"Welcome again to Prince Manor," Loid said as he stood with Yor and behind Anya to greet her friends.
"Anya! Your tan looks amazing! I'm so jealous, I always burn to a crisp," Becky exclaimed as soon as she entered Prince Manor through the Floo, completely ignoring Loid in her surprise. Damian stumbled in behind her, freezing up as soon as he saw Anya.
"Strong Rosier genes?" Anya replied tentatively as if trying to shrug it off. She always tanned during their summers in the Mediterranean and they still weren't entirely sure if that came from the blood adoption or her own original genetic make-up as she'd never been as exposed to the sun before the adoption.
As such, it wasn't too much of a surprise that she returned with a tan after a month-long vacation in Mallorca, the whole Prince family having returned to their family estate to celebrate the Heiress' birthday and all of her and Severus' friends were invited for the event, some would even stay with them until they returned to school. As was, this year her birthday celebration would be a weekend long affair so that all of their friends could stay over a little longer with her birthday as the excuse. Emma, Lily, Pandora, Ewen, and Regulus had already made their way there and now that Damian and Becky had arrived, they were just missing Aurora.
"Thank you for welcoming us," Becky added as soon as she remembered her manners. Damian barely nodded in agreement. Noticing his behaviour, Becky nudged her cousin forward towards Anya.
"You look…um, you look very pretty," Damian mumbled out, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. He was a little in awe at seeing her again after a month. Especially when her hair and eyes shined brighter and her tan made her look more lively than ever.
"Thank you," Anya replied, her blush turning her cheeks as pink as her peony summer dress. She was happy to see him too and thought he looked handsome in his tan linen suit that was cut to his figure as always. She could almost imagine Becky choosing it for him, along with the pink shirt that clearly matched Anya's dress. How the Ravenclaw got the details of her outfit, she'd never know.
Behind her, Loid scowled and glared at Damian. After Anya's recent revelation of her true age -which had been a lot for his tired mind to process to the point that that night Yor had to creep into Anya's bedroom and quietly drag him out- he found it especially annoying that the boy was crushing on his twelve-year-old daughter. Yor nudged him and turning to look at her he noticed she gave him that pointed look that reminded him that no one else knew the truth. She had even reminded him before everyone arrived that Anya would soon be turning thirteen and Damian had barely turned fourteen the week before. Not that he could have forgotten the last fact when their daughter had agonised about it while on their trip, worried that her "friend" would resent her for missing yet another birthday because of their family trips. (Damian didn't but he quietly admitted to Becky during his birthday dinner that he wished Anya could be there, yet was also grateful she wouldn’t have to deal with his very greedy and very dangerous family.)
"Oh I, I got you a present, since I missed your birthday," Anya admitted quietly, and pulled out a wrapped gift. It was small but weighty.
"Oh, um, thank you," Damian flushed further.
“Open it, come on,” Anya encouraged, so thrilled she was almost bouncing on her feet.
“Oh, um are you sure? We’re here for your birthday,” Damian argued back. He didn't want to take away the spotlight from her. Especially not when she looked so lovely in her pretty peony dress and her hair half up, the latter making her eyes pop beautifully in their joy.
“Well, since it is my birthday and I want you to open it, you have to,” Anya replied cheekily, now grinning in excitement.
“Very well,” Damian replied with a fond sigh. He didn't even know why he constantly pretended he didn’t want to do as she wished when really, he couldn’t deny her anything.
“Oh, just open it already, we all want to see what it is,” Emma said, annoyed at the pair. Lily and Regulus shared a look before giggling at Emma’s annoyance. Beside them, Severus rolled his eyes fondly at his friends’ antics.
“Fine, fine,” Damian rolled his eyes but complied. Under the simple wrapping paper he discovered a beautiful wooden box made of olive wood and inside it, a gorgeous, dark brown leather watch.
“Wow, this is amazing. Thank you,” he said, delicately grabbing the watch.
“That is an excellent watch,” Ewen said, glancing over Damian’s shoulder. He had gotten even taller during the summer.
“Really, thank you, Anya. This is too much,” Damian said blushing. He had turned the watch and noted a little inscription on the back that the others missed. “don’t let go” - a reminder to him of her promise to not let him go and a request for him to do the same.
“Well, you’re welcome. I just had to make up for missing your birthday somehow,” Anya whispered, flushing as she noticed him reading the inscription.
The Floo roared behind Damian and Ewen just then, making them startle slightly. With her fast, Quidditch-trained reflexes Emma, who had been amusedly watching the exchange by Anya's side, pulled them out of the way.
“Rory!” Severus exclaimed happily, moving to greet, and even deigning to hug, his Hispanic friend.
“Hola, Sevvie,” Rory teased, her grin making her dark eyes shine with stars. Although the boy despised the nickname, he reluctantly allowed his family and Rory and Lily to get away with calling him by it. Then with a smile at Anya and her friends said, “And hello everyone else, especially the birthday girl.”
“Well, since everyone has arrived, I think it is best if we move out of the foyer and into the gardens. It is a lovely day today and the house elves have prepared refreshments for everyone,” Yor announced, herding the group outside through the terrace and into the grounds of the property where Yuri, Eileen, and Eamonn already awaited. As Anya’s birthday party was not until the following day, everyone else would arrive on said afternoon for it.
"Okay, we really must catch up on any hot gossip we missed before we return back to classes!" Becky announced as soon as they were all seated eating biscuits and sandwiches and drinking tea on a table a good distance away from the adults who preferred to remain in the terrace where they could watch them but thanks to the distance and a quick privacy spell by Pandora -done on Becky’s request- couldn't hear them. The boys all groaned at her comment.
"Well, I honestly don't know what to tell you as other than Narcissa's wedding, which you were also at, I haven't gone to any other British Wizarding events this summer… You know papa prefers to take the opportunity to travel on breaks," Anya replied barely holding in an eyeroll at her best friend. Really, they travelled so much on holidays and breaks so that her parents could go on missions collecting information and gathering allies. In fact, to keep Eamonn from being suspicious they had even brought in her Aunt Eileen into the fold, explaining all about WISE and asking her to help keep her father distracted and to ensure Anya's and Severus' safety should the worse happen. (Eileen had been a bit insulted at the fact they thought they even had to ask her to keep the kids safe… but she gladly joined WISE, more to help protect children rather than go on missions as she was still recuperating from years of abuse.)
"Oh, speaking of summer weddings, did you know that Molly Prewett eloped with Arthur Weasley?" Lily interrupted excitedly.
"Molly Prewett?" Emma said hesitantly as she thought out the name then excitedly asked, "Do you mean Marguerite Prewett? Gideon's and Fabian's little sister?"
"Well," Lily began hesitantly, "I'm not sure, I've only ever heard her being called Molly…"
"It is Marguerite, why she loves the nickname so much God only knows," Severus grunted out. He'd studied all of the pureblood families and knew them well and had spent enough time with Lily and her Gryffindor friends to be sure.
"Why would she ever marry a Weasley?" Becky replied, scrunching up her nose.
"There's no accounting for poor taste," Ewen shrugged in reply.
"Wait, what's so terrible about the Weasleys? Aren't they purebloods too?" Anya interrupted. She knew, of course, that they were more sympathetic to halfbloods and muggleborns than most, but they still only married purebloods and tried to keep the bloodline pure.
"Well, for one they're dirt poor," Regulus laughed sarcastically.
"And for another they're Dumbledore's personal henchman," Damian added with clear disgust.
"I actually didn't know that," Lily added softly. She had been warned by all of her non-Gryffindor friends to keep a safe distance from Dumbledore at all times. Loid and Yor had even gone so far as to explain his pattern of creating child soldiers so as to ensure she listened to their advice.
"You wouldn't know… Arthur is the first Weasley in generations to be sorted into Ravenclaw," Pandora reassured her, patting her hand.
"Yeah, well, I'm glad he graduated," Rory added as she also comforted her friend then said with clear repulsion, "He always liked studying muggles the way a biologist studies animals in the wild."
Emma almost snarled at that, while Severus hissed in disgust. Anya tried to swallow back her gut reaction, but a huff of disbelief and distaste still escaped her. Lily looked a little green and Regulus patted her hand, offering comfort.
“On to nicer topics and speaking of couples… Is it official? Are you two finally together? Don't think I missed those glances and blushes,” Becky asked mischievously, looking her cousin and her best friend dead in the eyes.
Damian, who had just taken a sip his tea, choked and Ewen patted his back while rolling his eyes. After a few moments, Damian was finally able to breath and coughed awkwardly and Anya shyly hid under her hair. Emma, Lily, and Rory just laughed at their reactions while Pandora asked Severus to get him a glass of water. Dahlia appeared with it moments later and an annoyed Severus passed it to Damian who thanked him. Regulus simply watched the whole thing with intrigue.
“Becky!” Damian chastised his cousin. He loved her dearly, really, almost like a sister, but just like a sister would, she always got on his nerves.
“Well, are you?” Becky whined, “I know you asked her out a few times but then you guys had that huge fight and it took you like a half a semester to figure it out. And then in the train and at Narcissa’s wedding you two were being very cosy but you’ve been so reluctant to share things lately that you have refused to tell me,” here she glared at her cousin, “So now I have to resort to this… So what is it? Are you finally dating or not?”
"Can we talk about something else? My cousin's romantic life is not something that I wish to know about," Severus interjected, sounding annoyed. In truth, Anya had confessed the whole matter to him during their trip to Mallorca, desperately needing someone to confide in. Even then, he hadn't been fascinated with the subject but he'd reluctantly grown to care for the girl that always fussed all over him like a mother hen and the idea of Rebecca Blackbell forcing information out of Anya to please her need for gossip didn't sit well with him.
“Well, sorta,” Anya whispered so softly that they all struggled to hear. Her gaze remained firmly on her hands that she kept twiddling on her lap. In truth, they were still figuring things out and she knew she was awfully young to be in any sort of serious relationship anyway. Her papa reminded her of the matter almost daily ever since she told him the truth about her age.
“Really?” Lily asked, excited.
“Finally! Since when?” Rory added just as enthralled. Both girls leaned forward on the table in anticipation.
"Not you two as well," Severus groaned, annoyed at his best friends.
“Oh, well, um… Damian asked me out again during Cissy’s wedding and I said yes,” Anya flushed, looking down. Damian felt as embarrassed but sneaked in a hand to stop her own from fiddling so much and reassure her. He quickly removed it, however, for fear of being caught.
“Oh my stars, where was your first date? What did you do? We need details,” Becky squealed.
Ewen, Regulus, and Severus all cringed at the noise and shared an annoyed look.
“We went to London and saw a muggle film and went to dinner and that’s all you need to know,” Damian answered, crossing his arms in annoyance.
"But what movie did you see?" Lily asked, excited.
"And where did you go to dinner?" Emma asked, intrigued.
"You have to tell us," Becky urged on.
"Come, that's enough, leave them alone," Pandora intervened. Although often quirky in a childlike way, she was also incredibly mature and often had to play the peacemaker.
"Fine," Rory sighed, annoyed. The guys looked disappointed at the idea too but didn't wish to show their intrigue so they remained silent.
"How about you? Any interesting boys?" Becky asked, turning the questions on her roommate. "Did that Xeno guy finally ask you out?"
"He hasn't," Pandora shrugged and casually added, "I told you he won't ask me out until 5th year."
"How would you even know that?" Lily asked, puzzled.
"The stars told me," Pandora replied dreamily.
"They did? ¿Cuándo?" Rory asked, genuinely intrigued. Her family had an affinity for the night sky, after all.
"That's absolute balderdash," Ewen snorted, crossing his arms.
"The whole idea that someone could predict the future is inane," Severus agreed, imitating his posture.
"Oh callensé, what would you two know about anything?" Rory shushed him.
"I'm truly intrigued by the matter too. I've read about being able to do something like this in some of the Black astronomy and astrology books but have never been able to see it in practice," Regulus piped in, leaning towards Pandora with open interest.
As the others started discussing the possibility of reading the future in the stars and if it was true or complete nonsense, Anya and Damian shared a look of embarrassed relief at their distraction and shyly reached out to hold their hands tightly together under the table.
"Well, I must say, I'm surprised she managed it but she did. She snatched the youngest Desmond son. Now that makes her a worthy Heiress. So many other pureblood families have tried and failed to do so. Especially because everyone knows Demetrius is quite useless, burning bridges before they're even formed. They got lucky that the Parkinsons were desperate enough to marry their rebellious daughter especially after the disaster with the Black girl and their son. I've even heard rumors that Donovan is considering making Damian his heir, now. He probably won't actually go through with it because of how it will look but Damian is still the second heir and given how old-fashioned the Desmonds are, if Demetrius has no sons, Damian will inherit the title anyway. Your daughter is smarter than I ever gave her credit for," Yuri said to his sister as he noticed the constant glances the two young teens shared.
"Well, clearly that is your own egotism blinding you. Anya is the third in her year, and she's of the younger lot too. I believe there are only one or two students who are younger than her," Eamonn interrupted with a defensive huff. How dare the arrogant little asshole insult his grand-niece like that. His little Anya was practically perfect in every way. Eileen patted his arm to calm him down before he went on a longer tirade but glared at Yuri all the while.
"She's definitely a talented girl," Eileen affirmed to reassure her father and cousins.
"Yuri," Yor warned, feeling especially protective of Anya now that she knew everything. The poor girl had been through enough already and she lived with the fear of being discovered by others constantly.
"It's not like it is such an accomplishment, really. I was always first in my year," Yuri preened.
"And yet, I never even made it to the top five. Her accomplishments are plenty," Yor glared at her brother, a bit annoyed.
"That is only because you were always so preoccupied with Quidditch and being a Prefect," Yuri immediately defended his sister.
"Yes, well, Anya is more of a scholar than an athlete but she keeps plenty busy and is just too young to be a Prefect yet," Loid interrupted, trying to steer the conservation elsewhere.
"You must tell me, brother, how are things going in the Ministry? Were you able to pass your latest reform? I heard Desmond was in full support," Loid added to distract him.
"Ah yes, well, we certainly have a majority on it, however…" Yuri began a long-winded rant on the matter and Yor gave Loid a grateful look for the distraction.
"I cannot believe I wasn't invited to your private celebration yesterday yet you invited that mud-," Emile began but seeing the glares Anya, Emma, Severus, and Rory sent his way, cut his word short and instead whined out, "That muggleborn Gryffindor!"
"Well, don't be an ass to our friends and maybe you'll be invited," Emma interjected from behind Anya.
"You really need to learn how to be a gentleman. I'd expect better from a pureblood Slytherin," Becky added with a huff and her nose upturned.
"Emile, behave," Damian hissed, moving to stand beside Anya. He allowed his shoulder to brush hers to offer her comfort, "It is Anya's birthday and her prerogative to do as she pleases. Do learn some subtlety and maybe she will welcome you into her home more often."
"Thank you guys, but I can handle this," Anya sighed at her friends and boyfriend. She gave them a pointed look before turning her attention back to Emile.
"Elman, I see you've yet to learn your lesson," Severus hissed behind his cousin, interrupting her. Rory held a protective arm around Lily and glared at Emile.
"I hope you survive my cousin… She's not feeling in a very giving mood today," he added, knowing better than to get in the way of an enraged heir and preferring to soothe Lily after hearing the boy's cruel words. With a nod towards Anya, he pulled Lily away, Rory and Regulus following.
Anya moved towards Emile, her heiress powers flaring around her and her eyes shining with cold, green fire, "Don't you ever, ever call Lily or any other muggleborn that horrid name again! You're on very thin ice, Elman, and you will only be allowed to stay because you're Damian's friend and I have no desire to cause unnecessary drama. However, be sure to note that unless you change your ways, from this day forward you're not my friend nor my associate… And once I take over the houses, I reassure that neither Briar House nor Prince House will recognize you or your own as purebloods worthy of the name."
Emile moved back, her powers overwhelming him until he was cornered against the wall. Damian only stared in awe, admiration, and affection as the girl he liked so much, the girl that was now his girlfriend, took control of the situation so swiftly. Emma, Becky, and Pandora internally cheered while Ewen looked as unaffected as always. After all, he'd known the girl was powerful and fierce from the moment they met her and she didn't hesitate to punch Damian on the face.
"Am I understood?" Anya hissed, her hair curling around her as her powers ebbed and flowed.
"Ye-yes, ma'am," Emile swallowed hard. If only he was the heir and not his older brother, maybe then he could confront her. But as a simple pureblood against a double heiress he had no choice. And by the looks of Damian, who almost clung to Anya, and Ewen, who was coolly indifferent as ever yet with a glint of fear and respect in his eyes when looking at Anya, he knew he had no choice but to follow. Somehow, someway, the tables had turned and the power dynamics had switched. Now Anastasia Forger-Prince, Heiress of Houses Briar and Prince had become the leader of their pack. And he either fell back in line or risked losing his position at school and in their society. Fourth year would be interesting indeed.