✧THE FIRST FEW STEPS TO FREEDOM✧

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The young Rabastan Lestrange had taken the news the worst, not only had he been reprimanded for his utter failure to listen to his sister—Calling her petty for fabricating lies, it had been the first time he'd angered his parents.

And the thought occurred to him, how often did Rhea feel like this?

He had gotten his favorite dessert in returning home for getting good marks the following term, and Rhea hardly gotten a congratulation for graduating.

But that isn't all that upset the young heir, Rhea's future husband for certain. As he received word from the Alphard Black.

Benny had delivered three missives that morning, one to Sirius, Regulus, and finally, Rabastan. They were all similar, though Alphard had thanked his Nephews for not outing his secret too early.

Though the scowl that Lestrange had for the rest of week had made Sirius ecstatic, not only was he happy for his uncle. But seeing Rabastan suffering made it that much more enjoyable.

As was the hopeful date of their wedding, and Sirius had confirmed it with Regulus. And considering his brother was still a bit young to realize such things, he confirmed that an early spring wedding meant that the couple couldn't wait much longer.

"Uncle you sneaky bastard." Sirius dwelled, though it gave him and his brother to talk about—As they hardly spoke in the walls of Hogwarts.

Rhea, on the other hand, was surely on the way in giving herself a heart attack. This would be her first time as his date, and the world didn't know that there was even an ounce of attraction between the two of them.

Not only that, she hardly had any bit of sleep knowing that the only reason he hadn't proposed yet was because he was getting the ring settled. Every time he had come over to enjoy a cup of tea or a chess game, Rhea was slightly horrified that she would ruin the moment.

Though the moment hadn't come, nearly two weeks!

She hadn't a clue how long it took to craft a ring, or if it was now on Alphard's own patience and on the root of being excited. So here she was, rushing around the last few moments as she changed her dress for the third time.

Until a knock settled.

"Rhea?... Your date is getting antsy downstairs, best not let him worry for—"
"Rolf, I'm in a crisis!" She shrieked, and that constituted him to come through with his hand on his wand, though strictly in his coat.

Upon realizing that he had been utterly wrong about his best mate, he had taken to spending more time with Rhea and found that she wasn't at all what he'd thought.

She dived in on her ability to heal, which lead her to spend her free time in the Infirmary because she simply found joy in it. And just because it had nothing to do with him and his death eaters, it didn't make it any less important.

"...You look beautiful." She groaned into the air and returned into the bathroom for what felt like the millionth time. And he only assumed that because he heard his mum brag about filling her closet with a whole new attire.

A future Madam Black would need to display herself, and that was starting to worry Rhea, regardless of what Alphard thought.

"Rhea Lestrange! You will go downstairs right this instance!" He said, playfully, after having followed her into the bathroom and not allowed the door to close.

"I need to change!"
"Not possible Rae, let's go." Her eyes sparkled in recognition of that Godforsaken nickname that was nearing two decades old.

"What's the issue?"
"Not an issue, I don't think this is enough."
"You're wearing more than Bella and Narcissa combined." He grumbled, and for some reason or another, that had caught her attention and eased her worry.

It had taken the walk just before the stairs to realize what she was worry about. "If it's any help, sister, he was nervous as well."
"That's because he thinks he's too old."

"I won't put my words into the mix, as I don't know much better when it comes to love and all this and that. But to see either side stress over something trivial as age and appearance. The insecurities are the same." That had been the most therapeutic words she had ever received from her brother, and so when they managed to step to the ground level—She leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered up, her eyes glistening with the truth of her words.

"It's what a brother is for, right?" Her head leaned into his arm as the two continued forward off to the awaiting family. Bella herself had been almost as excited as Sirius.

Though she was much more prone to throw in a racial slur or bit of pure-blooded propaganda of raising the next generation of purebloods.

Rhea, for the time being, had decided to put the idea of a child far away into her mind. She banished it from her mind and realized that as she started to hum, it caused her to stop the thought from growing.

Baby steps, Rhea hummed along, Cissy said baby steps.

"Love, you look absolutely gorgeous this evening," Alphard said, his hand in his waistcoat as he greeted her with such a smile that blown her away.
"See? Was it worth all that aggravation in changing your dress?" She shoved her shoulder into her brother, and while her mother was on the verge of scolding her—It was their father had chuckled.

"Rodolphous, stop teasing your sister." Bella's cackle at the sibling's shocked expression had caused a confirmation that it surely wasn't a fluke of the ear.

The eldest had shuffled a small bit before joining his wife's side and walking forward towards the floo system. "I still want a dance, sister!" He shouted, and Rhea had managed to hide her giggle in her hand.

Following her brother's departure, her parents had soon left. Leaving Rhea to blink up towards her date in pure confusion. How was it that she managed to have more courage with Dolohov than with the man that she actually adores?

"Hi." She whispered, and he nearly melted in the likes of his shoes. Alphard didn't want to be so telling as to what was expected, he needed to do this with a clear mind—Thus leaving him to straighten his back.

"Hello love, would you like to get going. Or would you like to change?" The surprise caught her instantly as she looked down to her dress.

"Is...Is it not nice?"
"Oh love, I can recall seeing your loungewear and thinking the same as I do now. But that isn't what's important, are you comfortable?" She bit her lip, her shoes were a bit tight, but that wasn't enough to—

"Go upstairs, I can wait as long as you need."
"It's not the dress, it's the shoes. Mother got me these god-awful things."
"Ah, yes. Please, those are giving my own pain just from looking at them." She nodded, but Alphard had simply called an elf to fetch her the pair all while escorting his date to the nearest couch.

"Why on earth do you do this to yourself? I never understood these types of things. All trivial." "Believe me, Alfie—If I could, I would wear sandals. But I'd like to manage to kiss you without having to strain my neck. I thought these were the better option." Alphard, who was sitting on the coffee table in front of her, attempting to pry off the damn things had nearly gawked at his beloved.

She was wearing these impossible things to reach a certain height, just to surprise him with a kiss?

"Perhaps I can charm them? Would that be better?" She nodded, realizing that she was feeling much better now that the weight of her entire body wasn't contained in these silver demons. Alphard had been quite talented in both charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts in his time at Hogwarts.

Only, his little witch was more inclined of perfecting such a charm. "Surely they have an issue of this in witch weekly?"
"That ghastly article, Merlin I could never."
"Ah—But I've heard great things about a few products they've managed. This spell for one." He had risen from his seat, calling off the elf to return the shoes and resume their duties.

"There, how do they feel?" He questioned, but she was still caught up on one simple fact.
"You read witch weekly?" She asked, disregarding both his words and the fact that her feet felt like they were on soft cushions.

"I...I don't—Only on occasion—" The slight tint to his cheeks had confirmed her question, and while she had pointed that out from one minor detail. She couldn't grasp the why, that she was the reasoning behind his interest.

"Oh alright, yes, I have been reading a few issues here and there. I haven't a clue what you could be into in this day and age, all these products! I'm behind!"
"I can promise you, even I don't read that rubbish. Though perhaps I'll join you, they feel much better." She claimed, taking the cautious step and prepared to feel the pinch once more.

But in her fortune, it had worked flawlessly.

"...So, witch weekly?" He wrapped his hand to the likes of her waist and lead her straight to the floo system. "Oh come now Alfie, this is adorably sweet!"
"Hush." His voice couldn't be stern with her even if he tried, instead the blush was becoming more permeant with her slight teasing.

"Hey...Thank you."
"I said it before love, you don't have to say that with me."
"Of course I do, I want you to know I'm thankful for everything you've done and are doing—Even the little things like this." He turned back towards the fireplace and held back his smile.

"And the bracelet I sent you?"
"Too flashy for my tastes, I was hoping we could get it fixed with less—"
"Less?!" Rhea perked her lips, scanning her words to see where she had gone wrong.

"I—I'm not the biggest fan of the heavy things. You said I looked unhappy wearing my family's jewelry. It remaindered me of that type of thing."
"Ah, I understand. Benny did look out of breath from the delivery."
"Oh no, he was chasing around Toffee." The two had entered in the fireplace with a bit of laughter shared between them, and Rhea hummed in delight to see Alphard's familiar estate bustling with people.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like host parties."
"I'm not much of a host, Walburga takes over at a mere mention. I simply pay the bill." The comment had made her smile, it had been a partial joke considering Sirius had outed his uncle in one aspect.

This estate was hardly ever used until Alphard had returned from his years-long travels.

Rhea had been considerably unaware that the moment she stepped foot inside the manor right alongside Alphard, that all eyes were on her.

Not the pair of them, no, just her.

Alphard did his best to glare at those surrounding them both, considering it was his manor they didn't have to go and greet the host. Instead, he had brought his beautiful date straight towards Orion, who was nursing his drink with another wizard.

Rhea recognized him, he was one of Rabastan's mate's father. Mister Avery senior.

Rhea had offered a beautiful smile and Orion didn't hold back his chuckle. "Rhea, beautiful as always." Alphard had glared at his brother which had caused either he and Avery had enjoyed teasing him.

"It was a mistake to bring you this way, darling, they're still acting like we're in Hogwarts."
"That's alright, it's better than the rest of the eyes on me." She said, turning over her shoulder to see strangers and blurred faces.

Her cheeks began to burn as she held onto Alphard tighter. This was more than she first thought in terms of being stressful. "Nonsense, they'll find something else that is trivial—Though I'm a bit surprised as well, as are the dozens of other witches that had been pushed in your direction...Carrow's been circling." While Rhea hadn't thought it was all that helpful, it took a moment of filtering through the conversation that Alphard was most comfortable between them.

In addition to Mr.Fawley, and with Rhea being so new to their circle, they asked her dozens of questions. Which ultimately proven wrong everything that her father had told them about her, she had them laughing and grinning with ease.

Alphard had been right for quite some time, Rhea was more mature for her age.

When Radolphous had made his way around the room, he had been nearly horrified to see that Rhea was speaking with a group of men beside Alphard—Most being his own mates, and while his own initial thought had been to dismiss her elsewhere.

It was important for her to be familiar with her future husband's friends, and essentially they were his as well.

With the formalities out of the way in terms of being social, the music had picked up quite nicely and Alphard had been the first of many to usher his date to the dance floor. "Merlin, you're as jittery as I am." She whispered towards him, and he whispered back that he certainly was.

"This is our first dance in public, I'm a bit nervous."
"Nonsense. You can't be nervous, Atlas can't be nervous. Not when you've managed this far to have me." Their steps had glided them across the dance floor, allowing the rest of their circle to gaze at their compatibility.

There were those that were ecstatic, those that were unbothered, and a very small percentage that wanted nothing more than to forget all that was happening.

And that included Mrs. Walburga Black.

"As I recall, you were rather pleased that Alphard had finally started to seek someone out."
"Yes, someone, I didn't think that'd mean an underage and inexperienced witch!" Walburga hissed towards Orion, and it simply earned a glare from her husband.

"Inexperienced? I take it that your brother hasn't told you the truth, has he?"
"What? Has he impregnated her then?"
"No, and if he had you'd still manage to find fault in a pureblood heir arriving so early. No. Rhea has indeed managed a hardship, she was the middle daughter in between two sons. If you had an ounce of consideration, you would see the parallels."
 "Parallels? I am nothing like that girl."
"Yes. And what a shame that is. She's quite remarkable." The women scoffed once more and Orion held his stature once again.

Walburga was certainly going to start something, and he worried how that would turn out between her and Alphard.

"She will never be my equal." She declared, and just to light the fire even further caused a wicked grin. The chaos was brewing, and he deemed his side straight away.

"You're correct..." Orion started, leaning further towards his wife right beside her ear. "She'll be higher ranked than either of us." Was his parting words that nearly caused Walburga's grip on her wine glass to shatter.

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Date Posted: 09/18/2021

Time: 11:39

Words: 2534