The evening of the summer ball came about much sooner than Lizzie could have hoped for (25th July to be exact, as it marked the middle of summer apparently, Lizzie wasn't so sure it did). Her father had been very willing to let her get new dress robes for the occasion and had insisted she wear green. Lizzie was fine with this because it matched her eyes and was one of her favourite colours, but she also knew that this was to appeal to the Malfoys and the other major pureblood families who were primarily Slytherins.

Her and Ernie had discussed the tasks given to them by the parents in much detail, always coming back to the same conclusion: their parents wanted the best for their family and they should try and do their best to listen to their guidance.

"But, Ernie, I don't understand why I have to start thinking about marriage now", Lizzie whined for what seemed like the tenth time that day.

As he had at all these other times, Ernie let out an exasperated sigh, "because we need to try and improve our family standing in the pureblood community."

"Well yes I've gathered that. But why?"

"If you spent half the time you spent reading actually reading something useful then you'd know."

Lizzie glared at him for that. "I do spend time reading something useful! I know much more than you do about magical creatures, and about plants, and about Hogwarts' history!"

"That's all very well, but you don't understand the pureblood community which we live in."

"How much do I need to understand? We're all families of purely magical folk, hence the pureblood title. A lot of them are also really stuck up and I'm wondering if that's in the blood too?"

"No! That is not in the blood and you cannot say that!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "well obviously, I'm not stupid."

Ernie sighed again and walked over to where his sister was laying on the carpet next to the sofa, why she did that he would never understand. Upon reaching her, he sat down next to her and leaned against the sofa. "Years ago the Macmillan family was not highly thought of within the Pureblood community…"

Lizzie used the pillow her head was laying on to hit Ernie in the knees, "please skip the lecture."

He glared at her, "fine. We used to be considered blood traitors because we were not very supportive of He Who Must Not Be Named. However, Melania Macmillan married Arcturus Black III and raised our family's status in the pureblood community. As we are now associated with the Black's we are able to be invited to functions much like the Malfoy's summer ball."

"Okay, I get all that, but why does that mean I have to make a good pureblood marriage and you need to make friends with Draco?" Lizzie looked up at her brother, confusion filling her eyes.

Ernie moved from the sofa onto the floor, and took her hand. "It just means that our parents are worried we could be effected in the future because we could be once more viewed as blood traitors. A good pureblood marriage would mean that you will never be at risk and being friends with Malfoy would mean that I have some back up if we were to once more be considered traitors."

"Oh, I didn't know."

"No, they've never really explained it to us."

The siblings were silent for a minute.

"So it's actually a good thing that you spend your time reading up on our family's history?"

"Yes, because at least I understand what's going on."

"That's not fair, I understand now because you've told me."

"Yes but without me you wouldn't understand."

"I… that's what I just said!"

They grinned at each other.

Lizzie sat up and faced her brother, "can we agree, that you'll help me meet any potential future matches, and I'll help you make friends with Draco Malfoy?"

Ernie held is hand out, "shake on it?"

Lizzie stared at his hand, "I'm your sister, I don't think we need to shake on it."

"It's the correct thing to do when making an agreement."

Lizzie shook her head at him, "fine then", and shook his hand.

That's not to say either of them were happy with this outcome.


As Lizzie finished getting ready for the ball, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her dress robes were gorgeous, a green, silk material that matched her eyes. Unfortunately her eyes didn't have their usual sparkle, giving off a sad gleam at the prospect of having to try and meet her future husband tonight.

She didn't want to disappoint her parents, and she knew that she would do her best tonight so their worries could subside slightly. But again, that didn't mean she was happy about it.

She walked down the stairs to join her family before they apparated to Malfoy Manor (her and Ernie obviously would use side-along apparition to get there since they weren't of age yet). Her mother was wearing pale coral dress robes, also made of silk, and looked up at Lizzie with obvious pride in her eyes. The look gave Lizzie a warm feeling inside, like she could actually live up to the expectations her parents had in her.

Both her father and her brother were wearing black dress robes, as most of the men at the ball would also be wearing. Her brother gave Lizzie a huge grin when he saw her and she remembered their agreement, it reassured her to know that he would be there for her that night. Her father on the other hand merely glanced at her, saying that "you look adequate for this evening, hopefully some young men will take an interest in you". However, Lizzie shook that comment off and gracefully walked down the stairs to stand beside her mother, who she would be apparating alongside of.

Her father and Ernie apparated away before Lizzie had even reached her mother. Once she did, her mother took her hand and squeezed it, "don't listen to your father, you look beautiful and all you need to do tonight is to enjoy yourself."

Lizzie smiled weakly, "thank you, mother".

Sophia smiled once more, before turning on the spot and apparating them both to join Ernie and her father.