Late December, 1973
I groaned as someone poked me in my sleep. I tried to roll away, but by doing so I rolled off the bed and I fell face first on the ground.
I winced in pain and rubbed my nose when I sat up. I heard laughter and looked over to see Ghislaine sitting on my bed, a beautiful smile on her equally gorgeous face. When she stopped laughed, she dug into the pocket of her robe and passed me a small box that had a bow in it.
"Happy Christmas, Reesa," Ghislaine said.
Smiling, I pulled her into a hug. Then I undid the bow and gasped when I saw what was inside. It held up a gorgeous pendant, bearing the Hogwarts coat of arms, with the four squares being each a different color representing the four houses. My smile widening, I quickly put it on and then I oulled Ghislaine for another embrace.
"I love it," I told her. "Thank you."
"Only the best for my sister,"Ghislaine said before she and I made our way downstairs.
I was tying the rooe of my robe as she and I entered fhe kitchen. Within, house eleves worked busily and I wished them all 'Hally Christmas' before entered the dining room. Already seated were the other members of my family and I was feelinf especially chipper so I gave each of them a kiss on the forehead—much to Jules's consternation.
As we began to eat our Christmas breakfast, I thought we were going to talk about happy things. I wasn't so lucky.
"Have you heard the rumors, Father?" Jules asked, cutting into his ham. "About You-Know-Who?"
Father nodded. "The Ministry is trying to keep those rumors on the low, but I have heard that Dumbledore is worried."
"Dumbledore is crazy," Veronique said. "Everyone is probably overreacting. Besides, what did the Dark Lord do to make everyone so crazy?"
I took note of Veronique saying 'Dark Lord' instead of 'You-Know-Who' as Mother replied, "He wants to 'cleanse' the Wizarding World by getting rid of muggle-borns. Which is wrong."
My entire family nodded in agreement but as I looked at Veronique, she didn't look like she agreed. I looked at her suspiciouslu after that until Father called my name.
"Yes, Father?" I asked, deciding to forget about Veronique for the moment.
"I've heard your grades have improved," Father said. "I'm glad. Keep up the good work."
I smiled with pride but my moment was stolen when Jules said, "Changing the subject, but I'm thinking of learning Swedish. What do you think?"
Mother and Father beamed with pride while Ghislaine started to give Jules all the support in the world. Meanwhile, I sunk lower into my chair, blocking out the rest of the conversation that praised everyone in the family that apparently didn't seem to include me.
000000000000000
Dear Reesa,
How is your Christmas break so far? Mine has been excellent. Mum and Dad are just raving about Johnny being a wizard like me.
Have you heard from Marlene? I haven't, but Lily says she's really busy. Her parents took her to America for Christmas and apparently sending owls from there to here isn't practical. She and Lily have been using phones. You know how a phone works, right? It's muggle.
Anyway, that's all I really have to say, but I hope you're doing all right! Write back soon!
xxxxx Lydia
I smiled as I read the letter, glad to hear from Lydia. I was also glad to solve the mystery concerning Marlene's lack of response to my letters. I did wonder how America was like. I had never been, but I guarantee that one day Mother and Father will take Ghislaine. She usually went on trips oversees with them.
"Reesa, get ready for dinner!" Mother called from downstairs. "And where something nice!"
I frowned at her words but shrugged, guessing she probably just wanted to take a family portrait after dinner. There, I walked over to my wardrobe and took out a long-sleeve dress of black with gold embroidery. Mither probably meant for me to where green, but black made me look thinner and I needed that advantage when having a family portrait.
Afterwarsa, I put on my black flats and then pulled my hair into a ponytail. Content with my appearance, I went downstairs to the living room. But my Family was there. Instead they were in fhe foyer and that usually meant we were having guests over.
"Whatever going on?" I asked, gaining Mothers attention.
"The Blacks—oh dear. What are you wearing?" Mother asked, studying my appearance. She came over and fixed my hair, which I had thought was completely fine. "You should've worn green. Oh dear..."
I was about to inqure as to why she mentioned the Blacks, but just then someone knocked on the door. A house elf entered and standing in the entrance were no other than Walburga and Orion Black.
I froze in my place as Father greeted them and I asked myself why they were here. I bore no recollection of my family ever telling me they were coming. However, it didn't seem as rhough they brought Sirius or Regulus, so that was a relief, I suppose.
From there, I only spoke when spoken to and I was okay with that. Dinner was way longer than I would've liked and when Mother dismissed me and my siblings so the adults could talk, I almost exhaled in relief. Once I was out of view, I raced to my room, hoping to stay there until they left. I was planning on writing back to Ludia about this surprise visit from the Blacks, but then Veronique ruined it.
"You do know why they want to talk, don't you?" Veronique asked. She didn't seemed mischievous. Just curious.
I shook my head. "No, and I don't care."
"Oh, you should," she told me as she began to walk away. "They're planning your future."
She was gone before I could ask what she meant but then I realized exactly what she meant. Eyes widening with horror, I very quietly went back downstairs, shushing fhe house elves before they could speak to me. I made my way to the library, which had the door closed. Therefore, I pressed my back against the wall beside the door and listened to what was going in within.
"From what I've heard, Cerisa seems like something of a problem child," Walburga was saying.
"She's going through a stage," Mother said. "We're stirring her out of it."
"And, forgive me for saying, but she isn't the thinnest, more attractive of girls," Orion replied, causing me to clench my fists in anger.
"We're working to fix that as well," Mother said hastily. "We still believe that a union between our families would be spectacular."
"And," Father began. "If you forgive me for saying so, but I've heard that Sirius isn't the most obedient of children."
"He isn't," Orion admitted after a moment. "And he was very much against this idea when he found out. But like you, I think a union would be spectacular..."
Not wanting to listen to anything further, I made my way back upstairs. After locking myself in my room, I got changed into my nightgown and then I sat down at my desk, which sat opposite the bed. From there, I began to write to both Lydia and Lily about this surprise encounter from the Blacks and about what I heard. I was most surprised to hear that Sirius knew about it as well and I was glad he was the way he was. Because then I could never want a marriage with him.
And so I wrote to my friends about these things and more, hardly being able to wait until I saw them again.
