Tabitha Belle stood on the train platform, just out of the heavy rain that was falling onto the small station she had just arrived at. 2 days ago, she had been standing in her family's home in upstate Washington. She was hugging her mother and father and sister goodbye. The Belle family was a prominent wizarding family in Great Britain until her father and mother had flown the country before she was born. Her home in Washington was all she had known.
She'd always know there was a chance for an arranged marriage in her future. Her mother had told her that she herself had been arranged at a very young age to marry Jensen Belle. Uriel admitted that she was lucky in the fact that Jensen had loved her since they were children though. She hoped that her daughters would be able to escape from this type of situation but alas, a family had come to call.
Tabitha remembered the color draining from her father's face on the day the strange, dark owl appeared in the window of the kitchen. He had opened the letter with his back to the family before walking briskly off to his office, forgetting about the meal they were all about to share. Later that night, amidst the sounds of the crickets and her sisters singing, she swore she could hear her mother crying. The next few weeks had been odd. She rarely saw her father and the strange owl was now a constant in their lives. The owl would wait on the window sill until her father brought back a reply. After a few days, the owl let her feed it little seeds and pellets. A week in and she was able to touch its beak. The bird wasn't as scary as she'd thought, making little chirps every now and again.
"That bird is a bad omen," Victoria, Tabitha's little sister by a year, said one day as she came into the kitchen. Tabitha gave a small laugh and held out another pellet. Fluff, which is what she had come to call the bird, gave a little wiggle of his head before taking the food offered to him.
"He's just an animal. He's not in control of whatever he's carrying," Tabitha replied, pulling her burnished-gold curls back into a low bun, a few stray strands escaping and immediately moving back in front of her light green eyes. Victoria watched her sister with a small smile. They were sisters by blood but looked nothing alike. With Victoria being bright and lively as the sun with her warm olive skin, chocolate eyes and pitch hair inherited from their father, Tabitha was pale and quiet, like the moon. Though the two were different, they loved each other none the less, spending most of their days together within the large cabin they'd called home.
"What do you think he was carrying? It can't be good. Dad's been locking himself away every time one comes and mom acts like she's living in a sad documentary or something," Victoria said, sitting down at the kitchen island and reaching for the hot kettle and a packet of green tea from the caddy placed in the middle of the countertop. Tabitha shrugged and wiped her hands on her jeans, seafoam eyes worried as she continued to watch the owl as it began to clean itself.
"I have no idea. I heard Mom crying last night again. I…I can only assume it's about us," she answered as she moved to sit across from her sister, "Do you…do you think it's from one of the families? From Britain?" Her voice got quieter as she shivered slightly, the chill of the stone floors creeping up her bare legs. Victoria's eyes flicked up to her over the brim of her coffee mug, the steam weaving up through her lashes.
"You mean the arranged marriages? Maybe. Mom always seemed so against it though. I mean, they wouldn't really do that…would they?" the younger woman asked before taking another small sip of her tea. She looked up at her older sister, refusing to let the small trickle of fear climb into her features. The sister she'd always felt like she needed to protect. Tabitha spent her days in books and writing romance novels. She wasn't meant for the hard world. Victoria had always felt like the older sister, always protecting Tabitha and shielding her from the outside, just like their mother did. Two years ago, after Tabitha had turned 24, she'd hooked up with a guy named Brock from the opposite town. He was a muggle of course but the problem wasn't what he was born as. Her parents encouraged them to socialize, to accept people no matter if they were a wizard or muggle. The problem was that the guy had been a complete jerk to Tabitha and she'd been too in love to tell him to fuck off. Victoria hadn't been though.
When Brock ghosted Tabitha, the blonde knew why. That was the first time Victoria and Tabitha had fought. It lasted only a week and Victoria had to pull up proof about why Tabitha was better off without Brock but it seemed to make Tabitha a little more wary of the outside.
"I don't think they'd do it unless they were forced too," Tabitha replied quietly.
Uriel and Jensen had always sheltered the girls. After running from the first war, they were horrified to hear that Voldemort had returned, the tension only being eased when it was ended. They'd heard of the three young heroes and of everyone who had put their life on the line to save millions. Jensen felt cowardly for fleeing instead of fighting but he had a young wife and family to think of. He was no hero, he knew that. He would sacrifice everything if it meant his family was safe.
The daughters he fought so hard to hide and protect were now in the eye of a man that Jensen had never liked.
Lucius Malfoy was a few years younger than Jensen but the head of the Belle family remembered the Malfoys very well. Against what Jensen had thought as a young man, his father Edward had been good friends of Abraxus Malfoy. So close that the two had promised long ago that their families would intermarry. Unfortunately, they'd both only had sons. Sons that didn't exactly see eye to eye. Jensen had detested the younger man for a long time. As he got older, the dislike turned to indifference. He paid little to no attention to anyone while in school aside from Uriel.
Now, as he sat at his desk, the multiple letters spread haphazardly across the wood. He'd tried like hell to refuse the proposition that was spilled across all the papers, demanding something he'd never thought he'd have to give away since they'd ran across the ocean. Lucius was wanting a bride. No, demanding a bride. In that cold, cruel way Lucius said everything, he was reminding Jensen that their fathers had signed a contract when they had assumed more children would come. But they never did and the contract was still demanding the blood of fulfillment.
Jensen's fisted slammed onto the desk, dark hair falling out of its careful businessman updo, his fingers sinking into the same strands in frustration. His hands were tied. He didn't want to do what he was about to do but he had no choice. The contract was bound with magic and he had two eligible daughters for the Malfoy family. In his mind he saw the smug smiling face of Lucius Malfoy from his younger years. The cold eyes and almost white hair, the insufferable assurance of superiority Lucius always had. He'd heard that the family had defected from Voldemort and Narcissa had left him afterwards. It had made Jensen laugh when he had first heard it but he never expected Lucius to remember the pact, never expect the man would come after one of his daughters. But he had.
Jensen had spent countless hours pouring over ways to possibly break the contract but found known. Sins of the fathers. He was being punished because of his deplorable bloodline. The only good thing that had ever come from it had been his engagement and marriage to Uriel. Even that had come at a price, a dark secret that only their family knew. It had been easier to hide it in the states since nobody knew Jensen and Uriel. But he'd hid it so well. Right? Of course, he had, he thought as he folded up his acceptance letter slowly and slid it into the envelope. There's no way Lucius would know. The man's head was much too far up his own ass.
Jensen stood from the desk and made his way out of the office, dark rings of fatigue lining his eyes as he waved a dismissive hand, the candle going out in a phantom gust of wind as the door closed behind him. It was time to tell them. To say goodbye to one of the only people he loved in this world. Time to hand her over to a man that he despised.
They sat at the table in an uncomfortable and unusual silence. Dinner was over and the four of them remained, the girls sitting rigid in their chairs. Victoria was levelling a hard stare at her father while Tabitha kept glancing between her father and mother, worrying at a napkin in her lap beneath the table. She knew what was about to happen, they both did. Their parents were about to reveal the reason behind the mysterious letters and the cloud of unease that rested over the house. Tabitha readjusted herself in the chair and when her father cleared his throat, she froze.
"Tori, you can stop staring at me, I'm going to tell you what's going on," Jensen said as his hand came up to rub the side of his face. Victoria looked away for a moment before settling back into her chair with a frown. This brought a smile to Tabitha's face. Even in all this strange tension, they were still able to have these familiar gestures.
Their father looked up at them, dark eyes brimming with sadness and exhaustion.
"I love you two and your mother more than anything in this world. Know that I tried everything that I could find to end this before it begun. I…I haven't found a way yet…"
Jensen placed a piece of paper on the table between them. The old parchment was yellow with age and there was a scorch mark on the bottom corner as if someone had tried to burn it.
"This is a marriage contract from when I was a young boy. Between our family and another pureblood family with who my father was fairly close too. To the disappointment of both families, no girls were born from either so the contract could not be fulfilled," he said as his eyes moved between the faces of his daughters.
"Because of this, the contract was all but forgotten about while both myself and the other son were tied to other marriages. Luckily, I loved your mother since I met her," Jensen said as he reached out and took Uriel's hand in his own. "It's come to light that the other son has recently dissolved his marriage and as it is, the contract is now able to be fulfilled."
A small whimper came from Uriel as she covered her face with a handkerchief, stifling the soft sounds of crying as both girls tensed, Victoria reaching out and grabbing ahold of Tabitha's hand. The older sister squeezed back in reassurance, waiting quietly for their father to finish.
"I…this was a hard decision for me. He gave me the option to choose who he was to marry," Jensen informed them, his warm features drawn tight as he swallowed. A long pause filled the air as he struggled to find a way to tell them that he had chose who was going to be shipped off to marry a stranger. He began bouncing his foot beneath the table as he took a deep breath in.
"Tabitha-," as soon as he spoke Victoria started to protest but he held up his hand in attempt to stop her, "Stop, please. This was difficult enough and I have my reasons. You're only 23 Victoria and you do not have the temperament to do what I will need Tabitha to do."
"I will find a way to break this contract. There has to be a way. Nothing is permanent. In that time, I need you to simply get along with him," Jensen said, leaning his elbows on the table, a glint of hope in his eyes.
"Why are we even entertaining this? Why not just tell him to fuck off?" Victoria snapped, moving to be in her father's line of sight, "Are you really okay with sending her over there?! It's not like he can do anything to enforce it- "
"He's a Deatheater, Victoria!" Jensen snapped, his voice echoing in the dining room before he sat back and rubbed his hands down in face in effort to calm down. Victoria spluttered and the color drained from Tabitha's face, her hand dropping from her sisters as she stood shakily, fear wrapping its cold fingers around her.
"You're…you're sending me to marry a Deatheater...?" she asked, her hand shaking slightly, making her press it against her leg to hide it.
"He defected during the war and he was under the Imperious Curse for the first war. And you won't be marrying him! I'll destroy the contract before that can happen! I would never let that man marry you! I…I just need you to buy us some time, sweetheart," he said, standing and moving quickly around the table to embrace his oldest daughter. She was shaking. He knew why. They all did. Tabitha, out of all of them, had the most to fear from being near a Deatheater.
"You're kidding me! Tabitha is a half-blood! You're just handing a calf to a wolf!" Victoria cried, the room going silent with the mention of the family secret spilling out into the room. Uriel stood then, shaking her head, silver waves shimmering in the candlelight as she moved to take Jensen's hand.
"My love, please don't do this. He'll kill her! Oh, this is all my fault-"
"Dad, have you gone crazy?! This is ridiculous!"
"Nobody knows that about her, Victoria. There's no way Lucius would know and I don't have a choice, Uriel," Jensen defended as Tabitha pushed out of his arms gently. The fact that her mother had been pregnant with her before marrying Jensen, that her mother had been in love with a human man that had been murdered, was a secret that the families had buried with them. Everyone just assumed that she took after her mother's side. She didn't want to go but she knew that if she didn't, Victoria would be the one that would have to go. And then what? What if they didn't find a way to break the contract? What if Victoria was stuck married to a man that she hated. Tabitha looked at her sister, red-faced and alive and so very young. Victoria had saved her so many times, now it was Tabitha's time. She couldn't be the bright fire that her little sister was but she could do her best to ensure that that fire stayed alight. She smiled despite the fear that still clung to her. They were all yelling, all trying to defend what they thought.
"I'll go," Tabitha said quietly, her voice silencing the three.
"What…? Tab, no," Victoria replied, the fight falling from her as she finally looked in Tabitha's direction.
"No, honestly, it's okay. Besides, Dad said that he'd find a way out of it, right?" She said, looking up at Jensen. He nodded, black strands falling over his tired brown eyes.
"I swear it. I'll find a way, a way that makes it to where he can't touch us. And then you can come home. Just postpone everything as long as you can. And try not to make him angry. He's a Malfoy and a Deatheater at that," he said, holding her face in his hands to make sure she heard him.
"I won't. I promise. But Dad, what's his name?"
Jensen frowned and a slight look of disgust graced his features.
"Lucius Malfoy."
Now as she stood alone on the platform, she shoved down the regret that crawled up her throat like bile. She was alone, in another country, about to be taken off to the home of a man who literally hates everything she is. But he doesn't know I'm a half-blood. It'll be okay, she told herself, giving herself a good shake just as an older black carriage pulled up, the driver's seat vacant in the downpour. She blinked as it stopped in front of her before stifling a laugh. What was this? Surely, he owned cars, right? Opening her umbrella, she hopped off the platform and quickly ran to carriage. The door swung open as she reached it and she hurried in, closing the umbrella behind her.
The inside of the carriage was warm, a welcome relief to her cold limbs. The seats were crushed velvet and silver trim lined. In her casual clothes, she sat out of place. She'd worn simple black dress pants and an emerald green turtleneck, golden curls loosely pulled up and tucked in with pins, the strands framing her round face. Tabitha had a slightly curvier figure and didn't want to wear anything that would give the man the wrong impression or encourage him to do anything too outlandish. An odd and unreasonable fear but a fear nonetheless. She didn't know what Lucius looked like but her father had told her what he'd looked like as a younger man. Long white-blonde hair, sharp icy eyes. In her head, she imagined a scrawny older man, barely taller than herself. Someone who looked as miserable on the outside as he felt on the inside. A bird of a man.
As the carriage rolled down the road, the sounds of rain pelting the roof almost lulling her to sleep. The scenery passing by the window showed gently sloping hills, stone walls and the occasional flock of sheep with the backdrop of a dark gray sky. A shiver crawled up her spine, reason unknown to her as she sat back into the soft cushions, her bags in front of her on the floor.
The drive was somewhat calming and she found the unease melting away from her. That was, until she saw the house. She'd seen the corner of something dark and looming out of the window before the carriage turned and blocked her view. She heard the creaking of iron gates and the carriage suddenly went from smooth road to the sound of gravel crunching beneath the wheels. She straightened. She had arrived.
When the carriage slowed to a stop, she took a deep breath and picked up her bags. The door opened and a small creature stood in front of it, getting soaked by the rain, shivering. Tabitha halted a moment. She'd never seen a house elf in real life. It was illegal in the states to have for a wizarding family to own them and Tabitha soured at the sight of this one, trembling in the cold rain. She immediately stepped forward to open her umbrella over it but the elf was quick, enchanting her bags and giving her a bow.
"I'll take them to your room, Mistress," he said in a squeaky voice before disappearing.
"Wait-" Tabitha tried to stop him but he was gone. She stepped out, sheltered by her umbrella and looked around. That's when she took in the monstrousness of the place, she was now to call home.
The building was larger than any home she'd ever seen. Her home back in the states was a large house with 6 bedrooms and a library but this…this was like something from a movie. The estate sprawled out in front of her and she craned her neck to see just how much the manor towered over her. She was told that the Malfoys were wealthy but she didn't know that this is what she had waiting for her.
All of a sudden, she felt sick, suddenly hyper aware of everything that she looked shabby compared to her surroundings. The deep creak of heavy doors opening and her eyes fell down to the man that stood on the steps before her. Lucius was nothing like what she thought he was. Nothing at all.
Standing a little over 6", the man before her did have long platinum hair and sharp, cold eyes but that was the only thing that matched. Broad shoulders fitted beneath a white button-down shirt and a black vest, his waist tapering into long legs beneath pressed slacks. His face was far more appealing than Tabitha could have anticipated, he definitely wasn't the old feeble man she'd envisioned.
For a few long moments, they simply looked at each other, Tabitha's eyes wide for awhile before she managed to gather herself and say something.
"Hello. Um, I'm...I'm Tabitha Belle. I'm…" she stumbled for her words. Where was all the courage she had felt back at home?
"My betrothed," the man completed for her, his voice smooth and deep and Tabitha stayed at a loss for words, simply nodding. Lucius gave a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and stepped down the stairs towards her, the rain sliding off around him like a barrier was there. She swallowed as he stepped close, fighting the urge to step back. Tabitha wasn't a small girl, standing at 5'6" and a bit on the curvier side, she almost never felt intimidated. But this man had an aura about him that felt like silent power, slipping away from him and wrapping around her body, making her immobile.
Despite her father saying the man before her was a hateful, arrogant man, she didn't see it. Looking at his face this close, he looked tired. And there was a sadness etched around his eyes. He offered her hand his arm to her.
"I am Lucius. Come, you'll catch cold out here, Ms. Belle," he said, leading the woman up the stairs and into the manor, heavy doors closing behind them. As the light from the door dwindled, Tabitha felt as if she was being swallowed whole.