As the eldest pureblood daughter of Viola and Ralph DeWalt, Audra was expected to marry for status, and for status she did, with a match to Clement Rosier. Her younger sister, Henrietta, however, chose to marry for love. When Edmund Reeves asked for her hand, Ralph DeWalt acquiesced to his youngest daughter's pleas, and even though Edmund's Gringott's account was quite modest, she assured her father that Edmund was a fine pureblood wizard and that she would accept no other.
Little Alger was soon born to Audra and two years later, baby Druella followed. Druella adored her parents and as she grew, she noticed that her parents were always polite and respectful to each other and she saw content throughout their interactions. But at the family balls, she would see her Uncle Edmund whirl her Aunt Henrietta through all the waltzes until all the other guests had long departed. And she saw the fire in their eyes and the stolen kisses in the parlor. She heard the joy ringing in her aunt's laughter.
At eleven, she entered Hogwarts and was Sorted into Slytherin, as was her elder brother before her. At the Christmas Ball that year, she saw her parents as content as ever, but observed her aunt and uncle as no more happy than her parents. The fire in their eyes was gone, there were no stolen kisses and she not once heard her aunt's laughter. At thirteen, she sat in wonderment as her aunt and uncle left the ball having danced not one waltz. And at fifteen, how concerned she was at the only brief appearance her uncle made for supper and how he left without having said one word to her Aunt Henrietta.
Two days later, Druella Rosier was walking past the tea salon when she overheard her mother and aunt in heated conversation. She knew a lady would never eavesdrop on her mother's conversations, but the heartbreak she felt on her aunt's behalf stalled her footsteps.
"She's pregnant with his bastard child! And he says she will move into our house within the month!"
"Did you tell him that you are the lady of the house and will not tolerate or permit her or her bastard child's presence? That the mere mention of his indiscretion is an insult to your family and that his place in pureblood society demands that the whore be immediately sent away?"
Henrietta sobbed. "He says he loves her and that I mean nothing to him anymore. He says he can't believe that he ever saw anything in me and that he will file for divorce if I so much as threaten a hex. He says," she sniffed, "He says that I am the Rosalind to her Juliet."
"Divorce?! He surely can't mean that! Why, no pureblood has been divorced in centuries!"
"He declared that if the Muggle King of England can abdicate his throne for a divorcee, then surely he can divorce me quick as an Accio. Oh, Audra, whatever shall I do?"
Druella stole upstairs to her room. Love. She heard the boys at school tell girls how they loved them, and then not two weeks later, she comforted her friends' broken hearts. Love. Why, Aunt Henrietta must have loved her Uncle Edmund and he, her. Why else would their eyes have burned all those years ago? Love. Why, if Uncle Edmund married for love once, she supposed that he must expect to have that burning love anew with another, and then another, and then another. Why love, she postulated, must be fickle and tumultuous and bring numerous problems of its own.
After supper, she knocked on her father's office door. His voice boomed, "Enter." She opened the door and asked, "If you are not too busy, I would like to discuss my future."
"Welcome, Druella," he beamed. "Why, your Coming of Age Ball isn't for another 18 months. What are your concerns?"
Druella sat on the blue velvet chair opposite his desk. "Father, why did you marry Mother?"
Clement Rosier pondered his answer for a moment and replied, "Your mother was presented by her father to my father as an offer to join our families in promotion of our respective business enterprises. The DeWalt Industries merger with Rosier International has increased our company's business profile and is now one of the top 100 wizarding companies in the world. Your mother has been critical to the company's success and has entertained numerous business deals with an acumen that many would covet. Her knowledge of potions and arithmancy have wooed many prospective clients at our business dinners. I respect her wholeheartedly and our family's status in wizarding society would not be nearly so well respected without her cordial and elegant hosting."
Druella considered his words for a moment and then made the decision that would change her life.
"Father, I wish to make a fine bride one day. Tell me what I need to learn to be as knowledgeable and well respected as Mother, and accept me as an apprentice in the running of the company."
Once more, Clement smiled upon his daughter. "With an attitude like that, I'm sure you will make a fine bride for only the most worthy of purebloods. This is your OWL year. To be useful in business, you must earn OWLs in Potions, Charms, Arithmancy, and Herbology. Additionally, Egypt has become a new market and many in wizarding society have tried to break the curses entombed there and claim its wealth. Therefore, I wholeheartedly recommend adding Runes to that course of study. If you earn Os in your NEWT level for those five courses, I will apprentice you for a year before searching for a fine wizard who would be worthy of my daughter's hand."
"Thank you, Father. I will make you proud." With a curtsey, she withdrew from his office. My fate will not be like Aunt Henrietta's, she thought. I will marry like Mother and be well respected all my life. Love is for the foolish and I am no fool.
Two and a half years later, she married Cygnus of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. At the Wedding Ball, she overheard Alphard asking his brother if he would be happy married to such a stoic and serious witch as Druella. To her immense pleasure, she heard him laugh his reply, "Of course, dear brother! You are well aware that no more accomplished witch has ever been seen in all of Wizarding England! What her father did for Rosier International, we will do for Pollux Black Enterprises with her help. And look at my fortune! If you hadn't been pining over that ridiculous Evelyn Greengrass when Mr. Rosier came to make a contract, you could have been married to her today. However, I will let your folly be on your head, because today, all of Wizarding England wishes he were in my place and could be married to such a prize."
Yes, Druella Black had made the correct decision those years earlier.