Toujours Pur | Euphemia Black

Chapter 22 | Dance With Me

Apologies for the later update, I was completing my Duke of Edinburgh expedition which resulted in me getting a bad back, sore feet and aching shoulders.

My tent ended up flooded and all my stuff was soaked and three people actually dropped out of our group because we had to complete it in torrential rain and hurricane like winds.

Just an explanation as to why I didn't update :/

The Christmas Ball approached rather quickly, the school moving swiftly through the days of December as the students battled icy winds and rain, there was no sign of snow this year - only a horrible and endless hail that seemed to last for days on end.

It hurt very much when it bounced down on you and it absolutely murdered everyone, especially if it hit you in the face - if that happened then woe betide you.

The hail made it especially hard to cross the courtyards and access the classrooms that weren't connected to the main part of the castle and, as Pomona experienced, the greenhouses were nearly impossible to get to without slipping on the grit and hail that had made numerous puddles all over the grounds.

Mia was still making sure to avoid Walburga, Heather and Mary as well as Druella and her cronies (which included Euphemia's other cousin - Dorea).

She was doing a rather good job of it, she thought, and only received dark looks and slightly threatening comments occasionally so she assumed she was pretty safe. Right?

Orion had asked Walburga to the ball, which Mia actually thought was absolutely disgusting - especially as they were cousins but she knew that was how it worked in her family, the Noble House of Black had always had a tendency to date and marry their cousins.

Euphemia knew that she would actually be forced to do so herself, unless she managed to argue with her parents about it.

To Mia, it didn't matter about a persons blood status for them to be a faithful husband, she didn't want to marry her cousins just so that the Black Family line could stay pure and that was that.

She wanted to find someone that she loved completely with all of her heart and someone that loved her back just as much.

Euphemia wanted to feel safe with her future husband, she didn't want to be scared of what he would do next, she wanted a happy life free of blood purity prejudices and she wanted her children to grow up without that dark cloud following them.

The rest of her family didn't seem to think that way, however, and she knew that her cousins would marry more of her cousins so that the Black Family could keep on multiplying and keep on staying as pure as they could manage. Hence why Orion was taking Walburga to the ball.

Orion Black was a funny person, really, and by funny Mia did not mean nor see him as amusing or easy going.

He was the type of guy to dress all in black on weekends, when they didn't have to wear their uniform and always was observing, his leering smile stretching across his face in a suspicious, creepy and mysterious manner - especially when girls were walking past.

He was Euphemia's cousin so, of course, she knew that he was dark minded and often had a lot of deadly or harmful curses up his sleeve, ready to use at any opportunity.

Like Druella, Orion had an influence on the school and many would shiver when he walked down the corridors with his group of dark looking friends.

There were whispers and mutters about the things he'd done to girls and Mia knew they weren't pleasant, leading even her to fear her own cousin despite knowing him since he was a little boy, when he had played Capture the Muggles with the rest of the Black cousins in the garden of the Black Manor.