Do not own anyone besides Maribelle Black. Enjoy//Please Review!
She stood there staring out the window as the rain came down, pounding against the pane. She felt as she often did living in this house with what seemed like three other complete strangers.
Hopeless, lost…dying for a way to get out.
The only thing that kept her going were her books, her Muggle books. Something her "roommates" were never fond of.
Sighing at the thought of the rain never letting up, she curled up on her queen-sized bed and grabbed the first book off a teetering stack on her night stand.
Hearing the spine of the book crack as she opened up to the bookmarked page sent a tingle of satisfaction down her spine. Picking up where she left off, she quietly mouthed the words to herself as she read The Great Gatsby. It was quickly becoming one of her favorites, right alongside Catcher In The Rye and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. The way Muggles could manipulate words into these beautiful lines bursting with imagination and information, it mesmerized her day in and out. Placing the book to her nose, she inhaled deeply, breathing in the musty scent of the weathered paperback.
"I see you are reading another one of those books again. From where did you lift this one?"
"If you must know, I actually paid for this one as well at the entire stack you see before you."
Narcissa Malfoy scoffed at her niece before settling on the bed beside her.
"I only kid with you my dear, I know you are honest as the moon is full."
"Aunty, I must warn you, the moon is only full once a month" her niece giggled.
The older woman scoffed again and playfully squeezed the younger woman's shoulders.
"You know what I mean. Not tell me, what is this one about?"
Without hesitation, Maribelle Black launched into a full synopsis of the novel, not leaving one detail left out. Mrs. Malfoy looked on in amusement at the site of her niece's flailing arms and the occasional influx in her voice as she begin to act out each character.
It was times like these where Maribelle wondered if her Aunt Cissy was , or could be, a Muggle sympathizer.
" This sounds like a very interesting book. I am surprised at the amount of detail each character has Maribelle. You would think that with the lack of personality and wit that Muggles suffer from, they can all still produce literature of substance…from time to time."
Maribelle sighed in defeat, but refused to start up another debate about Muggles.
"Will dinner be ready soon Aunty?"
"Any moment now. Why don't you freshen yourself up and go ahead downstairs. I'm sure Draco and Lucius will join you momentarily."
Maribelle nodded her compliance as she placed the book back on top of the heap. Watching her aunt leave the room, she sat down in front of her vanity mirror and attempted to comb the waterfall curls she had inherited from her mother. After a few mintues of tugging and letting a few cuss words slip from her mouth, she threw the comb down in defiance.
There was one thing Maribelle loved more than her books, and it was the inability to tame those wild, roaming curls of hers. She liked to think it was a physical extension of herself. No matter how many times the Malfoys try to stifle her beliefs in Muggle equality, she would sprang back with a concrete defense.
Born Free, just like her hair. Just like her mother.
Satisifed with her small pep talk, Maribelle left her room and descended the stairs to join everyone for dinner. Walking into the dining room she was shocked to see her other aunt, the devil herself, Bellatrix Lestrange whispering to Draco with a hushed urgency. The moment she stepped into the room, both pairs of eyes were on her, as she took the seat across from Draco.
"My my, Maribelle my sweet, you have grown" hissed Bellatrix.
"I suppose. You still look as frightening and disshelved as ever Aunty. Tell me, when are you do back to Azkaban again? I'm sure you must be missing that cozy cell of yours."
A silence fell over the table, heavier than the fog that crept along the ground outside. Bellatrix stared her down with a ferocity Maribelle had only seen in the crevices of her nightmares. However, she refused to break eye contact for she stood by every word she said.
A moment later, Lucius Malfoy entered the room, almost knocked to his feet by the tension in the air.
"Is something the matter?" he all but whispered.
"Nothing at all Lucius my darling," Bellatrix grinned, eyes never leaving Maribelle, "Our lovely niece here was just making a joke from what it seems".
"I never knew you were one for humor Maribelle, though your belief that we are all equals to Muggles is quite laughable. Draco can you pass your mother the sugar please?" Lucius said, with a hurried tone.
Before Maribelle's rebuttal could leave her lips, she felt a small tender hand on her knee. Narcissa glanced at her briefly, giving her a pleading look. Maribelle gave her aunt a reassuring smile and simply brushed the comment off.
However Bellatrix was now intrigued and for the rest of dinner she chose to spout off comments of the demise of the Muggle population and the return of the Dark Lord through that foul mouth she was cursed with.
Maribelle tried her best to oblige her Aunt's rules but by dessert she was ready to cast an Incarcerous spell upon her followed by a simple Incendio charm.
"You know, we can all learn a lot from Muggles if we tried, Aunt Bellatrix" strained Maribelle. It was killing her to be this nice.
"Honestly Maribelle, don't speak such nonsense. I swear as the days grow long, you grow more and more like Sirius.."
"He was a great man…"
"A foolish man is more like it. To be honest he got exactly what he deser..."
Maribelle slammed down her fists on the dining room table, anger seeping off her in waves.
"DONT finish that statement! It is ludicrous how all of you think you are so much better than someone of Muggle decent when you are just like them! Their racism is the equivalent to your prejudice against them. Do not say you are above them when you practice the same bigotry! I am done living in this house of hate. I'm packing my things and I'm leaving...tonight!"
Narcissa instantly stood up at the thought but was sternly commanded to sit down by her pale-haired husband.
"How dare you." he whispered, glaring at his niece through silted eyes.
"How dare you speak to us in that manner after we took you in! You had no where else to go, you would be in the custody of the government had it not been for your mother PLEADING with us to give you a proper life after she passed on. And this is how you repay us? You foul mouthed harlot!"
"I beg to differ sir, I would have happily taken residence with any other family but yours! My mother had written her will years before she died! She never revised it because not in a million years did she think her own blood would be tainted with influence from the Dark Arts! I'm doing you all a favor. Continue on with your ignorance, I want no part of it."
Maribelle ran from the dining room and up the stairs, shutting her door and locking it. She grabbed a travel size floral print tote from the closet and threw it on her bed. Looking around frantically, she grabbed the books from her night stand and threw them inside. She followed them with all the clothes and shoes in her closet, her father's phonograph, a framed picture of her parents, an old brown teddy bear she had since she was a baby and the ivory comb/brush set Narcissa had given to her for her 17th birthday. She grabbed her wand and with a simple flick of the wrist, it closed itself shut and the clasp locked itself. She threw it over her shoulder, turned on her heels and was about to leave when Narcissa appeared in her doorway. Tears clouded her eyes as she reached out with trembling hands to embrace her niece.
"Please, don't go. You are the only reminder I have of my late sister, Maribelle."
As it pained her to hear those words coming from the one person she trusted in this world, it was still a selfish request.
"I can't Aunty. You are bound to your husband, and as long as he is living under this roof I cannot continue to share quarters with him. I'm sorry."
"Where will you go? I know he can be a bit difficult from ti..."
She abruptly placed a small kiss on Narcissa's forehead and gave her a small reassuring smile.
"I'll send an owl as soon as I can. I love you."
She descended those steps for the last time, refusing to look around for fear something would stop her in her tracks. She reached the front door and was about to step outside when she heard a voice.
"Good luck." whispered Bellatrix in a conniving tone.
"You can go to hell."