Chapter One

The Arranged Marriage

I'd been crying for the past hour. No breaks or hitches, just straight sobbing. And I wasn't a crier either. I was sitting in the corner of my room, my wand at my feet. I was hugging my knees, keeping myself in clear view of the bedroom door, lest someone disturb me while I was wallowing in self pity.

My room was rather large and elaborately decorated—dark green walls with silver lining and a dark brown ceiling to match the mahogany floor. On the ceiling in the center of the room was a silver chandelier, small compared to the one downstairs in the entryway and foyer.

On the wall to the right of the door, there was a walk-in closet and next to the entrance was a record machine and a stack of albums. Next to the closet was the full bathroom with a large vanity and mirror. In the bathroom, candles were lit and floating through the air giving the room a gentle lighting.

On the back wall was my bed, black sheets and a dark green duvet made with goose down. My pillow cases were a dark silvery-grey. Next to my bed was a midnight black bed stand with next year's school books and a lamp. On top of Hogwarts a History was a letter.

I had just gotten an owl from my boyfriend saying he got the dark mark and was breaking up with me to protect me.

First, a little background information: Tom Riddle, and alumni from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was gathering an army of dark wizards to take over the wizarding world and purify witch and wizard bloodlines everywhere. My boyfriend's name was Perseus Nott. He'd graduated from Hogwarts two years ago and had asked me out last year at Malfoy Manor during one of the Christmas celebrations.

I didn't even really know why I was crying so much, we hadn't even lasted a year. It was likely the fact that the Notts were one of the last few really "Pureblood" families out there. Personally, blood status didn't matter to me (as long as they weren't a Muggle or Squib) but my parents approved of our relationship and all I wanted was to make them proud.

There was a harsh knock on my door, interrupting me from my thoughts. "Lela? Come out of your room, your aunt Walburga is here. She wants to see you." My mother sighed when I didn't respond. "She brought Regulus."

Regulus Black was a friend of mine, also in Slytherin house at Hogwarts. The only two real friends in Slytherin I had were him and Severus Snape. Narcissa Black wasn't bad, but when she was in one of her moods, she could be quite nasty. Kind of like me.

I sighed, grabbed my wand and, wiping my face hastily, strolled over to the door. I threw it open, "very well mother. I'll be there in a moment."

She smiled slightly at me, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear and nodded. "We'll be in the foyer when you're ready dear. You look rather messy… Please clean up." Turning away, she gracefully walked back down the hallway towards the kitchen, most likely getting drinks for the guests.

I walked into the bathroom connected to my room, and sighed, looking at myself in the mirror. My long wavy espresso colored hair was severely knotted, my bright emerald green eyes were puffy and pink with dark circles underneath from lack of sleep. My usually slightly tanned skin was pale with red blotches from crying.

I splashed some water on my face, getting rid of the blotchiness. My skin overall looked healthier, not quite as pale as before and the bags lessened. I wave my wand towards my eyes, casting a charm to hide my tired look. "Scourgify!"

I lightly put on some mascara, a muggle contraption to make your eyelashes longer and darker. None of the Pureblood witches used it because there was a spell for growing and darkening eyelashes, but the result was often less than satisfactory. In other words, they looked sort of fake.

"Reparo!" While it wasn't exactly meant to untangle hair, it would do the job for now. That is, until my mother could fix it herself.

Generally, magic wasn't allowed for underage witches and wizards outside of school. The "trace" was something that the schools would use to ensure students didn't use magic but it only detected magical activity, not specificities. Therefore, I wasn't worried about it because my mother and Walburga were witches and Regulus was a wizard.

I fixed my posture and walked out of the bathroom, straightening my clothes the best I could, trying to look somewhat presentable. Walburga would notice, after all.

I opened the door and began heading down the hallway towards the stairs that led to the foyer.

Walburga gave me a distant hug when I got there. I scowled mentally at the sight of her. "Oh Lela dear! How have you been? The last time I saw you was on your eleventh birthday when you got your Hogwarts letter! How old are you now? Thirteen?"

"Sixteen, Aunt Walburga, though I turn seventeen before Hogwarts starts up again." I said politely, trying to keep up my mask. She was a pain, always had been, but as I got older she became a real... Witch.

She laughed quietly. "Oh, silly me. Very well then." She turned to my mother smiling. "Your daughter is of the marrying age, Pandora."

"We have been speaking of it." My mother said joyfully. I stopped myself from reacting—we hadn't spoken anything of the topic. Of course we hadn't. Mother and father seemed to think love was more important than blood status and the prospect of Walburga talking about my love life sickened me.

"Yes, that's wonderful. As you know, it has been hard to find a truly Pureblood family." My mother nodded in agreement so Walburga continued, "in which case I have a proposal."

She turned to Regulus and with a flick of her finger, he closed his book and walked over. "Perhaps if it is alright with you and your husband, Lela could marry Regulus. I know we are family and the idea may be slightly uncomfortable, but I assure you we are very distantly related."

"I'm sure Hector will be fine with it, as I am. Are you, Lela dear?" My mother turned to me and winked discreetly. It was obvious she wanted me to accept.

I was not fine with it. In fact, I wanted to run from the room and cry, or throw up. Marrying someone I didn't love? I pulled myself together and acted thoughtful for a moment before looking Aunt Walburga in the eyes. I scowled inwardly, but answered with fake pride. "It would be my honour to marry your son."

I looked at Regulus and he just shrugged, as Walburga practically jumped with joy. "Oh my! This will please Orion! We must get home straight away!"

"Why don't you and Orion come over for dinner tonight? You can bring the boys," my mother suggested.

Walburga pursed her lips. "Yes, of course. But if Sirius misbehaves..."

I laughed slightly. "If he steps a toe out of line I'll hex him for you Auntie."

Walburga smiled. "We'll see you tonight!" She grabbed her son's hand and they were gone in a flash.

I turn, angry. "Why mother? I never asked for this!"

"I know... But if you had said no you'd end up like Sirius and me and your father... We wouldn't know what to do without you!"

"I understand mother... I just thought this would happen later, with someone I really love." Sighing, I stood up and made my way to my room. I reached my door and hurried inside, slamming the door behind me. I ran over to my bed and curled up under the covers, crying for the second time that day.

What were the Marauders going to think of my arranged marriage? They were my friends that my parents didn't know about. This was for the simple reason that they're all Gryffindors. The problem with that is I'm a Slytherin and their of the enemy house.

The Marauders names are James Potter (Prongs), Sirius Black—my cousin—(Padfoot), Remus Lupin (Moony), and Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail).

Their nicknames are the forms they take when they transform into 're Animagi, people that can turn into animals. Remus wasn't an Animagus but a werewolf, the reason the others had become Animagi.

Sirius came to me with his furry problem, without telling me about Remus, though I already knew. So I helped. He asked me if I knew how to become an Animagus and I said sure.

Of course, I didn't really know how, but it was only a matter of buttering up Professor Slughorn so I could "get a book of advanced potion making from the restricted section." All I did was write the title of the Animagus book instead of the potions one. He didn't even look at the slip before he signed it.

I went to the library later that morning and gave the note to Madam Pince, who looked at me skeptically, but went back and got the book. I grinned mischievously at her and left for the Great Hall, where lunch was being served.

Pushing open the Great Hall's doors, I strolled over to the Gryffindor table and gracefully sat down next to James so I could keep my eyes on the Slytherin table.

"Let's get to work shall we?" I asked and pulled the Animagus book out of my bag.

We made a deal: if they were going to become Animagi, so was I.

Sirius waved his wand again and suddenly he transformed. In front of me was a shaggy, black dog. Barking, he ran up to me and started licking my face. I laughed, "S-Sirius, stop!"

He changed back and grinned, our faces inches apart. "What, you don't like me licking you?"

"Shut up."

James was concentrating hard, I could tell. "You look constipated, mate," Sirius grinned.

"James... You just need to relax. This isn't something you force. You've just got to feel it."

James took a deep breath and nodded. With a wave of his wand he too turned into an animal. A buck appeared, or a stag as Sirius called it, and it walked around the room slowly. If deer could smile, James definitely would be. Beside me, Sirius turned into a dog and ran after James. They were in the Room of Requirement so no one would know what they were up to. Peter had been practicing extra with me to help him, so he turned into a rat the day before.

James turned and began to chase Sirius who decided to chase after Peter. A stag, a dog, and a rat ran around the room and Remus smiled at Lily from the door. She gave him a grin of her own and went back to watching the animals in the room.

I thought of my arranged marriage and sighed, getting up from bed and walking down the hall towards the kitchen, ready for some breakfast. Regulus, Sirius, Orion, and Walburga were coming over for dinner later but I needed to eat something for breakfast.

I wondered if my mother would let me invite Severus and Narcissa to dinner. That way I could have some friends with me to help me deal with my situation for when I went back to Hogwarts for my seventh year. Narcissa would be entering her sixth year there, and seeing as her and Severus are two-thirds of my Slytherin friends, the only friends that could possibly understand, I truly wanted them to be there, even if it meant more people would know.

My mother said yes, seeing how uncomfortable I already was, and sent an owl to Grimmauld Place with the news of extra company. Walburga was delighted.