Eileen Prince had thought marrying a Muggle was her ticket to freedom. She would be the one with power. The one in control. Her cruel father and imperious mother, always disappointed in her substandard performance at magic, would disown her, and she need never concern herself with their expectations again. That part, at least, had happened.
The Muggle she chose was a charming dark-haired man. Tobias Snape. Eileen was not attractive. She was skinny and sullen, with heavy brows and a long face. Lacking the skill to brew a love potion, she instead worked a Glamour charm, making herself appear prettier than she was, and used an array of subtle hexes to drive away any women who looked twice at her man.
Tobias was bewildered. He did not understand why every woman he smiled at avoided him. But Eileen was there, sympathetic, pretty enough, and willing to let him do more or less as he pleased with her.
Their wedding day was the high point of Eileen's life. She had triumphed, winning herself a handsome husband through skill and cunning, and shrugging off her parents' tyranny once and for all. For the first time, she felt powerful.
The feeling had not lasted long. Their marriage was only weeks old when Tobias discovered his wife's secret. He raged at her, screaming and ranting. She had deceived him, he howled, trapping him into marriage under false pretenses. When she dared to draw her wand, he struck her.
"Don't try your tricks on me, witch."
The way he spat the word shocked her more than the blow. She had never heard it spoken in such a tone before. That was when Eileen realised she had left the world she knew behind for one that was alien, hostile. She had exchanged one hell for another.
She tried to use magic to fix things - to bring back the charming man who had so enthralled her - but he always guessed her game, and punished her for it. She wanted to hate him, but she could not. She longed for him to look at her the way he looked at other women who captured his attention without magic, without trying.
She tried to use magic to please him, taking care of every household task, catering to his every whim. Sometimes that seemed to please him. When she did everything for him, he seemed more inclined towards kindness. It was only when she failed that he grew angry.
"I can't just conjure up gold or food out of nothing," she tried to tell him.
He did not believe her. He thought she was lying, holding out on him.
When he fell ill, he decided she was poisoning him, and threw away her Potions ingredients. They had only been for a contraceptive potion. Eileen knew nothing of Muggle birth control methods. Cut off from the magical world, there was no one who could help her put a stop to her unwanted pregnancy.
The child was born on a dark, cold day. No one came to see her, not even her husband. There were no healers with potions to ease the pain, no midwives; only the strange cold sterility of the Muggle hospital, and the strangers who worked there, and the tiny dark-haired stranger who lay against her breast. She looked into its sleeping face and felt nothing.
What was she meant to do with it? Feed it? Love it? Nurture it? The word mother floated across her thoughts, but it felt wrong. That was never her. If she were not so weak, she would stand up and walk out of this place, leaving it behind. She had nothing to give to a creature more helpless and pitiful than herself. Nothing but magic.
She looked thoughtfully at the small bundle in her arms. For all its father was a Muggle, the blood of the Prince line - the line of a hundred great witches and wizards - flowed in its veins.
A smile touched the corner of Eileen's mouth, imagining the child grown strong, powerful. Tobias could never stand against both of them. Perhaps this child was her ticket to freedom.