Book Club, Tiger Lily: defend, arranged marriage, "I've heard a lot of poetry now, and I've decided I don't like it."
Showtime, Ten Duel Commandments: immature
Amber's Attic: AbraxasDruella
Hamilton Mania, threatening someone: Petrificus Totalus ("Look at where we are, look at where we started.")
Easy piñata
583 words
"I don't know why you carry that ridiculous thing around," Cygnus says with a sneer.
Druella clutches her book closer and continues with her stroll along the lake. She wants nothing more than to return to the castle and be free of her future husband, but there are too many eyes watching. Salazar forbid anyone send word to her father or his that they aren't spending time together.
Not that she cares. She doesn't want this marriage at all. Cygnus is too immature for her tastes, and if she hadn't been forced into the contract, she would have never given him the time of day.
"I rather like my poetry," she says curtly.
He snorts and pushes her, nearly knocking her into the water. "I've heard a lot of poetry now," he tells her with a roll of his blue eyes, "and I've decided I don't like it. You'll have to give that rubbish up when we get married."
"I'm not about to stand here and defend my right to read poetry," she snaps.
He comes to an abrupt stop and draws his wand on her. Druella freezes, fear chilling her insides. Cygnus is a spoiled child with a temper, but surely he won't actually hurt her!
"Petrificus Totalus!"
He aims wide, missing her, but she doesn't relax. Cygnus is a skilled duelist. If he had intended to hit her, he would have. It's a tantrum, a reminder that he has to get his way, that she will be his wife and have to bow to his every desire.
"Be a good girl and don't argue with me," he says, his words low and dangerous as he snatches the book from her and tosses it into the lake.
As quick as his dark side appeared, it's gone again, as though his immature outburst hadn't happened at all. Beaming brightly, Cygnus takes her hand, and they resume their stroll.
…
"Look at where we are," Druella says as she curls against Abraxas' side. "Look at where we started. I just wish…"
She can't bring herself to say it. There's a painful pressure building in her chest, and all she can manage is a sob.
Abraxas holds her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I know," he whispers, his strong fingers stroking her hair lovingly. "I wish we could be together too."
They are together. Cygnus may have her days, but her nights belong to Abraxas. They stay hidden in the secret passage that they call their own, and they know no one will ever find them.
But it has to come to an end. She will be Druella Black the moment she leaves Hogwarts, and he will marry Acanthia Goyle. True love and happily ever after don't exist for people like them.
"He will break me," she says.
His lips find hers. When the tears spill from her eyes, he doesn't shame her for them. He only holds her closer and kisses her harder.
"You burn too bright," be tells her. "You are not some wild horse than can be tamed."
And she wants to believe him. She wants more than anything to know that she will be safe, that Cygnus will never hurt her. But she doesn't. Even if he doesn't mean to be cruel, Abraxas still kills her slowly by whispering hope.
"I love you," she whispers.
When he says it back, it calms the storm raging in her mind. Everything will not be okay, but, for now, she can pretend.
