Astra "sudden unexpected motherhood" Lestrange (astralogy) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-08-02 18:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! . placeholder, ! [1979-08] august, astra lestrange (née avery), marius lestrange |
Who: Marius and Astra
Where: A fancy restaurant
When: Friday evening
What: The newly engaged couple feel they should, er, talk. And eat. And get engaged.
Rating: PG
Status: Incomplete
Everything had been getting steadily more real over the last couple of days as one realisation after another came at Astra - Narcissa's wedding photos and talk about dresses and veils and decorations and guest lists, moving out of the Lestrange house, Aquila's comment about her never living at home again.... talking to Severus. She still ached when she thought of him, still wondered whether she was doing the right thing... but she was, she had to be. She was determined to be as sure of it as everyone else seemed to be. As everyone else was. And Marius really wasn't so bad, particularly after their last journal conversation. And soon he would be here in person to take her out for dinner, a proper dinner with a proper suitor who she would marry and have a house and children with, and oh god everything was happening so quickly.
She had been fussing over what to wear for the last hour, but had eventually put aside the bold floral halter in favour of a rather more sedate sleeveless black dress with floral beading, pairing it with a black shawl for her shoulders - she might dare go without in the sunshine, at her own morning party, but she didn't need Aquila making pointed comments to find it necessary now. (Besides, she was engaged now. She was a woman. Not a girl.) Once finally dressed though, there was little else to do except to wait downstairs, a book in her lap in favour of Lapin (she may have been a witch with cleaning spells, but she still wouldn't risk white hairs on her dress) though her attention was instead out the window. Every so often she got up to pace across the parlour, waiting for Marius to arrive for her.
Marius was not one for late or dramatic arrivals, so he arrived outside of Malfoy Manor precisely when he said he would. He wasn't nervous, because it wasn't as if there was any possiblity Astra was going to say no, but he was unsure of how the evening would go. Astra was 18, and a young 18 at that. As he began to tell Corbina, that wasn't the sort of woman he'd been interested in recently. The last time he'd fancied an 18 year old he was probably 13 himself.
Nevertheless, Astra was to be his wife, and this dinner would be the first of many, so even if they spoke of her cat for two hours, he might as well enjoy it. At least she was pretty. There were many pureblood girls from fine families that he could have been matched with that had faces that looked like something his father's dogs would eat, so there would be no complaining on his part. And truly, he wanted her to be happy, or at least not miserable. Aquila had been a good friend, and Marius knew that if he were parting with Corbina, he would want to entrust her to someone who would be decent to her. Even Julian wanted as much for Genevieve, though with her reputation who knew what sort of match she would end up with.
These thoughts all ran through Marius's head as he approached the front door and knocked. Their reservation wasn't for another half an hour, and he briefly wondered if he should have asked if she liked French food. Anyone should, but English tastes could be strange.
The front door not being particularly near the parlour, Astra only barely heard the knock and discounted it as one of the more usual sounds of the household; it wasn't until one of the house elves appeared to announce that Mister Marius Sir was arrived for her that she rose to her feet again, stomach fluttering a little in anxiety as she told it (him? her? even having grown up with two of the things she could still never quite tell) to send him in. She wasn't even sure what they were to talk about, really, as everything Narcissa had spoken of since she'd been here had been the more practical details, rather than... Well, she thought that Narcissa and Lucius had gone to school together anyway, and known each other more before they were married, so maybe it was just that the older woman didn't really know how she felt. And it wasn't as though she could ask her mother-- No, she needed to stop thinking about loss and death. There had been too much of that, and this was to be a happy evening.
She managed what she hoped was a steady smile as he entered, hesitating a moment over whether she ought curtsy or something. No, probably not. "Good evening, Marius," she managed, and was pleased to note that her words came out smooth and confident. There, now if she could just make herself believe she was that confident, the evening might be quite enjoyable.
The elf had led Marius through the house at a lightening fast pace, likely worried it was about to receive a well-placed kick at any moment. It scurried off as soon as it had shown him to Astra and Marius wondered briefly if it shouldn't have stayed because being alone with Astra suddenly felt much more alone than it ever had before. It was strange, this feeling of knowing that the woman standing before you was soon to be your wife. Up until now, the only thought Marius had given to marriage was how to talk women around their vows... he wouldn't have guessed with a hundred guesses that this would be happening now.
"Good evening, Mademoiselle," he said, giving her a genuine smile. "Tu es très belle," he said, as he offered her his arm. "I think if your brother saw you looking so lovely he would not be permitting me to take you out on my own, proposal or not," he said, with a teasing smile. Of course Aquila would trust him with her, because in this one case, their was nothing to distrust. His father's wrath (or disappointment) was more than enough to keep him line, and besides, there was absolutely no joy in corrupting a girl who would soon be your wife.
"I do hope you do not mind a French restaurant," he said, as he led her toward the door. "If things were as they should be, we would go to France itself, but this must do for now."
He stopped when they stepped outside.
"I can give you the address or we can duel Apparate. Do you have a preference?"
Astra had, of course, taken the Apparation classes in her sixth year, though she hadn't been able to apply for a license until almost the end of that summer, and was well able to Apparate herself. Still, when she was going somewhere with one other person, or even in a group but with one particular chaperone, she had often traveled by side-along. Perhaps some people her age were using this time after school to explore their independence, but as she had often been told, she was important to her family, and protected, and especially now it seemed as though she would follow that old, old tradition of being passed from father directly to husband. She was about to reply in preference to the latter before suddenly changing her mind - smooth and confident, she reminded herself, and that meant she was perfectly capable of transporting herself to the restaurant. "I love French food," she told him in a sure tone, "and if you give me the address and allow me to take myself, I think I'll be better able to remember the location. I'm sure if you approve of it it must be an excellent restaurant, and I may wish to go there with Corbina or the Malfoys or someone else later." She straightened her shawl a little, making sure it was correctly draped over her shoulders for modesty's sake.
Marius nodded and gave her the name and address. He waited for her to pop from sight before following only seconds later, not wanting to leave her alone for even a few seconds. His feelings for Astra were nowhere near romantic, but his protectiveness over her was quite real. Even if tonight she seemed more grown up than usual, Marius couldn't shake the feeling that this was more like taking Corbina out for dinner than anyone he would want to take to bed. He was seven when she was born...
He forced those types of thoughts out of his head as appeared in front of the restaurant and Astra was there waiting for him, looking very much the part of future fiancee, and not at all like a little girl. It was only seven years. This wasn't the same at all as wooing Corbina. And this was far more right than going after married women all the time, or women who were ten years his senior. This was society's path, and he would take it, and his father would be proud, and the disaster that was his love life in France would be forgotten.
He took Astra's arm in his own and led her inside, giving his name to the maître d' and continuing to lead her as they were seated at a round table in a secluded part of the restaurant. Marius almost wished they were out with the crowd. He was not used to feeling that he could do wrong when it came to women, but now, it was very important Astra not return to the Malfoy's in tears, or blushing, or anything other than composed and wearing an engagement ring. He nodded the host aside and pulled out her chair for her.
"You truly do look beautiful tonight," he said, settling on compliments as a safe topic for the time being.
Astra did not have quite the same problems in re-evaluating her relationship with Marius - in fact, were it not for Severus she imagined she would be absolutely and perfectly happy with the situation. As things stood she felt torn in two directions, but it was at least manageable to push the heartsick part of herself from her mind and focus on the things she ought. Marius was a perfect gentleman, handsome and from a good family, and she simply had to remember to consider those the benchmark of a good match, rather than whether the mere thought of him made her smile.
Unlike Marius she was a little glad for the quiet location of the table; it was enough trying to make sure she impressed him, without feeling like the entire restaurant had their eyes on her. As much as it was strange to be in a secluded corner alone with a man, at least she felt she knew what to expect, and that she was safe from anything beyond that. After all, he held her honour in his hands now, and he had reason to not want it besmirched.
At the compliment she smiled, trying to remember to hold herself with confidence rather than duck her head and blush like a young girl. Elegance, grace, surety - she was a woman now, worthy of a Lestrange, and she was determined to show it. "Thank you. It's been unfortunately difficult lately to find a happy occasion to wear black, though I'm sure this will be the first of many more."