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sixteen, ࿐ house of valentine
THE NAME VALENTINE was held to such high regard in France, that when Cordelia was spending a summer in the French Rivera one year, she had been courted by no less than six young men for her hand, only to hear that she was besotted with Sirius Black. The matriarch of the family when Cordelia was a child had been her grandmother Solene, all sharp angles and perfect makeup, always dressed in the most fashionable of styles.
Solene was a powerful clairvoyant, and after losing her husband, she took his place in French politics, passing away just as Cordelia turned eight. Solene changed the tide of the Révolution Magique Parisienne, when dozens of radical French wizards pushed against the more conservative, established politicians, culminating in nearly a year of violence. Her discussing tactics with a deceased French auror helped negotiate a treaty, sealing their already powerful name into the minds of the French people.
Cordelia's grandmother met her unfortunate demise at the hands of an assassin, the killing curse shot at her on the doorsteps of the French Ministry of Magic. That was the final straw for Ines and Victor, who moved to a quaint London townhouse and sent their elder, precocious daughter to Hogwarts. Cordelia was two years older than Eloise, and they were so tightly woven together it was rare to see them without one another.
So when eleven year old Cordelia left for Hogwarts, nervous about being away from her parents and being made fun of for her at-the-time thick French accent, she and Eloise had cried on the platform till their stomachs hurt and tears were drained. She found her first friend on the train that day, a girl in her year by the name of Marlene Mckinnon. She was very blonde and had a Scouse accent, covered in freckles, her hair braided into two Dutch braids.
And by the end of the train ride, Cordelia had her hair done the same way, Marlene explaining the houses and professors and babbling on about how good the food was, reassuring the girl just a little bit. She met Sirius Black that night when he accidentally shoved into her as they filed into a line for the sorting ceremony. "Watch it," she had hissed, and he blinked at her twice with his steely eyes, jaw clenched.
"Sorry," he nodded, before turning to three boys she would soon associate as part of a quadruple act, a whirlwind of pranks and practical jokes that occasionally went a little too far.
She and Marlene remained close even when they went off into different houses, and Cordelia found a twin-flame in Lily Evans, sharing a love of books, lip-gloss, and learning new languages. Mary Macdonald was a joy to be around, jovial and joking, with a sense of fashion from a young age that made her the most popular girl in their year.
Cordelia tucked her head down and focused on excelling academically instead. She was the top Ravenclaw student, and constantly switching with Lily, and a Slytherin boy, Severus Snape for the top spot after exams. It changed every year, and as all three had a talent for potions, Professor Slughorn frustrated them all to no end by giving them the same marks. Remus was a dear friend, and often came in fourth in almost every class besides Care of Magical Creatures, which undoubtedly bothered him. Sirius, James, and Peter were sprinkled in the upper quarter of the class, except in Transfiguration.
Sirius and James excelled in the class and Cordelia could not stand not being the best at something. She snapped during her fourth year, when she requested Sirius to become her partner so she could perfect his wand techniques. She certainly did not expect to become close friends with him.
They quickly became close, two peas in a pod, doing everything together. They were friends, she would frequently tell herself, ignoring the blade that sliced her heart every time Sirius came to her crying over some boy or girl that had broken his heart. He seemed to come to the realization that he had feelings for her too, around the beginning of their sixth year, which started a long cycle of him asking her out and her saying no.
And when Eloise died, he was the person she leaned on. It wasn't unexpected. They'd known it was coming. Eloise had a rare genetic mutation that was causing her magic to eat her alive, and it had only manifested when she was ten. She died in April of Cordelia's sixth year, and just a few months later she and Sirius knew that they had found one another, and that nothing could break them apart.
He just knew her in ways that no one else could fathom. Sirius could predict when she was cold even if she wasn't shivering, lending her his jacket. He always knew what she wanted just by looking into her eyes and when he kissed her it felt like a slice of heaven.
She knew the ring was coming the summer after their seventh year, and it broke her heart to say no. They were too young, and the time wasn't right. But he stayed. And he never ran. He joined the order full time, and after finishing her studies in healing, she decided to become an auror due to the shortage. Learning was the one thing she loved most, and the extra schooling kept her busy. He didn't mind that she was working while he ran around with the order full time. They were sitting on millions of galleons in their vaults and she worked because she enjoyed it. He was happy to rub her back when she came home exhausted, and always brought breakfast in bed every morning, even if it was just toast and tea because he was not a good cook.
Cordelia found out she was pregnant just days before the attack on Diagon Alley and she told Sirius almost immediately, the sentence blurting out of her mouth the second she stepped through the floo after seeing the doctor. She was far more scared than he was about the possibility of their child being a girl, a clairvoyant just like the deceased Solene Valentine.
Her home was inside of Sirius, like she'd cleaved apart his flesh and wormed herself inside so he could keep their child safe. He was more than happy to wrap his arms around her and reassure her that everything would be fine. She knew he was secretly hoping for a little girl, which was why he'd taken a list of names out of his pocket at dinner once with one circled at the top. Juliet.
Sirius had gifted her a copy of Romeo and Juliet for their first anniversary that was covered in his annotations and enchanted to replace the names with Sirius and Cordelia, changing the entire scene at the end so that they got a happily ever after. She'd laughed about how the book was a tragedy before she agreed to the name, only if she got to pick the middle name. It was an easy choice, after one of her closest friends, and Sirius's twin flame. Juliet Marlene Black.
She knew that they would call her Jules most of the time. It was a sweet nickname with an edge to it, and Sirius loved the idea. They'd decided on Apollo for a boy, after Cordelia's middle name, Apolline. Apollo James Black.
Marlene would be godmother and Remus would be godfather. It was a rule among the group of friends; no child would have the same godparents as another in case tragedy were to occur. They'd been debating between Remus and James, but since Lily had discovered she was pregnant just a little while ago, they decided on Remus since James would have his own child to worry about.
And some days, all Cordelia could think about was what kind of a world they were bringing a child into. It may be cruel but she was determined to fill the child's life with as much happiness and joy as possible.
But in this moment, consulting her family records, she was terrified. The House of Valentine stood with its marble pillars in magical history, powerful, influential, and wealthy beyond belief. But it was also cursed with the burden of clairvoyance. Some may see the ability to communicate with the dead as a gift but to Cordelia it was a burden her future daughter would have to carry, like generation after generation of women. It was a girl, she knew it, the feeling simmering in her gut as October began to draw to a close.
The prophecy only confirmed it.
( AUTHOR NOTE ) hi i'm back!! and w a cordelia chapter because she's my baby <33 hope you enjoyed reading love you all xx
