----> Ardor

[Azura Lestrange]

Marriage really wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Honestly, it was simply full of unnecessary drama, caused unnecessary distrust, fed the flames of unnecessary gossip, and a whole lot of other unnecessary and Azura had better things to do with her time than name them all. But she'd known that all along, now, hadn't she? Which was exactly the reason why Azura had resisted so fiercely when her dear daddy had brought her the happy engagement news. Honestly, when everything else failed, she had even tried to commit suicide. There must have been some sort of charm put on that window that prevented people passing from through it.

"Tcha, it's not as if they even cared to get my opinion on the choice of who he would be," she said aloud, setting her book of ancient Dark Magic down on the bed and looking out the window of her bedroom. Raindrops splattered against the window and formed into streaks of water that trickled gently down the pane of glass. "And I sure as hell wouldn't have chosen Lestrange of all people."

Azura dog-eared her place in the book, walked over to the bookshelf, and set it in between a moss green tome on the Grindelwald Era and a book covered in a dried sickly grey substance of which she hadn't precisely bothered to find out the exact identity. Then she went back over to the window. The howling wind and icy sheets of rain hadn't stopped the Dark Lord from sending out Knights to do various errands for him. Luckily for Azura, she was rather high up in his favor, and had therefore been spared that, ahem, priveledge. In the meantime, life at the Riddle Manor seemed to have come to a near-complete halt. Suddenly it starts raining and people are incapable of doing anything other than sit around the fire and chat quietly. That had never been for Azura. She preferred solitude to quiet company. At least there would be an actual reason for the silence that way.

She suddenly realized exactly what she was doing and said in an amused voice, "Oh, Azura, isn't that cute? You're talking to yourself. First signs of insanity, you know." But everyone already knew that she was a bit insane, even Azura herself.

[Rabastan Lestrange]

Work.. what was that?

In fact, if Riddle had never set foot into this house, Rabastan could've fallen into a coma and still keep his job. The Dark Lord seemed to perpetually lack missions. It was as if he simply liked prancing around and screaming about the terror he was going to cause, and how the Ministry was going to fall to their knees..

And so on and so forth.

They hadn't even started on the Ministry. Tortures had been carried out every once in a while, but generally by a Knight's own consent. They grew bored, and went searching for an outlet. You figured being so tightly laced with the dark side would assure you a never-ceasing life. However, time seemed to stand still in the manor.

Riddle was slowly posioning the water, quietly and swiftly pulling Knights towards his power. Before long the Dark Lord was going to wake up and find thirty blood-thirsty, damned souls surrounding his bed.

Hopefully his goddamn wife was in there with him.

He finally shut the large tome, setting it on the table beside the armchair. He had been reading for a good part of the day. The Dark Lord had not given out any orders today, apparently he felt his Knights were made of sugar and would melt if water met them.

He sighed heavily, pushing himself out of the chair and exiting the library. Before long he stood at the door to his room, gazing at his wife. He ran a hand through his dark hair, "Shouldn't you be unclothed in the Dark Lord's bechambers right now?"

Yes, her favorite game.

Gods, go away woman.

[Azura Lestrange]

No movement nor apparent emotion stirred Azura as the sound of footsteps entering the room met her ears. There was only one pair of feet that they could belong to, and the owner of those wasn't exactly the most welcome person in Azura's life. Therefore she liked to keep her contact with her husband to as little as possible. Most unfortunately, when you're married to the most argumentative and childish wizard in Britain, the hopes of achieving that are almost laughable, really.

"Shouldn't you be unclothed in the Dark Lord's bechambers right now?"

Azura rolled her eyes and replied in a bored tone that dripped with sarcasm, "Good afternoon to you, too, darling."

God, why did she put up with him? Divorce wasn't unheard of in arranged pureblood marriages. It was just rather disapproved of. But let's be honest here - when had disapproval ever stopped Azura? But mantaining her reputation of elusiveness was one of her top priorities, and downright divorce might be a bit blunt. No, there were other ways to handle this situation.

"Look, Rabastan," Azura said, turning away from the window to face him, "Just because I'm forced to share a name and, on occasion, a bed with you doesn't mean I'm going to lay down and play the part of your little wife, but you already know that. As far as I'm concerned, just as long as neither of us makes a scene about this little situation we're in, we have nothing to talk about."

[Heh, sorry it's so short.]

[Rabastan Lestrange]

(No worries.)

"Good afternoon to you, too, darling."

A patronizing smirk fell across his lips, "Likewise."

And then she turned around and launched into him. Oh, he loved this part. The part where she ranted at him like the obnoxious, dirty little wife she was. Her voice grated against his ear drums like nails on a chalkboard as she begun.

"Just because I'm forced to share a name and, on occasion, a bed with you doesn't mean I'm going to lay down and play the part of your little wife,"

Never expected it darling. The moment he had laid eyes on her, and she had opened her mouth, giving him one of the coldest glares he had ever received, all expectations had flown straight out the window.

"As far as I'm concerned, just as long as neither of us makes a scene about this little situation we're in, we have nothing to talk about."

He snorted. She should feel proud, very few people could provoke any sort of amusement out of him, "Make a scene? Darling that has been done a dozen times over. Everytime you rub yourself against another man, you create a scene, everytime you open your mouth, you create a scene, in fact your mere presence tends to cause havoc."

At least with him. She made his blood boil.

She could never back down either, she had to continue at it, and challenge every word he said. She seemed to think she was the dominate one. He had yet to put her in his place, but if she kept it up, he wouldn't hesitate.

Be smart darling.

[Azura Lestrange]

"Make a scene? Darling ,that has been done a dozen times over. Everytime you rub yourself against another man, you create a scene, everytime you open your mouth, you create a scene, in fact your mere presence tends to cause havoc."

Oh, very funny. He thought he was just so witty, didn't he? The sad truth of the whole situation was that this was the way Azura and Rabastan spent the majority of their time together. He said something in hopes of provoking her for some pathetically immature reason she didn't want to bother to find out, and they both knew that Azura was a bit of a stubborn ass and couldn't resist a chance to vent at her husband. The part that made her even agrier? Rabastan seemed to find it all quite amusing, and she usually just ended up rolling her eyes and storming out.

"What a clever little monologue, dear. Did you come up with that all on your own or did Grant help you out there? Because we both know she can't wait until we finally give up on this pathetic excuse for a marriage and she can get her claws on you." Azura allowed herself a soft chuckle at the sight of her husband's face. "Oh, come now, Rabby, don't pretend like you're the victim here. Believe me, you were always horrible at keeping secrets."

The ironic thing about men?

Well, we won't waste time going through the list and get right to the point. They always went around acting as though they were innocent, and accusing their wives of disloyalty, while waiting for them at Oraia Spiti was a smoke-filled room where a cold glass of gin and their mistress waited for them. No matter how much she looked it, Azura was not naive. She knew the way the world worked. Where she was just an exception to women at large, it was simply against the nature of a man to be honest.

Bastards.

Azura sighed and said in the voice she only used when extremely pissed off [the one her husband knew the best], "Look, Rabastan, are we going to do this again, or are you here to actually advance the plot? And don't you dare answer with one of your little sarcastic remarks, because I know you're just full of them."

[Rabastan Lestrange]

"What a clever little monologue, dear. Did you come up with that all on your own or did Grant help you out there?"

Grant?

Ah.. Keely Grant.

No darling, I'm afraid I made that one up all on my own. Gods, as if he'd touch Keely. The girl doted on him, and only God knows why. His brother was prime meat, and Rabastan never failed to give her the polite cold shoulder.

She was a whore, same as his wife.

"Because we both know she can't wait until we finally give up on this pathetic excuse for a marriage and she can get her claws on you."

He shook his head, "I've got news for you darling, our marriage will not end." Divorce was unheard of, and simply was not an option within his family. Perhaps she was ready to toss her pureblooded heritage out the window, but Rabastan held pride very close to his heart.

He despised her, but it had been his mistake. He'd take it, but his efforts would not go unnoticed nor wasted. The marriage would not be broken.

She had no choice in the matter.

"Oh, come now, Rabby, don't pretend like you're the victim here. Believe me, you were always horrible at keeping secrets."

He shook his head once more, as a disbelieving noise came from the back of his throat, "That's how very little you know about me Azura. I don't fuck anything that asks politely. In fact, the last thing I fucked was you on our wedding night."

That had been a few years ago, and since then? Azura had shagged the Dark Lord dozens of times over, as well as over half the manor. And everyone knew it.

"Why are you even here? I would've thought your things would've been moved by now. The Dark Lord is a needy man you know, you must be within hearing range in order to catch his fingers snapping."

He had her under his thumb. It was disgusting.

[Azura Lestrange]

[Sorry it took me so long to post. My internet completely crashed and the Cox guy couldn't come until this morning.]

"I've got news for you darling, our marriage will not end."

"You've always been too traditional for your own good," she spat. But it was true - as long as Rabastan wanted the marriage [or, rather, the good reputation], he had it, and there was nothing Azura could do.

It was more fun being the disloyal wife than the liberated whore, anyways.

Things were more interesting that way.

"That's how very little you know about me Azura. I don't fuck anything that asks politely. In fact, the last thing I fucked was you on our wedding night."

Azura was tired of this whole thing. If her goddamn husband wanted to pretend everything was fine and dandy on the home front, he was her guest. At least she had the decency to admit otherwise while the company was private.

But he had been the one who had a say in his bride-to-be four years ago.

"As if that's what I even wanted," Azura retorted coolly, "Believe me, I would take a non-active wedding night over being fucked by you any day. And my pity goes out to those who recieved that pleasure before our marriage."

"Why are you even here? I would've thought your things would've been moved by now. The Dark Lord is a needy man you know, you must be within hearing range in order to catch his fingers snapping."

Ah, he had finally snapped.

Azura had been in enough of these little arguments with Rabastan to be able to tell when the little arrow on his mood meter had hit the red, and when that happened was about the time when he started mentioning the Dark Lord. It was amusing, actually, and this was the part Azura enjoyed the most.

She smirked and said, "If I remember correctly, Rabastan, I arrived here two days before you and was personally shown to this room. Of course it was a given that when you showed up you joined me, but if anyone's going to be moving out, darling, I think I'm right in saying it'll be you."

[Rabastan Lestrange]

[No worries]

"You've always been too traditional for your own good,"

Gods, she was so ignorant. The Lestranges were one of the purest bloodlines dating centuries back. They held tradition very, very close to them, they treasured it. He had been taught at a very young age his expectations, and what he was to do with his life. She obviously had not recieved the same teachings. She did not understand, and yet she was a Knight of Walpurgis.

She did not deserve the pure blood running through her veins.

"As if that's what I even wanted,"

Once again, tradition.

Had he wanted to anyway? Yes. Why? Because she was a gorgeous woman. That was before he really understood her true nature. It was a bit embarrassing now. How could he have ever wanted something so foul?

Good question.

"Believe me, I would take a non-active wedding night over being fucked by you any day."

Ouch.

An amused sort of snort came from him as he looked back over at her. He shook his head, "Merlin, you are such a bitch. That's such a nice, well-rounded adjective, it describes every aspect of you." She could be summed up in one word: Bitch.

Plain and simple.

"And my pity goes out to those who recieved that pleasure before our marriage."

Another amused chuckle, "Oh yes of course, because I happen to be one of the ugliest men to ever walk this planet, as well as the most disgusting. With appalling manners, and horrible hygiene. And have you noticed my weight? Stomach hangs over my belt." Sure, Rabastan was a big guy, 6'4 was quite a height. He also happened to weigh quite a bit as well, but that was certainly due to stature.

The amused expression fell from his face at her next little rant. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, before letting his hands fall to his side. He took a step towards her, "Now let me make something very clear to you Azura. I am the man, and you are the wife. You submit to me, and I dominate you. This is my room, my money, my possessions. You own nothing."

Bitch.