These are the most enjoyable relaxing days Eileen spends for the rest of the summer. Not being allowed outside along with being banned from talking to anyone has been the most perfect grounding as she can focus on how to plan the next two years starting september, and how to avoid that engagement crap dictated by David Floquet elected for detaining the worst fathership ever in the world– by Eileen.
He didn't come to see her in the three weeks of punishment. It gave Eileen the freedom to keep a routine schedule which allowed her to try and learn occlumency without interference.
In the morning, she sleeps.
At noon, she eats.
In the afternoon, she reads.
In the evening, she eats.
At night, she reads again.
With a little bit of plotting against the arranged marriage that doesn't bear any fruits lately. Aside by poisoning herself or the man himself, thus resulting in dying or risking a life-sentence in Azkaban, she can't really think of anything.
"Emptying your mind might prove itself the hardest step in the process. You have to take into account all external factors, like people, emotions, stress and fear. Unless you already master the art of occlumency, it will be useless to try and block someone from your mind if in state of distress," Eileen reads aloud.
"There is no official mean to void your head of any thoughts. Do whatever you can in order to cover your mind into complete nothingness. Only then will come the capacity to handle the mental intrusion in the easiest way."
The sigh she lets out is so heavy that she makes every particles of dust in the air fly away.
"Okay," Eileen groans, "So the first part is as much a pain in the ass as the last one. Great. How long will it take for me to master the clearing of my chaotic mind?"
More than the last week to go before the first of september, that's all she knows. Meaning she would be running around the castle with an open book for a brain for every master legilimency to read into. Riddle particularly. Wait, has Riddle mastered it yet? No, it doesn't matter. Voldemort won't be the only one to master it around Eileen, so she might as well learn it as much as she can to protect herself from spilling her foreshadowing.
It's one in the afternoon and Eileen is still wearing her night clothes without having done the sanitary routine of washing her face since the moment she woke up– two hours ago- and is strongly predisposed to remain this way until very late the coming night. Surprisingly too engrossed to the only likely study she would get interest in, Eileen doesn't hear the light knocks on the door, nor hears it opening from outside until the soft footsteps of a delicate, manly pair of shoes rises from the wooden planked floor.
Thinking of a servant coming to take the empty trollay away, she turns to the newcomer in order to ask for some sweets for the afternoon— and freezes.
Because it's not a servant.
"What the hell are you doing in my room?" she seethes, sitting up straight on the bed and forgetting the occlumency book for a minute.
Aaron Regmond remains undeterred by the scathing tone used for greetings. He comes closer and then bows like a gentleman in the middle of the room.
"Miss Floquet, what a pleasure to see you as well. Please forgive the rudeness of my entrance, I knocked a few times but got no answer."
'And that gave you the right to open the fucking door like you owned the house?' is what Eileen is burning to retort but can't even align two words at the sheer audacity of this man. Damn Aaron. She'd thought she still had some time to think of a plan to get away from him, but seeing as he came back to the residence not even a month after their first encounter with pure determination anchored in those dark brown orbs, it appears to be her greatest mistake.
"Lord Regmond," Eileen tries to stay as polite as possible. "As you can see, I am in no way ready to receive any visit today. Didn't my father tell you of my recent punishment?"
At that, Aaron smiles in a strange way.
"I am aware of your condition, Miss Floquet." He steps even closer. "And your father allowed me to pay you a visit for today– Although my presence here wasn't actually scheduled."
"I refuse your visit. Please see yourself out and come back when you're actually invited."
What is he doing here? Why David allowed that scum inside and why did he want to see her? So many questions Eileen doesn't really wants answers for. They have no bond or whatsoever between them yet. Not even a contract have been signed, no date for the engagement has been decided. So there is truly no reason at all for his presence here, within these walls. Inside her bedroom.
"Actually..." Aaron drawls as he stops in front of her bed. "I have some urgent matter to discuss with you."
"I'm sure it can wait. Leave."
His smile widens a little. Or maybe it was the same from the start? She can't remember anymore. Her mind she's spent hours to void of everything fills with stressful emotions, putting the mental space in turmoil. She isn't prepared for this. Aaron has to leave.
"What were you doing in Diagon Alley?"
He overshadows her in such an intimidating way, Eileen feels her bones paralyze at the expression displayed on Aaron's face. It's not the fox-like playfulness he is using here, but something different. Darker. Uglier. It's like invisible tendrils of magic suddenly wrapped around her throat, squeezing tightly. She exhales a breath as if she's forgotten how to use the oxygen all around her.
"What...?"
One hand comes to caress her cheek, tender and nothing short of a ghostly touch, until it grabs her by the back of her head and pulls. Hard.
"That day, when I saw you leaving the bookshop. What were you doing, Eileen? Who did you meet with?"
"I don't understand what you're saying–"
He puts more strength on the grip of her black hair. She hisses, more in pain than anger as she finally regains her senses and struggles to push him away. What was happening?!
"I know you had something to hide, or you wouldn't have started running. Who is he?"
"What...?!"
"You were meeting with someone, weren't you? I see no other reason why you ran away."
"Are you crazy?" She looks genuinely confused right now. Her, meeting a boy in a bookshop? What in the absolute bloody hell—
"Stop evading my questions. Answer me now. My patience is wearing thin."
"You're spouting nonsense!" she yells, hoping the noise alarms someone outside the room.
"I didn't think you were so cunning, Eileen. I heard you were a delicate, obedient girl who couldn't do anything without being told to. I thought I was going to be offered the absolute perfect doll wife one could have ever dreamed of... So imagine my surprise when I first saw you, quiet and so reserved but with so, oh so much fire in those big pretty eyes," Aaron murmurs in awe, his gaze unfocused as though he is reviving a certain picture of the past. "I should have known something was amiss. I should have trusted my instincts to keep an eye on you. Who would have believed you would act this quick and try to sabotage the engagement using another man?"
Something freezes inside Eileen. The mental cogs of her mind activate and Eileen is suddenly dragged into the memory of her previous escapade. And among the myriad of people, books and thoughts, everything clicks into place.
Her eyes widen in realization. Eileen nearly cracks a laugh at the sheer stupidity of the situation but can't even do so as Aaron's grip hurts so much...!
"You think I've been trying to cheat on you just so that I could cancel the..."
She paused.
Time comes to a sudden stop as something surges to hit her brain from inside in a powerful blow.
...Fucking hell. Oh, great Lord of whatever holy land that might exist up there. What a brilliant idea. Why hadn't she thought of this before?! Forget poison. Forget murder. Adultery! Bloody adultery! She didn't know who Aaron has seen leave the shop after her, but the incredible coincidence is a marvellous benediction coming straight from Heaven. All she had to do is pretend cheating on that madman and whatever wedding plan David prepared for her would simply go down the drain like nothing! There is only so much a conservative pureblood like her father could allow in regard of traditions like unions.
Tainting his reputation isn't something he would brush off like that.
"Why are you smiling?" he seethes without actually showing any trace of anger. And perhaps it's what is even more frightening coming from Aaron himself when it's so hard to read this man. "Do you really think it's going to work? I advise you not to get your hopes too high dear, because whatever you are scheming, you will never escape what is waiting for you in the end."
But Eileen doesn't care anymore. She now has a mean to stop everything. Seeing how shaken Aaron became at the slightest idea Eileen could have a secret lover, thinking about how he reacted and how he didn't stay put before the new terms in September... it means the engagement was not that inescapable for her.
"Heed my words, Eileen. I will go through the wedding. You will become my wife and I will obtain the end of the bargain I worked so hard for."
"Are you sure about this?" she retorts, unable to contain the glee overcoming her like blazing fire. "You seem distressed, Aaron. It's almost like you are on the verge of being defeated, don't you think?"
His hand releases her, only to go for the throat instead. Eileen chokes but remains still, not wavering once in front of the dangerous madman looking ready to commit murder right here, right now.
"You are so lucky I need you alive, darling. So, so lucky. Otherwise your neck would already be crushed by now, completely shattered by my hand."
Death. That's what this very hand is promising right now, tightened around the only part of her body keeping her alive. It's normally supposed to frighten people. To make them ponder about the afterlife and shaken in fear for the unkown definitely waiting for them ahead. But Death, Eileen has already got acquainted with. She already knows how it feels. How it works- or so. Of Death, Eileen is not afraid at all.
It would just be such a pain in the arse to start all over again. At least she wanted to reach past her fourties before giving her last breath.
This is why instead of feeding Aaron's sadistic desire with her terror, Eileen keeps her gaze firmly on his with absolute fierceness.
"I...'m not... afraid of... you."
Surprise comes across Aaron's face for half a second before the man controls his expression once more. Because this is not what he expected from a girl supposed to be shy and unaware of how the world works. Defiance is not what one would have expected coming from a powerless witch who is supposed to be recluse from everyone, to seek company, love and support. David said his daughter was like a puppet. Docile and quiet, who wanted nothing more than please.
But this one...
That fierce, stubborn girl glaring at him like she was in control of the situation instead of him...
She is no puppet.
She is more like a wild joker, unleashed of whatever pressure David Floquet thought he had on her for all those years.
"Alright," Aaron finally breathes, removing the threatening hand from her throat.
A bruise is already darkening on the fragile skin but none of them pays any attention to it. Aaron retreats back, not taking his eyes off the still glaring girl in pajamas sitting on the bed.
"I will leave you alone for now darling."
Eileen frowns, sceptickal. She hadn't expected the creep to comply that fast. And more than that- that nickname he picked for her is disgustingly disturbing.
"Go back to your lover or whoever he is, it won't change a thing. I will not give up and neither will your father. In fact, you might be dooming yourself right this moment as we speak because of that brilliant plan of yours. So, be my guest."
"I won't give up either. You think I'm going to just stand aside and watch you ruin my life because of your greed? Do not underestimate me, Aaron."
He smiles at that. A grin that sends chill down Eileen's spine. She really hoped it would back him away. She expected the man to be impatient or at least disturbed by her words. But his reaction is not what Eileen was originally seeking, against all odds. If possible, Aaron's face gleams with something dark, unpredictable. Evil, even.
He is not going to back off at all.
"Let the game begin, then. Let's see who caves in first, shall we?"
The next day, Eileen has been called to dine with her father for the first time in three weeks. She doesn't really want to, but the threat of ordering the elves not to bring her food until morning did the trick. Is it because Hogwarts' new term starts tomorrow? Or because of Aaron's appearance the day before? Either way, Eileen is now sitting at the dinner table across David Floquet who has already started to dive his silver fork into the dish. Eileen is the only one not eating– Not by rebellion, mind her. But because she finds it hard to force herself to act like nothing was wrong when, it fact, there is a lot she wished to discuss with her father right now. But no words would come out her mouth, her pipe obstructed by this new frustration of not knowing what that idiot would be capable of, were she to throw a tantrum when she's finally be allowed outside her bedroom.
She glances at a house-elf, standing in a soldier-way next to a row of maids ready to execute any command David would fling at them any minute now. He looks like the same elf who helped her go past Floquet's mansion last time. Has he not been punished then? Did David not know he was one of the main reason she could escape that day? The elf suddenly looks up and meets her eyes. The sheer fright that takes him instantaneously answers Eileen's query. Yup. He's been caught.
But against all odds, he's still working in the same rank of servant as before and without any corporal punishment visible.
"What did you promise Aaron?" she suddenly asks. She doesn't care if David is not in the mood for this talk.
He should have expected nothing less from his daughter after confining her for three whole weeks within these depressive walls. Her father doesn't reply immediately. He barely even lifts his gaze towards Eileen sitting at the other end of the table, chewing the piece of grilled pork before putting down the fork.
Only then, he begins to speak. "Why do you ask? Do you intend to offer him something better if you knew?"
"I would certainly try." She has no time for his mind game or whatever. She isn't afraid to be honest either.
He snaps his fingers and automatically, a maid comes over to pour wine in his glass. Eileen fights the urge to roll eyes.
"As you may know, before my family started a loan consultant business still running to this day, my great grandfather owned dozen of mines in the Eastern coast as well as in India. Ruby and diamond mines. Nine of them are shut down now, but the rest is still functionning with a lot of profits that are piling up tons of Galleons in our vault. Aaron has his sight on one of the last working mines here along with one in Panna."
Eileen frowns deeply.
"Don't tell me he offered to marry me in exchange for the mines. That would be far too cliché, Father."
He ticked at the dangerous tone she just used, but pays it no heed.
"I did. I proposed to sell you off to Aaron Regmond."
"... Why?"
"Because I had the opportunity to make the Floquet name great again. By marrying you off to a pureblood suitor, by having you healthy anew and forgetting the tainting past of this house once and for all, as well as perpetuating the lineage through your future child."
There is not even a small amount of shame in his voice. No guilt, no regret. Nothing. Eileen does her very best to ignore the last part, lest she starts setting the whole tablecloth ablaze.
"Are you suggesting Mother is included in the tainting past?"
"Oh, please. Don't pretend to be offended on her behalf. You two loathe each other. Your mother is not sane anymore and you cover in fear before her more than you do before me. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
Does she? Or rather, did Eileen cover in fear everytime she faced Marilyn Floquet in the past because of trauma? Seriously, that girl had to live all this time with such a broken family without any friends to lean on. It's not surprising she let herself die if leaving that crap of reality was her only salvation.
"Why didn't you simply divorce her?"
He scoffs- in a manner a pureblood would, anyway.
"Marriage isn't as simple as you might think. To divorce one's wife when she hadn't done anything against the law or the family will put a bad picture upon the husband. Even more if she's not deceased yet, regardless of her state of health."
Eileen doesn't display any trace of emotions on her face. Everything he says is endless nonsense, but she can't manage to be as angry as she'd like. As David implied, she and her mother had no connection after all. She finally picks up the fork.
"What about a mistress? One who could give you a perfect heir to assure your legacy."
"I already tried."
Her arm stops right before she can take a bite of the small tomato.
"It is to believe I am stuck with that rebellious daughter of mine until the day I die."
I hope that day comes soon.
"Or you could adopt," she replies instead, shrugging. "With blood ritual and all. It's become common in our community nowadays."
"I have to be sure I get my hands on the right son to do such a risky bet. Blood rituals aren't a joke. Once done, it can't be removed. I don't want to look that desperate."
"You already do. Look desperate, I mean."
"Pardon me?"
It appears David still isn't used to Eileen being this tactful. Or maybe he wasn't prone to being insulted. Even faced with the man's cold glare, she doesn't waver.
"If not, you wouldn't force this wedding crap on me after you properly looked your own daughter in the eyes for the first time last month."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"I think I do. I am the one who'll have to share a bed with a stranger after all."
"Aaron will not remain a stranger to you as long as you accept him."
"Because you think I'm actually going to trust a man who is willing to wed a minor just for a piece of your mines?" Eileen can contain her loathing no longer. Against David as well as against Aaron. This conversation is above incredulous. A sane person would see the wrongness in this arranged engagement. Hell, everyone would be repulsed by the mere idea of a grown man with a girl twice as young.
Everyone but the single-minded pureblood elitists.
"Father, I will say it to you one last time: I refuse to be bonded to some disgusting man who will see nothing in me but a bargain and a baby machine. By Merlin, I don't even plan on marrying anyone in the near future. I know common sense is unfamiliar to pureblood folks like you who only swear by Magic and nobility, but I don't want to be a part of it. I am even prepared to be disowned by you and leave the house if I have to. Know that I will stop to nothing in order to cancel the wedding in the end."
There. She said it. Not that David wasn't already aware of her position on the subject, but surely he hadn't expected his daughter to voice her thoughts out on the matter. Eileen watches him put down the cutlery with a loud thud. His fists hit the surface of the table, making the plates tremble for a second. His face is darkened, reddening in cold anger that instantly puts Eileen on guard. She's awaken a dragon.
"You, ungrateful little wench!" he spits, each syllable sending a wave of dread inside her chest. "After everything I did for you and your mother! Did you think your purpose was to simply exist and live as you please? Every child has a duty to accomplish for the benefit of the name they carry. You have a duty, as the only heir of the Floquet family, even if this fatality pains me to no end! You are only alive because I paid for your medical treatment all your life! If your mother is still living in this house, that's only the result of my good will and eternal patience that is wearing thin on that very moment. You will marry Aaron Regmond. You will become his wife and give him a child in the future because I. Said. So. Do you really think you have a choice? I would lock you up in your room until the day of the ceremony if I have to! You will marry this man, Eileen Floquet, whether you like it or not."
His magic is cracking in the air, filling it with coldness that engulfs Eileen's body as well as the servant's who can't do anything but watch the Floquet patriarch be taken over with fury.
"You spoiled dinner with your nonsense. Go to your room now, and don't get out until you depart for Hogwarts tomorrow."
Before Eileen can protest or grab a delicious-looking apple in apprehension for the hunger which will surely keep her awake all night long, two maids come to seize her by the arms and drag her away from the table. Without any other words, Eileen is led to her bedroom in silence before she is pushed in and locked inside like a child being punished. Again.
"Go die," she growls lowly, cursing the man out loud before resuming her steps to the bed.
So, no food for tonight. Not even the tomato she was about to savour earlier before David went further away in his crazy speech. She should just have ignored the fool, she knows. But how could one remain stoic when faced with the most utter absurdity ever?! Eileen is long aware that man isn't worth any redemption since the very beginning. He is but a lost cause, drowned in his own foolishness coated with elite's principles, and probably nurtured by his ancestors' point of view carved into his pureblood brain since birth.
But not once has Eileen wanted to squeeze the life out of this bastard more than today.
This is with her head filled with hatred and insults for her genitor that she resumes reading her book on occlumency. Of course, focusing on the intricate words about mind theories while in this state of fuming disarray is not the most favorable time to learn anything. So, after ten minutes of silent rage, Eileen throws the book across the room and dives into her cover in order to try and sleep before hunger punches in.
They didn't speak to each other ever after. Eileen hardly saw the shadow of her father this morning, and it was for the better. Still angry about their previous talk and the fact she couldn't learn a single trick of occlumency despite having almost learned the book by heart, Eileen stayed in a sour mood until they reached the train station. No apparition this time. Just the old, plain black car that had to drive two hours and a quarter to reach King's Cross station.
Even in his passive-agressive treatment, David wanted to have the last word to the whole debacle until the end. Forcing her to wake up early, her stomach empty, with no way to fill it until she can buy something from the lady of the train or until she arrives at Hogwarts. Meaning: no food for the whole day. Well, shite.
Sighing in defeat, Eileen wheels her luggage trolley up to the entrance of the well-known quay, where several small hordes of people in clothes familiar to the wizarding world are suspiciously heading to. She doesn't recognize them, but she knows they're definitely Hogwarts' students. She follows the groups to the famous barrier where they are supposed to rush into. She still has some memory of the first time she had to do it two years ago. She remembers being uncertain, having to witness dozen of wizards dashing into nothingness before doing the same with a fright. She almost missed the train back then.
Now standing before the big, enormous red locomotive of the platform 9 3/4, Eileen is instantly submerged by the warm atmosphere in which hundred of parents and children are happily swarming all around in a massive crowd. Having a hard time not to sigh or make a face in front of a little kid wheeping in jealousy because he was not of age to board the train yet, Eileen gets on the Hogwarts Express with the help of the feather-light charm on the luggage.
Now... Where did Sadell go to sit? Checking all the compartments one by one would be such a bother.
As soon as she steps in the car, she paused. As does the boy she almost bumped into. She blinks, he blinks, and finally, the realization of Eileen's identity comes to punch him from inside. Alphard groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Am I fated to run into you everytime I board this train, Floquet?"
Haha. Such a warm welcome from her second favourite Slytherin. The first one being Harvey-Not-Harvey, of course.
"Hello to you too, Alphard. Did you have a great— No, nevermind that, I don't care actually."
He scoffs at the way too familiar use of his first name. Or maybe at the complete disregard for his well-being. She will never know.
"I'm glad you're here. Can you help me find Eldwins? This train is freaking huge."
"Don't talk to me like we were friends."
"Aren't we?"
"I won't answer that."
"Then I'm going to take your silence as a stamp of approval. Now, can you help me find Eldwins?"
"Why, hasty to go join your Master so soon? Are you expecting to be offered some treats? Do you want a pat on the head?"
There is a blank silence for approximatively twenty second, until Eileen can stand it no more. She shrugs, giving the other an apathetic look of boredom.
"Of course. I'm Sadell's dog, remember? I thought it was more than obvious after a year and half clinging on to her. Is that still a surprise for you?"
Something more vicous glints inside his gaze. It's like his face changes into one Eileen has never seen before.
"I would've thought you were more like Riddle's dog, though."
It earns him another kind of reaction from the girl. Something more lively. More expressive which shows itself in her outraged features like he just cursed her entire ancestries.
"Excuse me?"
"Is that not the case? Last time I saw you, you two were happily taking a stroll together on the train like a dog and its master."
"Happily?!Are you fucking—"
"Hey! We would like to get through! You are in the way!"
Several smaller guys already in uniforms have boarded the locomotive behind Eileen. They automatically grow pale when they look at Alphard's scarf colour. Not surprising coming from the lions House, as their own tie revealed.
"You know what, Black? You're not my friend anymore."
"I never was."
"And it's gonna be your biggest regret ever!" she quips back, colliding their shoulders when she angrily walks past the boy.
Great. She thought she'd have a pleasant start to the new school year after all the ups and downs of the last few weeks, and especially after that monstrous morning when her stomach wouldn't stop growling. Now her mood had become sour and Eileen had the burning urge to strangle people out of sheer frustration.
She gave up trying to find Sadell. With no destination in mind, she zigzags through the few students outside the cubicles until she came to a random stop in front of one of them.
The door opens with a bang.
At the same time, a huge suitcase falls from the raft and half-crashes into a panicking boy who is struggling to prevent the heavy satchel from crushing his entire body. But not any panicking boy. A very familiar one Eileen almost missed during these two months in Hell. Her frown disappears. Her face suddenly lits brighter and she nearly goes hug the occupant, only stopped by her own luggage she was dragging behind.
"Harvey!"
"E-Eileen!? Ah, wait- I'm fighting for my life right now...!"
Gone was her urges to murder. Harvey is here to save the day after all. Casting a levitation spell on the suitcase, she places the huge thing back on the rack, repeats the same process for her own luggage and goes sit in front of a sheepish Harvey– or Austin, whatever– with a lighter mood. Sadell will be able to do without her dog for six or seven short hours on the road. It's not as if she would be able to skip the welcoming banquet and the sorting ceremony. Sadell will see her soon enough from the moment she will step off the train.
Thinking about Atheis' face when the bitch will discover she didn't kick the bucket during the summer break, a smirk stretches her lips as she lets herself be immersed in Harvey's anecdote of his holidays.
Ah, perhaps this sixth year isn't going to be such a disaster in the long run.