Chapter 14: The Greater Good
The evening of December 31st, the Fernsby Manor was bustling with elves decorating for the gala. Peri had enough of the hustle and bustle from the past week with her countless lessons on manners and behavior and how to be a proper pureblood society lady. She was avoiding her grandparents and the house elves, especially Juniper the head house elf of the manor. She remained out in the gardens despite the frosty temperatures when suddenly there was a pop sounding before her. She sighed noticing Juniper, "I have been found."
She spoke to no one.
"Ms., your grandmother insists that you come to your bedroom. We must make haste. The gala is in a couple of hours and you are not ready."
She let out an exasperated sigh, "I will be right there."
The house elf observed her closely unsure to believe her then apparated away with another pop.
Peri made her way into the manor and up the grand staircase, later tonight she would use the equally luxurious staircase into the ballroom.
Entering her bedroom, she found her grandparents and parents — excluding Severus as he would arrive later that evening.
The four turned to her, "There you are!" Aurelia snapped, grasping her arm roughly, "You are late!"
She seized her arm from Aurelia, "I know. I apolo…" she was pushed into a salon chair that had been magically placed into her room before she could finish her words.
Aurelia turned quickly to Juniper, "Juniper! Where are Alejandro and Giovanni?"
The elf flinched startled by the quickness of the words before popping away and returning with another pop with two gentlemen around Cassie's age, they each had dark-tanned skin with raven-black hair.
"Ah. Gentlemen, always prompt," Aurelia greeted them warmly as she and Erling stepped forward.
The man dressed in entirely black approached her and Erling first, "Signora Aurelia," he spoke with a thick Italian accent, and he placed a kiss upon her hand, "And Signore Erling."
"Giovanni, welcome. And Alejandro," she greeted, acknowledging Giovanni's boyfriend, dressed in dark navy blue.
"Hola señora Aurelia and señor Erling," his accent in an equally thick sound, but his was a Spanish accent. He kissed Aurelia's hand as well.
Aurelia gracefully dropped her hand back in front of her as she spoke, "We are pleased that you two could make yourselves available to be here. And on New Year's Eve."
Giovanni spoke for the two of them, "Madam, we would do anything for the noble family of Rice. A long line of Espositos have dedicated their trade to serve the appearances of the Fernbys and later became the Rice family, it is my family's honor to serve you alongside my boyfriend once more."
She smiled softly at him, "You might remember my daughter, Cassandra," she indicated to Cassie.
Giovanni and Alejandro turned to see her, "My father did your debutante look, he speaks highly of the moment often."
Cassie gave a small nod to agree with him, "He did well, I was quite pleased with my look. Wish he had been in Canada for my wedding look, but my mother-in-law insisted I use her stylist."
Erling cleared his throat stopping his daughter from finishing her conversation, "that was many years ago. Today we are focusing on our granddaughter, Periwinkle. We are not to waste any more time, we are late as it is," he shot Peri a cold stare as Giovanni and Alejandro turned towards her.
The two gave gasps as the two men rushed to her side. They touched her hair and felt her skin, "Look at her beauty! She is the picture of perfection!" Alejandro spoke.
"She is indeed the picture of perfect. We will not have a lot to do unlike some clients," he agreed then looked at his boyfriend, "She will be the perfect debutante."
Alejandro nodded, then looked at the parents and grandparents, "We assure you that Periwinkle will make her even more enchanting than she already is."
"We have a couple of short hours before the gala, will she be ready?" Erling asked as Giovanni had already begun the work on her hair.
"She will. She is beautiful as I said and does not require much effort from us, she will certainly be done in time."
Juniper popped back into the room, "Mrs. Aurelia? We must get you ready, too. It's getting late and guests will arrive soon."
Aurelia let out an exasperated sigh, "I suppose I will have to be surprised. Come along Cassandra, let's get ready."
Cassie gave a small nod towards her mother before looking at Richard, "Watch him like a hawk," she whispered to him who gave a nod to her agreeing with her request before she left with her mother.
Giovanni and Alejandro began their work, "Have you enjoyed the tournament?"
"Sometimes."
"What is the name they are calling her?" Giovanni asked.
Alejandro pursed his lips thinking, "I cannot recall at this moment."
Peri sighed looking straight ahead into the mirror, "Half-Blood princess or Girl on Fire."
Giovanni exclaimed beginning her makeup, "Yes! Half-Blood Princess!"
His boyfriend nodded in agreement, "I love that Skeeter gave you that name, a perfect fit for a girl of noble blood."
Erling scoffed at this, "She is just Periwinkle. There is no title to her name."
The two gentlemen exchanged looks and then nodded, resuming their work. She looked in the mirror at Richard who stared at her grandfather as if he was ready to hex him. She gave a soft sigh allowing Alejandro and Giovanni to continue their work of curling her dark hair and putting makeup on her porcelain skin, "Do we have the dress for this evening?" Alejandro asked Erling while he finished giving Peri waterfalling curls that framed her face perfectly.
"Juniper!" Erring snapped.
The house elf appeared with a pop, "Sir?"
"The dress now!"
Juniper gave her master a nod, "Yes, sir." She scampered across the room disappearing into the walk-in closet to return with a ballgown dress, floating behind her. "Ms. Periwinkle's dress."
The two stylists gasped, "It is beautiful!"
They quickly sent Peri behind the privacy curtain with Juniper to change. The dress was entirely white with what was now becoming her usual evening gown bodice. The corset bodice was tightened enough to cut off her breathing. She gasped as Juniper tied it on her magically.
"Peri," Richard asked, concerned about her sudden gasp for air.
"I'm alright, Richard."
"It is the latest from Paris," Juniper commented, "Mrs. Aurelia ordered it, especially from Paris."
Peri gasped for air once more holding her chest as she was tied more into the dress, "Yes…Parisian women must have learned not to breathe."
Once the corset was tied and she slipped into the glass slippers made custom for her, she stepped out from behind the privacy curtain, "Exquisite!" Alejandro and Giovanni gasped, pulling her over to the pedestal.
The entire white ball gown had a skirt made entirely of swan feathers that had sparkles that were elf stitched to the feathers and bodice. Peri looked at her reflection in the oversized mirror before her, "Is this supposed to be a wedding dress?" Richard asked Erling.
"Does America not have debutantes?"
He shook his head, "No, typically we do not. That is an outdated practice."
Erling ignored him and then called out in a demanding tone, "Juniper…" The elf appeared quickly at her master's side, "Ah, yes the pearls," he took the pearl necklace from the elf before stepping up to his granddaughter.
She stared at him from the mirror as he put the necklace around her, his cold fingers tracing her neck. She felt he might try to choke her right there. His blue eyes caught her brown ones in the mirror, "Your mother wore these at her debutante ball, she was in a relationship with Sirius Black at that point…" he spoke to her not removing his gaze from her.
He stepped back her with his eyes still locked on hers, her hand came to rest on the delicate pearls around her neck, "…before he became a murderer and left the principles of pureblood society. His children though will be here tonight, Cressida and Remulus Noir. Cressida is the heir to the Black family name, despite her having a brother."
"There is nothing wrong with women being in power. You have only daughters and granddaughters yourself," Richard pointed out.
His eyes whipped from Peri to his son-in-law, "Yes. Victoria is my heir since she is older than Cassandra. Making Pansy the heir for the Rice and Parkinson family, but if I had a son or grandson from either daughter my heir would become him. I was highly disappointed in my wife and daughters not to produce sons."
"I do not care what my children are. They are mine," Richard looked at him sternly, "Peri is mine."
This brought Peri out of her trance to a shock hearing Richard fully claim her. She always knew he felt that way, but to hear it was different.
Erling scoffed, "Peri?" he questioned, "She is not even your blood."
"Blood does not determine family, she is still my child. I will always be her dad."
She smiled at him, "I love you, Richard."
His eyes connected to hers, "I love you, too, Peri."
Erling scoffed once more, "Enough of this!" he barked, "We have a ball that is to begin soon and Peri needs to be prepared."
Peri gave her stepfather a small nod, he turned to look back at Erling, "Then we should all leave her."
Without another word, Richard escorted the other men in the room out leaving Peri alone. She sighed in relief, turning to look at herself more closely. This was once again not her, she was being formed into the ideal image of a pureblood society lady.
She closed her eyes before opening them just as quickly as she shut them to hear the sounds of distant pops from outside her window. She crossed to the bedroom window to see as the guests arrived. All dressed in fancy, new dress robes. She quickly spotted the Malfoy family, with their bleached blonde hair in its perfect hairdos. They were making their way up the gravel walkway. Draco was dressed in a grayish blue, this was outside his normal color palette but at Peri's request, he agreed to have his parents have his dress robes switched from black to grayish blue.
She spotted Fred, Harry, and Hermione arriving by portkey with Cedric and Mr. Diggory as all the champions had been invited as another treat for the gala. Her eyes scanned the small group of her friends before landing on the tall ginger-haired man dressed in the same robes from the Yule Ball. George. He must have felt her watching or he was simply scanning the outside of the manor when his eyes fell on her peeking through the curtains on her window. He gave a small noticeable smile to her before catching up to his friends and brother. He kept his distance from Fred lately since all Fred cared about now it seemed was Hallie. Mostly everyone found their love a little sickening as the young couple loved to show PDA, but the first and second years girls thought they were super cute always showing off their love.
Juniper appeared to her side with a pop making Peri turn from the window, "Ms?"
Peri looked down at the small elf, "Is it time?"
"Yes, Ms."
With a final sigh of exhaustion, Peri followed the elf out of her bedroom and to the designated spot where wait before she would walk down the grand staircase into the ballroom, where Snape would…should be standing there waiting on her, to escort her to the floor and open the ball with a dance.
"Juniper?"
"Yes, Ms?"
She sucked in a nervous breath, "Tell me about my mother. You were her nanny or something, I am sure you know a lot about her."
"Mrs. Cassie? Um…she's a smart witch. Had always been kind to the house elves who serve the Rice family…we were sad when she left especially the reason why she left. Mr. Richard is a good man for her, he loves her a lot. We can tell by how he looks at her."
Peri smiled softly staring straight ahead listening as the soft music down the stairs and the chatter of the guests filled the ballroom could be heard up the stairs, "He does…was she ever forced into a relationship?"
"There were close calls but never once was she in one that she didn't want…perhaps when she was with Mr. Black at sixteen as your grandparents disapproved of their relationship as he had left the values of pureblood society and was disowned by his family if he had not been disowned and voiced those opinions the two more than likely would have been in an arranged relationship. She chose him to annoy her parents. They tried to arrange for her to be someone when she was expecting you, but she left before they were successful. Then sweet Mrs. Anna and kind Mr. Patrick…they left this Earth leaving her Ms. Hallie and Holly…you know the rest. She moved to America and met the prince."
Peri gave a soft smile, "The American Prince."
Juniper gave a nod agreeing, "I was bought by the Rice family originally to be the governess for Mrs. Cassie and Victoria as you said…I loved Mrs. Cassie the most, she was never an easy child but a sweet child though. Mrs. Victoria always behaved and did as she was told. Mrs. Cassie broke rules often, and never wanted to follow the rules of etiquette. You are much like her."
"I never expected my mom to be one to break rules and not follow orders, it is unlike her."
"She grew up. Having a child can change people...especially during a war."
Peri gave a nod, not fully believing that expect the part about having a child during a war, but did not press it further. She turned her head when she heard soft clicks of shoes to see Snape approaching her, he looked almost unrecognizable. His hair had a clean look to it now, no longer appearing greasy. It was still long, but combed out and styled similarly to Lucius Malfoy's. She gave him a soft smile, "You came."
"You asked," he responded with a simple response then offered her his arm.
Their relationship was not great, but she wanted to put in an effort if he would let her. He just seemed too closed off to want a relationship with her, but he bought her the Yule Ball dress which made her hope he wanted some kind of a relationship. It just meant him breaking down the walls he had and making sure her parents did not fight. Which she was sure would become a problem. A problem for another day though.
She looked at the black clocked sleeve before delicately taking his arm, turning them to the stairs as she listened to the clinking of a champagne flute then her grandfather began to speak, "Welcome everyone to our annual holiday gala! We typically have our gala on Christmas Eve, but as everyone knows Hogwarts' hosted the Yule Ball this year, having us postpone our gala to New Year's Eve. The Malfoys who typically host this event were kind enough to allow us to host this year's gala. With the return of our daughter, Cassandra, and her family to England, my wife and I wanted to introduce our eldest granddaughter, Periwinkle, to society. It gives me great pleasure to present Periwinkle Elizabeth King, daughter of Cassand Banks and…" he paused not wanting to fully accept her true parentage, "Severus Snape. Step-daughter of Richard Banks. She is being escorted by…by her father, Severus Snape."
With her name being announced, they made their way down the grand staircase with her arm around her father's. Her dress sparkled from the chandelier light. Soft claps sounded as she made her way down the stairs, eyes scanning the room where they fell instantly on a singular tall, ginger-haired man as they did when she peered from her window. Seeing him brought a bright smile to her face.
She could hear Rita Skeeter's camera flashing as the two descended. There were whispers amongst the soft claps. Her eyes were solely focused on George. No one else mattered to her, but him. Seeing him there made everything else feel non-existent.
They reached the bottom, and her eyes trailed over from George to Snape, "Do you know how to waltz?" she whispered as he escorted her to the center of the ballroom.
He paused before answering, "It has been a while and I only ever danced with…" Snape's eyes drifted over to Cassie standing with Richard as the two watched them closely. "I've only ever danced with one person." His gaze returned to Peri as he spoke.
"I am pleased to be your second."
The music changed to a soft waltz with the two dancing together. They danced together for a small lap around the floor when Richard approached them, "May I? I would love the chance to dance with my daughter, too."
Snape made a slight scoff at the mention of Richard calling Peri his daughter. He reluctantly gave a stiff nod placing Peri's hand into Richard's before stepping off the floor. The two danced together, more gracefully than she danced with Snape as Richard had years of prior ballroom dance training during his growing up, "Are you alright?" he asked observing her tense feeling, "I know you were not pleased to have this gala, especially being the center of attention."
She sighed, "I am trying to ignore this. I dealt with it with your parents' balls and the Yule Ball last week. This is different, the attention is entirely on me. At the Yule Ball, the focus was on Harry and the other champions. At the parties in America, none of the focus was on me it was always a celebration of something either a holiday or simply a party. No one cared about me there. I was able to float and enjoy the parties. I do enjoy parties, but not when the entire focus is on me."
Richard sighed softly, "I am sorry…your mother has changed a lot since her return to England. She never wanted this life for any of you," his eyes glanced at Cassie who was engaged in conversation with Remus.
Remus had escorted Ida and Remy to the gala as their mother had claimed she had a headache, but the truth was she wanted to be Sirius and enjoy their first New Year together since his imprisonment. As the previous year, he had remained in England to try and to get Peter Pettigrew arrested for killing those muggles when he had been wrongfully accused. At least that is the story that Peri had been told by Cassie and Richard.
He continued, "I believe the feelings of being back in England have been a little much for her. The memories of Hallie and Holly's parents as well as her childhood."
Peri sighed, "I do not want this life and I am being pulled into it. I enjoyed our simple life in America…or as simple as it could be with you being who you are. I can't even know my biological father without it being a problem."
His eyes drifted to see Snape standing against a far wall, who was simply having a drink of fire whiskey it appeared to be and watching the two dance. He then back to her, "Peri…he abandoned your mother…and you."
"I'm aware," she said to him with a long sigh as Draco approached them as the song ended.
"Sir," he greeted.
"Draco," Richard greeted back stepping away from them and giving Peri a kiss on the cheek before joining Cassie and Remus.
"Peri, may I?" he offered her his hand.
She gave him a soft smile taking his hand, "Gladly."
Draco wrapped a hand around her waist as the music began, "Have you seen, Holly?" he asked as they danced.
She scanned the room noticing Holly was not there, "I have not, but Hallie seems to be having a nice time with Fred." She turned and watched the young couple dancing together not far from them, although Fred was being a little handsy with her, she was positive he had some of the spiked punch.
He spun her as a camera flashed once more, "I am not concerned about their whereabouts. I want to know Holly's," he spoke sternly.
"And I want to be dancing with George, but we have to play nice for the papers and our families."
He groaned at this, "Can you believe they want us to be married? My father said it would be for the greater good. We are fourteen and fifteen years old, and the greatest good we know is getting our homework turned in one time...most of the time."
This got a laugh from Peri which resulted in another flash from the camera.
"And trying to figure out who to snog next. What do we know about marriage?"
"I am trying to get out of it. I do not want to marry you. I like…"
He rolled his eyes, "Weaselbee. I know and I cannot even dance with another girl not just Holly but any girl because of this arrangement my parents and your grandparents have made."
She smirked slightly at him, "I might have been able to change that. Same dance at the Yule Ball where we danced with our chosen partners."
His eyes lit up when another flash sounded and the floor became crowded with more guests joining them in the dance, "I could dance with…"
His words were interrupted when the set of doors at the top of the grand staircase opened revealing Holly standing in Peri's original Cinderella-styled Yule Ball dress. There were several gasps seeing her with a few flashes of Skeeter's camera taking pictures and some asking who she was as she did indeed look like a princess. Draco froze in their dance eying her with the rest of the room, "She is beautiful."
Peri turned to watch her sister gracefully proceed down the grand staircase looking like a true princess. "She is," she agreed as Holly reached the floor. She stood there awkwardly for a moment before Harry approached her and took her hand.
"Potter!" Draco hissed in disapproval watching Harry escort Holly to the dance floor, "Why is he here and asking her? He never asked her to the Yule Ball, he let her stand there like a wallflower."
"All the champions were invited. Fred and George are here because Hallie is dating Fred. Harry brought Hermione as his date. I tried to get Ron and Ginny to be invited but I was told that we had enough guests coming…" she scanned the room, "They could have allowed Ron and Ginny."
His gaze turned to her sharply, "I want to dance with her…now."
She was startled slightly by his demand but looked in the direction of the orchestra giving a signal to the conductor to begin playing the traditional Viennese waltz music. The waltz began and soon the partners were switched leaving her in the company of George, who had originally taken Ida to the floor to dance with.
"George," Peri smiled brightly at him, "You were concerned we would not see each other tonight as I am stuck with Draco for most of the evening."
George rolled his eyes at this, pulling her slightly closer to him as they waltzed around the dance floor, "I despise seeing you wrapped in his arms. It disgusts me. You do not deserve him, he is a cruel man."
"Draco is misunderstood."
He scoffed while rolling his eyes, "Sure…"
"Can we not? I have a short amount of time with you I rather not use it to argue over my friend."
He gave an annoyed nod of his head as they spun around, "I want to kiss you…I want to be your New Year's kiss."
"I cannot kiss you publicly you know that."
He groaned, "I am aware of that but…"
His words were cut off when the partners switched again leaving her with Harry as a dance partner, "Hi Harry," she smiled at him, "Having a good time?"
"No…" he looked at Hermione dancing with Viktor Krum then back at Peri.
"Neither am I...this is better than the tournament though."
"Equally awful in my opinion," he spoke, "I was going to ask Ida to dance again, but she cannot stand me. I barely know her. I know Sirius and Remus adore her probably because she is their daughter and goddaughter, but she is simply quiet and makes no conversation."
Peri raised a brow in confusion, "Ida is very kind. She might be jealous of you though."
"Me? She is probably equally famous because of Sirius."
She laughed, "Jealous of your relationship with Sirius. She is very close to Remus, much closer than you are but when Sirius escaped he came looking for you, not her or her brother. Only you."
The realization of this hit Harry like a ton of bricks as he looked at Ida dancing with Fred, "Oh…I never would have thought. How can I fix it?"
"It is not something you can do. It is Sirius who has to repair his relationship with his daughter. I do not know the way Remy feels as I am closer to Ida, Hallie is a lot closer though to her than I am, but there is nothing you can really do. You can try but it is probably worthless to try. Sirius chose you over her and Remy, tonight he chose his fiancee. Not that he could be out in public anyway."
"I can try to form some sort of relationship with her. Sirius would like that."
"He probably would but do it because you want to be her friend not to please your godfather and her father. Do it for yourself not someone else."
Suddenly Draco reapproached and the two teen boys exchanged cold glares, "I would like my girlfriend back, Potter," he snarled. Peri had a confused expression on her face as he had never called her his girlfriend before.
Harry looked at Peri, "I will see you later, Peri…" he glared at Draco again, "Malfoy."
The rest of the gala continued with dancing and food and different exotic drinks. She made conversation with different guests but was not allowed to dance with anyone except Draco. She stood near the bar drinking a glass of sparkling cider when Lucius Malfoy approached her, "Ms. King."
She slowly moved her eyes up to him, "Mr. Malfoy." She spoke without care.
"You did quite well in the first task."
"Thank you," she spoke softly still not caring and not looking in his direction but at the guests dancing and mingling with one another. She spotted Draco across the room speaking with Pansy, Blaise, and the Greengrass sisters.
Lucius followed her gaze, "I would not become jealous over him speaking to other women. My son understands duty and order. He knows that his alliance with you is for the greater good."
She looked at him, "The greater good?"
He did not answer her as Erling approached them, "Ah, Erling."
"Lucius…I need my granddaughter. She is to make a speech to her guests before the new year."
"1995. The year things will change."
The two men looked at Peri and then at each other, "Indeed," Erling agreed, "Come Periwinkle."
Erling placed a hand on her back as she was guided to the center of the room where the dancefloor had cleared. All eyes settled upon her as she observed everyone as her grandfather left her there alone returning to his wife who stood beside her aunt, uncle, and Narcissa Malfoy who was also joined by Lucius. Peri took in a deep calming breath, she had never made a speech before and was entirely unprepared but knew how to please these kinds of people. She did it often for Richard's parents and their friends.
She let out a deep breath and then began, "I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight. Celebrating my coming out into society as well as a final farewell to 1994 and a celebration into 1995. I look at my past year and never would have believed I would be in the position I am now. I began this year in America and ended the year in England. I left Ilvermorny to start a new beginning at Hogwarts," she breathed looking at her friends, "There I met my friends. From different houses and backgrounds. I met my…" her eyes softened looking at Draco with George standing behind him slightly. "There I met my loving boyfriend." She extended a handout and Draco crossed over to her, taking it and kissing it softly. A camera flashed capturing the moment. "Who has been by my side since day one of my arrival at Hogwarts."
An elf appeared at their side offering a tray of sparkling cider. She accepted the glasses, handing Draco one of the glasses before looking back at the guests.
"So let us raise our glasses to the new year," she looked at Draco then her grandfather and Lucius. "To the greater good,"
Still having no clue what that meant, she knew it would please them. She raised her glass turning to look at Draco seeing Lucius and Erling give barely noticeable smirks
The room raised their glasses, "To the greater good," the room sounded confused while some sounded pleased.
She turned to look at the large floating clock in the center of the room now counting down till midnight.
Ten
Nine
Eight
Seven
Six
Five
Four
Three
Two
One…
Her gaze turned from the clock to Draco who leaned into her giving her a soft kiss on her lips, his free hand coming up to cradle her cheek. The kiss was a slow, but intimate feeling. He pulled away slowly eyes locking together, and his finger tracing her bottom lip.
A camera flashed capturing their kiss.
"Happy New Year, Peri."
"Happy New Year, Draco."
He wrapped an arm around her as the room cheered, "Happy New Year!"
Fireworks blasted from outside with glitter falling from the enchanted ceiling and camera flashes. from around the room capturing the moment entirely as well them.
She looked at him, "So you are my boyfriend then?"
He shrugged, "The greater good says we have to be…whatever the hell that means," he paused, "I adore Holly and you adore him, but it will never be permitted. At least mine won't, but my parents accept you and I rather have someone I care for than someone I don't. I care for you…I…I do love you as you know. That is enough for me."
She nodded agreeing with how he felt, "I love George, but I feel I need to do this relationship to protect everyone I love."
She looked over at George who gave a nod towards a side door, asking her to follow him. She returned her gaze to Draco, "Excuse me…I need some air," she pulled out of his embrace before walking off the dance floor.
She went out the side door, "George…" she whispered aloud when he approached her quickly from the shadows pushing her against the wall, "George," she breathed with his face inches from her own. She could see his ginger hair shining against the candles lighting the hall.
"I need a New Year's kiss. I had to watch that performance you gave with Malfoy," he wrinkled his nose in disgust at this, "But I want my own...I had to share a kiss with Hermione and that was a cheek kiss. Even Harry kissed Ida in an actual kiss."
"New Year's is over though."
"Not everywhere."
He trapped her lips in a rough, passionate kiss. She wrapped her hands around his neck with his around her waist pulling her body as close to him as she could get when a camera flashed. The two quickly jumped apart seeing Rita Skeeter stepping into the light, "A naughty princess. What will your boyfriend say?"
Peri's eyes went wide, "It was nothing…" she attempted to explain when a set of footsteps joined their group.
Erling approached them staring at each of them coldly, "What is going on out here?" he growled.
Rita Skeeter cleared her throat softly, "I had followed Peri out to attempt to get some single pictures of her when I found her snogging her mysterious lover here."
He turned to look at George and Peri, "Ms. Skeeter, I have you here to take pictures for the Society column and Witch Weekly and last I checked this is not the party this is the hallway of my home. You were strict instructions not to leave the ballroom."
"This provides excellent writing material, the readers will love this."
His gaze turned back to her before reaching into his inner coat pocket and removing what appeared to be similar to a muggle checkbook, but had Gringotts information written on it. He had a magic quill sign for him, then he handed it to her, "Put your amount in. Those pictures will disappear or be altered to be Draco Malfoy, not Mr. Weasley here. If you do not follow my instructions I will take matters into my hands. Believe no one will hire you to write again. Do I make myself clear, Ms. Skeeter?"
Skeeter hesitated before taking the check from him, "Yes, sir."
With Skeeter and her photographer back inside the ballroom, Erling turned to his granddaughter and George, "Will you leave us, Mr. Weasley?"
George nodded without a word, he returned inside the ballroom but gave a final glance to Peri before he disappeared inside.
"Grandfather…"
He raised a hand stopping her, "Follow me," he commanded leading her further down the hall, "I have some special friends I would like you to meet. They are not attending the gala, but I want you to meet them."
"Why are they not at the gala?"
He did not answer but stopped in front of his study, "Inside. They are waiting on you."
She looked up into his blue eyes before turning the knob to open the door revealing the study as her grandfather walked away leaving her there. She saw a singular figure dressed in dark, baggy clothing with his back to her looking out the window at the snow falling. She entered the room cautiously as the door closed suddenly behind her, "Hello? My grandfather said he wanted me to meet you?"
"Peri King, I have been waiting to speak to you," the man spoke still unmoved, "Tea?"
A cup was offered to her by another man she had not noticed until then, a much shorter man than the figure by the window who was about the same height as herself. The shorter man's hair was colorless, with a large bald spot on his head. He had a rat-like appearance, "Um…thank you," she took the cup from the man next to her.
"Lovely lady Peri is. You are very kind, your mother was always kind to me in school. I was friends with Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Ann, and Patrick. Lovely group of friends they were," the shorter man squeaked trying it seemed to become in her good graces. She was unsure why he wanted to be overly kind to her, perhaps to please her grandfather.
"You went to school with my mom and her friends? She is here. You could come to say hello, she would probably love to speak to an old classmate especially if you were a friend. She only speaks to Remus now. Ann and Patrick's daughters are here, too. They would love stories about their mother."
"Enough!" the other man barked, "We are not here for a reunion…"
The man turned to reveal himself, he was a pale face with straw-colored hair and freckles. He appeared a lot older than she was sure he was due to the lines on his face. She noticed a mark sticking out from his left arm sleeve, she felt she recognized this mark from somewhere but at the moment she could not place it.
He stepped closer to her allowing the light from the fireplace to illuminate his face, "Peri King."
"Yes? That is me. And who are you two?"
The man before her looked at the shorter one, "This is Peter and I'm Barty."
"Last names?"
"Confidential."
She looked into the man's eyes once he turned to face her, "Why am I here?"
Barty walked closer to her where he was mere centimeters from her, she could feel his hot breath against her. He raised a hand to her face, ran a finger across her skin, and then did a weird snake-like thing with his tongue.
"I suggest you remove your hand from my body," she hissed at him stepping back.
"Ooo feisty. We like that...don't we Peter?"
The rat-like man nodded agreeing.
"You did not answer my question. Why am I here?
Barty turned at his heel going over to the bar cart in the study and pouring himself a glass of fire whiskey, "Our master wants you for the greater good …"
There was that phrase again.
The Greater Good.
"But he is currently too weak to be here himself. We are here in his place."
She raised a brow in confusion, "Your master? You are not house elves," her eyes then darted back to the mark and then the man before her. She sucked in a breath then shook her head with anger, "No!"
This time he raised a brow, "No? I have not even asked anything and unless you are a legilimens like your father which I doubt you are since he would have had to teach you and you barely have any relationship with him I doubt you are one."
"I am not one of them. I will not be forced into one like my mother."
That is how she recognized the mark. Her mother had been forced to receive one shortly before learning she was expecting Peri.
He gave a displeased nod, "I see…consequences will occur if you do not accept his offer."
She scoffed, "I will accept the consequences then."
He rolled his eyes taking a long sip from the dark liquid in the glass, "Stupid girl. If you were not Severus' child, you would be dead…we have no use for dirty blood such as your own."
She scowled at him, "You inform Voldemort I will not be a puppet in his army. I am Peri King. I am my person."
He set the glass on the mantle of the fireplace, "I will inform him you need time to consider his offer."
"I do not time to consider. I know my answer."
"We will see what you say after the tournament has ended…" he grabbed a hand of floo powder then turned back to face her, "How close are you to your friends? Particularly to the Weasley boy?" His tone was casual as if he had simply asked her for the weather.
"Leave my friends alone!"
"Consequences for actions. You made your choice, you pay the price. Have a happy new year, Peri. I will see you very soon," he gave a sly smile before turning to Peter, "Peter come!" The rat-like man scampered over to Barty and the two flooed away.
Peri remained in the study for quite some time before exiting into the hall where she ran into Richard, "There you are…Peri?" He took hold of her looking into her eyes, "Peri? What's wrong?"
"Grandfather…the life…the blood…everything…" she focused on Richard, "I cannot…I do not want to be like mom's childhood."
Richard became furious pulling her close to him as steps approached them, "What's going on?"
The two looked to see the man who spoke. It was Snape.
"Erling." That was all Richard said. Somehow Snape seemed to understand her upset behavior of Peri and seemed to be the single thing the two agreed upon.
Suddenly Erling approached them, "Ah…Richard there you are. Skeeter wants some final…" he looked at Peri, "What's wrong with her?"
"You," Richard spoke coldly. He pulled Peri behind him in a protective fatherly manner, "I warned you twelve years ago that you were not to see or speak to the children and Cassie ever again. You learned of our return and forced yourself back in. Against what I said. Whatever you said and/or done to Peri has upset her," he stepped closer to Erling leaving Peri with Snape. He was inches from Erling staring down coldly at him, "If you hurt my girl, you will answer directly to me. And whatever crimes I commit against you, remember I have diplomatic immunity in several wizarding countries, including Bulgaria and Italy."
Erling's eyes squinted at him so that they were nearly lines, he spoke angrily, "She is not your child. She is my granddaughter. My blood runs in her veins."
"Perhaps, but I have treated her far better than you ever could," he turned at his heel then went over to Peri, "We are going home tonight and taking your house elves with us. You will never own an elf again. I will ensure that. We will not be returning ever! Do not contact my wife or family again! If you do you will have my lawyers serving you restraining orders."
With his final words spoken he guided Peri back to the ballroom, "We are leaving. Now," he told Cassie, "Juniper."
The elf appeared with a pop, "Sir?"
"Please collect our bags and bring them to our house. Once you have done that, you and the other elves are free. I will give you each clothing and money to provide better living environments and lives for yourselves."
Juniper was confused as she tilted her head in confusion, "We live with you now?"
"Yes. And you are free, our family does not own elves but you mean the world to Cassie and no one deserves to be around that man anymore."
She nodded looking at Cassie and then Richard, "May Juniper stay though? Juniper does not want to leave Mrs. Cassie. Juniper loves Cassie."
He nodded, "If you wish, but you will be free."
"Really? Juniper loves that!"
He nodded, "Yes. Any elf who wishes to stay in my employment will receive a paycheck and proper care."
"Will there be any more babies? Juniper loves babies, Cassie was a good baby. Bad child and sad teen, but a lovely baby."
Richard and Cassie exchanged looks then looked at their daughters, "We are quite comfortable with the family we currently have, but you never know," Cassie told the elf as she kneeled in front of her, "You were a better parent to me than my own and I'm pleased to call you family."
"No money then. Family does not pay family."
"We get an allowance," Hallie spoke up, "Speaking of which I would like to discuss a raise."
Their family laughed, "We can discuss that later, Hal," Richard told her, "For now we get Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George to the Burrow and us back home."
"Our home," Peri added.
Richard gave her a small side squeeze and kissed the top of her head, "Nothing is more like home than being around the ones you love."
Everyone agreed as she looked at George with a smile.
The family left with a pop of apparition, their downstairs filled with an entire manor's house elves.
George pulled Peri to the side before Richard took him home, he gave her a soft kiss on the lips, "And that is a proper new year's kiss."
She looked up at him teary-eyed, "It is."
"What's wrong?" he asked seeing the tears.
"Saying goodbye."
He laughed, "I will see you tomorrow and the day after and the day after that."
She gave a small nod, "Yes…sorry…I'm tired."
"Well goodnight, Peri. Happy New Year."
He gave her a final soft kiss before leaving her there alone, "Happy New Year," she said after him.