Wordsmiths & Betas Marriage Law One Shot Writing Competition
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Entry Number & Title: A Better Wife
Rating: T
Genre: Romance
Pairing: Albus Potter / Original Female Character
Triggers: Infertility Mentioned
Warnings: Language
Disclaimer: All canon characters, plots and situations from the Harry Potter series belong to JK Rowling. None of the authors represented here are profiting from these stories.
A Better Wife
"Fuck, mate. I mean. Just. Fucking… What? What do I do?!" Albus sunk his head and ran his fingers through his dark auburn hair, leaving it even more unruly than it already had been. He left out a huff of frustration, skulling back the dregs of the spicy ale at the bottom of his pint glass before pinning his friend with an insistent look of desperation, his eyes begging for a magical solution.
Scorpius broke the gaze, looking down at the parchment in his hands, and shook his head. "I dunno, buddy. I really don't know what to say. I don't know if there is going to be a way out of this."
"But I can't just marry some random bird I've never even met! And a Muggle!... I mean, not that there's anything wrong with being a Muggle!" he added hastily at his friend's raised eyebrows. "It's just… It's just…."
"... not quite how you imagined your life going?" Scorpius suggested, raising his fingers at the barmaid to signal a refill.
"Something like that." Albus muttered, circling the top of his empty glass with his finger.
Scorpius looked at his friend, asking quietly,"But what about…"
Albus looked up. Scorpius paused, then sighed and looked away.
"... what about Longbottom?"
"Charlotte? Fuck, Scorp, you know I don't give a shit about Charlotte!... I mean, no, of course I care about her but… Not like… Not the way she wants me to. It'll break her heart but honestly, it's kind of easier for everyone if the Ministry breaks her heart rather than me."
"That's a cop out Al."
"I know… I know, okay, I'm not thinking straight, this is a shock you know?! It's just...
"...fuck?"
"Exactly."
Scorpius took a deep drink of the fresh ale and looked down again at the parchment that was slowly soaking up errant alcohol on the bar table in front of him.
"Congratulations!" He read aloud. "I mean, the gall! You have been personally selected by the Muggle-Wizard Relations Committee to take part in the Marriage and Integration Programme! Oh ho, I can just see the headlines now! 'Precious Potter to Mate with Muggle!'"
"Too soon, Scorp, too soon! Fuck! This isn't a joke! This is marriage! Like legally and magically binding, gotta do the deed, even if she's ugly as fuck, marriage!"
"Al! I thought you said this wasn't a joke!"
"I'm not bloody joking! Godric save me!" He took another swig of ale. "If my dad were here…" He broke off and looked away.
Scorpius looked pained. "You're right. He'd never have let them get away with this."
"Fuck I miss him Scorp. The bastard. We had our moments but… I miss the bugger."
"I know mate. Of course you do."
They were silent a moment, before Scorpius said, "There's only one thing for it, Al."
"And what's that?" Albus asked skeptically.
"Firewhiskey."
"Firewhiskey brother! Fucking firewhiskey! I'll drink to that!"
Laura stared at the strange, old fashioned paper in her hands, her fingers trembling. An owl was standing on the mailbox, looking confused. She didn't quite know how an owl could look confused, but it did. Luke and Jett danced around her, trying to pull the letter out of her hands.
"What is it?!"
"You never get mail!"
"Is it a luuuuuuuuurve letter?"
"Is it a university thing?"
"Why is it all old looking? Is that calligraphy?"
"It's a love letter, isn't it?!"
Laura wove and dodged around them, holding the letter above her head, her cries of "shut up! Stop it! Leave it alone!" falling on deaf ears. She ran past them down the hallway to the bathroom and slammed the door quickly in their faces, greeting their continued chatter with a loud and serious "FUCK OFF!"
"Did Laura just swear?"
"And, like, raise her VOICE?"
She heard the sound of shuffling feet and knew they were gone. She sighed. It was impossible to get a second to oneself when you had six siblings. Six very loud and obnoxious siblings. It was especially very difficult to be an introvert when you had six very loud, obnoxious and nosy siblings. She'd been wanting to tell the twins to fuck the fuck off for a very long time now, and she felt kind of satisfied and only a little bit guilty that it had finally happened.
She sighed, turning her attention to the letter, knowing she had maybe 90 seconds max to digest it before the twins came back with whoever they had assumedly gone to fetch. Words ran before her eyes, blending together, making no sense: marriage, congratulations, you have been chosen, muggle-wizard relations, improved future for us all, vision of integration… And then the words that shocked her the most: Albus Potter.
She read them over and over: Albus Potter Albus Potter Albus Potter. The son of the great and revered Harry Potter. The man who saved them all when he was just a boy. It was still funny to think that a whole war had happened without Muggles knowing anything about it, just going about their daily lives. Of course, she had known about the existence of the Wizarding World basically her whole life. After the war, the Ministry of Magic had realised how close things had come to disaster for both worlds. After many years of debate and discussion, the Ministry and the Muggle government together had decided to reveal the existence of magic and wizards to Muggle Britain. The world had gone into a frenzy over it at the time of course, but she had just been a baby, too young to remember. She had grown up knowing the Wizarding world was there, and that she wasn't a part of it… that she was a Muggle. Despite the two worlds existing side by side for so many years now, it wasn't very harmonious. An undercurrent of what could probably best be called "racism" ran through modern life. Wizards and Muggles still existed largely in their own worlds. Muggles still carried both fear and reverence for magic, many people avoiding witches and wizards at all costs, regarding them as evil, making the sign of the cross at the sight of a wand or robe. Many magic folk, on the other hand, seemed to consider themselves superior, and to see Muggles as bumbling idiots, despite the fact that they apparently insisted on completely eschewing modern technology in favour of old fashioned and much slower modalities.
Tensions had slowly been increasing in recent years, so really it shouldn't come as such a surprise that the governing bodies would decide to take drastic action to try and achieve some kind of mutual assimilation, or at least acceptance. But enforced Muggle-Wizard marriage seemed a strange and draconian step. I mean, seriously, what century was this again? Forcing people to marry each other? Laura shook her head, trying to be outraged, but she couldn't ignore the slight fluttering in her tummy. She had always secretly wished she were a witch. She was envious of magic, had spent many an hour as a child daydreaming about living in a pureblood mansion, owning a wand and being able to use it. Or maybe randomly meeting Rose Granger-Weasley and becoming bestest buddies and spending all her time hanging out at Harry Potter's house. And how long had she had a crush on the beautiful Albus Potter?! Almost as long as she had been having crushes. All the teen magazines were full of paparazzi images of James Potter, he was the golden boy, and he played up to it too. But Laura had always seen Albus, not James, in her frequent daydreams. Imagined running her hands through his unruly auburn hair, gazing into those green eyes…
She heard her father's voice and footsteps coming closer, intermingled with those of the twins, and she knew her moment of reflection was about to be shattered. She sighed. Her family was going to freak out. Not in a bad way, but Laura was not a loudly-and-exuberantly-freak-out kinda girl. She prefered to process things quietly, alone. All she wanted to do right now was find a silent spot to do just that. But she knew there was nothing for it but to survive the family freak out first, and process later.
The door burst open. Laura put her game face on.
Albus stood at the pointy end of the aisle, palms sweaty. He was looking expectantly toward the door at the end, trying to ignore the glint of sunlight dancing off cameras. For some godricforsaken reason, those weird-arse Muggles had decided it would make really great TV viewing if the famous wizard Albus Potter didn't see or meet his bride until the actual wedding ceremony. And for some godricforsaken reason, the Ministry had acquiesced. Muggles were really batshit crazy sometimes. And here he was, about to marry one of them. Marry! For a split second he contemplated bolting out the door and never coming back, but where the heck would he go? And anyway, he was the late great Harry Potter's son and he belonged here, even if the Ministry did insist on treating his life like some kind of Muggle entertainment show.
And plus - there was Mum. Albus scanned the crowd, seeking her out. She wasn't looking at him but had her head bowed, her hand rubbing her forehead under her silver-streaked ginger bangs. Albus frowned. He was worried about her. Losing Dad had hit her hard, but something else seemed to have changed lately. Her nightmares had escalated and her headaches worsened. He had assumed it was to do with grief over her husband, but one night he'd heard her talking in her sleep and she was calling out to her mother, of all people. Albus knew his grandmother had died protecting his mother during the final battle, but was surprised to realise that perhaps his mother was still traumatised by the events after all this time.
The quartet pulled bows over strings, shaking Albus out of his thoughts in time to look up and see the double doors ahead of him open. He took a deep shaky breath and steadied himself, preparing to see his wife and mother of his future children for the first time.
The string instruments reached a rich crescendo, and she entered.
She was dressed richly and extravagantly, as befitted this farce of a performance. Albus ignored the dress and his eyes went straight to her face. She wasn't ugly. In fact, the girl wasn't half bad looking. Albus slowly released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. She was young and looked nervous, and something else… elated. Albus was confused. Who would be that excited to marry some random man she had never met? She very shyly turned her eyes up to meet his and her expression was of… complete adoration and delight. The realisation hit Albus like a punch in the stomach. Of course she knew who he was. The Muggles found the whole war hero/Potter thing terribly romantic and wasted altogether too many trees gossiping about them in their tabloid papers. It was so easy to forget, ensconced in the comfort of the wizarding world, that these crazy buggers regarded him as some kind of celebrity. A lesser celebrity than the beloved James Potter of course, who was a celebrity in both worlds by sheer force of charisma, but nonetheless a public figure.
Albus felt like an idiot. Here he was, waiting to meet his new wife for the first time as she walked towards their marriage, and she knew all about him already! He felt like the village idiot on display, as if he were the butt of some giant joke. But as she arrived before him and the Muggle celebrant began to drone while the wizard next to him held his wand at the ready to perform the bond, Albus knew that it wasn't a joke. This was real. This silly little fangirl next to him was about to become his partner in life. She turned her eyes timidly to him and he saw her instantly recoil, hurt, at the anger and hate she must have seen there. A small part of him felt guilty, but the mad as hell part wasn't ready to acknowledge it.
His attention turned back to the minister, trying to tune into his words as they washed around him, his chest feeling heavy, his heart pumping fast. This was happening. He was marrying this random Muggle.
Albus had been silent and terse the rest of the wedding. He barely exchanged a word with his new bride, sitting stiff beside her as they both picked at the exotic and exorbitant food served to them by Muggle waiters (the general Muggle public still weren't quite ready to accept house elves wandering around amongst them yet). The first dance was an awkward affair. Albus refused to look her in the eye, and Random Muggle Girl-Wife, for her part, looked miserable.
Now they were walking in awkward silence toward the fancy hotel room provided for them by the Powers That Be Fucking You Over. Albus reached it first, pushed it open and walked straight to the mini bar, pulling out a pathetic little bottle of JD and taking a swig. It sure wasn't no firewhiskey but it would have to do.
He heard a squeak behind him and realised she must have spoken. He spun around to look at her, sitting with shoulders hunched in her bejeweled white dress upon the giant four poster hotel bed, and spat out "What?!"
She cringed, but then took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye, speaking louder. "I said, I'm sorry. That you had to marry me." She looked away. "I guess you were expecting someone prettier."
Albus looked at her, stunned out of his fermenting anger. He felt his fury seeping out of him like a deflating balloon, leaving behind only shame. This girl wasn't the enemy here. This poor girl was in the same position as he was. Sure, she had known some basic details about his life and appearance, which is more than he'd known about her. But she'd probably been fantasising about some knight in shining armour, and instead had spent the "best day of her life" next to a rude, terse asshole. It was as though the last 12 hours were flashing before his eyes and he felt like his heart had fallen out of his chest as he realised he had behaved like a giant bag of dicks.
Albus crossed the vast hotel room floor and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed, hanging his head and rubbing his hand across his face. He turned to look at her. She wasn't ugly at all, you know. In fact, he could have done a lot worse. She looked like a sweet girl.
"Laura." He said, trying out the word in his mouth. She looked at him, trying not to shrink back and failing, no doubt expecting more assholery. "Laura. I'm so sorry. I've been a gigantic twat, haven't I?"
Her eyes widened - then, surprising them both, she suddenly burst into laughter.
"Well, I'm no twat expert, but I think so, yeah. A pretty big one, yeah."
Albus let out an amused bark, and then started laughing too. They both felt the tension slowly dissipating throughout the room, the nervous energy being expelled as laughter through their mouths.
"I'm so so sorry Laura. I ruined your wedding day."
"It kind of seemed like it was me who ruined yours."
Albus shook his head. "I wasn't expecting someone prettier. I mean - I don't mean - I mean you're not ugly at all."
Laura's lips twitched, unsure if she should laugh or be offended. "Ummm… thanks? I'm…. flattered?"
Albus chuckled, shaking his head again at his own awkwardness. He moved slightly closer on the bed and looked down right into her eyes. They were nice eyes, he noted. Hazel brown. Sweet and smart with a bit of spark.
"You're a very lovely looking girl who I should count myself lucky to be matched with and I'm really sorry I didn't make you feel that way earlier." He felt weirdly proud to see her genuine smile at his words. "Better?"
"Much better," she beamed.
"I just… I felt annoyed when I realised you know who I was and I knew nothing about you. It sounds a bit silly now. Sorry. Again. Just because you knew my name and what I look like, doesn't mean you really knew me at all. And this whole thing - marriage, babies… it wasn't really what I saw myself doing just yet, ya know?"
"I'm eighteen, Albus. It's certainly not what I saw myself doing just yet either."
"You're EIGHTEEN?! Jesus, Merlin and Gandalf! Or something like that, right?"
Laura laughed, feeling more relaxed by the minute. "Yes, I'm eighteen. And you're right, you're nothing like I imagined you to be honest…. But I think I might like the real Albus Potter better than my imaginary one."
That made Albus smile down to his very soul. "You know, I think we might do alright here Laura. Eighteen though! At least you're legal I guess…"
Laura blushed bright red and her gaze flicked involuntarily to the bed, looking uncomfortable.
"Oh Godric, tell me you've… I mean…"
Laura blushed even redder, if that were possible, but looked at him with defiance in her eyes. "I've not, actually, if you must know."
"Fuck me! They sent me a fucking virgin!"
"Nothing but the best for Albus Potter I guess. And I think it's you who's supposed to do the fucking."
Albus stared at her in shock at hearing the strong word come out of her sweet mouth, and then started laughing.
"I like you, Laura. You're spunky. And PRETTY, have I mentioned? Very pretty."
Laura punched him in the arm and he laughed harder. After a few minutes, he expression sobered and he looked at her with his serious face on.
"Laura, I mean this: We will not do anything until you are comfortable with it. Okay? Not tonight, and not until you're ready. I know I'm a bit of an asshole but I'm not THAT much of an asshole. We'll get to know each other first."
"The government want us to have babies, Albus. We're going to have to do it eventually."
"Well, yes, but there's no rush. They didn't even stipulate the baby thing, although yes I admit, the papers made it pretty clear that our lives would be made a lot easier if we pop some sprogs pretty quick smart. Screw them. Do you work?"
"No, I've only just finished school. I was going to go to university - I got accepted into Oxford."
"Oh. Do you want to go to university?"
"Honestly? No. Not really. I… I'm the fourth of seven children Albus, and my twin brothers were born only eleven months after me. I often feel… overlooked. Probably sounds silly but there you go. I've always been smart and I thought if I went to a fancy uni, then maybe… maybe they'd notice me. My family, you know. I've never said that out loud, it sounds really stupid, doesn't it?"
"No, it doesn't sound stupid. Not at all. Well, did any of THEM get married on your Muggle tv whatsit to a wizard though?!"
"I wanted to be noticed for my achievements, not who I married," she said, frowning sternly at him.
His eyes twinkled. "Achievements are overrated, I say. If it weren't for the whole impress-the-folks factor, what would you want to do?"
"Well… actually… I've kind of always dreamed of travelling the world with my camera. Like some kind of photojournalist or something." She looked a bit embarrassed at her admission.
"Yes! Let's do that then! Let's go travelling. I have tons of money that I inherited from my Dad. Mum said we should use it now while we're young and can enjoy it. Nothing's tying either of us down yet, let's go see the world! Come on, what do you say? Baby making takes a while anyway, nothing stopping us from travelling while we… ahhh… practice, right?" he winked at her lecherously for effect.
She laughed. "Wow, you're really serious? That would be a dream. I mean, we can think about it some more, but that sounds amazing."
"I don't know you too well yet Laura, but methinks you think too much. Screw thinking. Speaking of - tell me you've at least tried firewhiskey before?"
"Ahhhh... no… I've not even tried Muggle whiskey. I'm a bit of a goody good, Albus."
"Oh ho, you're gonna be glad you married me! I am here to save you from a life of boring rule-following! Yes indeedy! You got a change of clothes here?"
"No, I was planning on wearing this ridiculous marshmallow to breakfast. Yes, I have a change of clothes."
"Well, chop chop! Go get changed. We're going in search of firewhiskey! If I'm not gonna get laid on my wedding night, I can at least get fucking smashed."
Laura burst out laughing and punched him hard in the arm again. She looked in his cheeky eyes a moment longer, then shrugged and got up to dig out her clothes out of her suitcase.
"I didn't really bring anything good for pubbing…"
"Don't worry my love, I have a magic wand!" He waved his wand in front of her face. "Don't worry, I meant that literally." He winked again. "Get into what you got and we can spruce it up a bit."
"You can do that?! Oh wow. This is going to take some getting used to. But cool!"
She dashed off to the bathroom to get changed and Albus felt himself stir a little more than he was expecting as he watched the way her soft curls bounced against her shoulders.
Later - much later - she lay in the hotel bed, her body buzzing and head dizzy, listening to Albus Potter snore, his body warm beside her. He had kept his promise and been a complete gentleman - well, other than the snogging, which had been thorough and spine tingling. She smiled lazily, the boozy lethargy slowly overtaking her body. She thought she was going to feel trapped in this bizarre forced marriage - but as she fell into sleep, her heart felt lighter and freer than she could ever remember it feeling.
Sure enough, they stuck to Albus' plan and set off on a whirlwind trip, calling it their "honeymoon" and neglecting to tell everyone they weren't planning on coming back any time soon. Albus managed to maintain his gentlemanly act for exactly 23 days before his growing attraction got the better of him - not that Laura minded, as she'd been a step short of begging him for days - and he made sweet gentle love to her in a little cottage in the French countryside. Laura thought she might die of happiness.
Eventually they went back to real life, Laura working as a freelance photographer in Muggle London and Albus going back to his job at the Ministry. Laura realised that Albus had a very rich life full of friends and family in the wizarding world. She wanted so desperately to be a part of it, but although everyone was lovely and welcoming, she always felt a little bit the outsider, so often not understanding their jokes or references or the implicit meanings that seemed to so often underlie their words. Sometimes it felt like they were speaking a different language and she didn't think she would ever be able to learn it completely.
Well, almost everyone was friendly and welcoming. The Longbottoms regularly joined their get togethers and Charlotte seemed to want nothing to do with her. She maintained a level of socially acceptable friendliness around the others but it was clear to Laura that Charlotte didn't like her one bit. She couldn't figure out what on earth she had done to make the girl dislike her so much. It didn't help that the witch was absolutely stunning, and super smart, and very very good at magic. She made Laura feel woefully inadequate without even trying.
It wasn't until their second Christmas together that the penny dropped. They were having a boozy Boxing Day lunch and Laura caught Charlotte's Muggle husband staring at his wife with a very odd look on his face. She couldn't quite place it, and she followed his gaze to see that Charlotte was in fact looking in her direction. No, she realised, not at her - next to her. At Albus. And her expression was of… no. No surely not. Her expression was pure - love. Laura felt her stomach drop. Albus for his part was oblivious, making dirty jokes with Uncle George. But now it all made sense - the way Charlotte seemed to hate her, the way she always seemed to show off when they were all together. In front of Albus. Stupid bitch was in love with her husband. Laura couldn't help but feel the other woman was more what Albus deserved than some silly, average little Muggle, and felt her heart slowly breaking.
It was not long after that when the letter came. It came by Muggle post and Laura had accidentally opened it while Albus was at work, thinking it was the electricity bill. It wasn't. She didn't know how long she had been sitting at the table with it in her hands when Albus arrived home from work. He had been immediately worried when he saw the look on her face, the red around her eyes. She had handed him the letter wordlessly.
Albus read it, his eyes growing wider and wider, and started spluttering. "This is ridiculous! Laura, this is stupid, this is bullshit, what the fuck is this bullshit?!"
Laura spoke quietly, almost coldly. "I think it's pretty clear what it is, Albus. The government and Ministry have realised I'm not a good enough breeding sow. Two years Albus, and it's not like we haven't been trying. I'm only 20 years old. It shouldn't have taken this long. I should have at least one baby by now, we both know it. They've offered to find you a replacement. Better breeding stock. You should take it."
Albus crossed the room to her in quick strides and fell down at her feet, looking up at her. "Laura, no! Look at me! Don't be ridiculous, don't let them get to you like this! I love you! Look at me! I love you, Laura Potter. I honestly never expected this marriage to be so good but I love you and I'm so happy with you. I don't care if you're not pregnant. I don't care about any of that. We'll go see the Healer if you're worried. We'll go see those Muggle doctors who do the baby stuff. If that's what you want. I just want YOU, Laura. And I know you love me too, you do!"
Laura turned her head. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to swap me for someone else, someone more like… like Charlotte?"
"Charlotte? Charlotte?! Great Merlin's wand Laura, no! Is that what this is about? Charlotte?"
"She's in love with you Albus, you can see it when she looks at you. She treats me like garbage. She wants you. You'd be better off with her anyway."
"Laura, no, that's enough of this, stop it. I do NOT want to be with Charlotte. I admit, I do know that she has feelings for me and she has done for a long time. I'm sorry, I should have been more upfront about that earlier. But I swear to you, I have NEVER felt the same about her. She was like a sister to me when we were younger and I care about her very much, but I've never felt that way about her." He stroked Laura's face with the backs of his fingers and wiped away a tear with his thumb from the corner of her eye. "I've never felt about her the way I feel about YOU, Laura. I love you. I know you have a thing about the magic and stuff, but you do plenty of things that are magic to me. The art you create with your camera is magic. That spaghetti thing you make is friggin magic. And you sure know how to handle my wand pretty good," he winked, and Laura felt a laugh escape despite herself.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I feel like I'm still just waiting to wake up from all this. I've never felt good enough for you."
Albus reached up and kissed her deeply. "I love you, okay?" he said again, pressing his forehead into hers. "Everything else, we'll figure out. Okay?"
She sighed and reached her hands up to stroke his hair. "Okay. I love you too Albus."
It was dark and the gate creaked open slowly, apparently of its own volition. Laura shivered. This place gave her the creeps. Maybe she shouldn't be here. It wasn't too late to back out... She thought of Charlotte and her adoring eyes, she thought of THAT letter, she thought of all those damn Weasleys laughing and laughing with Albus at some damn magical joke she didn't understand. No. She was doing this. It had taken her months of research and sneaky questions and following leads to finally end up at this place.
She was going to become a witch. She was going to become magic.
She had no idea how, but she had been assured by her contact that it could be done and he knew the person to do it for her. She was going to do this for Albus. She wanted to be a better wife for him. She wanted to be everything he deserved.
The gate was still sitting open, waiting. She took a deep breath and started down the winding driveway towards the dark mansion in front of her. She half expected bats to start flying out of the turrets and shook her head, telling herself to stop being so silly. Halfway up the driveway stood a figure in a robe, his face obscured by a hood. He seemed to be waiting for her.
"This way," he grunted tersely and started to walk. She followed him, butterflies flying loop the loops in her stomach. There was still a lot of the magic world that was unknown to her. That's all this feeling was. Unfamiliarity.
They walked up the sweeping front stairs and entered an intimidating and grandiose entrance room. The hooded figure did not stop but kept walking, so she continued to follow, taking in the opulence around her. The walked for a good few minutes - this place must be HUGE! - and finally into what seemed to be a large study. There was a chandelier on the ceiling, a huge stone fireplace, a forest full of mahogany. The hooded figure stopped.
"She will be here shortly". He went to stand by the fireplace and his demeanour said he was not interested in conversation.
Laura felt her heart beat faster. Who would be here shortly? Obviously it was going to be a woman, which made Laura feel strangely better, safer. This was going to be okay. Right?
Before long, a different door opened, and a woman stepped through. She was also in a dark robe with hood and Laura couldn't see her face. The darkness within the hood seemed fathomless. She had a powerful presence and even Laura felt like she could sense the magic sparking off her in every direction, although she told herself she was imagining it. It seemed to reverberate through her very veins.
Laura felt her stomach twist and flip… and something else. Her eyes widened and she felt her hand reach down to press against her lower abdomen. Surely not? Surely not? She hadn't had her period in a while but she had given up keeping track anyway so she wasn't really sure. Oh God. Being here was a mistake. She was making a huge mistake. No problem, she would just say "thanks for your help but no thanks" and be on her way, right?
She looked towards the door she entered through and realised with bile rising in her throat that the door was no longer there. She looked amid growing panic toward the door the powerful woman had entered through and saw only wall. Her heart started pounding and she turned to look at the hooded female figure.
In that moment, the woman slowly raised her hands and pushed back the hood of her robe. Her hair was wild, thick and tightly curled. It seemed to almost crackle, as if with static electricity. Her skin was pale as snow and her eyes… her eyes gleamed and sparked and seemed almost… red. They were red but not red. Laura couldn't put her finger on it. In fact, her whole presence was confusing. She felt so very powerful, so intimidating - and yet it was somehow as if she were translucent or somehow blurry around the edges - not quite solid, not quite there - but so very present. Laura felt her senses going crazy with confusion and fear. Her hand gripped her lower belly firmly, protectively.
The woman looked at Laura, her eyes glinting.
"And what have we here, Sssssssssstan?" she asked the robed figure, her words seeming to echo and reverberate off the walls.
The man seemed to leer back, even though Laura couldn't see his face.
"Fresh meat," he answered, his voice like gravel.
The woman grinned and it was the most terrifying thing Laura had ever seen.
"Exxxxcellenttttt," she seethed, then threw her head back and barked out two short sharp laughs, "Ha HA!"
Laura trembled. The woman was a maniac.
The woman step towards Laura and looked down at her with a kind of wild glee.
"You will call me, Lady Lestranggggggge," she commanded.
The last syllable seemed to hiss around the room like a snake.
And her eyes burned red like fire.
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