A/N: Here's your regular weekly update! Remember, fifteen reviews in a week in any part of the series, bonus chapter in both running stories!

-C

The annual Christmas party was held at the home of the Greengrass family, and Magnus paid his respects to both Hankin and Isabel before he found Alphard sitting in a corner with a glass of firewhiskey, watching his cousin speaking in a low voice with Rohesia Fawley.

"I see they've grown close in a handful of months," Magnus said, nodding toward them, although Alphard didn't look up at the sound of Magnus's voice. He just grunted his response. Magnus sighed and said, "I suppose she'll change her name to Black after all. Are you pleased?"

"Yes," Alphard lied.

Magnus hummed, glancing around the party. Randolph watched the whispering pair with narrowed eyes, and Walburga looked at Rohesia like she wanted to rip bits of her off with her bare hands. Magnus supposed she was capable of such things.

And Alphard continued to watch Rohesia with such hunger, as though he couldn't help himself, no matter what he'd done to help his cousin win the contract. Magnus adored Rohesia as much as any man, perhaps more than some, but he wondered what it would be like to feel about anything the way Alphard clearly felt about Rohesia Fawley.

"I've heard there's some grand announcement Pollux is making," Magnus said, wondering if Alphard knew what was going on. "Or maybe it was Arcturus. Do you know what that's all about?"

"Haven't got a clue," Alphard said, his hand twitching toward his cigarette case, but he restrained himself, downing another large gulp of firewhiskey, instead.

It didn't take long for the announcement. Once the last of the families arrived – the Malfoys – attention was gathered, and both Arcturus and Pollux stood at a higher place, atop the short stairs that led into the sunken ballroom. The room was silent, all eyes on the two powerful men.

"It is with great pleasure," Pollux announced, not exactly seeming pleased, by Magnus's standards, "that I announce the engagement of my daughter…"

He gestured to Walburga, and Alphard snorted softly at the idea of his sister marrying anyone.

"To my son," Arcturus finished, gesturing to Orion, who looked stunned, unlike Walburga. Alphard stood abruptly, shaking his head, staring at his cousin, then up to his father and uncle, then back to Orion.

And Rohesia stared for a moment before people began to whisper and even cheer and clap. Almost as soon as the sounds began, Orion tried to say something to her, but she burst out of the ballroom, snapping the French doors open out into the garden and patio, and Alphard hurried after her, shaking his head at a very bewildered Orion.

Magnus, seeing Orion's distress, and noting that Walburga was heading his way, decided to do the kind thing and brought the other Black a glass of firewhiskey.

"You didn't know?" he asked softly.

"I had a contract in for Rohesia," Orion said, his voice dry and shaky. "I…asked for that contract. I…. My father had been supportive. I don't understand. I don't…."

He seemed close to tears, and Magnus gave Walburga his most stern gaze, knowing nothing short of it would make her stay away. She sniffed and went to have a word with Aldise Yaxley, which was odd enough in itself, but Magnus had to protect Orion when he was like this. The poor kid had only just figured out how to talk to the girl of his dreams, and now he was being married off to his second cousin who was…less than an ideal woman in many respects.

"What are you going to do?" Magnus asked.

"What can I do?" Orion said mournfully, his eyes going to his father, whose face was hard and unreadable. "It's been announced. I'm sure the paperwork is all in place. I have to marry Walburga."

Magnus couldn't help think this was the difference between Alphard and Orion. Had Pollux tried to force Alphard into marrying anyone, Alphard would have simply walked away from the family, or found a way to win the argument and stay. But Orion, he didn't have the strength for that. He'd been told, along with everyone else in their world, what was expected of him, and now he felt he must do it, never mind how he felt, nor how Rohesia would feel about the whole mess.

"I suppose Alphard will put his name in now," Magnus said without thinking, and he was surprised to see Orion's fists tighten.

"No," he said, firmly. So firmly, Magnus almost saw the uncanny resemblance between the two cousins, something he so typically thought was merely familial. "No."

Magnus decided it was better not to press the matter, not while everyone was still so emotional, but he saw, in the garden, the shape of Alphard hugging Rohesia to his chest, comforting her, perhaps as she cried.

Whatever Orion wanted to believe, Magnus thought perhaps this was Alphard's good fortune, his chance for happiness.

Against all odds.

Walburga couldn't be held off forever, however, and Magnus sank away to the side of the room, finding himself a glass of water. As much as he wanted more booze on a night like this, it was better to keep his wits about him. What a thing to say to a hurting Orion Black. Magnus felt a fool.

/-/

Cygnus asked his sister what she'd done, but Walburga was tightlipped. It wasn't until Isabel Greengrass approached that he began to get a picture of how something like this could happen.

"Cygnus," Isabel said softly, with a tight smile. "Druella, dear. I've heard some big book is going to be published in the History of Magic sector. Have you heard about this?"

"I expect my dear sister will run her finger down the index and count the mentions of Black," Cygnus said darkly. "How interesting that she managed an engagement without having to change her beloved surname."

Isabel hummed and glanced at Aldise before she said, "It's political, you know."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I think Rohesia put her foot in it a bit, made a comment about how it didn't matter if a Mudblood was top of the year if she'd earned it." Druella's eyes darkened, and Cygnus recognized it as a commentary of Druella and Alphard's year, where the Mudblood girl had topped even Alphard. "Anyway, you know how it is, saying a thing like that in our world, and she said it in front of Aldise."

"Can't keep her mouth shut," Cygnus sighed, understanding perfectly.

"But surely Aldise would know what a thing like that repeated would mean for Rohesia," Druella said, frowning. "I can't believe she would be so cruel, to damage Rohesia's marriage prospects so materially."

Cygnus wasn't so sure. Aldise was a girl who had her own sights set very high, rather higher than her name alone could get her. He strongly suspected Aldise had done…whatever she'd done on purpose.

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After shrugging off Aldise Yaxley, Randolph slipped into the back garden, watching Alphard Black smoke one of those hideous Muggle cigarettes as he spoke to Rohesia. They weren't crossing any lines of propriety, but they were sitting too close for Randolph's liking. He couldn't see well from his vantage point, but Randolph thought they might even be holding hands on that stupid bench they were sitting on.

Orion Black was one thing, Randolph knew, but if Alphard put his name forward, if he insisted on a contract, he would find a way to marry her, and he was strong enough to submit it on his own behalf, regardless of the wishes of Pollux Black. And it was clear to everyone with eyes that Rohesia adored Alphard. If such a thing were to happen, Randolph knew it would be too expensive, too dangerous to possess her. Alphard wasn't a man to be trifled with, despite his family's birth order.

Randolph tried to think of a way to turn things to his advantage again, to keep Alphard from putting forward his own contract for her hand. No doubt from the moment it was put forth, she'd snap it up. It couldn't be circumvented – it had to be stopped before it began.

But his plans did not form. Randolph had always prided himself in seeing a possibility in every situation and circumstance, but nothing unfolded for him, nothing presented itself as possible and practical.

He thought of Tom Riddle's insistence he focus on his work, on his quest for power and his sworn servitude to Tom rather than the pull of desire for a woman….

But Tom couldn't possibly understand. Tom did not have Randolph's weakness. Not just any woman would do. It had to be Rohesia Fawley, and if he couldn't figure out how to have her within the confines of a marriage bond – and it was looking as though only pure luck could gain him that now – he would find a way to have her, regardless. Alphard was a hurdle more difficult than his cousin.

But nothing was impossible.

Randolph turned back in for another glass of firewhiskey, confident.

/-/

Aldise sniffed and accepted another glass of wine as Isabel glided her way, eyes dark. She didn't understand, not like Aldise did. It was all necessary, all for the good of every young woman of their age.

"Out of the arms of one Black and into the arms of another," she said with a sneer as Rohesia and Alphard began their return from the stone-cold gardens. They were on the patio now, and Aldise supposed he'd smoked several of those disgusting Muggle things. "Repulsive."

"If either Orion or Alphard Black were falling over themselves to marry you, you wouldn't find it so repulsive," Isabel said coldly.

Aldise blinked, wondering where all this hostility was coming from. No reason for anyone to be hostile toward her, surely.

"Well, I meant more her behavior, obviously," Aldise said, glancing toward Randolph, who was watching the pair with interest.

A bit too much interest. She hadn't even managed to get him to ask her to dance. What was she doing wrong?

"She's your friend, Aldise."

"That doesn't mean I must approve of all her ideas and actions," Aldise said, sniffing again.

"You mean her politics."

Aldise narrowed her eyes at the furious Isabel, and she knew Isabel knew what she'd done – but as usual, she didn't seem to understand the importance of why she'd done it, and was siding once again with Rohesia. As though such things were…simple. As though the loyalty of friendship was unwavering. Surely Isabel was not so naïve to believe in black and white.

"She can have any man she wants, you know," Aldise said coldly. "Snap her fingers and they all wag their tongues."

"Not all of them," Isabel said. "Cygnus, for one."

"I'm not convinced he wouldn't," Aldise said with a sniff. "If he thought his brother would not find out, I think he would have a go, anyway. Not marriage, but…."

"Don't be so vulgar!" Isabel hissed. "Rohesia is a lady, which is more than I think of you right now."

Aldise bit back the harsh response dancing on the edge of her tongue as Isabel stormed outside to have words with Alphard and Rohesia. In anger, Isabel was capable of nearly anything, and she was nothing next to the other two. Aldise decided it was perhaps prudent to melt into a crowd of people, disappear to look at the little children in the music room. Safer.

/-/

As the party was breaking up, Cygnus and Druella still lingered on the far end of the ballroom, by the patio. She knew he was agitated, that he was upset with Aldise and Walburga, with his father and his uncle, and seemingly even with his cousin.

"He's going to marry her," Cygnus said coldly.

"A commitment's been made," Druella said with a shrug. "What else can he do?"

"He didn't make that commitment," Cygnus insisted. "He didn't even know about it before it was made!"

"You know that's not important," she said, but she knew it didn't change now Cygnus felt about it. And even Druella had to admit, she'd never seen anything so heartbreaking as Rohesia with red eyes and tears clinging to her lashes.

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After all the excitement and drama of Christmas, Boxing Day was dull, and Oliver felt the new year creeping closer with familiar joy. He wanted to go back to school, where things were relatively simple and adults couldn't interfere in daily life. He wanted to see things be normal again, to learn that somehow the whole Christmas even was just a bad dream where nobody was happy except Walburga Black, who was never happy.

He read his newspaper, letting himself get sucked into a pre-release interview of Bathilda Bagshot, whose new book, A History of Magic, was being released on the first of the year, and apparently promised to be the definitive resource on magical history to this point.

/-/

Albus heard the news, but he hadn't believed it until he saw the announcement in the paper: Walburga and Orion Black, engaged to be married, contracts signed and filed.

He couldn't imagine how Orion felt about this, how Rohesia was managing this news. She had seemed very keen on the young man, and to have him snatched out from under her with no warning.

It stank of politics to Albus, and he had a good nose for such things. He wondered how the pair would manage to work together when they returned to Hogwarts, and if he and Professor Dippet would have to step in between the Head Boy and Girl as they hadn't had to do for several years, now.

He didn't think so. At least, he hoped not. Orion was not a fighter, and would likely defer to Rohesia in everything. And while Rohesia would be furious, hurt, humbled, she would be professional about the whole thing, and they would be alright.

At least, in the short term.

If Alphard did not step up, if what ought to be done was not done, Albus had a strong sense the coming years would be much darker than they needed to be, and not simply for Rohesia and Alphard. People like them rarely had their happiness as a private matter. Their happiness, or unhappiness, were tired into a much larger picture, and once the paths were decided, it became bigger than their own control.

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Orion stood in his father's study, staring at the floor, saying nothing as he waited for his father to explain how such a thing could happen, how Orion could go from the happiest man in the world to a waking nightmare in moments, and how it didn't seem to end.

"It is a matter of politics, Orion," his father said sternly. "Rohesia has been tainted by her father's politics. It's quite possible her closeness to your cousin hasn't done any good, although for him or for her, I cannot say. The fact remains, she will not be a suitable bride for my heir. And Walburga's blood and politics are more than suitable."

"She's my cousin," Orion said softly.

"Second cousin," his father said with a nod, finally looking up from his papers. "Yes. It is not about…love, Orion. Happiness comes from understanding. Your mother and I understood each other, understood what was expected of each of us, and moved forward from there. Walburga understands what the expectations are. Do you?"

As much as he wished he didn't, Orion said yes, sir, he did. The expectations were to follow the political line their fathers had laid down, to expand the influence of the Black family name in the right circles, to maintain the purity of the line, and to raise at least one son – ideally two – who would be raised in those same ideals.

All very simple. All perfectly possible with Rohesia, Orion thought, but obviously not what his father and uncle thought.

"I love her," Orion finally choked out, already terrified as his father looked up again, slowly this time.

"You'll get over it," his father said coolly, and all Orion could do was retreat to his own room.

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Alphard still felt the wind had been knocked from him as he sat in his bedroom, ignoring the dithering of his sister, loudly discussing what her wedding would be like. He rubbed absently at his temple without giving too much attention to the dull ache in his head.

Rohesia had cried on Alphard's shoulder for much of the Christmas party, and he still couldn't seem to forget the weight of her body leaning against him, the way her hand felt in his, the strange melding of beauty and horror that was watching and hearing her cry. He never wanted her to hurt for any reason….

But he felt responsible. He'd pushed them together, helped Orion find his confidence, helped Isabel and Cygnus to gently tip the pair in the right direction. He'd even tried to be happy for them, and they had seemed so happy.

Now, they were both devastated, and all for politics.

Alphard was angry, he was pained, but even through that he could feel the beginnings of a glimmer of hope. A dangerous thing, but he wouldn't mind at all if it meant giving up his family, walking away from anything. Alphard knew the contracts meant something to Rohesia, but he could submit one independently now he was of age. He didn't legally have to have a penny. If she felt even a hint of all he felt for her, the money wouldn't matter.

He closed his eyes, imagining how he would tell her why he'd tried to stay away so long. He began to imagine, for the first time he'd ever dared, a small wedding on her father's land, maybe as soon as she graduated, just the two of them and witnesses. He wouldn't bother with a honeymoon – he'd just carry her up to her bedroom and slowly peel off their clothes, spending long as he could, worshipping her body, touching her everywhere, tasting her everywhere, feeling the euphoria and intoxication of being inside of her, driving her mad with pleasure.

Alphard cleared his throat lightly, opening his eyes again as he felt himself growing hard. He stared at the ceiling and sniffed, trying not to smile. She'd only just gone through a terrible disappointment, and he wouldn't dare put himself forward, not yet. He'd wait, talk to Orion first, then gauge how she was feeling. Perhaps Easter, he thought mildly, already closing his eyes again and imagining how her lips tasted, how her fingers would feel on his neck. It didn't take long and he was imagining how he would tell her every day, twice a day at least, for the rest of their lives how he loved her.

A/N: So, Orion and Walburga are engaged, Alphard is thinking of putting his name forward, and Aldise has alienated her friends.

Review Prompt: Is Orion doing the right thing, following protocol and the wishes of his family, or should he have done something else?

Q&A: Ask anything! I'll answer questions for literally anything.

-C