A Daughters Responsibility

[Juniper Kyteler]

OOC: Just some backstory for Juniper’s relationship with her family, its loooong :P
Date: August 31, 2005

It was a hot day on Kyteler Estates and although the sprawling mansion was being magically cooled, Juniper's hair still somehow frizzed up. She sighed as she looked at her appearance in the vanity mirror in her bedroom. It was almost dinner time. The whole family was home, this was a rarity. It was summer so the weans were home from school and her father was miraculously not on a work trip. They were actually going to have dinner together. Quickly she ran a brush through her hair, her father expected them to be presentable for dinner. For the girls this meant wearing dresses or witches robes and making sure their hair was in place. No makeup was allowed although Juniper had a hidden stash that she did use when at Hogwarts, one of her secret ways of rebelling. She was a coward though around her father for she would never wear it in front of him, ‘some rebel’, she thought to herself. She was wearing a purple short sleeved summer dress that fell to her knees with her hair down for dinner today, she felt this was good enough.

Junipers room was very neat and tidy, Mopsy the house-elf made sure of that. The walls of her bedroom were decorated with beautiful tapestries and a mosaic of dragon scales framed in a golden frame. The room was lit up by a giant crystal candle chandelier. She had a huge canopy bed that had royal purple drapes all around it, the canopy top was enchanted to look like the nights sky with stars twinkling. Her bedding was also purple. Pillows of all sizes were placed at the head of her bed. On her bedside table she had candles, crystals, and a pile of books, her to be read pile that she was working on. In one corner there was a large bookcase, enchanted to fit any number of books. Next to the bookcase was a purple velvet chaise lounge, one of her many reading spots. In the next corner was a large wardrobe also enchanted to fit as many clothes as she wanted. It was full of gowns, robes, dresses, and cloaks. And in the final corner that was occupied was an armoire littered with potion ingredients and equipment that she would have to clean up. She had been practicing some potion making to prepare for school. This room was her safe place, the only place she could escape the coldness that her father emitted, sometimes his indifference cut like a knife. She knew he missed her mother dreadfully and the fact that she looked a lot like her I’m sure wounded him more than he would admit. He had always been aloof and strict, but Navira, Juniper’s mother, had brought out a softer side of him. A side no one else could bring out, a side that has not been seen since she passed away five years ago. With one last look in the vanity mirror, Juniper decided it was time to head down to the dining room.

She made her way through the long hallways of the mansion and down some spiral stairs covered in red velvet carpet. She reached the large double doors that lead to the dining room and took a deep breath. She wondered if other girls her age dreaded family dinners this much. She pushed the doors open and entered the room. Aster, Willow, and her father were all already there. Aster and Willow, her older brother and younger sister, gave Juniper big smiles which she returned. Edilius looked Juniper up and down, and seemingly approving her appearance, nodding at her to take a seat. He was at the head of the table of course; Aster was on his right side and Willow to his left. The table was so large though, there was considerable space between everyone. She took a seat next to Willow at her assigned seat. Willow was wiggling her legs under the table, she was nervous too.

As they waited for the appetizer course Edilius broke the silence by asking Aster about his schooling. Once he was done with his response Aster turned to Juniper and asked her about her schooling knowing his father would not ask. “Oh it’s fine, I’m doing well in my studies, Potions can be tricky sometimes but I’m getting by.” Her brother then made the mistake of asking her about her friends and any potential crushes. Juniper blushed, she blushed easily but responded as confidently as she could “I don’t have many friends and definitely no crushes”. Her father stared at her with his piercing cold blue eyes. They were emotionless and impossible to read. He broke into the conversation stating, “You should be trying to socialise with the Sacred Twenty-Eight, find yourself an Avery or a Macmillan, get close to them, it’ll make it easier when the time comes for you to choose a husband.” Although the Kytelers had stopped the practice of arranged marriages, marriage was still expected and the parents of both parties were heavily involved in the matchmaking. If one parent disagreed with the match it would be over no matter what the potentially engaged couple thought. Aster winced at Juniper and mouthed the word ‘sorry’ to her, apologizing for bringing the subject up, he had only meant to tease her. Juniper gave him a sad smile, it didn’t matter that he brought it up, it was impossible to get through a dinner with her father without him bringing the topic up and a fight occurring that often lasted long into the night.

Looking her father squarely in the face with courage she always forgot she had until she needed to stand up for herself, she stated “I don’t want to think of marriage yet, I just turned fifteen, I don’t even know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow let alone who I am going to marry.”
Edilius would not accept her refusal, “Juniper, I don’t ask much of you”- ‘you ask everything of me’ Juniper thought sharply to herself – “stop being so ungrateful. Your mother and I were arranged to be married and we turned out just fine….better than fine actually. Now I’m not forcing you into an arranged marriage, but it is your responsibility as a pureblood witch to continue on the pureblood line. Theres not enough of us as it is, we need to increase our population and the only way to do this is through having more offspring. Aster will marry and carry on the family name; you will marry and eventually when she’s older Willow will also marry. You know this and yet you still argue.”
“Because it’s not fair. What about what I want?”
“The continuation of the pureblood line supersedes what you want.” She was still unable to read his eyes but she could have sworn she saw a flash of anger in his eyes at her response.
She exhaled loudly through her nose and repeated herself “It’s not fair. I want to graduate from Hogwarts and start a career first, then maybe, if I find the right person, get married but that’s not for a long time, please accept this.”
“You don't think anything is fair Juniper Rose. Accept this Juniper, if you do not marry in a year or two after Hogwarts you will be disowned, you will never see anyone in this family ever again and you will be cut off, this I promise you. You have had everything you have ever wanted served to you on a silver platter, you could not survive without this family’s funds.”
She stared at her father; mouth gaped opened at his threat. He made it every time they fought and every time it pained her, she imagined that this was what the Cruciatus curse felt like. “Father, please. I’ll resent you for the rest of my life if you force me to marry anyone.”

A silence fell over the table, Edilius’s anger almost palpable in the air. Aster was glancing from his father to Juniper and then back to their father again. Willows legs had stopped moving and she was staring down at the table. Then Mopsy burst in with trays full of appetizers. Edilius did not stop staring at Juniper, his eyes digging into her very soul causing her to gulp. She felt nauseated, sweaty and scared. This dinner was not going well. Finally, Edilius broke the silence with words so harsh they made dragons look tame “Resent me all you want as I resent you. Leave my sight Juniper. You are a great disappointment.” The finality in his tone made it clear that the conversation was over and that she was to leave the table. She gaped at him and his words, a single tear sliding down her cheek. Slowly she stood up and walked out of the room, holding her shoulders high. It wasn’t until the door was closed behind her that she slumped and let out a silent sob and then broke into a run back to her room.
Back in her safe space she broke down and cried for the rest of the night, refusing to eat the food that Mopsy had brought up to her for she had no appetite, she felt like she had lost control over her whole life and her father had been so cruel. Tomorrow she would return to Hogwarts, likely not seeing her father for some time, and they would leave on these horrible terms as per usual. The night before her return to Hogwarts was full of tears, anger and resentment. ‘The school year ahead has to be better than this….it just has to be’ she thought to herself, her last thought before falling into a fitful sleep.