Oblivious

Chapter Three

*quick A/N: if you are unsure of what is happening in this chapter, please read the last couple lines in 'Chapter Two', as I have changed it to suit my new plot*

- I would also like to state that Arabella is now a sixth year and is sixteen years old. I know, originally, I made her a fifth year, but I wanted to change the plot slightly. And also, some sections have been changed : like the Avery's household party is now to celebrate a year of the dark lords return rather than simply his return.
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August, 1996

She started blankly at him, for she was unaware of what to expect. She had never seen the Dark Lord before, nor did she ever want to. But her father was now asking her to face him.

Arabella lifelessly nodded before turning away from him and attending the ballroom again, briskly approaching Noelle and Eleanor.

"Well?" Noelle asked, cupping Arabella's face in her hands.

Arabella's heart thrust within her, and as much as she wanted the words to simply vomit up, she kept it down. Her lips began to stammer as she looked up at her sister. She tried to distract herself by looking around the room, but all was black. Too black. It only reminded her of what she was afraid of.

"I acted like that, Arabella." Ellie interrupted, stepping beside Noelle, trying to smile in comfort. But how would she know how Arabella felt? Perhaps she was reflecting a memory of some sort onto Ellie, reminding her of a dark time. Perhaps, not.

"What do you mean?" Noelle whispered, loosing her contact with Arabella and turning her attention to Avery.

"When I got the mark." Ellie dryly replied, "I vividly remember acting the same way as you, Bella."

Noelle's eyes widen drastically as her head pivoted to face Arabella again, "what? You're getting the mark?" She stammered, her voice gradually churning.

"Well—well, I—don't—know." Arabella whimpered, loosing her breath, "Father never said I was getting it—he only mentioned that the Dark Lord wished to see me in a matter of minutes."

Noelle quickly lost her grip around Arabella's face and bit her lip in anxiousness, "perhaps the Dark Lord may just wants to greet you."

Arabella ignored Noelle and focused of turning her attention to the ballroom again. Out of the corner of her eye, Narcissa Malfoy was whispering something into her son's ear, and as she did so, the boy frantically looked around the room and nodded. To their right, a group of Death Eaters laughed endlessly. In front of them, those Death Eaters wife's and fiancé's toasted their glasses of Champaign into each other, chuckling as they did so. It was all so bright, yet so dark, and it distracted Arabella just as she hoped it would.

She continued to glance around the room, before she caught a glimpse of her father beckoning her and mouthing 'Arabella, Noelle, come'. "Noelle, Father is calling for us." Arabella reported to her sister, keeping contact with her father.

"Right, well Eleanor, it was lovely meeting you and I wish you all the best." Noelle muttered to Ellie, forcing a smile through her apprehensive mindset.

"You too, Noelle. And Bella, don't worry. I'm sure the Dark Lord doesn't want someone who isn't used to social interaction by lack of school on his side." She tried reassuring Arabella, although it did nothing but remind her of the future possibilities.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and followed Noelle out the ballroom. Outside, the Malfoy family seemed to be leaving too. In fact, many of the Death Eaters were. It didn't surprise Arabella, as the Dark Lord was being summoned to the Lowell Manor in a matter of minutes and many of the Death Eaters were expected to be present when he did so. Loyalty, of course.