The sun dawned on the centre of London in the early morning, the buzz of the city traffic being cut off by the incessant tweeting and chirping of the birds high in the trees that graced the streets as Cassiopeia Black observed the goings on beneath her with a majestic air about her.

The winter time had passed in it's somber majesty by this point in the year, having brought the citizens of London some skies of richly marbled greys and trees so elegant in their bare beauty. Those cold days for calmness and reflection had already waned and a new energy was beginning to rise.

On the spring day that was the 29th April, Cassiopeia Black saw the flowers that were to colour her world for the warmer days that were creeping in as of now, waving in the breeze like a smile born of the cosmos - happiness in brilliant shades not that she actually appreciated the pretty shades.

Cassiopeia honestly couldn't care less if it was raining or shining but even so she allowed her eyes to watch the swaying trees that lined Claremont Square, letting her eyes flow from tree to tree, noticing the buds ready to open into the light, to be green flags in the ever-warming wind.

Like mother like daughter, the fascination for nature seemed to pass from Cassiopeia to Mia hence why the lady was stood at her dining room window, looking out through the stained glass decorations. It was one of the only things that the two shared in common.

However, their fascination was for different reasons completely as Euphemia enjoyed looking at nature and the outside world to give her a sense of freedom and escape from her claustrophobic lifestyle. On the other hand, Cassiopeia liked nature for the fact that she had power over it and often observed the outside as if it was her own kingdom, like she was the superior Queen.

The grass was a runner at the blocks, ready to race for the light as soon as the weather warmed up enough. Fresh sunlight illuminated perfect spheres of water upon it's fine green wands and rippled each blade individually. With the chorus of the birds above, this chilly day already felt to Londoners as if it had a touch of magic bestowed upon it, as if anything could happen. And whether it was a good sort of magic or not, no one would ever know. The person observing the morning's weather was a witch, after all.

The spring blossom was gradually arriving in little bursts, looking like cake frosting on the trees in delicious creams and pinks that shimmered in the early sunrise. The petals burst out as if from a cage, from lower down the branches which left the petal tips still in tight bud.

Seeing as the denuded trees of winter had littered London for the past few months, the new and splendid clothes that graced the trees were a joy to see for everyone but one tight lipped woman with her arms crossed, watching from an upper window of the Black Manor dining room. She was waiting for the family owl to arrive with the daily post.

The lazy wind of the late April morning pushed against the slightly unmown grass like a child sending a dandelion seeds on their way: one o'clock, two o'clock, three. Cassiopeia shook her head; the grass was not as perfect as she wanted it to be and so she opened the window with a flick of her wand and a few muttered charms later left the grass below in an immaculate state.

An approved nod came from Cassiopeia as she was satisfied with the perfection despite the grass now looking rather restrained and dejected as if it had been ripped of it's freedom and liberty to be wild and not mown. Rather like how Mia was restricted and refrained from being who she wanted to be and how she was forced to be the perfect little pure blooded lady with no freedom of thoughts, words and actions.

The weather that morning was the kind that felt like a kiss of summer without the fiery heat of noon time in August. The newly mown grass was now a soft green that almost had a hint of blue woven in and the sky was scattered with just enough pristine white cloud that you could admire the fluffiness but also see how beautiful the sky behind was, how perfect.

This, of course, made Cassiopeia smile in a sort of creepy satisfaction. Everything was perfect and in order and nothing would be in Cassiopeia's way of fulfilling the Black family traditions and plans....

That was all until a jet black feathered owl that Cassiopeia recognised as her sister's, Irma, family owl flew towards her, making her eyebrows furrow in confusion for, if her schedule was all going to plan, the post was not to arrive for another 2 minutes and 26.5 seconds. Very precise, yes, but that was Cassiopeia Black for you.

"I wonder what Casper is doing here," Cassiopeia murmured to herself, referring to the owl and she opened the window again to let the owl hop onto the windowsill. Maybe it was some important information from her sister regarding the issue they had previously discussed?

However, the handwriting on the envelope did not belong to Irma but one glance at the signature at the end of the letter confirmed that it was in fact from Druella, not Irma as Cassiopeia had originally thought.

Casper was a family owl, after all, so it made sense that Druella was using the owl to send her letters but the reason why Druella was sending her aunt letters was rather intriguing. Cassiopeia couldn't think of any reason why Druella would be writing to her but there was only one way to find out and that was to open the letter. Which she did so a few minutes later and let's just say she wasn't exactly happy....

~~~

Euphemia was on edge for the rest of the morning after bumping into Druella in the dungeons passages and she couldn't take her mind off the letter grasped in Druella's hand. If that was a letter to Mia's mother as she so suspected then Euphemia was in serious trouble and the girl could just about imagine the fury that her mother would possess.

She thought that she might as well start planning her funeral already because there was no way she could possibly survive the enraged Cassiopeia and the war path that the ruthless woman would set out on. Sighing, Euphemia walked into the third year girls' bathroom to sort out the mess that was her hair. She raised her wand to her head and started muttering a small charm to fix up her hair and a pretty green ribbon sprung from the end of her ebony wand to wrap around her now neat ponytail.

She leaned on the sink with a frown, neatening up her uniform in the mirror as a figure appeared behind her, the shuffling of nervous feet back and forth catching Mia's attention as she span around. Euphemia honestly expected to be faced with Eileen again and prepared herself to turn down another pathetic apology from the girl - after all, it was Eileen's fault that this was all happening because if she hadn't blabbed then Mia wouldn't be in as much danger as she was now. Then again, she had been a cow to Eileen and had treated her like a second choice which made an uneasy layer of guilt rise in Euphemia's stomach but it wasn't time to be plagued with those thoughts now as Mia found herself face to face with not Eileen, as she expected, but Mary Crawley.

"Mary?" Euphemia exclaimed in surprise before she shook it off and went to brush past the pale faced girl, assuming she just wanted to use the bathroom and Mia was just in her way. However, just as she awkwardly mumbled, "I'm going now, anyway....." and started to walk past Mary she was stopped by a hand being placed on her arm and she looked down, perplexed.

"Wait a second," Mary whispered and she looked over her shoulder nervously as if she was checking they were alone. Once she was satisfied that the dormitory through the open doorway was full of sleeping girls (Heather was most definitely asleep - her pig like snores were echoing throughout the room and Walburga was never up at this time anyway). "What is it?" Euphemia asked a little impatiently, she had never liked Mary for she saw her as weak and unable to stand up for herself plus Mia's temper was a little short that morning anyway due to her constant worrying over the letter Druella was going to send.

"I wanted to give you a warning," Mary said hoarsely, licking her lips to make them less chapped and dry than they already were. These words struck a nerve with Mia and her attention was suddenly switched on and she turned to Mary with a more alert and attentive manner. "What about?" she asked with narrowed eyes, her heart thumping under her jumper.

"I overheard Druella and Orion talking about you in a rather disturbing way....Druella was talking about you needing to learn a lesson and see sense.....and Orion said....he said he'd make sure he showed you a lesson alright...." Mary confessed all of this to Euphemia with a very nervous tone and attitude, she seemed on edge and tense as if she knew she shouldn't be telling Mia any of this. Euphemia's pulse rate quickened upon hearing Mary's story of what she had heard and a wave of terror doused her, practically drowning her in it's depths.

Mary mumbled an apology when she saw how panic stricken Mia was and she hurried back into the dormitory whereupon she sat on her bed, fidgeting with her hands. Euphemia stayed in the bathroom, shutting the door after Mary had left and she sunk down onto the floor as soon as it had banged shut, letting herself slide down the wood so that she was slouched against the back of the door, with her knees drawn to her chest.

She didn't know what to make of it all, the fact that Druella and Orion had been talking about teaching her a lesson was enough to freak her out and unnerve her but she told herself to take a deep breath and calm down. Which was actually rather hard to do when your roommate had just told you that people had been plotting to punish you mere moments before. It was especially bad because they were both her cousins, horrible as they might be, but they were related. Still, Mia knew that her family often did the unexpected and she shouldn't have actually been shocked but she was. Oh, she was.

Shocked. Terrified. Tense. Nervous. Afraid. Paranoid. Upset. Betrayed. Conflicted. A mixture of emotions was flowing through Euphemia like an unstoppable river, the currents incredibly strong and pushing every boundary and dam aside, breaking all her defences down and making her more vulnerable and exposed than ever. At least it can't get any worse now.... Mia thought to herself as she tilted her brunette head back so that it rested on the back of the door.

Little did she know.....little did she know....

~~~

The smell of bacon greeted Euphemia as she wandered into the Great Hall for breakfast around 8 o clock, after she had managed to sneak past a furtive looking Druella and Orion in the common room. Platters upon platters of sausage, hash browns, eggs (boiled, scrambled and fried) and boats of baked beans or gravy sat beside huge plates stacked full of toast. Several boxes of wizarding cereal scattered the Slytherin table and Mia flicked a stray cornflake off the tablecloth as she slid onto the bench.

Grabbing a knife, she dug it into the dish of butter and plastered it onto a piece of toast that she had taken from one of the plates in the middle. However, Euphemia could hardly eat it as her stomach was turning somersaults out of nerves and she gripped the knife all the tighter, making her knuckles turn white from the force. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the owls bursting into the hall to deliver letters and packages to their owners until a red haired second year called Anastasia patted her on the arm to point out that she herself had mail. And what was sitting amongst her untouched toast made Mia gag on her drink of orange juice and she very nearly spurted it everywhere but managed to stop the fountain of juice with a handkerchief quickly.

A red envelope with the word Euphemia scrawled across it in angry cursive that Mia recognised as her mother's handwriting was seated next to her slice of toast and the girl reached for it with trembling fingers, feeling chilly to the bone. "What is it?" Anastasia next to Euphemia piped up and the latter gulped, her wide eyes fixed on the red envelope that she had now grasped in her shaking hand.

"It's a Howler!" an annoying kid called Terence in first year informed Anastasia and her delicate mouth fell open as everyone else's attention was drawn to the petrified Mia frozen in her seat with her eyes not moving off the dreaded letter. Whispers of 'Euphemia's got a Howler!' and 'Wonder who sent Black a Howler?' echoed up and down the Slytherin table and the gossip would've spread in that fashion to the other tables if it hadn't been for the envelope bursting suddenly in Euphemia's hands and transforming into a talking letter which had the voice of a very angry Cassiopeia Black.

"Euphemia Cassiopeia Ophelia Black!" came the angry screeching from the shrieking letter as Mia jumped in her seat as terror overcame her as well as humiliation due to the hall going completely silent and everyone craning their necks to see what was happening at the Slytherin table.

"How dare you disgrace the name of Black! Hanging out with filth such as half bloods and blood traitors, the very people that I raised you against. You have disobeyed every rule I ever laid down for you and shamed the Noble House of Black - I am ashamed to call you my daughter! Which you will be no longer if you carry on in this fashion, it is utterly disgraceful to be hanging out with such dirty people. They have dirty blood, Euphemia, they are a bad influence on you and do not belong in this world whatsoever-' Cassiopeia ranted on and on about how filthy Mia's misdemeanours were and how utterly shameful it was that she had become friends with such scum...scum that didn't even deserve to be in the same school as her let alone the world.

It was only when Cassiopeia started to threaten that she would disown Mia from the family if she carried on with this behaviour and that she expected her daughter to uphold the traditions of her family and stay pure and apart from filth such as half bloods and blood traitors because she was 'superior to them' did someone actually step in. Beforehand, everyone had simply watched with a mixture of shock, curiosity, pain and disgust at the words that the envelope was spewing. But Albus Dumbledore finally stood up from the staff table and pointed his wand at the angry letter that was still spitting insults at Euphemia and the red parchment disintegrated into little pieces rather like confetti.

"I think that's enough of that," Dumbledore announced serenely to the silent hall who's eyes were all still fixed on the struggling Mia, who was fighting back her tears so she didn't seem weak in front of the school as her cheeks flamed red and her fists clenched underneath the table. Dumbledore walked down from the teachers table, a napkin still tucked into his belt, and whispered something in Euphemia's ear which made her nod her head vigorously.

Professor Dumbledore then offered Mia his arm and he led her out of the hall, leaving the students to form chatter and gossip again over what had just happened. At the Gryffindor table, Charlus' eyes were flashing dangerously as Euphemia had hinted there were problems at home but he had never imagined it to be that bad that her own mother could hurl such atrocious abuse at her. He thought of his own mum and how caring she was with his baby sister, Olivia, and how loving she was to Rochelle, how protective she was of him and he could see a stark contrast between the two women.

Alastor and Eugenia were talking in hushed whispers a little further down the table as Minerva had buried her head in her hands out of despair for her friend. If she had known her being friends with Euphemia would cause such problems with her family then she never would've risked putting Mia in so much danger. Florean and Pomona at the Hufflepuff table were enraged, Florean was saying that he was going to go to the Black Manor and hurt Cassiopeia Black as much as the bitch had hurt his best friend. Pomona was visibly upset, she had seen the signs of Euphemia breaking down again in her blurry eyes and trembling hands and the Hufflepuff wanted to make the pain that her friend was feeling go away completely.

Lyall was seated beside Minnie and was rubbing her back comfortably as Minerva muttered nonsense about how it was all her fault, exchanging looks with Filius over the heads of the other students, the two boys locking eyes from the Ravenclaw table and the Gryffindor table. The majority of the students around them had either moved onto talking about something else or were starting to steer their conversation away from it as nothing else had happened and so there was nothing else to gossip about.

Some might've been able to get over the dramatic events that had taken place rather quickly but some were taking their time and Mia's friends grouped together in the tapestry room before first period to discuss what had gone on in a concerned and worried manner. None of them wanted to lose Euphemia as a friend but none of them wanted to place her in even more trouble than she was already so it was a very hard decision for the gang to make - especially as they didn't know what Mia wanted as the girl herself had been escorted away from the situation by none other than Professor Dumbledore.

Hopefully the charming middle aged man would be able to make her feel better.

I practically fell asleep (despite it being early for me lol) whilst I was writing this chapter but I wanted to upload for y'all so yay :)