Headcanon (1/?) — Masquerade Ball.
December 5 1986, 8′o clock pm.
Antioch could've broken the glass he was clutching if he gripped it any tighter, his nerves at an all time high. He'd been at the ball for an hour, and had already downed one (maybe three, or was it five? he'd lost count) alcoholic drinks, awaiting his siblings' and Aurora's fashionably late appearances. On any other occasion, he'd be excited to see them all, specifically Angelina ( @linamiga ). The tiny blonde had long held the title of his pride and joy, and it'd been that way for sixteen years.
But this wasn't like any other occasion.
Circumstances had changed for Antioch. Drastically. A month ago, he'd made a vow to himself to never giving up on earning back the affection of Aurora Delacour ( @auroradelacour ) and now, a mere thirty days later, he was Claramae Bagnold's ( @yikesclara ) boyfriend. There was a point and time where he never thought he'd refer to a girl as his "other half" if her last name wasn't Delacour, but now, here he was, with his other half, in the middle of a ball in the school he told himself he'd never step foot in again, attempting to drown his anxiety over what was sure to come in White Rat Whisky.
The handsome former Slytherin, dressed in the nicest black tuxedo he owned ( which also doubled as his "uniform" when he was a full time Death Eater ) quickly scanned his surroundings, a bit taken aback by the amount of effort this had probably taken to faculty. In his seven years at Hogwarts, not once had an event been this extravagant. And though originally, he considered them all unimpressive, the student body cleaned up quite well, everyone's ensembles leaving him awestricken. But no one, not even the striking gal who'd chosen a dress that seemed like the brightest shade, nearly blinding shade of red she could find, came close to Clara. He'd decided to let her carry on with her friends while he helped himself to the refreshments, not wanting be that boyfriend who, how Clara had phrased so eloquently, "cramped her style". He'd been pretty well entertained with his never-ending cup of what may as well have been poison, but once his icy hues caught sight of the beautiful brunette ( in the dress he'd picked for her at that, and though it hadn't been his first choice, it was the best choice — she looked breathtaking ) for what was probably the eighth time all night, he convinced himself she'd have enough time with her lassies. At least for now. The dirty blond took one last swig of the rancid liqueur, slammed his glass on the bar top, and ambled over to the new center of all of his devotion. "Couldn't keep m'self away," he said lowly as he smoothly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from the crimson haired girl she'd been chatting away with, paying no mind to the student's cross facial expression. After placing a series of kisses along her neck, Antioch began whispering sweet nothings in her ear, going into great detail about what he'd had set up for them to do after they ditched the ball, feeding off of her giggles and a faint "Anti-Hawk!". It took seconds for it to feel like there weren't hundreds of students around them, but that they had the tent all to themselves. Until he heard another voice.
"Antioch?! What the bloody hell is this?!" The moment he'd been dreading all week, and knew very well was coming, was here. Barely two feet away from him in a gold dressing gown and heels that had to have been at least six inches, because the girl who, normally, stopped at his chest, was almost at eye level. Antioch swallowed hard as he gently let go of Clara and stepped in front of her, not fully prepared to face Angelina head on, but knew he had no choice. Baby blues quickly fixated on the glass of red wine Angelina had in her hand, and Antioch knew there was no way he'd come out of this alive. If as someone had sent out a signal and she'd received it the second his and Angelina's eyes met, Frederic ( @fredericdelacour ), who was unsurprisingly sporting a tuxedo that matched Angelina's dress perfectly, sauntered behind the sixth year Gryffindor, and Eden ( @edenfarmigas ), dressed in an all black, form-fitting gown, joined Aurora, who was clearly keeping her distance. Antioch had been so busy panicking in his own mind that he hadn't realized Angelina had been yelling. "Are you going to explain yourself or just stand there, mouth gaping like the bloody git you are? You've some nerve, showing up here, and with her—" Angelina shoved Antioch out of her way ( with strength Antioch had never known she possessed ) so she was face to face with Clara. "And you, you filthy slag. How dare you waltz in here with my brother, in a dress that looks like my dead nana is wearing right now while she lie six feet under, and have the gall to parade around with him as if he wasn't set to marry Aurora! And you call yourself her friend. Ha! She should've seen this coming from someone like you, we all should have." Shocked, Antioch stared at his baby sister, who up until now, was the kindest, loveliest girl he'd ever known. Never in his wildest dreams did he think little Lina would ever act like a monster. She was reminding him of their father, frighteningly so. Normally, Angelina had a faerie-esque demeanor, with her mannerisms, her appearance, and even her voice; but it was as if Edgar has possessed her, replacing her with someone who could've easily gone head to head with Edward, her tone of voice almost as bone-chilling and rough as her words. He should've said something, he wanted to, wanted to intervene and tell her to leave Clara out of it — but he remained still, as did almost everyone in the tent as prying eyes and open ears listened to the youngest Farmiga make a scene. Antioch managed to find Eden's eyes, silently pleading for help, hoping that somehow, their twin telethapy would kick in after an almost three year absence, but instead, received an irate look, her bright emerald hues filled with vex as she didn't leave Aurora's side.
"This is an atrocity, an abomination! How could you do this to our family?! To soil everything, to embarrass everyone, for her?" Angelina pointed accusingly at Clara in the way a witness would point out the criminal in an identity parade. "You said you'd tell her." Clara's tone was faint, but broken, and cut Antioch more than anything Angelina had spewed at him in the three minutes he and his inamorata had been victim her verbal attack. "Tell me what?" Angelina growled, questioning Antioch but menacingly glaring at Clara. "Tell me WHAT, Antioch?!" The green eyed ingenue asked again in a louder timbre as if Antioch hadn't heard her the first time she shouted the question at him. "Claramae and I— we— I've asked Claramae to be my girlfriend, and she obliged. She's apart of me now, and your disapproval won't change that, Lina. You will not come in between what we've worked so hard to have, and I won't stand for you disrespecting her." Antioch's statement was stern, but his facial expression made it clear that his heart was in his mouth. For a moment, he thought his words had gotten through to Angelina, and that maybe there was a chance everything could be smoothed over.
"You've got to accept the fact that this is my li—" His speech was interrupted when Angelina chucked her glass of wine in his direction, but because she was clearly inebriated and had terrible aim whether she was as drunk as she was or sober, the liquid splashed onto Clara's dress, birthing what sounded like the entire tent into gasps and indistinguishable murmurs. Antioch's jaw dropped, as did nearly everyone around them, and a clearly jolted Frederic, after receiving a non-verbal "get that drunk bitch out of here" look from Aurora, quickly took action, scooping his itty bitty girlfriend up by her waist and throwing her over his shoulder before ambling towards the exit. "You will NEVER be one of us, you vile cunt!" Angelina bellowed as Frederic carried her out, flinging her glass across the tent and nearly hitting Clara a second time. Eden's heels clicked on the flooring as she sauntered up to Antioch, a face filled with a combination of humiliation and rage. Without saying a word, she smacked Antioch as hard as she could across his face, instantly leaving bright red evidence of it on the entire left side of it before briskly walking out of the exit. Furious, Antioch turned to face Clara and grabbed a hold of her hand, pulling her in the opposite direction as the night's first round of entertainment came to an end.
