Wizard's chess was a game of strategy. There were careful players and aggressive players, and carefully aggressive players. The thought that went into each move created a brutally tense game between players of equal footing. Players that were not submitted to the more dominant party. The living pieces crushed each other for the glory of victory. Eileen Prince had been challenging Victoria to games their entire time at Hogwarts. Every time she studied her moves and body language, and every time Victoria won. But that meant that Eileen was Victoria's favourite person to play with.
"Pawn to E4," Victoria said calmly, lounging back in her chair as Eileen frowned at the board and Walburga hovered over Victoria's shoulder.
"I've never pitied a man before but your father is going to curse him," Walburga sighed, leaning down and taking Victoria's left hand from the table with her arms draped over her shoulders. "That is if he doesn't just kill Tom."
"He quite likes Tom actually." Victoria smiled as Walburga examined her ring.
It held no diamond like those popular with the young ladies but Victoria knew of its true value. The magic it contained made it more valuable than any crystal stolen from a far off land.
"Pawn to E5," Eileen said, waiting for Victoria to react but she wasn't paying attention.
"I'm sure he does, but not as a husband." Walburga laughed as she spun the golden band of the ring on Victoria's finger. "Any one of his friends would be a better match for you, and he chose Obsidian Lestrange. You chose Tom."
Victoria shrugged as if that wasn't an issue, "Bishop to C4."
Stubborn and strong-willed were words easily used to describe both Victoria and her fiancé. If they wanted something, eventually, they would get it.
Walburga sighed and slumped into the chair next to Victoria, still holding onto her hand and stroking her fingers. "My father chose Orion."
"You're cousin Orion?" Eileen exclaimed, losing her stern focus on the game for a moment in her surprise. "Uh— Knight to C6."
"Second cousin," Walburga grimaced, dropping Victoria's hand in a huff. "But yes, that Orion. He's thirteen. He's a child and now I have to wait to marry until he is no longer a child. I'd take Obsidian now that you've discarded him, Merlin, I'd take Enoch."
"I didn't discard him, I never chose him. Queen to H5." Victoria sighed, keeping half an eye on her queen as it walked across the board. "We were never a thing nor ever will be, he's like my brother. You should have gone for him if you wanted to. He did like you for a while."
"When?" Walburga asked, sitting forward quickly and pulling Victoria's knees between her own.
Eyes widening with surprise, Victoria swayed with the force. She smiled with amusement and leaned towards her friend, placing her hands on top of Walburga's.
"A year or two ago, I think it was two years ago," Victoria smirked, squeezing Walburga's hand slightly. The only gossip Victoria ever took part in was that concerning others. If the rumours were about herself then she tended denounce gossip as a vapid and vile practice.
"Oh I remember that, he used to carry your bag for you all the time." Eileen giggled, glancing back at the board and thinking for a moment. "Knight to F6."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Walburga demanded, her face only inches from Victoria's as she watched the Malfoy girl's expression carefully.
"You didn't know?" Victoria laughed, her eyes glancing down for just a moment. Walburga flinched just a little as Victoria's hands lifted to readjust her tie. "You've never courted anyone or ever seemed that interested in any of the boys. I thought you didn't like him."
"He's Obsidian Lestrange. Handsome heir to the land and titles." Walburga rolled her eyes as she brushed off Victoria's hands with a flush on her cheeks. "Anyone would be happy for a match like him."
"Land and titles? That's not love, " Victoria teased, nudging Walburga with her foot as she snaked it around the older girl's ankle. "Do you not want a happy marriage?"
"Love?" Walburga scoffed, kicking Victoria's chair back away from her. "I don't think I've ever met a man that I loved. All I need to do is to stay or raise my station and continue a family name, even if it is my own. We're a good family."
A shrug lifted Victoria's shoulders as she crossed one leg over the other. The noise of her chair scraping across the floor turned a few heads in the Slytherin common room but with their age and reputations, head quickly turned away again.
"Victoria," Eileen said quietly, trying not to interrupt but eager to continue with the game.
The blonde looked first at her friend and then down at the chess board with a frown. "You can do better than this Eileen, queen to F7."
Eileen watched in disbelief as the white chess piece picked up her chair and smashed her pawn into pieces, making her king scamper away and trip over the side of the board.
Check Mate.
"You never learn." Walburga shook her head at the short match. She offered a sympathetic smile to Eileen who just batted her whimpering king back onto the table. "Love isn't important, is all I'm saying, not for us. We have more responsibility than that, marriage is a chess move for us. A little sacrifice can win the game."
"Of course love matters." Victoria spoke earnestly, pale blue eyes locked on Walburga with more maturity than she had been expecting. "I love Tom, maybe my sacrifice will be my station."
"Well you'd better love him because he doesn't have anything else to give you." Walburga rolled her eyes again as Victoria surprised her by standing suddenly. "Which is why your father is going deny you. He's a good student with good opportunities but he's a nobody. He'll make you marry Huntley if you're not careful. Take Lestrange, I beg of you."
Victoria stuck her nose up at that, scrunching up her face like she had found a foul smell. "I'd leave. Run away to a foreign country."
"With your precious darling boy I assume." Walburga almost laughed at the idea of Victoria living in some kind of cabin. She had never seen her dirty outside of quidditch, never a hair out of place.
Victoria wandered around the back of Walburga's chair and found her way behind Eileen. Leaning down, she wrapped her arms around the Prince girl's shoulders and hugged her from behind.
"Of course, I'll go nowhere without him." Victoria grinned as she squeezed Eileen to the back of her chair like an excited child.
"I suppose you wouldn't be the one carrying on the name anyway," Eileen said, running her fingertips along Victoria's arms absentmindedly. "Abraxas would be the one who kept the Malfoy name, you'd be a Riddle."
"Exactly." Victoria nodded, looking between her two friends as she placed a kiss onto Eileen's cheek which made Walburga frown. "As his daughter, I am neither needed nor important to my father. I'll marry who I like and leave if I need to."
Walburga rolled her eyes for a third time, a huff in her voice as she folded her arms across her chest. "Fine Victoria, marry for love and lose everything you have, but come and save me from my own marriage when you can. Don't leave me in Grimmauld Place alone."
"I would never," Victoria promised, letting Eileen go and floating over to take a seat on Walburga's knee. "You can house me when my father kicks me out, and the three of us can go out for tea every week. You'll be happy with us."
"We promise." Eileen beamed across the table, reaching out and holding Victoria's hand so they were all linked.
"You two are too good to me," Walburga blushed and looked away from their smiling faces. The future scared her but it was always more comforting that they were all facing it together.
YOU ARE READING
The Fearsome Name of Riddle
Fanfiction"I had to sit in this house and watch him destroy her. Do you really want to hear all of that?" ##### In the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts, an old photograph is found, revealing the life of a young witch that had been lost with the memories of...
