Dark Paradise

Chapter Twenty-Five: Peculiar Presents

"And we must let you know we will be present for and after the second task."

The groan that followed the statement made Orion chuckle as he leaned back on the bed. His eyebrows raised amusedly as Druella joined in on the laughter. Their laughter wasn't received well as Cordelia leaned against her bed's headboard, sending her brother and cousin a glare.

Druella rolled her gold eyes and turned back towards the letter in her hand, the orange seal indicating it was from Ignatius.

"Rora is very happy for you, Ignatius pranked the Gryffindors and turned them green in honour of the Hogwarts champions."

Cordelia couldn't hold back her chuckle as she held out her hand for the letter, allowing Druella to turn to another unopened letter.

The bed was littered with various letters, some of them carelessly discarded while others were carefully placed on the pillows due to the importance of the sender. Most of the letters consisted of sweets and jewellery, but the gifts were left packed on Druella's bed as Cordelia insisted on going through the letters.

Most letters were from friends in Hogwarts, family members, and pureblood families hiding their spite, but others were from more important people like Dippet and ministry officials close to Arcturus Black.

Cordelia didn't mind most letters, ironically it was her parents' letter that drew a negative reaction. She turned towards the side and met Orion's gaze, gesturing for him to continue reading the letter.

"We're throwing a ball in honour of your victory, hopefully, Dippet will permit you to join. Take care, love. Melania and Arcturus Black."

Usually, Arcturus wouldn't be very pleased with his wife's name coming before his, but it was necessary for Lia to know which parent actually bothered writing the letter. Her father was certainly disappointed Orion wasn't the other champion, but there wasn't much to be done.

Her parents weren't the only ones negatively affected by the announcement, Cordelia noticed the disappointed frowns and sighs from her friends as they congratulated her, regardless of how hard they tried to hide it. However, she didn't mind that either, Lia knew it was conflicting to lose to a friend, but she figured they were happy it was her if not them.

That didn't hide how Rodolphus, Theo and Phyllis dejectedly scowled as Ella and Orion levitated the gifts and letters into the room. The boys easily excused themselves with mutters of Tom, but Phyllis couldn't hide the conflicted frown on her face as she fled to find Antoine and Estelle.

Antoine was yet another topic on her list of worries. The Ravenport heir had pretended nothing happened during their dance and Cordelia was glad for it, but she couldn't hide her scepticism as she pondered if he truly knew something of her past.

There were only three people who knew of Cordelia's secret, and the other two were tucked away in the Black-McMillan manor. Even Orion wasn't aware of why Arcturus chose to love his son and ignore his daughter, of the reason behind Cordelia's childhood sadness.

The grey-eyed boy didn't realize it, but his birth brought love and light back into the Black-Mcmillan family; something that Cordelia could never replace.

Cordelia might have been smart and the perfect pureblood, but Orion was the only child Arcturus could be proud of. But who could blame him? After all, his reasons were more than justified.

"Lia?"

She shook her head at Orion's sudden concern, noticing his expression reflected onto Druella.

"What is it?"

Ella rolled her eyes at the question, gesturing at the opened envelopes around them.

"We're out of letters to read, which means you can't put off opening the gifts."