Chapter Twenty-Five: Peculiar Presents.

"And we must let you know we will be present for and after the second task."

The groan that followed the statement made Orion chuckle as he leaned back on the bed. His eyebrows raised amusedly as Druella joined in on the laughter. Their laughter wasn't received well as Cordelia leaned against her bed's headboard, sending her brother and cousin a glare.

Druella rolled her gold eyes and turned back towards the letter in her hand, the orange seal indicating it was from Ignatius.

"Rora is very happy for you, Ignatius pranked the Gryffindors and turned them green in honour of the Hogwarts champions."

Cordelia couldn't hold back her chuckle as she held out her hand for the letter, allowing Druella to turn to another unopened letter.

The bed was littered with various letters, some of them carelessly discarded while others were carefully placed on the pillows due to the importance of the sender. Most of the letters consisted of sweets and jewellery, but the gifts were left packed on Druella's bed as Cordelia insisted on going through the letters.

Most letters were from friends in Hogwarts, family members, and pureblood families hiding their spite, but others were from more important people like Dippet and ministry officials close to Arcturus Black.

Cordelia didn't mind most letters, ironically it was her parents' letter that drew a negative reaction. She turned towards the side and met Orion's gaze, gesturing for him to continue reading the letter.

"We're throwing a ball in honour of your victory, hopefully, Dippet will permit you to join. Take care, love. Melania and Arcturus Black."

Usually, Arcturus wouldn't be very pleased with his wife's name coming before his, but it was necessary for Lia to know which parent actually bothered writing the letter. Her father was certainly disappointed Orion wasn't the other champion, but there wasn't much to be done.

Her parents weren't the only ones negatively affected by the announcement, Cordelia noticed the disappointed frowns and sighs from her friends as they congratulated her, regardless of how hard they tried to hide it. However, she didn't mind that either, Lia knew it was conflicting to lose to a friend, but she figured they were happy it was her if not them.

That didn't hide how Rodolphus, Theo and Phyllis dejectedly scowled as Ella and Orion levitated the gifts and letters into the room. The boys easily excused themselves with mutters of Tom, but Phyllis couldn't hide the conflicted frown on her face as she fled to find Antoine and Estelle.

Antoine was yet another topic on her list of worries. The Ravenport heir had pretended nothing happened during their dance and Cordelia was glad for it, but she couldn't hide her scepticism as she pondered if he truly knew something of her past.

There were only three people who knew of Cordelia's secret, and the other two were tucked away in the Black-McMillan manor. Even Orion wasn't aware of why Arcturus chose to love his son and ignore his daughter, of the reason behind Cordelia's childhood sadness.

The grey-eyed boy didn't realize it, but his birth brought love and light back into the Black-Mcmillan family; something that Cordelia could never replace.

Cordelia might have been smart and the perfect pureblood, but Orion was the only child Arcturus could be proud of. But who could blame him? After all, his reasons were more than justified.

"Lia?"

She shook her head at Orion's sudden concern, noticing his expression reflected onto Druella.

"What is it?"

Ella rolled her eyes at the question, gesturing at the opened envelopes around them.

"We're out of letters to read, which means you can't put off opening the gifts."

Cordelia rolled her eyes at the exclamation and abutted from the headboard, turning to gather all the letters with half a mind to start writing responses that night.

"Which one's first?"

Druella all but squealed at the question, turning towards the left to face the pile of gifts on the bed beside them.

"The one with pink wrapping."

Orion rolled his eyes at the response but fetched the gift for his sister, keenly watching as she unwrapped it.

A black tome with intricate designs plastered over its cover met her green gaze. Cordelia was hoping to buy the book fo curses for herself that summer, but the Parkinsons had beat her to it.

"Curses Through the Ages."

This time it was Orion's turn to roll his eyes as the Black witches flipped open the cover and glanced through the index.

"How about the golden gift?"

That drew Cordelia's attention as she placed the book on her bedside, levitating the small golden gift into her palm. The wrapping was rather sloppy and indicated it was hiding a potion, but the note tied around the vial heightened Cordelia's curiosity.

There weren't a lot of potions Slughorn could gift Cordelia, and few of them were legal.

"For my champions, may this give you the courage to do what's needed."

The note made her smirk as Cordelia ripped the wrapping, laughing at the clear yet shiny potion. The vial had intertwined snakes on the front, their mouths stopping right under the cork.

"Slughorn you sly fox."

Cordelia's exclamation was followed by chuckles as her companions examined the potion, coming to the same conclusion s her.

"Isn't it illegal to use Felix Felicis during the tournament?"

Druella giggled at Orion's question, twirling the vial as she answered.

"He wasn't referring to the Tournament."

It had been an hour since they began opening the gifts, and Cordelia was certain she was drowning in sweets and books. While she appreciated the boxes of chocolate frogs and tomes on dark spells, the pureblood witch couldn't help but distribute her edible gifts between her friends.

Theodore, Rodlphus and Phyllis decided to join them halfway through the process, their presence bringing the room to life as they joked about the gifts and munched on sweets. All seemed to be forgiven as the group of Slytherins glanced at the diminishing pile of gifts, three new presents being added to it.

While Druella and Orion were respectful enough to have Cordelia open every gift, Phyllis and Theodore had no problem in ripping apart the wrapping of gifts from other pureblood families. Thus far the Malfoy family's dragonhide cloak and the Fawleys' enchanted creature bracelet were Cordelia's favourite.

Yet another chorus of chuckles echoed around the room as Rodolphus charmed two chocolate frogs to race across the bed, his antics drawing everyone's attention away from the pile of gifts.

All except Cordelia, who keenly gazed at the smallest gift in the pile.

This one was a simple square wrapped in black wrapping, its exterior void of any note. Cordelia was familiar enough with jewellery to know a bracelet lay in the box, but she couldn't fathom who would gift her such a thing. Her parents came to mind, but they gifted her a necklace and most pureblood families wouldn't bother with jewellery.

For a moment she presumed it might be one of her friends, but Orion gave her a journal dedicated to previous Triwizard Tournaments and the others' gifts were still unwrapped.

A hesitant frown overcame her face as Cordelia pulled back the wrapping, smiling at the olive green jewellery box. She didn't bother calling out to her friends as the witch pulled open the box.

The gasp that followed drew her friends' attention as Cordelia examined the bracelet's silver band and the circular emerald nestled near the top. It wasn't as extravagant as other pieces of jewellery she owned, but Cordelia couldn't fathom who would spend so much for such an underwhelming occasion.

"Who is it from?"

The question drew her attention towards Orion as Druella and Phyllis cooed at the jewellery.

"It doesn't say."

Theodore furrowed his eyebrows and plucked the box out of Cordelia's hand, muttering light spells to find a piece of parchment. When he finally found what he was looking for, the Nott heir smirked and held up the parchment.

"It's blank."

Rodolphus's observation made Druella giggle as Theo's smirk faded. Cordelia, however, knew better and plucked the parchment out of his palm, examining it as words began to form.

"It has a privacy spell for her."

The group nodded at Phyllis's observation, waiting with bated breath as the note was finally complete.

"Gardens, 10 pm."

Cordelia couldn't hide the disappointed tone of her voice as she read it out loud, but her friends didn't notice it as they argued over whether or not it was wise to go.

"It is most definitely from a boy."

Druella's exclamation made Orion frown as he met his sister's gaze and spoke his mind.

"You are not going."

An argument broke out after that as the group mulled over whether or not it was wise to go, and who would be waiting for Cordelia.

The latter didn't have to think very hard on the matter, there was only one person who would send her such a bracelet, especially after she gifted him a signet ring with a snake.

Tom Riddle always had an affinity for emeralds and silver.