"Isn't it great how we're getting married?" Orion asked Mia as they walked through the gardens of the Black Manor, having been forced by their parents to spend time together.

"Yes, fantastic," Euphemia responded dryly, not sounding enthusiastic whatsoever, a glum look on her face.

After she had slapped Cassiopeia, Mia had paid for it in terms of torture, as her mother had punished her for a solid two hours until Euphemia had actually passed out from the pain.

Cassiopeia had threatened that there would be more of that treatment if Mia didn't agree to marry Orion so the girl had grudgingly obliged but she did promise herself that she would get out of it, somehow.

However, for now, Euphemia was stuck hanging out with Orion during her summer holidays and she wasn't really enjoying it much - their time together usually consisted of long walks or boring games of Gobstones.

"Why aren't you more excited? This is an honour, to continue the noble Black bloodline through our marriage," Orion told her rather conceitedly, puffing out
his chest.

"Yes, what an honour - to be married to someone that you don't even love," Mia responded sarcastically, not noticing Orion's eyes flashing dangerously at her comment.

"I'm sure we'll learn to love each other," Orion said stiffly, his hands clenching and Euphemia scoffed, letting out a disbelieving laugh.

"I doubt that very much," Mia replied, "You shouldn't have to learn to love someone, if you're meant to be together then you should naturally love them," she told her fiancé, raising her eyebrows.

"What are you saying?" Orion practically growled, coming to a stop in their walking and Euphemia also paused on the path, looking at him sceptically.

"We're not supposed to be together, Orion. Any idiot can see that," Mia told him, "I don't love you and I never will. I don't even want to marry you," she said to him plainly.

"It's not a matter of whether you want to marry me or not, you have to whether you like it or not," Orion argued back, his eyes glinting with malice.

"Oh really? And what are you going to do about it?" Euphemia challenged him, her confidence coming out again - it was the Gryffindor side of her personality of her, she guessed.

Before Mia could even blink, she was pressed up against the wall of her house, as they had been walking through her enormous garden, and Orion was right in her face. Shoot.

His grip on her wrist was incredibly tight, so tight that Euphemia was pretty sure that it would leave a definite bruise which made her wince in pain.

Orion had his arms on either side of her head, trapping her against the wall and a little bit of panic rose up in Mia, wondering what he was going to do to her.

She was still aching and bruised from Cassiopeia's 'lesson' so she didn't really want anymore injuries but she wasn't about to just weaken underneath him either.

"You're going to marry me, you don't have a choice," Orion growled, so close to her face that she could smell his foul breath and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Really? You're so desperate for a wife that you'd marry your cousin?" Euphemia asked in disbelief, her heart beating much faster now that Orion was in such close proximity.

"It's for the greater good of the Black Family," Orion hissed at her before he slammed her head against the wall, causing her to wince and grimace in pain.

"Get off me, please," Mia said as calmly as she could muster as a sharp pain shot through her head, making her close her eyes briefly as the garden span around her, her vision blurry and dizzy.

"No, not until you're willing to marry me," Orion said threateningly and he grabbed her bruised wrist again, flinging her across the garden roughly and making her land in a prickly rose bush.

"Didn't your Mummy ever teach you not to throw a tantrum when you don't get what you want, Orion?" Euphemia teased him though she secretly wanted to start crying as the pain coursed through her body.

"You're making this really difficult for yourself, Euphemia," Orion advanced towards her with his wand pointing at her where she was sprawled on top of the prickly bush.

Mia closed her eyes, bracing herself for the torture curse that she had come to know and hate and it soon came, searing through her body like a violent virus intending to rip apart her organs.

Pressing her lips together to prevent herself from screaming out loud and giving Orion the satisfaction, Euphemia allowed the cruciatus curse to rack through her limbs.

Gradually though, she began to fall off the bush and soon landed on the floor, smashing her head on the gravel and twisting her ankle as she shook from all over from the torture curse.

This soon became a regular occurrence whenever Mia had to hang out with Orion - she would accidentally end up saying something that infuriated him or she would act weird which would make him fly into a temper.

By the end of the summer, Euphemia was completely bruised all over from the amount of times that she was shoved to the floor and into walls.

Her bones ached and she often cried herself to sleep, curling into the fetal position as she clutched the necklace that Charlus had gotten her last Christmas for comfort.

Mia didn't know why she held the jewelled M on the end of the chain for condolence but it helped to calm her down whenever Orion had beaten her up horribly.

The only good thing about Orion hurting her whenever they were together was that Cassiopeia and Arcturus didn't torture her at all because they didn't want to damage her beyond repair.

In fact, Euphemia was pretty sure that they didn't even know that Orion decided to beat her up for his own entertainment.

The boy was always so charming whenever he was around Mia's parents and he had fooled them into thinking that he was the perfect match for their daughter, not that they actually cared.

Arcturus and Cassiopeia had probably lain off the punishments because Euphemia had agreed to marry Orion and, as far as they knew, was actually enjoying hanging out with him.

The last day of summer before school started up again, the 31st of August, was Mia's birthday and she woke up to an owl pecking on her window with a present and card in tow.

Smiling a little, Euphemia limped over to her window and took the present, seeing that it was from Florean and she started to open it, sitting down because she was hurting too much to stand up without feeling dizzy.

Pomona's gift had arrived the day before and Mia had put it to one side so that she could open it on her actual birthday.

Florean's present was a packet of Bertie's Botts Every Flavoured Beans and a little charm bracelet that she could add little charms to whenever she wanted.

Florean had started her off with a little ice cream charm on the bracelet and Mia smiled at it dangling from the chain, noting how detailed it was.

Pomona had given her a white photo frame encasing a photograph of Euphemia, Florean and Pomona herself - one that Mrs Fortescue had taken when Mia had been able to sneak out of the house to hang out with her friends.

They had obviously asked about her bruises but she had waved them off, claiming that she was dealing with it.

Florean and Pomona had still been concerned but they hadn't wanted to pry so they dropped the subject.

Placing the photo frame on her bedside table and fixing her bracelet around her bruised wrist, Euphemia smiled and sat down on her bed before there was a knock at the door, startling her.

"One moment please!" she called, as she was still dressed in her nightgown.

Quickly changing into something appropriate (a white blouse and denim pinafore), Mia neatened herself up and placed her photo frame face down to hide who was there in the image.

Arcturus entered once Euphemia called and the girl immediately froze, having been expecting Tibet the house elf.

"Good morning, Euphemia," her father said stiffly, standing in her doorway.

Mia greeted him back, confused as to why her father was in her bedroom as he usually never came in there unless he was coming to shout at her.

"Happy birthday," Arcturus said with an unreadable expression and Euphemia felt herself smile uncertainly, "Thank you?" she replied, not sure what was going on.

"Here," Arcturus held out his arm stiffly and Mia was taken aback to see a present in his hand but she took it, starting to unwrap it as he watched her.

Euphemia drew out a pocket watch from the wrappings that was on a thick chain of silver and gold.

It was glass and it had silver roman numerals that looked like they were floating in the dark silver frame.

In the centre, there were exposed golden clockwork pieces which were ticking and rotating the gold hands around the face of the clock.

It felt quite heavy and Mia turned it over in her palm, glancing at the edge of the watch's frame that had the words Soyez Toujours Pur de cœur engraved on it over and over again.

On the back of the watch, there was the Noble House of Black's very own crest engraved in silver on the gold background of the watch.

"Why are you giving me this?" Euphemia asked, "Isn't it tradition to give a wizard a watch at seventeen? I'm only fifteen, Father," she reminded him, wondering whether he had mistaken her age.

A look of irritation crossed Arcturus' face, "I know how old you are, Euphemia. I'm giving you this now because you're getting married next summer and so won't belong to me anymore," he told her.

Mia felt a little infuriated at that statement - she didn't belong to anyone, she wasn't an object but he did have a point.

If she married Orion, which seemed to be confirmed now, she would belong to Orion by law and therefore her father would not be entitled to her.

"Well, thank you," she gulped and Arcturus simply nodded at her before exiting her bedroom, leaving her still quite confused.

Euphemia was pretty sure that the watch had been her father's and he should've been giving it to his son but Marius wasn't here to receive the watch, meaning Mia ended up with it.

She probably would've liked it if it hadn't of been for the motto on the back of the heirloom.

"Always be pure of heart," Euphemia read to herself bitterly, translating it from French before she noticed the photo frame from Pomona with the three of them in it.

"Well, that's not going to happen, is it?"

~~~

The Hogwarts Express pulled into the station as usual on the 1st September every year, ready for all the students to start boarding it.

The steam emitting from the top of the train covered everyone on the platform, causing a few to start coughing and hacking.

Friends greeted one another after a long summer apart; mothers fussed over children; new first years looked around nervously and older students barged their way through the crowds to reach their favourite compartments.

"Thomas, don't forget your quill!" a grandmother yelled after her grandson as he went to board the train, running after him as fast as her elderly legs could manage.

Platform 9 & 3/4 was in absolute chaos, as was the case every single year but Charlus wouldn't have it any other way as he guided his younger sister through the crowd, their parents behind them.

"Have fun this year, kids! Stay out of trouble," Everleigh told her children with a smile as Henry draped his arm around his wife's shoulders, little Olivia clutching onto his hand as tightly as she could because she didn't like large crowds.

"I'll try," Charlus grinned, giving his mother a hug before he waved goodbye to Henry and Olivia, picking up his trunk and starting to head to the train.

"I won't miss you!" Olivia called as he started walking away and Charlus turned to face her with a grin, raising an eyebrow sceptically.

As he predicted, his little sister soon faltered and she dashed through the crowd so that she could tackle him into a hug.

"I can't believe you thought you could get away without giving me a hug," Olivia told him exasperatedly and Charlus went to argue that it had been her who had refused to say goodbye but she placed her little finger over his lips.

"Shush, the important people are talking," Olivia said to him seriously before leaning to whisper in his ear.

"Don't forget about what I said about that girl - I'm always right, listen to my advice," Olivia told him, her breath warming Charlus' ear.

The six year old continued practically strangling her brother with a hug before she jumped down from his hold, running back to Everleigh and Henry.

"Bye, you lot," Charlus turned away from his family, a grin still on his face as he started to tug his trunk towards the train again, ignoring the admiring glances he was getting from various girls.

"Charlus, wait for me!" Rochelle yelled after him, she was in second year this time around and she rushed after her brother, causing him to sigh in exasperation.

"Go find your own friends, Shelley," he told his sister but she shook her head, tugging on his sleeve and holding onto him until the two of them made it onto the train amongst the throng of other students boarding.

"I wanna stay with you," Rochelle told him with a slight pout, widening her eyes and Charlus sighed, not really having the heart to shove her away.

"You can't stay with me forever - you're cramping my style," Charlus said to Rochelle and she scowled up at him before giving him one last hug and running off into the distance.

"Sisters are a pain, huh?" a familiar voice said from behind and Charlus turned around to see Alastor grinning at him, leaning against one of the train windows in a way that made nearby third year girls swoon.

"Your sister is like seven, you won't ever have to deal with her at school," Charlus replied to his friend as he gave Alastor a bro hug of welcome, the two of them glad to be back in each other's company.

"I can't believe we're in fifth year already," Alastor commented as they started to make their way down the cramped train corridor to their usual compartment that the group always gathered in.

"I know, it's crazy, isn't it?" Charlus laughed, walking into their compartment and greeting Eugenia and Lyall who were already seated there, having a quiet conversation.

"Where are Minnie and Filius?" Alastor asked Eugenia and she quickly answered, "They both were made Prefects so they're in the Prefect compartment," she told them both.

"Goody two shoes," Charlus coughed and Lyall laughed openly as Alastor turned to him, "How come you weren't made a Prefect, Lupin?" he asked him curiously - Lyall was pretty well behaved and a favourite of many teachers.

"Zachary got that honour," Lyall replied with a shrug, not really bothered that he hadn't gotten the Prefect position for Gryffindor house.

"Honour?" Charlus scoffed with a laugh, "It's not an honour to be made Prefect, it's a tragedy," he said dramatically.

Florean and Pomona arrived then, smiling in greeting at their friends as they hadn't actually seen many of them over the entirety of summer, they had been mostly hanging out with each other or Euphemia occasionally.

Florean had actually been looking for Mia when they first arrived but he couldn't find her for some reason and Pomona met up with him so they decided to head to the compartment instead.

"How was everyone's summers?" Charlus asked with a yawn as he leaned back in his seat, looking out of the window absentmindedly as the train had suddenly set off, whipping past parts of London as it headed into the countryside.

Florean and Pomona exchanged a glance, "Eventful," they answered together before laughing a little nervously, causing Eugenia to glance at them weirdly.

"I went down to Cornwall," Alastor offered, "My sister learnt how to swim so that was pretty funny to watch," he told them and a few chuckles sounded through the compartment before they all fell into silence again.

Pomona gave Florean a meaningful glance - now was a better time than ever to talk to them about Mia.

Florean nodded and cleared his throat, sitting up and he was about to speak when the compartment door slid open and Minerva and Filius walked in.

"Alright, perfect Prefects?" Alastor said to them as they entered and Minnie sent him a scowl, flopping down on the seat next to Eugenia, who sent her a sympathetic smile.

"At least we're liked by the teachers," Filius answered as Lyall moved up to make room for the guy.

A series of 'oohs' sounded through the compartment and Alastor smirked in reply.

"Why would you want to be liked by teachers?" Charlus asked with a laugh and Alastor nodded, agreeing with his friend as Eugenia leant forward and asked Minerva and Filius who the other Prefects were in other houses.

"For Gryffindor, it's Zachary and I. Isabelle Bentley and Thomas Cunningham are Hufflepuff's prefects, Ravenclaw has Filius here and Elizabeth Pang and for Slytherin, it's Aaron Simons and Walburga Black," Minnie informed them.

Charlus glanced up at the sound of Aaron's name, trying to act nonchalant, "Aaron as in....her boyfriend?" he asked, avoiding saying Mia's name which had been what he had been doing for the past term.

Filius nodded slowly, sensing the tension that fell over the compartment when Euphemia was even slightly mentioned.

Florean and Pomona exchanged awkward looks that didn't go unnoticed by Eugenia, who narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the two of them.

"Speaking of Mia-" Pomona piped up and Charlus' eyes instantly darkened, "We weren't speaking about her," he cut Pomona off quite harshly and the girl in question quietened down, flushing.

"Well, we are now," Florean picked up the subject again, causing Pomona to send him a grateful look, "She got in touch with us two over the summer and explained the situation. She was imperiused by Druella when she cursed you, Charlus, and she wasn't spying - Orion threatened her with our lives which was why she was forced to say that," he told them all.

Silence blanketed the entire compartment once Florean had finished and Minerva looked completely conflicted and worried about her old best friend.

Alastor was thoughtful, thinking it through whilst Eugenia and Lyall just looked awkward and as though they weren't sure whether to believe it.

Filius looked rather relieved and was smiling to himself as Charlus simply scoffed harshly, his face still set in a scowl as he crossed his arms.

He wanted to believe what Florean was saying, he did, but if he did then he would have to admit that he had been wrong and he didn't want to appear as weak.

"We're friends with her again now," Pomona added in rather timidly, her voice squeaky and Minnie appeared to be taken aback.

"And when did you think to inform us that this had happened?" she questioned them, looking quite betrayed that Florean and Pomona had kept it a secret until now.

"We wanted to wait until you were all together," Florean told her and Filius shrugged, "Well, it does make sense when you think about it - Mia would never betray us and this explains it," the boy said rationally, evidently believing what Pomona and Florean had claimed.

"Whatever," Charlus mumbled darkly underneath his breath and Eugenia seemed to agree with him though maybe that was because she didn't want to get on the wrong side of the handsome lad.

Alastor also seemed sceptical and Minerva was quite upset that Pomona and Florean had made up with Euphemia without asking whether she wanted to as well.

Lyall didn't know what to think - he decided he would go with what the majority thought so as to not anger anyone.

On the other end of the train, Mia herself was sat in a compartment that was filled to the brim with people that she didn't like.

Orion was sat right next to her, his arm wrapped around her so tightly that she felt like she couldn't breathe.

Walburga and Heather were opposite her, talking about some girl that had cheeked Heather and how they were going to make her regret what she had said.

Druella was holding hands with Cygnus, her newly wed husband - the two had gotten closer once they realised they might as well try to get along if they wanted a remotely happy marriage.

Eileen hadn't been allowed to sit in the compartment because Walburga didn't like her and Euphemia was actually close to despairing as she felt constricted in Orion's grip.

She would've rather been anywhere but there - even with Aaron because at least he treated her like she was someone and not something.

Cassiopeia had made her break up with Aaron because, even though she approved of his blood status and reputation, she had insisted that Mia had to be totally loyal to her fiancé, Orion.

Euphemia had explained the arranged marriage situation to Aaron and he had understood and didn't seem too bothered by the breakup - he could have any girl he wanted, after all. Just one smile in a girl's direction and she was his.

"I'm just going to go to the bathroom for a second," Mia said quietly to Orion, making up an excuse to get out of the compartment and he simply grunted, removing his arm from around her as she stood up.

As soon as she was out of the claustrophobic compartment, Euphemia took a few deep breaths and clutched her necklace for a second before she realised something.

"Come to us if you ever need anything," had been what Florean had said to her over the summer and Mia definitely needed some help right now.

Despite the nerves that were building up in her system at the mere prospect of going to her old friends' compartment, Euphemia summoned up the courage and started walking purposefully towards the compartment that she knew they all frequented annually.

However, due to her injuries that she had sustained, her black eye prevented her from seeing properly and her sprained ankle also made her limp.

Which was why Mia hobbled down the corridor and was not really entirely surprised when she collided with someone.

"Great," she muttered sarcastically underneath her breath as she was thrown to the floor accidentally.

Happy Easter!