She had married Rodolphus years ago, while she was far to young to know the truth of marriage, under her parents' orders. Hers had been a marriage to secure the connection between the Ancient and Noble Houses of Black and Lestrange. It had been decades since the last joining of the two families when they had been wed.
They were purebloods; marriage didn't mean love. They knew that keenly after watching both their parents' coldness to each other in their youth, but they had hoped that it could lead to love. Marriage meant good relationships with other pureblood families. It meant more allies, and more support whenever you needed it. Family helped family, after all, and, through marriage, all purebloods were family. That was how it had been for as long as the wizarding world had existed. The Dark families were closer related than the Light, but they were still cousins and, while they were often at odds with each other, they knew their loyalties lay with people of similar blood.
At least the Dark pureblood families did. The Light families seemed to be losing that tradition to the welcome of the mudbloods, and the Ministry.
In the days of the youth of their marriage, there had been attraction holding Rodolphus and her marriage together. They would not have been paired together otherwise, but that had long since faded into the monotony of daily life and bored expectation they had begun to hold for each other. There had never been the spark, no shared interest between them, no common ground but the purity of their blood. It had only been lust. Lust that had faded with the passing of time, and with the increase of familiarity.
It still was only lust, but no longer on her side. Rodolphus was the only one who insisted on the continuation of their marriage. He was the only one that still clung to his old fascination. Maybe he had truly fallen in love after some time, she didn't know, but had it been up to her, she would have long since called the marriage off, pureblood rules be damned.
That relationship was nothing like the one she had with the Dark Lord.
She knew her sister disapproved. Poor, proper Narcissa whom had never done anything that the Black customs did not dictate. Narcissa had always been the perfect Black child in the eyes of their parents. Andromeda had blown it when she ran away and married that mudblood. She was the third daughter, the daughter that no one had cared much for. Her mother had never even liked her, she had been raised knowing that without doubt.
Until the Dark Lord had come along. He had seen her potential. He had taken her under his arm, and shared some of his power and knowledge with her.
Later he even shared his bed with her. They still did share a bed, even now, years later.
This was the spark she had once believed to have with Rodolphus, the one that would last through time. She felt the desire to please her Dark Lord, and fulfill his every need, something she had never felt with Rodolphus, something she was sure even Narcissa had never felt for Lucius.
She would love to carry her Lord's heir, but he did not need one. Her Lord was immortal, his power enabling him to stop death itself.
She still remembered the first night he had invited her to warm his bed. It had been an unexpected request, but she had feared his power enough not to question his demand.
She had followed him out of fear the first time.
The thought seemed to be absolutely strange to her now.
She had been jaded then, expecting to be thrown out as soon as he was done. She hadn't expected him to be as gentle as he had been. She hadn't expected him to allow her to share his bed for the rest of the night, but she had left almost immediately afterwards anyway, not willing to risk his wrath if she had assumed incorrectly.
She had known what to expect the next time, and the time after, until it had become something akin to a routine for them.
It hadn't taken Narcissa or Rodolphus long to realise what was going on, but there was nothing either could do or say against the most powerful Dark Lord in centuries.
She was proud of the fact that she was the only one of his faithfuls that he had ever made that request to. None of the other Death Eaters had ever even been allowed into her Lord's bedroom, while she had been given free reign to visit whenever she pleased.
Rodolphus had been angry. It hadn't made a difference.
Rodolphus had had his chance. He hadn't managed to capture her attention for long enough. That was not her fault, he should have known better.
No one could remain in boredom without searching for something new, something that constantly kept her on her toes.
Her Lord was the only person who had ever managed to hold her attention, and she liked to thing that she had also managed to hold his through the years.
She'd like to think that he would continue to invite her to his bed for as long as he could.
She understood, though, that at some point she would not be able to serve him as she did now. She was young now, and beautiful, but her youth and beauty would fade in time. She could only hope that her Lord's fascination with her did not end with her appearance.
If it did, she would understand. It would disappoint her, but she would understand.
A mortal woman could never entertain an immortal for his entire existence. To do so, she would have to be immortal as well, but she wasn't magically powerful enough for that feat of amazing magic. She was powerful, but it wasn't enough for that.
For now though, she would do her best to keep his attention for as long as possible. She still had everything she needed to make her job easy. She knew him well enough by now to know what he liked, and what he disliked, and what interested him.
Her Lord.
Her lover.
AN: Greek Mythology Challenge: Aphrodite - write about adultery
