"Mother." Esmeralda whispered over her mother's shoulder as her parents talked with an unfamiliar man. The classical music continued to fill the room as the dance floor gradually emptied and people either returned to their seats or made their way over to Bellatrix and Rodolphus to congratulate them.

"Mother!" Esmeralda hissed.

"Mo-"

"Esmeralda, please." Antoinette Avery held up her hand to silence her daughter, "What in Merlin's name do you want?"

Esmeralda sighed, "When can we leave? We must've been here for days at this rate."

Lucas Avery laughed and turned to his daughter, "Ah, Esmeralda. I would like to introduce you to Antonin Dolohov."

Esmeralda glanced at the man, taking in his defined features, dark hair and equally dark eyes. "Pleasure to meet you." She greeted coldly.

"Ah the pleasure is all mine." He reached out and took Esmeralda's hand, "I've heard an awful lot about you."

"All terrible I hope." Esmeralda scowled as Antonin kissed the back of her hand, pulling away quickly. She could practically feel her skin crawling from the touch.

"Esmeralda!" Antoinette exclaimed.

"It's quite alright. Not very often you come across a young witch with such wit." He smiled down at her, a twinkle in his eyes.

Esmeralda felt a little sick in the presence of the man. He certainly had an aura around him that made the girl uncomfortable to just be in his vicinity.

"Now, where is your brother?" Lucas placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder as he peered about the room for his eldest child.

"Last I saw him he was with the Zabini girl." Esmeralda muttered disapprovingly. Lucas chuckled at this as he moved across the room towards where Ignatius Avery stood still desperately trying to clamour for Zabini's attention.

"Did Walburga Black ever find you?" Antoinette asked her daughter quietly.

"She sent Kreacher to invite me back inside. I haven't spoken to her though." Esmeralda replied, a little confused as to why Walburga would want anything to do with her.

Ever since Esmeralda's sorting ceremony Walburga had practically severed her family's ties with her. Of course they were still somewhat friendly with the rest of the Avery family as they were so prominent and respected within not only the pureblood but the wider wizarding community. Everyone could see it so clearly in Walburga's face - she hated anyone that wasn't pureblood, Slytherin, or who didn't share her political beliefs.

"Perhaps it's best not to go looking for her then." Antoinette decided delicately. She certainly didn't want any unnecessary hysterics being brought about tonight. Not when the focus of the party was so loudly on the Black family. They were drawing attention away from their rogue son by throwing party, after dinner meal, after meeting, after family reunion, after another party.

"So we're leaving?" Esmeralda raised an eyebrow, a small smile threatening to creep onto her face.

"Your father has been avoiding Malfoy all night. Leaving early will guarantee we avoid that horrifically awkward encounter." Antoinette placed a hand on her daughter's back as she guided her across the room towards Lucas and Ignatius Avery. Whilst the woman did definitely keep quiet and much preferred to remain out of the spotlight, she was incredibly observant and very intelligent. Antoinette Avery knew far more about the happenings amongst the families than anyone would like to believe. This, of course, played to Lucas Avery's favour.

"Ready to go?" Lucas asked, glancing over the girls.

"I haven't said goodnight to Bellatrix and Rodolphus." Antoinette glanced around the room.

"They're talking with Walburga, Narcissa, and Lucius." Ignatius pointed out, gesturing to the top of the room where they all stood, quietly muttering amongst themselves.

"Well, looks like we'll successfully avoid them all if we leave now." Esmeralda insisted, gripping onto her father's arm.

Apparating isn't pleasant at the best of times. Least of all when you're not too experienced in magic and all you can do is cling to the person in charge. That's why, when the small family snapped into the corridor of their home, Esmeralda stumbled to the side slightly and stepped on her brother's foot which then caused him to trip forwards.

"Esme! Watch it! I thought you were meant to be the smart one!" Ignatius exclaimed angrily, huffing as he straightened himself up and adjusted his hair.

"Enough, no talk like that." Antoinette hushed her son. Esmeralda could tell that Ignatius wasn't being silenced so as to avoid the siblings falling out. Rather, Antoinette didn't like to think about Esmeralda in any other way than a Slytherin at heart - despite what the Sorting ceremony had shown.

"Guess I just didn't have the ambition to land gracefully." Esmeralda hissed to herself.

Lucas glared at his two children, fully aware of their snide comments and quick quips and how this all made Antoinette very uncomfortable. "Just go to bed you two." He sighed tiredly, gesturing for them to head up the stairs.

"Now look what you've done." Ignatius muttered to Esmeralda as they left their parents alone downstairs.

Esmeralda glanced back down at her mother as she reached the top of the stairs. She didn't look up at her daughter before walking past and into the kitchen. Esmeralda sighed and allowed her head to fall down as she went into her room.

Antoinette Avery did fiercely love her children. She would do anything to keep them safe and protect them from the danger of now only the muggle borns but also the rising dark wizards. Antoinette was fearful of how far the Dark Lord would go and what he would expect of her children when they grew up. Of course, the Avery family very strongly believed that the wizarding society should remain for only those of pureblood. They clearly remembered the dark times where muggles would hunt down and not just kill but torture those who they thought possessed magical powers. It would only be a matter of time until a certain muggle born child's family decided that they would leak the news of wizards in hiding to the world and this would ensure certain chaos and destruction. Antoinette would rather muggle born witches and wizards were excluded from their society if it protected her children. However, she was a little tentative as to how it could be reasoned that killing muggle born children and adults was best for everyone else.

Antoinette was fully aware of the thin line Esmeralda was walking on. Whilst she had somewhat been a stain in the Avery family's reputation since her first year at Hogwarts, she had not been fully excluded. There was still hope that if Esmeralda married a respected pureblood wizard and supported not only him, but the Dark Lord, then everything would run smoothly. However despite Esmeralda's cautious attitudes and best attempts, Antoinette was very aware of how Esmeralda was changing.

Not only was Esmeralda growing used to being looked at in a different way - to not fitting in - she was also beginning to question and challenge some of the beliefs and traditions held within the sacred twenty-eight families. This created an enormous pit of fear in Antoinette's stomach as she had seen what had happened with the Black boy and would do anything to avoid losing her daughter.

Esmeralda sat on the edge of her bed, listening intently and quietly to see if she could make out what her parents were talking about downstairs. She pulled her Hogwarts scarf into her lap and threaded it through her hands, stretching it and knotting it in her lap.

"Stop worrying Ann, it'll do you no good." Lucas shook his head as he unfolded the Daily Prophet to read over the headlines.

"What are we going to do? What am I going to do?" Antoinette fretted.

"Ignatius is starting his final year at Hogwarts. Once that is done he too will join the Dark Lord and everything else will be overlooked." Lucas spoke bluntly.

Antoinette shook her head and folded her arms to conceal her shaking fingers. Just being around those families tonight had struck a chord. She had realised what kind of world her daughter was being forced into and how they would not happily accept Esmeralda.

"What if she doesn't choose the right path?"