- Chapter Sixty-Two -
"I swear they all think we're royalty."
"Suck it in."
With a deep breath from Elladora and a hard tug from her mother, the corset around her torso got tighter and the strings threaded through the holes on the back got larger. Every tug and every tighten was a loss of breathing space for Elladora as the stiff material pressed against her stomach harshly. If Elladora was to make a list of all the things she hated about being home, this would definitely be in the top five, pretending they were some sort of royalty and that they'd gone back in time so they could hold balls and dress uncomfortably.
Orion had found her and Regulus in Diagon Alley about two hours prior after they had spent their day in muggle London, which had been fun yet very confusing. She still didn't know what a pound was or how to work a TV but it was fun seeing all of it at least. Arriving back at the wizarding village, the two got ice creams to act like they had been there the whole time so Orion wouldn't even be the slightest bit suspicious of them.
But once again, like the black colouring of Elladora's house was actually dementors cloaks, the happiness was all gone as soon as they set foot in the home far too large for a three person family with visitors. Regulus was taken away by his mother and Elladora by hers, she would much rather have Dobby helping her with the horrifying clothes that her mother had picked but apparently the house-elf was busy in the kitchen where the Black's house-elf was helping for the day.
Elladora had never met Kreacher, but from what Regulus said, he seemed nice enough. Reg mentioned that he sometimes got scared about the house elves decapitated heads on the stairs of the Black family home started by their Aunt Elladora. He looked quite disturbed saying her name and sent a glance to his own friend who had grimaced at the thought of sharing a name with someone who beheads house elves and uses them for decoration.
Cassiopeia had been surprisingly lenient with the usual punishment she gave after the mark had been displayed permanently on Elladora's skin and the burn of the Unbreakable Vow scarred he skin too. She was still treated poorly and degraded by her own mother, but the cruciatus curse was no longer used on her and that was a big step that Elladora was grateful for.
But being forced into a corset that she must've grown out of was something she was not grateful for.
"Have you been taking second servings of meals at school?" Her mother seethed and tugged at the strings once more, Elladora gasping but disguising it as a deep breath. "Maybe we should decrease your diet further, no breakfast maybe."
She could only nod when she met her mother's glare through the mirror, her mouth falling open as the corset was tugged against her again. Next to her ear, a small mutter was heard from Cassiopeia as she felt a smaller pull of the corset and she closed her eyes for a moment, thankful that it was being tied now instead of her lungs being constricted any further.
It was absolutely ridiculous that this is what she had known all her life, it even felt odd now that she had spent a lot of her days in her friends baggy clothes that sometimes she looked messy or even homeless. She much preferred wearing her friend's clothes, if she could even call them her friend's anymore. Merlin knows how they'd react to seeing the Dark Mark on her arm but then again she wasn't planning on letting them see that anyway.
These kind of formalities made her feel like she was in a dark fantasy book but she suspected that she wasn't going to save the world in high heels and a long dress with a thigh-strapped knife anytime soon.
"Finally." Cassiopeia grumbled and stepped away from her daughter who felt like she was going to faint at any second but quickly regained herself. "I didn't see it at first but now I do, I shall contact Professor Slughorn soon about your eating arrangements. Now, I suspect you won't need my help with the rest. Come down when you're ready."
Quite a bit nicer than she normally was.
When the door closed behind her, Elladora held a hand up to the stomach on her corset where her flattened stomach was hid behind. It surely couldn't have been healthy yet no one seemed to care. She was beginning to think she didn't care herself, used to the mistreatment she had been getting compared to how gentle Remus, Sirius, James and Peter were with her.
When she thought she was eating too much, Peter always ate more. When she thought she was talking too much, James always talked more. When she thought she was laughing at the most unfunniest of things, Sirius would be laughing with her. When she thought that she was studying too much and they were getting sick of her nose being in a book the whole time, Remus was by her side doing the exact same thing.
They weren't good for her, they were too good for her and she didn't deserve them. But they always went out of their way to tell her that she did.
Not wanting to dwell over how much weight she had put on and damage her self-esteem further, Elladora moved away from the mirror in front of her and towards the bed where the rest of the dress lay still, waiting for her to wear it but she didn't want to. She didn't want to spend the night talking to adults she had mostly never met, she didn't want to be ogled at by creepy men who were only seeing her for the first time, she didn't want to be reintroduced to the people that made her education miserable.
She wanted to be sat at the Potter's with James and Sirius drinking that hot chocolate that Remus had introduced her to, she wanted to be walking through their massive garden with the cloak Peter bought her wrapped securely around her, she wanted to dance in the cold night with Remus again.
Knowing that wishing wouldn't get her anywhere, she made quick work with the rest of the dress, an emotionless expression the whole time except for when she accidently caught her finger on the zip and drew a small bit of blood. Her hair was fine when she observed it in a mirror and just put on a headpiece before walking out of her room.
The sound of people downstairs could already be heard from the landing and she inwardly rolled her eyes at the sound of it before walking over to Regulus's door to see if he was there or if he had already gone down. Her fist knocked a couple of times with no answer and she huffed at the revelation that she'll have to go downstairs by herself.
Downstairs in the actual room where everybody was gathering, Regulus was stuck with Avery, Mulciber and Snape at the side of the room whilst their parents all conversed with others. He was having a terrible time so far and was just waiting until Elladora walked in so he could escape and spend time with the one person he actually liked there although they had spent all day together anyway.
"So I didn't know you were a Death Eater." Avery said to Snape, sipping a drink he had got himself. "Thought you were getting it done at Easter like Regulus."
"Yeah, at Christmas." He nodded his head and Regulus' stomach churned, if he had been home then he probably would've had it done then instead of later with Elladora. "No idea why they waited for Reg and Hargreaves."
"Where was Hargreaves at Christmas?" Mulciber spoke up and Regulus' stomach churned again with displeasure, if they knew where she had been then she'd be in for it. "I didn't see her at school."
"She came back here." Regulus spoke up, drinking a cup of butterbeer, thankful that he finally had one after that waitress from the pub in London hadn't given him one. Snape looked at him with a raised eyebrow and his eyes held confusion but Regulus' eyes begged him to go along with it.
"Yeah." Snape said after a moment's hesitation. "I'm pretty sure she was upstairs for the whole time, that's why I said I didn't know why they didn't do her then and bring Reg too."
If Snape wasn't disgusting, Regulus would've hugged him right there and then. He may have just single-handedly saved Elladora's life with his words and he couldn't be more passive about it.
"Shame that she's so against all this." Avery muttered, gesturing around them to the groups of parents talking to each other and the very dark aura of it all. "She'd be good, if you know what I mean." He smirked and Mulciber laughed, Snape smiling.
"Uh, what do you mean?" Regulus asked, he had some kind of idea and that's why his grip had tightened around his goblet but he didn't want to make a scene. He wouldn't have anyone dare open their mouth about her like that.
"You'll understand when you're older, I guess." Avery snickered and Regulus' jaw clenched in a small, fake laugh as he looked away and swallowed down his words with a gulp of butterbeer.
"Hey, speak of the devil." Mulciber nudged the boy next to him and pointed towards the door where Elladora had just come in, her mother making a beeline towards her straight away. "Look at her." He whistled lowly.
"Corsets do wonders." Avery shrugged with another smirk.
"Excuse me." Regulus said with a strained smile, scowling darkly as he passed them. He couldn't stand there for another second and listen to them talk about her like that, especially when she looked so reserved and shaken stood all by herself at the drink table after her mother had left her to go talk to someone else.
The boy weaved his way between the adults, pausing momentarily to give polite smiles as he heard snippets of 'Look how much the boy's grown' or 'Walburga and Orion did a good job on that one'. He was just trying to get to his friend but he was constantly stopped by adults who hadn't seen him since he was younger and even then they paid more attention to Sirius so it was like he was new to the gatherings which he wasn't.
"Regulus, thank Merlin." Elladora grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug as he arrived next to her at the drink table. "How long do you reckon this will go on for?"
"At least a couple of hours." He replied in a whisper and she groaned with a roll of her eyes before she rubbed uncomfortably at her stomach. "Are you okay?"
"My mum was practically choking me up there." She said, frowning as she watched her mother converse politely with a younger boy who looked about a year older than herself. "She's putting me on a diet when we go back."
"A diet?" He asked with wide eyes, gazing down at her thin waist before looking back up to her. "I don't mean to be rude, El, but you're already really thin even without the corset."
She didn't say anything and just bit her lip nervously whilst looking around the hall. Her eyes fell on the drink table and she immediately recognised the butterbeer and Firewhiskey that she had tried at Lily Evans' birthday party. Regulus watched as her eyes stared longingly down at the drink and she looked away quickly but her eyes kept glancing back to it.
"I'm gonna need something to help me get through this." She muttered and grabbed a glass of Firewhiskey from the table before downing it one just like she had at Lily's party. "Don't let me have more than two."
"Okay." He nodded and watched as a small smile took over her face, it was already letting her loosen up which he supposed was good, as long as he only allowed her to have two as she asked him to. "Look at who my mums bringing around."
Elladora turned her head to see Walburga talking to that blond boy her mother was talking to before, taking him around most of the guests. They both watched warily as he bowed his head before them and they all exchanged words.
"I swear they all think we're royalty." She mumbled again and reached for another glass of Firewhiskey, not downing it this time but taking small sips. "He's bowed to Narcissa Black so now she'll curtsey back."
Narcissa did so and Regulus nodded along with Elladora with an amused smile.
"Then she'll touch her hair." Regulus added, having seen this particular thing happen a lot. Narcissa touched her hair slightly and glanced back at Lucius Malfoy, her fiancée, before looking back to the boy in front of her. Elladora chuckled silently at the sight.
"Then he will introduce himself to Lucius." She pointed and watched as the boy did the exact thing and Regulus laughed slightly. "Then he'll go back to Narcissa."
"He's probably told everyone in here that their dresses are exquisite." Regulus laughed and Elladora sniggered as the blond boy said something and Narcissa thanked him. "Oh, look, they're coming this way."
Elladora's smile dropped as Walburga began to walk towards the two with a large yet uncharacteristic smile. The blond boy had a smile too as he looked at Elladora and her insides twisted in plagued butterflies as they approached, she had to stop herself from grimacing and just turned to Regulus.
"Oh no." She muttered and he guffawed slightly before picking up a cup of butterbeer and turning away slightly.
"I wish you luck." He said and took a step away whilst taking a sip from his goblet. Elladora watched him with incredulous eyes as he stood to the side whilst his mother and the other boy continued to approach.
"Get back here-"
"Elladora." Walburga's crisp voice interrupted her and she turned with a small and polite smile towards the woman who eyed her approvingly before gesturing to the boy beside her. "This is Evan Rosier." She said and she nodded in recognition of the name as Evan smiled politely.
"It's lovely to meet you." She smiled as best she could but her eyes grew wider and her smile tighter as Evan took her hand from where she had been using both of her hands to hold her second cup of Firewhiskey.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He planted a kiss on the back of it and once again, she had to stop her grimace at the obvious superiority he thought he had. "I must say, your dress is...exquisite."
She couldn't stop it as much as she wanted to. A small laugh bubbled out of her lips at his words that she and Regulus had just been making fun of, her eyes grew wide at her actions but as she tried to keep herself from laughing, a snort managed to worm its way through and she abruptly stopped and just stared at the people in front of her. Walburga had wide eyes but Evan was fighting off a smile, behind her she could hear Regulus laughing into his butterbeer at her embarrassment.
"I apologise." She spoke quietly, fearing that if she spoke any louder, her body would betray her and have her make that ungodly sound again.
"No apology needed." Evan smiled slightly at her and by this action alone, she started to fight of another laugh. His own eyes twinkled in amusement but Walburga started to tug him away.
"Only a small apology, I suppose." Her eyes zeroed in on Elladora, who took a deep breath as she walked away. She was glad that it was Walburga and not her mother who had been bringing Evan around as she was sure that if it was her mother, she'd be in so much trouble.
Maybe Firewhiskey at a party like this was a bad idea.
Turning to put the cup back down on the table, she realised that Regulus was still there and she walked closer to him, slapping him on the arm slightly.
"That was your fault!"
"You started the joke." He accused and she smiled again, shaking her head and looking down at the floor. "Besides, who makes a sound like that when laughing anyway?"
She only laughed again, turning her head to look over his shoulder as she did so, so that no one could see her informal way of acting at a serious gathering such as the one they were at now. A small snort left her again and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth whilst Regulus laughed into his drink again, glancing back at her smiling face with his own small smile.
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A/N: Yes, that was a strong Bridgerton reference at the end, I couldn't help myself. We have like three more chapters before someone makes an appearance and I'm so excited because I have things planned that will make you melt.