𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕡

41- My Little Baby

TW// alcoholism, mentions of past child abuse, brief (like only catch if squinting) mention of homophobia

...

"Please don't make any sudden moves
You don't know half of the abuse"

The passage of time was cruel to those who yearned for it to quit. Days would come and go, and soon one would have no idea who looked back at them in the mirror. They'd only see their wrinkles and memories they could've made, yet didn't.

One particular woman in the Black household had let her life pass her by. The day she had woken up, her husband was dead, and she had three daughters she didn't know much about.

So, she drank.

Poison filled her mind with nothingness as to stop unwanted thoughts to creep in from the crevices instead.

To be honest, Druella once had a chance to live a life she wanted. In her last year of Hogwarts, she had friends she loved, a boyfriend she dreamed of marrying, and a name for herself. This all fell apart when she was forced to court Cygnus.

She lost her boyfriend first. It didn't take him long to figure out Druella wasn't going to go against her family's wishes, and as soon as he realized this, he left. It split her heart in two, but she ignored the pain by reminding herself of the duty she was obligated to fulfill for her family. Her friends were the next to go. Through the courting process, Cygnus had been unlikable to everyone in the vicinity. They couldn't put up with him for very long, which meant Druella was very alone.

The last thing she lost was the name she had made for herself. Marrying into a powerful family meant many things, including, losing your identity. She lost all sense of herself, and really, it was a miracle she hadn't drank before this.

But, she drank now. And, she knew she did it far too much. However, she wasn't sure what else she could do. Bellatrix was off living her life. Andromeda was practically a lost cause at this point. Narcissa was self-sufficient.

This is why she was found by Andromeda half passed-out on the couch in the parlor, again. It had been a frequent thing for her, remaining in the parlor, and nobody could see how this would end anytime soon. Most of the time the girls didn't bother to go into the parlor—they didn't want to risk waking her—but that morning, Andromeda felt particularly brave and bored.

Her plan was to enter swiftly, grab a book, and exit just as quietly as she entered. It was all going well, she tiptoed across the room, being careful of her surroundings. She scanned the bookcase until she found the book. Yet, as she was passing the couch to leave the room, her foot scuffed an empty bottle. The faintest noise was made.

Andromeda paused for a moment, but Druella didn't stir. She continued on, and falsely thought she was in the clear.

It turned out, the faintest noise caused Druella to open her glassy eyes. She saw her daughter, and lovingly grabbed her wrist. Andromeda very nearly flinched, but the touch was different. It didn't hold the normal malice or cruelty that a touch from Druella would.

She pulls slightly down on Andromeda's arm without a word. Meda inhaled sharply, but crouched down next to where Druella laid on the couch.

Wordlessly still, Druella let go of Meda's wrist, only to cradle her face in her hands. She didn't notice when her daughter's eyes filled with tears.