Smoke | James Potter

。thirty-four 。

"i agree." salem spoke up, his smirking face the stuff of nightmares to astra. "the quicker, the better."

mr. and mrs. malfoy both smiled in a similar twisted way to astra's parents. it was a smile shown when they got something they wanted. it never appeared when something good had happened. white-hot rage fuelled astra's veins and the grip on her cutlery got tighter, so much tighter it may have snapped if she did it any longer. but she didn't, she slammed them down on the table with such anger that the table jumped in shock.

"do i get no say?" astra asked, staring them all down. "you're really just going to marry me off and try to make me have children with an absolutely awful excuse of a man?"

"astra." orion warned, his voice low and menacing with threat. "be quiet—"

"no. i cannot stand it. i'm not an object to be used as breeding stock." astra scoffed, standing up, not shocked by the fact she'd have to tell her parents that. they didn't understand basic humanity, or what it meant to give their children a choice in life.

"astra." orion repeated, his voice a hiss, a vein prominent on his neck.

"father." astra shot back, her tone mocking. "you're all appalling examples of wizards and witches, no matter how pure your blood may be."

"i think you need to control your child." mr. malfoy snapped, insulted that astra had insinuated that a muggleborn wizard or witch was better than he, a pureblood wizard, was.

"astra, come with me." orion demanded, standing sharply and heading for the door. astra didn't move from her stood position, meeting salem's challenging glare. orion's hand clamped down on her wrist, sure to leave a bruise. "now!"

he yanked astra from the kitchen and dragged her upstairs and pushed her inside of her bedroom. with fury bouncing off the man, orion slammed her door closed and muttered a silencing spell. when he turned to face astra again, she was still staring at him with hatred, her anger as powerful as his.

"what an embarrassment you have become!" orion yelled, the room near enough vibrating with the volume of his voice. "you are an utter disgrace to your entire family! you made a fool of yourself in front of the malfoy's! i wouldn't be surprised if they are now reluctant to allow you to marry salem!"

"my plan worked then." astra shot back. it was a lie, she didn't plan on yelling at her parents and the malfoy's a dinner in hopes of them turning down her her supposed future marriage to salem, but it seemed like a good outcome now.

orion pulled out his wand and aimed it towards astra, yelling, "crucio!"

sharp stabbing pains were all astra could feel as she fell to the ground, nails clawing into her palms at the agonising spell. every single time this spell was used on her, she wondered if death would simply be easier than all of the pain, no matter how short it ended up being. while under the spell, death didn't seem like a punishment, if anything it seemed like it would be a reward.

the spell eased and astra exhaled, the pain so extreme it had made her unable to breath during it. orion didn't stop, though, he inflicted the spell once more. the pain returned and astra let out a shout at the agony, struggling to turn over onto her stomach, gripping the dark wooden floorboards so hard the wood was close to splintering in her fingertips.

once the second curse had eased, astra breathed raggedly, her body tingling with the pain she'd felt moments ago. she spotted her wand hanging off of the edge of her desk and reached out a shaking hand to grab it. however, orion was quicker and he snatched it just as her trembling fingers grazed the wood.

"you'll get this back just before you return to school." orion stated, his voice sounding, in a sick and twisted way, more pleased now that he'd brought his own daughter to the floor with pain.