chapter
↳ fourteen
moodboard
↳ unfinished

-

The Yoon home was very intimidating. Both Caroline and Daejung had agreed to deck the entire house out in Gryffindor colors, like an American home might deck their house out in colors from the NFL. It was infuriating to Millie, mostly because it didn't seem done out of love for their house. It seemed done out of the need to prove that Gryffindor was somewhat better than all the other houses.

Millie was willing to bet that her parents had lost their Gryffindor qualities over time, especially chivalry. The only one Millie could say they still had was probably loyalty, and maybe the daringness to be stupid. But that was it.

"You sure you want so spend your break here?" Millie whispered to Demetria as Benji knocked on the door.

Demetria laughed, "Please. Anything is better than literally all my sisters fighting over who is better. Add eggnog to the mix? Being here is a blessing, Millie, trust me. Besides, we're heading over to the Potter's in a few days anyway."

The door opened then, and Millie did her best to appear happy. To appear fine. It seemed that visiting her family was just a chance to brush up on her acting skills, to let her mother coddle her and make fun of her house. To pretend that she was nothing while everyone else in her family had worth more valuable than rubies. If she didn't pretend, there's no telling how her mother will react.

"Benji!" Caroline crowed, wrapping her arms around her son and pulling him closer to her.

Benji shifted his arm out of her hold and reached for Demetria behind him. After finding her hand, he gripped it and pulled her towards him. "Hey mom, we brought Demetria too."

"Yes, Demetria," Caroline's eyes graced over Demetria's figure, "Had a lot to eat on the train?"

"Yes..." Demetria furrowed her eyebrows, not sure how to read Mrs. Yoon's expression.

"That's good, dear," Caroline smiled. Then, she turned to Millie and her gaze hardened. "I need to speak with you, Mildred. I've received a letter in the mail."

"Oh," Millie gulped, feeling everything she had ever built up come crumbling down. Regulus must've sent it, even when he said he wouldn't. Even when she and Sirius begged. "Okay."

Memories flooded back to Millie as she followed her mother to the kitchen. Memories of her mother slapping her hand or cheek, telling her to be brave. Telling her not to be like the others. Telling her to be everything she wasn't, just because the house she was placed in was so despicable. She remembered that week she went without food because she mentioned that Merlin, the greatest wizard of all time, was Slytherin. She was quickly berated and told that Albus Dumbledore had taken his place. She remembered all of her Slytherin stuff coming out of her own savings, because her parents refused to pay for anything that didn't have a lion on it's emblem.

Millie felt something like bile rise in her throat when she saw the address on the outside of the parchment.

"Death eaters," Caroline snapped, slamming the letter in the table to glare at Millie. "You dated a death eater for nearly half a year and never thought anything bad of it. How stupid are you?"

Millie winced at the sharp tone and braced herself for any kind of impact. She felt so small when her mother was angry. "Regulus isn't a death eater just because his parents are. He's just a bit confused at the moment, but he isn't mean to me. His brother is Sirius! You know Sirius, don't you? You like him?"

"I don't care for any offspring of Slytherin, whether they clawed their way into Gryffindor or not. That Sirius boy is probably just as evil as the rest of them."

"He's not," Benji cut in from the doorway. "They were mean to him so he left to live with the Potter's. He's not evil at all."

"Probably deserves every kick and slap he got," Caroline muttered. She turned to Millie, "No dinner tonight, and we'll see about the rest of the week. Maybe you can do something to get in my good graces."

"Yes, ma'am." Millie knew better than to argue, although her tongue burned with withheld insults.

"And Demetria, dear," Caroline eyed her up and down again, "Why don't you skip too? I'll put you on a sweet potato diet tomorrow, see if you can lose a few pounds over the holidays, hmm?"

"That's not fair!" Benji rose his voice, moving in front of both girls, "If they don't eat, neither do I."

"Oh, you're going to eat," Caroline said.

Before their eyes, Benji was levitated into a chair, and when he tried to get out of it, he was stuck. "Why am I stuck to a chair? Mom!"

"You can get out when you finish your meal," Caroline said, "I want you healthy, of course."

Millie grabbed Demetria's hand, "Let's go."

-

As soon as they were in Millie's bedroom, Millie rushed to her closet and pulled out a bag. "Pack us some clothes. I'll go in Benji's room and get him some. As soon as he's done, we're leaving."

They hadn't brought any clothes with them, since all three had clothes left over at the Yoon's house. Now it seemed like it would've been more convenient to have some packed bags ready.

Millie walked into Benji's room and began stuffing random clothes into a backpack. She could hardly see through the tears in her eyes, and all she could think about was how lucky Sirius was to have the Potters to go to. How fortunate he was to be able to leave his home.

That's where they could go. They would only be a few days early anyway, right?

-

Just as Millie zipped up her brother's backpack, she heard it. Gagging sounds came from the bathroom just across the hall. Slinging the backpack over her shoulder, Millie raced into the bathroom and jerked Benji away from the toilet. "What are you doing?!"

Now that his face wasn't hidden, she could see tear streaks down his face, which was crumpled up like he was about to sob. "I felt guilty for eating when you guys couldn't," he managed to say, "I thought if I got rid of it I would feel better."

Millie grabbed a hand towel out of the cabinet and sat down beside her brother. She wiped the corners of his mouth and reached over to flush the toilet. "Benji, none of this is your fault. You don't have to compensate."

Benji curled up into a ball and Millie thought about just how small her brother looked. She thought about him always hiding his feelings behind bright smiles and laughter. "They're nice to you," he said, "and then they aren't, and it's hard for me to know if I can trust them."

"They only like us when we follow their ideas, okay?" Millie grabbed a different hand towel and dabbed his cheeks gently. "We're both suffering here."

"You're a type of brave I could never be," he said, hiding his face in his arms, "You've had to face them your whole life and I've gotten the long stick. Why? Because I got put in Gryffindor? I asked for it."

"What?" Millie scooted closer to Benji and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, "What are you talking about?"

"That hat was going to put me in Hufflepuff," he sobbed, shoulders shaking now, "but I begged it to put me in Gryffindor because I knew what would happen if I wasn't one. I never thought you would be any other house. If I had, I wouldn't have begged. We could've gone through this together..."

Millie's chest felt heavy. How much guilt had Benji been holding in all this time? Millie didn't blame him for anything, so why did he blame himself?

She stood up, "I packed you an overnight bag. We're heading to the Potter's early."

"Them too," Benji moaned, "I've been making you hang out with my friends all year."

"I chose to hang out with them," Millie said, carefully skipping over the fact that it was all a plan to get two couples together. "Now get up. If we hurry we can make it to dinner."

-

a/n

important background info this chapter
long awaited millie/sirius next chapter ;)