Irma Black nèe Crabbe was livid. She was absolutely fucking livid.
How dare Alphard treat her like she was a dog?
How dare he look at her as if she was worth less than the dirt on his shoe? What right did he have to threaten her like that?
She knew exactly why he thought he could treat her like that. She was a woman,so she was automatically worth less than him.
Oh,how she hated that mentality. She hated how women were treated like an object to be traded,how they were used for political and financial gain. She hated how their worth lied only in how submissive they were,how beautiful they were and how many babies they could have.
Her father,the late Benjamin Crabbe, was one of the many men who believed in this thinking.
All her life,her father had barely paid attention to her,for he preferred to dote on his sons rather than acknowledge his daughters.
She had gotten more marks in the tests the tutors assigned than all her brothers,but instead of her father looking at her with pride as she had hoped,he had punished her and told her to remember her place beneath her brothers.
Had warned her to never outdo or outshine her brothers ever again,or the répercussions would be severe.
It had not mattered that she was a prodigy in Ancient runes or Potions,as she could never pursue a career in these subjects anyways. She was to become a wife to a rich pureblood man and later take care of his children,preferably sons.
What would the people say if they heard that that Lord Crabbe's daughter had her nose stuck in books,that she paid more attention to her lessons rather than her looks?
It is unseemly for a woman to think so much,no man will want you if you do,her mother used to say as she gently pried the Ancient runes book from her daughter's hand so she could go take her etiquette lessons.
Her brothers used to bully her and her sister,and when they would go to their father with bruises and cuts,he would only huff and tell them to stop bothering him with their meaningless complaints.
All her life,she had been told that she had less worth than her father and brothers,for the one sin of being born a woman.
She was not supposed to have thoughts of her own,only agree with what her father and later her husband would say.
For a child such as Irma,this was quite a difficult task. Still,she managed to manipulate everyone into thinking she was the perfect daughter,if only so that all their expectations would be placed on her and her little sister would have more freedom than she ever did.
Although she had slowly started to resent the mere concept of a man,she smiled and played the part of the dutiful daughter.
That is,until her sister she was just twelve,why did they do that to her? was betrothed to the 32 year old Ronald Lestrange.
Everyone and their mothers knew that he was a useless alcoholic who got mad and threw a fit at the slightest of things not going his way.
He also shared her father and brother's thoughts on women.
She still remembered that they had been sitting and quietly eating dinner while her father and brothers discussed a new bill regarding the Hogwarts curriculum(she had pretended not to pay attention but had been listening intently) when her father broke the news.
Her little sister had been white as a sheet before she timidly excused herself. Irma thought of going after her but her father called her to his study to dicuss the potential marriage with a Black of the secondary branch.( more like inform her,as if her opinion would ever be taken in consideration)
The next time Irma saw her little sister,she had been lying in a pool of her own blood with her wand at her side.
Even after all these years,she still missed Walburga immensely.
That was when Irma decided that she hated the male gender,absulotely *detested* them.
That had been the reason she had never tried to make friends with her 16 year old husband despite his attempts and had responded cruelly. She didn't like him when she was fifteen and she sure as hell didn't like him now.
When she found out she was pregnant and that it was a girl,she had been over the moon. She had prepared lovingly for her little angel and when she had finally come into the world,Irma had named the baby after her sister.
(Pollux had let her do so,despite it going against Black tradition. If only she'd looked more into the matter than just brushing it off as him not caring to carry on the tradition through a daughter. She never found out that he had wanted to name her Aquila.)
Then Pollux addressed her as his daughter,and she immediately thought that he was claiming her as his property,as her father had done with her.
She mistook his pride and love for something far more dangerous.
So she did what she did best. She manipulated him.
She pointed out the similarities Pollux had with his father and frequently manipulated him into thinking he was just like his abusive father because whether he wanted to be or not,it was in the blood.
In her defense,Irma had never seen the difference between the brutes both their fathers were and the gentle and caring Pollux. He was a man. Of course he was just like her father and brothers and cousins and all the other stupid cruel men she had the misfortune of meeting.
So Pollux,in fear of hurting his child and becoming just like his sire,started avoiding Walburga. He spent more and more time doing work and visiting his Cousins.
Irma had always laughed at the pathetic 18 year old. Now her daughter would be free from the influence of those wretched men.
Then the Black and Crabbe families pressured them to have another child. They wanted a 'proper heir'.
So she was once again pregnant.
When she found out she was having twins,and that one of them was a girl,she had grinned from ear to ear.
The families could have their stupid heir,and she could have another daughter. The girl and Walburga would be just as close as she and her sister had been,she was sure.
Then she had a miscarriage with one of her twins,and the remaining tissue was absorbed by her other baby,the boy.
She had found it disgusting that this thing had ended his sister's life before it had even began.
And so,on 17th October,Alphard Astrophel Black came into the world kicking and screaming.
Pollux,who had seen how much she doted on Walburga,had thought that she would treat Alphard just as she treated Walburga. It was his own mistake,really.
To think that she would treat that boy the same as her little princess.
He would grow up to be a cruel and heartless man who thought that all women were beneath him,she was sure.
And she had been right,hadn't she? How he had treated her,as if she was a disgusting animal,had been proof of that.
She touched her neck,where just a few hours ago Alphard's fingers had been threatening to choke her.
To kill her. Just like he killed his sister.
The same way her father had been the reason for her sister's death,Alphard wasn't afraid to be the reason for hers.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to join her sister in the afterlife. To be free of the cruelty of men.
She had done her job,had showered Walburga with love and affection and made sure she would not bow to any man.
Her granddaughters were the same. They would not change themselves for any man. If there was one thing that Druella had done right,it had been the way she had raised her daughters. Never once had it crossed her mind that Cygnus may have also had a hand in their upbringing.
Yes,Irma thought, It would not be so bad to die,to join her sister on the other side.
Away from her controlling father,cruel brothers,manipulative husband and heartless sons.
She could stay with her sister for all eternity. I am sure that Walburga has missed me,Irma thought.
Before that though,she would spend some time with her lovely daughter and talented little granddaughters.
Yes,she would do that first. And then,after she had made absolutely sure that no problems would arise for Walburga after her death,she would end her life,once and for all.
Just you wait,Walburga. I will be joining you soon,so very soon.