Say You Like Me
Everything in Echoes
"Posture Eleonora, posture." My mother critiqued as we stood in front of the massive mansion. I quickly pushed my shoulders back and held my head high, like I'd done so many times before. It made us look regal, and pretentious, but it was what all pure bloods wanted to be.
The dark wooden doors opened, showing a house elf curtsying at us. My father went in first, followed by my mother and I, neither bothered even taking a glance at the house elf. We went straight into a living room and met with the Malfoy's.
"Wonderful! You've made it safe I see." Narcissa smiled, as she and my mother kissed each others cheeks. Narcissa went to take her place next to Lucius on the dark brown couch, with Draco standing behind them, one hand in his pocket, and another resting on the couch. His mind? It was anywhere but there. After a few minutes of chit chat the mood had become serious and they had begun to talk of the future events.
I managed to shut out their conversations, as I had done every time anyone started to talk about my engagement to Draco Malfoy.
- - -
It all became real two weeks ago. My father had told me over breakfast to be dressed appropriately for dinner and to expect some big news. I had already had a good idea of what the news included, but I kept an open mind that it could still be anything else.
I knew that my mother would tell me the big news by the time dinner had come and just like times before, she did. It was mid afternoon, I was in the middle of my archery class when she showed her face for the first time since breakfast.
"Wonderful Nora, you've gotten much better since last time." Allen, my instructor, told me. He nodded towards the house, and when I turned I saw my mother making her way towards us.
"That's enough for today, I'll see you next week." Allen patted my shoulder, grabbed both of our bows and arrows, and made his way towards the small house in the distance which he called his home.
I grabbed my water and went to meet my mother half way.
"Are you still at that?" She said, wrapping her arms around her shawl.
"Yes, Father said everyone should master many different subjects to survive." I answered her as we began to walk back towards our house.
"For men, yes, but woman," She paused, looking off somewhere else, "they should knit, and read books, paint even. But archery? I mean fencing is one thing Eleonora, but archery is for poor wizards, and men who have too much money to do anything else."
My mother couldn't understand a woman wanting to be anything else but a wife, and a quiet one at that. All her life was spent standing behind some man, whether it was her brother, her father, or her husband. She was a bystander and nothing more. Not meant to outshine the men, as she put it.
Before I could get anything in she started again, "Either way, Eleonora you know that the life of a pure blood is not simple. Especially one of a female. You realize we have...Our responsibilities, to carry on the family name. That is, of course, with another pure blood."
I already knew by this point what was going on. What the dinner was about. It had nothing to do with me becoming a death eater. No, I was going to find out who I would marry.
"Eleonora, listen my child." She proclaimed harshly.
"I am Mother. I am." I said, and I was. I was listening, just hoping that somehow this conversation wouldn't end where I knew it would.
"You are eighteen years old. Nineteen in two months. You are old enough to carry on our name." Why wasn't I old enough to choose who I'd marry. "You have brought nothing but respect to our name this far. So we hope you take this like the lady you are expected to be."
"Who." I paused, unsure how to phrase it. "Who will I be wed to?"
"He's been chosen since before you were five. You will be married to Draco Lucius Malfoy by the summer." I stopped walking, in complete shock. I didn't understand why, since I had overheard my father talking to Lucius about our marriage years before. But now it was out in the open. Real, not just office talk.
By that point I couldn't hear my mother properly. Her voice echoed and I felt like everything around me was closing in. The last I remember my knees gave out underneath me and feeling the cold grass a few seconds later.
The dark wooden doors opened, showing a house elf curtsying at us. My father went in first, followed by my mother and I, neither bothered even taking a glance at the house elf. We went straight into a living room and met with the Malfoy's.
"Wonderful! You've made it safe I see." Narcissa smiled, as she and my mother kissed each others cheeks. Narcissa went to take her place next to Lucius on the dark brown couch, with Draco standing behind them, one hand in his pocket, and another resting on the couch. His mind? It was anywhere but there. After a few minutes of chit chat the mood had become serious and they had begun to talk of the future events.
I managed to shut out their conversations, as I had done every time anyone started to talk about my engagement to Draco Malfoy.
- - -
It all became real two weeks ago. My father had told me over breakfast to be dressed appropriately for dinner and to expect some big news. I had already had a good idea of what the news included, but I kept an open mind that it could still be anything else.
I knew that my mother would tell me the big news by the time dinner had come and just like times before, she did. It was mid afternoon, I was in the middle of my archery class when she showed her face for the first time since breakfast.
"Wonderful Nora, you've gotten much better since last time." Allen, my instructor, told me. He nodded towards the house, and when I turned I saw my mother making her way towards us.
"That's enough for today, I'll see you next week." Allen patted my shoulder, grabbed both of our bows and arrows, and made his way towards the small house in the distance which he called his home.
I grabbed my water and went to meet my mother half way.
"Are you still at that?" She said, wrapping her arms around her shawl.
"Yes, Father said everyone should master many different subjects to survive." I answered her as we began to walk back towards our house.
"For men, yes, but woman," She paused, looking off somewhere else, "they should knit, and read books, paint even. But archery? I mean fencing is one thing Eleonora, but archery is for poor wizards, and men who have too much money to do anything else."
My mother couldn't understand a woman wanting to be anything else but a wife, and a quiet one at that. All her life was spent standing behind some man, whether it was her brother, her father, or her husband. She was a bystander and nothing more. Not meant to outshine the men, as she put it.
Before I could get anything in she started again, "Either way, Eleonora you know that the life of a pure blood is not simple. Especially one of a female. You realize we have...Our responsibilities, to carry on the family name. That is, of course, with another pure blood."
I already knew by this point what was going on. What the dinner was about. It had nothing to do with me becoming a death eater. No, I was going to find out who I would marry.
"Eleonora, listen my child." She proclaimed harshly.
"I am Mother. I am." I said, and I was. I was listening, just hoping that somehow this conversation wouldn't end where I knew it would.
"You are eighteen years old. Nineteen in two months. You are old enough to carry on our name." Why wasn't I old enough to choose who I'd marry. "You have brought nothing but respect to our name this far. So we hope you take this like the lady you are expected to be."
"Who." I paused, unsure how to phrase it. "Who will I be wed to?"
"He's been chosen since before you were five. You will be married to Draco Lucius Malfoy by the summer." I stopped walking, in complete shock. I didn't understand why, since I had overheard my father talking to Lucius about our marriage years before. But now it was out in the open. Real, not just office talk.
By that point I couldn't hear my mother properly. Her voice echoed and I felt like everything around me was closing in. The last I remember my knees gave out underneath me and feeling the cold grass a few seconds later.
♠ ♠ ♠
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