They're married the day Hogwarts gets out, and it rains sheets around them. Lightning splits the sky when she and Sirius kiss, and all she can think is that it was a mistake. Their marriage is a farce, and the perfection behind the silver gilt and Black grandeur (pun intended) is sugar-spun and peeling.
Thunder shakes the ground on their first dance, and she twists her ankle, though she knows she'll never tell a person about it.
Weak, fragile little Caelia Derwent, second daughter of Jasper the Wand-Worthy and sister of Cassiopeia the Magnificent. Whispers follow her all her life, expectations and aspirations that she'll not only meet her sister's brilliance but outshine her.
Caelia would have been happy as a housewife.
Their mother had died giving birth to her, and their father had never managed to really look at her face after she turned seven and began looking like her mother reborn. Cassiopeia, though, had their father's scarlet hair and his temperament, though she had been devoted to him as only a fanatic could be. He had trained her from birth to follow in his footsteps and deepen them- though never to outshine him.
Caelia had watched quietly as her sister outstripped their father quicker than anyone could imagine. She had been seven when their father killed her in a drunken rage, and smart enough to hold her tongue throughout the ensuing investigation.
Her father had wept false tears at Cassie's funeral, and Caelia had been disgusted with his duplicity. When he tried to teach her to duel, she refused viciously. Two years later, he died of alcohol poisoning, and she shed no tears for his death. Caelia was told at the tender age of nine of her betrothed, a young man from Southern Wales.
The boy had been cruel in all the ways that mattered to a young woman, careless and vicious. He'd hugged his mother closely, and watched his father jealously. Any affection for others in the family had withered as quickly as it had blossomed.
Then he'd left for Hogwarts.
The day he returned she'd known he was different. The childish innocence had dimmed, replaced with a different kindness she couldn't help but admire. That summer had been one of laughter and sunshine, and even now she's sure that's when she fell in love.
He was three years above her, and as time passed she only became more devoted to him- quietly but surely. The kindness she was capable of was pulled out of her like a magician's scarves only when he was there; others commented only on her porcelain perfection.
She loved him, and would have done anything, anything in the world for him. Love- she had always believed- was a mysterious thing, and so it'd taken her well over three years to recognize the symptoms. When she had, she'd been giddy for the first time in her life.
Then he'd died, only three months before their wedding.
Amidst black letters and cream parchment she'd wept silently, and pulled on a mask for the rest of the school. Slytherins were watchful for weakness, and Caelia's position was precarious enough. But it still hurt, to pretend not to care, to feign shallow regret and vain self-absorption, when it was still painful to breathe and nights were torn ragged with vague nightmares.
Aidan had been the only one to know the strength of her will, steel hidden under silk and enamel well enough that the mask had seemed real enough by the end of her education. The façade had helped well enough in its own way- without it she'd never have landed Sirius Black- but what had terrified her more than anything was failure.
Failure before had meant, at the most, silence from Aidan for a day, perhaps two. Now- the stakes had been raised high enough that whoever fell off first was going to die. Who was she to play these games? Failure measured in blood and pain wasn't failure but terror, and she knew she wasn't good enough to do what the people around her had done for centuries.
Nevertheless, she had no choice.
James Potter stands first, delivers a speech bright with humor and shining a burnished gold. Caelia smiles wanly, clapping calmly beside her twice-drunk husband. She knows she's beautiful in these robes, china-white and pearlescent as they are, but she can't claim to ignore that his eyes have wandered away over the course of the night.
Anger spurts within her, and she wishes he'd pay attention to her- it's her wedding day, for God's sake!- but she knows the protest will only seem childish if it escapes. Her hand closes around a stem of champagne glass, and she's tempted to throw it back in one gulp. Reason filters through moments before she follows through with the action; she's the only thing keeping this from becoming a public farce instead of a private one. The second she lets go the wedding will become a debauchery, and Walburga Black will stop at nothing for her revenge.
Caelia doesn't want to join Aidan just yet.
Others give speeches too, but none stand out- they're all bland and rehearsed. The humor is well-worn, and the turns of phrase bland. She allows herself self-pity for a moment, then murmurs a quiet but clear "I wish to retire," to Sirius.
He freezes, then nods woodenly; he knows what will happen next. A small part of her relishes his humiliation, petty though it may be. The speeches are cut short, and seven women escort her from the hall to a room in her new home. They strip her- and she knows she blushes a brilliant red at their criticizing gazes on her naked body- and bathe her. She lies, naked on a bed of swan feathers, waiting for her husband and their wedding night.
Sirius walks in, and his eyes widen at the sight of her against the bed.
Their love is fierce.
Or, rather, it is Sirius who is fierce, and Caelia who follows him. Bruises pepper her skin by the time he's finished, and all she wants to do is weep bitter tears at the end. There's none of the love she'd expected, only a furious ache deep inside her. This is love? She almost asks. But no one would hear her, and even if they did, no one would want to listen.
Well, everybody, here's the second chapter! They'll stay this long, roughly, because I want to keep up with writing and the updates as evenly as possible. Anyways, in the next chapter we will be talking about Sirius' betrayal as well as the furthering of their marriage... I am aware that this chapter would have probably been better rated M, but it's really only this chapter and the next one that could be rated this way. Hope you enjoyed it.
See you next time!
Read and review.
-Dialux
