The Glasswater Yule Ball has finally arrived. Anastasia was reminded of her first ball, which is her welcome party. Her dress is still made up with the usual purple and black fabric. Though unlike the one she wore at the welcome party, this was simpler as it was only a family gathering.
Lexter and Aranel always told her that purple and black suited her. And she agrees with that, though she can't help but wonder what she'll look like in blue.
Everyone was dressed nicely. The elders were speaking with each other and her father, giving him advices and such to which Alpheus thanked them for.
Anastasia was once again socializing with her cousins at the other side of the room. They were talking about things that she couldn't quite understand.
" That's awful! "
" I know. Thankfully, the French Minister's nephew arrived and saved us from trouble. "
Anastasia decided to just listen to them quietly.
" Getting bored now? ", asked Lyam to the little girl.
Lyam and Sévère are together once more. The two along with Anastasia were standing quite a distance from the rest of their cousins.
Lyam had his wavy blonde hair neatly pulled back. Sévère, on the other hand, had his black shoulder-length hair tied up in a ponytail.
" Can't blame you though. Everything they've been talking about lately are all the same. ", Sévère complained.
Anastasia merely nodded at them quietly, unsure of how to respond.
" Hey. ", Sévère called out to Anastasia. " You have a library here right? Oh, what am I asking, of course you do. Can you lead us there? We forgot where it is now, it's been quite a while since we explored this place. "
Lyam gave him a questioning gaze to which Sévère only smiled at.
" Oh, sure. ", Anastasia responded. She turned around and was about to excuse herself from their cousins who were still busy chatting amongst themselves but was stopped by Sévère.
" Let's not do that. They might come along and disturb the library. ", he said.
Anastasia didn't quite get it as her cousins has always behaved mannerly but still, she decided to just ignore it.
The three silently walked out of the ball room. On their way, the two boys would stare at every inch of the house in a nostalgic gaze
" Ugh, it feels different here now. I missed playing here as a kid. ", Said Sévère.
" I can't argue with that. Back then, Uncle Alpheus would always invite us to stay over here. I still remember the day you got stuck on a tree that you climbed on and cried for Uncle to help you get down. ", Lyam said with a chuckle.
Sévère sent him a playful glare. " Hey! I told you not to mention it anymore! "
Anastasia felt quite envious. She too, wanted to be close with the Glasswaters but they always seem to be avoiding her or looking at her with disappointment.
Finally, they've arrived at the library.
" We're here now. Do you need help with anything else? ", asked Anastasia.
When she turned around to look at the two, she found that they have been whispering to each other. Well, more like Sévère was whispering to Lyam. Lyam nodded to whatever he was saying before speaking.
" Ah yes. ", said Lyam. " Do you mind staying here with us? We just wanted to take a look at this place before we leave tomorrow. But now that we're here anyway, maybe we could help you with you heiress duties. "
Anastasia was surprised. She honestly stopped hoping that her relatives would help her in her duties when they started avoiding her.
" Yes. That would mean a lot for me. Let's.. Let's sit over here first. ", Anastasia said as she walked towards a study corner, missing the glance of pity from her cousins.
Anastasia and Lyam sat down while Sévère took a book from the next shelf and brought it to them. The two boys began to give out advices on what to do like her upcoming paperworks once she turns 15.
" You really need to prepare for those. They're the cause of my headaches now. It was just so sudden. ", Sévère whined, earning a chuckle from the taller boy.
" I did try to warn you. But you didn't listen. ", said Lyam.
That made Anastasia quite curious about their age.
" I don't want to be rude, but can I ask something? I hope it isn't offending. ", she said.
" Go on. "
" How old are you two? You both mentioned going through those paperworks already, right? "
" Haha, don't worry, that isn't offending for us. At least you told us why you wanted to know. If it were the others they would probably feel offended. ", said Sévère. " Anyway, I'm 15 years old while Lyam is 16. Ugh, it really caught me off guard when my father just suddenly handed me paperworks a week after my birthday. "
" I advice that you should start doing a few small paperworks for now in order to prepare. It's still a few years before you turn 15 but at least you'll be used at it. ", said Lyam.
Anastasia thanked them for their advices. She felt grateful for the two for helping her and talking to her.
" Anyway. ", Lyam shut his book close. " You've probably noticed it by now, right? "
Anastasia looked at him in confusion. " Noticed what? "
" The way they avoid you. "
Anastasia momentarily froze at that. So they are not trying to deny it. " Yeah, I have.... "
" Well, there is a reason to that. ", said Lyam.
" What is it? "
Lyam tapped his fingers against the book as he tried to think how to word it out. Eventually, Sévère got annoyed with his silence and spoke up instead.
" It's because you're too nice. ", said Sévère.
Anastasia's mind went blank at that. " What? "
Sévère sighed. " You're too nice. It's just... Not so... How do I say this... pureblood? Anyway, they dislike that, especially now that you're the successor of this family. They want the successor to be the Glasswaters' standard of pureblood. Neutral to arguments, only taking sides secretly, mature, intelligent, quite cruel, and creates connections with multiple influential families. Let's just say... They're disappointed at your bubbly attitude. "
The girl went silent at that. Some of those standards were things she hated about pureblood families. Sure, the Glasswater standards aren't as explicitly cruel like the other pureblood families as they're mostly on the cold side instead of the cruel side. But still, she can't imagine herself doing some of those standards.
Noticing the young girl's frown, Lyam let out a sigh. " It can't be helped. If you want their approval, you need to earn it this way. Though they prefer the successor to be a male, they're also fine with females as they can just request to keep our families last name. But what they dislike is your attitude. Not to mention, you don't even look like Uncle Alpheus. "
Just as he finished saying that, a few people walked inside of the library. It was some of their cousins.
Lyam and Sévère abruptly stood up, causing the girl to follow their actions. Their cousins, upon seeing the two with the young girl, g useave them a gaze full of suspicion.
" Huh. What's going on here? Are you two helping her with something? ", Their cousin Éléanor asked, trying to sound nice but the three noticed the hint of distaste in her tone.
" They were gi- "
" No. "
Anastasia looked at Sévère who had just interrupted her.
" We weren't helping her with anything. We just asked her to bring us here since Sevi and I forgot our way here. She was the one who insisted to stay with us. ", said Lyam.
Anastasia stared in confusion at the two who didn't even have a slight look of guilt at what they said. She was about to ask them what they were saying when Lyam gave her a warning glare.
Éléanor sighed before speaking. " Well, Uncle Alpheus is looking for you three. It's time to go back now. ", she said before turning around and walking away with the others.
Once they are a distance away from them, the two turned to look at the young girl.
" Don't talk to us unless needed. Don't act friendly with when they're around. Understood? ", asked Lyam.
" This is the least you can do to repay us for our help. ", Sévère added.
Though Anastasia felt quite hurt, she still acted fine and smiled brightly at the two. " Okay. I won't talk to you two. ", she said before skipping out of the library.
No. It was not okay. After the ball ended and everyone has retreated to their rooms, Anastasia turned her attention to the letters on her hands to avoid crying.
Ana,
It's good that you wrote to us! Sooo many things have happened. We pranked Snape two times just after the day you left! We even made Percy wear our mum's jumper for him and made him sit with us at the Great Hall! We were also able to trick some students into entering the restricted section of the library. Ron and his friends are also acting strange.
We hope you're having fun there, Ana! Let's sneak out once you've returned.
-Fred (and George)
___
Ana,
Thank you for writing to us, Ana! Thank you for getting me that book, I really need it. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the twins are always up to something, but they know their boundaries.
I'm having a great time here with my family. And I hope you are too. I'll see you soon, Ana.
-Lee
___
Ana,
Hello Ana! It went quite well. Though some of my relatives we're annoying. I tried to socialize with them but they just wouldn't stop pestering me!
Anyway, I'm exited for 31! I hope we'll be able to have fun here!
-Draco
___
Ana,
I just arrived home when I wrote this. It was nice I'm Russia, though too cold. Luckily, my mum packed me some extra coats. Dad brought three bears at our cottage, it got mum really mad so she chased him around the house hahaha!
I hope you had fun there too! Let's see each other at 31!
-Pansy
___
Anastasia didn't receive a reply from Theodore, not that she was expecting one.
After reading the letters, she smiled happily to herself before hiding them inside her bedside drawer and going to sleep.
[<>]
A lot of luggages were already at the Manor's entrance by the time Anastasia got out of her room. It seems like her relatives are leaving quite early.
Lyam and Sévère were still ignoring her, so she gave them the favor and did the same. After they have left, she went back to her room and rechecked her belongings.
She'll be going to Hogwarts with Draco, Pansy, and Theodore at January 1st, so Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy will be dropping them off. It was why she packed even the things she'll bring to Hogwarts.
Once it was 10 am, she was dropped off to Malfoy Manor by the shit eating grin Lexter who was reminding her all of her embarrassing mistakes in her homeworks.
Finally, Lexter left. Anastasia was greeted by Narcissa Malfoy who called their house elf, Dobby to bring in her luggages. Apparently, Pansy has arrived just a few minutes before she did.
Narcissa guided her towards their living room where Pansy was telling Draco about her time in Russia. Upon noticing their friend, the two got up and greeted her.
Anastasia greeted them back, and also thanking Narcissa. Narcissa gently smiled at her before walking off. The three then sat down and continued their conversation.
" It's good that I haven't been that far in telling Draco about my time in Russia. Let me start over again. So when we arrived, we were escorted by- "
The three chatted amongst themselves, giggling once and a while and taking a bite off their snacks. The atmosphere was nice. Draco was laughing off his arse by the time Pansy finished explaining.
" No way! Your mum really chased your dad around the house? HAHAHAHAHA! "
The two girls laughed along with Draco. " Yeah. She was pretty pissed. Dad ended up taking the bears back to the forest. ", Said Pansy.
Anastasia felt nice to see her friends interacting freely without the worries of pureblood stuffs.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approaching stopped their laughs. They turned around and found Theodore who was accompanied by Lucius.
" Here they are, Theodore. Have fun with them. Do tell us if you need anything. ", And with that, Lucius turned around to leave.
The three awkwardly stared at the newcomer before Anastasia cleared her throat. " Um. Come here, Theo. We were just talking about our Holidays. Sit here with us. "
Theodore didn't say a word and just sat quite a distance from the three. He merely opened his book and started reading.
Draco was beyond pissed. But remembering Anastasia's reminder, he just let out a huff and moved his gaze away from the boy.
" What about you, Ana? Did anything interesting happen at your family's ball? ", asked Pansy.
Anastasia was instantly reminded by the events that happened. But she still kept a smile. " It went nice. Two of my cousins were nice enough to warn me about what I'll be needing to do in the future. They also told me to prepare myself for the upcoming paperworks once I turn 15. "
" Paperwork? You'll already be handling those that early? ", asked Draco.
" Yeah. Apparently, it's a family thing. They like being ahead. "
Anastasia turned to Theodore to initiate a conversation with him. " How was your holiday, Theo? "
" It's none of your business. ", Theodore answered flatly.
Pansy was keeping Draco from attacking the boy in the background.
" Well, I'm sure it went well. I heard you went to Japan with your family. It must be nice there. ", Anastasia said, smile still not wearing off.
Theodore kept giving rude remarks, but the blue-eyed girl didn't stop giving him nice compliments until he eventually gave up and stopped answering her questions.
Time passed, and it was already time for dinner. The four kids ate with Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. As they did so, Lucius kept asking them updates.
" How's your relationships? I hope you're all treating each other nicely. "
" Oh, yes. We were happy to see each other again. ", Pansy answered.
" Have you all finished your homeworks? "
The four nodded.
" That's good. A pureblood must always be ahead. None of you encountered any trouble in Hogwarts, right? "
" Leave them be, Lucius. They're eating. ", Narcissa said.
After that, they all chatted for a bit before heading to their respective rooms, already waiting for their return to Hogwarts tomorrow.