Toujours Pur | Euphemia Black

Chapter 26 | I Promise

"Mia! Come on, it's still sunny outside!" six year old Marius shouted from the garden and Euphemia forgot every and any rule of decorum that her mother had ever taught her so that she could rush outside as fast as her little legs could carry her. The seven year old let out a cry of happiness when she saw that the rainy weather had cleared up and that she could finally play outside with her brother. Blue skies were rare to come by at this time in the seasons and Mia knew she had to make the most of the unexpected warm weather.

Her mother, Cassiopeia, was holed up in the dining room along with several others discussing the reign of Grindelward and how exciting it was that he was finally showing the muggles what filth they were. Euphemia only knew that because she had overheard snippets of the conversation through the dining room door before Marius had called for and she had sprinted downstairs.

Marius was sat outside on the grass, despite it still being wet from the overnight showers of rain and a massive grin was stretching from ear to ear on his cute little face. "What did you have in mind? What can we play?" Mia piped up from the doorway, daintily trodding over to her brother who couldn't care less about his smart dress robes getting wet whereas Euphemia was taking the utmost care in looking after her
pretty white shoes.

"We can play Quidditch!" Marius exclaimed and jumped up, grabbing his sister by the hand and dragging her over to the little Quidditch game that the boy had set up in order for the two to be entertained. The Quidditch game for two meant that Marius was the keeper and Mia was the chaser and they had to practice scoring but if Marius sighted the snitch (that was actually an acorn they had gotten Tibet the house elf to bewitch so it could fly) then he turned into a seeker and Euphemia had to be the beater and throw the soft balls at him to stop him from getting the snitch.

It was quite an easy game and one that they played a lot of the time but this one was special because the weather was actually warm for once and the two children could play without a care in the world, without having to worry about what their parents thought of their quaint little games because their parents weren't there to supervise the two. And that was the greatest freedom in all because Marius and Mia could enjoy themselves without the shadow of their parents expectations looming over them. Both Euphemia and Marius knew that, if Cassiopeia and Arcturus had their way, only Marius would be able to play Quidditch in the back garden and only with his father, uncles or male cousins. And Mia would have to sit inside and learn how to be a lady and how to sew, how to sit, how to sip tea in an elegant fashion. Blah, blah, blah.

This afternoon, however, they could play until their hearts content and the Black Manor garden became full of something that it had lacked beforehand - laughter and happiness. Marius and Euphemia may only have been small children at the mere ages of six and seven but they knew how to have a good time and they flew around on their brooms until the sun began to set. The day had been perfect and without any interruption whatsoever.

It would've stayed perfect, as well, if it hadn't been for Marius getting a little too overconfident and cocky in his defending skills. Mia was approaching him with the ball tucked under her arm and she aimed for the goal, nearly getting it in if it hadn't been for little Marius zooming in and spinning around so that the tail of his broom whacked the ball away. Euphemia applauded him at first as the ball was well away from the goal but then she realised it was whizzing towards a target that would not want to be disturbed.

"Marius, stop it!" she cried out as she saw the ball speeding through the air faster than lightning towards the house and all time seemed to stop as it collided with the dining room window and shattered the glass completely. Marius' mouth fell open in shock and horror as Mia's small hands covered her mouth to conceal her gasp as the shouts of outrage from the interrupted meeting ensued into the once peaceful air.