therosiest @ 2008-12-07T18:50:00

2008-12-08T01:24:16Z

ooc
bite me.

ic
Name: Druella Christianne Evelyn Margarite Black (née Rosier)
Age: Ladies never tell. She has three grown children, but hardly looks over thirty. Then again, Pureblood women do marry young. Her Hogwarts class ring puts her at 37 years old, but her beauty potions say 28 at the oldest.
House: The only House worth being in. (Slytherin, obviously; how else do you think she married into the family?)

History: Druella, much like the rest of the Rosier women of her generation, was one of those Pureblood girls who seemed to have been made for marriage. Pretty, composed, and capable of monstrous acts of gossip, Dru (as she was fondly nicknamed by the five whole people worthy enough of being her true 'friends', whatever that meant) filled out faster than her peers, and learned how to use her looks to her advantage. Despite the fact that the Rosiers, while not B-list Purebloods, were nowhere near the royalty of the Blacks and Malfoys -- and the fact that the Greengrass girl was older than her and highly favored for marriage to the second Black son, Cygnus -- Druella managed to sink her claws into him early. By her fourth year, his sixth, there was little dispute over the fact that they would eventually be married. Dru had already picked out the china.

Of course, this strange and unreasonable leap couldn't be attributed only to Druella's looks -- Joanetta Greengrass was fantastic looking as well, and with the benefit of age and therefore (though she wouldn't say it, Pureblood that she was) experience. Joanetta, however, had not been taught by her mother how to lie, cheat, steal, and backstab. Dru pulled strings, called in favors, and sent out nasty, nasty hexes. Poor Joanetta was cursed by bad gossip, bubotuber pus, incurable acne, failing marks, and Druella's constant presence, tsking quietly away and loudly lamenting the state of poor, poor Joanetta Greengrass. Whether Cygnus was drawn to Druella as a second choice or if he knew of her backhanded dealings and was impressed, her plan worked; they went to every ball for the rest of their Hogwarts careers together, and were married over the Christmas hols of Druella's seventh year, as soon as she had turned seventeen.

It was a perfect wedding. Druella saw to that.

They wasted no time in having children, Bellatrix being born only a few weeks before their first anniversary. At first, Druella was rather adverse to the idea of raising her children herself -- her mother, after all, had shunted her off to nannies until she was six or seven years old. Bellatrix, however, was something of a special girl; she became Druella's favorite after she bit Joanetta Nott (unfortunate girl, marrying that pimply mess) on the finger six times in the span of one hour. Druella took to taking her pretty baby everywhere, dolling her up in lace and ribbons. Bellatrix remained her favorite child, despite her unfortunate hair (Druella only wishes more of her children had taken the Rosier blonde, but, alas).

Druella would admit only in private that she has never cared for her second child. Andromeda was a much fussier, louder, more active baby, and Dru was having too much fun teaching Bellatrix rudimentary magic and showing her off to Joanetta Nott, who's firstborn looked sort of like a pug that had been in a trash compactor. Andromeda was unfortunate and sort of homely, with an unnatural and odd hair color and a tendency, after she had grown a bit, to spend her time alone or in the corner at garden parties. Her thirdborn, Narcissa, was much the same -- at least, when it came to being private. Narcissa, on the other hand, was beautiful enough to be mysterious, and had the Rosier hair that would make her a perfect bride, as far as Druella was concerned.

Well, as far as Druella was concerned, everything was perfect. Her children, her husband, herself, her wonderful house -- the only thing wrong, really, is the silly Black side of her family. Particularly Walburga, who seems to have some sort of unearthly obsession with the china. I mean, really.

Personality: Druella is beautiful and knows it. Everyone knows it. Goodness, she's perfect, isn't she? And so on and so forth. Druella is characterized by an incredibly and arguably warranted vanity. She spends most of her morning picking out what she's going to wear, and most of her day showing off how excellent she looks in it. It's been rumored that Druella is something of a slut, but that's utter nonsense; with a husband like Cygnus, who needs a love affair? Smirk, smirk, sashay off. Everything about Druella seems incredibly controlled, though not in a severe or tense way; on the contrary, Druella makes it known that she's not at all adverse to fun, and rather likes garden parties and tea parties and dinner parties and all sorts of parties. She is, as she is fond of reminding people, the perfect Pureblooded wife; pretty, loyal, social, and cold-hearted.

It's true; Druella would stab a knife in just about anyone's back for what she wanted -- she'd probably screw it around for good measure, too. Her control stems from her need for control, and her careful, deliberate, possibly maniacal planning. From her first year, before she had even hit puberty properly, Druella knew she would marry Cygnus Black -- knew it, planned it, and achieved it. She is a wicked matchmaker, partially responsible for several hookups both in her days as a student and as one of the matriarchs of the Black family. She has no problem sticking her nose in other people's business and fiddling around with their lives -- after all, darlings, Druella knows best. She's planned out everything, from her children's lives to her husbands career (not that she would in any way tempt any of his superiors to get dear Cygnus a pay raise, goodness, no). Bellatrix was to join the Death Eaters or the Knights of Walpurgis or whatever they're being called now and not get married until she was twenty four, but the appearance of the Lestrange family made Druella readjust her plans -- now, it is her intent to have both her daughter and her son-in-law join the cause. Her youngest, dear Narcissa, will marry young, as she did, and into a wonderful family where she will have one or two perfect children and be an absolute and utter doll (poor thing, just wasn't born with the vindictive spirit Bella was, but no matter). Andromeda will likely be a spinster, one of the Blacks that time forgot, or possibly marry a Greengrass or Avery or something and have six children and be perfectly miserable. To be honest, Druella couldn't care less.

Full of only half-false sweetness and a serious manipulative streak, Druella might not be a Black, but she certainly deserves to have married into the family. She has big plans for the next generation -- big plans -- and is not at all shy about nudging them in the directions she'd like. She does know best, after all. Why, she's perfect.

Reputation: Depending on who you ask, Druella is either the most lovely girl in the Black family or the most hideously cruel wretch. Either way, most people are agreed: Druella is undeniably beautiful. She, along with Walburga, shares the title of the prettiest, most composed, most perfect and lovely Black woman in the whole family. She's manipulative, but she's rarely judged on that -- let he who is without sin cast the first stone and all that. Druella can be anything from reviled to admired, though, as far as she's concerned, everyone just loves her to absolute bits.

Details: Druella is as slutty as possible without having an actual affair, and everyone knows it -- she's hardly subtle, and flirts with Cygnus' cousins, friends, bosses, nephews, whatever. She just finds it entertaining. She doesn't work, but is sharp as a tack, and manages the Rosier-Blacks' finances. She's incredibly judgmental. Dru and Walburga have been fighting over the family china for four years now, and still have not come to an agreement. She's fluent in (textbook) French.