Well, I would thank my reviewers, but I didn't have any on this chapter, so thank you charlemagnebrat1, for adding this story to your alerts
Well, I would thank my reviewers, but I didn't have any on this chapter, so thank you charlemagnebrat1, for adding this story to your alerts. Any kind of feed back is appreciated.
After a few seconds of that uncomfortable sensation of being yanked like a rag-doll, Walden had arrived at his humble home, the Greenwood House. Though his ancestors had called it a house for the sake of modesty, it was rather far from it, with three floors, fifty-six bedrooms, and enough chimneys for a gun-powder factory. While it didn't match the extravagance of the Black or Malfoy manors, he rather liked it that way. It was cozy.
He and his father, William MacNair, stepped into the foyer, handing off their snow-dusted coats to two happily waiting house elves. Apart from this small routine, however, they were greeted by a minor hurricane.
In the MacNair family, there were six. There were the parents, Dahlia and William Sr., naturally. But, when they'd made the decision to have children, they decided to go above and beyond the call of duty, and raise four little ones, all of them sons. First, there was William Jr., then Thomas, then Louis, and last, Walden. Currently, the three elder brothers were busy making a ruckus.
"Give it back, you filthy blood-traitor!"
"Mum! Did you hear what he just called me?!"
"You deserve his anger; he doesn't know where your filthy little hands may have been."
"No one asked you!"
"Boys, can you please settle down, I'm trying to- Thomas! You will put down that candelabra right this instant!"
"But mum-!"
"Listen to your mother," William Sr. interjected, throwing Thomas a look. Sulkily, he put the candelabra down where it belonged, but still fixed Louis with a murderous glare. He all but threw a leather-bound tome back to his younger brother, before stalking off.
Walden ventured out of the foyer, poking his head out, meekly. "Hi mum."
"Oh!" she squealed, scurrying over in her deadly stiletto shoes. "My baby's here! How was school, darling? Do you like it?" He nodded, hugging his mother briefly, greeting his brothers in a similar fashion. Dahlia took this time to re-adjust her chocolate brown robes, and fix her thick black curls. "Well, go upstairs and change. I've laid out some robes for you, and I'll be up in a minute or two to fix you for little Narcissa's birthday." Walden nodded, and headed upstairs, sans protest. He had almost made it without incident, until he showed up.
"Hey Wally," Thomas ventured with a smile, his hazel eyes twinkling with happiness. With a quick hug and a ruffle of his hair, he stood back. "How're you?"
He loved Thomas, he really did. Thomas had been the first person to really introduce him to exotic creatures, to show him his passion. He'd been the first to shove a beater's bat in his hand and teach him how to hit. But, he was also the first person in several centuries to ruin a MacNair tradition of pristine bloodlines. He'd set tongues wagging about their family. He put distance between himself and Lucius, between himself and Bellatrix. The decision was clear.
"…Please don't touch me, Thomas. I'm going to a pure-blood affair; I can't afford for you to taint me with your filth."
The hurt, the sense of betrayal, was palpable. He could smell it in the air, see it in his brothers watery eyes. Surprisingly, he even felt it slide down his own cheek, and tasted it when it reached his chapped, red lips. If you were wondering, betrayal has that familiar bite of salt, reminiscent of the sea. Likewise, you can easily drown in it.
"Very well." His voice was shaking. "Send my regards. And if you ever want to be my brother again, you can let me know. My room is down the hall." He left without a word, but his shuddering shoulders said it all. Walden watched him go, and heard the door shut with a soft click. H rubbed his eyes furiously, and hurried into his own room, slamming the door behind him. He'd just cried! How pathetic was that!
He made his way over to his rather large bed, pulling a set of dark blue robes off of it and changing into them, haphazardly. Then, he flopped onto his bed, disturbing the leaf-green comforter as he mulled over the recent set of events.
The door flew open with a swish, and his mother shuffled in, her heels made silent on the cream carpeting. "Walden dear, come on, get up, it's time to get ready."
He stood and faced his mother, and let her take care of all the finer points of his appearance. She steamed his robes, brushed his hair, freshened his face, and clipped his nails, then stood back to admire her work. It seemed like she was going to say something, but then-
"Mum… Would it be alright for you and me to go to Thomas's wedding?" She gaped at him in that sort of 'you've lost it' fashion. "Not everyone has to go, Louis and Will can stay, it's just that I'd like to go. I mean, he's my brother, and she's only a half-blood, and no one important is going to show up anyway. Please Mum?"
She sighed heavily, her little red lips twisted into a frown. "Darling, I would love to see Thomas get married, you know that. He's my son. It's just that… It's not the way things work, you know?" Her eyes swirled with a wistful sort of sadness, the kind of sadness mothers often bear.
"Why not?" Walden insisted, fidgeting as his mother adjusted his collar.
"Walden, honey," she sighed. "When you live a life like ours, there is a certain price that must be paid. It may be emotional, mental, physical, personal… It is different for everyone."
"What was your price?"
"Many things. My son, my family, my chances, my identity. There are many things one gives up in this pureblood life. You'll learn that as you age." She was silent for a moment, dusting herself off, checking her appearance one last time before leading Walden down the hall to the family lounge. She grabbed a box, wrapped in powder-blue wrapping paper with white-silk ribbons. Then, she tossed a pinch of Floo powder into the flames, stepped in with her son, and said confidently- "Black Manor!" In a flurry of green flames and ash, they were whisked away.
Now, Walden wasn't exactly partial to Floo travel, either. It felt rather like being stuck under raging water. He much preferred a broomstick, a hippogriff, or an aethenon. Even apparition was better than the floo. But, he didn't have much time to mull over his dislike. The swirling was coming to a halt, and slowly, things were coming into focus.
They had arrived in the massive fireplace of the Black parlor. The structure itself was huge, big enough to fit a muggle car in. According to Bella, family myth said that Blacks of olden days had burned muggle children alive in it. The room it was placed in, however, made the fireplace look like it belonged to a gnome. In fact, the room was gargantuan. The ceilings were at least fifty feet high, and the room itself was probably ten thousand square feet. The floors were white marble, spotted with area rugs and antique furniture. Windows that spanned the entire wall, ceiling to floor, were dressed in yards and yards of Grecian drapes, colored with an olive hue, at present. But, despite all the splendor of the room, all the obvious wealth, and all the care taken to cleanliness and décor, one fixture of the room out-did all the others.
Madame Black was waiting for them outside the hearth, smiling pleasantly. She was absolutely beautiful, a veela, in fact. She had platinum blonde hair, spun into a swirling mountain of ringlets, pinned carefully on her head. Her body was slender, with curves in all the right places, and her skin seemed to be made of silk. Her lips were small, cupid-bowed, and full, of a rich rose hue; her cheek bones were high but not haughty, and her cheeks were always flushed to just the perfect degree. Sapphires seemed captured in her almond-shaped eyes, twinkling with laughter and happiness, and framed by long, dark lashes. She offered his mother a dainty hand to help her out of the fireplace, and as the two made small talk, the lady of the house smiled a perfectly white, perfectly straight smile.
"And 'ow are you, Walden?" He snapped out of staring and flushed, embarrassed.
"Fine, Mrs. Black, thanks for asking," he muttered, scratching the back of his head nervously. She smiled affectionately, and gestured to an open door on the opposite side of the room.
"Bellatrix and Narcissa are in ze next room, along with ze other children. Go ahead, if you like." He nodded and hurried away, still blushing like mad. Bella's mother was a knock-out, that was for sure. It was hard to imagine her having kids at all!
He sidled into the room, and was greeted by Pleione and Bellatrix almost immediately. "Miss me that much?" he smirked. The brunette snarled, crumpling her aubergine robes in her fists to keep from smacking him (which would have been very unladylike, of course).
"Just need to cling to you until Roddy gets here. Otherwise they might get me." She gestured to a large group of boys, mostly their age, clustering around Narcissa, giving her well-wishes, making small talk, and so on. Currently, the poor little blonde looked both overwhelmed and subtly irritated. Her cousin Sirius and his friend James were doing their best to try and shoo them away, but to no avail. Walden shrugged.
"S'not my problem if they bother you. You should be honored. You could have the likes of Charles Avery, Michael Wilkes, Antonin Dolohov, and Gregory Goyle swooning over you," he said, snickering.
Pleione smiled her eyes flitting over to the group. "Well, I might not mind Antonin," she muttered, grinning wickedly. For some bizarre reason, Walden found himself highly uncomfortable with that remark.
"Hold on," he said. "Gotta go put her gift down. Maybe vomit in the plants while I'm at it." He made his way to the gift table, which was piled high with various boxes, bags, baskets, envelopes, and other lumpy, odd-shaped parcels. He rather suspected this would be a difficult operation, like pulling on the block you just know is going to topple the tower in Jenga. Carefully, he lifted a large rectangle that supported one end of the pile, and shoved his gift in before dropping the other gifts on top and backing away. Satisfied that he hadn't caused the collapse, he turned away to go back to the group, only to nearly knock over Rodolphus.
"Hey mate," Rod grinned, shaking his hand firmly before shoving an envelope into the pile. "Long time no see."
"Yeah," Walden laughed. "Last time I saw you, you were paralyzed on the compartment floor."
Lucius sighed, levitating his gifts to the top of the pile. "Yeah, unfortunately, some prefect saw him on the way out and helped him. What a pity." Walden watched Lucius's parcels tilt precariously on the Mount Everest of gift wrap and ribbons.
"Your one box is the biggest of the bunch, Luke. What'd you get her?" Rodolphus asked.
"Can't tell," he replied, looking thoroughly satisfied. "It's a surprise. What'd you two get her?"
"I got her a book on all the different dragons: on their habitats, how they came to be, and what individuals of the breed are famous for," Walden said, shrugging. "It seems like a good book. What'd you get her, Rod?"
"Three acres of land that extend the property closer to the sea. I figured with the dragon business, she may need more room and all. My parents thought of it."
The other two nodded to themselves, scanning the room, looking at what was going on. "I'll be right back; looks like Rabastan is going to make a mess," Rodolphus said, jogging over to the snack table. This was true. Currently, the youngest Lestrange was trying to get himself a drink. But, being only five, instead, he was nearly spilling the punch bowl on himself.
Once Rodolphus had left them, Lucius nodded over to the small mob hounding the youngest Black sister. "What's all that about?"
Walden shrugged. "Dunno. Her guests, I suppose."
"She looks more annoyed than happy. Think I should go get her?"
"What, be the knight in shining armor or something?" The darker of the duo rolled his eyes. "You're not the type, Mal."
Lucius practically bristled. Sort of like an offended cockatiel, really. "What, you don't think I'm gallant enough?!"
"More like you don't have a gallant bone in your body."
"Oh really?! I'll show you, then!"
And so, hilarity ensues.