Celeste Angel Black was the only daughter of Sirius Black. Since she was a pure blood, her father's family was willing to care for her when he wouldn't. Celeste was raised by Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy for most of her life. She didn't really know he...
The day had come for Celeste and Draco to go home for the Christmas holiday. Celeste obviously wasn't too excited about it, but there really wasn't anything she could do. She had to put on a brave face, and pretend that she wasn't dying inside. There was only two days until Christmas, but on Christmas Eve, Narcissa planned to have Ethan and Celeste's engagement announced. Celeste was definitely upset about it, but the day was coming too soon for her to try and come up with a plan.
Honestly, she still couldn't force herself to wear the gaudy ring. She still wore the ring she recieved from Draco, as well as the one she had gotten from her uncle Regulus, but she would not wear her engagement ring. If she was lucky, she'd be able to wear it only for the announcement, and then have the chance to sneak it off for the days following the announcement. She doubted anyone would really be studying her fingers much anyway, to see if she was actually wearing her engagement ring or not.
Even though she knew it was dangerous, and she could easily be horribly punished for it, Celeste sent small gifts to Oliver and his friends. The gifts were simply brand new quills, but they were gifts nonetheless. She hoped the boys would like them, but she also kind of hoped they didn't, so they wouldn't write her back. She didn't have to hide buying a gift for Mattheo or Draco, so she had gotten them bigger gifts. Her aunt and uncle didn't mind seeing her buy those gifts; anything else would've gotten her a chance at being hit with the cruciatus curse.
If she was honest, the cruciatus curse didn't hurt as much as it had the first ten or so times. It still hurt really bad, but it wasn't almost blinding pain anymore. She would still often pass out from the pain if the curse was used for longer than ten seconds, but she had somewhat gotten use to the feeling. Actually, she was kind of afraid that this was one of their many tactics to turn her into the perfect Death Eater. She refused to be any part of that, but she knew there was a good chance she wouldn't have a choice in the matter, just like she didn't have a choice in who she'd marry.
As the day passed and Christmas Eve came, Celeste's heart beat practically out of her chest. She was terrified, but she couldn't show it. She definitely wasn't going to give Ethan the satisfaction. He didn't deserve to see how scared she was of the engagement. She almost wondered why her aunt had so easily given into the "pureblood" ways, but then she realized that her aunt was raised that way, and she probably wouldn't drop the act since she was given so much money and power for being with Lucius Malfoy.
There were many things Celeste would've done differently if she was a mother, especially in a pureblood household. She would never force her child to marry someone they hated. She would never force her child to wear things they didn't feel comfortable in. She would definitely not force her child to stay away from half bloods, muggle-borns, or muggles just because of the ridiculous pureblood beliefs.
Anyhow, the dress Narcissa had chosen for Celeste to wear was mostly black, with just a little green on it to add some color. The dress was tight from her bust to her waist, before it flowed out and became loose. The dress was beautiful, Celeste could admit that, but it wasn't something she would wear, especially to a forced event like this one.
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"This dress is very tight on my chest, Aunt Cissa." Celeste commented, grimacing when she tried to adjust the top but it never became any looser.
"You're growing up, Celeste. You need to embrace your assets, especially ones that are so apparent." Narcissa replied, not really caring that Celeste believed the dress was a bit too tight.
"I feel like those girls from hundreds of years ago that would suffocate because of their own breasts strangling them." Celeste grumbled, causing Narcissa to slap her arm.
"Don't say such foul things. You're a lady. Need I remind you what happened at the last ball?" Narcissa asked, making Celeste shake her head,"I didn't think so. So, it's best if you start watching what you say, otherwise your punishments are going to be more frequent." She said, walking towards the door.
"More than every other night?" Celeste snapped, turning away from her aunt,"You people irritate me." She added, but Narcissa simply left the room instead of answering back.
Narcissa had started to learn that there wasn't a way for her to talk sense into Celeste when Celeste was upset. She had tried to reassure the girl that her family loved her, but Celeste was adamant that they didn't. Celeste hated them, other than Draco, and Narcissa could almost see it as clear as day. She wished her niece didn't hate her, but there wasn't much she could do. The girl needed to learn how to act, and sometimes the only way to learn was the hard way.
"This family makes me want to murder people," Celeste spat quietly, as she looked at herself in her floor length mirror,"If only I could get away without being found and tortured worse than I already am. I hate it here. I hate them. They make me wish I was never born, or maybe that I died with my mother, instead of ending up with Lucius and Narcissa. They're horrid." She murmured to herself, shaking her head slightly.
Tonight was going to be the beginning of the end of her life, and she could feel what was left of her freedom being sucked away. She was slowly becoming more and more of a prisoner in her own life than she ever could've imagined. If only she could cut the strings and disappear for good...
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A/N: Celeste is getting closer and closer to her breaking point. Soon she won't be able to handle anything else.
