'Cause you could be the one that I love
I could be the one that you dream of
-Taylor Swift
As a little girl, I'd always dreamed of finding my Prince Charming and having my happily ever after. I looked forward to falling in love. My mother let me enjoy my fantasy for awhile, but my father shattered it on my thirteenth birthday. As part of my "gift", he told me that he'd found a husband for me. That was the day I learned that my family had planned for me to have an arranged marriage. They and the family I would be marrying into wanted to ensure that our bloodlines stayed pure. My heart broke.
I spent the rest of my teenage years rebelling against my parents. I even tried running away a few times, but it was useless. There was no way for me to get out of it. I basically had a countdown until my life as I knew it was over.
When I turned 21, the wedding planning started. My mother was ecstatic as I tried on dresses and picked out menus. The wedding would be held at my soon-to-be husband's estate, so we didn't look at venues. I was surprised I was being allowed to choose anything regarding the wedding. I suspected my mother had something to do with it, as she wanted me to have a bit of my fantasy come true.
When the day arrived, I was sick with nerves. I had hardly slept the night before and when I actually got out of bed, I had to rush to the bathroom to throw up. I'd luckily gotten all of the crying out of my system, but it was still a shitty way to start the first day of the rest of my life.
As the car pulled into the long drive of Malfoy Manor, I couldn't help but be surprised. The land was well-manicured and the manor was huge. My family wasn't poor by any means, we'd never struggled and we lived quite well, but it was obvious to see that I was marrying into money. Not that it changed anything. I still would've ran away in a heartbeat if I thought I could get away with it.
We parked the car in the front circle outside the house and we're greeted by maids and a woman with black and white hair. I kept quiet as she and my parents said their hellos. She seemed nice enough, but I'd heard rumors about the Malfoys and their cruelty. They were also followers of Voldemort before his demise, which made me uneasy.
"And you must be Ella," the woman said to me. I curtsied. "So very nice to finally meet you. I'm Narcissa Malfoy. Your mother and I have known each other since our school days."
"It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Malfoy."
"Call me Narcissa. You're family now." She gave me a warm smile and I felt my body relax a bit. She didn't seem so bad. "Come in, come in. I'll show you to your changing room. Henry, I'm sure Lucius would love to show you around while us girls help Ella get ready." Narcissa snapped at the maids and they immediately began unloading the car of my bags and gown. Once they had everything, they scurried inside.
Narcissa led the way for us and gave us a short tour as we walked through the grand entryway and passed corridors lined with art. It all looked very expensive, almost like a museum. I held my hands together, scared to touch anything.
As we made our way to what would be my changing room, we were met by Lucius Malfoy. He gave me a look up and down before turning his attention to my father. I wasn't sure it was good or bad that he didn't acknowledge me further. He and my father excused themselves and left the three of us women to ourselves. Narcissa and my mother caught up with each other as we walked, leaving me to trail behind them.
After walking deep into the house, we finally reached the room where I'd be turned into a bride. It was a huge bedroom that had a large canopied bed and a sitting area with a love seat and two chairs. Just like the rest of the house that I'd seen, everything looked quite expensive and I was afraid to mess anything up.
