Two months had passed since Charlus' birthday and Mia and Charlus' picnic out by the lake and O.W.L.S. were approaching quickly, the exams creeping up on the fifth years like a dark shadow, looming over them as they all stressed, studied and swotted.

On the morning of the first exam, letters were being delivered by a variation of owls, more so than usual, to the majority of the fifth year students and the seventh years, as they were obviously also taking their N.E.W.T.S. at the same time, so that parents and guardians could pass on their regards and good luck messages.

''Ooh! Daddy has promised to buy me the brand new Cleansweep Five if I do well in all of my exams!'' Eugenia exclaimed in excitement, her face brightening as she glanced up from her letter that her father had written her.

''Oh, the life of a rich girl must be amazing,'' Alastor muttered to Minerva, who laughed in response as it was well known that the Jenkins family was extremely wealthy and that Eugenia received pretty much anything that she asked for from her parents.

''Eugenia, if you're so enthusiastic about flying and having the latest broomstick - why aren't you on the Gryffindor Quidditch team? I don't think I've ever seen you even try out,'' Brutus leant forward in curiosity, stirring his tea absentmindedly with a spoon.

''It's because she can't risk getting her nails dirty or, Merlin forbid, a single hair out of place,'' Lyall commented jokingly, teasing Eugenia gently who glared at him in response, punching him on the arm so that he almost dropped his own letter in his cereal.

''It's not that...it's just—'' Eugenia started to protest before realising that Lyall was probably right and she was subdued into silence as all of her friends around her descended into quiet laughter.

Charlus had been blocking out his friends' banter and conversations for the past few minutes due to being far too invested in his own letter from his parents which he had received that morning. It was probably a good idea as well because the sixteen year old was extremely nervous for the O.W.L.S.

Dear Charlus,
                            I just wanted to let you know that we are thinking of you these next few weeks. O.W.L.S. are extremely important and myself and your father are sending all of our love and best wishes. Don't stress yourself out though, you can only do your best, sweetie.

Good luck, honey, work hard and just try your hardest in your exams - we'll love you no matter what grades you get. Unless they're Ts...if you get Ts, consider yourself officially disowned from this family. Just kidding...don't cry.

Olivia sends her love- she wanted me to tell you that you better be treating Mia like a lady because she can't wait to be a bridesmaid at your wedding (don't worry...I told her that she was being ridiculous - getting married at yours and Mia's age is actually insane, I would never even dream of such a young couple getting wed).

Anyway, she didn't listen to me and has now been spending the entire week trying on different dresses. Who ever said seven year olds were easy to mother? Exactly, no one. If your sister is like this now, at seven, I dread what she'll be like when she's a teenager...

I will also be writing to Rochelle to wish her luck in her end of term exams but I am focusing more on making sure you do well in YOUR exams - O.W.L.S. are very important and I don't want you to throw your life away, okay? Good luck, darling and send my love to Mia, I hope she does well too.

Lots of love and good luck,
                                                     Mum, Dad & Olivia x

With a slight smile now gracing his features, Charlus placed his letter down and took a sip of his steaming coffee before glancing over at the Slytherin table, where Euphemia was opening her own letter slowly whilst chatting to Eileen, who was seated next to a rather heavily pregnant Druella, who was nearly six months pregnant now.

Charlus was trying to catch his girlfriend's attention to convey the message across to her that his mother wished her good luck, as he probably wouldn't get a chance before the first O.W.L. of the day, Transfiguration Theory, when he saw the expression on Mia's face as her eyes scanned over her letter.

She was visibly upset. And he knew exactly what must've caused it...

Dear Euphemia,
Mother here.

I just wanted to confirm a few details with you about your upcoming wedding, you must be very excited.

As fore mentioned, the bridesmaids (your cousins) will be dressed in cream and gold, I have enclosed a few fashion sketches with this letter and I hope you will look over them. Your own dress arrived this morning and it is exquisite, I am sure that Orion will love it on you.

Your father and I have decided to move the wedding date from the beginning of July to the middle of the month, so that we can allow time for Druella to give birth because her due date is around the 7th July. She is rather large now, you know, and I don't want her baby bump distracting anyone on your big day, especially if she is to be maid of honour - as I picked her to be so.

Given your recent behaviour, I have been forced to make your wedding decisions for you, including choosing your maid of honour. I hope this will teach you a lesson for the future...you have to be sensible and responsible now that you are going to be a wife, Euphemia.

I have arranged everything about this wedding due to you ignoring all of my letters and you had better be grateful. I know you have O.W.L.S. but surely your own wedding is more important? You need to sort out your priorities.

Good luck with your exams - I expect you to uphold the family reputation and ace them all but, if you don't do well, Orion's money and your dowry will ensure that you live a luxurious life, even if you get less than outstanding results. Remember, your role in life is to be a good wife and look after yours and Orion's children so exams don't really matter.

Yours sincerely,
                             Mother.

The letter soon fell with a splash, right into Euphemia's bowl of Pixie Puffs, sinking into the milk amongst the cereal but the girl really didn't care, choosing to simply stare into space as her heart beat furiously beneath her Slytherin jumper, her breathing growing laboured.

Over the past few months, Mia had distracted herself with revision for the O.W.L.S. and homework for her classes, along with hanging out with her friends (who all knew not to mention the dreaded 'W' word in order to sustain Euphemia's smile) just so that she could forget all about her wedding to Orion in three months time.

As Cassiopeia had snidely pointed out in her letter to her daughter, Mia had been ignoring her mother's letters and choosing to simply destroy some of them without reading them beforehand just so that she could regain her happiness and pretend that the wedding wasn't happening.

That morning, Euphemia had chosen to open her post because she had naively thought that, for once, Cassiopeia might actually be writing about something other than the stupid, dreaded wedding - like her daughter's important exams, perhaps?

But no, all her mother had written about was Mia's future marriage to Orion, the cousin she detested with all of her heart, before adding about Euphemia's O.W.L.S in an extremely afterthought manner. Typical.

''Euphemia? Are you alright? You dropped your letter into your cereal, would you like me to—'' Eileen's question was cut off as Mia placed her hand down firmly on Eileen's outstretched palm, stopping her friend from retrieving the now sodden letter.

''Leave it,'' she ordered, her voice sounding strange to her ears - rather hoarse and her tone was extremely abrupt, taking Eileen by complete surprise. Garm, who had been seated on the other side of her but had been previously engaging in a conversation with Robert Bulstrode, glanced over in concern.

''Mia? What's wrong?'' he asked her and, even though Euphemia knew that her friend was asking out of worry for her, she very nearly snapped at him but held herself back at the last minute, her nerves shot.

''I have to go,'' she mumbled, choking slightly on her words and Mia grabbed the letter from her cereal, crumpling the soggy parchment up in her fist as she stormed out of the Great Hall, followed by Charlus' concerned glance from the Gryffindor table and Druella and Walburga's amused ones from the Slytherin table.

Euphemia rushed from the Great Hall, feeling the sobs rising up in her body and weighing down her chest as she bit her lip furiously to try and stop herself from crying. Her hands were shaking and her breathing was surely irregular but she just needed to go, she needed to run away because the prospect of the upcoming wedding was terrifying her into oblivion, no matter how many distractions she undertook or how many times her friends tried to comfort her.

It wasn't going away. No matter how much Charlus promised that he was going to help her, no matter how many times Minerva said that there would be a plan put in place - the wedding was happening in August and there was nothing that Mia could do about it. Her friends didn't understand...they didn't get that if she boycotted her own wedding, she would be hunted down and killed.

It sounded morbid and unrealistic but Euphemia knew what her family was like more than any of her friends, she knew that the Blacks were definitely capable of murdering someone, even one of their own if they displeased them. And if they didn't kill her, Mia knew that they would find some other way of torturing her or causing those near her pain, even if she was safely hidden away in Fahre Du with Minnie or Godric's Hollow with Charlus.

Euphemia hadn't even realised that she was walking hurriedly down the steps to the Hufflepuff common room and kitchens until some loud footsteps behind her startled Mia into stumbling down the steps and nearly falling flat on her face, only for that to be prevented by the person behind her grabbing her waist and hoisting her upright.

With a sigh, Euphemia glanced over her shoulder and saw that it was Charlus, rather out of breath from running all the way from the Great Hall to where they were at that moment. "Mia, what are you doing here?" Charlus asked her gently, concern written all over his face and she shrugged helplessly, appearing dazed and upset.

"I-I don't know, to be honest," she muttered, dropping her head down so that she was staring resolutely at her shoes, "I just needed to get away," she added indistinctly and Euphemia soon felt her boyfriend's soft hands cup her chin, lifting her head up so that she was looking into his kind face, "Talk to me," Charlus said gently, guiding her to sit down on the steps and she did so, gulping.

Without another word to Charlus, Mia silently took out the crumpled and soggy letter from that morning, handing it to him sheepishly and sitting there in silence whilst he read it, feeling the rage simmering inside of her boyfriend as he read more and more of the letter, his hands practically shaking with anger once he reached the end.

"I'm going to kill them," Charlus growled, crunching the letter in his fist in an obvious demonstration of how he was going to murder Euphemia's family. "Please don't," she said quietly, slipping her hand into his and holding onto it for comfort as he gradually calmed down, though fury was still blazing in his hazel eyes, squeezing his girlfriend's hand to ease it for a while.

"I can't imagine why not," he quipped, knowing that he would never go as far as murdering someone, despite wanting to desperately at that moment. Mia simply shrugged, her eyes flitting back down towards her feet and Charlus stared at her sadly for a moment before nudging her shoulder gently, "I'll work out a plan, don't worry. You don't have to marry him—"

But this time, Euphemia cut him off, "You keeping saying that....and yet, the wedding crawls nearer and you still haven't worked out a way to save me!" she cried out, ripping her hand from his as all of her impatience at his misunderstanding of the seriousness of the situation burst out of her mouth in a torrent of words, not even feeling guilty at his dumbstruck expression.

"I'm trying, Mia, I don't know what else you want me to do! I'm just as lost as you are with this situation," Charlus protested, confused as to why she was acting like this but it was the wrong thing to say because it caused Euphemia to puff up with rage, even jumping to her feet in the process, "Don't even dare to compare your feelings on this matter to mine! I am the one that is being forced into this marriage, not you, Charlus!" she practically shouted.

Charlus stared at her in shock, completely unused to seeing this side of her - the last time that they had argued fully had been when Mia had been torn between Druella and him, earlier on during that fateful day when she had been attacked by Orion and he had kissed Imogen Watson. "I thought we were in this together? Your battles are my battles, remember?" he reminded her, his voice breaking.

"Well, apparently they're not because you're not seeing the seriousness of this situation, Charlus. You don't understand what my family is like, you don't get what they're capable of—" Euphemia started to argue back, her voice a little quieter now but still frustrated with her boyfriend who, this time around in the argument, was the one that cut her off by letting out a scornful laugh.

"I don't know what the Blacks are capable of? Your family killed my grandfather, remember? I know exactly what they are capable of which is why I'm terrified of anything happening to you but I don't know what to do! I want to help you but I've been racking my brains and all of my plans include the risk of you being hurt," Charlus told her wearily.

Mia's angry frown faltered a little but, before she could argue any further, the couple were interrupted by a most unwelcome surprise in the form of Orion Black, who happened to be passing by on his way to breakfast. "Do I hear a lovers quarrel? Oh, how tragic," he sneered, coming to a halt in front of them as Euphemia's face whitened and Charlus' teeth ground against one another in hate for Mia's fiancée.

"Bugger off, Black. This is a private conversation," Charlus growled and Orion let out a scoffing laugh not unlike the one that Charlus himself had issued mere minutes before, "Well, it's not a 'private conversation' when the two of you are shouting your affairs for all to hear," he snickered before sending a disgusted look at Euphemia, who hadn't spoken a word since his arrival, "What are you even doing here, girl?"

"I'm talking to my boyfriend," Mia ground out between gritted teeth, her fist clenching and, despite their previous argument, Charlus couldn't help but feel love and admiration bubble up inside of him at the sight of Euphemia standing up to her horrid cousin. Orion raised a single eyebrow, stepping forward, "I wouldn't call that 'talking' - it sounded like you were arguing. Trouble up-mill?" he said in a mocking tone.

"That's none of your business, Black," Charlus told him, trying to resist the temptation to curse Orion for all that he had done to Mia in the past. "I think it is, seeing as Euphemia here is my fiancée," Orion uttered the last word with more emphasis, as if he knew that that particular word would irk both Mia and Charlus, which he was certainly right about.

Euphemia pressed her lips together into a thin line like she was trying to prevent her tears from spilling forth and Charlus let out a sound that could've easily been a growl from an animal. Orion smirked before he looked between them, his calculating face pondering in a most mysterious and creepy manner that made Mia shudder from where she was stood.

"Euphemia, when is your first exam?" he suddenly turned to his fiancée, causing a look of surprise to filter over the girl's face at the unexpectedly casual question directed at her, "Uh, at ten o'clock, I believe. I have a study period from nine o'clock onwards," Mia informed him, appearing outwardly confused about what exactly Orion was getting at, exchanging a baffled look with Charlus - their previous disagreement forgotten for now.

"Perfect," Orion clapped his hands together before turning towards Charlus and ushering him away with a flick of his fingers, "You may leave us now, Potter," he told Charlus, who immediately stilled and stared at Euphemia, who had frozen in fear where she was stood. "If you think I'm leaving her alone with you, you can think again," Charlus exclaimed hotly, not budging from his spot at all.

Orion cocked his head to one side for a split second, stroking his chin in thought, "Okay, I've thought again. And I still want you to leave," he shot Charlus a malicious smile before moving forward and grabbing Mia's arm, starting to pull her with him though she tried to tug herself away, digging her feet into the ground whilst she stared pleadingly at her boyfriend, who hissed, "In your dreams, Black. Let. Go. Of. Her."

"No, I'm alright, thank you," Orion responded casually, in a tone that indicated that the two were merely discussing the weather, "I need to talk to her. Alone," he told Charlus simply, shrugging in an insolent fashion and, as he saw Charlus' expression darken, he rolled his eyes, "Look, I'm not going to make any advances if that's what you're worried about. Little Miss Sensitive has already made it clear that she's too boring for any of that," he gestured towards the terrified Euphemia, who eventually pulled herself out of his grip and began to back away.

"If you even lay a finger on her, I swear to Merlin that I will—" he started to threaten Orion, who appeared just bored with the situation. Orion chuckled a little to himself, "Why would I do that when I have years of marriage ahead of us to have my fun?" he raised an eyebrow at Charlus' horrified expression.

"What did you expect, Potter? We'll have to consummate the marriage on the wedding night and after that, the fun just increases if you know what I mean," Orion winked at Charlus, who was angrier than Mia had ever seen him, his hand immediately going to his wand and pointing it at Orion, who held his hands up in surrender with a laugh, "Stop being so dramatic, Potter. I'm entitled to my fun."

Bang. Orion was thrown backwards by the force of Charlus' spell and he was knocked off his feet but he soon scrambled back up, not even retaliating and Charlus advanced on him, "Come on - don't be such a coward, Black. Hit me with your best shot," he egged him on, anger still emanating from him in waves that engulfed Euphemia, leading her to sigh heavily.

"Flea, just leave it," she told him in a resigned manner and Charlus was about to protest but she cut him off with a swipe of her hand, "Just leave. I'll be fine," Mia said tiredly, looking fed up with both of the boys in her presence - she had just gotten to the point where she didn't care anymore about what happened to her, though she knew she would regret her attitude in days to come.

"I'm not leaving you with him!" Charlus pointed to Orion, who was smirking and observing the situation with an entertained look upon his face, his arms crossed in a satisfied fashion. "Don't you think you've caused enough damage already?" Euphemia asked him, sighing.
"But—"
"Leave," she reiterated firmly, her mind made up and Charlus sent her one last disbelieving look before throwing up his hands in defeat and storming off, his feet stomping against the basement steps loudly.

"Well, that took longer than I expected," Orion said with an eye roll but Mia ignored him, staring down at the floor as her fingernails dug into her palms heavily to try and douse the fear that was bubbling up inside of her like a potion near to its boiling point. After a long pause, Euphemia glanced up and met her fiancée' gaze with a steely look in her grey-blue eyes, "What do you want, Orion?" she asked.

Orion smiled in satisfaction, bringing his hands together in a clasp, "Ah! I was wondering when you were going to ask me that question, sweetheart—"
"Don't call me that," Mia hissed at him, mentally adding that that term of endearment was for Charlus and Charlus only, which must have shown on her face because Orion chuckled a little before continuing, "I need to discuss our future wedding with you. I'm sure you received a letter this morning too?"

He glanced at her questioningly and Euphemia answered with a terse nod of her own whilst Orion moved down the steps towards her, immediately placing her on her guard as her hand gripped her wand in her robes pocket. "My letter had a few important commands, you see. Basically, one requirement that my father said was necessary for our marriage to be successful was to ensure that all potential romantic oppositions were eliminated. Which means.....Fleamont Potter."

Mia stilled - she knew what was coming next and the mounting dread in her stomach was telling her that it couldn't possibly be good and the threatening look on Orion's face as he leaned closer to her didn't comfort her in any way, his dark eyes gleaming with malice and glee at what he was going to say. "Care to elaborate?" Euphemia asked shakily, despite guessing exactly what Orion's elaboration would include. And she hated it.

Orion smirked as he gripped her arm tighter, rekindling the previous bruises that had eventually began to fade....not anymore. Mia winced.

"You have to break up with Charlus, Euphemia. If you don't, I will have no other choice but to kill your precious boyfriend. So, what's it going to be? A relationship breakup or the ending of Charlus Potter's life?"

And the plot thickens....

Oh, how I've missed being evil :)