Azkaban

Broken Promises

A surprised sound fills the air as Amarea barges into Dumbledore's office. Hands pulling at her face and hair, she looks between the two people in the room in exasperation. Albus raises an eyebrow at her before looking back over to the portrait, a black-haired man clutching his chest, glaring at Amarea with all his might.

"What if we were having an important discussion, huh, ever think of that?"

The woman paces back and forth in the office, ignoring her father's comment. She hadn't entirely forgiven him for his challenge. She always seemed to hold long grudges; she supposed it ran in the family. 

Dumbledore sets down the tomb he was holding, lacing his fingers together and placing his hands in his lap, "Are you going to tell us why you've barged into my office or-"

"Marriage."

"Oh, I do love a good wedding," Merlin muses, kicking his feet up onto an end table in his portrait. His blue eyes shone with joy as he chuckled, watching his daughter slowly become more intense with her pacing. "What do you think, Albus? You'll have to drag me along somehow, I'm sure we can-"

"Tom wants to get married."

Merlin whips his head back towards her, brow furrowing. "What," he grits. Dumbledore looks over the man, taking note of his rigid posture and darkened eyes. "No, absolutely not, pull her out. My daughter is way, way too young to be fraternizing with any kind of male. Listen when I tell you, they are no good. No good!" The headmaster only looks over at Amarea, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Albus, tell her."

"This is unexpected," is all the man says, letting out a large exhale, thumbs fidgeting in his lap.

Amarea laughs slightly, "Unexpected? Unexpected! No, really, personally I always knew that I was going to marry a mass murderer. There's just something about bloodstained hands, I just can't...." She takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Yeah it's unexpected, Albus! Any other wise information you'd like to share with the class? Great Dragon help me."

"Perhaps this is a way to get closer to him, a way to spot weaknesses."

The room seems to heat up as Amarea explodes, "What? There's no way I can logically continue with this. I can't get married to the Dark Lord. What would everyone say? I mean they can't possibly be supportive. I don't even think, well I don't know. But that's beside the point. I mean...sure, but..." Cheeks flushing, she groans, shaking her head. "Listen, I was brought up to be this cool sorceress who beats people's asses with knights and kings on the moor and spooky islands who also maybe bakes bread or knits or makes flower crowns in her spare time. I'm not meant to be stuck in some kind of weird, mushy, love square....trapezoid, whatever with the other team! I mean come on, I get undercover work, but, me? A bride? Please. Oh, Great Dragon, please send me back a few centuries..."

"You must do it."

Amarea's jaw drops and she tries to ignore her father's irritating mumbling and protesting as she stares at Dumbledore, "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"You need to marry Tom." Turning on her heel, she reaches for the doorknob, stopped by the Headmaster's next words, "The Minister is looking for you, he had a team of Aurors searching for your trail." 

She meets his gaze, eyes shining with fear. "I'm not going back, I won't," she states, though the only one who needed reassurance about the matter was her. "They can't take me. I'm too strong."

"No, you won't be. I have some friends in separate Ministries that have managed to take care of it. You're safe here, though you may see a couple of new faces around. But do not forget you are still weak. You might not show it, but you slip sometimes."