Mia Black shook her head, feeling as if water was in her ears like she hadn't heard Orion properly. Whatever she had been expecting, it hadn't been this and now the resigned dread had turned into pure and utter adulterated fear that was coursing through every part of her body.

I will kill your precious boyfriend......I will kill your precious boyfriend....Orion's words swam around in her head, slipping into all of the cracks of her brain and overflowing every single coherent thought that had been there before her fiancée had uttered those dreaded words.

Euphemia didn't know what to think, she didn't know what to say or do - she was completely lost and her grey-blue eyes found Orion's helplessly, her mouth parting slightly.

Orion let out a miniature cackle, enjoying the entire situation far too much than he should've been, "Has it sunk in yet, Euphemia? Because you may think that it's an empty threat but—" he was cut off as Mia let out a panicky laugh, "It is an empty threat. I know you can be cruel, Orion Black, I've seen you in action but...not this. You could and would never murder anyone, you don't have the guts," she stared at him.

Orion let out a sigh, patting her on the shoulder heavily, his hand weighing down on her until Euphemia finally shrugged him off in disgust, still emotionally scarred from the time that he forced himself upon her. "That's where you're wrong, dear fiancée. I am perfectly capable of a little bit of murder...that's why I'm so popular."

As Orion smirked at her, Mia shook her head in disbelief - she knew Orion was evil but there was no way he could've actually killed someone, surely? And where had he gotten the impression that taking other people's lives made him more popular than he already was? "What on earth are you talking about? Killing people doesn't make them like you, idiot, it just makes them...dead," she told him in a matter of fact manner.

Orion stared at her as if she was a little thick in the head, "Well, killing people doesn't make them alive, does it?" he said sarcastically, causing Euphemia to roll her eyes before she appeared rather frightened again, realising that her cousin was still implying that he was capable of killing someone...meaning Charlus' life really was in danger. Oh, crap.

"I still don't believe that you're capable of murdering someone, Orion. When you were younger, you wouldn't even tug leaves off the bushes because 'leaves have feelings too, guys!' Are you seriously trying to tell me that the fool who wouldn't hurt a plant could willingly take the life of another human being?" Mia challenged him, still in complete denial that Orion was a murderer.

Orion blanched, "We don't mention the leaf incident, Euphemia."
"Why? Is it a sore subject?" she teased him before subduing when she saw the deadly look in his eyes, her fear pulsing through her again like an adrenaline rush. "I was a boy then. Now, I am a man and I am capable of things that your pretty little head couldn't even fathom."

"If you say so," Mia said in an undertone, only changing her attitude when he snapped at her to be quiet, prompting her into gesturing for him to continue with his monologue that was really showing his dramatic side. "Do you remember the Hogsmeade Attack last year, Euphemia?" Orion asked coldly, sending a literal chill through Mia's body with those last four words before her name in his question.

Euphemia nodded slightly - how on earth could she forget the fateful attack that had caused the deaths of two Hogwarts students, one of them being Mary Crawley whom she had considered a friend? How could she completely disregard the very attack that had caused all of the drama between her and her friends in fourth year, no thanks to Orion's own wrongdoing when he accused her of spying?

Memories of those lonely months without her friends and Charlus washed over Mia and she took a huge breath...it had been horrible when she hadn't had her friends by her side because of them believing Orion's claims and then hating her for cursing Charlus, even though she had been Imperiused. Just the mere thought of not having her friends by her side anymore terrified Euphemia and she knew that she couldn't let Orion kill Charlus.

"What about the attack, anyway?" she asked, startled that her voice sounded gruff and hoarse - as if she was suffering from a sore throat. Orion smirked callously, "Let's just say, I was responsible for one of those deaths..." he informed Mia slowly, taking pleasure in seeing her face lose all previous colour, her mouth dropping open slightly.

"Mary? You killed Mary?" Euphemia practically breathed, the shock practically numbing her to the core as she sat down heavily on the bottom step, feeling completely empty inside, like her insides had dropped out of her stomach.

Orion scoffed, "No. Mary's death was an accident - why would we purposely kill a pure blooded witch who was loyal to the Knights of Walpurgis?" he asked her, treating her like she was stupid as she was blown away by the fact that Mary had been apart of the Knights' schemes. Mia was still certain that Mary had been peer-pressured into joining...but the fact that Mary had known what was going to happen on that day and yet had still watched Euphemia ready herself for her date made her feel rather ill.

"I don't know, maybe because you're all sick in the head?" Mia spat, disgust rising up in her body at how casually Orion was talking about this ordeal. Orion didn't deny her claim, not that she had expected him to, but simply continued talking, "No, I killed the other one. Amanda. I don't recall her surname...she was irrelevant to me anyway. I just killed her to spice things up a little. Create fear, y'know."

Euphemia clenched her fists in an attempt to try and suppress her anger, "Why don't you remember her surname? Wouldn't it give you bragging rights amongst your fellow psychopaths?" she hissed, so unbelievably furious that Orion had simply killed Amanda just for fun.

Mia had never known the fifth year Hufflepuff personally but the girl would've been a sixth year by now, had she survived, and she would've been gossiping with her friends somewhere in the castle, who Euphemia knew had been completely distraught and broken by her loss.  Orion scoffed, "It would, but I honestly couldn't care less about what she was called."

If she had had enough strength to stand up at that point, Mia would've done so and she would've slapped Orion right across the face but she was just so shaken to the core at this new revelation that she couldn't even muster the strength to glare at her cousin. "Her name was Amanda Green and you killed her. How can you live with yourself?" she cried, looking at Orion with utter disdain and disgust written all over her face.

Orion's eyes flickered for a second but he soon gathered himself and simply shrugged, "She was simply a test. To see whether I was capable, which I obviously am. And that brings me back to our original conversation - I am capable of murder which therefore means I will happily slaughter your precious Flea in front of your very eyes if you do not marry me," he hissed and Euphemia shivered madly at his cold use of her nickname for her boyfriend.

"How could you?" Mia whispered, sounding broken....feeling broken too. Orion exhaled deeply before crouching down in front of Euphemia so that his smirking face was directly opposite hers, "I'm Orion Black. I do whatever the hell I want," he told her before patting her on the head like she was a little dog which he soon regretted because Euphemia whacked him in a place where the sun doesn't shine.

Orion howled with pain, "You'll pay for that, you little slut!" he wheezed, lunging for his fiancée, who expertly rolled out of the way and struggled to her feet, drawing her wand with a shaking hand, "Just leave, Orion. I don't want to see your face for a long time. You. Disgust. Me." Mia tightened her grip on her wand and glared at her cousin, who seemed shocked at her change of character.

"My offer still stands. Marry me and Potter lives. Ditch me and Potter dies. It's simple, sweetheart," he told her, still sounding very out of breath like he had just ran a marathon. Though Euphemia's hand trembled at the mention of her boyfriend's threatened death, she remained strong until Orion traipsed back up the steps without another look in her direction.

As soon as she was sure that he had gone, Mia collapsed onto the steps and let the tears that she had been holding back just spill out over her cheeks as her entire body shook with fright and helplessness.

She would've cried for longer if it hadn't have been for the blurry glance towards the Black family heirloom on her wrist, which told her that the time was ten minutes until ten o'clock in the morning, which was....when her exam started.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Euphemia muttered in a panicked frustration, jumping up from her place on the steps and grabbing her bag, which had been sitting there neglected for the past hour and a half, seeing as she had left breakfast at half past eight. How could she have known that her confrontation with her boyfriend and fiancée would take so long?

Wiping the tears from her eyes as she hurried up the steps and into the Entrance Hall, Mia mumbled a few more choice curse words underneath her breath as she practically ran to the Great Hall, where her first ever O.W.L. (Transfiguration) was taking place.

She didn't even know how she was going to concentrate but she had to show up to the theory exam, no matter her emotional state. Examiners didn't understand the meaning of the emotion pity.

It occurred to her that she had missed her last hour of cramming, alternatively called the 'study period' before each O.W.L. but Euphemia's mind was honestly so occupied at the moment that she just had to hope her months of studying had paid off as she entered the exam hall.

Mia didn't notice both Minerva's and Florean's mouths of concern as she bustled into the exam slightly late, certainly a little after most of the students, nor did she see Charlus' concerned gaze from his place but, if she had, she doubted that they would've made her feel any better.

~~~

"They're a little...too floaty, don't you think?" Cassiopeia Black frowned as she fingered the material of her daughter's bridesmaid dresses for Euphemia's wedding. The dresses were made of an incredible soft fabric that billowed down to the knees on the mannequin doll in front of Cassiopeia and there were six different ones - the same style but different colours.

"Tibet thinks they is being very nice, Mistress," the small house elf beside her said, her large ears flapping as her huge brown eyes gleamed with earnest. Cassiopeia sent her a disparaging glance, "I didn't ask for your input," she snapped at Tibet, who blinked in confusion because the woman had done exactly that but she simply bowed her head, not uttering another word.

"Yes, they're rather too floaty...it makes them seem a little cheap and flimsy," Cassiopeia muttered, mostly to herself as she dropped the fabric back down onto the mannequin. "Is they not supposed to be floaty, Mistress? Tibet is thinking that floaty was being the style," the elf piped up again before realising her mistake and immediately subduing.

"For Merlin's sake, Tibet, shut up! Or else I will send you straight to my sister, Irma. And you know what she does to misbehaving elves—" Cassiopeia threatened Tibet, leaning closer to the house elf on each word, watching with satisfaction as Tibet moved backwards fearfully. "Tibet is sorry, Mistress," she said quietly.

Cassiopeia dismissed Tibet's apology with an irritable gesture - she could never really get mad at Tibet because, even though the woman would never admit it to anyone, she did have quite a soft spot for her house elf, probably due to Tibet having been with her ever since she had moved in with her then newly wedded husband, Arcturus, at eighteen.

"I think they will need petticoats underneath the dresses to make the skirts stick out more," Cassiopeia mused to herself before seemingly forgetting that she had ordered Tibet to be quiet and turning to the house elf, who was taken aback, "What do you think, Tibet?" she asked, glancing over the dresses one more time with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Tibet is thinking that Missus Euphemia shall be deciding that, Mistress, no?" Tibet asked, wondering why the mother of the bride was making all of the decisions when it was Mia's wedding, not Cassiopeia's. "No. The girl is being irresponsible and has ignored all of my letters about the wedding so I am taking charge or else the entire day will be a hopeless debacle," she told the house elf, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe Missus Euphemia doesn't want to get married," Tibet suggested quietly but Cassiopeia heard her and snapped her head up, glaring in the direction of the small house elf, "Don't be so ridiculous," she paused, seeming to mull something over in her mind, "She has no choice anyway - the family will be ruined if she runs off with that dratted Potter," Cassiopeia quickly added, an unfamiliar emotion flitting over her face.

Tibet was secretly enjoying actually being able to have a proper conversation with her Mistress and so continued speaking, "Mistress, if Tibet may say, is it a possibility that you is being jealous of Missus Euphemia?" she questioned, her ears flapping yet again in a curious manner.

Clang. Cassiopeia dropped the pins that she had been holding tightly in her hand as she had been adjusting the length of one of the dresses. Tibet quickly scurried to pick up the pins as Cassiopeia just completely froze, her stomach churning uncomfortably, "I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled.

Tibet took a deep breath, hoping that she wasn't crossing a line, "You was dating Henry Potter at Hogwarts, was you not? Missus Euphemia is being very much like you when you was younger but, because you no get your happy ending with Henry, you is not wanting Missus Euphemia to get one either because it is reminding you of how you missed your chance," the house elf explained in a very wise manner, stemming from her many years on the planet.

Cassiopeia's face grew stony and she was surprised that she didn't throw one of the dresses at Tibet for even daring to speak her opinion but she knew that her mood with her house elf was only because Tibet hadn't said what Cassiopeia had wanted to hear, nor had she just agreed with everything that Cassiopeia said.

"Tibet, you're dismissed for now. I require a moment alone, if you please," Cassiopeia ordered and Tibet nodded her head quickly and hurried away, snapping her fingers once she reached the doorway and disappearing with a loud CRACK. Once she was sure that the house elf had gone, Cassiopeia sunk onto the carpet and closed her eyes, swamped by memories.

London, 1932

It was the 15th of July, a few days after Hogwarts had broken up for summer, and Cassiopeia Black was walking through the bustling city, ducking in between the crowds of tourists flocking around the city's landmarks, cameras clutched in their hands as they chattered excitedly.

She sent looks of disdain in the directions of muggles but her disgusted expressions didn't seem to clear the path for Cassiopeia so she had to physically push her way through the hollering newspaper boys who were waving their papers in the summer breeze, causing them to yell in annoyance at her but she ignored them, her bad mood funnelling her actions.

There was a group of little girls with identical plaits who seemed to be on some sort of school trip, eating their picnic on the steps of the National History Museum. Without a second thought, Cassiopeia strode through the girls and trampled on someone's cardboard lunchbox but she didn't really care - they were just muggles, after all, and therefore irrelevant.

Cassiopeia wasn't just going for a stroll in the middle of London, for she would never really be seen dead amongst so many muggles - the eighteen year old was on the way to the hidden wizarding bridal shop, to get her wedding dress properly fitted for her wedding the week after next. The bridal shop was hidden behind St. Paul's Cathedral, behind a brick wall and so the woman had to walk through London.

Of course, she could've apparated, gone via Floo Powder, Portkey etc or at least taken one of the family carriages or elves but, due to an argument with her mother over the entire wedding debacle, Cassiopeia had decided to work off her anger by power-walking through the city, to the bridal boutique.

Shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight, Cassiopeia sighed. Heavily. It was immensely crazy how she was merely eighteen and yet she was getting married...she wasn't ready for the life of a married woman. It wasn't that she didn't like Arcturus, her second cousin and soon to be husband - she found him rather charming and he was definitely a gentleman.

No, the problem was that her loyalties and feelings still lay with someone else. A certain Henry Potter. The very Henry that had been the only boy that had seen her for who she truly was, the Henry that had made her really laugh, like not a fake laugh one forces out at parties, but a real one that bursts out of you, the Henry that had made her feel like herself and not the Cassiopeia that her family wanted her to be.

Until Everleigh Mason. Everleigh Mason, the pretty blonde Gryffindor who was much more kind-hearted than Cassiopeia, Everleigh Mason who wasn't a snide, bitchy Slytherin that was due to be married to her second cousin in the summer. Everleigh Mason...the girl who was everything that Cassiopeia wanted to be but couldn't.

Henry had been interested in that blonde slag instead of her and the way he had broken up with her had truly broken what heart that Cassiopeia Black had left, it had dismantled every humane emotion that she had managed to feel whilst dating Henry and crumbled them into dust until Cassiopeia was simply a shell of what she used to be like, bitter and angry all of the time.

Cassiopeia was so mixed up in her own thoughts about the wedding, Henry Potter and her upcoming wedding dress fitting that she wasn't actually watching where she was going and she bumped into someone, making them drop whatever they were holding and stumble over to one side as Cassiopeia finally looked up, snapping out of her reverie.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry! Are you alright?" a rather posh accent issued from the girl that Cassiopeia had walked right into and the voice sounded strangely familiar to Cassiopeia, making her furrow her eyebrows in confusion as she shielded her eyes against the sun again, trying to ascertain who the person was as they had now turned their back on her in order to pick up whatever Cassiopeia had knocked out of her arms.

"No, it was my fault....sorry," Cassiopeia mumbled distractedly as the figure straightened up and looked her in the eyes, about to say something more (probably another apology - after all, that was what Brits did best...continuous apologies) before the two girls both froze, their mouths dropping open at the same time.

"You..." Cassiopeia hissed and Everleigh Mason appeared equally as shocked, her hands tightening around the books that she was holding, "Hello, Cassiopeia," the blonde eventually said, deciding to be polite even though the entire situation was exceedingly awkward, especially because of the fact that Henry had broken up with Cassiopeia for Everleigh, which she had felt terrible for.

"How dare you even speak to me! What are you doing here?" Cassiopeia demanded, ignoring the weird looks the two were getting from arguing in the middle of the street, especially directed towards Cassiopeia as she was in billowing robes whereas Everleigh was at least dressed in Muggle clothing.

"I...live here?" Everleigh replied, baffled, "Just a few streets away, actually. I was just clearing out my room and found these books that need returning to the library. Is...that a problem?" she asked, confused  as to why Cassiopeia was acting so hostile and angry. Apart from the obvious, of course. Cassiopeia sighed irritably, "Of course you live here. You're always going to be where I am, aren't you?" she groaned, really not wanting to see the girl who literally made her feel like such a failure.

"Well, not necessarily," Everleigh said in a rather bright fashion, "I'm spending some of the summer down in Godric's Hollow with—" she cut herself off sensibly before shrugging awkwardly, "I won't be here anyways," she finished lamely but Cassiopeia already knew the answer - she was going to stay with Henry for a while, at his home, meeting his parents....doing everything that Cassiopeia had basically wanted.

"I hope you have fun," she managed to force out through gritted teeth and Everleigh, always the polite and civilised one (though not too sensible - surely she could see that, by now, Cassiopeia's patience was growing thin) continued the conversation, albeit awkwardly. "What are your plans for the summer, Cassiopeia?" Everleigh asked mildly.

Cassiopeia glowered at her, "You know that I'm getting married, don't play dumb," she practically growled but Everleigh's expression of shock clearly conveyed that she was not aware of this fact. "So soon? I thought the wedding was far into the future! You're getting married this summer??" she questioned, evidently surprised and taken aback that a girl her age was getting married. They were only eighteen, for Merlin's sake!

Cassiopeia gave the slight inclination of her head to confirm the girl's question, a weird urge to cry bubbling up inside of her, especially when she saw Everleigh's horrified expression, "Do you even want to get married, Cassie?" the blonde suddenly asked, trying to place her hand gently on Cassiopeia's arm but the latter brushed her off bitterly, "Of course I do," she huffed, though she wasn't so sure internally.

"What does your mother think about this? I know for a fact that my mother would completely disapprove!" Everleigh was obviously unaware of the fact that Cassiopeia was taking part in an arranged marriage - she didn't really have a choice in the matter. It was just the way that things were done in the Black family and Cassiopeia knew that she must fulfil her duty and uphold the tradition so as to not shame the family name but...why did she feel so uncertain about it?

"My mother was the one who organised the entire thing," Cassiopeia replied quietly and Everleigh's eyes widened as her mouth parted, "I'm terribly sorry to hear about that. Did you have a choice?" The question was rather personal and Cassiopeia felt her stomach drop for a second before she quickly answered, "Of course not. That's not how the Black family operates, Mason," she answered witheringly, acting like Everleigh was stupid.

Everleigh's face had dropped into one of deep concern, "If you don't want to, you don't have to," she said quietly, slipping her hand into Cassiopeia's and squeezing it, this time with Cassiopeia not pulling away. "You don't understand. I'm on the way to the bridal boutique now...it's all arranged already. It's too late. Besides, I wouldn't dream of disgracing the Black family name by jilting," she muttered, suddenly becoming very interested in her shoes.

This time, it was Everleigh that pulled away, "If you're prepared to go through with the wedding, do it. If you're not, don't. But, promise me one thing, Cassiopeia - I'm assuming that all daughters are placed into arranged marriages in your family?" she glanced inquiringly at the other girl and Cassiopeia nodded mutely, "Then you know how every female member of your family feels, right? You can't do anything to undo their unhappy marriages now - what's done is done. But, in the future, you can! Don't let someone else suffer through the whole forced marriage situation," Cassiopeia opened her mouth to protest but Everleigh was determined to continue.

"Let them choose...take your future daughter, for example, don't make her marry someone she doesn't want to. Respect her wishes. Let her marry whoever she wants. Then she won't end up feeling exactly how you do right now....lost, helpless and torn between doing what is right for your family and what is right for yourself." The advice was beautiful and Cassiopeia knew, deep down, that Everleigh's words were coming from a good place.

However, a strange sort of anger brewed up within her - how dare this bitch contradict her family's tradition! How dare Everleigh try and dictate what happened in Cassiopeia's life! "I know what's right for me, thank you very much. I don't need advice from muggle-loving, blood traitor slags like you who steal the only good things in people's lives! Stop trying to tell me what to do and sort your own life out," she hissed at Everleigh.

Everleigh's lips thinned and her eyes narrowed, "My own life is perfectly fine, thank you. I have a boyfriend that loves me and I'm sure we'll get married one day, but when we want to - not when our parents tell us to. I'm a genuinely nice person, who helps out others even when they don't deserve it. I'm not a blood traitor slag - I'm just a better person than you, Cassie, who doesn't judge people on their blood status and that's why Henry chose me and not you. I felt terrible about it at first but now, I honestly don't care. You've chosen your path and I've chosen mine. I won't bother helping next time. Goodbye."

And Everleigh Mason stormed off, into the crowds of Londoners. Cassiopeia watched her go for a long moment, even once the blonde had disappeared from her eyesight and she felt herself sag against the wall, closing her eyes in despair. When had her life come to this?

Cassiopeia opened her eyes, startled to find that there were tears building up behind her eyelids, which she quickly rubbed away as she stood up, her legs wobbling slightly. She observed the dresses for her daughter's wedding....her daughter's wedding. Tibet was right - Cassiopeia knew, deep down, that Mia didn't want to get married.

Why else would she ignore all her mother's letters? Why else would she look so miserable whenever she was with Orion? Cassiopeia had caused that, simply because she was equivocally jealous that Euphemia had had the courage to make half blood friends and date blood traitors, a blood traitor that, of course, had to be the son of Henry Potter. Typical.

Cassiopeia had been jealous...she had been jealous of her own daughter. How ridiculous was that? She hadn't gotten her happy ending with Henry so she had felt that Mia didn't deserve one either, that Euphemia had to endure the same troubles that she herself had been put through when she was younger and in her daughter's position.

Everleigh Potter, then Mason, had made her promise that she would never inflict that same weight upon her own child and Cassiopeia had done just that - she had forced a wedding upon her fifteen year old daughter that caused Mia unbelievable misery. What was wrong with her? Any last ounce of goodness within her had evidently dried up on that fateful day on the Quidditch Pitch in 1932, when Henry Potter had looked at her straight in the face and said, "We're over," before helping Everleigh instead of her.

And yet, Everleigh had given her an opportunity to escape the wedding to Arcturus, she had offered Cassiopeia a lifeline and Cassiopeia had ripped it in half, all because of her stupid pride and the fact that she didn't want to accept help from the air-headed blonde chick that had stolen her boyfriend. Cassiopeia had thrown away her chance to be free and, instead of giving Euphemia that same chance, she had thrown her daughter in an arranged marriage with her cousin.

It was too late now, it was too late to take back the engagement or the wedding preparations or the dresses that had been ordered and were glaring at Cassiopeia from across the room, making her heart hurt. All that Cassiopeia could do now was hope that her daughter wouldn't make the same mistakes that she did and let the one good thing in her life go...because, if Mia didn't think fast, she would end up in the same position as Cassiopeia herself.

Time was ticking....would Euphemia save herself from the horrid arranged wedding trap that Cassiopeia had fallen into or would she be a better person than her mother and find a way out of this dreaded wedding?

Spotted at Black Manor: Cassiopeia Black actually feeling some humane emotions for once and not acting like a crazed psychopath. Why is it that, whenever Meg creates a villain, she has to give it a backstory as to why they act so cruelly? Well, that's a secret she'll never tell :)

Do you think Mia will make the right decision?

You know you love me...

Xoxo, Gossip Girl.