Prologue

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It was early morning on the 4th of May 1925, when the piercing screams of Irma Black filled the entirety of Black Manor. The Lady Black was in labour.

The labour seemed to drag on for hours without any sight of the baby being born and when the midwife kept repeating those same two words, "Keep pushing,"  Irma thought she might just Crucio the woman to death after this was all over.

Pollux, much like the rest of the family, was sat in the parlour drinking brandy and was of little help to the woman, his wife, who was screaming bloody murder as she delivered his first born child into the world, his first son. 

Irma had gone into labor early on the 4th of May and the baby finally arrived late into the evening of the same day. The loud cries of a healthy baby filled the room and as the midwife cleaned and wrapped the child up into fresh linens, Pollux burst into the bedroom an expectant and riveting look across his face as he came to his wife's side to inspect the child.

"Irma, where is the child?" He asked his wife who was drenched in sweat and still trying to catch her breath from the long and painful ordeal of Labour. A moment later the midwife was coming over to the bed with a small bundle in her hands.

As the Midwife bent down and placed the newborn into the arms of its mother she spoke saying, "You have a daughter, My Lady." Any sort of merriment or anticipation quickly dissipated from the room and a look of horror crossed the face of Irma Black.

"No!" Irma cried out and pushed the child away from her chest as her mind raced and tried to comprehend the information she had just been told, she couldn't have given birth to a girl, it was meant to a boy, it was so supposed to be a boy, a male heir. Not a girl, never a girl.

Gone were the healthy cries of the newborn girl, instead they were the cries of sorrow from both Mother and Daughter. Irma cried and shrieked and tried to explain and to apologise to her husband who stood stunned to her side and the little baby who had just been pushed from her mother's chest, lay on her side, atop the bed and near her mother's legs crying out for some sort of comfort and some sort of warmth.

It took time but then Pollux broke from his stunned trance and slowly bent down to pick up the child he'd been waiting nine months to meet. Unlike Irma who'd pushed her daughter away upon knowing what she was, Pollux embraced the little girl and held her close. To say that he wasn't disappointed would be a lie but he wasn't going to push the child away like his wife had, at the end of the day she was his daughter and they could always try again for a boy.

"Our daughter shows that you can carry a child, Irma. Rest assured that boys will follow." Pollux spoke in a tone that was something stuck between a calm contempt and odd stiffness. "Now what shall we name our firstborn?" He asked, whilst looking down at the now sleeping baby in his arms and the faintest of smiles crossed his face, as he peered down at the now heiress of House Black.

Irma refused to speak, she only continued to wallow in her own self pity and refused to take her daughter into her arms let alone name her. "Fine then," Pollux spoke dismissing his wife and her winging cries of apology, "How about Walburga," The little girl's name was decided and to make sure that she would always remember it, Pollux whispered the little girl's name into her ear three times. 

"Walburga Irma Black."

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⏰ Last updated: Mar 25 ⏰

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