[Hogwarts; Quidditch Pitch]
A slight ghost of a smirk crossed Melinda's expression as she watched Zedekiah suffer her punishment. It was unfortunate that she had silenced him before the kick. Hearing him cringe in pain would have satisfied her all the more together with watching him suffer. However, the deed had been done and she congratulated herself for still having it. She didn't seem to have lost all of her fire it seemed.
The brother seemed to enjoy the sight just as much as she did, teasing the Gryffindor a little before he started to glare harshly at something, or someone, behind them. What, or who, could it be that deserved such a heated glare from the older twin? Turning around Melinda paled up as she realised that it was Madi that was spying on them. "Merlin," she cursed to herself. Why did the captain had to step on the field, and see her, just when she stopped her warming up? Cursing at the terrible timing the twins and Madi had, Melinda prayed to the heavens that the captain would let her explain the situation. She didn't want to face the punishment her childhood friend had in foresight for not following her orders.
"We're engaged."
Snapping her attention back to the long haired boy Melinda wasn't quite sure what she heard. Them? Engaged? She with him? Alistair? If his brainless counterpart hadn't been silenced earlier Melinda would have hexed this one as well. However, she figured that she shouldn't be too trigger-happy and wait for the Slytherin to finish at least. She couldn't help but to deepen her glare, however, this all sounded so ridiculous. It had to be a terrible joke.
Just when Alistair mentioned that the letter should explain it all another owl swooped in, dropping an envelope that was sealed with their school emblem. Raising a brow the short girl looked up to both Alistair and Zedekiah, her eyes suspicious as she wondered what the school had to do with the private matters of students. Or perhaps he meant the package of earlier? She was expecting post today, seeing as it was her birthday. With a sigh Melinda decided to unseal the package she had tugged under her arm first. That one seemed to be private post, so more likely to contain a message about a possible engagement. "If this turns out to be a joke your fate shall be far worse than his," she threatened as she made a nod towards Zed.
Holding up the parchment Melinda recognised the neat handwriting of her mother. A few questions that asked her about her wellbeing. A few lines that was reprimanding her for her recent behaviour, for it had been far from what was becoming of a lady and as a respectable member of a pureblood family.
Lastly it contained a joyful wish for her birthday from the household. The wish also included that, now that Melinda was sixteen, she was expected to take a more mature role in society and as to signify that change, she had been formally engaged to…
Dropping her arm Melinda's face paled up as she repeated the name inside of her mind. Alistair Blackbourne. Mr. hair-is-longer-than-you-are was the one her parents had decided to engage her with. Because she seemed to be able to get along with the twins when she was small. Because they were both purebloods with a similar vision. "It can't be," she mumbled with a frown. Raising her arm up again Melinda reread the sentence, her eyes going over the letter frantically to look for a sign to see if it was a joke, if it was all just a well-crafted prank.
She found nothing. Only the wish from her mother that she wouldn't reject the idea too harshly, that she would take this all in with pride and not dishonour the family. How was her mother expecting Melinda to take this in with pride and honour?! She was being robbed from her freedom here! Clenching the parchment a little tighter Melinda didn't notice how the letter was wrinkling in front of her. That until Valentino stroke next to her, picking her head lightly with his beak. Snapping back Melinda glared at the owl before finishing the letter.
One thing was certain. She wasn't allowed to reject it on her own. Not alone, that would be disgraceful and a humiliation to the other, but if she could have the other agree with her, that this was all a terrible idea, then she was saved, right? She had heard Lorene mention it so often as well before she got engaged. If she didn't like the one she was set up with she could easily just discuss with the other that it wasn't going to work and they would both reject. A mutual agreement wasn't seen as an humiliation, a rejection, or a disgrace. It just meant that they were mismatched. This engagement was doomed to fail, so what reason did Alistair have to accept this all? It was clear that they were mismatched! Clear to her and probably to him as well. Sucking in a breath Melinda was convinced that the Slytherin came here to discuss the matter of mutually disagreeing to the idea. Yes, that had to be it. She had to calm down. She had to play it cool.
Folding the letter in half with a stern expression the dark haired girl looked up at the Slytherin, ready to discuss how they were going to explain that this engagement was doomed to fail, fated to become an unhappy marriage. "So, what is our reasoning going to be?" she asked almost nonchalantly, hoping that Alistair had some ideas in mind. Reminding herself that there was also a letter from school Melinda proceeded to unseal the envelope as well. "You can think of a plausible excuse to blow this engagement off, I will join you after this letter," Melinda continued, her eyes sharp as she was hoping that the Slytherin wouldn't let her down.
Her eyes fleeted over the letter that she received from the headmistress, McGonagal. Again her expression paled up as she read about the serial hexer that was going around in the hallways. Great, just great. Along with the pressure of preparing for the Quidditch match, the fact that she got engaged and had to seek for an escape, she was now called out on her prefect duties. Why did fate always decide to throw all drama all onto one heap in a short amount of time? Why couldn't it be nicely divided over the past six years she had spent on this enormous school where everything could go wrong any other day and any week? Why did she have to run into one after another problem exactly in her sixth year. Why did it all come together when she was a prefect, when she was turning sixteen, and apparently old enough for an engagement. Why when she was being the stupidest she had ever been in her life!
A bubbling sensation of frustration was welling up within the girl as she felt hopelessness fill her up. This endless string of bad events. First the troll incident, then the DADA accident, to add in whatever had happened at the party of last night, and now this! The engagement, the Quidditch match and the serial hexer. Granted, at least one of the problems was caused by her own melancholy and listlessness, and thus her own fault, while the engagement was easily solved with the cooperation of Alistair, but could fate at least smile at her once, give her a kind and gentle break called peace?
A groan of frustration escaped Melinda as she threw her hands up. If it can go wrong it will definitely go wrong, everything that could go wrong was going wrong. If Melinda had been born a muggle, or interested herself more in their world she would have known that this was called; Murphy's law. Alas, she didn't know about this formula, but it definitely applied to her and her life at the current moment. It was plainly put; a disaster in which everything went wrong that could go wrong.
"Okay, let's fix this," she mumbled as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Please tell me you have an idea ready, I have more things to do today," Melinda pleaded with Alistair, feeling the stress building up within her.
Characters mentioned/involved:
@darkflames13 – Zedekiah Blackbourne
@FieryCold – Alistair Blackbourne
@Misaou – Madison van Reeden
NPC - Pet owl Valentino, Lorene, mother & Headmistress McGonagall
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