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Prologue the Third
Hawkeforte, England, June 1919 CE
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"You are … concerned about the match?"
A snort was followed by the echo of delicate porcelain clanging against glass as Lady Eustacia Hawkeforte, the Countess of Hawkeforte for some five years, raised golden brown eyes to her confidante, whose normally merry blue orbs were unusually blank. "Concerned would appear to indicate that I have reservations, but am not opposed."
"And?"
"Damn it all, Albus," Eustacia cried as she rose from her seat in a whirl of silken skirts. "I'm completely opposed! I loathed the idea when it was first raised and I hate this proposed marriage entirely! By the gods … "
Albus Dumbledore watched as his friend seemed to collapse inward and he started to rise just as she sank back into her chair. "I'm not concerned, Albus," she whispered. "I'm terrified."
"Terrified for Julianna or for Hawkeforte?" he asked shrewdly.
A bitter laugh escaped her throat. "I wish I could say for Julianna, but the two are inextricably bound together old friend, you know that. Both."
"Why?" he questioned softly, his hand moving to cover hers. "Julius is perhaps not the easiest man to live with, but he is an honorable one -- "
"Honorable," she spat. "How is he honorable? Oh, don't look at me so, Albus. I'm not treading on his character, Circe knows I've no room to do so, but how can he do this?"
At the almost-but-not-quite pleading tone he pursed his lips and asked the question that had been plaguing him for months. "How can he do what, Eustacia? Why are you so opposed to her marrying Julius? It's not that he's a Slytherin -- Merlin knows, you're worse than he in that respect -- and surely it's not that he's a Marvolo."
A strangled sound emerged from her throat and his eyes narrowed. "Or is it?"
Eustacia leaned back into the deep back of the chair and sighed. "Partly, Albus, partly."
"For Merlin's sake why?" he demanded. "Surely you don't think -- "
"That he sees Julianna as the mother of his heir?" she finished. "I can't be sure. You know as well as I that he only had one child -- the girl, Catherine -- by his first wife, and while he's spoken of taking the same path I have and allowing her son to become his heir … "
"But Julius is already screening prospective young wizards," Albus remarked. "Not that I approve, mind you, but I suppose his reasoning does make sense. Few pureblooded wizards will allow their firstborn son to take on the name of its mother's family, so finding one is likely a difficult prospect."
Eustacia smirked in response. "Of course, Albus, that's true enough, but we are speaking of House Marvolo … "
Albus sighed.
"To be quite honest," she continued, the sarcasm dropping from her voice, "I don't fear Julius Marvolo as I do my sister. Julius I could handle were it ever to become necessary."
"I imagine so," he chuckled. "Julius has often told me -- in strictest confidence, mind you -- that you are the one person with whom he hopes never to duel. You're much too similar, the two of you, Slytherin to the core … "
"Oh, yes," she sighed. "Julianna, however, has an honor that goes deeper than even my devotion to Hawkeforte, which many have rightly said is limitless. She will eventually feel that she has a duty to give him a child and that is what terrifies me."
The near silence in the room was deafening; only the tick of the clock and the whisper of a breeze from the open window broke the vacuum of words. Albus closed his eyes and tried desperately to see --
Nothing.
He opened his eyes to find Eustacia smiling at him sadly. "It matters not, Albus. I know my sister; I know what she'll do if given the opportunity. My fear is that Julius Marvolo will do nothing to stop her."
"Surely not … "
Eustacia nodded. "She's too weak to bear children, Albus. So weak that no remedy, Magical or Muggle, can help her … a child would kill her."
"So the illness that claimed Josiah … "
"Is hers as well," Eustacia replied. "Fitting, in a macabre fashion, as they were twins. We've known since the day they were born that if she were to live she would be unable to bear children, lest she die."
Albus took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he let the pieces come together in his mind. "There are no more Daughters of the Blood."
"No," she confirmed. "And I had but two sons by that blasted cousin of mine. They are Marcus Hawkeforte's one decent act although I do wish he had given me a girl as well … oh, Albus, don't look at me that way. There was no choice after Josiah died and the title passed to Marcus."
"Was there not?"
He stared hard and she looked away. "I could have given up on the title, yes; none of our lands were entailed and neither were they tied to the title and the terms of my late father's will were quite specific. Marcus would have gained an empty title, so he was as anxious to marry me as I was to wed him. If we used each other at least it was by mutual consent, and I wanted my line, the line of Alfred, Bronwyn, Graine, Eleanor, Robert and Gisela to retain the title *and* the land."
Albus' blue eyes held hers steadily. "Was it worth what has come to pass?"
Eustacia tipped her in consideration. "Do you know, Albus, I'm not quite certain on that mark. Yes, my son is Earl of Hawkeforte. However, neither he nor his brother has more than a quiver of magic -- and even that is fleeting. I have no daughters and to give birth to a legitimate child I would first have to remarry, which is highly improbable. And now Julianna proposes a marriage that will surely lead to her death. Was it worth it? I still do not know."
"Do you resent her?"
"No," came her immediate, unswerving answer. "I've always known I would marry and produce children, but I expected that I would wed outside the family and produce daughters who would eventually live at Hawkeforte. Do I blame, do I resent my sister? No. I blame my father for not remarrying; I blame Josiah for not having the decency to produce an heir before he died; but I do NOT blame Julianna."
Albus simply looked at her.
She sighed. "I suppose I just expected her to stay here. Not since Tamsyn has there been only one Daughter. It gets lonely, Albus, with just the boys … Peter is barely a year old and Benedict only three … " Eustacia seemed to deflate before him but after a moment she roused herself and a determined, almost manic gleam lighted her eyes. "But I have Hawkeforte, and one day my sons will marry and produce children … and the line will be restored."
"And Julianna?"
"Oh, Albus," Eustacia smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed gently. "You dear, sweet man … why couldn't Julianna have loved you? I would not have feared had she announced she intended to marry you."
"Ah, Eustacia, I could never feel such love for Julianna, jewel that she is," he replied as he returned her affectionate embrace. I could never feel for her what I've felt for you, he thought sadly.
***
On a cold, gray morning the following February, Albus Dumbledore decided that either Eustacia was an excellent Arithmancer or she had more talent in Divination than she had ever shown in school. He watched as several of the magical world's greatest gathered to bid a final farewell to Lady Julianna Hawkeforte Marvolo and her stillborn daughter. Through the haze of fog and smoke from the bier he could see that his old friend was but a mere shadow of his former self and that young Catherine was upset and angry with her father. Others whispered about the mysterious weakness that had claimed Julianna and her twin, or bandied about more tales of how her sister had poisoned a useless Muggle husband.
In the months that followed Albus watched in despair as the woman he loved shut down and became a cold, glittering schemer who cared for nothing but Hawkeforte. And as he visited the Hall to celebrate young Benedict's fifth birthday he knew that he would never return, never be able to undo all that Eustacia had wrought.
Later that night while preparing for bed, Albus Dumbledore found his first silver hair.