eloquence | sirius black ✓

CHAPTER ONE

AN AUTUMN BALL

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Griffins. Diana Allister had descended from griffins, those majestic creatures in the sky, with their wings spread wide at every flight. With spun-silver hair and different-coloured eyes, she held a family legacy. A blessing from the gods. A curse from the gods. The Curse of the Griffin, they had called it; it was a gift and a curse at the same time. A gift that had allowed her to speak the language of fire, yet came with terrifying visions.
Born with the curse (those violet-coloured eyes haunted her whenever she looked at the mirror, reminding her of her curse), her path was already planned out for her. Her father had endured the same path, and had gone insane. The other living members of her family had blue eyes. Shining, innocent blue eyes, a feature that guaranteed that the curse would never affect them.
Diana had always envied them for that.
They didn't know how lucky they were.

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Outside, rain poured down like bullets, the water raining down onto the ground. A girl with silver-gold hair falling in soft tresses sat in the rain alone, her eyes staring up at the sky, where a storm was brewing. Lightning cracked, as if to split up the sky, and thunder rumbled loudly. Her focus was to the sky and the sky alone, her hair wet from the rain. And yet she stayed there, the storm surrounding her, those inky black clouds in the sky, blocking the white dots of the sky that were once there. The sky, a wide grey arc, stood tall, towering above her.
"What the hell are you doing in the rain?" called out a voice that belonged to Sirius Black. Grimmauld Place 12 was behind her, and she was standing in the middle of its Quidditch Pitch.
"What does it look like, Black?" asked the girl named Diana Allister, gesturing for him to sit next to her. He annoyed her, but she supposed that he was tolerable. Sirius obliged, although hesitant. "Why, I'm sitting in the middle of the rain. Quite obvious, really. I thought you'd be smarter than that, love," she said sarcastically.
"Well, darling," said Sirius jokingly, holding back a laugh. "You shouldn't be here, you know. It's raining, Allister. You could get a fever, for goodness sake. Your mom's worried. Same case with your father. Walburga also wants you here, preferably healthy and not sick. Hate to admit it, but she actually cares."
"Walburga actually cares?" asked Diana with a raised eyebrow.
"Unfortunately, she does," said Sirius with a dramatic sigh. Typical, Diana thought to herself silently. "Now won't you come with me? We have things to do. Dances, feasts, et cetera."
A sigh escaped Diana's lips. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. Actually, I hate those activities. Sometimes I wish I weren't part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine," Diana said with a low grunt as her hands pressed against the soil, pushing her to stand up. "Well, thank you, Si -- Black." Diana fixed hurriedly, which only made Sirius grin widely.
Diana helped herself up and Sirius quickly casted a shield on top of them; blocking the rain. He waved his wand and quickly cleaned the both of them up. His parents were the one in charge of the use of magic in the household. They pretty much didn't care if Sirius used spells or not. Pure-blood parents that only cared about keeping the bloodline pure, nothing else. Well, that was typical of them. Excluding the Weasleys and the Prewetts, of course. They were kind families who didn't mind "tainting" their bloodline; but were still related to the other pure-bloods. There had been some cases of them tainting the bloodline, and that had marked them as blood-traitors.
She also heard that Molly Prewett and Arthur Weasley were dating, keeping the bloodline pure once more. Two of them were gingers, in a matter of fact. Diana would be expecting an equally ginger child from them.
"Later, maybe, you'd save me a dance?" asked Sirius as they walked through the pitch, walking towards the manor.
Diana took a moment to think about the idea. "Maybe," she said, biting her lip. Side note that her parents might be happy that they could betroth her to Sirius, and keep the bloodline pure. Diana cringed at the thought.
It was also a chance for the Allisters to be friendly to the Blacks.
"Why maybe, Allister?" asked Sirius with a cocky grin as they entered the Black Manor. "Won't you have the honor of dancing with the Sirius Orion Black the Third?" he asked, chuckling. She couldn't help but think that it was a pretty good idea. He wasn't that bad, after all. And then came the thought of him, a Gryffindor that was nearly disowned by his own family.
Diana kept a poker face. "Maybe." she repeated once again.
They entered the manor, cleaned from the rain as Kreacher, the manor's house-elf, helped Diana to clean up herself, throwing several compliments now and then. ("Such a kind Allister...yes, Mistress Black will be proud of this one.") and several ones that she couldn't help but like. ("A pretty one. Perhaps Mr. Black could learn from you. Might as well be betrothed to him, maybe that would fix his behaviour...") but that one got her. She didn't want to be the one betrothed to Sirius Black, but the first two sentences were well enough to flatter her. She knew that it was the little creature's job to compliment her, but it just went too far sometimes, if Diana had to be honest.
Diana came back in a pearl-white gown, her hair done up in an elegant bun, courtesy of Walburga Black. Pearls decorated her silky dress, with gold leaves adorning her silvery-blonde hair.
Her dress fell to her ankle, the long train flowing down smoothly like a waterfall. Diana just had to admit: the Blacks certainly had style. It fit her perfectly, like two jigsaw pieces fitting together. To put it simply: she loved it.
It hugged her curves perfectly, as if someone had taken her exact measurements for the dress.
(Diana was sure that Walburga Black had somehow gotten her measurements from her parents. Either that or the dress was magically enchanted to fit the wearer perfectly. Probably the latter. Oh, and the golden leaves in her hair and pearls were certainly fitting.)
"Walburga. This is too nice, I can't—" said Diana, but was quickly interrupted by the older woman.
She had a smile on her face. Diana bet that her expression would be different if she wasn't dealing with a pure-blood. "Shush, dear," Walburga said softly. It seemed that she favoured her. "You deserve to have this. Keep it. It's been in our family for a long time, belonging to our ancestor; Aelinor Black. She would've loved it if you were the one to wear it. Keep it," Walburga said insistently.
"I will," said Diana with a genuine smile, nodding as the woman smiled back at her.
Perhaps, after all, pure-bloods had a somewhat alright soul inside of them, even if they only used it to treat other people who were at the same class as them. Also known as; the Sacred Twenty-Nine and high-ranking ministry officials.
A sigh escaped her lips once more as her fingers grazed over the elegant silk. It was certainly a costly dress, presumably from the seventeenth century or a similar time. It seemed that it had been redone, into a far more modern dress to fit the current twentieth century. With her hands on the side of her skirt, Diana quickly thanked Walburga once more, then headed out into the ballroom. Lively chatter surrounded her, and mouthwatering dishes were placed on top of mahogany tables, covered with an ivory-coloured sheet. The ballroom was decorated finely, with crystal ornaments and statues surrounding them. Several golden chandeliers hung on top, softly illuminating the ballroom.
"Allister. Pleasure to meet you again here!" called out a male voice. Sirius Black. Of course he was. Dressed in fine, black dress robes. "So, would you care to dance later on? I recall asking you for one." he said with a light chuckle.
Diana looked at him, her violet eyes meeting his grey ones. "Perhaps I might, Black," she said, her amethyst eyes dancing with amusement. "I'll consider it if you tone down that massive ego of yours. I'm surprised that this ballroom had enough room for it."
"You hurt me with your words." said Sirius dramatically.
"That's what I meant to do," Diana said pointedly, as Sirius put a hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt. Diana only smiled as Sirius slung his hand around hers.
She did the same. After all, it was her duty to be paired up with Sirius for the dance. She'd been informed that she was going to have to be with Sirius moments ago. Same age, same partners. Her young brother Jaime was with what looked like a Rosier. Her sister -- did not matter to her family. She was locked up in her room at the Allister Manor, only being visited to be given food by the house-elves. That was the only thing she was allowed to do. She spent her days staring through the window and being given food, while Diana and Jaime had their freedom to do whatever they wanted to do. Life was unfair, and Diana Allister knew it. Fate was cruel. And so was Death. And there was nothing she could do to change it.
       She could feel her heart beating quickly in her chest. Perhaps it was just the nervousness of her first dance. It was, after all, the first time the Black family had decided to organise a ball. Or maybe it was just the nervousness of her fear of tripping in front of everyone else.
After all, she had not done as well as Jaime during her dance practice; a mandatory activity for pure-blood families, as balls are frequently held by them during events. In this case; it was the start-of-term ball, when it was almost time for her fifth year to commence.
"Well, Black, I suppose the answer is yes," said Diana as she and Sirius headed to the dance floor.
"I'm not surprised. After all, I'm irresistible," Sirius said cockily, resulting in Diana snorting, then excusing herself. It wasn't something her father would've approved of.
"You wish, Black," said Diana. "You bloody wish that you're handsome. I see that your brother Regulus is looking quite dashing today." she complimented, gesturing to Regulus, who appeared to be dancing with a girl that Diana did not recognise.
If Sirius was jealous or embarrassed, he did not show any signs of it. "You've got to be kidding me, Allister," he said, shaking his head. "That boy only does what he's told to. You've got to be kidding me. There's no way that Regulus is handsomer than me. I'm the most handsome." he boasted, which made Diana laugh.
Diana locked eyes with him. "Time to dance now, Black. No time to argue."
Sirius placed a hand on her hip, as Diana went slightly pink, which fortunately, the Black did not notice. One hand was on her shoulder, in a graceful manner. She assumed that Sirius had also taken dance lessons. There was no doubt to that, given his graceful moves. Diana did the same, her hands intertwining with his. It fit his perfectly. Lock and key.
Together, they danced through the night, waltzing through the ballroom as chatter erupted from left and right, changing partners, and going back to the two of them.
"Did you enjoy our dance, Allister?" asked Sirius when the ball ended, letting go of her hand.
"You wish, Black. You wish," said Diana as she moved away from him slowly.
        "You know you love me," he whispered into her ear. Diana laughed.
"That's the thing, Black," said Diana. "I don't," she said harshly.
"We'll see about that, darling." he said. Evan Rosier, she suddenly thought with a sigh. He wouldn't be happy to know that she was partnered with Sirius tonight. She and Evan were supposed to go together, but he couldn't make it.
The boy that had made her laugh, with the shy smiles and the kisses on the cheeks they shared together. She couldn't deny that she liked Evan. He was sweet, and a year above her. For a Slytherin, he was kind to her, and she loved every moment she had with him. But...it never felt right.
Soon, the news broke out that Diana Allister and Evan Rosier had broken up. Rumours in Hogwarts sure did travel faster than owls.

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THE ALLISTERS
JAIME ALLISTER I + CYNOSURE GRIFFIN-ALLISTER:

DIANA OPHELIA ALLISTER I
JAIME OCTAVIAN ALLISTER II
VICTORIA OCTAVIA ALLISTER IV

THE BLACKS
WALBURGA BLACK + ORION BLACK:

SIRIUS ORION BLACK III
REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK I

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q: favourite harry potter book?

a: the goblet of fire, without hesitation