◤ ❝It's a scary thing when two monsters look at one another and only see peace. That means they are monsters capable of love―and I don't think there is anything more terrifying than a monster who can love and still does terrible things.❞ ― Tracey Davis ◢

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CHAPTER NINETEEN:      TYCHE

December 24, 1996

          "Do we have a plan here?" 

The news that Eleanor and Kal Radnor would not be arriving at the Erebus family manor until the 24th of December (a day later than what they originally assumed, but unsurprisingly expected given Eleanor's holiday tendencies) had elated all of their moods. If not because they were given more time to look into the leather, black book of Slughorn's than because they would be rid of the wretched woman for another day―but the next day had approached faster than any of them wanted, and so did the evening. That left them little time to inspect the book and even less time to come up with an unanimous decision on what they would do for the Christmas dinner that year. Their grandparents decided to only stay for single evening that year given the 'tragedies happening in the world' as their Grandmother said. She could blame it on anything else in the world, but they all knew the truth. Eleanor just didn't want to be in the home of Alastiare Erebus any longer than a day. 

As Celicia's wand spurted out another spell, Theodore asked the question on everyone's mind. Mia glanced up from her seat on top of the table in her mother's library, her hand falling from Atlas' back. Theo was leaning against the window, the cool of the winter snow outside relieving him of the tension in his back. They had all been holed up inside the library for Merlin knows how long, only stopping to eat Picket's food, to change, and to occasionally sleep on the large sofa in the corner of the room. Theodore and Celicia did that more often than Mia. 

She gave her cousin a look. "Of course we do. Smile, glare at the back of Grandmother's head, and avoid any instances that lead toward a conversation about our disgraceful fathers. Mother keeps the peace, and when we have the chance, we let Grandfather slip a potion into Grandmother's drink so she sleeps until the New Year." 

"Andromeda," the condescending tone in her mother's voice trailed off in warning, but she did not look up from the book.

"What, Mother? You hate the woman as much as we do. Don't act like we don't have this down to a strict routine after sixteen years." 

"She is your grandmother―the only living one either of you have left for that matter. She deserves more respect out of the two of you..." Celicia paused, glancing up at her daughter with pursed lips "...but I suppose I will see if Father can arrange a faster nap for her. It will rid us all of the coming migraine he has survived for sixty years." 

Mia gestured that her point had been proven. "Now that we've all come to the same agreement that Grandmother is the bane of our magical existences, what are we meant to say if she has questions at dinner about what happened over the summer with the Malfoy's? Or if she asks about the Dark Lord?" 

"You could always say you've begun dating Malfoy," Theo threw out, and she turned to him with a scowl that only made a smirk grow on the sides of his lips. "What? It's a solid excuse, and it's one we could use more than once to explain any oddness in your behavior if she points it out...we'll say the two of you have gone out and gotten matching tattoos."

She clenched her teeth together, glaring at him. "We absolutely will not―"

"Mia," her mother interrupted, and they turned to her. The thoughtful look in Celicia's eyes only made Mia's face fall in absolute horror. No. Absolutely not. "Perhaps Theodore is right...my mother has always believed when you were younger that Draco would be a suitable partner and husband as the two of you aged. She will be too overjoyed with the news to think of anything else that may be happening in your life." 

"Oh, and the fact that Draco's father is rotting in Azkaban won't change that belief?" Mia reminded, her brows shooting up in question. "She abhors the Dark Lord and any involvement in Death Eaters for that matter after her two innocent daughters were corrupted by them. Not only is she going to tear down the foundations that Uncle Eldrice and Father built, but she is going to rip into every single outed Death Eater known to this world. Lucius, included. No. Absolutely not―stop giving me that look, you two! I refuse to give into this false story that I would ever fancy, no less date, Draco Malfoy! It won't work!" 

Theodore's lips pulled into a straight line. "Would you rather tell her the truth then?" 

"Godrick, no," she blanched immediately. "She'd try to murder me on spot." 

"Then you better start gushing over Malfoy in the next hour. Shouldn't be too hard, right, Romy?" 

Mia could have sworn her eye twitched. "And what about you? What is your cover going to be?"

"Why would I need a cover? Aunt Cece has already mentioned how enthusiastic they were to hear I joined the Quidditch team this year, so I'll have no problem talking their ear off about it. I am the innocent one, remember?" 

She glared at him for a moment before whipping her head to her mother. "Can I kill him?" 

"No, Andromeda," Celicia sighed, then she took another glance at the clock. "We should go clean ourselves up before they arrive. Once they've left, we can continue trying...Mia, have you considered allowing―" 

Mia interrupted her before she could finish, knowing the direction she was heading in. "No. That is not going to happen. I refuse to allow Grandfather in on this mess―that I'm even sitting here and letting you two touch that book stands as a miracle. I'm not involving any more family in this, and definitely not him. I can't..." 

"...trust him?" Theodore offered softly. 

Mia hated that it was true, but she nodded slowly. "Not with this...the more people that know, the more opportunity there is for someone to discover the truth who shouldn't. Potter has been obsessed with us for months, digging into our business since the year began, and any small suspicion he has leads him directly into Dumbledore's lap. Snape is sticking his nose wherever he can to figure out what is going on, and the Ministry has not been quiet about their searches either. No one else needs to know about these missions."

"And who does?" 

"You," Mia confirmed, nodding her head at him. "Mother and Narcissa know they exist, but no one knows the details except Draco and me. I reckon the Dark Lord will have told Bellatrix of the plan in place to get her into Hogwarts―"

Theodore stood up straight, his eyes darkening. "What?" 

Mia recognized her mistake. She had gotten too comfortable with the small talk between her mother and cousin to realize one crucial thing―they were not Draco, and the bickering and conversation between them would never be equal to the way she spoke so openly with him. Mixed feelings caught up with her, and she realized how much she wished he was standing next to her in that moment. Even Celicia glanced up with a look of surprise, her eyes shining with concern. Immediately, a dark hole seemed like the better alternative than standing there under the weighted stares of her family. 

"It's nothing," she dismissed, quickly. 

"That isn't―Mia, you're sending Death Eaters into school?" Theodore asked in alarm. "Why? What could the Dark Lord possibly want from Hogwarts?" 

She sucked in a deep breath of air through her nose, glancing down at her hands. The internal battle inside of her mind returned, and she glanced warily at the doors and windows of the place like prying ears would come out and expose themselves. She knew her mother had cast a spell on the library already, silencing their conversation to outside forces, but that did not stop the feeling from rising in the pit of her stomach. The desperation to tell someone rose, and she tried her hardest to push that down, but the only thing she wanted to feel was the comfort that what she was doing was necessary. That someone understood why. 

"At first, he was vague with me on what the purpose was..." she started, her mouth drying as she played with her hands "...I assumed that he would be sending them into Hogwarts for Potter, to take him in a place where he felt most comfortable, and kill him―it made the most sense to me, so I believed it because I wanted that to be the truth. Potter deserved to have his safety ripped from beneath him the way that it was ripped from beneath me. Beneath us, and every other child of a Death Eater. I wanted that so desperately because I wanted to see Potter pay for the chaos that he has caused in our lives...for him to pay for what he has done to our family." 

But that was not the truth, she thought. Instead, she and Draco were reconstructing the Cabinet so that the Death Eaters could enter Hogwarts and assist Draco and her in murdering Dumbledore. That was the truth, and one that she had only just discovered two months ago. Even in her desperation, she was wise enough not to tell them that. She could already see the expression on her mother's face and the concern rising on Theodore's, and if she revealed that bit of information, she knew neither one of them would take it well. A suicide mission, they would call it. A fool, they would call her.

Theodore's jaw clenched at the mention of Potter. "And his true purpose?" 

"I don't know," she lied, pursing her lips. "That was not a question I asked. He said I was responsible for dealing with Slughorn and discovering a way for the Death Eaters to enter the castle alongside Draco. His mission involved what would happen once we found a way for them to get into Hogwarts." 

"And he hasn't told you? What kind of partnership is that, Mia?" 

Her fingers tightened on each other, the defensive mechanism for Draco kicking in impulsively as she frowned at her cousin. "Do you want to know how this began between him and I, Theodore? Over the summer at the Malfoy's? Bellatrix Lestrange locked the two of us in a room together for hours. I was forced to root through the mind of my friend―seeing all of his secrets, all of his pain, all of his fears―until he was finally sick enough of the trauma to push me out of his mind...we grew stronger, but his trust in me fell to pieces...and after all of that was finished, she showed us how to perform the Unforgivable Curses by using us as her victims. Do you know how the Cruciatus Curse feels? It was pain."

 A muffled sound came from her left, but she did not bother looking her to know that her mother was choking down her horror. That nearly made her scoff. Perhaps if her mother had not checked out on her that summer, she would have known about the torture she and Draco suffered as a result of becoming Death Eaters. 

"Mia―" Theodore went to interrupt, his eyes blazing with unkept emotions.

"I understand that you don't like him, Theo, and that you believe he would save his neck before he stuck it out for me," she said, calmly. More calm than she was expecting as she recounted her trauma from that summer. "Maybe that is true. Maybe he would. But this partnership with Draco―having him by my side since this started―is the only sliver of sanity that I have left. This partnership is the only reason why I haven't thrown myself off the Astronomy Tower just to rid myself of the burden I have on my shoulders." 

"You don't mean that..." 

"What? Dying?" she asked, raising her brows. "Because I don't fear it. Not anymore. I think about it often actually. Our family has been stuck in an endless divide between the two sides of this War. The Order doesn't care whether we live or die. The Dark Lord knows that Father was a traitor, and his parting gift was sentencing his daughter to the life he betrayed. I have known from the beginning that I am only buying time until one of them takes action. Why wouldn't I think of saving them the time and ending it all myself?" 

The dry feeling in his mouth from last night returned and he swallowed hard. "Because you are a Slytherin, Mia. Because you would never just give up like that." 

"You're right, which is why I haven't, but that doesn't mean it hasn't crossed my mind. Everyone can get low enough to do things they normally wouldn't. Now, should we go get changed before our grandparents get here?" she asked casually, sliding off the table and barely paying mind to Atlas when he jumped off to stand at her feet. She saw the grim looks on their faces and sighed. "Let up, you two. There's no point in dwelling over what is. I'm tired of the depressing conversations. Can't we go be a pureblood family and glower at one another from across the dining table? And plot killing one another in between meals?" 

Theodore's jaw clenched, the only indication that he was still thinking about what she said, before he nodded slowly. He made the first move to leave, striding across the room to kiss the top of her head before he left through the doors of the library. Mia's heart fell in her gut as she watched him go, knowing that she was placing burden and burden on his shoulders every conversation they had now-a-days. She wished she had never told him anything in the first place, but her selfish relief that he finally knew overruled the guilt. 

Mia went to look at her mother, noticing that Celicia had been the oddly quiet in the conversation between her and Theo. Not that she was surprised. Her mother had been walking on eggshells around her lately, and with good reason. They warmed up to one another after a few hours collaborating in the library, but there was still the wave of unresolved tension between them. They hadn't talked about the fight from her first day back in the manor, but she knew Celicia ignored speaking about it in fear that it would change the progress they were making already. Maybe it was because Celicia had been living in ignorance for so long about what Mia had truly become, and the holiday break so far had been a brutal wake-up call.

"I'll put this in the safe," Celicia said softly, but her voice broke at the end. She paused, her hands wavering over the leather book of Slughorn's, and Mia waited. She could read her mother too well and saw her ruling over her thoughts. Finally, after a heavy inhale, she spoke again. "I question every day how much blame I should be putting on myself and how much I should lay in your father's grave...the longer that this continues, the more I am beginning to see that perhaps it was my fault all along." 

"You aren't innocent." 

The statement split through the air like lightning, shooting directly into the spine of Celicia. Mia crossed her arms tightly over her chest and stared blankly when her mother's head shot up to look at her in distress. 

"I won't spare your feelings. I'm not the same fifteen-year-old girl who cried when her father forgot her birthday. He is the reason why I was forced to become a Death Eater, and that is on him, but what I faced after...that is on you. I know you couldn't have stopped it without losing your life in the process, but the months after? You had the opportunity to be there for me when I was suffering, and you curled up into a corner and let yourself rot instead of caring for the family that was still living...but as angry as I was, that disappeared when I finally accepted that I was putting too much responsibility on your shoulders. You and Father were never parents, and it was wrong of me to assume that would change just because I needed you." 

"The day that you were born was the happiest day of our lives, Mia...even before, when I was still feeling you grow so close to my heart, but those happy days were ripped from beneath us by the First War. I wanted to hide you from it. I had never known that kind of love, nothing other than the way I fell so deeply for your father...but love slowly transforms into a bitter question of how much you are willing to give up for the ones you love. Our instinct to flee when we know we cannot win is the reason why it is so hard for us to love others. We know that if we get too close, our lives are in danger. That is the true test. If you find someone that are willing to die for, then you have found someone you would die without. It is only the beginning to a very tragic end, and one that I have come to know well..."

Her mother paused, her voice breaking again. Celicia's small exhale was enough for the tears to fall, her brown eyes a distant reflection of her daughter's. Mia stayed quiet, her heart beating a mile a minute as she listened to the way her mother spoke about her father. 

"Alastiare became...cold. Distant. There was nothing that I thought could save him. Then, you were born, and there was a sliver of hope for us...but we were all changed by the way that the First War ended. Your father was stuck in an inescapable crowd of the Dark Lord's followers, all desperate to see his return, and he consumed himself in it. After...after Athella passed..." she choked up, the mention of her sister "...I suppose I fell away into myself, too. I turned to the way that I was raised by my mother and thought that it was acceptable. I see that I was wrong." 

"I know that both of you cared for me. Your letters showed that, and Father never would have taught me Legilimency so eagerly after the Dark Lord returned if he didn't care, but..." Mia paused, a frown growing on her face. "I stopped expecting the things that would never come, and I began to accept what I had. That was Theodore. You weren't the best mother, but...I had him. I know love, and I know family, and I know well enough now to see what comes with that because of him. What you are doing now―helping me, trying―it is what family does." 

Celicia's eyes brightened through her tears, if only momentarily, and she nodded slowly. "I would...like to try...being a mother again."

"Perhaps..." she paused, sucking in a deep breath as she watched the woman in front of her. "Perhaps we can begin with friends first and learn together."

Although she could see that she hurt her mother in putting the expectations so low, there was still a reflection of gratitude that seeped through the spilled tears. For the first time since July, she was starting to feel small ounces of weight lifting―first with Theodore, and now with her mother―and although she knew that it would only return tenfold when she was back at Hogwarts, she took the small moment and appreciated the time she had where it did not feel like her world was imploding in front of her. 

"Friends," Celicia agreed. 

――――――――――

"Oh! Andromeda! Theodore! The two of you are just precious! Kal, look how beautiful our grandchildren are! Well, Andromeda looks a bit worse for wear―darling, what on Earth is that school feeding you children now-a-days? Bless the Heavens, you look even smaller than Theodore! Perhaps it's that dress...white has never been a flattering color with your complexion―oh, but Theodore! You've gotten so much taller! A happy birthday is in order for you!"

There were two very important things to note about Eleanor Radnor: the first, was that she was quite possibly the most talented witch at insincere compliments and a passive-aggressive attitude, and two, she prided herself on pretending like she was a wonderful person when the reality was that she was truly an evil wench disguised in a wrinkly woman's body. She was a smaller lady with bright blonde hair and blue eyes. The similarities in Eleanor and Celicia were far and few between―and every time Eleanor saw her, she reminded Celicia of that. Athella Nott had gotten all of Eleanor's characteristics, while Celicia had favored the genetics of her father. Sometimes, she wondered if Celicia just prayed that Eleanor wasn't actually her mother. 

"She looks just the same as she always does, Eleanor," a gruff voice came out from behind the small lady. "As does my grandson."

Kal Radnor, however, was an exact replica of Celicia, and by proxy, Mia. His dark hair was greying, and he did not seem eager to put any charms on it like Eleanor did, but it was his dark brown eyes that pierced the world around him deeply. He was the only reason why Celicia and Athella Nott had been different than other pureblood children growing up―why they were not cold but compassionate, and why they did not talk up their pureblood status with arrogant pride. It was him, and his family before him, that were the reason why Mia and Theodore had some salvaged qualities. Well, Theodore did. All of hers had been burned out of her by the Mark on her arm.

As they stood in the living room, only a few feet away from the fireplace where their grandparents had just entered from, Mia couldn't help but feel incredibly small. She was wearing white dress robes, long-sleeved as always, and had tried her hardest to fix herself up to be presentable. It had been just as difficult to look at herself in the mirror that time as it had been before. Theodore was on her right, already wearing his own proper dress robes, and Celicia was standing to her left only slightly behind her. None of them were prepared for Eleanor's commentary, though.

It was a wonder how Kal put up with her. Much like a lot of pureblood families, they had been set up in an arranged marriage at a young age. Eleanor was originally an Abbott, the sister of Cornelius Abbott (who was the grandfather of Hannah Abbott and father of Arthur Abbott). However, she had long since disowned that side of her family after a falling out with her brother. Hence the reason why Mia and Theodore have never once had a conversation with their supposed cousin, Hannah. They had not even been phased by the news that Hannah Abbott's muggle-born mother was murdered by Death Eaters (albeit, it did make Mia nauseous and only added to Eleanor's hatred over them). 

"Well we haven't seen them since June!" Eleanor exclaimed, and her old withering hands moved to roughly grab a hold of Mia's face to inspect her. "Dear, are you sure that you are well? The circles under your eyes are concerning...well, with the death of that father of yours, I can imagine..." 

Celicia cleared her throat. "Mother." 

"Oh, of course, how insensitive of me," she said, squeezing Mia's face tight enough to prove that she was not familiar with affection, before she turned to do the exact same to Theodore. "Well, I am just happy that I get to spend another Christmas with my grandchildren! Theodore, you look so skinny! And how pleased I am that is just the five of us this year after everything that's been happening..." 

"Eleanor," Kal interrupted, walking over with his cane pressing deep into the wood of their floor. "We should be getting situated in our room before dinner begins." 

Eleanor turned to her husband, her eyes narrowing, before she let go of Theodore's face and nodded. "Of course, darling. Where is that house elf of yours? I'm sure he can gather all of our things―" 

"Picket," Mia cut in with a false smile, her words dry as she spit them through her teeth. "She will have already begun taking some of your luggage upstairs, Grandmother, as she does every time you visit. She has been very loyal to our family."

"Oh yes, yes...of course. They always are, as your Grandfather says..." 

Eleanor turned with her chin up and started in the direction of the guest room they always occupied at the Erebus manor. She did not stop to acknowledge her daughter once. Theodore and Mia both watched her leave, already starting their plan off by glaring holes into the back of her head as she walked away. Celicia's shoulders dropped, a cool breath escaping her lips, and Mia often forgot how much her mother disliked Eleanor. Well, everyone did, but her mother more than anyone. Rightly deserved, though.

When she disappeared from view, they turned to see Kal staring at them with curious eyes. After all, he was the person who they got the skill from in the first place. His aging face was frowning, and brown eyes inspected every inch of her and Theodore before he slowly limped forward. Neither one of them moved or said a word, watching as he stopped directly in front of them. The man was intimidating, just as he had been their entire lives. He was tall, even with a hunch of his spine, and almost reached Theodore's height at well over six-foot. Waves of anxiety rang through Mia's body as she wondered if he could see straight through her lies and into her secrets. 

Then, a soft smile broke the hard expression. His hand outstretched similarly to Eleanor's and he moved to press the back of his hand gently to Mia's face. Unlike his wife, he knew affection well. "Daughter of Cassiopeia, you are just as beautiful as always. Don't listen to your Grandmother. This trip has left her more...agitated than usual. I've already prepared something to ease her troubles." 

Mia smiled softly, the comforting eyes of her grandfather a reminder of the reason why she was doing everything she was in the first place. Her family―the only thing that mattered to her. Kal moved his hand from her face, turning his body in the direction of Theodore, and his grin did not fall in the least. She knew it was oftentimes difficult for them to see him, as he looked so similar to Athella with his bright blue eyes, but Kal never faltered. He brought his hand up to Theodore's shoulder, clasping it tightly with a gleam of pride shining in his eyes. 

"I hear that my grandson has finally joined the Quidditch team," Kal said, squeezing his shoulder. "I was overjoyed to hear that news, you know. Always wanted a son to play my position back in my day, but I got two daughters that fell in love with books and potions instead―finally I've got someone to share my memories with. We'll have to talk more about it at dinner, Theodore. I should go find my wife before she finds something else to gripe about."

He turned, and on his way, he stopped to place a kiss on his daughter's forehead and whisper something in her ear. She nodded and watched him walk away, peaking the curiosity of Theodore and Mia once he was finally out of the room. Celicia looked over to see them both staring at her with equally-questioning eyes, and she couldn't help but give a small smile at how similar they looked in that moment. 

"He was only telling me that he has already prepared a potion that will give her the opportunity to rest after dinner until they leave tomorrow evening," Celicia explained, "but the Christmas dinner will still happen as usual tonight." 

Mia's lips pursed tightly. "Wonderful. 'Tis the season for dessert and deceit." 

Theodore hummed quietly at her side, and Celicia's eyes hooded in worry, but not one of them would admit that they were all terrified of what was to come that night. Without realizing it, Theodore's hand outstretched to rub her left arm in comfort, and Mia's fingers itched to claw at the piece of skin in order to keep it as far away from this Christmas dinner as physically possible. 

――――――――――

Cutlery clung loudly against the expensive, emblemed plates as they ate their dinner. Pushing around the food and occasionally sticking a small portion or two in her mouth had been the last ten minutes of Andromeda's experience at their annual Christmas dinner. Eleanor had been giving occasional distasteful looks every time Picket came in to bring out another dish, their house-elf already used to the routine of being silent around the woman. Celicia was quiet, a place over to Mia's left and trying to ignore the empty seat in front of her where Alastiare used to sit. Theodore and Mia were at the very center of the long table, empty on their right sides where Athella and Eldrice Nott used to be once upon a time. Now, at each head of the table, sat their grandparents―the very same grandparents who were currently bickering with one another. 

"Well the Ministry has been laying themselves heavy trying to convince everyone that they have any leads on what is happening, but they are fooling no one―it is all happening the same as it had all those years ago, and the Ministry are muppets, they are. Nothing is going to change because they are too scared of that foul wizard to do anything about it...even with half of those degenerates that follow him so loyally incarcerated! And all of those witches and wizards dying because those fools think they can change a war already won..." 

Kal slowly dropped his goblet, the mead on its fourth fill and doing nothing to intoxicate the man. She had a feeling that his wife kept him sober. "Oh, have no pity on the damned. They are the only ones who will escape this war unscathed. Everything they had is gone. The real pity goes to the ones still alive when the fire has burned out and the bodies are collecting around them. What is to say you cannot die in every way but the physical?" 

"But at least they are alive!" Eleanor scoffed. "I can't imagine what is worse―dying in sacrifice for someone like him or being murdered in cold blood simply because you do not fear him." 

Mia's blood turned cold, and she could see that Celicia and Theodore were both struggling to keep themselves stoic as they all realized the words hit far too close to home for them. She kept her gaze on her plate, pushing around some vegetables and only peering up to share silent thoughts with Theo every so often.

Kal raised his brow at her across the long table. "And anyone who does not fear the Dark Lord is mad enough to deserve death. The Potter boy himself fears him, and he has broken the fate of death once before by the hands of the Dark Lord. Don't talk on belligerent fools without heavy deliberation on your own words, darling. We have seen the world work into sides once before with Grindlewald, and we saw it again sixteen years ago. Both times the side we believed would win did not." 

"This time will be different..." she scowled at her husband. "It feels different than last time. He did not have the resources last time that he does now...the world knows what he is capable of. We have evaded two wars in our lifetime, and I am only concerned that we may not escape the very center of it a third." 

"Then that is our fate. We cannot alter decisions already made for us no more than we can hope that they will not come true. Let us talk about our grandchildren, Eleanor. It's Christmas. Talk of war is no conversation for the dinner table," Kal said, and before Eleanor could interject, he turned to look over at Mia. She wanted to throw up the food she just ate instantly. "Andromeda, how has your school year been so far? Celicia mentioned in one of her letters that Horace Slughorn has returned to Hogwarts. I went to school with the man, you know. He was always seeking attention in places that did not want him, but a very ambitious housemate, he was." 

Mia nodded, swallowing her food slowly. "The year has gone well. They've begun taking new precautions for our safety, but it has been an easy transition thus far. Professor Slughorn teaches Potions now, so the adjustment of professors has been difficult, but the year has gone by quickly. Slughorn asked me to be a part of his Slug Club, so I have been attending meetings regularly. I've also been working more on my nonverbal skills in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class." 

"Andromeda is the best in our year," Theodore pipped in, giving her a glance. 

"And Theodore is the best at Transfiguration," she retorted quickly.

A hum was heard at the end of the table, and Eleanor narrowed her eyes briefly on Mia. "I hope that you are not driving yourself to unhealthy measures for the sake of learning, Andromeda. Rest is always more important, and a proper appearance is always warranted in any instance you will face as a young woman." 

"Of course, Grandmother." 

Theodore saw the way that her jaw strained to resist saying something she shouldn't, so he decided to go along with the plan they set in place earlier. "Oh, it isn't just nonverbal magic that has been occupying your time, is it, Mia?" 

"I don't know what you mean, Theodore," she hastily replied, her eyes steeling as she tried not to glare holes into his face. She knew what he was trying to do, and she was split second away from sending her fork into his eye if he dared. 

"Andromeda has been seeing Draco Malfoy." 

Her hold on her fork twitched.

"Oh!" Eleanor's jolt of surprise rang through the room and made everyone flinch. "I've completely forgotten about Narcissa's boy. When did this happen, Andromeda?" 

Mia tried not to sneer at her cousin, loosened her jaw as she turned to give her grandmother a fake smile. "We became close friends after I spent the summer with him and Narcissa at their manor. He...we started seeing each other in September when school began again."

"That is wonderful news! I've always thought that boy had a better head on his shoulders than his father. I wasn't surprised to hear he got himself stuck in Azbakan. I'm sure he is favoring well without that man hovering over him―tell me, do you love him?" 

Mia made the mistake of taking a drink of water in that moment and choked instantly at her grandmother's blunt question. The liquid, thankfully, hadn't gone anywhere but she could still feel her face growing flustered and burning brightly. She wanted to die, but before that, she wanted to kill her cousin and wipe the growing smirk off his face as he pushed around the meat on his plate. 

"The two of us have only just begun the relationship, Grandmother. I feel that it is too early to know whether or not I love him―" 

"You do!" Eleanor gasped, and she sat up straighter in her seat. "Oh, darling, the two of you would make beautiful children! Perhaps after you graduate, he will ask your hand in marriage! Oh, I can picture it now! That is just the kind of event we need to take away all of the terrible things happening in the world right now." 

Celicia, thankfully, had saved Mia before she had to reply to that comment. "Mother. I'm not sure that talk of marriage right now is the best time―" 

"Nonsense," she waved her hand. "The marriage would restore the family names and bring hope back to us. Andromeda, tell me more about him! I haven't seen him since he was a child. He is good to you, isn't he? Is he handsome? Draco was always very handsome when he was growing up." 

Mia's hands tightened on her fork, the metal burning hotly against her skin as she smiled falsely at her grandmother. "Of course. He has always treated me kindly...and he is very handsome."

Theodore was the one to choke on his drink this time, and he quickly grabbed his napkin to cough up the remaining water as Eleanor ignored her grandson's reaction. Andromeda knew that she could not do magic, but the urge to maim her cousin in that moment only grew more passionately in the pit of her stomach as she realized this was all his fault. Otherwise, she would not be sitting here having a conversation about a future and children with Draco Malfoy. Of all the bloody people in the world. 

"Theodore," she redirected with an acidic sneer, interrupting the next comment that was about to come out of Eleanor's mouth. "Since we are on the topic of things occupying our time, why don't you talk about how well you have been doing at Quidditch? He has been receiving private lessons from the best Chaser on the Slytherin team to prepare for the game against Ravenclaw in February." 

Theodore's smug expression dropped. He immediately curled up, any amusement sucked dry from him as the conversation turned in his direction. Mia figured it was because of the attention and felt satisfaction in knowing that the focus was turned off her fabricated relationship with Draco. Pretending to be in love with him was difficult, and talking that way about him only brought a nauseating feeling in her stomach the longer she dwelled on it. If she had to involve Vaisey in the conversation, then so be it. She could handle the reminder of what she had done to him if only for the spite.

"The best Chaser?" Kal asked, finally returning back to the conversation as he peered between the two of them for answers.

Theodore sighed. "Yes, Grandfather. Andrew Vaisey has been giving me private lessons weekly since I joined the team in October." 

"Vaisey?" Eleanor interjected, her brow furrowed as she recalled the surname. "Is there any relation to the editor for the Daily Prophet?" 

"His father, yes." 

"He seems to speak the truth on much of what is happening recently, although I'm not sure I enjoy the focus that he has placed on our family," Kal muttered, nodding his head as he turned his attention back on Theo. "Well―have you favored from his lessons?" 

Theodore shifted around in his seat, and that made Mia pay attention. Her cousin had his nervous ticks, antics that he had retained from his persistent shyness over the years, and shifting was one of them. She just didn't understand why he was suddenly so self-conscious about a Quidditch conversation when he had been perfectly content with it earlier. Unless Vaisey was the cause of it, but she never thought that the disagreement between them from a few days ago would have gone that far. Theo had practically admitted to her that Vaisey went to him after Slughorn's Christmas party.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously on him as he swallowed hard, speaking. "I was...hesitant...at first...but he has helped me to see the way that the other Houses play and the best strategies to use as a Chaser." 

"He seems lovely, Theodore," Celicia said, softly, reminding everyone that she was still present at the table. "I am certainly grateful that he saw something in you and recognized your talents."

"He is certainly a very helpful person," Mia agreed, still watching her cousin closely. He did not meet her eye, and she only narrowed them further on him. "And a very talented one. There is no one better for Theodore to be with than Andrew." 

Her cousin froze and flickered his blue eyes on her for a split second at her final sentence. Mia raised her brows in question, the two of them sharing in a silent exchange of conversation as she all but asked him what was wrong. She would have expected an odd reaction from herself at the mention of Vaisey given their history, but the way that Theodore was acting was too out of character for her not to grow concerned with its cause. However, he had already diverted his stare back to his food and she understood that that was the end of the talk. 

The dinner went on for another half hour, and none of the conversations were particularly important as Kal discussed the differences in the school curriculum between his time and theirs. After the conversation about Draco and Vaisey, there was a shift in the atmosphere between the cousins and everyone but Eleanor noticed it. Mia constantly glanced at Theodore, wanting to know what was wrong, but Theodore had long since perfected the art of avoiding Andromeda. 

That led them to the end of their night when Eleanor's words began slurring, indication that Kal's potion was starting to take effect on her. Mia and Theodore both shot up quickly, each stating that they would help take her to her room, before glowering at one another. That was how Celicia knew it was bad―they were willingly offering to go off with Eleanor than be in the same room with one another. Mia eventually won, and she gave another false smile at her grandmother as she guided her with one arm on her elbow through the maze of the Erebus manor. 

"This place...a bloody disgrace to the years...the decades I worked..." Eleanor scoffed under her breath, words jumbled "...and they left me! My own...blood―all for those disloyal bastards...and now one is dead and the other a widow...ha!" 

Andromeda pressed her lips into a thin line, restraining herself from digging her nails into the woman's skin. "Grandmother, you need to rest―" 

"And you..." she turned her attention to Mia, stopping in the middle of the hallway to shift her hooded eyes on her. One of her wrinkled hands went up to slap against the side of her face, and Mia winced briefly. "You...you look so much like him―I can't...I can't help but hate you just the way I...just the way I despised him." 

Hot anger blinded her. The mere comparison between her and her father reminded her too much of everything that she had let go off. She was sure Eleanor felt the muscles clench in her face, and this time, Mia didn't bother with niceties as she hastily grabbed her grandmother's wrist and pulled it from her skin. A deep glare was starting to burn on the woman's face, building hatred for her. Her fingers twitched, Eleanor's eyes going down on her aching wrist with a strike of fear, before Mia quickly released her. 

"Do we look similar now, Grandmother?" Mia mocked, coldly. 

Eleanor clutched her hand to her chest, but she did not step away from her granddaughter. Instead, the same eyes Theodore wore steeled and her grandmother's mouth started to turn up sickly. Mia glowered, knowing she was still intoxicated, but she couldn't stop herself from wondering how much the woman was playing down her sobriety as an act. 

"Oh, sweetheart...you have the kind of sadness nothing in this world could repair. One day you will wake up and realize that the best thing that happened to your father was the day he died and got to leave you and that woman I call my daughter behind." 

Eleanor walked away, her footsteps in a straight line, and Mia wondered if the feeling she left behind was similar to a Dementor's Kiss―because all she felt was hollow, and hopeless, and wracked with an endless amount of dead responses for a woman who was too forgotten in her heart to even care. 

The sound of their loud clock chimed overhead, signaling that it was officially a new day. 

Merry Christmas. 

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Author's Note: 

Easter eggs! We are finally getting into the deep end of the story, and a LOT of the quotes we have seen in the earlier chapters (at the beginning of each chapter) were in this! One from Celicia, one from Kal, and one from Eleanor. This will happen more frequently from now on, so be expecting to see a lot more! Try to catch them!

I officially hate Eleanor (love Kal, though). A lot of things happened in this chapter, but let me know what you think! Did you love reading the dinner scene as much as I loved writing it? I LOVED writing these last three chapters, but I do miss Draco and Romy (he was still kind of included). 

Why do you think Theodore was acting weird? 

Do you hate Eleanor as much as I do?

Do you think that Celicia deserved forgiveness from Mia?

STYX: PERSONIFICATION OF HATRED