Toujours Pur | Euphemia Black

Chapter 75 | How Dare You

Mia screamed. It was an ear-deafening, gut-wrenching and heart-stopping sound that ripped from her throat as she saw Charlus fall to the ground, his unconscious body smashing against the cobblestones of the alleyway as Heather and Walburga high fived each other, looking satisfied.

Charlus wasn't moving. Euphemia dropped to her knees, shaking her boyfriend's shoulder furiously to try and wake him up, tears welling up in her eyes as she did so. "Wake up, wake up," she whispered, neglecting her wand in her moment of panic.

"For Merlin's sake, girl, he's only stunned. Calm down," Walburga rolled her eyes and it seemed like Euphemia had completely forgotten that Walburga and Heather were stood there until one of them spoke because she turned to face them, startled.

"It's not the point," Mia growled and she pulled out her wand and pointed it at Heather and Walburga, taking the former by surprise because she had been hanging back, slightly hidden by her best friend who had been the one who had stunned Charlus.

"Why are you here?" Euphemia asked, stepping forward with a steely glint in her eye that Walburga had never seen before - usually Mia was scared and vulnerable in these situations but she didn't seem too bothered that her secret relationship with Charlus was now at risk of being revealed.

"I'm checking up on you, cuz," Walburga said in a sickly sweet voice, tilting her dark head to one side as she fixed an innocent smile on her face, widening her eyes, "I just wanted to check that this blood traitor..." she kicked Charlus, "....hadn't cursed you or hurt you in any way, shape or form. I was concerned about you," she said with a pout.

Mia scoffed harshly - she didn't believe Walburga's innocent act for a second, "Charlus would never curse me because he's a good person unlike you," she spat at her cousin who flinched before stepping forward again so that Walburga and Euphemia were practically nose to nose, Heather forgotten in the background as she stood behind Walburga.

"I knew it," Walburga gasped mockingly, pretending to look sad as she patted Mia's cheek, only to be batted away by the girl in disgust, "He's manipulated you. He's turned you into a blood traitor. But he's only tricking you, you know. Or don't you remember the playboy reputation that Charlus Potter had before he started dating you?" she hissed.

Euphemia gulped because that was one of her irrational fears - that Charlus would get bored with her and that she would've risked everything to be with him only for him to dump her aside like a piece of rubbish, like he had done with many of his girlfriends in the past.

She had always been anxious about his playboy reputation when they were first starting to like each other, when he had started to show signs that he wanted to date her but Mia thought that those paranoid voices in her head had stopped hissing their nasty words into her ear...evidently not.

The thing was, Euphemia hadn't actually had any fears about hers and Charlus' relationship ever since the week before, when they had kissed for the first time, but now that Walburga had started putting those thoughts into her head, Mia found herself doubting whether Charlus was genuine in his affection for her.

"Shut up," Euphemia retorted, shaking her head to rid the horrible thoughts from her mind, "You don't know anything about me and Charlus. You shouldn't know anything about us. How did you even find out? This alleyway isn't exactly the focal point for Hogsmeade visitors so, unless you were planning on doing something naughty with Heather, there's no reason for you to be here."

Walburga scowled at what Mia said, not appreciating the snide remark at the end of her cousin's response and she struggled to think of a reply that wouldn't sound pathetic in comparison to Euphemia's sass. However, Heather came to her rescue and the blonde stepped forward, startling both of the Blacks as they had forgotten that she was there.