✧RED FLAGS✧

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***

Her mother lied.

As claimed that first night, Rhea had blindly waited for her mother's promise into fixing the situation. But clearly, it had been overrun by a compromise, to truly discover if there was anything between them.

It seemed they only heard Dolohov's voice, that 'she's utterly perfect,' and they ate that up. Rhea blamed herself, that the subtle hints hadn't been enough. And while she attempted to put on a good show or make the reasonable attempt...Each event had slowly trickled down her sanity.

She agreed to whichever dress her mother wanted.

Played the dutiful wife to be for Dolohov, and stood as the laughing stock to the rest of their community.

Weeks had passed since their trial run, and with the time moving forward. Her parents thought it best to start talking the possibility of a proposal date, which left Rabastan's rumor of a possible year to multiple of a courtship to have been a complete and utter lie.

The only person who seemed to see her through her pain was Sirius, who watched from a distance every time she was brought to the dance floor. Course she snuck in a dance here and there with him and Regulus when she had the chance, as well as her brothers and father—To keep up appearances on that end.

"I'd marry you in a heartbeat if I were older, you know that." Sirius would say, and it would elect the first genuine smile of the night. It was cruel to even think about that possibility. But at least he was honest, at least it came from the heart and would undoubtedly be protective.

But unfortunately for her, she had been carted for even stepping near Sirius Black—From both her brothers and her parents.

Seeing as though he was a Gryffindor and all, but Ravenclaw was considered the neutral ground. It never made sense to her, how was it that this was the safety net she needed.

Had she been in Slytherin—All of this wouldn't have been an issue, perhaps even then her parents would love her.

Sirius had snuck a book into her grasp one evening, a small one—Not much heavier than a paperweight. It had been a delightful gift, especially when she realized she could speak to himself without the wait of an owl.

It seemed they both needed a helping hand, and of course, Sirius was the first to mention that if she ever wanted to escape the word of the purebloods—There was a home at the Potters waiting for her.

However strange that sounded, she thanked Sirius—But it wasn't worth the agrimation. Though the temptation of escaping to Andy was another discussion. The former Black daughter turned Mrs.Tonks had been the talk of the decade it seems.

But it had only happened within the last few years.

Rhea had vented her heart out to Sirius Orion Black as best she could, and his writing company paired with her purchased textbooks had been the light she needed to cope.

Especially when the dates were starting to appear closer to one another, and it was as if Dolohov had moved in with the amount of time he spent at the Lestrange manor.

She was simply thankful he wasn't allowed upstairs, that it was still considered her safe haven. The only time she truly ventured out of the confinements to social events.

Where and Sirius made it a habit to speak before it.

However Rhea's patience was being tested this very night. She didn't doubt that Antonio favored his liquor, and it hadn't been the first time she had to warn him that perhaps a switch of drinks would be best. He waved her off or snarled in her direction, making it apparent that the intake of fire whiskey was breaking down his character.

His loss of control on his tongue would make for horrible conversation, all in the presence of her! Whether it was talk of Allison or Isabella—The two mistresses that have been known to fool around with just him or all combined...

In hearing that, Rhea had lost all possible respect for the man standing beside her. And it was in that moment that she considered running off and away.

After excusing herself, she hurried off towards the restroom, as it was her prime method of escape that she used accounted three times one night as of late.

Though cruel enough, Sirius had followed shortly after. "He says the most vial of things Siri, how could I live with him! How could they make me do such a thing! Just to stand there as—as his—"
"It's alright....Shshhh." He soothed her, he shared his own glass of whiskey he smuggled into the party and let her down the whole flask.

"Ease, with ease. You'll be spitting it up later." He ushered, and she scoffed out a laugh.
"Oh, after hearing his bedroom activities with his two gals. Yes, I most certainly will!" She explained and Sirius realized what the contents of the conversation had been with that near notion.

While he was considered the avid player in Hogwarts, he still knew the limits and that certainly took them too far. Rhea wasn't one to make matters bigger than they already are, but to hear that she spoke to her mother and both her brother over her situation.

Clearly, something else was happening in the Lestrange home than they first thought.

"They want to get rid of me, it's easy enough to see."
"No, you can't think like that."
"How else am I meant to take it? I was cornered the first day of Holiday, and now here I am...Weeks away from an engagement party!" Rhea needed to get back out into the party, it was bad enough she had taken too long to process this discovery.

But she should've know, that the vial man couldn't get anything more out of a relationship than sex. And even then he had to pay for the enjoyment.

She already had plotted ways of managing to avoid him in the future, after the ceremony and such was done. But the idea of living in with the mistresses was another temptation on her part.

Perhaps she could kill them—Send herself to Azkaban and revel in the company of Dementors, anything would be better than this sufferage.

In returning back to the room with a slightly tipsy mind and a numbed heart, she managed to say hello to her brother—Who was surprised to see her. "Where did you go off to?"

"Powder my nose." She replied, taking the offered glass of wine from the circling waiters and took a hefty sip as she scanned the crowd.

"He's off by the pillar."
"I'm not ready to go back there just yet." Rabastan sighed, not seeing a reason for his sister acting difficult. Yet when he had taken another look, he caught sight of the slight tinge in her eyes.

It wasn't a myth that he heard her crying more than a few times, but he paired it with not being able to go to that blasted school she wanted to. His adolescent mind didn't capture the fact that his sister was miserable for completely other reasons than her own wants.

As luck would have it, her brother and date had made their rounds back into a circle. Ending in Dolohov managing to bring her in for a dance, a rather big show for her brother to see—And yet when they managed a decent distance away, his cold words popped into her mind.

"Where did you go off to?" He asked, just as her brother had.

"The restroom, I've drunk a bit too much wine this evening." She knew she had gone over her limit of one and a half. Much more if she counted the fire-whiskey as well, but she was no stranger to the drink.

"It's rather funny...Because I happened to see Sirius walkout, just a few moments after you." He claimed, and his suspicion hadn't been clear as Rhea had been the mistress of holding her own tongue. For better or for worst.

"I don't recall passing by him." She said, her eyes going to scan the crowd but he gripped her firmly to keep her attention downright on him. The look in his eyes spoke of damnation, and if it wasn't for the crowd surrounding them, she figured that it would've ended much more than a stronghold on her waist.

As the song had ended, Antonio had weaved his way through the crowd, making the comment of taking a stroll out on the patio—However, when they managed in a side study...Rhea had instantly found herself in a panic.

Where was Sirius when she needed him!

"Were you with Black?" Rhea had started at him emotionlessly, just as before. "Answer me!"
"No. I was not. Why would I bother the boy?" She claimed, and while it aided her case in calling him a boy, it still didn't help her entirely.

He took the striving steps forward with his mask entirely off now, his playful and polite character that spoke of a handsome gentleman had been completely stripped.

"You're lying."
"I wish I was. Considering you've been boasting about your mistresses for the past hour or so." She claimed without missing a beat, and while it caught him by surprise, it hadn't any effect on his scowl.

Not until he laughed.

"You have no business to worry about them."
"Oh, I'm not worried. Just saddened." The back of his hand had gone up to caress her cheek, quiet gently—Minding the rings of course.

"Why are you saddened?" He said, clear wonder in his face now. But unfortunately, her control over her tongue had faulted.
"That you cannot seem to get it anywhere else other than in the form of payment." She claimed, a sickly grin managing to spread across her face as she caught just how badly her words had dug deep into him.

What she couldn't have been prepared for, was the amount of force his hand had caused when it collided with her cheek. In an effort to catch herself, both hands had caught onto the rug, her knees pressing against the fabric of the dress—Or would have, had it not been for Antonio's grip on both of her ankles to pull her down.

"You're mine...Rhea. The sooner you come to accept it, the easier this wil—"
"I'm not your anything." She spat, disgust written all over her face. But that only caused another massive struggle as she tried to stop him from lifting her skirts anymore.

Yet his fun was over when her elected nails managed to scratch up his skin, in a not so friendly way at that. "I'm not one of your whores who'll lie back and sit pretty."
"You will be soon, and if not..." He leaned forward and whispered one of the most cruelest possibilities known to their world.

Vivian hadn't died in childbirth, Antonin had killed her himself.

With the reveal coming as quite a shock, he was managed to lift up her skirts to the point of visibility seeing her panties. And he cooed in seeing how wonderful they truly were.

After fondling her slit for a moment, he yanked at the fabric and allowed them to tear apart from her body. Rhea could hardly breathe when she felt his hand return to her bareness, but he hadn't done much more.

"Go home, Rhea. You're drunk." He slurred, but it had been clear as day to see him stuff her panties into his pocket—But only after a quick sniff to the cloth.

Rhea had sat there in the darkened room, completely too frightened to move. But once her wits had returned, she rose up to her feet. Feeling bare underneath her dress touching her bare skin, she hurried through the manor in return to the fireplace she spotted earlier.

She didn't hesitate to use the floo, and once she had managed to appear in her own manor—She rushed up to her room, having tripped on the stairs had been the least of her issue.

Not when her face burned and her lip tasted of blood.

It wasn't hard to feel the damage he had caused, but her method of scrubbing until she felt clean enough had lasted nearly an hour. But after ten minutes in the tub, she couldn't escape the feeling of his finger penitr—

Upon refilling the tub at a temperature that could've been considered boiling, she submerged herself. Opening her eyes underneath the filtered lens.
No, her parents surely wouldn't believe her if she told them.

There was no use, he was the master at the game and Rhea was no more than an naive young witch.

Her mind searched for an answer while her lungs burned for air. She wished she could simply accept this fate, but her striving to try and attempt to become a healer burned much more than her hatred for that man.

The second she reemerged, her lungs had been graced with a sharp inhale, but the only reason that Rhea hadn't done what she wanted to...Was because drowning was one of the easiest reversals to overcome.
To drag that water out of her overfilled lungs, to restart her heart.

She needed to be more creative than that.

Escape wouldn't come that easily, but as she dried herself and managed to find the comfortable silence underneath the blanket. She reached for the small leather booklet—Struggling to write what had happened as she was still shaken up.

-Sirius, I need help. I need to get out of this.

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Date Posted: 04-27-2021

Time: 10:07

Words: 2303