𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝔻𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕

The seal on the letter stared at Sekhmet imposingly. Despite the comforting presence, the Great Hall brought with it—the talking, the laughter from students, the smell of early morning tea, the aroma of fresh biscuits, and the perfect combination of the hot and cold draft— Sekhmet couldn’t calm herself. The wax seal depicted a cobra and vulture, the insignia of royal Ancient Egyptians. That also made it the insignia of the Arafa’s. Set only sent letters when absolutely necessary. He hated his children, but he despised his daughter more than any of his sons. That’s why, all things considering, Sekhmet was more inclined to jump into the Black Lake and take her chances brawling the Giant Squid than open that letter. But alas, she knew she would be in even bigger trouble than she already was if she didn’t open the letter. So, Sekhmet peeled off the wax seal, the indistinct murmuring in the Great Hall quieting in her mind as she read.

𝒮𝑒𝓀𝒽𝓂𝑒𝓉,

𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒾𝓍 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇. 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓈. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒶 𝓌𝒾𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝒽𝑜𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒻𝒾𝒸 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃 𝒜𝓇𝒶𝒻𝒶 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈.

𝐼 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝒪𝓈𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓈, 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒. 𝐵𝓎 𝒩𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝟣𝟧𝓉𝒽 𝒜𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑜 𝒞𝒶𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝒶𝓌. 𝐼 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓇𝓊𝓃𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓈𝒸𝒽𝑜𝑜𝓁 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝒹𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓅𝓊𝓇𝑒𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝐻𝑜𝑔𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓈.

𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉 𝓂𝑒.

- 𝒮𝑒𝓉 𝒜𝓇𝒶𝒻𝒶

Sekhmet stared at the letter, entranced. She could feel her father’s words as if they were spat in her face. Don’t disappoint me… Sekhmet hoped she wouldn’t. Her heart was thumping erratically in her chest, her anxiety hitting its limit. Sekhmet’s face was a different story, however. She looked every bit as composed as she usually was; her back straight, shoulders back, and face set in a vacant, passive state. She supposed she was happy for Osiris, if not a bit confused.

Osiris had never been one for marriage. He had never actively wanted a wife, so for him to be marrying so quickly after getting engaged meant that something deeper must be occurring. Not to mention, he was getting married to a girl almost exclusively known for her escapades with other girls. She would have to inform her brothers about the wedding.

Just as Sekhmet prepared to stand up and tell her brothers the news their father had sent, another owl soared above her head, dropping something directly onto her plate. Sekhmet only had fruit in the mornings, as it was the only thing she could handle, but she supposed that she was done with breakfast now. She glared at the owl and then peered curiously at the new letter sitting in front of her.

The letter did not bear her family crest or consist of the expensive paper her father had a fondness for. No, the letter seemed to be from a completely different source.

None of Sekhmet’s friends seemed to pay any mind to the letter, too busy reading the new Daily Prophet, which was about another muggle family having been murdered by the up-and-coming Dark Lord. She quickly grabbed the letter stashing it in her robe to read later. She sat up from her seat on the bench, making her way to her brothers.

For being in two different houses, her brothers still sat awfully close to one another. Anubis sat with his friends at the Ravenclaw table, his back to the Slytherin table which just so happened to have Horus sitting directly behind him. Although they didn’t face one another Sekhmet had a feeling that it was a deliberate choice on their part. If their positions just so happened to give them the perfect view of Sekhmet so that they could keep an eye on her should anything happen, then perhaps that was just the luck of the draw.

Sekhmet opened her mouth to get their attention, “ أهلاً وسهلاً ‎أخ  (ahlaan wshlaan ‎'akh: hello brother).”

Anubis and Horus snapped their heads up, breaking away from their conversations as soon as they heard her voice.

‎“أهلاً وسهلاً ‎أخت (ahlaan wshlaan ‎'ukht: hello sister).” They greeted back in sync.

Sekhmet smiled slightly before stepping closer, revealing the letter in her hand. Anubis’ eyes held tension and fear while Horus’ brows furrowed in question. Sekhmet quickly dissolved their worries.

“Baba says that we are to attend Osiris’ wedding next month. He is to be wed to Alecto Carrow in November on the fifteenth,” Sekhmet announced as she glanced at the letter more for appearance's sake than anything else.

Horus sat up a bit in shock, his friends chattering ceasing. All the Slytherins knew how big a deal pureblood weddings were. There were only so many families to marry into, so for new blood to be introduced…. Osiris’ betrothal was revolutionary.

Anubis also looked shocked. His eyes were scrutinizing and his mouth was slightly open in astonishment. His friends continued to talk, but open looking at Anubis their faces portrayed concern and confusion. Pureblood weddings didn’t mean much to people who were not within the specific circles, so Sekhmet supposed she wasn’t surprised at their reaction- or lack thereof.

The two didn’t appear as if they were going to say anything, so she walked back to her friends, giving them time to process. Her steps were light and graceful, her face set in an elegant blank state. Sekhmet could feel the eyes on her. The eyes around the Great Hall that followed her every move were like vultures waiting for her to mess up.

Sekhmet, despite being pureblood, was often discriminated against by muggle-borns for her appearance. Her brown skin, Egyptian features, and slight accent when she first transferred had drawn attention. She heard the whispers, even if the cowards were too afraid to say anything to her face. The first comment she got was when she was called a “dirty-skinned-sand-walker”. The boy who had said it, Callum McLaggen, had quickly regretted it when, before anyone else could intervene, Sekhmet had hexed him so bad he had to be on bed rest in the Hospital Wing for three days.

She continued walking to her table despite the whispers when the bell went off to signify their first class starting. Sekhmet walked quickly, bending slightly to grab her bag and continuing to walk out of the Great Hall with Evan and Pandora on her tail.