Author's Note: One of these days ill get a chapter written earlier than a month and a bit later than the last!
I'd say 'hope you enjoy' but I'm afraid things go rather downhill from here.
TW: Mild sexual assault
The next week was full of many 'meetings', though none were as eventful as the first. Ebony spent her time holed up in her room - though that wasn't unusual - in order to avoid the various guests roaming around the house. Her parents' friends were not people that should be allowed around children.
The only time that she did leave her room other than meal times was to brave getting close to the door in order to try and eavesdrop. Most of the time it either wasn't interesting, was terribly unpleasant, or was merely her parent's bickering.
She did, however, learn the names of some of her parents' friends. The tall bearded man who had found her on her first day home was Antonin Dolohov. There was the brother and sister duo, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, who on their first visit nearly set fire to the house - an incident that her mother found absolutely hilarious but made her father mildly furious. The Malfoys appeared several times alongside Crabbe and Goyle's parents but there was still a large number that Ebony didnt know, despite having gone to various events with most of them over the years.
She also learned small things about what was happening with the Dark Lord. It seemed that his followers were not all quite as loyal as he first thought, many didn't return to him when he called. So he was taking a different approach, threatening people into supporting him and turning against dumbledore and the ministry. It was difficult though as the rest of the wizarding world was still in denial about his return and he seemed to want to keep it that way. For the moment at least.
The thing that surprised her most about being home was that the whole Dark Lord situation genuinely seemed to have put her parents in a somewhat better mood than they usually would be. After the first initial fight - the words of which seemed to be permanently and unpleasantly lodged in the back of Ebony's head - her parents had been far more civil which Ebony took as a blessing, regardless of what scary connotations the whole situation had.
Despite the circumstances, Ebony's first week home was as dull and relatively uneventful as it usually was.
...
Ebony let out a deep sigh.
She was slumped against a wall in the corner of the Malfoy's ballroom, glass of champagne in her hand and very much wishing she could be somewhere else. There seemed to be no reason for the ball, nothing other than people wanting to show off new babies and new engagement rings.
She took a sip of her drink and observed the room. In one corner sat a small band quietly playing away for the small circle of couples in the center of the room gliding round to the music. People were huddled in clumps around them, couples floating from one to another every now and then.
The group that held Ebony's interest however was the larger group of men slouched by the fireplace, heads bent together, their deep voices murmuring away. She had just thought about edging closer to try and eavesdrop when she noticed her mother making a bee-line for her, the smile that had been plastered on her lips dropping as she approached.
"I've had enough of you sulking in the corner."
"What?" Ebony scoffed. " Like you usually do?"
Her mother seized her wrist and got close to her face, "I do not appreciate this backchat you seemed to have developed," she spat. "Count yourself lucky we are in public or you would no longer be on your feet."
Ebony was definitely counting herself lucky and bit her tongue, making a mental note to slow down on the bubbly before it got rid of her guard completely.
"Best behavior now," Bellatrix snapped.
Ebony didn't have time to ask what her mother meant as she saw a tall boy making his way over, linked arm in arm with an older woman and followed by Narcissa.
"Ah, Bellatrix," the older woman said. Ebony assumed she was the tall boy's mother. "Is this your daughter that Rodolphus has told us so much about?"
"She is indeed," her mother said. She tightened her grip on Ebony's wrist and turned to her. "You remember Alexin Rowle?"
"Of course," she lied, plastering a sickly sweet smile on her face. Ebony looked at the tall and lanky boy in front of her. If she was being honest, she had absolutely no recollection of meeting him before. Alexin reached out and kissed her hand.
"I'm a hard face to forget," he said with a wink and Ebony had to try her best not to laugh. Where some boys got their confidence from she would never understand.
"We'll leave you two to get acquainted," Narcissa said as she began to walk off arm in arm with Alexin's mother. Bellatrix dug her nails into Ebony's wrist and shot her a hard stare before following her sister.
Ebony rubbed her wrist and watched her mother leave before turning back to Alexin. He was alright looking, though the stubble on his chin was rather a pathetic attempt at a beard and he could do with just shaving it off. She was just thinking that his dark purple lace dress robes were an interesting choice when she remembered that she had met him before, back at the Christmas family ball when she was thirteen. He'd been wearing robes the colour of vomit, which weren't much worse than his current choice of attire.
She was becoming increasingly aware of the awkward silence between them. "So you're going into seventh year right?"
"Yes," he said, "You're going into fifth?"
"Yes." It was quite possibly one of the driest conversations possible, other than talking about the weather.
"You're the one who couldn't make Slytherin aren't you?" he asked, looking at her down his nose.
"It's not really a matter of 'making it in' though is it?" she replied, still smiling sweetly at him even though she was talking through gritted teeth. "It's just where the hat decides you belong."
"The house of bloodtraitors and various other filth," he sneered, "I'd rather die."
I'd rather you were dead too if I'm being honest, Ebony thought, wanting nothing more than to slap him. And she would if it wasn't for the countless family members in their vicinity. Everytime she thought there was another decent person to talk to, they went and spoiled it.
Alexin seemed to have made a new record though, making her go off him in less than three sentences.
"That 'filth' happens to be my friends so I ask you kindly to watch your mouth."
"You shouldn't be so proud of the company you keep."
"Oh piss off will you!" she snapped, losing the patience to fake politeness with him. She crossed her arms and clenched her jaw.
"Trust me," Alexin said, "I would love to but we may as well start to get along, especially as it seems we will be seeing a lot more of each other."
Ebony knew exactly what he meant but she asked anyway, wanting more than anything for it not to be true. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Alexin laughed, "They haven't told you?" he said with a belittling, matter-of-fact tone to his voice, speaking as if she were a small child. "Seems your parents have finally found someone to look past your questionable reputation. Found someone to wind you in a bit, keep you under control." he finished his sentence with a wink and a click of his tongue.
Ebony's ears began to buzz.
She always knew it was coming but she always hoped that she'd have more time, the idea of it all seemed so far in the distant future that she was able to ignore it. She had barely turned fifteen and a possible engagement was already being shoved under her nose.
The way he spoke of her, his tone suggesting that she should be grateful that he was willing to even be near her just set her on edge. Her cheeks burned with anger and embarrassment.
The sight of Alexin smirking in the corner of her eye made her want to be sick and punch him in the throat. She turned to walk away, desperate to get out of the crowded room and just be alone but before she could the band started a new tune and he grabbed her hand.
"Oh, let's keep our mothers happy shall we?" He seemed to say it as less of a suggestion and more of command, a command which Ebony didn't have the energy to turn down so instead, she followed him onto the dance floor to get it over with. They joined the circle of couples and Alexin pulled her into an uncomfortably close ballroom hold. He was smirking at her but she glared back and turned her head away.
As they moved around to the music with steps that Ebony seemed to have ingrained into her since she could walk, she felt Alexin's hand travelling dangerously low on the small of her back.
"Move your hand any lower and I'll curse your balls off!" she hissed, trying to make some space between their bodies, Alexin treading on her toes as she tried.
"Now, now," he tutted, his breath hot and sticky on the bare skin of her neck. "That's no way for a lady to behave." Then he purposely slid his hand down her back and gave her bum a hard squeeze, giving her a sly grin as he did.
A shiver rushed through her body and Ebony finally snapped. Her knee jerked upwards to meet his groin and she watched with a satisfied smile as he crumpled to the floor with a groan. "Asshole," she spat before turning sharply on her heel and leaving the floor, her cheeks hot as she became aware of all of the eyes watching her.
She had just reached the hallway when an arm yanked her back and dragged her into an empty room off the side of the ballroom.
"What the hell do you think you are playing at young lady?" It was her father, his face a dangerous shade of red. Ebony pulled herself out of his grip.
"He was putting his hands where they weren't welcome," she said, crossing her arms defensively across her chest. "He got what he deserved."
"Oh you'll be getting what you deserve when you get home!" he shouted and Ebony's heart leapt into her throat. "You need to go and apologise. Now"
"Apologize?!" she cried, almost laughing at his ludicrous command. "That's not fair, he was the one being a prick-"
The hard slap across the face caught her off guard.
"In case you hadn't noticed," Rodolphus said, grabbing her chin and ignoring her protests. "Life isn't fair, and trust me it can get much harder if you don't play along."
He dropped her chin and straightened himself up as Ebony put a hand gently on her tender cheek.
"Now pull yourself together and try not to embarrass this family any more than you already have," he said sharply.
"When were you going to tell me?" Rodolphus raised an eyebrow. "About him and your grand plans?" She spat the words out as if they tasted as poisonous as they felt.
"We will continue this conversation later," he repeated.
And with that, he left Ebony standing in what she now realised to be a dimly lit sitting room. She listened to his footsteps fade and then sank into a nearby chair.
Her cheek was hot and tingly where her father's hand had made contact. All her skin was crawling and there was a shiver in her spine that just wouldn't go away. She could still feel his hands on her body, heavy and foreign. His breath on her neck, hot and rough.
At that moment, everything felt so wrong.
Ebony fought the fabric of her dress as she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged herself, closing her eyes, desperately wishing Neville was there to wrap her up in his arms all safe and warm. She wanted to smell his jumper, feel the softness of his hair against her cheek, She wanted him to either whisper words of comfort or try and make her laugh.
She reached up for her necklace but instead found the string of pearls and emeralds that matched her dress.
Tears trickled down her cheeks and all she could do was bite her lip.
She was on her own.
And, for once, she didn't think she wanted to deal with it all alone.
...
Ebony did not 'pull herself together' and rejoin the party. Instead, she remained in the little sitting-room, huddled by the window watching the moon climb higher in the night sky. There weren't any stars, it was too cloudy, the moon only visible through a crack in the dark shapes.
She made no effort to stop the tears falling from her eyes.
She was clutching a bottle of red wine that she'd found just under half full and she was slowly making her way through it. Ebony had never really enjoyed the taste of wine but it made her head fuzz up just enough to be a little soothing.
She didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry and the fact that she was using her mother's choice of coping mechanism.
"There you are!" a voice exclaimed and Ebony turned to see Draco walking into the room and she quickly wiped her eyes.
"I've been looking for you," he said, leaning against the back of the sofa next to the window, "Missed where you went after your little-" he cleared his throat- "outburst."
"If you've come here to tell how stupid I have been then you can save it," she said coldly, though her tone felt less out of anger and more out of pure exhaustion. Ebony just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep for the next three days.
Unfortunately her parent's various comments about her behaviour that evening suggested even when they finally got home it would be a while before she would be allowed to slip off to her room.
She pressed her eyes into the heels of her hands and groaned,
Merlin, she had been stupid, so stupid. She used to be so good and keeping her mouth shut, it was after all how she survived to the age of fifteen. Don't ask too many questions, don't hang around in rooms where you aren't needed or wanted and Don't. Talk. Back.
"What happened with erm.." Draco trailed off and waved his hand in the air trying to find the name. Ebony had briefly forgotten he was there. "Rowle?" he finished with a click of his fingers.
"He was being a prick," she said, "a prick that I'm supposed to be getting engaged to."
Draco looked stunned. "Already?"
"It seems my parents wanted arrangements made sooner rather than later. Probably to please Him." Ebony spat the last word with venom on her tongue.
It seemed logical. One minute they were having an argument about what the dark lord would think of her - pathetic and useless - and the next marriage was on the table. They clearly wanted her to appear presentable and like a fine pureblood girl.
It was enough to make her want to be sick.
Or maybe that was just the wine.
"So you're just going to sit here and get drunk?" Draco asked just as Ebony took another sip of the bottle. "Maybe you are your mother's daughter after all."
He'd meant it as a joke, Ebony could tell from his tone. But his words stung, despite her realising the painful similarities earlier herself.
She didn't want to be anything like them.
Ebony swung her legs off of the windowsill, the bottle slipping from her fingers as she did and landing on the floor with a smash. She just stared at it in defeat as the clock in the hall chimed eleven.
"People will be leaving soon," Draco said, glancing off to the door and then back to her.
Ebony rubbed her face and groaned. Forget her bed, she would quite happily hide for the rest of the summer and not talk to anyone at all.
It had been a long night filled with too many unpleasant people.
Too many things had happened too quickly and she was tired.
Someone cleared their throat and Ebony looked up to see her father standing in the doorway, a grim expression on his face.
"We're going home now."
It was going to be a longer night still.
With two very unpleasant people.