"The Black Raven"
Chapter One: An Excellent Arrangement
Edgar Davies was a man of flint and steel. He was without softness even to his only child Roger. What gentleness he once possessed lay buried with his wife fifteen years ago. He never remarried, there was no need as he already had an heir and no woman could compare to his beloved Elspeth. Edgar now lived only to add to the Davies wealth and power.
Every year Edgar hosted an elaborate fancy dress party to celebrate the New Year and raise funds for his late wife's charity. Two days before the event, he summoned his son into the mahogany paneled library to inform Roger that he had chosen a bride for him.
"I want you to marry Susan Bones."
Despite nineteen years of having lived with his meticulous father, Roger Davies had never considered that Edgar would attempt to dictate whom he should marry. He gaped at him before finally sputtering, "I can't marry Susan!"
Susan Bones was a distant cousin of Rogers through her late mother; after the deaths of her parent in a cauldron explosion, the young girl came to live with the Davies family as she had no other living relations. Susan was three years younger than Roger and the pair became good friends; in many ways she was the sister Roger had never had.
"Why not?" His father demanded as he moved over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a brandy. Edgar seated himself on a leather sofa and prepared to listen to his son's objections. He had already considered most possible objections and prepared responses for them before the conversation with his son.
"She's my cousin!" Roger protested. Expected protest number one; Edgar hid a smile.
"You are second cousins," Edgar corrected. He had researched this point himself in anticipation of Roger raising such an objection. "You are distant enough cousins that the law does not forbid a marriage. Nor is there any risk of inbreeding."
"She loves Harry Potter and thinks of me like a brother."
Expected response number two. "A childish fancy," Edgar laughed. "Half of Britain fancies themselves in love with the Potter boy."
Roger ran a hand through his dark hair as he paced in front of the sofa where Edgar sat sipping his brandy. "She's your ward and it is completely inappropriate!"
Edgar shrugged. "As her legal guardian, I have the right to arrange her marriage. Its been done countless times in the past."
"This is the not the fifteenth century!"
He did not tell Roger of the plans in motion to make this marriage acceptable to society. He would limit Susan and Roger's public appearances before the wedding so he could put his own spin on the situation. The tragic tale of Susan's orphaning would be recycled in the months ahead, and while the wizarding world would be little shocked that she would wed her foster-brother, but ultimately the tale of two young purebloods in love would gain much sympathy. Roger was a kind boy and would treat Susan well. They got on well enough and time would turn friendship into love. If it could happen that way for him and his darling Elspeth, why should it be different for Susan and Roger? "Unlike Susan, I'm not underage." Roger said in a quiet voice. He had thrown the gauntlet; Edgar could see Roger wondering how his father would respond. Would he threaten to disinherit him or use Elspeth's memory in emotional blackmail?
"Then I'll offer her to Draco Malfoy," Edgar smiled coldly over his brandy glass. "She's a great heiress and he won't refuse now that he is out of mourning and free to remarry."
Edgar saw Roger repress a shudder. Malfoy's first wife Daphne Greenglass died under suspicious circumstances still whispered about when other scandals wore thin.
"The choice, my son, is yours," Edgar said with just a touch of menace. "Marry Susan yourself or see her wed to Malfoy. I hope your concern for her well-being leads you to the right decision."
Roger moved to stand before the huge window overlooking the estate. Everything as far as the eye could see belonged to the Davies family.
"So will you marry her?"
Roger nodded, keeping his back to the older man.
Edgar smiled even though he knew his son could not see it. He left the boy to brood in the library while he went to inform the bride. Roger was a romantic young man who would work hard to make his young wife happy. Once the initial sting of disappointment wore off, Susan would be content with him. It was an excellent arrangement; his son would have a suitable bride who would give the Davies family her wealth and in due course a new generation.