For the TV Show Episode Monthly Competition (month 1, prompt 3: Write about someone denying themselves something)
Duty comes first. That's the lesson that has been drilled into Druella's head since before she could even understand the words.
Maybe you'll learn to love your husband, my sweet. Maybe not. But that is hardly important. You will marry whoever we see fit.
"Duty comes first," she tells herself, wringing her hands together nervously. "Duty comes before love, before everything."
She has a ring on her finger now, and not from the one that she loves. Cygnus Black had appealed to her father and had won her hand. Abraxas Malfoy had spoken too late.
In the morning, she would be a Black. She would be a good wife, and it would be a life without love, but it would be a life of duty.
Druella sighs. She tries to repeat the mantra to herself, but the words feel so empty, so hollow, and she can't bring herself to believe them.
…
"I thought you'd never sneak away," Abraxas says with a laugh as he pulls her into his arms, kissing her. "What is it, Dru?"
"We can't do this anymore, Abraxas," she whispers, her voice cracking. "I'm marrying Cygnus in the morning, and you have your marriage to Acantha this autumn. We have our duties to fulfill."
"But what does duty matter when you're in love, my darling?" he asks, stroking her cheek.
Druella wishes that she could believe. She's read romantic works, and love is supposed to be stronger than any other force in this world. And yet she knows that it's just a silly fairytale, something that little girls fill their heads with to pass the time and feel hope.
"I have a little cottage in Edinburgh," he says. "It isn't much, but we could run away there tonight. We can start our own life, away from this ridiculous duty, Druella."
Just a fairytale, a happy little thought that could never be. Druella knows the Blacks all too well. If she were to back out of this union, they would never stop searching for her. She doesn't want to live a life looking over her shoulder out of fear.
She takes Abraxas by the hand, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "You know that we can't," she says. "It's nice to think about, but we have to let go of such thoughts."
"You're willing to walk away from true love?" he asks.
His question hits her like a physical blow. Druella can feel the sting all the way in her heart. True love. It's a phrase she's never given much thought to, but she supposes that it's true. She loves him more than anything, perhaps even more than herself.
Duty comes first.
"I must."
Abraxas swallows dryly, nodding. He leans in, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. "Promise me one thing. Promise me that you won't forget about me."
Druella almost laughs. She could never forget the boy who gave her her first kiss. The boy who hid away in the Three Broomsticks with her. The boy who loved her without question.
"I promise, Abraxas," she says softly.