Druella looked up at the starry night sky and thought about love.
She had been lucky when her parents arranged the marriage between her husband Cygnus and herself. Her father had, for once, respected their mutual feelings for each other when deciding which pureblood to marry her off to; he had been considering the Blacks for years before the appeal. Loving Cygnus was easy, almost natural after a month of marriage. She felt truly blessed for the serendipity of the match.
Apparently Cygnus however was utterly ungrateful, choosing when the time came to disregard his eldest daughter's affection for a Bulgarian pureblood – "We cannot marry Bellatrix to the son of a goatherd, Druella!" - signing her off to a disgusting man with bad breath, rotting teeth and disgustingly bad manners. It was plain to see that Bellatrix utterly hated Rodolphus. Druella had eavesdropped on her and Narcissa discussing him one afternoon. Bellatrix had already confided in Narcissa that she would drink his expensive wine by the bottle and avoid his bed as much as possible, perhaps go so far as to become pregnant with another's child, just to spite him! She had already discussed baby names with her sisters, which Druella thought a little preature, but she listened in anyway.
"Well, I'm not naming it after another ghastly star; that much is certain! Maybe a flower if it's a girl - just like you, Cissy…"
Druella often regretted naming her middle child after a flower for all the contempt she received from her husband's family, but she had always loved daffodils and the name had seemed perfect for her beautiful blonde daughter. She had no desire to name her daughter such a grand, pretentious name as that of a constellation.
Cygnus thought Rodolphus would be a grand match. Whenever Druella tried to argue against him, he threw her reasoning back in her face with the line, "Does it really matter in the end? We get an heir; the Lestranges get an heir – at the end of the day, it's a win-win situation!"
Once, Bellatrix had tried to oppose her father herself. After a blazing row, she stormed out of the mansion, Cygnus shouting "I command you to marry Rodolphus Lestrange!" He slept in the bathroom that night, curled uncomfortably in the grand marble bathtub.
Druella looked up at the starry night sky and wondered whether or not true love existed after all.
This was written for Camp Potter: History Appreciation, with the prompts Druella Rosier-Black, Marry Me by Emilie Autumn, wine, Dialogue: "Does it really matter in the end?", daffodils and starry sky; also written for the Out of Your Comfort Zone Competition with the prompts Rodolphus/Bellatrix and grand, and the If You Dare Challenge #104 - I Command You To.