The Pyrite family's purity rivaled that of any wizarding family.
Their lineage was nearly impeccable, and members were proud to display it given the opportunity. The Pyrite family hailed from Scotland and gave rise to many generations of powerful, intelligent wizards and witches. The family was known for the noble occupations its members held. It was not uncommon for Pyrites to become Ministry officials, headmasters, legislators, and physicians. And perhaps most notably, members of the Pyrite family recurrently sought to become Dark Wizards.
Despite their extensive history, the Pyrite family started to dwindle in the early 1900's. The family started to produce more daughters than sons. These women started to marry only into pure-blood families, losing the ancient Pyrite name. The family started to worry there would never be another male heir and the name would be lost. But in 1915, Cassius Pyrite was born as the only son after a series of seven Pyrite daughters.
Cassius Pyrite was raised on the values of his overbearing father and grandfather before him. Cassius easily adjusted to the duties pressed on him as the only Pyrite heir. He held blood purity to the highest standard, incessantly sought power, and never showed weakness, just as his father instilled in him. Even Cassius' looks reflected his powerful and aristocratic lineage. Even as a student, he was a tall, burly man with dark hair, dark eyes, and a constant scowl. He fit in wonderfully with his surly classmates at his "prestigious school" (as his grandfather called it)- Durmstrang Institute.
For generations, the Pyrite family seemed to pick the spouses of their children. It was never titled an "arranged marriage," yet, the spouse choices were heavily suggested by both families. These arrangements seemed to be the only explanation for why Cassius Pyrite married Aurelie Fontaine.
Aurelie seemed to contradict Cassius in every way. She came from a long lineage of pure-blood French wizards who excelled at charmwork at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. She grew up in a small cottage in Normandy and was known throughout the town as the beautiful blonde with extreme luck. Some said it was a sort of enchantment or a result of the 'Liquid Luck Potion', and some said it was due to an accumulation of good karma from her radiant personality, but Aurelie seemed to constantly be in the right place at the right time. She knew whenever a neighbor needed a shoulder to cry on, and she would warn the town of unprecedented, horrible weather even before it happened. She was able to make bets on which Quidditch team would win the World Cup down to the numerical score with extreme accuracy. Aurelie never revealed the secret to her extreme fortune, and it soon became the demise of her father.
After an unfortunate gamble with a group of Goblins, Aurelie's father lost nearly everything. He hadn't consulted his lucky daughter before betting his entire fortune on a duel. Therefore, while Cassius came from a rich family, Aurelie grew up humble and relatively poor. Even her name, Aurelie, meant 'gold' in French, while the Pyrite name was referred to as 'fool's gold.' 'Pyrite' fit the family perfectly, for not only did the mineral impersonate something more beautiful and valuable, but so did each member with the coveted surname. Contrastingly, Aurelie was true and real, and while Cassius' wealth glittered on the outside, it covered a fake and dark history.
Still, her blood purity was enough for the Pyrite family to set up a meeting between the pair, and they were married only a year after Aurelie finished school. Despite their differences, Cassius and Aurelie fell madly in love. This fact was a shock even to their parents, who impressed the union for years, disregarding the emotions of their children. There was never a happier arranged marriage to move in to the Pyrite manor.
At twenty-three years old, Cassius and Aurelie decided to try for their first child. When Aurelie announced she was pregnant, Cassius spoke proudly of his certainty that their firstborn would be a strong male heir. His son would be the brightest wizard of his age and attend Durmstrang. The next Pyrite heir would do great, bold things! The family would not need to worry about the extinguishment of their name!
Their first child was a girl, Angelica Pyrite. Cassius, although surprised that his hopes were wrong, fell in love with his daughter and the thought of being a parent. Aurelie was more than elated that she had a daughter who would undoubtedly follow her mother's path and become a talented, kind witch at Beauxbatons. Aurelie assured her husband and her judgmental in-laws that the next child born to the family would be a boy.
The next child was not a boy.
In fact, after Angelica, Cassius and Aurelie tried to no avail to produce a male heir. Getting pregnant was difficult for the couple, and apparently, so was having a boy. Soon, the couple had five daughters between the ages of nineteen and two: Angelica, Valeria, Diana, Cordelia, and Rosalind. The eldest Pyrite daughter, Angelica, already lost her maiden name after a marriage to Christopher Nott. Aurelie found out she was pregnant a sixth time, and her husband and in-laws prayed for that boy to carry on the name.
Juliette Pyrite was born January 1st, 1960. Aurelie nearly died during the birth, and this scare caused the mutual consensus that Cassius and Aurelie were done having children. Cassius loved his wife too much to risk her for a male heir.
When Cassius told his parents their sixth grandchild was another girl, they were furious. They insisted Cassius divorce and remarry a young bride who might produce male heirs. Cassius denied, in disgust towards his parents. Only a few weeks after the shock that the Pyrite name would end, Cassius' parents passed away due to familial disappointment with a touch of Dragon Pox.
Cassius Pyrite would be the last of this powerful family to carry the Pyrite name.
The six daughters never even resembled their father's ancestors. All of the girls were stunning, with blonde hair and sea blue eyes. They were petite like their mother and constantly wore comforting smiles. As planned, all six daughters attended Beauxbatons, and excelled in their studies, particularly in Charms and Divination. The Pyrite daughters were well known throughout all pure-blood families for their beauty and coy intellect. Cassius and Aurelie could not be prouder of their six girls. It was not long before pure-blooded suitors started knocking on the door to meet the remaining girls from this impressive family.
Slowly, the house of eight started to dwindle. Angelica moved away and started her family with Christopher. Valeria did the same with Augustus Burke, and a couple years later, Diana married Augustus' brother, Thomas. Cordelia tried to stay and help raise her younger sisters with her parents, but on her twentieth birthday, Evan Rosier asked for her hand. Everyone always thought the marriage seemed forced, but Cordelia's best friend and Evan's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, convinced the girl to accept. Even Cassius impressed that she would be a fool to decline a proposal from a man of his purity. Only Rosalind and Juliette remained.
Juliette and Rosalind, or 'Rose,' became the closest of all the sisters. Three years separated the pair, but most could have sworn they were twins. Both girls were bubbly and mischievous, their antics accounting for many of the grey hairs on their parents' heads. Until Rose's graduation from Beauxbatons, the sisters were inseparable. But in June, shortly after Rose's eighteenth birthday, she told her fifteen-year-old sister she would be leaving home. Rosalind Pyrite was next to lose her family name. She was engaged to Nicholas Malfoy and would soon be the next Pyrite bride.
Juliette would be the last Pyrite daughter in the house, and she was not taking it well.
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A/N:
WELCOME.
I did not intend to publish this story just yet, but I can't keep secrets. I also got too excited about it to keep it hidden any longer.
Clearly, this is more of a prologue than anything, but I just had to start publishing something! I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to following the story of Juliette Pyrite- portrayed by Lili Reinhart.
This is my second Sirius Black fanfic, and I am going to do my best to make it leaps and bounds better than Breaking Black (which is still my favorite). So I've learned from that book, and I'm changing everything I didn't like about my writing there!
Please let me know your initial thoughts! Are we excited? Are we hating it? Do you have any idea what kind of crazy plot twists I am going to throw at you throughout this book (no, you don't)? Let me know what's running through your mind!
As some of you may know, I update Back in Black on Tuesdays. That will still happen as planned. This book, it's a little more hazy. It is completely unrelated that I posted this first chapter on a Tuesday, that's only because I couldn't wait another minute, my heart was screaming for me to post. How do we feel about Friday updates? And unfortunately, I don't know if I will be able to keep a rigid weekly update at first, but I will certainly try with this book!
Please comment, vote, share with your friends that I'm working on something spectacular!
Love,
Bri
Started: October 20, 2020