Eighteen-year-old Andromeda Black was shivering in terror, tears coursing down her cheeks. Her nineteen year old fiance knelt next to her on her own bed, both naked as the day they were born. She could not begin to comprehend what had just happened to her, holding back her sobs with a tremendous effort.
Marshall Avery leaned down and kissed her cheek affectionately. "You shouldn't fight it so much, Andy," he whispered. "The struggle is half the fun. You are fully mine now, even if you haven't taken my name yet."
Andromeda didn't answer, closing her eyes as her body shook with silent sobs. She hadn't been able to stop him from having his way with her, and now he was sure to try it more often. She couldn't be his—she'd always despised him, even before her father had told her that Avery had been chosen as her suitor.
"Now, Andy, what do you say?" he murmured, leaning down on her once more.
She stifled her terrified sobs and bit her lip, desperately trying to think of something to tell the boy who had so badly mistreated her. She was one of the best in the family at word wars, could talk her way out of anything, always represented the family as the perfect daughter, and yet could not squirm her way out of the present situation.
"You're mine," he hissed in her ear once she'd been silent for a few moments. "You are promised to me, Andy: there is no escape. Bend to my will."
Never. Andromeda glared up at him through her tears, stabbing the word right through his pathetic attempts at Occlumency into his mind. I'll never truly be yours.
She was rewarded with a slap across the face, and steeled herself against the pain. "I'm not as weak as your brother-in-law!" Avery snapped at her. "I will not allow your insolence!"
"They wouldn't be happy to hear you say that," Andromeda hissed in return, her eyes flashing angrily. Her magic crackled at the same time, and she wondered if her parents would be angry if she killed her fiance. "Bellatrix would stop you!"
"You think?" Avery mused, a sick grin spreading across his face. "She hates you, and I have no idea why, although she makes it very obvious that she does. I think she'd enjoy the idea of someone putting you in your place. She's having far too much fun with the Dark Lord to worry about her own husband's needs, let alone your small worries, Andromeda, darling."
"I hate you!" Andromeda screamed, everything becoming too much for her. She reached for the boy's magic, grabbing a hold of it. The boy suddenly screamed, feeling his life and magic being threatened, and Andromeda laughed hysterically, an evil smirk coming to her face. "You'll look like you died naturally," she informed him, seeing his face grow paler.
"Don't," he begged. "Andy, I—"
To her extreme annoyance, he gasped and clutched his left arm. Damn Dark Mark, she thought. The Dark Lord probably knew that Avery had been threatened. "Well, you'd better go, hadn't you?" Andromeda scathed. "Off to your Dark Lord. And don't forget your clothes." Avery shrugged on his robes and was gone in a flash.
The brown-haired young woman lay there for a moment before curling up, screwing her eyes shut against tears. She had to get up, to hide the evidence of what had happened, but she felt weak, terrified of what would happen to her in the future. She could not live with the man her parents had chosen for her; he would drive her mad. Andromeda swallowed hard, knowing very well that their engagement could not be retracted without severe consequences.
After a few moments, Andromeda sat up and slid off the bed, wincing. She gathered her things for a long bath, then summoned a house-elf to change the bedsheets. Scrubbing herself raw in the hot bathwater, Andromeda Black made her decision. She would honour her family and marry Avery, but she would treat him as Bella treated her husband, and would eventually get rid of him. He would live to regret his actions, even if only after death.