bon appetit ((burke family + invite))

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After months of discussion and arrangement, Millicent and the family elves had gotten the manor in order and prepared to host a rather formal feast. Other than having her mother-in-law joining them, their future in-laws from Hector's arrangement were also slated to attend. She wasn't sure of the exact time yet, but she made sure there was plenty of time allotted time before and afterwards for chatting and leisure.

Millicent was sitting in the drawing room sipping a relaxing cup of Earl Grey. Surrounding her on the walls and throughout the room were various artifacts the Burkes had possessed for generations ranging from taxidermy dioramas, ancient vases with dried flowers, a magnificent harp that was playing a light tune, some family portraits, and one of the many libraries scattered throughout the property that tied the room together.

@Hector Burke @Melanthius Burke @Cecelia Burke @Minnie Bulstrode @Bellona Lestrange

"It's good that you and your full siblings get along well," Acheflow stated matter-of-factly as she sipped more of her tea before lightly dabbing her mouth with a handkerchief. "What do your older siblings do for a career?"

At least the chance of them parading the streets like Matilda Riddle was diminishing. As long as her particular branch carried themselves respectably, Acheflow would be fine with her bei around. "Is there anything you're thinking of pursuing for a career? As a fifth year, you do have plenty of time to make a decision."

@Bellona Lestrange

In the space of time between his grandmother's commendation and her next set of questions, Thius gave some of his own input.

"Pardon me, grandmother, Bellona,  if I'm butting in and interrupting, but her younger sister, Lucina is a very polite, kind girl. Other people look at her oddly, but when I've interacted with her, she's always been helpful and spoke highly of Bellona."

@Bellona Lestrange

"Um - well -"

Urgh. She was stammering. Her casual acceptance of her family surprised her. She didn't know if she was expecting some sort of disapproval there, in fact she was prepared for it. Bellona swallowed as she realised she was gaping like some dullard.

Then Melanthius cut in at exactly the right time, and Bellona felt herself relax a little bit. Yes - he was still there, sat beside her. Supporting her. She had a feeling she was doing quite well. There was no need to stammer!

"Thank you, Thius," she said, resisting the urge to hold his hand. "My older siblings both work for Gringotts as enchantment specialists, but that's not what I want to do when I leave Hogwarts. I wouldn't want to work under Goblins," she admitted, then sighed: "But I'm not certain as to what I want to do yet."

Nodding, Acheflow raised a small eyebrow, putting into consideration that Melanthius has had interacted with her family some. To see an example of some of the training and education that was given to her grandchildren working as well as she hoped... She could relax and trust her grandson more with having a choice; he wasn't going in blindly. He wasn't choosing simply because she was also pureblood, although that was a very imperative trait for any matchmaking.

"Enchantment specialists at Gringotts? My, my, that's an excellent job for them to have."

Respectable indeed. Most of their class would simply pursue a job at the Ministry, which was very respectable in itself, but Acheflow found it interesting that it wasn't. "Do you have any particular hobbies that could lead to a career?"

@Bellona Lestrange

Minnie was hopping around the manor looking for one of the guest bathrooms to fix her hair and makeup in. She found one of the loops in the manor that brought her to where Hector and Millie were. Why were they looking so serious?

"Hiya, Hecty and Millie! I'm washing up!"

She ran up the stairs as Millicent called for Cecelia once more.

@Hector Burke @Millicent Bulstrode Burke @Cecelia Burke

"Duelling..." she said thoughtfully. "Hm. Not any hobbies that could make a clear-cut profession. Although..."

She wanted to be prominent, respected. But most of all, Bellona wanted to have others sucking up to her. What would she take great pleasure in? Seeing all her classmates fearfully respecting her? Or maybe not her classmates in particular, just others - faces - the next generation?

"I would definitely consider becoming a Professor."

That meant a lot of years of extra study though...

"Something to put on the back burner, anyway."

"I see, that is quite understandable."

As she said before, she had plenty of time to decide being only a fifth year.

"Do you have any goals for your last few years at Hogwarts?"

@Bellona Lestrange

His fingers were twitching slightly as he sat there; he was continually getting more antsy sitting so close to his girlfriend without any physical touch. He desperately wanted to grab her hands, let her and his fingers become lightly coated in frost. He wanted to get lost in her fragrance and to touch that soft, ivory skin of hers...

Thius glanced over at her, admiring her poise, confident disposition as she faced his grandmother so effortlessly.

And he had to keep his hands to himself.

Merlin...

"The same as the majority of Slytherin I suppose - do well in my OWLs and NEWTs. I could never be as smart as Melanthius, but I'll strive to be."

Although it was one question after another, she didn't feel as though she was being interrogated. Her eyes drifted over to Thius as she felt his stare, and she responded to him with a softened gaze and a small smile.

Then, turning back to Mrs Burke, she flattered him some more:

"He's done so well - better than most Ravenclaws. From what I can gather, he exceeded half-blood Chang, and he'd given up any kind of social life to get straight Os (which he didn't achieve). Melanthius still manages to balance socialising, studying and improving his practical skills which is probably why he was the obvious choice for Head Boy."

"You must be very proud of him."

His cheeks became flushed when she looked back at him. Oh, Bellona... Soon enough, they could take advantage of the meal to hold hands as much as they wanted; under the table, nobody would notice.

"I also beat out blood traitor Jetson and a mudblood for the position," he added, smirking as he thought about just how mad Estrada got about it. "The mudblood struggled to accept that he simply wasn't the best choice for Head Boy. But is that all too surprising? Professor Riddle is repairing Hogwarts' reputation, and they can't handle not being on top."

Pouring herself another cup of tea, Acheflow replied, "Why didn't you mention that earlier, Melanthius? Yes, out of those choices, you were the most qualified. However, who was Hector up against that he couldn't get it?"

"Louis Weasley."

Of course it was one of them. She should've known.

"When you aren't working on assignments, what do you typically do for leisure? What are your friends like?"

A part of her wondered why Millicent and Hector were taking a while, but it was his arranged marriage. Perhaps they were telling him about her before she and her family would arrive for the evening. Yes, that would make sense.

@Bellona Lestrange

Cecelia had decided to go for a walk of the grounds before the nights festivities. She must have gotten distracted because suddenly she heard her name echoing from the house. She quickly made her way inside and saw her mother and brother both standing there, "Yes mother?" She stole a glance at Hector and just his face told her what had happened, causing her to glare at him, "What did you do, Hector?" 

@Millicent Bulstrode Burke @Hector Burke

While Minnie went up the stairs, Millicent was expecting her daughter to come down. Instead, she came in from outside from another one of the entrances.

"Is it true, Cecelia?" she asked sternly, ensuring her daughter knew of her disapproval and disappointment.

@Cecelia Burke

"Yes - you should see the mudblood's face. I bet he's crying into his pillows while--"

Bellona stopped herself from going in too deep there. She was about to answer another of Mrs Burke's questions, when she thought she was hearing voices out in the hallway. As she had no idea of Cecelia's outburst or of Melanthius and Hector's plan, she remained quiet to listen in instead of keeping Granny distracted.

She looked at Thius.

@Melanthius Burke

Hector stood there, unable to directly look at Cecelia in the eye. While his expression was guarded and fairly neutral, he didn't respond to her. Why was she suddenly turning this onto him? He wasn't the least bit to blame! She should have known this would happen!

@Cecelia Burke

Cece looked at her mother and bit the inside of her cheek.  She took a deep breath and a mental note to deal with Hector later. Now, she had a job to do, "Is what true, mother?" Feigning idiocy always worked for her in the past. She was just the little hufflepuff after all. "I'm going to need a few more details to ensure of you should be worried or not?" 

@Millicent Bulstrode Burke

Well, he certainly assumed Hector would take their mother to a more distant part of the halls. Thius looked over at Bellona with an anxious countenance. Mother must've called for Cecelia.

This was not looking good.

"Grandmother? Perhaps we should pause this until we know what's happening..."

Now would be a good time for a good, long squeeze to the hand.

@Bellona Lestrange

She chuckled slightly at the vision of a mudblood crying to himself because if his inferiority. Ah, Acheflow was feeling so proud of her grandson for turning himself around. At least one of her grandchildren could proclaim that they held some of the most power at Hogwarts.

Then came the interruption.

Raising an eyebrow, her attention also turned to the brewing situation. What was going on?

"I agree, Melanthius. You two stay here. I must intervene."

She got up and began walking down the hall wondering if she heard that correctly. A boy?

@Bellona Lestrange

This certainly wasn't how it was supposed to go. As soon as their Grandmother emerged from the drawing room looking for an explanation of the interruption, he knew the plan had foiled. Well - she would find out, one way or another. His Mother had already made it impossible to keep between the three of them, but he understood that she was angry and demanding answers.

Hector looked at Cecelia as she attempted to cover it up, and then confess to it entirely.

It was that moment that he knew it was the truth: this wasn't just some silly fib to get a rise out of him. This had actually happened. Hector stared at her, flabbergasted, unable to speak. His mouth was unapologetically hanging open.

"Malfoy?!"

"Melanthius..."

She was ready to meet his gaze with a testing one of her own.

"What is going on? You know, don't you?"

Her brow twitched slightly in annoyance. She didn't like to be kept in the dark!

@Melanthius Burke

"MALFOY?!"

Oh, Draco was about to receive a scathing crystal call, especially now that her mother-in-law had come to deal with it.

@Cecelia Burke

He nodded and sighed, "I do, but Hector and I only found out about it yesterday... It was Hector's idea to say something to our mother about Cecelia losing her virginity."

Thius knew it was better to just outright tell Bellona what the situation was.

"My brother has been stressed trying to get Borgin and Burke's back in shape, as you're aware, and Cecelia decided to annoy him by saying provocative statements..."

@Bellona Lestrange