𝔚𝔞𝔯 𝔬𝔣 ℌ𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔰 // 𝔍𝔞𝔪𝔢𝔰 𝔓𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯

ONE || The dinner party

"Star-crossed lovers of household war
Alike and destined to be no more
With ill fated love as all they bore
For each were shallow paramour,

Though oceans, seas and rivers dry,
The brightest stars, they too, will die.
An end to all not true but lie:
Two hearts will hold and time untry.

But in that end, though love is spent
As currency of their intent,
All shall sing a sad lament
But only death will be benevolent."
                                                                              ~Gabe Florsheim

Of Romeo and Juliet, one of my favorite poems. 

The story of the two forbade lovers always shattered my heart to bits. You can't choose who you fall in love with, as my sister Andromeda always told me. Being forced apart from the one you love has to be one of the most tragic pains a human can endure, or I guess not endure, seeing as Romeo commits suicide to end the pain he could no longer handle.

I close shut my Muggle poetry book and hide it back in a white box under my bed, where I keep my collection of Muggle books my parents would kill me if they knew I had. After setting the lid back on the box, I turn my head to look out the window in my room; it's foggy and raining, a soft pattern hits the window as I watch the fat raindrops glide down the glass, merging into even larger ones.

Tucking the box away, I get to my feet again and exit my room in hopes to go for a quiet stroll around the Manor house.

These cold and drafty halls, the portraits and paintings of our ancestors, the overpowering scent of polished oak, peppermint, and tobacco, and, most noticeably of all; the yelling, followed by the occasional slam or hard slap.

I can't say I'll miss this place while at Hogwarts, God, I can't get there soon enough.

Tisbury, Wiltshire, where the Black Estate stands tall, almost castle-like. Most days the home is surrounded by dark clouds, thick fog, or heavy rain and stormy thunder. This is where I grew up.

As I slowly make my way down the emerald green carpeted hall, I'm stopped by my eldest sister, Bellatrix.

"There you are, Stella, I've been looking all over for you." Her curly black hair and perfect high cheekbones have always made me a little envious, but today she looks even better than usual. "Can you zip me up?"

She turns her back and reveals the unzipped back of her black and silver dress. I find the zipper with my fingers and trail it up until it's fully closed. Bella moves her hair back, having it flow back over her shoulders and back as always.

"Thank you," I nod and she strides with me. "Do you plan on getting ready soon? Cissy and Andy are both fully ready, too."

"I'll get ready in a bit." I mutter, "And it's only dinner, why's it such a big deal?"

Bellatrix stops walking dead in her tracks and scowls at me, her face now less pretty than it was before.

"Because," She hisses, "You will all be meeting my fiancé's parents for the first time and I want to make a good impression. Come with me," she grabs my hand and pulls me along through the hall, finally stopping at the door to her room, labeled with her name in golden letters.

She yanks the door open and the two of us enter.

"Let's get you ready," she insists finally.

Her room is just like mine, but never has her windows open and keeps blackout curtains over her windows to keep all natural light out. Sometimes I wonder if our parents made a vampire for a first daughter.

She purses her dark red lips as she looks me up and down.

"I know what to do, come sit." She ushers me to her vanity and I sit at the black chair, looking at myself in the mirror and admiring the silver designs on the frame of it. "I'll do your makeup, have Andy do your hair, she's better at that than I am," she instructs.