Forsaken Vengeance

Chapter Two

Reagan paced back in forth in front of me, anger coming off her in waves. I sunk down a little further onto the couch as her grey eyes snapped down to me.

"I thought Ronan and I made it clear what your choices for the dance were."

"A-And I made it c-clear that I do not want to go with F-F-Flint."

Reagan crossed her arms and frowned down at me. "And you suppose father and Ronan will be happy with your choice?"

“T-They don’t need to know about it.” I growled.

Reagan gave a delicate snort of amusement. "Do you really believe they won't find out? Won't it be a little obvious when you and that Durmstrang kid dance together? In case you've forgotten, Ro and I are chaperoning."

"You’re only c-chaperoning to keep an eye on me!” I cried indignantly, even though I already knew I was in deep water with my sister.

"That attitude is part of the reason you need to be watched! Honestly Annalise, you never listen."

Rolling my eyes, I stood up. "I t-told you who I was going with. Most older sisters would be excited about their younger sister having her first date. How could I think you'd be like them?" I turned and started to walk out of the common room. I'd rather be up on the seventh floor anyways.

Reagan called something after me that sounded suspiciously like "if you don’t get back here you're in a lot of trouble" but I ignored her. Why start listening now?

The portrait slammed shut behind me as I walked up to the Gryffindor common room. Technically, I shouldn’t have known the password, but I never followed the rules anyways. I muttered the password and as I walked in, I smirked seeing Fred asleep on the couch. He let out a tremendous snore that would put mountain trolls to shame, and I laughed to myself.

Quietly, I snuck to the end of the couch and then prodded his stomach hard. I couldn't help but laugh hysterically when he jumped up and looked around wildly. Fred Weasley was definitely the big brother I needed in my life.

Frowning at my laughter, he stretched and said, "What if you had given me a heart attack? You wouldn't be laughing then now would you? You’d have a murder on your hands, and you’d be stuck with my ghost for all of eternity.”

I rolled my eyes at him. "You can't have a heart attack. You're invincible." I leaned against him once he was sitting up fully and curled into his side.

He laughed and ruffled my hair. "What's troubling my LeeLee now?"

“What makes you think something is w-wrong?” I countered.

Fred gave me a look and said, "I've known you long enough to know that's a sibling induced pout. Plus, you stuttered. What did they do now?"

I shook my head and sighed. I was quiet for a while, and then finally asked, "What do you think about me dating?"

"I think no guy is good enough for you," he informed me. "But I'm not opposed to it. Why?"

"Apparently it has to be Flint..."

Fred grimaced at the name. "I love your sister, but her taste in men is repulsive."

"I think it's more Ronan actually." I sighed.

Fred grimaced at that name too. What, with Ronan a prefect and Fred being a notorious troublemaker, they'd had several runins. "I'm guessing they aren't happy with your date to the ball, then,” he mused.

I looked down and muttered something quietly to myself. Fred nudged me with his leg and raised an eyebrow. "Ronan and Father...don't exactly...know yet,” I told him, and my stomach sunk just a bit.

Fred sighed. "Do you suppose Reagan will fill them in?"

"She'll probably tell Ro, who will definitely tell Father. And he'll send me a Howler, and I’ll be punished again.”

"Well that's just lovely." Fred pulled me into a hug ad rubbed my shoulder. "Anything I can do?"

"Adopt me." I answered seriously.

Fred laughed. "You're already an honorable Weasley. There aren’t many higher honors than that."

"I don't get why you guys like me so much,” I said to him, sighing. “I come from a family of former Death Eaters."

"Just because your father was a death eater doesn't mean you're a horrible person Lise." I sighed and nodded, though I didn't believe him. We sat in silence for a while, like we often did. Finally, after a couple of minutes, Fred cleared his throat nonchalantly. "So... Does Reagan have a date yet?"

I shrugged, looking up at him. "All she's said is that she's a chaperone."

Fred leaned back, a thoughtful look on his face. "Are chaperones allowed to have dates?"

"I think they can. Why?"

Fred got to his feet, grinning. He'd liked Reagan since his first year at Hogwarts, and though she'd turned him down dozens of times before, he kept at it. "Feel like getting me into the slytherin common room?" he asked, pulling me to my feet.

"Not really. I'd rather not get punished by my brother."

Fred shrugged, heading out of the common room with me in tow. "Well then coax your sister out for me."

I stayed put with a small smirk on my face. "Make me Fred."

Fred raised a brow. “If you don’t help me, I’ll kidnap you,” he informed me. When I rolled my eyes, he added, “I swear I will.”

“You will not,” I challenged, making to leave before he could try to talk me into any more bad ideas.

Without missing a beat, Fred lifted me up over his shoulder and took of down the hall. I squealed and laughed as he raced down the stairs and finally came to a stop in front of the common room door.
“Fred! D-Don’t!” I gasped, realizing what he was doing. As always, he ignored me.

"Reagan!" he called, banging on the door, still holding onto me. "I've got your sister captive and I won't give her back unless you come claim her!"

"Fred," I groaned as Slytherin students started to stare at us. Ronan was definitely gonna hear about this from his friends.

I froze as I heard the doorknob to the common room rattle; Reagan yanked open the door, glowering at Fred. "What are you doing Weasley?"

I squeezed my eyes shut as my stomach tightened, making me wish I had Harry's invisibility cloak. Reagan was going to kill me. "I have something that belongs to you,” Fred said, smirking at my sister.

Reagan crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at Fred; most would shrink away from her angered gaze, but Fred didn't flinch. "Put my sister down,” she ordered, ice in her voice.

"And how will you pay me for her?" he asked casually, raising an eyebrow, completely unfazed by her anger.

“F-Fred-“ I began, trying to wriggle out of his hold.

Reagan's cheeks flushed a soft pink, and my eyebrows raised. Was she embarrassed? "What do you want, Weasley?"

A smirk graced Fred's lips as he moved closer and whispered, "I want you to meet me on the dance floor Saturday night."

To my surprise, Reagan's cheeks turned bright red, and she shifted her eyes away from him. In the 13 years I'd known her, she had never, not ONCE, blushed. "W-Weasley," she faltered, seeming at a loss for words. I just stared incredulously at my sister. I had never, ever seen her lose her composure, not for anything, and here she was, blushing and stuttering.

"Meet me there, or LeeLee is mine."

Reagan cleared her throat and forced her face into a frown. "Mr. Weasley, exactly how conceited are you? What makes you think I would even consider the thought of wanting to go with you?"

"Say goodbye to your sister, LeeLee."

As he turned around, I hid my face in the top of his back. I didn't want to see the familiar angry look in her eyes anymore. I couldn’t resist though, and I had to see just how mad she was. Peeking through my fingers, I stared in surprise at my sister.

She wasn’t glaring, she wasn’t irritated, hell, she wasn’t even remotely mad. She watched me go, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on her face, her cheeks still tinted pink.

ღ ღ ღ ღ

“You sure you want to buy me a dress?” I asked Dimitri as we entered Hogsmeade; I shivered under my coat as the wind blew a little stronger and snow swirled around us. Dimitri and I wandered down the snowy path as I scanned the shops, looking for a place to buy my dress. Dimitri had insisted he buy my dress for me, and I had gone along with it.

Not wanting to be too expensive, I lead us into a small secondhand store that I frequented a lot. Dimitri kept his hand on the small of my back as he followed me in, a frown on his face.

“You will shop here? It is not good store.”

“I’ve shopped here before,” I told him, heading for the dresses. “There’s some pretty beautiful stuff if you search for it.”

Dimitri gave a distasteful sniff, but didn’t say any more as I began to search through the racks. After a couple of minutes, I pulled out a knee-length blue dress. I smiled up at Dimitri.

“This one,” I said, holding it up to myself as I looked in the mirror. Dimitri made a face and grabbed the dress from my hands.

“This one?” he repeated, turning the dress over and examining it. “No. It is cheap, not good. You will not wear this.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “I like it Dimitri. I want to wear it.”

His eyes glinted and he shoved the dress back onto the rack.

“I say no,” he snapped, taking hold of my arm and pulling me back from the rack. “You find another.”

“Dimitri,” I growled, trying to pull away. “It’s up to me what I wear! Let go!”

He moved his face close to mine and narrowed his dark eyes. His hand tightened on my arm.

“You are my date, you wear what I decide. You find another dress, or I find one for you.”

I froze, staring up at him. I could hear my father’s voice in those words. I felt a prick of fear in the back of my mind. Instantly, my tongue started to grow heavier and I knew the stuttering was going to begin no matter how hard I tried to keep it away from today’s outing. When I didn’t move, Dimitri dropped my arm and turned to a different rack. He grabbed a plain red black dress and held it up to me.

“This is best you will find in cheap shop. You try this on.”

I shook my head.

“It’s too p-plain, I want something more e-exciting,” I told him, my eyes wandering back to the blue dress.

Dimitri grabbed my arm and shoved me towards the changing room, putting the dress in my hands.

“You try this on!” he demanded, raising his voice. One of the sale attendants looked up, and then made her way over to me. She glowered at Dimitri and then looked back down at me.

“Are you okay sweetie?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but Dimitri cut me off.

“She is fine, we are fine. You leave us now,” he told her.

She ignored Dimitri and kept her gaze on me.

“Yeah,” I murmured. “I’m fine.”

She gave me a long look, but reluctantly turned away from us.

From across the store, I heard someone call my name. Dimitri and I both looked up as Draco Malfoy made his way towards us. He paused beside Dimitri and smiled at me.

“Hey Lise.”

A real smile graced my lips as I gave my best friend a hug.

“Hey!”

Immediately, Dimitri’s hand locked onto my arm and yanked me back from Draco; I winced.

“Who is he?”

“My friend D-Draco,” I said. “Draco, this is Dimitri.”

Draco frowned hearing my stuttering though it hadn’t been present in a while and stepped between Dimitri and I.

“Pleasure,” he said coolly. “I think you can let her go now.”

Dimitri frowned at Draco and informed him,

“She is my girl, I decide when is enough.”

Draco looked down at me, and I saw the concern in his eyes.

“Everything okay Lise?”

I wanted to tell Draco, but right now wasn’t the time. I just shrugged and murmured,

“Trying to pick out a dress, that’s all.”

Draco looked down at the red dress, and then up at me.

“I saw that blue dress you had,” he told me. “It looked nice. It would be pretty on you.”

I felt my cheeks tint a bit, but I said quietly,

“It wasn’t a good one.”

Draco looked at me for a moment longer, then up at Dimitri.

“If you need anything Lise, you know where to find me.”

I nodded and gave my best friend a small smile as Draco shoved past Dimitri and exited the shop. Dimitri turned to me.

“You try on dress and I take you to lunch, yes?” he insisted, practically pushing me into the dressing room. With a sigh, I shut the door and quickly pulled the dress on.

I came out of the dressing room and looked at myself in the mirror. The dress was hideous; it was straight and narrow, making me look like a twig. It hung off me and encompassed my body. I grimaced.

“It is good, yes?” he insisted.

“I’m not wearing this to the dance,” I sighed, turning to him. “This is hideous.”

Dimitri frowned at me and motioned for me to spin. I did, and he nodded.

“Is fine. I buy for you.”

“Well, I don’t want it, so-“

“I say is fine,” he growled, coming closer to me. “You wear this, Annalise.”

“What’s gotten into you?” I demanded. “You have no right to treat me like this.”

“You are my girl now,” he said. “Where I come from, that means you do as I say. So you do as I say, and you wear dress.”

I frowned and crossed my arms.

“We’re just going to the dance together. Nothing more.”

“No,” Dimitri growled at me. “My date, my girl. Mine.”

With a shake of my head, I slipped back into the dressing room and yanked the dress off. Putting my own clothes back on, I came out and threw the dress into his hands.

“I’m not going anymore. You can find someone else to wear this stupid dress.”

As I began to walk out of the store, Dimitri grabbed my arm. I watched as his attitude switched from anger to desperation.

“Annalise, why you do not want to go?” he demanded, irritation on his face. “You do not like dress? Fine, I find you different dress-“

“I’m not going because you’re being too controlling,” I told him crossing my arms as I frowned up at him. “You’re taking this way too seriously-“

“Fine, fine,” he said, grabbing the original dress I picked out. “You like this dress? I buy for you. You wear it, and go, yes?”

I stared at him for a long time, not saying anything.

“You want shoes? I buy shoes for you. I buy you shoes, and I buy you dress. You will go, yes?”

“Dimitri-“ I began, and he cut me off.

“You listen to me,” he said, his mood immediately switching from kind to angry in half a second. “You will be quiet, and you will wear dress, and you will go with me. You will not miss dance, you will not have attitude. You will do as I say, yes?”

Though it was Dimitri talking, all I heard was my father. All I saw was my father’s cold eyes glowering down at me, his angry voice ripping through me.

I saw the anger in Dimitri’s face, and I relented.

“O-Okay,” I murmured. “I’ll go.”

Dimitri nodded, as if this were the only acceptable answer.

“Yes, you do,” he confirmed. “And this boy, the boy you hug, you will not speak with him.”

“Who?” I asked, frowning. “Draco?”

“I don’t like this boy,” he said. “You do not talk with him. He is not good. You stay away from him.”

I shook my head.

“No. Draco is my f-friend-“

Dimitri grabbed hold of my arm, yanking me to him. His eyes glinted with anger.

“This boy is nothing to you.”

I shrunk away from his gaze, swallowing hard and nodding.

“Okay, Dimitri,” I told him; instantly, Dimitri’s face went from angry to pleased.

“We found good dress, and you will wear it. I buy for you.”

As we walked past the shoe display, he grabbed a pair of heels and held them up.

“You wear these, yes?”

I didn’t like the shoes one bit, but I kept my mouth shut and nodded. Dimitri looked very pleased with himself as he placed the shoes and the dress on the counter. I didn’t meet the cashier’s eyes as she rang us up. As Dimitri paid for the dress, he put his arm around me and said pleasantly,

“We go to lunch, and I buy you sushi. You eat sushi, yes?”

I hated sushi, but I nodded. I would eat it. I wouldn’t complain. Because I was no longer with Dimitri, I was with father, and it wasn’t safe to argue with father. Bad, bad things happened when I argued with father.