When what to my wondering eyes should appear
In the line is that guy I've been chasing all year

Tonight's ball was to be her last until after the baby was born, or so Freya hoped. Months of illness, fatigue and stress over her, albeit brief, affair left her exhausted by the standards of society. She had never been the sort to tire of events, but she was beginning to understand the beauty in becoming a recluse like her husband. Daniel wasn't expected to dazzle and shine, nor was he known to be an exquisite host of galas or balls. His behavior and introverted nature was odd, for sure, but it afforded him far less stress. And if there was anything she desperately needed Saint Nick to gift her it was less stress.

She knew August would likely be in attendance that evening. Nearly every wizarding family in their small magical community was somehow tied to the Prewett family, so attendance at a Christmas ball was somewhat mandatory. However, Freya had done her best to bury all thoughts of her lover (and the likely father of her unborn child) as she readied herself for the ball. The gold ball gown did little to hide the growing swell of her stomach, even despite the tighter than normal lacings she insisted upon that evening. Her lady's maid had made her disapproval known, but Freya wouldn't hear of it. A few hours in a corset was nothing she hadn't accomplished before.

Besides, if this was to be her last event for the better part of a year she refused to look anything but her best. Little did Freya know the vain notion would be her first downfall of the evening.

Freya avoided dancing for the better part of the evening, having lost track of her husband hours prior. And, although she knew she need only look for his tall head standing above the crowds, she was thankful for it. Daniel's excitement for their child both made her love and resent him all the more. Four years of yearning for a child and never once had they succeeded in making one. Freya would never have any way of telling for certain, but she definitely found it odd that her first dalliance outside her marriage saw her realizing her pregnancy not even a month later. Fate was never anything but cruel.

The heat of the ballroom quickly became as stifling as the oppressing guilt she now lived with. Even in the corner of the ballroom she struggled to draw a full breath, the tight lacings of her gown too restricting for her to function within. Her fan did little for her, as well, serving only to blow the hot air upon her face. She glanced about the room uselessly, her thoughts too foggy to find the nearest exit. Merlin, what had she done?