wasn't at all what he was expecting. He had thought the decor would be... less presumptuous. And a little less intimidating. More romance, less... less gold. Why was it people liked it here so much? He felt like if he waited long enough, he might see Germany invade.

"Andi..." She couldn't blame him. She knew he had never been here before, either. But clearly, they wouldn't be coming back. "Maybe we should go somewhere else?" he suggested. Even the stars didn't help.

[Rabastan Lestrange]

Rabastan was quiet, and in a rather sour mood. He watched Bella terrorize the waitress girl with little amusement, but still winked at her when she came back with the glass.

She had given him a humorless look, and left before anyone had the opportunity to say anything else to her. When she pulled back the curtain, Rabastan was given a view of most of the restaurant. It wasn't until the curtain fell closed that he even registered recognizing someone near the front.

He sat forward, ignoring what was going on at the table, and got up, moving to the curtain to open it. He smiled and turned back to his dinner mates, holding the curtain open. "Looks like the third Black sister decided to come afterall," he joked, knowing she hadn't been invited in all likelihood. "And she brought a date."

[Lucius Malfoy]

Lucius widened his eyes at Rabastan's announcement. Of course, Andromeda had not been invited. He knew from Narcissa and Bella that she was not considered to be in good standing with the rest of the family, due to her outrageous idea of becoming an Auror. Leaning forward, he peered out into the main dining room and recognized Andromeda Black standing near the front, talking with someone. He stared for a minute, trying to recognize the man standing next to her. He knew the man had been at school with them, a few years ahead of him. A Hufflepuff, if he remembered correctly. "Who's that she's with?" he said distastefully. "Isn't he a mudblood?"

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi, oblivious to the fact that they were being observed, burst out in a giggle. "It is pretty ridiculous, isn't it?" she whispered. "I mean, really, what's with the weird creepy baby sculptures?"

Covering her mouth discreetly, she held in her laughter and looked back up at him. "We can if you want. I'm sure there are other places we can go that aren't quite so... ostentatious...."