Chapter 13: The Rice Family
The Yule Ball had concluded with a triumph, most of the students remained at Hogwarts overnight deciding to take the train the following morning. Peri had ended up in the Astronomy Tower with George, enjoying an intimate evening together. The two had desired privacy from everyone else as the papers had to believe her relationship with Draco. Not that anyone of her friends or immediate family approved of the purposed match - - it seemed Draco's parents, the Rice and Banks families were the only ones who greatly supported the match between the two.
She awoke quite early, the sun barely rising into the sky. She was wrapped in his strong arms with a wintry, nippy breeze blowing into the tower. She pulled the blanket that covered them closer to her; she looked over her shoulder to look at George, sleeping peacefully with a slight snore escaping. She gave a small smile, she twisted in his arms to look directly at him. Her movements woke him up, he blinked his brown eyes open "Morning," his voice croaked holding back a yawn as his hand lifted to her face stroking her rosy cheek.
She leaned into his touch with a soft smile, "Morning…" her eyes darted past him to the rising sun, suddenly remembering the date. She turns back to his brown eyes, "Must we leave here today?"
His fingers traced her face and down her bare shoulder and arm, "Sadly, yes but your grandparents' New Year's Gala is in a few short days and I will see you there. Not that I'm looking forward to attending a snobbish, pure-blooded gala, but you will be there."
Peri gave a disgusted groan, "Do not remind me. I have to spend the rest of the year in my grandparents' home instead of my actual home, which is just minutes from The Burrow. I will be around Pansy and her parents. I had to make a deal with my grandparents to allow Hallie and Holly to be presented next year, as they want this year to be fully on me."
"It is only a week," he reminded her as his hand danced with her own, intertwining their fingers, "Perhaps I can perform a couple of pranks with Fred."
She chuckled, "Please do. I will be highly disappointed if you do not." She then placed a kiss on his slightly chapped lips from the frosty air.
He smiled against her lips before pulling away to look at her, "As much as I never want to leave this moment, we should get to The Great Hall for breakfast. I am quite hungry, you made "
The two stood up, re-dressing into casual clothes unlike their attire from the evening before. His dress robes and her ballgown were discarded onto the Astronomy Tower floor. He had his yearly Christmas sweater on. His sweater was a navy blue with a yellow G stitched to it.
"Oh, what is this?" she noticed that a parcel was placed with her dress.
George looked up from buckling his belt, "That is from mum, meant to give you that earlier this week but I was consumed with other thoughts and actions involving you than giving you my mum's gift."
She rolled her eyes with a slight smirk across her face as she removed the wrapping revealing a navy blue sweater with a silver P, "My own Weasley Christmas Sweater?"
He crossed to her watching her expression as her eyes remained on the sweater in her hands, "You are family similar to how Harry and Hermione are," he looked down at the sweater, raising a brow in confusion at the color. "Did she forget you are not a Ravenclaw? She did blue and silver."
Her eyes remained on the sweater as she ran a hand over the navy fabric, "It is my color…I am blue," she raised her head to look at him, "My color since birth has consistently been blue because my name is associated with a blue-purple flower. Mom always wanted me in light blue, but I prefer darker shades. Your mom understood how I felt…rarely do people recognize me."
George stepped in front of her, "Periwinkle, you are recognized. Do not lower yourself by saying you mean nothing. You are greater than you know."
Her dark brown eyes looked into his lighter ones, "Really my given name?" she teased.
The two erupted into laughter as he trapped her in a kiss, "I will see you downstairs, Peri."
She nodded as he stepped over to the staircase leading to the main floor of the tower, "Yours is blue."
He turned around to face her once more, "It is always blue with a yellow letter."
"We match."
"Then you shall match with me and Freddie."
With that, he proceeded down the steps after giving a flick of his wand disappearing their blankets and empty bottles of stolen wine from the kitchens. She watched him leave before looking down at the navy sweater with the silver P, she ran a hand over the fabric again with a small smile before slipping it on. She exited the Astronomy Tower making her way to the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was oddly quite busy in the early morning hours, but everyone was running on adrenaline from the evening before. She spotted Hallie and Fred snogging one another at the Gryffindor table, rolling her eyes as she made her way to her table. Sitting across from Draco, she noticed his disapproval as he read the morning copy of the Daily Prophet. It was a special edition, not because it was Boxing Day but because it discussed the Yule Ball.
"Something wrong with the paper?" she questioned the group around her.
"Skeeter," Draco snarled, tossing the paper across at her. Then took in her appearance as she picked the paper up, "Why are you matching the Weasleys?"
She looked down at her sweater, "It is a gift from Molly. It is a tradition in their family to give everyone holiday sweaters with their initials on them."
He looked at the Gryffindor table, "The one sniffing your sister is wearing pink," he commented before returning to his breakfast.
She turned to notice Fred's sweater. It was a mauve color which matched Hallie's, "That would be mauve. It is a pink-purple color."
He rolled his eyes in response as she looked down at the paper and her heart sank. A picture had been captured of the two of them dancing and laughing, enjoying each other's company but could have easily been changed into something else if one wanted to believe it.
Has the Half-Blood Princess found love with a Slytherin Prince?
She shook her head, turning to glance at the Gryffindor table again. George appeared to be ignoring the paper and it seemed no one had informed him of Skeeter's newest article. She turned to look back at her friends, "Draco…a word?"
He looked up from his breakfast noticing she finally was reading the paper before nodding.
The two stood from their table with Draco steps behind Peri as they exited the Great Hall, where she took him to an empty corridor, "I think we should let the press write what they want about us and not try to fight them."
He raised a brow in confusion, "I thought that is what we were doing? My parents are pleased with the belief we are in love." He rolled his eyes at this. "Although I am surprised since you are a…" he stopped talking.
"A half-blood."
He gave a slight nod, "Well you are in love with a different half-blood. They accepted me because of my family."
He didn't understand what she meant, "Holly was raised in the same family though," he reminded, not understanding her fully.
She nodded, "She was, but she is a half-blood. I used to be able to easily lie about my blood type if I wanted, because until recently my father was never confirmed, especially not to the public."
She sighed running a hand through her dark, wavy hair. "Even though my father has been confirmed, he is a half-blood that is trusted and respected by your parents. But even with the confirmation of my true blood status, my mom comes from a wealthy pure-blood wizarding family and my stepfather is pure-blood royalty, especially in America. I am welcomed into the pure-blood society…at least by some. I will have my pick of most upper-class wizards when I am ready, although I am pretty sure my mom's parents will have me in an arranged marriage similar to how they wanted my mom to be."
When she mentioned arranged marriage, he took a step back from her. "We are fourteen and fifteen years old. Would they arrange for us to be married? Surely…"
"It would not be the first time a marriage contract was established while the couple was still young. Plus as long as the parents or guardians agree to the union, then the couple can still be wed against their will."
Draco's face seemed to turn white as a sheet, "No…not possible."
"We will see, but you and I know these types of families well. They want to succeed with money and blood or even money. I come from a line of money and power, my blood is the only difference."
He swallowed a lump in his throat, "I do not love you."
"We are just playing a part in the papers to protect our true relationships from being known."
Draco gave a small nod as Peri began to walk off, "I am never going to be able to have her publicly am I?"
She turned back to look at him, giving a soft sigh, "No. Not until you change your views on pleasing your family. I am in this relationship with you to protect my family…specifically Holly. I do love you Draco, I do. Not romantically though."
"I love you, too, but not romantically," he sighed, "I cannot let go of my family."
"Then you will never have her, but you will always have me."
"This is a lot for kids."
She gave a slight nod agreeing, "You come from a background where kids cannot be kids. You have to grow up faster than you should, since moving back I have been forced to grow up."
He let out a long sigh looking out a nearby window as he watched the snowfall. He turned to look back at her brown eyes with his light gray ones, "I promise to protect you."
She gave a soft smile then held up her hand putting out her pinky, "Pinky promise?"
Raising a brow in confusion staring at her pinky, "What?"
"Pinky promise. It's a non-maj kid thing. It means you won't ever break the promise."
He laughed, "Like an unbreakable vow, but without the risk of death."
She giggled in return with a nod as he shook her pinky with his own, "I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, pinky promise to protect you, Periwinkle Elizabeth King, as long as we both shall live."
She laughed again, "It doesn't have to be that formal, Draco."
He shrugged with their pinkies still attached.
"Fine," she rolled her eyes, "I, Periwinkle Elizabeth King, pinky promise to protect you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, as long as we both shall live."
The two released their pinkies from one another as footsteps approached from behind them. They turned to see Holly approaching them, her blonde curls bouncing as she walked. She wore her Weasley sweater, her's was light pink with a white H.
"Cassie, asks for us to meet her in her suite. We are using the floo to go to her parents."
Peri looked back at Draco and then her sister, "I'll be right there."
She nodded and turned to walk away, "Happy Boxing Day!" Draco called after her.
Holly turned to look at him confused but gave a small nod, "Happy Boxing Day," she responded with confusion in her voice before she continued to walk away.
Peri turned to Draco, "Really? Happy Boxing Day?"
"It is Boxing Day."
She chuckled, "Later Draco."
"Bye," he said, then she left to go to her parents' suite.
She reached the suite, finding she was the last to arrive. She noticed her mom was wearing a burgundy dress, but they were her upper-class casual wizarding dresses. The ones she wore when with Richard's parents during the day. Richard was dressed in an equally expensive casual, but a modern wizarding suit. His suit was a dark black color with a matching burgundy tie.
"Excellent. Everyone is now here. I need all of you to change out of Molly's sweaters into these," she gestured to brand new dresses hanging along a clothing rack with tags hanging from the hangers with their names written on them.
"Why?" Alicia groaned, picking up the dark red almost black dress that had matching black tights and ballet flats.
"Your grandparents are very particular…oh the bows!"
"Bows? We haven't worn bows since elementary school," Alicia commented from behind a changing curtain.
"Grandmother," Peri reminded her sister as she took the forest green dress from the rack with her black tights and two-inch heels.
"Exactly," Cassie said as Alicia walked over to their mom, who instantly began to fix her youngest's hair. She tied a black bow to her auburn hair.
The others finished getting dressed. Hallie was in a plum-colored dress with the same tights and shoes as the others, Holly was in a magenta-colored dress, and Mallory was in a navy dress with nude tights and black ballet flats.
"Beautiful girls," Cassie said after fixing their hair, "Do you agree, Richard?"
Her stepfather looked up from the paper he had been drinking to pass time while the girls finished becoming more presentable for Cassie's snobbish parents, "Can the older three lose the bows? Perhaps pearls instead?"
She turned to them, "Fine. Peri and Hallie, use your wands to quickly curl your hair," she stepped over to her vanity where she had a small chest of jewelry. She picked up three pearl necklaces with matching earrings. She put the first on Holly, "This belonged to your mother," she clasped the necklace together as Holly placed a hand on the pearls looking at herself in the mirror.
"Mother's?" she asked as Hallie looked over as she finished her hair.
Cassie nodded, "I kept all your mother's things for both of you. Your father gave her that set on her sixteenth birthday. This one thought was an engagement gift," she placed the pearls around Hallie as Holly put the earrings in.
Peri finished her hair, shaking out her tight curls to loosen them and allow them to flow more freely then approached her mom. Cassie turned to her, "These are from my mum."
She wrinkled her nose slightly at this but allowed the pearls to be placed around her.
"Better," Richard said approaching the fireplace.
Cassie went to her husband taking a hand of floo powder, "Alicia."
The youngest Banks child approached her and then entered the fireplace with her as they called out Fernsby Manor. They were followed by Richard and Mallory with the twins behind them. This left Peri the last to enter the fireplace. The fireplace would take her to the place where her childhood would expire. Her freedom and rights would expire. She could not understand why her mother was allowing this. Allowing them to control her once more, she had run away and escaped them but now was forcing her child to be part of the world she ran from.
Peri turned to look at herself in the mirror, she no longer recognized herself. She was becoming the image of a wealthy, pureblood daughter. The dress. The pearls. Everything was no longer her, but a reflection of the woman she would become.
With a long sigh, she approached the fireplace grabbed a hand of powder, and stepped into the fireplace, "Fernsby Manor."
"And where is that daughter of yours?" a woman's voice asks as Peri emerges from the fireplace. Peri's eyes fell on the woman, dressed in traditional wizarding dress robes of emerald green with gold trim. Her hair was dark and long similar to her mother's.
The group before her turn to see her exit, brushes off the soot from the floo to everyone, "There she is," Cassie spoke, "Periwinkle, darling. Come meet your grandmother."
Peri steps forward to her family standing nearest to her Cassie and Richard, "Hello Periwinkle," her grandmother, Aurelia, spoke. "I am pleased to welcome you to our home."
She gave a small snort at this, Cassie shot her a look of disapproval.
Aurelia's brown eyes narrowed at her granddaughter before they instantly softened as she returned to her previous tone, "Your mother and Aunt Victoria were raised here as girls, your aunt married a Parkinson. I am sure you have met your cousin, Pansy, at school. Such a lovely girl. They will be here this evening for dinner, we are having a late Christmas dinner."
She nodded attempting to remain proper from the lessons she had been given as a child, "Sounds lovely, grandmother."
Her grandmother pursed her lips then turned to the adults, "Juniper," she called out.
With a pop, a small house elf appeared beside them, "Mrs. calls for, Juniper?" the elf asked with a high-pitched voice.
"Yes. We are ready for luncheon, please inform Eirling that his daughter, Cassandra, and her family are here and that we will be eating luncheon in the golden dining room."
Juniper nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Juniper will inform Mr. Rice of the luncheon being served." The elf turned to Cassie, "Welcome back, Ms…forgive me it is Mrs. now."
Cassie smiled softly at her former family house elf, an elf who raised her from birth till she left due to her pregnancy. "It is alright, Juniper. I am pleased to be home with my family."
Juniper smiled then with a pop disappeared again.
The family followed Aurelia down a long corridor lined with fabrics of rich burgundy. The portraits of ancestors watched as they walked past, "Cassandra is back…" they gossiped between them.
"The blood traitor," a male ancestor hissed.
"Filthy blood!" another hissed towards Peri, "Ruined the Rice name!"
Peri stared ahead as the words were thrown at her and her mother specifically. She held back tears, Alicia looked at her older sister taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. She had never witnessed these slurs being thrown at her mother or sister, but hearing them personally hurt her. Peri's eyes darted to their hands with a slight smile as they turned into the dining room.
Erling stood in the middle of the golden dining room staring out the large window with a glass of fire whiskey in his hand, he turned to his family entering the room. He was a tall man with salt and pepper-colored hair, but Peri could easily tell that his features heavily resembled Pansy except he had the same eyes as Cassie. He finished the rest of his fire whiskey. He crossed from the window to reach them, "Cassandra. Richard," he spoke almost cold sounding.
From the stories she had heard over the years, Richard had removed her grandparents from their wedding moments before Cassie was to walk down the aisle due to the inappropriate words used about Peri, Hallie, and Holly. He had also forbade them from ever meeting their future children till they decided they were ready for the moment.
"Father," Cassie spoke in an equally cold tone, her blue eyes narrowed at her father.
Richard simply eyed him, an expression she had never witnessed from him. He was typically a pleasant expressed man, he kept his children behind them the best he could in an attempt to protect them from his father-in-law's cruelness. Erling turned to him and the children, "I would like to meet my granddaughters."
Mallory and Alicia looked at their mother and father then at each other before stepping forward, "Hello," Mallory spoke quietly, "I am Mallory."
Alicia the more outspoken and braver of the two Banks sisters spoke more confidently, "I am Alicia."
He eyed them till Aurelia spoke placing her hand on Mallory's shoulder making her stiffen, "She's the heiress for the Banks family."
This seemed to interest him, but he ignored Alicia taking more interest in Mallory.
"Any veela in your family?" Aurelia asked Richard.
He shook his head, "No. They are all purely witches."
"Her blonde hair and blue eyes would make me think otherwise, but you would know more than I would." The two turned to Alicia, "And a ginger-haired daughter…how unusual, we do not see that often in purebloods. Typically only the…whoever those friends of yours are Cassandra."
"The Weasleys," Cassie spoke, "And she gets that from your side, mother. You come from Irish purebloods. Her hair is more auburn than ginger."
Erling noticed Peri while they discussed Alicia, "And you must be the one we are making a prominent uproar over at our annual gala."
The group turned to Peri, "Yes, sir." Her voice was cold as her dark eyes stared into his blue ones.
He stepped closer to her examining her further this made her feel uneasy but she refused to show it, "Aurelia, will she pass for a debutante?" he asked not looking at anyone except his granddaughter.
Aurelia approached examining Peri closely, "She is tall and she has a good complexion. Alejandro and Giovanni will be here on New Year's Eve to prepare her. I received her measurement from Madame Malkin and sent them to our dresser. I am informed she does well academically in school and the Malfoy boy has taken an interest in her. She is dressed to satisfactory terms currently, but not proper enough for a future bride."
"Bride?" Richard, Cassie, and Peri spoke in unison but were ignored as Erling gave a slight nod of approval and without another word, he turns at his heel. He makes his way to the table taking a seat at the head, where the plates are instantly filled with their luncheon.
The rest of the day continued uneventfully minus the coldness between Cassie, Richard, and her grandparents, especially Erling.
Around dinner they remained in their dressy casual clothing, sitting in the drawing room as they waited for the Parkinsons to arrive. "They are late," Aurelia hissed looking at the grandfather clock at the top of the mantle.
"That is unlike Victoria," Cassie spoke sipping her martini.
"Pansy has taken an interest in fashion in recent years and it tends to make them late for many functions."
Peri glanced at Hallie, who had been unusually quiet the entire day, the mention of fashion caught her attention. "Hallie designed my first task outfit."
Her grandparents scoffed at this, "That was not an appropriate outfit for a lady," Aurelia informed them, "Much too revealing."
"It is what I feel most comfortable in."
"Peri," Cassie gasped, "She does not mean that. She took all her etiquette classes in New York, she had high marks. She knows how to…"
Erling raised a hand silencing his youngest, "She will be regiven these classes during the Winter Holidays, we must ensure that the Malfoys adore her. Their son might but we cannot ruin another match. To have Periwinkle married into one of the sacred twenty-eight would bring our name back to proper standards. Your wedding twelve years ago helped, but this will ensure our placement. You owe us this."
Peri looked to her mother in silence and disappointment as the fire lit up and out stepped the Parkinsons, "Ah, there they are," Aurelia announced standing.
"Apologises, mother," Victoria crossed from the fireplace kissing her parents' on the cheek.
"Hello grandmama. Hello grandfather," Pansy greeted kissing their cheeks as she took a seat on the couch beside Peri.
Once the elf attending them had given Victoria and her husband drinks, the conversation resumed but to introductions, "Sweetheart, you remember my sister, Cassandra…excuse Cassie. That is what the papers name you."
Pansy's father, shared the same dark black hair as the rest of the family except his eyes were a green color not blue. "Pleasure to see you again, Cassie. This must be your husband…"
Cassie looked at Richard with a proud smile, "Yes, my loving husband Richard."
"Nice to meet you."
The two men exchanged handshakes, which seemed more business-like than friendly.
"And my nieces…I believe the one next to our Darling Pansy is…" Victoria looked to her sister for support.
Cassie sighed, "Periwinkle, but she goes by Peri. She is the current Tri-Wizard champion for Ilvermorny. A mistake her name was entered but it is a contract that she must participate."
"Ah yes! That is right. I have never met Peri, you left before she was even born. I did see her pictures in the paper a few times as she grew up. Resembles her father, the greasy-haired boy that you used to spend time with in the common room. What you ever saw in him is beyond me. Sirius was a perfect match for you until he became a blood traitor, mass murderer, and now is a criminal on the run."
"He is not any of those things. Sirius is a good man, he loves his children too."
"Has any even met them?"
Erling cleared his throat, "Enough."
The sisters instantly quieted.
Richard decided to break the silence looking to Hallie and Holly, "We were discussing Peri's first task outfit before you arrived. We mentioned that Hallie," he gestured to the twins sitting on the sofa across from him.
"You designed that? You have quite a gift for design."
Hallie smiled proudly, "I am hoping Peri learns more about the location of the second task for me to design something better for her. I will take into more consideration the appropriateness of her attire. I was working to fit her style, but I did not take into an acknowledgment of those in attendance."
"I must pass your name on to my friends. They will be wanting you to design everything for them. I should have asked you to design Pansy's Yule Ball gown. What disaster that was."
"I designed my gown for the ball and the gala. Madam Malkin designed Holly, Alicia, and Mallory's gowns for the ball and gala. Peri's Yule Ball gown was designed by Ménagerie Mythique."
The adults in the room grow stunned turning to Peri, "You have a dress made by Ménagerie Mythique?" Aurelia questioned with shock.
Peri gave a slow nod, "Yes, my birth father paid for it."
The others now looked to Cassie, "The greasy-haired freak has access to the most exclusive designers in the entire wizarding world?" Victoria asked.
"I had no idea…"
"And I got Alejandro designing her gown for her debut," Aurelia groaned, "It is going to look like a day dress compared to one of their dresses."
"I would not call it a dress. It had pants with a skirt overlaying it," Hallie spoke up.
Aurelia and Victoria looked at her then Peri, "You did not even wear a skirt?" they both asked in disapproval.
"It was more me. They designed it to fit me. It also was not light blue, but a forest green dress. I prefer darker colors."
"Well you will wear white at the gala, a debutante cannot be presented in any other color except white. It is to represent a wedding dress, showing a woman's purity."
Holly laughed at this, "My apologies," she went back to sipping her tea.
The adults stared at Peri in horror, "She is fifteen," Erling and Aurelia hissed at their daughter and son-in-law.
Thankfully dinner was announced before anyone could speak again. The dinner remained silent, much to Peri's appreciation.