Cherry Wine - ON HOLD

4 : Family

Chapter 4 - Family

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Cygnus Black always wore a perfectly tailored suit (black, of course) and a haughty smirk, like he knew a secret that no one else in the entire world would ever know. His connections were endless, reaching all over the wizarding community so that everyone in the country feared and hated him.

He gloried in it.

The House of Black thrived off of hate. Cygnus retained a cool disposition when his little girls came home from Hogwarts for the holidays in tears because children didn't want to be their friends. It didn't bother him. His daughters were too good to associate with such filth, anyway, and they could keep companions within other Pureblood families instead. That way, their ideals wouldn't be poisoned by those lesser than them.

Cygnus was a family man. Nothing mattered more to him than blood. He grew up as the middle child of three brothers, often the forgotten one. Orion was the heir, and Alphard was potentially insane. The only thing that set him apart was his looks. Out of his brothers, the girls tended to fawn over him the most. Relishing in this attention only fed his already-vain ego.

While he took great pride in his daughters, he always wondered why he couldn't have at least one son to carry on his family's legacy. Currently, the only boy shaping up to make the Blacks proud was Regulus. And secretly, while Cygnus wished he had a boy, he was more than grateful that he didn't have to deal with his nephew, Sirius.

On the night of his birthday gathering, he stood at the entrance to the parlor in Grimmauld Place, Druella at his side, greeting his guests with a charmingly cold smile and a firm handshake. She was incredibly attractive, born of the Rosier bloodline, a family known for its heartlessly beautiful women and rather plain men. While he chose her over dozens of other potential wives, he harbored no feelings of love for her. Their marriage was a strategic one: nothing more, nothing less. They worked well together as a team, but not as a couple.

"Happy birthday, Father!" Three voices cried in unison.

A real smile spread across Cygnus' face at the sound. He only loved Druella for one reason. She gave him his daughters.

"Thank you, my girls," he said. "You all look lovely."

Andromeda smiled brightly and embraced her father. "Thank you."

"It's been too long," he said, patting her cheek fondly. "I must catch up with you all later, but tonight, just enjoy the party."

"Narcissa," Druella said, her voice like shards of ice, "your father and I need to speak with you for a moment."

The blonde stiffened, then nodded. She looked at her sisters uncertainly, biting her lip.

"I'll catch up with you two in a few minutes," she said quietly, giving them a faint smile. Andromeda and Bellatrix nodded, then disappeared into the party.

"You look stunning tonight, little daffodil," Cygnus commented, looking his youngest up and down with approval. "The prettiest girl here tonight by far. That includes your sisters."

"Cygnus, don't inflate her ego," Druella snapped. "An arrogant lady isn't a lady at all. Vanity isn't becoming."

"Come now, Druella. Don't go saying things that don't make sense. Our Narcissa doesn't have an arrogant bone in her body."

Narcissa blushed at her father's praise, but it barely showed due to the many layers of makeup she'd applied to her face. Her mother didn't like that she blushed so easily.

"My dear, the Malfoys are here tonight." Cygnus fixed her with a meaningful expression. "I'm counting on you, Narcissa. You are a daughter of the House of Black, set apart from birth, and I expect you to act as such. I need you to be perfect."