Post by caladwen on Dec 14, 2007 19:54:43 GMT -5
As she stared out across the sea of witches and wizards dressed their finest, she wondered, quite simply and childishly, 'Why am I any different?'
She, like they, was Pureblood. She was probably more pure than the rest of them, in fact. She was the same age as several of the children mingling respectably, she was probably more polite than they too, but for some reason, her magic refused to show.
Nervously, she shifted her weight from foot to foot, trying not to be noticed. She hoped that she wasn't approached by any of them... she didn't want to be pushed into a position where she would have to 'show off', as they were so fond of doing. It would be rude to refuse a request like that, even one made by a child the same age as herself.
Rudeness was something that her family didn't tolerate in the least.
The party they were throwing was an annual one. Every year, the most respectable families gathered to display their newly-come-of-age offspring in hopes that they would find a Pureblood to be betrothed to. Finding anything else was not acceptable.
Luckily, she was not yet old enough to be placed in front of all these people for appraisal. Fascinated as she was by them, she didn't think she'd like being stared at in the way that the older children were. Instead, she stayed near the back of the party area.
She wasn't mingling like she should be, she knew, but she was content just to stay where she was and watch the other people. Not that her parents would notice; they were too busy bragging about her sister. She was grateful for this. She wouldn't be bothered to do the proper thing if they were otherwise occupied.
Walburga was only a year older than she was, but she was the favorite. That suited her just fine, however. People payed her less attention than her already-ambitious sister. Growing up in Walburga's shadow didn't affect her as much as she had read about in books. Of course, her mother often told her that those stories weren't real and the things inside them couldn't really happen.
Not that the reading of fiction was particularly encouraged. They much preferred her to read about history and wizarding etiquette and other useful things. She didn't mind, really... it was what her family did, and she had to respect that. Doing anything different would make her an outcast for sure.
That was one of the reasons she was so worried about being different... she was rather fond of her family. She didn't want to get blasted off of the family tapestry. There were a few marks on it already, and she didn't want to be added to that list. She liked the way her name looked, woven with some type of magical thread alongside those of her siblings, her parents, and her ancestors. Every time she looked at the family tapestry, she felt that she was part of something larger, and it made her feel important.
She glanced down at her youngest brother, Alphard, who was just older than two, and smiled. That made her feel important too. Her parents had trusted her to look after the baby of the family, to keep him safe, and to show him off.
Alphard would be striking when he was older, she knew, he already showed the classic beauty all those born to the Black family had, though most of this was obscured by the baby fat that still hugged his cheeks.
A mop of black hair, as silky as her own, and twice as soft, was combed carefully around a pale face, and curious blue eyes, which she shared, peeked out at the crowd. He looked quite similar, in the way that siblings were, to the other son in the family. Cygnus.
Cygnus was five, four years younger than Walburga, and was the only one in their family not to inherit the ebony hair. Rich chestnut waves of hair, piercing grey eyes that even now seemed to calculate and assess ruthlessly, and the sharp features of a Black. Features she shared.
She supposed since she was taking care of Alphard, that she should look after Cygnus too. Neither were old enough to realize what was proper and what wasn't... her own training in the subject of this kind of etiquette hadn't started until she was at least six. He could easily offend someone.
Even as she scanned the crowd, however, Cygnus escaped her gaze. He must have snuck back inside when everyone was occupied. Sighing, she swept the crowd once more and made sure her parents weren't looking, before leading Alphard back inside the house by the hand.
They passed through the hall and up the stairs without sound. She had a feeling she knew where Cygnus would be, because it was where Cygnus always was.
She knocked once at the third door from the end, before opening it and leading Alphard into it.
Just as she had suspected, Cygnus was sitting on his bed, staring at the floor. The complicated dress clothes that she had helped him into this morning were now strewn across the end of the same bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly, leaving Alphard to kneel in front of her other brother.
"I don't want to go back down there," he said simply, still staring moodily at the floor.
She furrowed her brow for a moment, before replying, "Why not? Don't you like looking at all the people? Talking to everyone? Isn't it fun?"
"S'not that."
"Then what?"
"Everyone's... everyone's looking at Walburga." He pouted a bit, in that five-year-old way that made it cute.
"Yes, well. I'm not looking at Walburga. I've got to look at her every day." She made a face purely for the amusement of her brother, and then continued. "That's what this party's for, you know. So people can look at the older kids and talk about them. It's nothing against you; you'll be up there for people to be looking at and talking about soon enough."
She knew that Cygnus enjoyed being the center of attention, just as much as she didn't. It must have been hard for him to watch Walburga get all the attention.
Reaching out, she ruffled her brother's chestnut hair and pulled him into a light hug, before standing and taking his hand.
"So, are you ready to go back out there and enjoy yourself?"
Cygnus nodded, and she helped him back into his clothes. By the time she was finished, he looked mildly presentable. Alphard had watched the affair silently, and now came and tugged on the hem of her blouse.
Sighing in a mock-exasperated sort of way, she smiled and picked her youngest brother up. Mother told her that she shouldn't, that he was too old for that sort of treatment... but mother also said that fiction was bad, which she knew for a fact it wasn't. Not all of it.
Resting Alphard on her hip, she took Cygnus by the hand and led them both back into the hall and down the stairs, out the door and back to the same spot where she had been standing before.
Apparently she hadn't been missed, which was a good thing. It also seemed like she was back just in time, for not five minutes after she re-entered the party area she heard her mother calling for her.
"Cassiopeia! Put your brother down. He's far too old for that sort of treatment, it'll only make him soft."
Casting her eyes downwards, she set her brother back on the ground and answered, "Yes, Mother."
Alphard made a small sound of protest, but quieted quickly. He was a quiet child, really. There were few things that he actually did want in the world... to be picked up occasionally was one of them. He knew, in the secret way of children, that if he came to her he could get what he wanted. The two had developed quite a bond, truth be told. A bond their mother didn't know about. It was better that way, she mused, because if her mother knew she babied her brother she'd likely be punished for disobeying.
She was still thinking when her sister removed herself from the prying eyes of the crowd and graced her siblings with her presence. Walburga was flushed, and there was a light dancing in her eyes that Cassiopeia knew usually meant she had been given several compliments.
"They like me," she said confidently, "They say they'll find someone for me straightaway."
Cassi smiled slightly and nodded. Alphard was still tugging at the hem of her blouse, but she couldn't pick him up, not here with their mother and all the people watching.
"You really shouldn't baby him," Walburga commentated, watching the exchange between the two. "I should tell Mother."
"You wouldn't," Cassi said automatically, glancing at her sister.
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't."
The act of rolling one's eyes had been bred out of her for a long time, yet she felt compelled to do so at the moment. Compliments usually fueled Walburga's fire, but since she had received so many today, she figured it would be worse.
Not that she didn't like her sister. Walburga was actually quite tolerable when she wasn't being spoiled, when she was just Gaga instead of Walburga Black, esteemed heiress to the Black fortune and all that nonsense.
It would only really matter years from now, but Walburga had already shown that cool and calculating talent that was another hereditary trait of the Black family. She was clever, but she was only nine years old. She would be leaving in a few years... and Cassi would be gone the year after that.
That was, of course, if she got over herself and finally showed her magical talent.
At that moment, Alphard let out a wail and started to throw a tantrum. It was odd, and Cassi furrowed her brow. Usually such a quiet child...
"Cassiopeia!" Her mother shouted, "Get the child inside and make him quiet!"
"Yes, Mother," she replied automatically, picked Alphard up and carried him into the foyer of the house. Cygnus, who still seemed ill at ease among all the people, followed.
She set him down near the window, bending down and trying to comfort him. Cassi was happy to see that Walburga hadn't followed; she could give Alphard all the special treatment he needed, and she knew Cygnus wouldn't tell. Cygnus was a good child, and Cassi didn't mind rewarding him every now and then by sneaking sweets from the house elves or other things, even though she knew she shouldn't.
In fact, in the way of children, she did quite a lot that she really shouldn't. Her mother never found out, though, because there was always something else to get done in the house. Her father, on the other hand, was more observant. If he knew about all the things Cassi did, he didn't say anything, for which she was grateful.
After all, according to her mother's teachings, children were to be seen and not heard. If there was no one else to hear them, who would? Cassi took the role on willingly, knowing what it was like to be a child in this household without a kind older sibling to look after her.
Not that she minded, of course. Not that she ever did.
Now that they were away from the crowds and she could tend to Alphard like he wanted, he was quieter. She could tell he couldn't understand why she could only do this when no one was watching, and she must explain it to him. Someday, but that wasn't today. Wasn't today at all.
Cygnus said something, and unconsciously Cassi turned to acknowledge her other brother, so that he didn't feel left out. In the moment that her attention was averted, Alphard had started up again.
When she turned back around to quiet him again, she had to blink a few times to fully process what she was seeing.
The curtains were burning. The curtains... but how...?
Then it struck her. Alphard continued to cry, but she knew the flames wouldn't harm anyone... not if they were the type of flames she guessed they were.
And she was fairly certain they were.
She could only gape for a moment. Cygnus looked panicked, and kept telling her repeatedly that the curtains were on fire. She knew this, and she told Cygnus that she knew, and he ran outside again. A moment later, Walburga entered.
"I thought Mother told you---" she stopped short, went wide-eyed for a moment, and then rushed back out into the crowd to fetch her parents.
This seemed to bring Cassi to her senses; quickly as she could, she picked her brother up and set him down again, a safe distance from the flames, before rushing to the kitchen and trying to find something to put the curtains out with.
Meanwhile, she heard talking from the foyer, and many happy proclamations. Then it was the type of flame she thought it was.
Her two-year-old baby brother had just managed something that she never had... something that she knew, somewhere deep inside, she never would.
She walked, defeated, back into the hallway and stood in the shadows. Watching, then, she was completely unsurprised that she wasn't missed.
Quite suddenly, she had become the least favorite of all her siblings. How had that happened? What had she ever done to warrant such ill will? It wasn't her fault she couldn't set things on fire spontaneously, or levitate things, or even make things fly across the room, like they had.
She vowed, right then, that she would find some way to prove that she was worthy of her family name. She didn't want to be removed... she didn't want to be invisible forever, or shadowed by everyone else in the family. She wanted to, as ashamed as she was to admit it, be where Walburga was one day. She wanted everyone to look at her, admire her, and not think of how disappointing she was because she hadn't shown magical ability yet.
This couldn't happen to her, because she was a Black. These sorts of things didn't happen to Blacks.
She, like they, was Pureblood. She was probably more pure than the rest of them, in fact. She was the same age as several of the children mingling respectably, she was probably more polite than they too, but for some reason, her magic refused to show.
Nervously, she shifted her weight from foot to foot, trying not to be noticed. She hoped that she wasn't approached by any of them... she didn't want to be pushed into a position where she would have to 'show off', as they were so fond of doing. It would be rude to refuse a request like that, even one made by a child the same age as herself.
Rudeness was something that her family didn't tolerate in the least.
The party they were throwing was an annual one. Every year, the most respectable families gathered to display their newly-come-of-age offspring in hopes that they would find a Pureblood to be betrothed to. Finding anything else was not acceptable.
Luckily, she was not yet old enough to be placed in front of all these people for appraisal. Fascinated as she was by them, she didn't think she'd like being stared at in the way that the older children were. Instead, she stayed near the back of the party area.
She wasn't mingling like she should be, she knew, but she was content just to stay where she was and watch the other people. Not that her parents would notice; they were too busy bragging about her sister. She was grateful for this. She wouldn't be bothered to do the proper thing if they were otherwise occupied.
Walburga was only a year older than she was, but she was the favorite. That suited her just fine, however. People payed her less attention than her already-ambitious sister. Growing up in Walburga's shadow didn't affect her as much as she had read about in books. Of course, her mother often told her that those stories weren't real and the things inside them couldn't really happen.
Not that the reading of fiction was particularly encouraged. They much preferred her to read about history and wizarding etiquette and other useful things. She didn't mind, really... it was what her family did, and she had to respect that. Doing anything different would make her an outcast for sure.
That was one of the reasons she was so worried about being different... she was rather fond of her family. She didn't want to get blasted off of the family tapestry. There were a few marks on it already, and she didn't want to be added to that list. She liked the way her name looked, woven with some type of magical thread alongside those of her siblings, her parents, and her ancestors. Every time she looked at the family tapestry, she felt that she was part of something larger, and it made her feel important.
She glanced down at her youngest brother, Alphard, who was just older than two, and smiled. That made her feel important too. Her parents had trusted her to look after the baby of the family, to keep him safe, and to show him off.
Alphard would be striking when he was older, she knew, he already showed the classic beauty all those born to the Black family had, though most of this was obscured by the baby fat that still hugged his cheeks.
A mop of black hair, as silky as her own, and twice as soft, was combed carefully around a pale face, and curious blue eyes, which she shared, peeked out at the crowd. He looked quite similar, in the way that siblings were, to the other son in the family. Cygnus.
Cygnus was five, four years younger than Walburga, and was the only one in their family not to inherit the ebony hair. Rich chestnut waves of hair, piercing grey eyes that even now seemed to calculate and assess ruthlessly, and the sharp features of a Black. Features she shared.
She supposed since she was taking care of Alphard, that she should look after Cygnus too. Neither were old enough to realize what was proper and what wasn't... her own training in the subject of this kind of etiquette hadn't started until she was at least six. He could easily offend someone.
Even as she scanned the crowd, however, Cygnus escaped her gaze. He must have snuck back inside when everyone was occupied. Sighing, she swept the crowd once more and made sure her parents weren't looking, before leading Alphard back inside the house by the hand.
They passed through the hall and up the stairs without sound. She had a feeling she knew where Cygnus would be, because it was where Cygnus always was.
She knocked once at the third door from the end, before opening it and leading Alphard into it.
Just as she had suspected, Cygnus was sitting on his bed, staring at the floor. The complicated dress clothes that she had helped him into this morning were now strewn across the end of the same bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly, leaving Alphard to kneel in front of her other brother.
"I don't want to go back down there," he said simply, still staring moodily at the floor.
She furrowed her brow for a moment, before replying, "Why not? Don't you like looking at all the people? Talking to everyone? Isn't it fun?"
"S'not that."
"Then what?"
"Everyone's... everyone's looking at Walburga." He pouted a bit, in that five-year-old way that made it cute.
"Yes, well. I'm not looking at Walburga. I've got to look at her every day." She made a face purely for the amusement of her brother, and then continued. "That's what this party's for, you know. So people can look at the older kids and talk about them. It's nothing against you; you'll be up there for people to be looking at and talking about soon enough."
She knew that Cygnus enjoyed being the center of attention, just as much as she didn't. It must have been hard for him to watch Walburga get all the attention.
Reaching out, she ruffled her brother's chestnut hair and pulled him into a light hug, before standing and taking his hand.
"So, are you ready to go back out there and enjoy yourself?"
Cygnus nodded, and she helped him back into his clothes. By the time she was finished, he looked mildly presentable. Alphard had watched the affair silently, and now came and tugged on the hem of her blouse.
Sighing in a mock-exasperated sort of way, she smiled and picked her youngest brother up. Mother told her that she shouldn't, that he was too old for that sort of treatment... but mother also said that fiction was bad, which she knew for a fact it wasn't. Not all of it.
Resting Alphard on her hip, she took Cygnus by the hand and led them both back into the hall and down the stairs, out the door and back to the same spot where she had been standing before.
Apparently she hadn't been missed, which was a good thing. It also seemed like she was back just in time, for not five minutes after she re-entered the party area she heard her mother calling for her.
"Cassiopeia! Put your brother down. He's far too old for that sort of treatment, it'll only make him soft."
Casting her eyes downwards, she set her brother back on the ground and answered, "Yes, Mother."
Alphard made a small sound of protest, but quieted quickly. He was a quiet child, really. There were few things that he actually did want in the world... to be picked up occasionally was one of them. He knew, in the secret way of children, that if he came to her he could get what he wanted. The two had developed quite a bond, truth be told. A bond their mother didn't know about. It was better that way, she mused, because if her mother knew she babied her brother she'd likely be punished for disobeying.
She was still thinking when her sister removed herself from the prying eyes of the crowd and graced her siblings with her presence. Walburga was flushed, and there was a light dancing in her eyes that Cassiopeia knew usually meant she had been given several compliments.
"They like me," she said confidently, "They say they'll find someone for me straightaway."
Cassi smiled slightly and nodded. Alphard was still tugging at the hem of her blouse, but she couldn't pick him up, not here with their mother and all the people watching.
"You really shouldn't baby him," Walburga commentated, watching the exchange between the two. "I should tell Mother."
"You wouldn't," Cassi said automatically, glancing at her sister.
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't."
The act of rolling one's eyes had been bred out of her for a long time, yet she felt compelled to do so at the moment. Compliments usually fueled Walburga's fire, but since she had received so many today, she figured it would be worse.
Not that she didn't like her sister. Walburga was actually quite tolerable when she wasn't being spoiled, when she was just Gaga instead of Walburga Black, esteemed heiress to the Black fortune and all that nonsense.
It would only really matter years from now, but Walburga had already shown that cool and calculating talent that was another hereditary trait of the Black family. She was clever, but she was only nine years old. She would be leaving in a few years... and Cassi would be gone the year after that.
That was, of course, if she got over herself and finally showed her magical talent.
At that moment, Alphard let out a wail and started to throw a tantrum. It was odd, and Cassi furrowed her brow. Usually such a quiet child...
"Cassiopeia!" Her mother shouted, "Get the child inside and make him quiet!"
"Yes, Mother," she replied automatically, picked Alphard up and carried him into the foyer of the house. Cygnus, who still seemed ill at ease among all the people, followed.
She set him down near the window, bending down and trying to comfort him. Cassi was happy to see that Walburga hadn't followed; she could give Alphard all the special treatment he needed, and she knew Cygnus wouldn't tell. Cygnus was a good child, and Cassi didn't mind rewarding him every now and then by sneaking sweets from the house elves or other things, even though she knew she shouldn't.
In fact, in the way of children, she did quite a lot that she really shouldn't. Her mother never found out, though, because there was always something else to get done in the house. Her father, on the other hand, was more observant. If he knew about all the things Cassi did, he didn't say anything, for which she was grateful.
After all, according to her mother's teachings, children were to be seen and not heard. If there was no one else to hear them, who would? Cassi took the role on willingly, knowing what it was like to be a child in this household without a kind older sibling to look after her.
Not that she minded, of course. Not that she ever did.
Now that they were away from the crowds and she could tend to Alphard like he wanted, he was quieter. She could tell he couldn't understand why she could only do this when no one was watching, and she must explain it to him. Someday, but that wasn't today. Wasn't today at all.
Cygnus said something, and unconsciously Cassi turned to acknowledge her other brother, so that he didn't feel left out. In the moment that her attention was averted, Alphard had started up again.
When she turned back around to quiet him again, she had to blink a few times to fully process what she was seeing.
The curtains were burning. The curtains... but how...?
Then it struck her. Alphard continued to cry, but she knew the flames wouldn't harm anyone... not if they were the type of flames she guessed they were.
And she was fairly certain they were.
She could only gape for a moment. Cygnus looked panicked, and kept telling her repeatedly that the curtains were on fire. She knew this, and she told Cygnus that she knew, and he ran outside again. A moment later, Walburga entered.
"I thought Mother told you---" she stopped short, went wide-eyed for a moment, and then rushed back out into the crowd to fetch her parents.
This seemed to bring Cassi to her senses; quickly as she could, she picked her brother up and set him down again, a safe distance from the flames, before rushing to the kitchen and trying to find something to put the curtains out with.
Meanwhile, she heard talking from the foyer, and many happy proclamations. Then it was the type of flame she thought it was.
Her two-year-old baby brother had just managed something that she never had... something that she knew, somewhere deep inside, she never would.
She walked, defeated, back into the hallway and stood in the shadows. Watching, then, she was completely unsurprised that she wasn't missed.
Quite suddenly, she had become the least favorite of all her siblings. How had that happened? What had she ever done to warrant such ill will? It wasn't her fault she couldn't set things on fire spontaneously, or levitate things, or even make things fly across the room, like they had.
She vowed, right then, that she would find some way to prove that she was worthy of her family name. She didn't want to be removed... she didn't want to be invisible forever, or shadowed by everyone else in the family. She wanted to, as ashamed as she was to admit it, be where Walburga was one day. She wanted everyone to look at her, admire her, and not think of how disappointing she was because she hadn't shown magical ability yet.
This couldn't happen to her, because she was a Black. These sorts of things didn't happen to Blacks.
