Chapter 1: The Worst Dance

Rain drizzled silver and grey around the grand Malfoy estate, warm weather for the dreary Christmas season. The stone of the manor rose up through the mist, its gates thrown open for the wizards and witches who glided through after appearing with a pop just outside. Many of them looked up at the clouds with dislike but they were all dry as they approached the front door and entered into the lavishly decorated front hallway; the Malfoys had spent a year preparing for the winter wedding and a little rain repelling charm was trivial compared to the rest of it.

The caster of that charm stood just out of sight of the front walk, her mirror set beside the grand front window and her eyes fixed on the reflection of her wand as she spun it between her hands. After a few moments of thought, ice blue eyes creased with concentration, she stopped fidgeting and pointed the wand at herself and the lace of her robes.

"Colorvaria."

Adria Malfoy, second child of the Malfoy family and fifth year at Hogwarts, watched critically as a wave of blue magic swept over her dress robes and then fizzled out again. Adria tapped the mirror with her wand, trying to decide if the new tepid pea green was an improvement on the dull grey her new sister-in-law had chosen. Green was the Slytherin color, after all… but the shade…

"Adria? You in there?"

The girl gave the door a quick look and waved her wand again, hurriedly whispering the spell as her name was called again.

"Come in." She glanced at the mirror, finding her pale yellow hair dulled yet again by the hideous storm cloud of a dress. A movement behind her drew her eyes to the young man slipping through the door to frown at her. "Lucius?"

He nodded in reply, knowing his baby sister too well not to be suspicious. "Almost everyone is seated: you should be downstairs by now." Adria ignored him, pretending to be adjusting some stray hair. Lucius looked his sister over more carefully, continuing drily. "With a grey pair of shoes, Ria.."

"Merlin's-" Why did he always feel the need to shorten Adria? It made her feel five years old again. "Ah. I'll fix them."

She turned slowly, trying to imitate his careless way of moving. Instead she fumbled her wand and her brother drew his instead.

"Colorvaria fixum." He muttered. He met Adria's scowl and shook his head. "Don't pretend you weren't going to change it again."

"I was trying to change the dress." She tossed her head and then hurriedly threw up a shield charm as he raised his wand again. "Was! And I changed it back."

"Am I going to have to duel you on this?" He said severely. "Because I will. And you know I always win, Ria."

"I could win."

"Maybe. If you ever went with anything more serious than a hair-thickening charm." With a flick of his wand, her shield disappeared and he walked up to his sister with a small smile. "But as I'm getting married in less then ten minutes, let's save the duel for another time."

Adria stepped forward, unusually hesitant as she wrapped her arms around him in a playful hug. "As though you'll have time."

"Adria." Lucius scoffed, hugging her back and then turning to leave, pulling his sister along with one arm around her shoulders. "Now come on, little sister. You're going to make me late."

Adria went along meekly, counting down the minutes until she could throw her hideous dress under her bed and be rid of it forever..

…

.The wedding was about as spectacular as a wizarding wedding could be and even Adria had to admit that with all the bridesmaids standing in a row the dull grey dresses could not detract from the glittering picture the Malfoys and Blacks had created. Of course, some of the guests had also made questionable fashion choices but overall the Malfoys had made a good impression. Though maybe it was all in Adria's head; she wanted to be proud of her brother. She couldn't help but love being a Malfoy.

There were quite a few of her schoolmates invited of course. Probably half of Slytherin had a relative present, but it was Christmas holiday and she wasn't sure which of them had agreed to come with their parents to the wedding of one of their old prefects. She knew Emma hadn't-they had plans to meet up after to complain about Adria's new sister-in-law. But Adria was pretty sure Regulus and the Wilkes and maybe Evelyn Rosier had been planning to come. As she sat between Bellatrix and Andromeda, the younger Malfoy picked at the magnificent and possibly illegally imported food and searched for a sight of anyone her own age.

But when the tables and chairs were cleared away for dancing and drinks and whatever magical entertainment the Blacks had come up with, Adria hadn't managed to find anyone her own age. She hovered for a while beside her mother but the comments about who might be marrying next in the Malfoy family gave her the final push she needed to slip away. Adria watched from the outskirts, making note of who her family was talking to and who she would want to impress some day. It was easier then wondering whose name was now being paired with hers in the gossip she'd just walked away from. Easier than thinking about it, to be more accurate-she knew exactly which Black their families had always meant to match her with.

"Looking for Reggie?"

Adria turned to the smirking Gryffindor; Sirius was just the same as always, just as tall and handsome in dress robes as in a school uniform. The cheeky grin she was used to had faded a little, probably from being forced to spend time with so many former Slytherins, possibly from the family reaction to the small bits of red lining the edges of his robes. Adria had to doubt Mrs. Black's reaction had been as kind as Lucius' to her green slippers.

"Well?" Sirius called her back. She had been wondering if he'd bought robes with red or enchanted them and what enchantment he might have used that Mrs. Black hadn't- "Adria."

"Hm. Yes, where is he?" Adria smiled her sweetest up at him and was rewarded with his surprise. But the surprise faded when his eyes glanced behind her at all the people watching.

"With my parents, of course. Like a good little boy." Sirius wrinkled his nose but there was affection in his half smile as he lifted a hand and waved his brother over. "Don't tell me you're bored already?"

"Why are you even here, Sirius?" Adria glanced back to check on Reg's progress across the room. "You can't possibly be having any fun yourself." She commented as Regulus grew close.

"Oh, no: it's very exciting." Sirius' grinned again. This grin was a bit more real and quite a bit more smug. "How many Death Eaters do you think are within earshot, Malfoy? James will want to know."

"Mother told you not to mention them." Regulus hissed, jutting in suddenly to grab his brother's arm. His normally tight expression was offended and grow more so as Sirius refused to walk away with him.

"Why not?" Sirius laughed, brushing his smaller brother away with a shrug. "Adria already knows."

"And she doesn't want to hear all your conspiracy theories." Reg shot back. "Please, Sirius. Not in front of everyone."

Adria turned away from their silent argument, curious if anyone else was listening. Sure enough, several wizards nearby were standing a bit too silent, a bit too stiff. She wondered how many of them really were Death Eaters… but then the war didn't have much to do with her. Not yet.

Sirius was rolling his eyes as Adria looked back at him. "Slytherins." He muttered under his breath but he slipped away without another comment. He obviously meant to slip out a side door but Mrs. Black swept in like a dementor to catch him. Adria watched from the corner of her eye as the older woman began to scold him in hushed tones, gesturing toward Sirius' robes' red embellishments. Nothing surprising there and Sirius definitely deserved it, though she had to fight to keep a little pity from her face-how could anyone treat their family that way?

"I tried to warn him about that too." Regulus commented, drawing her back..

Adria nodded and took a moment to consider the younger Black. He was a year behind her and Sirius and she'd never felt a need to get to know him, but any Slytherin was worth a friendly tone and Regulus was known to be quite smart for a fourth year. And besides, there was no one else to talk to.

"I don't think he listens to anyone." She commiserated. "Not even his stuck up friends… You should see him in class."

Reg laughed. "You should see him at home. He has more Gryffindor banners then all of Hogwarts."

Adria let a bit of sympathy show and the two fell quiet, having nothing much else to talk about. Regulus twisted nervously at the hem of his dark green dress robes and Adria took one last glance around for another friend to talk to. There wasn't much to talk about outside of school and there was nowhere to escape to that they might find butterbeer or something stronger-nowhere hidden enough to escape the ire of Mrs. Black or Adria's own mother at least. Adria gave up on the last hope she had of an interesting evening. Tucking a strand of white blonde hair back into place behind her ear, she held out a hand to Regulus.

"Want to dance?"

Reg began to nod and reach for her hand when another voice cut in again.

"Of course!" This voice came through gritted teeth from Adria's other side and before she or Reg could respond, Sirius had grabbed her hand and was pulling her through the crowd.

"Sirius, I don't-"

"Come on, let's just dance and get it over with," Sirius snapped.

Adria pulled back for a moment, feeling Sirius' large hand adjusting its grip on hers as she hesitated. She searched for a moment for Reg-hoping he would intercede again with his ridiculous brother-but she found Regulus standing back where she'd left him, Mrs. Black hissing fervently into her younger son's ear. No help was coming.

She turned back and remembered all the rich and powerful eyes watching. She gave Sirius a smile.

"Ready to dance?" He asked, still sounding like he wanted to choke on his own words. He was looking behind her, looking for a sign of approval from someone and hating every moment. It wasn't like him. Not the side of him she'd seen.

"Alright."

…

Regulus kept his spine straight and his hands folded behind his back, though his mother's face made him want to hunch down and refuse to look at anything but the floor. He could hide what he felt. He could be a good son.

"That boy." Mrs. Black muttered. "But the Malfoys are a good family. Adria's a good girl, good blood…." Regulus watched as Sirius led Adria gracefully through a spin. Sirius looked so unhappy. "...extinguish that Gryffindor nonsense and…." Reg nodded. What was wrong with Sirius that he couldn't just be a good son? A good brother? "...bring him back into proper society." The Blacks got everything they could want. Regulus shifted slightly to watch through the crowd as Adria smiled and made some comment and Sirius relaxed enough to say something, probably something rude. "...knock some sense into his head before he…"

Reg looked up as his mother's voice faltered and found her anger had trailed off and left a trace of fear on her face.

"I'll talk to him again, mother." He promised. He placed a comforting hand on his mother's trembling arm. "And I'm sure Adria will help."

His mother nodded, regaining her haughty composure. "You're a good boy, Regulus."

"Thank you, mother."

He looked back to the dance floor in time to catch Adria's eyes on his, her face still reluctant, still hoping for Reg to come rescue her. He smiled slightly and shrugged. Adria turned back to Sirius and they slipped seamlessly into a second dance.

None of them saw the glances and none of them heard what the whispers were saying, but they knew. The pureblood circles weren't difficult to predict, not these days.

They were counting the days til the next Malfoy and Black wedding.