Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Antoinette stepped up beside me rapidly and roughly seized my arm, her thin fingers closing around my poor skin. The amethyst ring set in a gold band she had received one Christmas from her parents dug into my flesh, and I knew I would have a long-lasting scar from the piece of jewelry. Ash stepped in on the other side of me, putting an arm around my shoulders as she turned me away from my brother. She gave Sirius a fierce glare before tugging me away from him, leaving my twin in the dangerous company of Remus and Hendrix, with no one but Elladora to protect him. I should have known my cousin and friends would have been incredibly confused with this sudden affection I displayed for my brother, but the thought never seemed to cross my mind previously.
"Nettie!" I fussed, but she and Ash continued to haul me out of the ballroom, probably heading for the ladies' lounge where my mother and aunts were spending a few spare minutes. I did not remember Antoinette or Ash ever being so strong; they were always the weaker set when compared to me, but somehow, they moved me along despite my struggles. It must have been my gown. Dressing up in such gowns for cotillions tended to make my usual strength and agility nonexistent. "Merlin, Nettie. Let me go!"
My cousin shook her head seriously. "I can't let you go, Nymph. You've apparently gone insane, and the insane shouldn't be allowed to mingle with others in public. It's dangerous."
"You might snap and hurt somebody," Ash added.
I had a hard time determining if my cousin and friend were serious. But the stern looks on their faces made it very clear. They were honestly convinced that I had gone insane; if I had given them any inkling of what was going on with Sirius and my family, I would be frustrated with their actions, but because I had overlooked that, it was justified. I was certain they were still heading in the direction of where my mother would be, and she would be able to release their tight grip on me before Antoinette's ring dug a hole through my entire arm.
Ash threw open the heavy mahogany door into the ladies' lounge, which was truthfully just a small parlor in which the mothers of all of the girls that attended the cotillion hid away after they had shown off their offspring, giving their daughters and their escorts the opportunity to have a little fun. Paige, Hermione, Ani, and Ginny Weasley were all arranged on the white-and-peach silk sofas that sat along the walls, all pointed towards the large mirror on the wall opposite the door. Some of the younger children- Regina, my youngest sister Cedrella, and Ani's newborn twins, could also be found in the room; Ginny had transformed a few stray items into bassinets, and the babies were quietly napping while their mothers aimlessly chatted.
With the entrance of two of their daughters and a close friend, all of the Weasley women looked up, along with the other women who posed on the sofas in exhaustion. It was like a sight from the 1800s, with the women in their classy gowns and elbow-length gloves, thankful to have a moment to relax from the stressful burdens society and their children always placed on their shoulders. Aunt Ginny, who was fidgeting in her navy blue chiffon dress that clung to her unhealthily thin frame, was the first to question her niece's unyielding grasp on my arm.
"Antoinette, is something wrong?" Ginny asked, raising a dark red eyebrow. She always seemed to be on the brink of laughter during these cotillions, for she was the mother who found them the stupidest and most pointless. Her pretty eyes were sparkling, and it was apparent that, unlike Hermione and my own mother, she found humor in one of her nieces treating the other like a prisoner of war.
Antoinette ignored her first aunt and looked straight at Paige, her godmother and someone who she hoped would not find humor in this situation. I grimaced at my mother, who seemed to know what was going to leave Nettie's mouth before anything actually did. Aunt Hermione, who was also aware of our reconciliation with Sirius, due to the bond between she and my mother that allowed them to read each other's thoughts, buried her head of tamed curls farther in her tattered copy of The Scarlet Letter with no desire to be a part of the impending discussion.
Paige, whose Metamorphmagus abilities turned her usually light brown waves into sausage curls in a flattering shade of butterscotch, ran a thin hand through those curls. "What is it, Nettie?"
"Sirius is here!" Antoinette announced, looking around the lounge and letting her worried eyes land on each of her aunts and her mother for a few seconds as she waited for the statement to soak in. When not one of the expressions on their faces changed, she widened her eyes and restated it, putting even more emphasis on her cousin's name than before. "Sirius is here!"
Instead of the shock she was expecting, each of the Weasley women looked back at her tranquilly. I guess Mum not only informed Aunt Hermione, but the rest of my aunts as well. Poor Antoinette; she was hoping to stun at least one of our family members, but she was out of luck. I turned to look at her, and her pretty face was confused, with one thin black eyebrow arched over her golden eyes. I turned in the other direction, and Ash's face was almost identical.
"You already know?" my cousin questioned. Her voice raised in pitch near the end of her question. She hated being the one who was left out of information, and it was apparent to her that her mother, aunts, and cousin had kept her completely out of the loop. "And you haven't asked him to leave or anything?"
Paige smoothed the front of her fitted ivory silk bodice, then looked at her French manicured nails. Aunt Hermione twirled a thin curl around her finger and kept her amber colored eyes fixed on the small faded font of her novel. Aunt Ani's dreamy blue eyes remained glued to the gold and peach striped wallpaper on the walls. Aunt Ginny smirked from her couch, the only one of the women who was finding comedy in this situation.
"Aunt Paige?"
"Well, Antoinette…" my mother started to say, her voice less sure than it usually was, almost as if her niece was something to be feared. While the students at Hogwarts did fear Antoinette, I did not think it was possible for fully grown women to fear her too, especially not women like my confident mother. "It appears as if Sirius and our family have resolved our differences."
With that sentence, Antoinette dropped my arm, slouched down, and formed a perfect O of shock with her already round mouth. It was quite impossible to shock Antoinette, but if anyone was capable of doing so, it would be Paige Aurelia Weasley. She would be the only one confident enough to bring up anything that could cause such a drastic change in Antoinette's emotions, even though the girl was so young. I watched Antoinette carefully, not even paying attention to when Ash finally released my arm as well, waiting to see how she would finally react to the knowledge. She had not once shown even a bit of remorse at the severe way we had excommunicated my brother, and I was almost completely convinced she would explode in frustration, not even a bit understanding of our decision to bring him back into our family.
As always, Antoinette lived to prove me incorrect. Her red painted lips relaxed, then spread into a wide, exuberant grin. She straightened up immediately, rolling back her shoulders, which was a clear sign of her emotions. "Thank Merlin," she cried out, twirling around on her heels and running back out of the ladies' lounge.
From inside the room, we heard her meet up with Sirius, who had broken free from Remus' angry glare, in the hallway. "Bloody hell, Sirius!" she called out loudly, making her mother grimace. "Don't you ever let us kick you out again!"