(Two years until the Battle of Hogwarts...)
"Behave and be civil while you're out there."
Genevieve Blackwell adjusted a strand of her daughter's curly red hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Honestly, Vera, it's not that hard to get along with someone for a couple of hours."
The young girl gave a sigh, followed by a nod as she looked at the dance floor that was crowded with dancing people ranging from young teens to elderly witches and wizards.
The balls and parties that the Ministry of Magic hosted were always grand events, fit only for the richest employees who had the money and means to help fund the Wizarding World and keep the Ministry on its feet.
Everyone was clothed in their best evening gowns, suits, and dress robes. Veralee Blackwell wore the dress her mother had laid out for her two weeks in advance. It was a long, navy dress. Despite its simplicity, it cost well over three times what the average working witch or wizard's weekly salary would be.
Money was never a problem for the Blackwells. Being one of the original pureblood families that helped found and establish the Ministry in the eighteenth century- and existed long before that, was a good enough example as to why they were so well off.
"Behave..." Veralee's mother whispered the words a final time before they both looked up to see the people who approached them.
"Genevieve, dear, it's so good to see you!" Narcissa Malfoy spoke with a cheery voice as Mrs. Blackwell opened her arms, greeting the woman in a way that old friends would address each other.
The two women were- at most, acquaintances. In some cases, such as attending publicized events like these, they were seen as 'friends', but it was all just a fake front they put up to keep things civil.
As two of the most powerful pureblood families, there had always been a rivalry. While each bloodline strived to be superior when it came to wealth and reputation, there was a larger common factor displayed behind closed doors.
Who could do the most for the Dark Lord?
It was a difficult task, seeing that both families' every move was being watched. It was hard to get away with anything when both Cyrus Blackwell and Lucius Malfoy both worked in high positions for the Ministry.
After the fall of the Dark Lord after the first wizarding war, both families' loyalty faded slightly- but that was the thing... the Blackwells weren't actually loyal to him. Mr. Blackwell just made a bad deal at the wrong time, getting him and his family roped into an endless amount of tasks that never cycled out.
First it was Cyrus, then his wife- and eventually his oldest child and only son, Lucas Blackwell, was brought into it too, getting the dark mark just like his mother and father. They all knew that eventually one of the younger siblings might end up getting the mark too, but they would try their best to prevent any of their three daughters from having to join them.
"Well, don't you just look lovely, my dear..." Mrs. Malfoy sent Veralee a warm smile as she looked the girl up and down.
Vera thanked her, but her eyes didn't stay on the woman very long before they drifted to the teenage boy standing beside her.
Draco Malfoy avoided making eye contact in hopes that he could get out of talking to her- that is until his mother nudged him in the arm with her elbow. When he didn't acknowledge her, Narcissa cleared her throat in a calm manner.
He refrained from rolling his eyes and upsetting his mother as he turned to face Veralee. "Would you... like to dance?" His voice sounded as if the words refused to leave his lips, even though his mum had gone over how he would ask her over twenty times before they arrived at the ball. Vera's mother had done the same as to how she would accept his offer when it happened.
It was just expected of them.
It was very important to both the Malfoys and Blackwells to create scenes like this in social settings that would be observed by other pureblooded families. Keeping their social image and reputation clean and civil meant more than any kind of rivalry between them.
Vera quickly glanced up at her mother who faked a smile and widened her eyes, urging her daughter to respond.
"I would love to," Veralee faked her own smile as well and slipped her hand into Draco's extended one.
He led them to a less crowded area in the corner of the room. People of all ages danced around them, laughing and chatting with each other. Draco stopped once they were standing where he wanted them and turned so that his body was facing hers.
"You have to touch me in order to dance with me, Blackwell," He gave a suggestive raise of his eyebrows- specifically noticing how her hand was no longer holding his, but it was lightly hovering, their fingertips brushing occasionally.
"You'd love that, wouldn't-" Her sentence was cut short as the boy grabbed her by the hand for real this time and used his grip to pull her close. His free hand came to her waist and her entire body tensed up at the feeling of him touching her as her throat went dry.
"See... it's not that hard..." His expression added to the amount of fake smiles that had been given that evening as he watched her calmly place her hand on his shoulder, trying to act as normal as possible.
The pair reluctantly fell in line with the music, feeling as if they had no choice but to abide by their parents' rules and be civil with one another while they were in public. As soon as the school year started and they went to Hogwarts, they could go back to screaming and arguing with each other whenever they'd like.
"I'm pretty sure our mothers are staring at us right now."
"You think?" Vera replied with a sarcastic comment, rolling her eyes and looking away from the boy in front of her. Instead, she focused her attention on the ceiling of the ballroom. A giant crystal chandelier hung from the middle of the ceiling and the lights reflected off of the delicately cut glass and cast patterns onto the walls.
It truly was a beautiful mansion, but it was hard to focus on the aspects and little details of it with everything going on.
"Your brother's looking too..."
This time when the boy spoke, Veralee turned quickly to look where Draco's gaze was fixed.
A tall, red-haired boy stood at the opposite side of the room, sipping from a champagne glass as he watched his younger sister dancing with Draco, who just happened to be one of his friends.
Just because Vera and Draco hated each other didn't mean that Lucas had to hate him too. They had much in common when Lucas was still in school, such as quidditch and years of memories from growing up with each other.
"No wonder he's looking at us. You're dancing weird," Draco scoffed and pulled her body slightly closer to his, leaving them at such a close proximity that allowed the girl to smell the expensive scent of his cologne.
"I'm the one dancing weird?" Vera spoke with unbelief.
"You're literally shaking, Blackwell. Relax," He gave her waist a small squeeze to prove his point and all of her muscles instantly tensed up once again when she inhaled a sharp breath. A small smirk came to his lips, compliments of his cocky attitude.
She directed her attention back to her brother. Lucas smirked, causing the girl to mouth a 'fuck off' in return.
"Admit it... you're enjoying this, aren't you?" Draco held back a smile as he whispered the words and leaned down so that she could hear him. He was so much taller, despite being only three months older than her.
"I'm having the time of my life, Mr. Malfoy," She replied in a contemptuous tone.
The boy chuckled at her sarcasm and looked back to make sure that neither of their parents were still looking at them- but both mothers were still paying close attention to their every move.
Veralee needed to find something to talk about, something to distract her from the fact that she was dancing with him. "How's your mother... is she holding up?"
"She's a wreck. It's been a month and she's already losing it without my father home."
Vera's heart sank. As much as she despised the Malfoys- especially Draco, she felt terrible when Lucius Malfoy was sent to Azkaban at the end of their fifth school year. Her father was almost caught too, but Cyrus Blackwell was able to get out before the Ministry cornered in on him as well. Narcissa and Draco were only at the Ministry's ball due to their social status... wealth really could fix just about any problem.
Vera knew that if her father had been arrested as well, their family would fall apart entirely. "I'm sorry-"
"You don't have to pretend to care, Blackwell," Draco noticed the sad look on her face and quickly dismissed it.
"I do-"
"I don't need any kind of apology from you," He snapped back at her.
"No need to get angry..." The girl scoffed and looked at their parents who were no longer looking at them. "How would you feel if I told your mother how cruel you treat me at school?"
The boy almost laughed. "Do it. I'll just tell yours about how you slapped me in front of the entire quidditch team last year in the locker room. If she didn't want you playing quidditch before then she certainly wouldn't now if I informed her of your behavior, would she?"
The girl's expression immediately changed. To be fair, she did treat him just as awful as he would treat her when they were at school. The constant bickering and fighting never ceased between them, which would occasionally split up their combined friend group.
"Can you keep a secret, Blackwell?"
Despite the look of confusion on her face, she nodded. It was odd how Draco's entire tone had shifted in a matter of seconds.
"When my father was arrested... back in June," The boy repeatedly looked around them as they continued to dance, making sure that none of the other couples were close enough to hear what he was about to tell her. "My aunt, Bellatrix, told You Know Who that someone had to replace my father-"
Veralee's heart immediately sank. She knew where the conversation was about to go- she'd known all along that it would eventually happen, but she never would've guessed it would be this soon.
"Did they- give you..." She didn't even want to say it. She felt sick just thinking about it.
Draco gave a discreet nod and shifted his attention away from the girl.
Her mind began to race once he confirmed it. As much as she hated him, she would never wish something so cruel on another human being that would bind him to the Dark Lord forever. "I want to see it-"
"Blackwell-"
"Show me. I want to see," Vera looked up at him, forcing his gaze to meet hers.
Draco knew that she wouldn't give up, so he gave a short nod and turned to make sure that their mothers were no longer staring. Upon seeing that the women's backs were still turned, he held on to Vera's hand and dragged her away from the dance floor.
They excused their way through the crowds of people, and he didn't once let go of her hand until they'd made it to a hallway where no one was close enough to hear them talking.
Draco pulled his blazer off and tossed it onto a nearby armchair that was against the hallway wall before unbuttoning the cuff of his matching black dress shirt.
Veralee watched in anticipation, occasionally glancing down the hall to make sure that no one had followed them. She was scared and almost didn't want to see the truth written upon his arm, but her anxiousness was telling him to hurry up and get the revelation over with.
She faced the boy again just in time to watch as he pulled back his sleeve, revealing the twisted and cruel dark mark that had been permanently engraved into his skin.
Her stomach dropped in a sickening feeling when she laid eyes on it. His skin appeared red and irritated around the jet black mark, meaning that his arm hadn't been too eager to accept the dark magic that was being poured into his body whenever it was given to him.
She couldn't stop herself from reaching forward and grabbing his hand to pull his arm closer, giving herself a better look through the darkness of the corridor around them. Draco didn't stop her from doing so. The longer she looked at it, the worse she felt.
If they'd already given Draco the dark mark, surely either Vera or Colette, the eldest Blackwell daughter, would be next. She remembered talking to Lucas after he got his, asking him if he truly wanted it or if it hurt when he got it. Unfortunately, he answered yes to both questions.
While Veralee supported her family, she just didn't think she could support anyone who took pleasure in ridding the world of innocent muggle-born or half-blooded witches and wizards.
"I have to admit-"
Both Draco and Veralee flinched when a familiar voice made themself known from down the hallway.
"You two are fantastic at putting on a fake little act in front of everyone... funny how you'd drag each other into a dark hallway to do Merlin knows what just to prove it," Lucas Blackwell gave a low chuckle, approaching the two teens who had created a fair distance between them.
"Merlin- can't you ever mind your own business? Go away-" Vera snapped back at her brother, waving him off as she slouched back against the wall.
The older boy knew why they'd really come into the hallway, and it wasn't for some private moment to share between them like normal young teens would usually disappear for. Nothing was normal when your parents were death eaters.
"You weren't supposed to tell her, Malfoy..." Lucas shoved his hands into his pocket as he spoke, slowly getting closer.
Draco rolled his eyes as he shook his head. "She would find out eventually-"
"Yeah... but you weren't supposed to tell her. That was the first thing they told you- and the last thing my parents wanted was for you to scare Vera-"
"I'm not scared..." The girl stepped off of the wall, walking closer to her brother.
He remained unfazed at his younger sister's independent attitude. "Go find mum and dad, Vera-"
"No-" She backed away, but she didn't even have time to argue with him before he reached down and harshly grabbed her wrist, dragging her closer to him.
She winced as his grip grew strong enough to bruise her skin or cut off the blood flow to her hand.
"Go find mum and dad... got it?"
The girl nodded, trying not to look scared- she wasn't scared of him... he was her brother. She knew that he'd never do anything to actually harm her... or at least she hoped that was the case.
Lucas allowed her to remove her arm from his grasp as she sent him a small glare. He paid her no mind as she composed herself and walked back down the hall, back toward the ballroom.
The older boy waited until he was sure that he was out of earshot before taking a step closer to Draco, who had watched the entire argument take place. He was mildly concerned with the way Lucas treated Vera, but Malfoy didn't let it bother him for much longer.
"You can talk to her all you'd like- but if I find out that you told my sister about your task..." A small smirk came to the Blackwell boy's lips. "I'll make sure that it's the last task you're ever given."
Although Lucas Blackwell didn't show it most times, he'd do anything and everything to protect his sister... he would sell his soul to rescue hers- but his protection only went so far.
One day he just wouldn't be able to save her.
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