Team
Falmouth Falcons
Position
Chaser 1
Main Prompt
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde: Write about someone whose beauty is only skin-deep.
Optional Prompts
(plot point) a wedding
(word) monster
(word) whisper
Word Count
1006
Walburga's lips pursed, she could hear them as soon as the door opened, the whispers that had followed her since childhood.
"She's so pretty," they had always said, "but if she doesn't learn to control that temper, what kind of future will she have? She'll never get a husband like that." Those words had always stayed with her, and she almost felt a faint sense of pride as her cousins still remained single while she was about to marry.
The anger that resided within her had never really subsided, but she did learn to control it, releasing what could only be described as a monster within when she deemed it necessary.
As a small child, she had quickly learned that using only her looks, she could get just about anything she wanted Just because she was 'cute'. She had never liked it, but it had been an effective yet easy way to manipulate those around her.
As she grew, the boys continued to give her what she wanted but the girls and adults no longer cared much about her looks.
By the time she was of the age to enter school, she had found other ways to get the things she wanted—through manipulation and fear.
Not wanting to get on her bad side, the other students treated her generally well and often did as she asked. Most of the teachers ignored any minor transgressions after having been threatened by her family for punishing their child.
As the music started she came out of her thoughts and looked where her husband-to-be stood near the altar. Although it was an arranged marriage, she had known him for many years as they were cousins on her fathers side.
He was fairly handsome, which would come in handy when they eventually had children, but she was most interested in the fact that his background was as pure as hers.
As she took a few steps down the aisle the whispers continued. The wedding was little more than a formality, she had never wanted to marry for love but knew it was important that her name be carried on to a new generation.
Walburga had never exactly had anyone in her life that could be considered particularly affectionate. Her parents definitely weren't, any family member that might have been was generally forced out.
She passed some of her female cousins and felt a faint sense of pride. They had been the ones who had wanted to marry so bad but now they were forced to watch her walk down the aisle first.
She remembered when they had been several years younger and all the other girls spent most of their time trying to get dates or worrying about how they looked. Her looks had always been natural so Walburga never bothered with them much. Even on this day as she headed towards her own future, that wasn't something she had spent much time on.
While her peers were focussed on trivial things such as dating and appearances, Walburga spent most of her time fascinated by the ideals of a boy who was one year her junior. He shared her beliefs that the wizarding world should remain pure and untainted by bad blood. Although she did not often participate in the activities of his other followers, she remained loyal to him still.
As she walked further, Walburga passed her immediate family and noticed that her brother Alphard had not shown up. This was no big surprise, nor was it much of a disappointment, she certainly couldn't care less.
He had been a black sheep almost from the moment he was born. As a young child he would often play with the muggles that lived in the area until his parents forbade him from doing so and practically confined him to the house until he went to school.
The confinement, however, hadn't worked exactly as they had hoped, the boy was sorted into Gryffindor upon entering Hogwarts, subsequently continuing to disappoint his parents and dishonour his family.
She had never exactly been kind to her brother. Walburga could remember standing over the boy's bassinet while he slept, feeling nothing for this thing that her parents had brought home. Why didn't it move or make noise when she wanted? What good was something that she couldn't even play with? And to make matters worse, everyone that came over only wanted to see it, no one even looked at her anymore.
On the day that she stood by her brother's basket, she decided that she wanted this thing gone so that things would go back to how they had been before, maybe if it made too much noise her parents would finally get rid of it.
They had left the two alone for only a minute, so she took her chance and tipped over the basket, dumping her brother onto the floor and causing him to wail. This action had the opposite effect however as her parents ran to the screaming infant and sent her out of the room instead. She didn't get into trouble as her parents had seemingly forgotten she was there, so she quietly went to her own room.
As she lay on her bed Walburga thought and for the first time realized that causing pain to people was much more rewarding and she could get away with it as long as she was careful.
The memories of her childhood faded as Walburga approached her soon-to-be husband at the altar and turned to him. Though she felt little towards this man, she didn't dislike him as greatly as others in his family and let him slide the ring onto her finger.
Once the priest was finished, Orion leaned over to kiss her, but Walburga turned her face to the audience so that his lips only swiped her cheek.
As they turned to walk down the aisle, she made sure to remain a step ahead so that her husband as well as everyone else would knew who was going to be in charge.