Eight Vows
A/N-So this is my entry for annaisadinosaur's deepest darkest secrets competition. My character is Mrs. Zabini. I have always wondered about her even since I read the part, "…a famously beautiful witch for a mother (from what Harry could make out had been married seven times, each dying mysteriously and leaving her mounds of gold…" So now I get to write about her! Enjoy!
The First Vow
She was just a witch from a poor family. She didn't get good grades, didn't have lots of money. But she was popular, very popular. So she used it. She dated many boys, so many boys, but she didn't love any of them. She just dated them to get more popular boys, richer boys to notice her. It worked. Finally, the richest boy and Hogwarts noticed her. She stayed with him, not breaking his heart because for the time, she couldn't do anything better. But he loved her, he adored her. After they would finish kissing he would run his hand through her hair and say I love you. And she would look happy and mutter I love you too, like she was too happy to talk. And then, when they kissed again, her eyes were open, wide open. He made her promise they would love each other forever and ever. She said they would. Just after the graduated from Hogwarts, he proposed. She said yes, tears shining in her eyes, but the whole time she was thinking she could do better.
Months later, she was wearing the white dress, but it was just another dress to her, meant nothing at all. He stood there, saying his vows. Then she said hers.
"I do," Months later, he became sick. She told him his family thought that she was trying to poison him that she wanted him to die. She cried in front of him, something she'd been perfecting for months. He believed her. He told her to leave him and she noticed him rewriting his will. He died days later, and everything was left to her.
Second Vow
She took up a job at the Ministry, became an assistant. Her boss was rich, very rich. She set her sights on him next. He was the best she could do for now. She asked him out to lunch to talk about "business" and ended up kissing him right in the middle of Leaky Cauldron. He proposed six months later. Another white dress, this one set with lace. She couldn't stand lace, but he had insisted. She was only nineteen, he said, and lace kept her beauty, her innocence. She had wanted to laugh. She was not innocent. He repeated the vows, a look of love in his eyes.
"I do," she said her voice breathless. But she didn't mean it. She never did. Months later, he died. She got most of his gold.
Third Vow
She was at a party on her twenty-first birthday. She looked gorgeous, everyone said so. A man asked her to dance. She was about to say no, but then she noticed he was wearing a silk suit. Silk means rich to her. She says yes, and they dance the night away. She laughs and giggles at all the right times. He smiles that stupid grin that men have and pulled her close, telling her he knew he was crazy, but he thought he loved her. She whispered back, telling him she loved him too. Another beautiful white dress, this one big and poufy. He was really rich, she found out. His brother having run away, he would inherit all the gold from his family. He said his vows.
"I do," she said, and he kissed her. She didn't feel a spark. She never did. He died months later, but this time it wasn't because of her. He had been murdered, some man murdered him. She cried in front of everyone acted like she was so sad. His will was read. She had inherited all his gold. The next day, she left.
Fourth Vow
She was twenty-three, and running out of money. She was desperate. She was walking along the streets in Diagon Alley, when she bumped into someone. He had bought some things, and they spilled everywhere. She said she was sorry, and smiled a radiant smile. She offered to buy him all his stuff again, and some coffee. He said no to the stuff, but yes to the coffee. So they went to a little coffee shop and drank coffee, just talking for hours. Six months later, they were engaged. Another white dress, this one slim and tight. He said his vows, she said hers.
"I do," she said. She still brought him coffee every morning. Always added sugar, and something else. He grew sicker and weaker. She cried, pretended to be devastated. Right before he died, she kissed him one more time and let a single tear fall from her eye. Right after he died. She wiped her tear, and left the room. She knew he would leave her lots of gold. She knew he was rich right away from all the stuff he had bought that day she had met him.
Fifth Vow
She was twenty-five, working at a dress store. She modeled some for her boss when asked. He was the photographer, taking all the photos. He asked her out to coffee. She agreed. She asked him if he was a photographer for a living. He said no, he just did it for fun, he didn't need a job. She drank her coffee, and told herself he would be next. They were engaged about nine months later. Another gorgeous white dress, this one being silk, as he said it brought out the color in her eyes. She had smiled, thanked him, and wondered how she was going to show her face in that hideous dress. But she acted like she loved it. He said his vows, looking at her with all the love in the world.
"I do," she said, her voice filled with emotion, but her heart filled with nothing. He died later, in a car crash. The brake pedal had been missing, no one knew where it had been. She cried upon hearing the news, and then late at night, burned the pedal into the flames. The will was read. She didn't receive as much as she normally did, but she received enough.
Sixth Vow
She was twenty-seven, working as an assistant to a famous wizard inventor. He was much older than her, but he loved her, and he was rich, so she let him love her. He proposed by carving will you marry me into the moon. She said yes, that she had never seen anything so sweet and thoughtful in her life, when she didn't feel that way at all. She was wearing a white dress like all the other times, but instead of a veil, she wore something of his own creation. The rings were given, he had also made them, and then were ugly, wires that he had engraved I love you on. She said that they were beautiful, and kissed him under the moon that still had will you marry me carved on it. He said his vows.
"I do," she said hers, but it still never meant anything to her. It never did. He died in a lab accident about six months later. She had miraculously survived, because she wasn't in the lab when it happened. She got the will, all the money was hers. She used one of his machines to take out the will you marry me on the moon.
Seventh Vow
She was twenty-nine and people were starting to get suspicious of her. She had decided that this time, when she married, it would have to be final. So he would have to be the best, he would have to be perfect. She got a job as a maid, working in the house where a very rich man that was her age lived. He finally noticed her and asked her to a ball. She said yes, and they danced for what felt like the whole night. They went to many balls over the next year, and then he proposed. She said yes, and she was surprised to find that this time, her voice was breathless and she wasn't faking it. He said his vows, full of joy and happiness.
"I do," she said. And this time, she thought that she was actually in love, something that had never happened to her before. A year later, they had a baby, a boy named in Blaise. She was happy, and content. She loved her new family. She wouldn't have thought it was possible, but she felt love. He died a few months later, even though it wasn't her fault. Some man named Voldemort had killed him when he refused to join the dark side. She cried and cried, real tears falling. She didn't know love could hurt like this. Maybe that's why she stayed away from it her whole life.
Eighth Vow
Her son was only a year old when he died. He looked just like his father, so she cried when she saw him sometimes. But he was only eighteen months, so he didn't understand. He was perfect. She vowed that day to never marry again, not because people were realizing what happened, not because of anything except for the fact that she loved him, and would only ever love him forever. She kept his name as her last name forever. Once she had made this decision, she took out all of her old wedding rings and burned them into the fire. Except for one. She kept his.
A/N-I don't actually know why I decided to write that in third person, I just wrote and it came out that way. So I really hoped you liked it and wish me good luck in annaisadinosaur's contest!