✧UNWANTED INVITATION✧

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***

WARNING:
Mention of rape, victim-blaming, ect.

Alphard Black had kept up with playing Quidditch in his spare time with his best mates, which pushed his belief and thinking that he's he rightly fit for his age. Yet rushing out of the manor, apparenting and then seeking for a healer named Marlow...He was surely out of breath.

Thankfully he was working tonight, but tracking him down through the chaotic halls was tiring. Yet finally a witch had pointed him in the right direction, and with how much time has passed—Alphard had lost his formalities.

"I need you. Desperately." He claimed, and Marlow had taken a lookup from his clipboard with a somber expression. "Is everything alright, what—" 

"Rhea...Rhea Lestrange, you know of her. Yes?" Marlow's face had turned grim, as though he knew what this fellow was talking about.

And before Alphard could divulge further, Marlow had stopped a witch. "Family emergency, I'll be back as soon as I can." The eldest Black couldn't believe the man would come without being tempted with a hefty paycheck, one that he'd be signing regardless.

"You wouldn't happen to be Dolohov, would you?" Marlow said as he packed a small back of supplies. "No. I'm not."
"A friend?"
"Of the sorts. My brother is watching over right now, we'll have to sneak past the party." The healer knew the severity and followed in pursuit without much of a complaint.

When the door of the room had opened, Orion rose to his feet with the pure intention of throwing anyone out on the account of protecting Rhea. But seeing Alphard and another left him breathless.

"How is she?" Atlas said, hurrying back into Orion's chair and holding onto her still limp hand.
"Breathing, though I wouldn't be surprised if she has a concussion." Marlow had taken use of the coffee table just beside the table and began with a simple diagnosis.

"When did you find her?" He questioned, taking in the sight of both her hands and the state of her neck.

"About an hour ago, she couldn't have been there that long. This one couldn't keep an eye off her the entire night." Orion dwelled and Alphard shot him a look of betrayal.

"Another hour and she wouldn't make it," Marlow said, his eyes showing the conflicting of both his healer status and having to tend to his friend.

"She has internal bleeding, look away for a moment," Marlow claimed, and Orion had taken hold of his brother's shoulders and turned him away. The sound of fabric ripping caused Alphard to attempt to look, but to retain Rhea's modesty, he managed to hold him until the healer covered her up properly.

The internal bleeding had been due to a shattered rib and a torn muscle, it didn't take much more than a wave or two and the administration of countless potions that Marlow had taken with him.

And yet the cloth in Rhea's mouth that was dosed in another potion to keep the numbing potion coursing through her veins, there was a reason as to why it was he had managed it in the form of a cloth.

But with the way Rhea's body had flared up in reaction to her restitching and revive injuries had caused Alphard to tear his gaze away.

Even his worst quidditch injuries weren't to this extreme.

"As a healer at Saint Mungos, I have a duty to report this to Aurors," Marlow said as he began sanitizing both his hands and clearly Rhea from the blood spots on her face.

"And on a normal occasion I wouldn't suggest anything else, but—"
"But?! This is the second time I've had to mend her ribs! The second time I've put sap on her bruises! I've seen this enough in my life to know it doesn't get better!" Alphard had failed to mention his name when calling on the healer, but truthfully...Rank didn't matter.

"Rhea said we couldn't."
"Couldn't or you wouldn't?" His eyes danced between Orion and Alphard and he chuckled darkly. "Between us all, Rhea wasn't in the hospital for an illness. Her mother's methods had managed to cause a nearly complete shut down of her organs. So I am not the biggest fan of you or the rest of your kind." Ah, so he did know who they were.

"What am I meant to do when she begged me to remain silent?"
"Then I have nothing to report, because you'll be keeping an eye on her?" Orion had thought long and hard for the moment being and he smirked.

"I'll be inviting Rhea to live with myself and my wife—I know her parents will want to travel now that the semester has started," Orion claimed, but Marlow's eyes had turned to Alphard, the one who fetched him in the first place.

"And yourself...?"
"I'll be damned if this happens again." He said, glum as he realized that he didn't have as much of a plan as Orion had. It was selfish of him to want to hide his identity any longer, but it wouldn't do anyone any good.

"She'll need rest and another few drops of this every once in a while."
"My elf will administer it, her parents won't know—Won't know until she wants them to." Marlow narrowed his eyes once more and nods.

"Third time...Third time warrants an arrest."
"Warrants death at this point, Healer Marlow. But thank you, look for my owl." Alphard said and Orion had caught the confusion in the bloke's face he was escorted out, and Mr.Black had remained at Rhea's side once more.

He had already thought of a decent excuse for his wife, that he was smoking with Alphard—Which wasn't all that unbelievable at this point in time.

Healer Marlow had done them a great service and agreed to keep quiet. That was a service very little would do, especially knowing her name being connected to the Lestrange title.

But Orion failed to realize that Marlow has a sense of pride in his work, there was nothing worth the aggravation it would follow. Even if the Daily Prophet would pay the rest of life in full.

Once Rhea had started to gain color back in her face, it was then decided between them both, that they could place Rhea in their white lie.

Radolphous hadn't a care in the world that Rhea was mingling with Orion or Alphard, in his mind it was a blessing. Though it was widely known that the Lestranges were falling on the account of the recent marriage between Lucius and Narcissa.

Of course, Bellatrix and Rodolphous' marriage did indeed boost their status, neither was pitter-pattering on who will remain second.

A child would do just that, but either sister hadn't managed.

"I'm not sure how much of a conversation you've managed with my daughter, she's as quiet as a mouse." Alphard had to bite his tongue, clearly the next dishonor in this mess was how careless to not know anything of his own daughter.

Even in the few missives, Alphard knew that Rhea had plenty to say—And a conversation with her and Orion would be filled with witty remarks and laughter.

It was then that Orion posed that Rhea could certainly stay under the care of the Black family, and of course Clarissa had agreed in mere moments. The only fight that was made was Rhea's brother, who was just as happy to take her in, but Orion waved his hand.

Upon the following morning, the young Ravenclaw had woken up with the strangest feeling inside her tum. Not to mention the cooing taunts of Toffee and Benny sharing a perching post off by her desk. "Well hello you two, I see you've made nice with one another?" She deemed, and with her awake, Benny had flapped his wings to prepare for a flight.

The smart little creature had left the massive down beside her on the bed—Where a pile had been given.

_______

My goddess,

I hope you are feeling well after what transpired last night. Orion told me what's happened and Healer Marlow had been called to rectify what that bastard has done to you.

Mark my words, you shall not be afraid of anyone anymore. He's already spoken to your parents about staying at his manor, and while he and his wife aren't the friendliest of them all, you have nothing to worry about him getting into Grimmauld Place without an invitation.

We are both staying quiet, but if there is ever the chance you do find yourself needing a witness—I will gladly do that and curse the bloke from our existence. Nobody should ever feel the way you have been downcast, and I'm sorry I hadn't realized what was happening sooner.

But you didn't trust me with the secret and I understand, but I hope that you will come to me or Orion when you are feeling this way again.

-Atlas.

_______

Rhea had risen up in her bed further, the recollection of last night was a near-perfect blur. But the faces of Orion and Atlas were in the mix, along with Marlow.

And Antonio.

She gulped in seeing the perfect wax seal of the Black family crest and thus, cracked it open to take a look inside. The letter was much the same as Atlas', and plans have already been made for her to stay just a few days after her birthday.

But how would that transpire? She would still need to survive the next week or so, and her own birthday was not an event that could simply be missed on her account.

It was Orion's final phrase of 'tell your brother,' that sparked some hope into her system. And it was needed, desperately.

After reading the rest of her owls, one included a drastic turn of events from Antonio. She simply sent it Atlas, with the attachment of:

I'm beyond trusting you, Atlas.

And indeed she was, especially if Atlas had sided with Orion. Then she had a feeling of regret telling Sirius that she was getting aid from his own father. But he had nothing more than a positive response, especially considering the fact of being knocked unconscious and close to bleeding internally to death.

It was why her stomach had felt both bloated and tight, the mending was still on its way. So throughout the time at home and in between her family obligated meals, she managed to keep it well hidden.

It wasn't until the following day, Radolphous had come straight to Rhea's room and told her of a task—One of which involved a Death Eater rally.

"A-and why am I invited to go, I hold no mark?"
"No. But your betrothed does, and it is for appearances, Rhea. You aren't actually going to be asked to do anything." She blinked wildly at her brother, was he being serious?!
Had he not noticed how damned her entire body is at this very moment, even her heart was miles away at this given moment with how fast it was beating.

"No."
"No?... This wasn't really an invitation, you're—"
"I said no, brother." She claimed, with a bit more firmness to her voice as she tried to mask the inevitable.

"Rhea...It isn't as awful as you think, really. And you'll be beside myself and Antonio for the night, nobody will touch you." Clearly, her brother's dissection of the problem had sprouted from the fact that it was a Death Eater meeting—Which in itself was a problem, but as of yet, she needed to get this out into the open.

"Rhea?" Her silence was damning him, he hasn't seen very much of his sister, given that Hogwarts takes up the majority. So his excitement in his best mate marrying his sister meant more of seeing them both!
Or in his mind at the very least.

"Rolf, I can't..." She whispers, her strange behavior finally electing tears. Something that her brother was neither a fan of, but his Death Eater persona had still managed to feel guilty.

"What is it that's wrong, Ree? Let me soothe your worries, I would kill anyone who'd look at you the wrong way. I swear to it." She shook her head. "That's not true."
"Of course it is!" It wasn't that she was trying to offend his honor.

As the men in her family were certainly prideful in that.

So when Rhea had pulled up her sleeve, the remains of the love Antonio has for her was still brightly colorful on her pale skin. The second Rolf's eyes had honed in on the spot in question, he stormed forward—Leaving Rhea to have an almost identical return of the previous nights of torture.

"Who—Who's done this?!" His voice had turned her into a coward, all the while the support was pleading with her to do this. And she failed to find her voice.

The pain elicited in Rolf's face hadn't been something she's seen, perhaps when he was leaving Hogwarts to fend for herself. But this was worse, much worse.

"Rhea, sister—who did this to you?" She nodded, her fish gaping out in an attempt to share the name. But it didn't come out in much more than a whisper.

"Antonio." Now that certainly caused him to stumble backwards, and Rhea instantly turned to her guilty conscious. This was dangerous to keep hidden and force others to remain silent.

But with the way his worried expression had turned doubtful, he didn't agree with the reveal.

"Antonio?... He wouldn't dare hurt you. He know's better than—" Rhea hadn't cared about modesty, not with her brother who's carried her all the way to the hospital. But in taking off her robe, and the lingering slaps of paste on various parts of her body caused Rolf to gulp.

He didn't want to believe it was Antonio.

"Rhea...It can't be." She nodded again, her silent tears streaming down her face now. "It is." Her voice was much too strained to properly hear her, but Rolf had.

Even if he didn't want to believe it.

"This—It has to be a mistake, a misunderstanding. This can't be." Rhea was starting to have difficulty to see where the trouble lied, after having spewed so much on wanting to protect her and vowing to kill anyone who touches her—He hadn't managed to follow through with his promise at all.

He hadn't taken into the consideration it would be his own friend.

"That's what I thought...The first time." She claimed, and the disbelief had shined through instantly. But the voice of reason of both Orion and Atlas had sparked through, she needed to be brave.

Otherwise, Dolohov would continue to step all over her.

"The first time he thought I was with Sirius, that's when I left the party early—Before I got sick." She spoke, mindful of how much her voice was shaking.

She watched her brother's stress rank further as his hands ran through is long locks, as he was trying to digest what's happened—What his sister was saying.

But it didn't make sense, not at all!

"I thought you were with Mr.Black at the party..."
"No, Mr.Black found me nearly unconscious and bleeding internally." She said cooly, as Orion's name had struck a new cord of fear.

Sure her brother and father could hold their own in a sense of title battle, as Dolohov could be ruined with a sheer bit of public disgrace.

But Orion Black?
Antonio was a dead man, and Rhea was hoping that with the help of Rodolphous, that she could start feeling safe again.

Safe and happy.

"No. He's promised me—"
"Promise you what? That this'll be a grand idea, Rolf I asked to end it multiple times. Mother and father have just ignored me because of what you want!" Her voice was hoarse with emotion, but he didn't get tempted with her words.

He was being ignorant to the situation she shared, and with this loss of a battle...She was close to damning him straight to hell.

Rhea had accepted defeat and tried to smile, but it only elected more tears. She prayed that if she ever did end up like Vivian on the account Allison and Isabella plotted her death, then the list of guilty would start with her family right away.

"If you wanted to end this betrothal you could've said so, not create this fabricated lie—"
"It's not a lie!"
"Well this is the first I'm hearing of all this." He spat and she looked at him at awe.

"Because he threatened me if I said a word to anyone! And Mr.Black said he'd stand right beside me to stop him the next time. But I would've liked the support of my own damn brother...And for the record, I didn't want this courtship at all! I wanted out after the first interaction, when he mentioned his mistresses." Her brother was completely gobsmacked, but even with Orion's credibility—There was no evidence except the mere peppermints of injury still healing on her skin.

"Good day...Rodolphous." She hoped it hurt, not calling him by his nickname as she went off to her bathroom to hide. Perhaps it resonated that this was not a 'fabricated story' as he first thought, as he lingered in her bedroom for quite some time before slipped up and away.

She took to writing to Atlas, saying that she only had the heart to say this once.

That her own brother hadn't believed her when she shared the most recent of injuries.

But it wasn't the second invitation to the Death Eater rally that caused Rhea to sink to the floor in a pit of disappear, it was the reminding taunt at the end to keep herself in check.

Leaving to prove that her brother hadn't done anything to aid her.

*

Rhea was exceedingly thankful for the efforts of both Orion and Atlas, even if they simply healed her and never spoke to her again would be much more than she can say about her own family.

Rolf had been avoiding her, though she placed that as a guilty conscious as now he didn't know who to believe—But as duty called, he was leaning towards his best mate than blood.

And Rhea would remember that when the time came.

_______

Little Goddess,

Your beauty and wit are being wasted on that sorry excuse of a man. It pains me that you want to remain silent on such a matter.

Keep your head up and remain aware, I cannot imagine those in a situation such as yours have the courage to speak up and out loud. And while you didn't want anyone to know of such things, don't let yourself perish without letting someone know.

But it will not come to that, I won't allow it.

Perhaps I can humor the fact that you'll be safe at the Black manor, and hopefully I can take the opportunity to see you then. But my business takes me out of the country much more than I wish it would in the last few weeks. But I promise to try.

-Atlas

_______

His acceptance of his name always made her smile, he's mastered the signature as well which was hilarious in itself. Yet in the meantime, she was waiting for seven to roll around, hoping that the calming potion she inhaled just ten minutes ago would last the entire night.

She knew that Andy's instructions of appearing interested and involved would get her out of doing much more, as the stigma of witches in this line of work wasn't keen.

Even if Bellatrix was one of the highest-ranked members, nobody expected Rhea to do the same as her sister-in-law.

With the countdown in her head growing further, a knock on the door had paused her thoughts. Leaving her to go and answer it. "I'm almost done mother, I—" She hadn't been prepared to see Rolf behind it.

She perked her lips with a hefty huff and removed herself from the door, going to grab her therapeutic bracelet. The small task had been watched by her brother, he was waiting to be spoken to.

But Rhea continued passed him and down the hall, not waiting for a proper escort downstairs.

"Rhea—It's—"
"Unless you're going to tell me something helpful or that I don't have to go. Please don't speak to me at all, Rodolphous." She spat, the calming potion working its way through her body.
Yet the pause in his step had elected a smirk as she too fell short of continuing downstairs.

"That's what I thought...Not much of a brother, are you?" She quipped, picking up her next step.

Rolf had skidded to her side and held her to stop. "Hold—Of course I'm your brother."
"You taking me to the hospital hasn't covered you for much, Rolf. Especially if you don't believe me." She hissed, picking up her dress and not stopping this when he attempted to relay his reasoning.

But knowing the bloke for god knows how long, doesn't constitute for their friendship to outmatch a sibling bond.

Rhea was beyond disappointed. At this point she couldn't imagine who was more helpful. After her mother's carelessness in trusting a wrong brewer, her father's shut down on the career she wanted—Not even bothering to humor her. That left Rabastan, and while the excuse of being at Hogwarts would surely work now, he too ignored her want in not wanting Dolohov.

She was sure if it was Yaxley then her brother would do unspeakable things, but she didn't even want that for Antoino.

All Rhea wanted is to get out of this courtship.

"Ah, love...You're looking gorgeous this evening." The bastard cooed towards her, bending down to kiss her cheek. As if it was wanted, as if his actions the last time had fully healed.

"Are you still feeling nervous?" He whispered, had he been hit upside the head? Or was it the fact that her parents were just a few feet away that it—

"What is there to be nervous about, Rhea? You're invited to be in the presence of greatness, the Dark Lord has answered our prayers." Funny how this is the first time she's heard her father speak her name in the last few weeks that hadn't to do with the courtship.

This was much worse.

Both she and the two lads had taken to returning to the manor, though Rolf had nodded to his mate and returned to another's side. By the attire, Rhea deducted that it was Bella behind the faceplate.

"Once we're married, you'll be getting your own as well," Antonio whispered, his instructions had told her to wear a black cloak—And here he was pulling it up and over her head to cover her likeness. She was thankful for that, as she wanted to be able to close her eyes at any given point.

But alas, with the wave of those in hoods and masks—She could see where her brother's promise of not being touched was sequenced to mean. Even if Rhea's true demon stood right beside her.

"Welcome, my friends!... Tonight we celebrate our victories and mourn our losses!" The voice of the Dark Lord had ultimately made her shiver, she'd never assumed that Lord Voldemort so disfigured—He hardly looked human.

Was he even human?!

His main focus was propaganda, hinting at the main targets of what his followers wanted from the Wizarding community. But Rhea was a history fanatic, his quotes were too similar to Gelert Grindlewald.

Even if that bloke didn't want to remain hidden to the muggle world, Voldemort wanted to be the bigger race. Rhea even wondered if he planned on making the muggles into slaves with the way he was spewing his plans.

As of late, the targeting of muggle-born families was enough to make enough noise for the rest of Europe to be concerned. However, in the midst of it all—The sudden reveal of bound witches and wizards had been levitated into the center of the room.

Making Rhea's stomach drop at the moment.

"I leave the floor to you all..." The Dark Lord permitted, and Rhea blinked at the sight before her—What started with careless curses coming forth, breaking the bind and allowing the prisoners the small bit of movement to wither in pain.

How is it that Antonio favored purebloods, but found himself beating her? It didn't make any logical sense, not the mind of the Ravenclaw at least.

A kiss had found itself onto her cheek, but alas—Dolohov had left her side and made his way into the arena of entertainment as well. Above all, she hadn't even dared to predict this could ever happen. That those begging for a pureblood empire found themselves raping and assaulting the witches in the circle before them.

Rhea's jaw had dropped as she watched in damnation as her future husband began violently penetrating the Auror. As if her screams prior hadn't been loud enough for death.

After all Rhea had learned about love, her understanding of sex had been ruined outright. And it all came with the man that her parents wanted her to remain with, they would praise him for doing something of this nature.

She didn't know how to react anymore.

Rodolphous had been laughing alongside his own wife, but in a sudden check-up on his sister—He realized she had been reduced to tears, it never occurred to him that this was too much for his sister, his pure innocent little sister.

But taking in the picture of her alone, was something he told Antonio he didn't want happening. He had failed to keep up with his promise, and worse of all—Rhea was in front row seats to see Antonio fucking a muggle-born Auror.

Rodolphous had taken a gaze to his left, spotting a similar mask to his own wife—He approaches Mrs.Malfoy in a bit of a weary notion. "What?" She spat, and it caused the wizard to realize that this was not the time for witches to be near the room.

"Mrs.Malfoy, could you escort my sister out of the room, she's—"
"Oh for goodness sakes!" She shrieked, spotting the witch in question and taking her into her hold, clearly the young Ms.Lestrange was exhausted after witnessing what she had.

As soon as she had gotten out of the room, the sobs had started. And Narcissa was familiar with the first night she had seen something to this degree.

She hadn't slept in days.

Narcissa had escorted the young witch to her drawing-room, setting her down on the couch and discarding the cloak. She joined her just after ordering some tea from the elves downstairs.

But even then, Rhea hadn't said a word.

"It gets better." With a voice to listen to, and the ghosts of the screams from downstairs finally coming to an end. Rhea had looked at Narcissa Malfoy with the foulest of any temperament.

"Does it? Or is your husband doing the same?" The pure disgust in Rhea's tone had caught her by surprise, though it was warranted. Her words weren't helpful if she didn't know what was happening, neither about her situation about Antonio or the fact that he was balls deep in a missing witch.

One that wouldn't see another tomorrow.

As the elf had the task of pouring out the tea, Rhea didn't hesitate to douse the rest of the calming potion into her drink and taking a hefty gulp to settle her aching heart.

"Sweetheart, there is nothing to worry about."
"Oh really?... I don't suppose your husband has a mistress threatening your position. Are you fearful of your husband Mrs.Malfoy?" It hadn't taken Narcissa long to realize that these were the words of a heavily sedated Rhea Lestrange, that she didn't mean to sound as though she drunk an entire bottle of fire whiskey.

But it wasn't difficult to see that these questions weren't hypothetical, that they were Rhea's hardships shining through. So when Narcissa had come forward with an open arm to show a bit of comfort, Rhea had broke instantly. Sobbing into the women's shoulder.

She had thought that Mrs.Malfoy had hated her, but seeing the expression that the blonde witch had given to her, or being held with an honest bit of comfort had truly given her a place to let out the harsh reality she's been dealt.

Through the whispers and mumbles, Rhea had divulged far too much to a stranger. But the belief had been there, as Cissy had believed the young witch—Believed her over her own brother, which was shocking in and of itself.

The only reveal of staying with Orion had caused Narcissa to still. "My uncle knows?" She offered and Rhea nodded, her mix match of words had shown that he did indeed know. And worse of all, he was the one to find her.

Which meant Narcissa had a task tomorrow. To owl her Uncle and get a bigger story, because nothing was more heartbreaking to know that this beautiful young witch was starting to crack.

Upon the marriage, Narcissa had known about her sister-in-law. But hadn't offered the olive branch, and it had been ultimately a mistake. Though Rhea had felt monumentally safe in Cissy's company, as she was nearly an identical copy to how Andy spoke in her letters.

Calmly and uplifting.

Rhea had fallen asleep at the strange angle in Narcissa's lap, but upon seeing both Antonio and Rodolphous coming in smiles and smirks, it caused Narcissa to frown. "Is my sister alright?"

"Hardly. Have you enjoyed yourself this evening, Antonio?" The bloke had stilled as well, losing his smile and high as he caught the proper sight of his betrothed.

"Mrs.Malf—"
"I believe you have better manors than that. Especially in the presence of your betrothed. I have half the mind of going to Clarissa myself and ending it!" Rolf was startled, but the way his sister hadn't flinched was another worrying factor.

"I had to slip a calming potion into her tea, now then...Rodolphous, you'll be bringing her to a guest room of mine. And we'll be having a talk after that. Is that understood?" The two wizards had nodded instantly, they were in her manor and she held much more of an ear of Mrs.Lestrange than either of them.

Rolf had done his sister another dishonor, but he managed to get her into the guest room with ease. Kissing her temple and saying a quick apology before he returned to find his best mate with his tail in between his legs as well.

They deserved this and worse, much worse.

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Date Posted: 08-19-2021

Time: 10:49

Words: 5056