Who: Cassiopeia and her mother
Where: a small office in a church somewhere in Scotland
When: October 11, 1979
What: Family spat about marriage...what's new?
Cassiopeia Damaris Jewkes-Smith-Viridian-Wagstaff-Despard-W
atkins-Rabnott soon-to-be Zabini was not exactly pleased to be wearing white this
evening. Could you really blame her? She had no need to re-marry and had no real intention of doing so, especially after six elderly husbands (God bless their souls) who expected her to dote upon them while they were still on this earth--
especially after acquiring a rather large fortune to her name and a small fleet of house elves and manors. The manors were easily dismissed and sold to up-and-coming witches and wizards, the house elves easy to move to her new home after each resulting passing. But this marriage was different. Aries Zabini was not what you would call a kind gentleman. True, he was raised to be a proper gentleman like any pureblooded wizard was expected to be. But Aries was
not Cassi's cup of tea. You'd think she'd want a partner more--spry and flexible after all these years...
She couldn't be too upset with her reflection, however.
God, her complexion was perfect! And the way that the white dress created specially for her by Psyke looked on her was stunning. She knew that Aries loathed her and the idea of a marriage to her, but if this dress didn't wipe that away instantly, she wasn't sure anything could. Maybe things could work out for them...Cassi wasn't sure. It just felt like life had finally caught up with her, all her past decisions were weighing down on her. This arrangement--it wasn't going to end well. And Cassi was almost certain of that. One of them was going to give into temptation and murder the other (or at least try), and she had a feeling that for once it would not be her. And that was what had Cassi so visibly nervous about things.
"Oh, come on, Cas," she heard the gentle murmur of her mother from behind her. "You've done this before, it's not such a big bloody deal. Just marry the boy and get it over."
Cassi sighed, gently touching the heavy diamond pendant on her neck. "I know. It just feels so--permanent."
She could see her mother roll her eyes behind her. "That's how marriage is supposed to work, Cassiopeia. It's
supposed to be permanent. And if you were a good daughter, you would have settled when you married the first time." Cassi pursed her lips and stared coldly into the mirror. She hated this lecture from her mother--she'd heard it too many times.
"Well, let us hope that the ceremony does not last too long. I'd rather be on my way to Hawaii than standing in that damn chapel--"
"--Don't you dare use that language in a church, young lady. You're lucky they even agreed to allow the wedding here, given the type of
ruffians with whom you associate."
Her mother was, of course, alluding to a few of her friends she knew through modeling. They weren't
that bad. And they had certainly been better company to her than any of her husbands had been.
"No, mother, I think you should feel lucky they allowed to plan this whole ordeal in a little over a month. How much did you have to pay them off to knock some poor couple who actually wants matrimony to another weekend?" Cassi spat back, now whirling around to face her mother. "You know very well that I don't want to be here, so don't read me the right act on how to act and criticize me for those with whom I decide to associate. You know full and well that I'm a grown woman and you have no right to tell me what to do with my life, mother."
"Cassiopeia Damaris Jewkes, you will do as you have been told. You know your place in society and you know what is expected of you by both myself and your father. And until you decide that you can be an adult and accept the fact that you will be
in a relationship and actually make things work, we will both treat you as the child that you are," her mother's firm voice hissed at her.
Blah, blah, blah, familial obligations. How often had Cassi heard that lecture from her parents? "You didn't care what I did when I was with Pollux or Yorick or Magnus, why should I even be bothered that you give a shit now that--" The sound of her mother's hand coming into contact with her cheek echoed in the empty room, shocking Cassi into silence.
"You will not talk to me in that matter, Cassiopeia. You have been a constant headache and embarrassment to me and your father for the past ten years. And I will not have you acting in such a way anymore. You will marry Areolin Zabini and you will be the proper young witch that we
raised and you will
stop all this nonsense. And that is final." Her mother glared at her through their reflections in the mirror. "I would suggest that you put a calming spell on your cheek to take the red out. You would not want the embarrassment of a handprint on your face on the
happiest day of your life." Cassi didn't look at her reflection, rather taking a moment to look through the window in the small office. The scene outside was quiet, calm. Cassi could hear the sharp click of her mother's heels on the tile floor as she made her way to the door. "You are to be downstairs in five minutes Cassiopeia."
This was it; she was getting married, and there was nothing she could do to stop it, to slow things down. Bloody hell.
