"Ahhhhh, Wallyyyyy, why are you so good at this?" From the tea room, Alphard sulked as Walburga won another round of Exploding Snap.
"Ha, guess I get the prize all to myself, playing this game always pays off," Looking at Alphard she asked, "Wait, what is the prize again?"
"Ha, there was no prize, blehhhh." Alphard stuck his tongue out at Walburga.
"Hmph, you'll pay for that, c'mon Celeste, we should practice pouring tea before Mother gets back." Walburga put on her porcelain mask again and sat poised, ready to start lessons.
"Ughhhh, Wally, couldn't you just stay fun? Why must I learn how to pour the tea? It's such a useless skill. Anyone can pour a cup of tea and deal with it. Why do I have to learn to elegantly tip the pot and make sure the tea isn't too hot or cold? How come I have to brew it by hand when Middy can brew a pot? I mean, in the future, will pouring tea help me become an Auror? Such a pointless skill. Mother and her crazy head, all those bobby pins must be ripping out her brain cells. How can one's hair…." Celeste stood up and started pacing back and forth, ranting all over the place.
Alphard and Wally exchanged a look with each other, rolling their eyes, and both thinking here we go again.
You tell her to shut up.
No, you do it. She listens to you. You're the twin.
You know she's going to murder me.
Exactly my point.
"-like I was saying, I would rather learn how to start dueling. I don't want to just become a housewife like Mother, she just sits around all day pouring tea. It's all she knows how to do. And she wants me to be the same, just a woman with no dreams, suppressed by an oaf of a husband. Speaking of husbands, I do not want to marry that pig, Avery. He's so slimy and makes me want to-" Celeste suddenly fell to the ground next to the door and started clutching her head.
"Augh, my head. Why. Does. It. Hurt. So. Much. AAGGGHHH!"
Even though the older siblings had no idea what was happening, Wally and Alphard rushed to her. She was screaming and pounding at her head, tears starting to pour.
"It's her, it's her! She overheard me, what is going to happe- AGGGGHHH! Why?! Mother, why do you do this to me. Make it stop. MAKE IT STOP! AGHHHHHHHHH!"
"Look, the door, purple fumes are coming out from the bottom. What does that mean?" panicked Alphard, who lost calm when his younger sister was hurt.
"Purple fumes, purple fumes. Wait, that sounds familiar. Bellflower? No. Bella something. Ummm, belladonna! She needs the antidote, I know Mother has it in her stores. I'll go get it." Walburga rushed out of the room, running straight into Irma, who was grinning wickedly.
It didn't take much to set off the unstable Irma Black. And most of the time, a couple of words could have you wishing them right back. Irma was just about to enter the tea room to check upon Celeste's progress.
"...her crazy head..."
"...ripping out her brain cells..."
"...start dueling.."
"...housewife like Mother…"
"...all she knows how to do…"
Irma Black was smoking out of her ears and fires were belching up in her throat. She was not just a housewife. She wasn't always bound to this life. But if Irma Black couldn't get what she wanted, then no one could have anything similar, especially her daughter.
She flounced back to her garden and grabbed the vial labeled Liquified Belladonna Fumes. Angrily marching back to the closed door of the tea room, Irma raised her wand and nearly shrieked, "Locomotor Fumes." The violet fumes slid under the door and headed straight towards Celeste, as she was the one taking deep breathes of air due to her ranting.
Irma heard Celeste's agonizing screams and smiled from ear to ear as the sounds jolted satisfaction into her body. It just felt so good to teach that ungrateful brat another lesson of pain. Irma could hear Walburga murmuring something and could only catch 'antidote'. Then Walburga came bursting out of the tea room with panic written all over her face. Irma snatched her hand and twisted it up.
She hissed, "Not another step young lady, your sister deserves this for bad-mouthing me. She doesn't know what pain is. Take another step and I'll do the same to you."
"Yes, Mother. I understand. I shall go to the library."
"Good girl, I knew you wouldn't let me down." Irma patted Walburga's cheek tenderly.
Walburga, fearful for her sister but more fearful for herself, obeyed Irma, as all pristine ladies of House Black should. But inside, she felt unmeasurable guilt, as she was choosing herself over her sister. But it didn't mean she wouldn't help her sister anymore. It meant she could only find another antidote other than the one in Irma'sstores. She headed towards the library instead and pulled out One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.
The person who is poisoned with Liquified Belladonna Fumes can gently extract the fumes from the victim to reverse the effects. Another way to relieve the victim would be to have the antidote on hand. Otherwise, only a bezoar infused in the juices of a Calabar bean can help. If the victim is left alone, they will most likely…
"Middy! Come quickly!" Walburga yelled outloud.
Crack!
"Yes, my lady, what would you like Middy to do?" Middy bowed low and questioned Walburga with large doe eyes.
"Middy, go find Auntie Dorea as fast you can and ask for a bezoar infused with the Calabar bean."
"But Lady Walburga, Mistress Irma has said you are not to contact Miss Dorea anymore, she has married a blood traitor."
"I don't care, you go to her right now, and ask her for it. Remember, come back as fast as possible and avoid Mother. Understood?"
"Yes Lady Walburga, Middy understands what to do. She shall leave now."
Crack!
Celeste whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, still feeling that pain in her head. The pain could rival Doloribia and even the Cruciatus Curse. It felt as though someone was gripping her brain and twisting it in every direction they favored.
Suddenly, Celeste saw crimson flames, blazing higher and higher with each jolt of pain that shocked her body. Everyone Celeste loved was engulfed in a fiery bonfire of those crimson flames. She saw a man of ice thawing until he, too, was shrouded in flames. Finally, she saw a reflection of herself as the flames, wrapping herself around these people.
"Flames, I am the fire. I will burn. I WILL BURN!" Celeste screamed through the pain.
"What, you will not burn. Lesta, I'll go find something, okay? It's okay, you'll be fine. I won't let you burn."
Alphard hurried out the door and again, saw the smug smile of his mother.
Alphard yelled at Irma, "How could you? That's your daughter right there, your flesh and blood. How could you stand there and just ignore her?"
"If you knew any better, you would stand aside and let Celeste suffer the pain. I'll relieve her of it once she has learned her lesson and is begging me for forgiveness. Until then, she'll be fine. Now, be like Walburga and go away. This never was any of your business." Irma coldly replied.
"Wally left? Didn't she go get the antidote? No, you're lying." Alphard with a stricken face, rushed away before Irma could feed him any more lies.
Crack!
"Lady Walburga, Miss Dorea gave it to me. She said to push it down Lady Celeste's throat and make sure she holds it down."
"Oh, Middy, good thing Auntie Dorea is always kind to me. You can go back, don't mention this to anyone."
"Yes, Lady, Middy will return to dusting the silverware."
Walburga grabbed the stone and hurried out of the library, right where she bumped into Alphard.
"Is it true? That you refused to help Celeste. That you obeyed Mother and let our sister suffer? How could you?" Alphard angrily questioned.
"Alphard, not now. Look, I got an antidote." Walburga chastened, holding out the bezoar. "Quickly, get it to Celeste and make sure she holds it down in her throat. I can't go or Mother will know it was me. And I'm sorry, it was the only way."
"Whatever." Alphard took the bezoar and ran away, hurrying back to the tea room.
Walburga feared Alphard would never forget this incident, and that it will affect their relationship from that day on. And oh, how right she was.
May 5, 1936
Since Alphard gave Celeste the bezoar, her pain rapidly reduced. It left a raging Irma around the house that they all avoided. She figured only Middy could get the bezoar as Walburga and Alphard didn't even have wands. So poor Middy was the one who suffered the most, as she had to get her hands ironed.
Celeste spent the quiet midnights secretly bandaging Middy's hands, and rubbing soothing balms over them.
"Middy, I'm so sorry you had to be punished. Thank you so much for the bezoar, if not for you, who knows when Mother would've released me of pain."
"Lady Celeste, Middy is honored to help you. She doesn't complain because Lady Celeste always treated Middy well, even when she is sick."
"Oh, Middy. I am feeling much better. How about you go get some rest? Come back midnight tomorrow and I'll bandage your hands up once more."
"Thank you for your kindness, lady." Middy silently bowed and left her room.
Celeste laid back into her bed and stared at the green ceiling. She recalled those ruby flames dancing in her eyes while she was in pain. What did they mean, and why was she the center of it all?