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"What?" Mia asked, completely and utterly dumbfounded as she stared at her mother in disbelief, her happy mood deflating down to the floor.
"The word is 'Pardon', Euphemia. Don't say 'what', I raised you better than that," Cassiopeia reprimanded her daughter but Mia couldn't care less, she sunk to her seat, her heart beating loudly in her chest as a wave of panic and disbelief engulfed her.
Cassiopeia had called Euphemia to the drawing room after the girl had returned to the Black Manor after visiting Florean and Pomona in Diagon Alley.
Mia had thought nothing of it at first - she had been in such a happy mood that she couldn't think of anything negative whatsoever. Which made her perfect to take advantage of, in Cassiopeia's opinion.
However, once Euphemia had entered the drawing room, she had immediately been filled with a sinking feeling when she saw her mother's face as she beckoned her daughter over to sit down.
"What is it, Mother?" Mia had asked, dread pooling in her stomach. "I need to talk to you about something very important that regards your future," Cassiopeia had told her which instantly had set off alarm bells in Euphemia's head.
Gulping, Mia had started to pay more attention, feeling her nerves practically overtake and engulf her body in a wave, drowning her completely.
"Once your cousin, Orion, leaves Hogwarts, myself and your Aunt Melania have decided to marry the two of you," Cassiopeia had told her carefully and slowly and Euphemia had felt like her heart had dropped out of her chest.
Now, Mia continued staring in disbelief at her mother as Cassiopeia corrected her use of the word 'What?' instead of 'Pardon?' But could you blame her?
What on earth was Cassiopeia playing at? Euphemia was only just turning fifteen this summer and yet she was expected to marry Orion when she was still underage and still a child....
This time next year she was going to be married to her cousin, her disgusting, slimy cousin who she didn't even like! Orion had always been horrible to her and yet now Mia had to marry him? Where was her choice in this?
"Do I not have a choice?" Euphemia asked rather shakily and Cassiopeia scoffed harshly, a scornful laugh coming out of her mouth.
"Choice? Why would we let you have a choice? It's proper Black family procedure to be married to a respectable pure blood man!" Cassiopeia told her, frustrated that her daughter wasn't more excited at the prospect of getting married.
Mia was anything but excited - she didn't have a choice in who she was marrying and she would be stuck in a loveless marriage for the rest of her days instead of marrying a person that she loved.
The worst thing about the entire situation was that she didn't have a choice - her mother and aunt had already paired Orion and herself up without even consulting either of them.
It was like she didn't matter anymore, Euphemia physically felt like she was an object only there for one purpose - to sustain the pureblood line and uphold the Black family tradition.
Mia would be nearing sixteen when she was to be married but the girl was still pretty certain that that age was way too young to be making such life changing commitments like marriage.
She would still be in school, for goodness sake! Euphemia knew that her parents were tying her down with a husband now because then she wouldn't be able to get away or escape from the family in any way, shape or form.
Mia had thought it had been bad enough when the Rosiers and Blacks had married Druella and Cygnus when they were only in seventh year at Hogwarts but Euphemia would only be in fifth year!
Yes, she would be going into sixth year if it was happening in the summer after fifth year but Mia still didn't want to get married to Orion at such a young age.
She didn't even want to get married at all - the fact that her family were forcing her into an unwanted marriage was actually cruel, even for them.
They were trying to trap Euphemia in the family with no escape and Mia felt the panic rise up in her as her mother stared at her, waiting for a reaction.
"Well?" Cassiopeia prompted her daughter, seeing Euphemia's wide, scared eyes as she took deep breaths to try and avoid convulsing into a supreme panic attack.
"I don't want to," Mia replied defiantly, feeling braver than she had ever felt before, "I don't want to marry Orion and you can't make me!" she yelled at her mother, internally alarmed at her own nerve.
Cassiopeia's eyes widened and her mouth parted in shock - she was not used to this kind of rebellious attitude from her daughter of all people.
Euphemia had always been well behaved and she had always done what Cassiopeia had expected of her, she had even stopped being friends with scum so that her mother could be proud of her.
And yet, now she was actually standing up to Cassiopeia and the woman was taken aback before anger consumed her and she took another step towards her daughter threateningly.
"You will do what I say, Euphemia Cassiopeia Ophelia Black!" Cassiopeia hissed at Mia, using her full name to try and intimidate her.
Cassiopeia didn't like how she had lost the power that she had had over Mia and she stepped towards her daughter even more but Euphemia didn't cower, she didn't even flinch - she stared back at her mother, her jaw set in determination.
Internally, Mia was freaking out and alarm bells were ringing all over her body but she wasn't going to let her mother walk all over her anymore, she was going to at least try and stand up to her.
"Will I, though?" Euphemia challenged Cassiopeia, "If I'm old enough to be married, I'm old enough to make my own choices and I say no! There is no way that I am marrying Orion and there is no way that I am going to listen to you anymore!"
Mia stood there, breathing heavily as Cassiopeia tried to process her daughter's words, not really believing what she was actually seeing, what was actually happening.
"How dare you talk to me like that!" Cassiopeia hissed, anger emanating off her in huge waves that Euphemia could practically feel, she could sense just how enraged her mother truly was.
"Oh, shut up you bitch," Mia spat at Cassiopeia, still hardly believing that she was actually talking to her mother like this, that she was actually risking her own safety for the sake of actually standing up to Cassiopeia for once.
Cassiopeia gasped and grabbed hold of Euphemia's wrist tightly, digging her nails into Mia's skin so that she almost bled but Euphemia simply raised her other hand and slapped Cassiopeia right across the face.
Knowing that she had practically just signed a death contract, Mia quickly ran past her mother, whilst she held her slapped cheek in shock, and tried to escape via the door.
Euphemia knew that she wasn't going to last long after that moment but it had felt so good to finally shout at her mother and to finally hit her, to finally defend herself instead of giving in.
No matter what happened after that, Mia would forever cherish the fact that she actually slapped Cassiopeia and that she actually stood up for herself for once.
That would be enough for the girl, at the end of the day. Because, if she could defend herself once, she could defend herself again.
~~~
"Charlus! Charlus, wake up! Wake uppp!" Olivia jumped up and down on her older brother's bed, attempting to wake him up.
"Bugger off, Liv," Charlus mumbled, turning over in his bed and pulling the covers over his head to try and block out the sunlight that was now streaming in through the gap in his curtains that his sister had opened.
"That's not very nice - Mummy said you're not allowed to swear," Olivia pouted, placing her hands on her hips before she ripped the covers off Charlus, causing him to sit up and glare at his six year old sister.
"Why are you such a nuisance?" he asked her and Olivia simply giggled, "Because I'm your sister?" she suggested and Charlus smiled a little tiredly before he grabbed hold of her and threw her down on his bed.
Charlus started to tickle Olivia and her giggles filled the room as she pleaded for him to stop but, as her brother, he chose not to listen to her and decided to get revenge on her for waking him up.
"You're mean," Olivia pouted at her older brother through her giggles as he continued to tickle her, making her kick her legs at him to try and get him to stop.
"So are you - waking me up at this early hour!" Charlus retorted, stopping tickling the six year old now because otherwise she'd probably end up wetting herself from the excitement.
"It's only seven o'clock, you're lazy," Olivia responded, rolling over on his bed and spreading out like an eagle, nearly booting Charlus off his own bed.
"Oi, stop taking up all the room," Charlus pushed her slightly but Olivia simply looked back at him blankly and, in a dead panned voice that was unusual for the six year old, said, "Nope," popping the 'p' on the word.
"Cheeky sod," Charlus muttered underneath his breath but he couldn't help but smile as his little sister had a tendency to always amuse him.
At that moment, there was a sudden thud as something collided with Charlus' bedroom window and both of the Potter siblings jumped, Charlus getting up and walking to his window in interest.
An owl was perching on his windowsill, letter in it's beak and Charlus took the letter, turning it over to see who it was from. Recognising Eugenia's handwriting, the boy frowned as Eugenia hadn't written to him since about second year, when she used to send him love letters.
Shrugging, he sat back down on his bed, pushing Olivia back to the other side as she had taken up all the room again just to annoy him. His sister peered over his shoulder in curiosity as Charlus opened the letter, only to find that Eugenia was writing him to ask whether he wanted to meet up in Diagon Alley over the summer.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Olivia piped up suddenly, from behind him and Charlus turned around to gape at his six year old sister, who was clad in a flowery patterned nightgown.
"No! What on earth made you think that?" he asked Olivia incredulously and the little girl shrugged, her messy blonde plaits bouncing up and down as she did so.
"She put kisses there and that's what Mummy does when she gives cards to Daddy on his birthday," Olivia pointed out, indicating the couple of kisses that Eugenia had signed her name off with.
"Well, she's not. There's no way that Eugenia Jenkins is my girlfriend, trust me," Charlus told his sister with a chuckle before he crumpled up the parchment and threw it into his bin, landing it there perfectly which caused Olivia to start clapping. He wasn't a Chaser for nothing.
"Do you have a girlfriend though?" she persisted, kneeling up on the bed so that she was the same height as her seated brother, staring into his eyes inquiringly.
Charlus chuckled, remembering how Olivia had mispronounced the word 'girlfriend' as 'girgle friend / gorlfriend' last Christmas when he had been unwrapping his present from Mia, which had led their mother to comment on whether Charlus had a girlfriend.
At the mere thought of Mia, Charlus frowned and his heart felt like it suddenly weighed more than usual in his chest. He was still very upset and angry over the entire situation - though he was more upset at himself for allowing himself to catch feelings for her.
Just when he had been pretty sure that he liked her and cared for her very much, it was ripped away from him and Charlus had felt like someone had slapped him in the face when he had seen Euphemia admit that she had been spying on them.
Plus, it didn't help that she had attacked him though Charlus still wasn't sure about that, the Mia that he had known wasn't the violent type and it seemed very out of character.
But, Charlus had seen her hex him with his own eyes and he had not been able to play Quidditch for a fortnight because of his injuries sustained from that very attack so he was understandably annoyed at her.
As Minnie had said in the months following the whole fallout with Euphemia, it was easier to hate her and ignore her than to admit that they had probably done wrong as well in not listening to her properly when she had begged them for a second chance.
Gryffindors had a tendency to be extremely stubborn and Charlus was not an exception - he didn't want to seem weak but he also didn't want to let Mia slip out of his fingers because he was still grappling with his feelings for her.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Olivia's voice brought Charlus out of his thoughts and he realised that he had frozen in his position on his bed, elbows resting on his knees as his hands cupped his thoughtful face.
"Sorry," Charlus mumbled but Olivia still wasn't giving up, that seemed to be a common trait throughout the Potter family.
Except that Charlus had pretty much given up when it came to Mia - he had never felt more defeated and heartbroken than when he saw her snogging Aaron Simons, of all people.
Aaron was a player and, yes, even though Charlus also had dated about a good quarter of the female population, he was nothing like Aaron. Aaron roped vulnerable girls into his trap with his charm and bad boy aura but he didn't treat the girls with respect.
Charlus at least was respectful to his flings and he always felt pretty bad when they got upset with him but Aaron, he didn't care.
What hurt Charlus most of all about the whole Euphemia and Aaron thing was that Mia had claimed on their date that she wouldn't have been surprised if he had been dared to take her out because he had a notorious reputation for being a playboy.
However, Euphemia was still willing to date another playboy and even go as far as displaying public affection with him in the corridors, as if she didn't know that Aaron was just a player and would probably end up breaking her heart.
"What about that girl that gave you that?" Olivia asked, pointing at the miniature Romeo & Juliet book that rested on Charlus' bedside, the very same one that Euphemia had bought for him last Christmas.
Charlus quickly snatched it up, stuffing it in one of his bedside drawers, "Yeah, she's no one," he muttered, hoping that his sister would drop it but, when he glanced over his shoulder at Olivia, she was smirking.
"Doesn't seem like no one to me," Olivia quipped, noting that Charlus was blushing a little bit and she found that quite funny and interesting.
"You're six, why are you even asking me about my love life?" Charlus asked his little sister in exasperation and incredulity, causing her to gasp and place her little hands on her petite hips.
"I am six and half, actually!" Olivia corrected him, looking completely insulted, "And I'm just asking because I'm nosy," she said in a sing song voice, tilting her head to one side and smiling innocently at her brother, who rolled his eyes.
"Okay, maybe I do like her. A lot. But we've fallen out," Charlus eventually told Olivia, giving in once he realised that she wasn't going to stop pestering him until he actually gave an answer.
"What does 'fallen out' mean?" Olivia asked, looking at her brother in confusion, "Does it mean you've fallen over?" she wondered out loud and Charlus gave a dry chuckle, ruffling her blonde locks affectionally, earning himself a glare from Olivia.
"Don't touch my hair! It takes a lot of work to look this good!" Olivia slapped his hand away fiercely, causing Charlus to snigger and hold his hands up in surrender.
His sister was sat there with messy bedhead plaits and flushed cheeks from sleep and she was donning a crumpled flowery nightgown and pink dressing gown that made it clear that she had just gotten out of bed. And yet, Olivia Potter still managed to appear fierce.
"No, to fall out with someone means to argue with them and not be friends with them anymore," Charlus explained to his sister, leading her to furrow her eyebrows in confusion.
"Then become friends with her again, fool!" Olivia said exasperatedly to Charlus in answer to his explanation. Charlus chuckled sadly, running his hands through his hair casually, "It's not that simple, sweetheart."
Olivia rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yes it is! I wasn't friends with Susan next door for two weeks because she ate my cookie but she got me another cookie soon and now we're friends again!" she told him.
"What's that got to do with me and Euphemia?" Charlus asked in confusion, actually saying her name for once instead of avoiding even uttering it, as had been the case for the last few months.
Olivia looked at her fifteen year old brother like he was actually stupid which was a look that Charlus didn't get very often, especially not from his six year old sister.
"Just get her a cookie, Charlus! Food solves all problems," Olivia said to him before scrambling in her dressing gown pocket and taking out a red lollipop and popping it into her mouth.
"See? That just solved my problem of being hungry!" Olivia exclaimed indistinctly, her lollipop restricting her speech.
Charlus smiled in amusement at his sister's antics but a simple cookie or lollipop wasn't going to sort out the situation with Mia.
"I think food can only solve so far...maybe only in six year old girls' worlds," Charlus said gently, "But I appreciate the sentiment," he added hastily because at least she had tried to make him feel better.
"Just make me bridesmaid at your wedding with Mia and that'll be your payment," Olivia said casually as she jumped off Charlus' bed just as her brother was taking a drink from the glass of water on his beside table, causing him to splutter.
"What? I'm not going to get married to her!" he blurted out though the mere thought of Euphemia in a wedding dress made his heart seize up. Olivia simply gave him a knowing look, an expression she must've learnt from their mother.
"That means you'll have to pay me in cash if not in bridesmaids," she told him and Charlus stared at his sister in disbelief, "And what exactly am I paying you for?" he asked.
"My wonderful advice, of course! That doesn't just come free, Charlus! Damn, who raised you?" Olivia cried dramatically, rolling her eyes in exasperation as if it should've been something that Charlus was meant to know.
"Thank you?" he said uncertainly, secretly amused by her antics as she swished her dressing coat around like a cape before going to exit his bedroom, her lollipop still in her mouth.
"I should think so too!" Olivia called out as she walked out of his door, still flouncing about like a princess. "I'm glad you found your manners!"
Charlus sighed, thinking he had finally gotten rid of the six year old when she popped her head around the door.
"I'm here all day, Charlus. Though you will have to pay me in food if you want anymore advice - it's exhausting and this queen needs energy!" Olivia beamed at him before Charlus threw a slipper at her to get her away.
"Abuse!" she screamed from the other side of the door, having slammed it to avoid being hit by Charlus' slipper, "After all I did for you, Fleamont!" Olivia yelled at him and Charlus sighed again.
"Don't call me Fleamont!" he called tiredly before rolling over onto his front and burying his face in his pillow, confused and conflicted about his feelings for Euphemia Black.
I realised that I haven't done a faceclaim for Olivia but she's not really that much of a main character to be put in the official cast list so here's a picture below!
Everleigh Soutas as Olivia Potter