house of black

chapter 1: an heir

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The unity between Cygnus Black the third and Druella Rosier was one of convenience, blood purity and the Black desire to keep their familial line alive. It was not any form of love, but a common desire to breed with other pure magical users which allowed both man and woman to unify under a full moon on a crisp October night.

Cygnus Black, the youngest of three siblings, had a hunger for greatness, a desire to advance beyond the achievements of his siblings out of pure spite. He wished to exceed their success with his own, and it was this ambition which drove him mad.

But at this point in his life, he was a handsome, radical and wealthy wizard. His heavily lidded eyes were bright, cold and calculating. They rarely showed a hint of anything else. Not for his wife, family or future children- no matter how hard they searched for it. He kept a rugged appearance, allowing the growth on his face to linger in a respectable fashion. He was a man of high society- mingling with other members of the twenty eight, drinking, laughing and scheming.

For you see, Cygnus could never be content with what he had- there was always something else- something more. As a fanatical blood purist, he was fixated on progressing the wizard world towards his pure blooded ideologies. That meant phasing out any Mud-Blood's present in the Wizarding world (with or without violence, Cygnus had no care for muggle life).

Druella, like her husband, strongly disliked the presence of 'un-pure' wizards in her world. Those of whom she knew had a less than respectable blood status had her nose turned up at them and comments spat just loudly enough for them to hear. She mirrored her husband's hard appearance, dark eyes, dark hair and a solemn face. She stood taller than him, thin and somewhat frightening if you were to run into her on a particularly bad day. Taking on the last name of Black had given her a greater sense of power- her own family wasn't as accomplished as the famous House Black.

She, of course, was not going to let the opportunity of Cygnus Black, his money and reputation waltz right by her. She had been the one to fight for the proposal to be arranged, moving her father and grandfather like puppets on a string, all the while playing a dutiful daughter. No one was the wiser.

So they made quite the pair. Two ambitious pure bloods. Adamant in continuing the Black family line- to do the family proud.

"Boys." Cygnus had told her once as they sat in the same room one evening. Druella had lifted her head in a mildly uninterested manner. "You shall give me boys. And a daughter if you desire one."

Druella shrugged. "I don't care what they are. If you want boys, then that is what you shall have." she had replied.

Cygnus, satisfied with her answer, grunted his approval and went back to his writing.

Druella had not understood the impact of her promise. As a child with no siblings (her mother had died in childbirth) she could not understand that perhaps it was impossible to give her husband what he desired.

When she was found to be pregnant the first time, she was overjoyed. She took great pride in her new role- a Black mother. She found every opportunity to parade her condition to the Wizarding World, much to the approval of her husband who was drunk with his own pride.

The labour was long and fierce. Druella found herself wishing for the mother she had never known or the sister she had dreamed of, not the doctors who spoke in a monotone above her. Cygnus was not there, oh no. He was out. Out, was all he had told her. Not that she wished for him to be with her. She frankly couldn't care less if he was here or there. As long as she got through this labour and was victorious- with a son to present him on his return.