"I'm not going to the party." Vanessa Raye Lavigne plopped down onto her queen sized bed and gave her mother a blank, and yet somehow still infuriating look. "I have no interest in associating with muggle-haters and Voldemort suck-ups today. I don't have the patience."
"There will be plenty of well established teenagers that you will do well to make friends with," Her mother replied, opting to ignore Vanessa's comment. Vanessa knew that she was getting on her mother's nerves already, though, because Fiona was already rigid and speaking in a clipped tone. She always did that when refraining herself from using her wand to shoot out a nasty curse or scream like a maniac. "You don't have a choice in the matter."
"And what if I just sit here on my bed and refuse to go?" Vanessa asked sweetly, throwing herself back onto the luxurious pillows with a contented sigh. "What are you going to do then, mother?"
"Your father will drag you there kicking and screaming, if you'd like."
Vanessa mock gasped and threw her hand over her heart. "But wouldn't I embarrass the family?" She asked, not shocked at all but acting like it. "Wouldn't that show how you don't have any control whatsoever over your silly little fifteen year old daughter?"
"I can control you however and whenever I choose to, Vanessa. Don't test me."
"Test, test, test," She muttered under her breath. "Testing, one two three….."
A bright blue light shot out from seemingly nowhere, and Vanessa ducked with ease, hitting the ground. She smacked her elbow on the hardwood floor but didn't let that on. They would say it was her fault in the first place, for sassing her parents when she should be giving them the utmost respect. Instead she tutted and chuckled at her brother. "Juvenile, Randy. Completely juvenile. Find something that'll surprise me, please. This same old stuff is boring."
Her brother stepped into the room with a scowl. "Want me to take care of her for you, mother?"
"Yes, please take care of me, then," Vanessa said in a baby-ish voice. "Because no one can handle me on their own." She flashed a nasty smile. "I'm too much for you guys."
"Yes, do shut her up by whatever means you deem necessary. I need to go and prepare myself for the party, I do not have time for such childish games. And you are going, Vanessa. Maybe then you can see what a proper family acts like."
"Don't go overboard with the blush!" Vanessa called helpfully after her. "Last time you looked like you got a horrible sunburn-"
A hand shoved her and Vanessa was roughly knocked to the floor. She landed on her butt. Looking up, she saw her eighteen-year-old brother Randy glaring down at her, hatred radiating from his cold eyes. She was a bit scared by this point, because when her brother was angry there was no telling what he might do. When he was fourteen and she was nine, he had once locked her in a closet for two days straight because she'd yelled at him for hitting her little sister, who at the time had still been sweet and innocent.
Now that she'd grown up, Gwen hated Vanessa every bit as much as the rest.
"You can never learn to shut your mouth, can you?" He hissed. "I should teach you how."
"Maybe you shouldn't," Vanessa replied, flicking back her long, curly red hair so it cascaded down her shoulders. "Maybe you shut you overly large mouth and leave."
Vanessa thought he was going to slap or curse her, and braced herself, but all Randy did was silently pick up a torn, old, ripped picture that she prized over anything. It was of her and her three best friends at her old school in America, Salem's Witch Academy. She had been staring at it wistfully before her mother had so rudely slammed open her door a few minutes prior, and hadn't had time to do anything to hide it except to sit on it on the bed…but now it was exposed, and Vanessa had a pretty good idea of what her brother was threatening.
"It would be a pity for the picture to be burned to a crisp," He said tracing the edges of it with his wand, so they instantly ignited and turned a dark shade of ash, the corners curling in. Vanessa didn't want to give in, but that picture was the only thing that reminded her of better, happy days, where she laughed and smiled with people who genuinely cared about her. TO have it destroyed would be unimaginable…she didn't have anything else to remember her long gone friends' by. She could see her own face smudging, and just as Randy was getting to Aishlee's face, Vanessa stopped him. "Fine, I'll go to the party," She snapped, making a grab for the picture.
Randy held it out of reach. "Do I have your promise?" He asked, staring at her unwaveringly. Unnerving her.
She rolled her eyes instead of flipping out like she really wanted to, yearning to have the photo safely back in her hands again. "Yes, you have my promise, you egotistical pig."
"I'll be back if you back out of it," He said in a threatening voice. "And I'll do something even worse than this." He tapped the photo mysteriously with his wand, and then gave her the picture back. "Have a nice day, baby sister."
And with a slam of the door, he was gone. Once his footsteps sounded on the stairs, Vanessa quickly turned the photo over, and saw that Randy had magically smudged al the edges of the photo to look like little black, dying skulls, which reminded her eerily of the dark mark. Vanessa shivered, and yet couldn't take her eyes off of it. She hated the dark mark. She hated Voldemort. She hated him more than she hated the existence of her miserable family, and that was saying a lot. She hated him so much she would kill him if she had the chance. And now there was his mark, sitting on her most prized possession? That was irony, for you.
She couldn't take it anymore and took out her school trunk. Digging through things and placing the photo at the very bottom for safekeeping, Vanessa could feel tears welling at the backs of her eyes. He was so cruel. She started to shut the lock, and then realized that it was the first place Randy would look if she ever did anything he didn't like again, which was a sure thing. Vanessa couldn't remember the last time she had done something right in her family's eyes. Without hesitation, Vanessa opened a random droor on her huge, elegant dresser and shoved it up. She then placed the photo underneath the droor, to that when she shut it, the droor landed on top of the picture and the small, almost nonexistent place that accommodated it.
Vanessa then went to her mirror and began making herself look appropriate for the party at the Malfoy manchion. She dressed up in her uncomfortable, scratchy dress robes, which was what was expected to be worn, and then attached her favorite earrings to her ears for defiance. She was sure she would be asked ---or more likely demanded--- to take them off at some point in time, but until then Vanessa would wear them proudly. They were the earrings that her muggleborn best friend had given to her for Christmas last year. Somehow she had had them charmed to read, I tiny, sparkly letters, "Purebloods are cool, but muggleborns rule the school."
Vanessa knew very well that she herself was a pureblood, but she detested that fact---besides, the earrings would cause a dispute at the party, or most likely on the way there. Drama. Ah, there was a lot of it in Vanessa's life, mostly caused by she herself. But she didn't want her family getting their hopes up that she was going to be a good little girl and listen to their every whim, now did she?
----------------------------
"So, Vanessa. Nice party, huh?"
"No, not especially," Vanessa replied sardonically, her expression blank as she caught the sight of Lucius Malfoy's contemptuous face in her peripheral vision. She stayed plastered against her quaint little spot on the wall, inwardly willing him to go away. "I find it quite nauseating, to be honest. I'd rather be walking the streets in this horrible weather than be here right now."
He gave her an odd look. Malfoy had obviously not yet realized –or heard about- how she was "a filthy blood traitor and a disgrace to her family." She wished he had so he would just leave her the hell alone. "You're practically the only girl I haven't danced with," Malfoy said, leaning against the wall next to her. Vanessa pointedly ignored him and glanced at the couples elegantly dancing an old fashioned waltz on the dance floor. If she hadn't personally known how repulsive and disgusting they all really were, if she were an outsider, she would've guessed this to be a quaint little party and not a gathering of the followers of Voldemort and soon-to-be Death Eaters, like Lucius Malfoy. "We should try the waltz. You haven't done anything but stand here by yourself the whole time. You haven't said a word to me, which is odd because most girls here would die to dance with someone like me. But you aren't interested."
Vanessa's drink turned sour in her mouth, but she managed to at least choke down the last sip down without gagging. The thought of any girl willingly letting him touch her was nauseating. "Yes, and let's keep it that way, Malfoy."
"Your feisty. I like that. You should dance with me."
Vanessa wondered who on earth said feisty anymore. "No, Malfoy, dancing with you is something I would never do, even if you were the last male left on this godforsaken planet," Vanessa said calmly, taking a light sip of her un-alcoholic drink. Normally she wouldn't mind having some wine, but if someone had spiked the drink with anything else she might get drunk, and she was an awful drunk…..certain people might take advantage of her. "So please do me a favor and get your disgustingly pointed face away from me before I puke," She admonished, once again, calmly.
"You don't know what your missing," He said unconvincingly, looking at her in a way that made Vanessa want to punch him right in his pointy nose, and then kick him in the shins. And then slap him until he was unconcious and repeat the whole thing over again until someone stupefied her unconcious. "You're not going to find anyone better than me."
"Not here, probably." Vanessa paused to look idly around the room. "But anywhere else in this world, I could. Even a hobo living in a cardboard box would probably smell -and look- better than you." She quirked an eyebrow and watched amusedly as his face grew angry. "Now that I've made my point clear, would you please leave? That stench is really getting to me."
He advanced on her, fists clenched, and even though Vanessa wanted very badly to back away and get the smell of his horrid, drunken breath out of her nose, she stood her ground. She would not be intimidated by this sorry excuse of a boy. "If you say the wrong things to the wrong people, Lavigne, you might get into trouble with certain others, if you know what I mean."
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. It wasn't like he had to be all mysterious with a whole group of people who were most likely all Death Eaters gathered around him. "Could you get any more innuendoes in there, Malfoy? And if you'll excuse me, I'm going over there." He opened his mouth to say something else, but she sighed angrily and finally snapped, the irritating calm façade finally melting away. He was just so goddamn annoying and stupid and idiotic all at the same time that it was bugging her to no end. "And would you just shut it, you blabbering idiot! You're getting on my last nerve!"
He grabbed her arm painfully and tried to twist it behind her back –unfourtunately, no one had seen this, and even if they had they wouldn't have cared. They all hated her anyway- but Vanessa was too quick for him. Without a second's hesitation, she sharply tipped her drink so that it spilled all over his face and new robes. She yanked her arm away and shoved him back with both palms, hard. "Does that clarify things?" She asked sharply.
He glared at her, and then made a lunge to slap or punch her or whatever, and he probably would have landed it if a random boy hadn't suddenly stepped in front of her and warded him off.
"Picking fights with girls again, are you? How pathetic," The boy spat. Vanessa looked up at him, completely and utterly dumbfounded. Why would someone in this sort of group be sticking up for her, of all people? Unless they wanted something. Unless they were a conniving little asshole…..
"That wench spilt juice all over me, Black. And this isn't your buisness," Malfoy snapped back. "Now get out of the way."
"No, I don't think I will."
"Well I think you should, before I start a fight and you lose so badly you won't ever be able to show your filthy face around here again."
"Not like I'd actually want to-"
"Thank you very much, whoever you are," Vanessa cut in curtly, annoyed and wanting nothing more than to go home, lock herself up in her room, and fall fast asleep. "Thank you for helping me and stopping Malfoy from doing whatever "horrible" thing he was going to do to me, but I can fight my own battles. And I'll solve this one by just leaving right now." She sneered at Malfoy, one to rival his own. The other boy she just ignored, still unsure of what to think about him. "Hope you can get the stains out of that. Best wishes with it."
She then turned around with dignity, threw her long hair back, and strode by herself to the other side of the house, looking for maybe a stairwell that would lead upstairs to an abandoned room, where she could lock herself up for the remainder of the party.
There was some arguing and as she walked, it faded off into the distance. Silence. Blessed silence….. And a voice calling after her. How wonderful. "Hey…hey, wait up!"
Vanessa stopped for a split second to clench her teeth and prepare herself for another battle, and then turned around, glaring. Hey, better to tell him off now than later. She might as well get it over with. "What do you want?" She snapped, at her wits end.
"I wanted to know if you are allright," The boy said. He didn't really look that bad. In fact, she wasn't getting the "I'm-a-pureblood-so-I'm-better-than-you-and-everyone-else-so-bow-down-to-me" vibe from him. But whatever, she had learned that ninety percent of the time, looks were deceiving. "Malfoy is a real arse, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd tried to kill you within plain sight of everyone else," He finished.
"Well, that's really great. He didn't, and so there's no need to come over here and talk to me. Don't you have better things to do? Like kissing up to Voldemort?"
The kid's gray eyes grew stormy and he snorted, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. It seemed as if the air had suddenly become thick and laced with tension, as before it had only been hatred radiating off Vanessa and some concern off him. "As if I would do anything that stupid. I'm not like that, though I can't say as much for the rest of my family." He glared a hole through the side of Vanessa's head. "A devious lot, they are."
"Mine too," Vanessa said slowly. She narrowed her eyes and studied him; there was just something about this boy that intrigued her. "And you would be….."
"Sirius," He said, extending his hand. "Sirius Black."
And it was then that it dawned on her. Vanessa's sullen face broke out into a wide grin that she just couldn't conceal. She laughed loudly at her own stupidity and slapped herself on the forehead, which seemed to confuse him to no end because all Sirius did was stare at her like she was a madwoman.
"Um…" He said awkwardly. "Why…why are you doing that?"
"So that's why you aren't like the rest of them!" She exclaimed, taking his hand in her own and shaking it vigorously. "I've heard about you, Sirius. I've heard loads of great things about you!"
"Great things," He said slowly, eyeing her as if she were even more out of her mind than before. He backed away a few steps but Vanessa didn't mind. She was finally meeting the infamous Sirius Black, the only person in the entire world who's family situation was even remotely close to hers. And she probably did sound quite crazy at the moment, but Vanessa was beyond caring about that. "About me? From your family? Who are they?" He asked.
"The Lavigne's!"
He looked around like the earth was going to fall. "The only thing the pureblood's say about me, around here, is that I'm a filthy blood traitor and a disgrace to my family."
"Exactly!"
"W-what?"
"Don't you see? I'm just like you! I'm Vanessa Lavigne, you probably haven't heard much about me because we've only just moved here, but I'm not like the rest of my-"
His seemed to be calculating this while she talked, but then eyes lit up and Sirius smiled widely. "You're Vanessa Lavigne?"
"In the flesh," She said happily, opening her arms to demonstrate. "And I'm so glad to finally meet you! Of all the things I've heard about you! It's bloody amazing! About how you ran away once when you were fourteen and they couldn't find you for two months, about how you don't care how much your parents punish you when you do the wrong thing, and how you play tricks on your brother Regulus even though he always whines to your mother-"
"It's really not that great," He said, staring at his feet. "I bet you do stuff like that all the time."
"Well, yes," She said, titling her head and stopping her wild ranting to answer him. "But you do too--- you're the only other one like this--- and I think it's Wicked!"
He chuckled. "This is the first good time I've ever had at a party like this."
Vanessa fanned the air around her. "Well, sorry about that. I can get a little…crazy at times. I was having such a horrible time and now, you know, this was just so unexpected and all-"
"And she dumped her wine all over your shirt just because you asked her to dance?" A high pitched voice floated in, angry and needlessly loud. "I'm so sorry, Lucius, I don't know what's gotten into Vanessa. I'll go find that girl this instant and punish her. I'll pay for your shirt, too, Lucius, even if the stains don't come out. I'm so terribly sorry. Just let me find her, where did you say she ran off to?"
"That Sirius Black led her off after he punched me in the face…"
Vanessa's happy mood evaporated and she hung her head. "What a little liar," Vanessa hissed scathingly. "So much for a brief moment of happiness," She muttered. "This is going to suck."
And before she could even contemplate what was happening, a hand was suddenly placed over her own and she was rudely yanked to the side. "Come with me," Sirius whispered under his breath. "If you want to risk getting into more trouble, I know a place where she'll never think to look. You don't have to, but if your like me, if you like a little danger, you won't care."
The corners of Vanessa's lips turned up into a mischievous smirk. She looked into his eyes, sparkling with defiance. "I like the way you think." A wonderful, famaliar rush of adrenaline rushed through her veins. She couldn't remember ever having a partner in crime when doing things to piss off her family. It was pretty wicked. "Show me the way, Mr. Black," She replied, squeezing his hand to let him know she didn't care how long she was grounded or screamed at for. "Just show me the way."
