Lilac Sky; s.black (EDITING)

〚 15 〛 Price of Love

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Chapter Fifteen
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Price of Love
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Then, as soon as it had begun, their shared moment was over, and it was now tainted. Her father stood at the end of the hall, flanked by Walburga. His eyes bored into hers, and then into Sirius. He strutted down the hall, as Ines and Sirius still clung to each other. He ripped Ines from him, ripping the sleeves of her dress in the process due to the sheer force of his grip. "You insolent whore! How could you! The effort that was put into arranging this engagement and this is how you thank me?". Behind her, she could hear the sound of a slap, and Walburga seething. The only thing holding her together being the moment she just shared with Sirius. "I don't want it! I don't want to marry Regulus! I want to marry who I please, not under your idiotic jurisdiction!". These words earned her a slap to the face as well. He gripped her arm again, his fingernails boring scars into her, and dragged her down the hall in which he had come. She could hear Sirius struggle behind her "Stop! Leave me alone!" he yelled.

They passed the open door to the ballroom, many people were staring, they had heard the whole thing. She saw her mother, seated behind Oberon, in her usual state, quiet and obedient. She was gripping Regulus, probably in an effort to convince him that Ines would still be a worthy wife. Narcissa and Lucius looked at them, they had ruined their moment in the spotlight. Ines made eye contact with Oberon, his face was as impassive as ever, and it angered Ines. She wanted him to do something, anything, give her a pitying look, something to communicate that it would be ok and he didn't hate her. But it never came, and she continued to be dragged from the Manor. Sirius was writhing in his mother's grip, calling her horrid names, all of which she shot back at him. They made it to the entrance and they were dragged outside the doors. "Don't expect to ever come home again!" Victor yelled, and Walburga nodded. Their parents didn't say a single word more to them and simply shut the door. They were a sight to be seen. Sirius' dress robes were mangled and his hair was a mess. Ines' dress was torn in its sleeves, and her lipstick was smudged, not easily noticed due to the tear tracks on her cheeks. They stood close, catching their breath, unable to comprehend the life-changing events that had just taken place in less than five minutes.

Ines could only stare at the lilacs flowing into the front of the house from the back garden, which she had been just looking at through the window. Sirius snapped her out of her trance, placing his hand on her shoulder, he was crying too now. Ines stared at him and laughed. He smiled a bit and chuckled with her. They were free and were weirdly relieved about it. She placed her hand, still shaking, into his and they walked down the steps to the end of the driveway. But, at the end of the driveway, they halted. They had their wands on them, but what use were they under the statue of secrecy, Ines held hers out, wondering what they could possibly do. Before one of them could say a word, a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt exactly in front of them. They belonged to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus. Ines had heard of it a few times but didn't expect it to appear like this, regardless of it not being on command. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leaped out of the bus and began to speak loudly.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Kenneth Towler, and I will be your conductor this eve —" The conductor stopped abruptly. He had just caught sight of the two of them, clad in their best clothes. "What is it you two are all gussied up for? Getting married?". "No," Ines stated, "we were at a wedding.". He took a moment, thinking, before coming to a realization and looking at them in a whole new light. "The Malfoy wedding wasn't it? Aye, i've heard much about it.". "So — so this bus," he went on quickly, hoping to avoid the subject of the wedding, "did you say it goes anywhere?". "Yep," said Kenneth proudly, "anywhere you like, long's it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater. 'Ere," he said, looking suspicious, again, "you did flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand 'and, dincha?" "Yes," said Ines quickly. "Listen, how much would it be to get to Cheshire?". Sirius turned to her, Ines mouthed 'James' shrugging. He nodded, they both knew he would be the best person to look to for help in this situation. "Eleven Sickles," said Kenneth, "but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice.". Sirius rummaged in his left pocket, extracted his money bag, and shoved some gold into Kenneth's hand, and they both stepped up into the bus.