Downfall | Lestrange

Chapter One

[Chapter One]

It wasn't an unfamiliar tradition among purebloods to arrange marriages long before the two people were actually set to wed. The earlier they announced it, there was hope established that the couple would have the time to get to know one another and establish a relationship. However, while it worked for some, others did not pick up so easily on the task, leaving for meetings to become quite awkward and quiet. Roderick certainly felt the awkwardness one evening as he sat in the company of Miss Elizabeth Rosier. A beautiful girl that he had actually watched grow up along with him, but their interaction was limited. Their parents had tried before to force them in the company of one another but Elizabeth simply took on a vow of silence while Roderick did everything else to distract himself. They were far too young at the time to be thinking about marriage, leaving them quite uncomfortable around each other.

After a while, their visits became further and further apart, Roderick was only able to see Elizabeth when the majority of other families gathered and often times, she avoided his company. Roderick assumed that by the time he left Hogwarts that the marriage would be cut off, but he was wrong. With the death of his parents and the Rosier family still in agreement, Elizabeth was to become his wife shortly. Sitting in the company of each other, they both agreed that they had to become somewhat familiar, before any sort of wedding took place. However, it was much easier said than done as they had been sitting across from each other for the last twenty minutes and neither one of them had said anything. 

They were tucked away in a room inside the Lestrange Manor, a place where Roderick had grown up with his parents and brothers but now he lived alone. With his brothers moving on from the home a lot earlier than him, after their mother passed away, it was agreed that Roderick would remain in the manor. They assumed it would be better for him with the upcoming marriage because he would need a stable place to start raising his family as soon as Elizabeth fell pregnant. But Roderick was just shuddering in place about the idea of becoming a father, especially becoming a parent with a woman that he hardly knew.

It was probably due to Elizabeth's beauty that they believed that everything would sort itself out quickly. They assumed that as soon as Roderick was placed in a room with her alone that he wouldn't be able to resist himself and that was all they needed. A foundation built on love and trust was not what they were after, their families and the others that surrounded theirs wanted the pureblooded lines to continue. Similar to the Black family, the Lestrange and Rosier families held up with their blood purity, making them some of the most "desirable" families to be with.

Roderick couldn't deny it though, the first thing he had always noticed about Elizabeth was the fact that she was very beautiful. She was quite the discussion among parties because every time someone saw her, they gushed over her, claiming every time that they so her, she only became even more beautiful than the last time. Roderick couldn't argue with statements such as those because whenever he caught a glimpse of her at parties, he was thinking the same thing. However, Elizabeth was not one to flaunt her beauty to the masses, she was among the shy type as within every party they attended, she normally held onto her brother, Evan, for comfort.