▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER SIX ▬▬▬▬▬

"YOU'RE LUCKY I'M DEAD, BECAUSE if I were alive, you'd be grounded by now." Regulus sneered at her.

Esmerelda blanched. "Dad," she said weakly. "It's—I—"

"—Have you lost your mind?" He hissed. "Ethan Nakamura? The one who joined the Titans and then kidnapped you? Why would you—" He paused, realizing something. "Has he got you under mind control?"

"No," she replied. "Look, dad, I—"

"—And I thought I had bad tastes for picking your mother," he interrupted. "Is he threatening you? Blackmailing? A curse? A hex?"

"I'm with him willingly," she emphasized.

"Not exactly," he refuted. "It must be because of the trauma. I read it in one of my psychology books."

"You're not a licensed professional, dad, you can only say those things if you have the credentials to back it up."

He scoffed. "Credentials. They're not a thing in the wizarding world. That's why everyone there is so foolish."

Well. She couldn't deny that.

"I want you to break up with him. End this relationship before it can get too far," he ordered.

Her blood ran cold. "What?"

"End it, Esmerelda." He said sternly.

She looked at him fearfully. The expression on his face was cold and stony, like in the photographs Andromeda had given her. He looked at her like how Purebloods would look down on muggles, as if her thoughts and opinions were inferior. 

"...N-no," she stuttered, then said more firmly. "No. I'm sorry, but I'm not breaking it off."

For once, he looked angry, and sure she had seen him angry before but the anger was never aimed at her. Right now, he looked he wanted to reach out and throttle her for her insolence like how some foster parents would do to her. But as the seconds passed, nothing happened. That was a lot scarier, in her opinion.

"You want to continue... courting some boy with no respectable family, no money, no name to himself—who's also the same boy who kidnapped you, betrayed you, and nearly helped to cause the end of the world?" He asked her in a dangerously calm voice.

She nodded tensely, not trusting her voice to speak.

He sneered, "I see you've been spending time with your dumb uncle for too long. Only he would be soft enough to allow this to go on."

He doesn't actually know, she thought. She had informed him through one of her many letters, but judging from the lack of reaction, he obviously hadn't read any of them... 

"About Sirius... well, that's kinda why I came here in the first place. I wanted to, um, talk to you about him..." She trailed off, desperately wanting to change the subject.

Unfortunately, Regulus, sharp as ever, saw right through her. "Trying to change the subject, I see. Nice try, but I'll let it go. What about Sirius?" He rolled his eyes, "Is he still mad at you for the Charmspeaking?"

"How bad was your relationship with him?" She went straight to the point.

He stilled. "...Why are you asking me that?"

"I heard him say a couple things..." She trailed off. "I heard some stuff about Remus too. Did you two hate each other?"

"Did he say he hated me?" He asked instead of answering her question. He looked stoic as usual, but the softness of his voice made him seem more anxious for the answer.

When she didn't answer, he sighed.

"We were close before he left for Hogwarts," he began. "When he came back, he was... different in a way. He had always been rebellious to our parents and outspoken with his beliefs for Muggle rights, but he became even more open when he came back from his first year. Since then, our parents wanted to keep us apart, saying that he would 'corrupt' me with his ideologies and whatnot. I was too scared to disobey, so I listened. I started believing them too and our relationship just got worse."

"You guys believed in two very different things," she muttered, seeing a startling parallel between her and Alabaster.

He nodded in agreement. "I started avoiding him in my first year, but he always kept trying to talk to me. Kept trying to... care for me. I think it was around my third year did he finally get the message. But then he tried to talk to me one last time while I was in my sixth year."

"The year you tried to kill him," she stated.

"I wasn't trying—I knew he would dodge," he argued.

"You still shot the Killing Curse at him," she pointed out.

"Well... yes, fine. I did try to kill him. I hated him," he admitted. "For abandoning me. Leaving me in that dreaded house with our dreaded parents... But I hated myself just as much for not being brave enough to follow after him. Sirius was always the more courageous one," he said bitterly. "But anyways, my murder attempt must have opened his eyes on what I became. I guess that was when he started hating me. Now what exactly happened that prompted you to ask me this?"

"He thinks I'm becoming like you," she murmured. "That's why he was so mad at me. It wasn't just because of the Charmspeaking."

Regulus actually snorted. "Like me? You're nothing like me."

"I killed Barty Crouch Jr," she admitted. "A few days after he was Kissed by the dementor, he was taken to St. Mungo's. I went there and slit his throat."

He didn't look disturbed. He wasn't even angry or disappointed by her. Instead, he looked confused. 

"He's angry about that?"

She looked down at her lap. "I know it's wrong to kill people, but Crouch wasn't a good person. He even put Harry and Cedric in danger. But Sirius was..."

"Sirius has morals that are as high as Fudge's ego," Regulus rolled his eyes. "He's a Gryffindor after all, those annoying self-righteous bunch. I don't think he's ever killed anyone even during his days in the Order, or maybe he did but it was just self-defense. Either way, the act of taking someone's life away is considered 'bad' in his eyes, regardless of the reasoning."

But Esmerelda still didn't feel very reassured. "But..."

"Don't listen to him," he told her. "Sirius is a fool that doesn't know how the world works yet. You did the right thing killing Crouch—it wasn't like it would've made any difference keeping him alive either way. Kill whoever you need to."

'Kill whoever you need to' probably wasn't the most appropriate advice a parent could give to their child, but they weren't exactly the most conventional family anyways.

"Sirius still hates me though," she told him miserably.

His lip quirked up in amusement. "He doesn't hate you. Like I said, he's just terribly naive. But he'll learn soon..."

Well that was ominous way to end the conversation.

After her talk with her father, she Mist traveled back to Hogwarts, his words still ringing in her head.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

She started off the next day with Ancient Runes. It was boring enough, with Esmerelda slacking off during lectures due to sleepiness, but she was more then eager to leave once the lesson was over.

Cedric, however, must have been really determined to talk to her, or maybe he was just over-confident or stupidly suicidal. Nevertheless, the second he spotted her walking through an empty corridor, he saw his chance and took it.

"Essie, please, I really need to talk to you!" He panted, dashing forward so he was in front of her.

"Do I need to throw another knife at your head for you to get the message?" She huffed, glaring irately at him.

He held his hands up to show that he was no harm—not that he really needed to since she most likely never saw him as a threat.

"It's important," he said.

She was unimpressed. "Oh, are you going to explain why you lied back then? Because I don't want to hear it."

"I-it's not that, but you do deserve an explanation—you and Harry," he added quickly. "But this is... I think you'll want to hear this first."

She stepped around him. "No, I don't. Now leave me alone, I need to get to my next class—"

"—It's about Étienne," he blurted out desperately.

She froze. Then whirled around to face him, her mind running a mile a minute.

Étienne?! She thought worriedly. What was wrong with Étienne?!

"What about him?" She asked almost breathlessly, growing tense as she waited for an explanation.

Cedric was rummaging through his bag for something. What he pulled out was a newspaper article.

"Cedric, I don't have time to read the fucking Daily Prophet!" She growled in frustration. "What happened to Étienne?!"

"Hold on!" He exclaimed. "My mum's got a subscription to the French news a-and I read about this during the summer. Essie, I... Étienne's gone missing."

Esmerelda fell silent, her world going sideways once she heard the news. It wasn't until she hit the ground did she realize that she had actually grown lightheaded and nearly collapsed if it hadn't been for Cedric catching her.

"—ssie! Essie, hey! Are you listeni—" Cedric flinched when every window in the vicinity magically shattered. He had a pretty good feeling Esmerelda had accidentally done that, but that wasn't the problem right now. The younger girl looked like she had gone into shock.

And then, she finally started to cry. Loudly.

Cedric's eyes widened. As if things couldn't get any worse, several new voices joined the scene.

"Is that—is that Essie?" Hermione choked, she, Ron, and Harry having rounded the corner.

When Cedric turned to face them, Harry saw red.

"You!" He said accusingly. "What did you do to her?"

The three of them were storming down the hallways towards them.

"I didn't do anything," Cedric to say, but Esmerelda's tortured wails were growing louder. She curled in on herself, but her hand had reached out for the newspaper article. Cedric allowed her to take it, but all she did was grasp it tightly.

"What'd you do?" Ron glared at Cedric.

"I just—I told her about Étienne!" He said loudly.

"Étienne?" Ron furrowed his brows in confusion. "The French bloke from Beauxbatons? What happened with him?"

"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "Now's not the time!"

"H-he's gone missing...!" Esmerelda struggled to say through her cries. "Oh gods...! I sh-shouldn't have waited so long...! What have I done?!"

And all this time she thought he was angry with her, betrayed and hurt that she had seemingly abandoned him, which was why he never replied to any of her letters. But this entire time he had actually gone missing. How long ago was it? How did it happen?

She looked down at the crumpled up news article Cedric had given her, but the foreign words were swimming in her head. It didn't help that her vision had gone watery thanks to the tears.

Time and time again, she continued to fail her siblings. Alabaster was right. She was a terrible sister, and no matter how many times she tried to be better, she would always be the worst.

"—didn't do anything, alright?" Cedric snapped. "Can you guys just—I need to get her to the hospital wing!"

"She's hurt?" Hermione gasped.

"No, but Madam Pomfrey might have a Calming Draught to give her." He explained.

The trio had nothing against that. Hermione helped Esmerelda stand whereas the boys gathered all the things she had dropped and followed after them.

"I didn't think she and Étienne were that close," Ron whispered to Harry as they headed off for the hospital wing. "You think he's the guy Fred and George overheard?"

"Ron, tact, please!" Hermione quietly groaned.

The hospital room was empty save for Madam Pomfrey when they got there. Madam Pomfrey got one good look at Esmerelda and knew what needed to be done.

"I-I gave her some... pretty bad news about a friend of hers," Cedric explained when he was asked. "I didn't think she'd react this badly. I'm sorry, I should've broken it to her more... gently."

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips sympathetically, knowing exactly why she had reacted this way. "No, it's not your fault. Thank you four, for bringing her here. I'll take over for now."

"Are you going to give her a Calming Draught?" Cedric asked, just to be sure.

She nodded, helping Esmerelda onto a hospital bed, or more specifically, her hospital bed. It was the one she always ended up using back in her first year days.

"A Calming Draught, and then a Sleeping Draught," she answered.

"But she still has classes!" Hermione pointed out.

"I'm giving her the day off. Her professors will understand, or well, most of them," she grumbled the last part, thinking of Snape with displeasure. Only he wouldn't care about the traumas of a child who fought a war to save the world. "Hold on a second before you go, I'll write up a late pass..."

Esmerelda couldn't really remember what happened next, but after the four of them were gone, Madam Pomfrey handed her two potions.

"This is the Calming Draught, drink this one first." She instructed.

With a shaking hand, Esmerelda took the glass vial and drank it's contents. The results were instantaneous. The second she set the potion down, the shakiness stopped and her mind seemed to be filled with clouds. It was a sort blissful feeling that was somewhat similar to be Charmspoken, the only difference was that she was calming down rather then being forced to do something against her will.

Madam Pomfrey lowered her down so her head was resting against the soft pillows. There was another potion in her hand.

"Drink this next. It's the Sleeping Draught."

She drank that too, feeling more relaxed and hazy.

"Are feeling alright now?" Madam Pomfrey asked her gently.

"...Yes..." Esmerelda answered quietly.

The older woman hesitated. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

Esmerelda didn't answer right away. Instead, her eyes drew back to the newspaper she was still clutching desperately. Even though the Calming Draught had somewhat soothed her mind, her grip on the paper had yet to relax.

"Just... realized that I'm a terrible sister." She murmured before finally falling asleep.

Madam Pomfrey glanced down at the newspaper article as well. It was written in French, a language she didn't know, but her eyes zeroed in on one of the names: Étienne Rosier. Her eyes bugged out in realization.

In Esmerelda's dreams, she was standing inside an elaborately designed bedroom. It was massive, bigger then her own bedroom at the penthouse. There was an actual chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling, a huge—probably California king sized—bed pressed against the wall, draped in warm brown to match the warm colors of the room. The walls were painted beige with golden accents and if she looked closer, she could actually see a faint pattern of the Rosier family crest.

"Qui êtes-vous?" A cautious voiced asked.

She turned around to see Étienne staring at her with wide eyes. Her handy Duolingo lessons helped her translate what he was saying.

"Étienne?" She said. "C'est moi, Essie!" Had he forgotten her?!

But then another voice spoke and that was when she realized he wasn't talking to her.

"My name is Hecate," said the voice behind her. This one was speaking in Latin.

Esmerelda stepped back to see Hecate standing just a few feet away from Étienne. In here, she was no longer a teenager, but an adult.

Her heart rate quickened. Was this before Étienne had disappeared? Did their mother have something to do with his disappearance?

"Hecate," Étienne echoed. He seemed to be taking in her appearance, quickly noting the uncanny resemblance between them. "Are you my mother?" He was responding in Latin, but Esmerelda had a feeling he hadn't realized it.

"Not quite," Hecate shook her head. "I am, however, Esmerelda's mother. And in a way, I'm also yours."

He was understandably confused by that. "Um... what?"

She sighed. "It's complicated to explain to someone so new to this. Your father really should've told you. I can't believe that man is keeping you so clueless..."

This time, he was intrigued. "What are you talking about?"

"Esmerelda wanted to tell you this, but she wisely choose to wait. However, I cannot let you wait any longer. You're one of my strongest, but my least trained. I need to keep you safe." Hecate said seriously. "You're a demigod, a Roman one to be more specific. You are not my son, but the son of my Roman counterpart. I'm here to take you to the Wolf House."

"That's too blunt!" Esmerelda cried out. "Ugh, mother, you're going to scare him away!"

And as expected, Étienne was completely freaked out by it. "You're insane," he muttered, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Leave my room, or I'll kill you."

But Hecate just frowned. "Why is it always my kids that are insane...? At least Lou Ellen's somewhat mentally sound..." She muttered to herself before addressing her... sort-of son. "I am telling the truth. Has it even occurred to you that you're speaking Latin right now?"

He stilled, only realizing just now that she was right. "I..." He trailed off, uncertain.

"You are a Roman demigod," Hecate insisted. "The son of Trivia, my counterpart. Your father met her overseas in America, and then he came back with you."

"Trivia... Tricia..." He murmured, his eyes growing wide. "Oh."

She nodded. "Exactly. I, or we, aren't exactly good at picking aliases."

"But—but if you're my mother—or something like that, then why were you never here?" He was beginning to grow angry, and Esmerelda knew nothing good can happen when he was angry.

Sure enough, the room started to pulsate with a dark magical energy. His eyes were glowing, and the shadows in the room increased, making the whole room darken. A bunch of shadows on the floor grew tendrils, trying to reach for her. 

Do it, do it! Esmerelda encouraged.

"Why would you abandon me to deal with them," he spat hatefully.

"Trivia is my harsher half," Hecate explained. "The Romans were quite strict, they obeyed the Ancient Laws more then the Greeks did. Laws state that we cannot see our children and the Romans took that dutifully. When I, or Trivia, realized that Lazare did not wish to send you to the Wolf House, she did nothing about it. But I've already lost too many of my children in the last war. I couldn't afford to lose you too, Roman or Greek, it does not matter to me. You're still my son regardless."

Esmerelda bit her lip harshly. Hecate was genuinely trying to take better care of her kids this time, or at least, that was what it appeared. But what was the Wolf House and why did Étienne have to go there?

The malicious aura of the room died out and so did the fierce glow in his eyes. But the angry look didn't fade away. "Why would my father need to take me to this Wolf House?"

"The Wolf House is where every demigod trains before coming to Camp Jupiter," Hecate explained, and Esmerelda made a mental note to remember the name. "Demigods have a strong scent that monsters can detect. You can imagine what would happen if an untrained demigod was tracked down by one of those monsters..."

"Like the dragons back at the Triwizard Tournament," he said.

"Worse. Much worse. But you understand now, don't you? You're fifteen already, that's almost too old and you're still untrained..." She trailed off worriedly.

"But why would my father—?"

"—He cared too much about you," she answered. "Wanted to keep you close. Thought he could keep you safe with strong protections around the house and school. Unfortunately, those won't last long. Especially now that you know what you are. Your scent's grown stronger by the minute now." 

Étienne gulped. "They're... they're coming here? Now?"

"Way to go," Esmerelda muttered. "You've gone and scared him."

Hecate offered him her hand. "Come with me, Étienne. You cannot stay safe for long, it's the life of a hybrid. Take my hand and I shall take you to the Wolf House. You'll get the training you need to survive, and once you get to Camp Jupiter, you'll be safe."

Étienne stared at her hand warily. Esmerelda couldn't blame him.

"You said you were Essie's mother," he began. "That means she's like me too, then right?"

She nodded. "A demigod and a witch. But Greek."

"Will she be there?" He asked hopefully. "At the Wolf House or—or Camp Jupiter?"

Esmerelda's shoulders slumped.

"No," Hecate said carefully, and his face fell. "I'm sorry, but Esmerelda is a Greek. Greeks are not welcomed there."

"Then I don't want to come." Étienne said stubbornly. "Not if Essie's not there."

"No," Esmerelda whispered desperately, knowing he couldn't hear her. "No, Étienne, please! You have to go!"

"You'll see her, one day," Hecate said. "But we have to go now."

Étienne still hesitated. "You... you promise I'll see her again?"

She nodded.

"And I don't... ever have to come back here?" He asked more seriously this time.

Another nod. "Camp Jupiter will be your new home."

Étienne had reached a decision.

"Good," he muttered darkly, and then he took her hand. They disappeared in a green mist which enveloped the entire room. When the mist disappeared, Esmerelda was somewhere else entirely. This time though, she recognized the room she was in.

"Mother," she drawled, turning around to face the other end of the throne room.

Hecate was not sitting on her throne. Instead, she was standing right in front of her.

"I knew you would be worried about him," the goddess said softly. "So I showed you what happened. What really happened."

Esmerelda didn't know how to feel about that. "Is he okay right now?"

Hecate tilted her head, a faraway look on her face as if she could see him from where she stood. "Yes," she finally answered. "He's... quite fond of using the sword."

Esmerelda could imagine him skewering unfortunate monsters while cackling and pushed the thought of her head. At least he was enjoying himself...

"Can you tell me where the Wolf House is located? Or Camp Jupiter?" She asked, trying not to sound too desperate.

She shook her head. "I cannot."

Esmerelda figured she would say that.

"But I'll see him again, right?"

"You will," she confirmed.

"Thank you," Esmerelda said forcefully. "For this. And... for saving me and Ethan back there."

Hecate stared at her with vibrant green eyes. "I want to do better for my children," she whispered. "But I understand that I should have done that in the first place."

Esmerelda didn't reply.

"Do you want to know about Alabaster?" Hecate asked.

"No." She answered.

She nodded in understanding. "I see... I will allow you to wake up now."

When Esmerelda woke up, she was worried about two things:

One, Étienne's safety.

And two, everyone else's safety.

She had no idea what sort of people were at the Wolf House and Camp Jupiter, but she hoped they would be able to help him with his... uh, issues.

At least he was finally out of that house and away from his family though (but she wouldn't be surprised if he went back just to slaughter them all).

"Um, Essie?" A nervous voice called out to her.

She turned to the side and Cedric standing, half of his body obscured by the hospital curtain. He stood there, anxiously gripping the edge of the curtain with a look of trepidation on his face. He looked understandably scared, as if she might throw another knife at him again.

"Cedric..." She trailed off, a tone of displeasure evident in her voice. She was a little embarrassed that he had witnessed her breakdown back then, especially since he wasn't even aware of the sort of relationship she had with Étienne.

"Um," he swallowed thickly. "I came to see if you're okay."

"I'm fine," she replied blankly.

"I'm sorry about Étienne," he apologized.

"..."

Another gulp. "I..."

"Cedric," she sighed. "Thank you for telling me about Étienne. But right now, I'd like to be left alone."

His face fell. "R-right. Sorry for bothering you then, I'll leave..."

Esmerelda watched him leave with a conflicted look on her face.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Even though she knew that her half-brother was okay and didn't hate her, Esmerelda wasn't any happy about it. Nor did it make her feel like a better sister.

Which was why she was currently crying to herself at the back of the school library. And apparently, someone found her tears annoying.

"That is it!" Draco hissed, storming to her table. "I've had it with your bloody weeping! Can you quite down? I'm trying to study for Snape's test tomorrow! What are you even crying for?!"

Esmerelda was too busy sobbing into her arms to answer. Instead, she weakly gestured to the Le Cri de la Gargouille (The Cry of the Gargoyle), which was basically the French equivalent of the Daily Prophet except it talked about actual important events rather then stupid rumors.

Draco snatched the paper from the table. Thanks to his mother's teaching, he was able to understand it easily and the second he saw the words on the headlines, his annoyance faded away immediately.

ÉTIENNE ROSIER, DEMI-FRÈRE DU MINISTRE ET DESCENDANT DE LA MAISON ROSIER, DISPARU!

(ÉTIENNE ROSIER, HALF-BROTHER OF THE MINISTER AND SCION OF THE HOUSE OF ROSIER, GONE MISSING!)

Draco finished reading it with a gulp.

"O-oh," he said awkwardly. "Um..."

Esmerelda was still crying.

"Uh," he said. "I'm sorry... for your, er, loss." He apologized lamely.

"He's not dead!" She wailed, finally lifting her head up to face him. She was a mess. "How could you say that?!"

"Well, the last wizard to go missing ended up—"

She broke down once more.

Ohhhh Merlin, he thought to himself.

"He's all alone," she wept. "And I can't even keep him safe...! Alabaster was right, I'm a failure...!"

He had no idea who Alabaster was, but even he had to admit that saying that was a little harsh. "Oh." Was all he could say.

"I want to go home..." She trailed off in a small voice. "I can't stand it here. Everyone's so awful and I'm just so scared all the time...!"

He couldn't deny the 'awful' part.

"Scared?" He asked.

She sniffled, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "I don't want to lose anyone else," she admitted. "When I heard what happened to Étienne, I was devastated... I couldn't be there for him. Or any of them... I just wish there was I way I could've reached them in time..."

He furrowed his brows. He didn't understand what she was talking about. 

"Are you talking about Apparition?"

"No, I... I don't know," she said in frustration. "I don't think there's any spell for it."

"Then make one," Draco found himself saying. It was so sudden even he was shocked.

She looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

"I dunno. Forget what I said," he backtracked quickly.

"No," she whispered, and he internally dreaded the look in her eyes. Fuck, he had just given her an idea.

Her face broke out into a smile. "That's actually genius! I can make my own spell!"

Draco could suddenly picture Hogwarts imploding from the inside with Esmerelda standing by with an innocent look on her face and saying, 'Oops?'. He shuddered at the thought. What had he done? He created a monster.

She was quickly wiping the tears off her face now. "Oh thank you, Draco! Why didn't I think of it before? I've never made my own spell before... I hope I can do it."

Usually all the famous people known for creating their own spells were well into adulthood, but scarily enough, Draco could actually see her succeeding at it even at the age she was at now. If she could manage it, she might be the youngest spellcrafter ever.

"I should get to it right away!" Esmerelda said with determination. "I can't wait to tell Ethan and all my friends about this! Thank you again, Draco!"

Draco couldn't help but catch the first name. "Ethan?" He said. Something about it sounded familiar. But then again, there were tons of Ethans at Hogwarts...

"Oh," her face turned pink. "Ethan's my boyfriend."

He blanched. "Someone's actually crazy enough to date you?"

Her face fell. "W-what do you mean by that...?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Is he from here?" Something about that name was seriously familiar to him.

"No. He's, um, not a wizard." She answered carefully.

He stared at her. "You're dat—" He had to stop since his voice rose. He then spoke in a more harsher whisper, "You're dating a muggle?! Esmerelda, I—Merlin, I didn't think you'd fall this low, are you bloody out of your mind?!"

She frowned. "There's nothing wrong with mor—muggles."

He scoffed. "You're an idiot. A muggle? For fucks sake, you're a Black, act like it!"

"Draco," she said sternly, and he quieted down under her stare. "There is nothing wrong with muggles. Wizards may have magic, but that doesn't make muggles useless. They have ingenuity, technology, logic, progression. You don't even know anything about them. You're prejudiced."

"I know enough." He said stiffly.

"You know what your parents told you," she corrected. "But I know you have the ability to learn on your own. Think about this, okay?"

Draco stared at her uncertainly, before turning away. "Fine. Are you done crying now? I need to get back to studying."

"Sorry for getting in the way," she apologized sheepishly. "Oh and Draco, you're my second favorite cousin, you know that?"

He scowled. "Piss off."

He walked back to his table, where Blaise, Pansy, Theodore, Astoria, and Daphne were waiting for him.

"I see you got them to shut up," Pansy sighed in relief, rolling her eyes. "Who was that anyways? Why were they crying so loudly? It was so annoying."

Draco didn't answer, so Theodore stood up and peered around the corner. He hurried back to them with wide eyes, "It was Black, wasn't it?"

Daphne quirked a brow. "Esmerelda Black?"

"There's no other Black here, is it? Why was she crying Draco?" Theodore asked eagerly.

Everyone looked at him eagerly.

He sighed in annoyance. "Just forget it, alright?"

"Hmm," Astoria hummed. "You're angry. What happened?"

"I said forget it," he said harshly.

Blaise chuckled. "I guess they fought."

"What did she do?" Pansy spat hatefully.

"She's just being stupid," Draco muttered. "Alright?"

"She's a Hufflepuff, she's always stupid," Pansy snorted. "But, seriously, what'd she do?"

"She's dating a muggle," Draco's face contorted in disgust. "Wouldn't listen to me when I told her she was being a fool. Happy now? Can we just get back to studying?"

The other Slytherins looked at each other with wide eyes.

Esmerelda Black, the heiress of the Black family, dating some muggle boy?

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Esmerelda was a little happier when the eighth of September came by. She was finally turning sixteen!

For demigods, turning sixteen was a huge achievement. She could even remember Basil telling her a similar thing way back when they first met. Demigods rarely ever turned sixteen since most of the time, they ended up getting brutally slaughtered beforehand. So yeah, her turning sixteen was a pretty big deal.

She was pretty sure she was even one of the oldest kids at camp now. The eldest being Ethan, who was just a couple months away from turning eighteen. Then it was Travis, then Drew, then Nyssa, then Percy, and Annabeth, etc.

That morning, she rose up early for breakfast and waited eagerly for the presents to come.

She nearly let out a squeal when the owls arrived to deliver the mail. A bunch of packages were dumped in front of her. The surrounding students stopped what they were doing to watch her curiously because for some odd reason, she always got the weirdest birthday presents.

Ted, of course, gave her a plastic container full of manicotti and also taped his recipe for it on the lid. She would eagerly await to eat them for lunch. As for Tonks and Andromeda, they sent her a whole bag full of muggle-styled fashion and even some shoes. Remus sent her a gift box of gourmet chocolates of all kinds (yum!), and the Stolls... sent her a letter?

It was a little chunky, so she knew there was something inside it. She opened the envelope and pulled out... a life alert...

Haha, she thought sarcastically. Figures they'd give her that after finding out that she was the reincarnation of Maria di Angelo, a woman who was born in the 1910s. The next thing she pulled out made the nearby muggle-borns drop their jaws enviously.

It was a car key, but not just any car key. This one had the famous 'Bugatti' logo on it.

She quickly scanned the letter:

HAPPY HUNDREDTH-SOMETHING BIRTHDAY, ESSIE!

Because we wanted to keep you from falling (being old and frail and all), we got you a life alert to keep you safe.

We also stole you a car! Those are the keys to your brand new Bugatti la voiture noir! There's only ten in the world but we managed to steal one for you♡

- Love, the Stolls!

Oh she definitely couldn't wait to get home and drive her new car. Ethan and Percy were going to be so jealous too (unless the Stolls were planning on stealing a car for them on their birthday too, but who knew).

The next present was from her dear Nico, and he had given her a lanyard full of self-defense things like pepper spray, a rape whistle, a miniature cat-shaped brass knuckles, and even a stun gun. According to his letter, all of these things were to keep her safe from Ethan 'in case he tried anything' and he wasn't there to 'keep her safe'.

"Awww," she said to herself, touched. How sweet of him! And I can attach my new car key to it too!

She attached her car keys to the lanyard full of defensive weapons before moving on to the next present. This one came in the form of a small velvet box with a little note attached to it. She immediately recognized the handwriting as Ethan's.

His letter was short and to the point, as expected from him:

Happy sweet sixteenth.

Hope you like it.

- Ethan

PS: Don't worry about the price, I stole it.

Raising a curious brow, she opened the box and her jaw dropped. Beside her, a bunch of other watchers gasped in envy at the sight.

It was a ring. At first she thought the gem at the center was amethyst, but the color was much deeper then that. It had to be tanzanite, one of the most expensive gems in the world (no wonder he told her not to worry about the price). It laid on a silver band, surrounded by little diamonds.

She nearly teared up at how gorgeous the ring was and the fact that Ethan gave it to her. He really was the best boyfriend ever (if you excluded the, um, less then sweet things he had done, but shhh)!

Internally squealing, she gingerly placed the ring around her ring finger. It fit her way too perfectly. Ethan must have measured her ring size while she was asleep or something. Was that weird? Oh well!

After admiring her beautiful ring and ignoring the jealous looks from several of the female students, her eyes then drifted off onto the last present...

...Which was from Sirius.

Her eyes widened in disbelief when she saw that the next present was actually from her uncle. She hadn't expected him to actually send her anything.

It was thin box. She opened it and took out two things. One, was a letter, and the other... was a picture frame.

In the photograph was her dad. Back when he was still alive. His skin was pale like hers, but there wasn't a greyish tint in sight. His eyes didn't look dead, either, and his wrists and legs weren't full of vicious claw marks.

Regulus was sitting down on some wooden chair. Wherever he was must not have been in the Grimmauld Place because the room he was in looked more livable and warm. In the background, she could see beige walls with moving flowers painted over it, and the side of a stone fireplace, wide and tall enough for a person to step in (or 'floo in' in this case). It kind of gave her 'cottage in the middle of the woods' vibes.

Interior architecture aside, she became more focused on the little lump on her father's lap. It was swaddled protectively in a blanket, almost to the point where she could barely see what was inside.

Her father was holding a baby in the photograph. Her. She could see her own little fist peeking out from the blanket, waving around in the air. Her father would occasionally look down adoringly at her before looking back up at the camera. She wondered if Kreacher was taking the photo. She wouldn't be surprised.

She read the letter Sirius wrote for her:

Dear Esmerelda,

According to the date at the back, this was taken just a month before your father died. We may not have liked each other, but he clearly adored you. Forgive me for my harshness back at the dinner table. I shouldn't have threatened to get rid of all of Regulus' things. They're all still here, if you're worried about them.

Sincerely,

Your uncle

PS: I had to fight Kreacher for this photo. 

She had no idea if Remus forced him to do this or not, but either way, it still warmed her heart. It also gave her a little bit of hope that maybe she and her uncle weren't completely on bad terms as she initially thought they were. Maybe there was still a chance to mend things together.

She tucked the picture and letter away before anybody could see it, unable to keep the wide smile off her face.

For once, she felt truly happy in Hogwarts.

That was, until she saw the latest Daily Prophet article about her the next day.

— author's note —

HERE ARE WHAT SOME OF THE PRESENTS ESSIE GOT LOOK LIKE!

First off, for those who have no idea what manicotti is (you're deprived btw):

Her hella luxurious brand new car, the Bugatti la voiture noir:

THEN HERE COMES NICO'S PRESENTS 😂 You guys probably already know what pepper spray, rape whistle, and stun gun look like so I'll show you the cat-shaped miniature brass knuckles thing:

And last but not least... the ring:

It's purple, which is Essie's favorite color so kudos to Ethan for remembering that and not mistakenly giving her an emerald ring (remember, purple's her favorite color, but green and black are her aesthetic 🤗)