Dedicated to Celinarose. My Kenmare Kestrel team-mate-roseshaped!kestrel-zombie!fish-gal over at QLFC. I know you probably expected this, but hopefully it isn't quite what you expected. haha. Because you encouraged this and well, it was going to be dedicated to you anyway.
Un-beta'd (because apparently people do this thing called sleep? yeah, i dunno either. crazy)
This was the time. The day that Parvati had waited for, fretted for, and cried for.
This was her sister's wedding.
Ravenclaw to the heart, her sister had planned it herself. Elaborate and true to the spirit of an Indian wedding. There were lights that hung high from the ceiling, connecting to each corner of the room. Flickering slowly like little fireflies, they had made it their duty to stand guard over the guests and refreshments. Many of the women were dressed in dark blue sarees with silver dotted patterns that shined under the light of the firefly designs. Each colour was a deliberate jab at the bride's own House at Hogwarts.
It was truly a work of art that her sister had made.
Parvati could only sigh in delight. It was no wonder that her sister was in the House of the intelligent and wise.
...
"What the actual blo- ow."
She adjusted a well-aimed heel onto her husband's foot.
Parvati listened to her husband's hiss of pain in satisfaction and walked forward proudly. She nodded to many of the people she knew and to quite a few people she didn't know. Her many blue bangles jangled merrily at her side like a —
"Like a ghost from Hogwarts."
She twirled around, scowling, "Pardon?"
Blaise pointed at her arm, "You sound like one of those ghosts from Hogwarts with the chains around their wrists."
"And you sound like an old man, " she retorted. "Can't you just appreciate the beauty around us?"
"What beauty?" Blaise stared at the ceiling. "Right. The lights are alright. The costu-" He coughed into his sleeve at her murdous glare, "The dresses are alright." He waved his hand at the tables. "But this is just too much."
In the center of each round table were dedicated to clay candle lights. Often painted to match the colour-scheme of the rest of the event. Each one was flickering cheerfully as if to reflect the cheerful atmosphere of the wedding reception.
"The candles are too much?" She asked incredulously.
"Obviously I wasn't going to point out the other things wrong with this place because I have survival instincts."
Parvati was about to roll her eyes when she spotted one of her many aunts heading towards her with a smile. She darted forward excitedly, "Auntie!"
Blaise followed her a few steps back, watching silently as the two women hugged and chattered together.
Auntie took a glance at him. "Body-guard?" She sounded skeptical, but pleased. Parvati flushed. Many times when she and her sister had been young, they had been almost forced into having body-guards before entering Hogwarts. Unfortunately, the war hadn't helped in that regard either.
"No, no. Husband." She smiled brightly which only faltered slightly as her aunt's demeanor changed. Almost drastically. It was to be expected. Parvati twisted one of her bangles as she watched her aunt approach Blaise, who - to his credit - was taking things remarkable well considering half of her family hated the fact she had married someone with such close connections to the other side during the war. Her father's side, however had lived in India for the duration of the war and longer. They had no clue what the Zabini family name entailed.
She twisted her bangle even harder against her skin. Auntie was from her father's side... so...
Auntie peered at Blaise, who looked like he was trying not to sigh at this middle-aged women sticking her face near his face.
Finally, to Parvati's relief, the woman smiled. "I like him. Very good-looking. Nice catch, Parvati."
Parvati flushed; Blaise smirked. As Auntie turned back to her, she spotted Blaise mouthing at her smugly; Still got it.
After Auntie had passed her with a final touch to the shoulder and whispered good job! she rolled her eyes. Hurray. Her husband could pick up relatives at weddings. She was so worried for their marriage.
Not.
"Do I have to worry about you running away with one of my family members?"
"I think the only worry you have to have is one of them kidnapping me and taking me to India." Blaise commented, skillfully avoiding one of her cousins running across his path. "Because I am just that good-looking."
"Yes. I just married you because you were handsome." Parvati replied skeptically. Merlin, where was her sister tonight? She tried to peer over the refeshments, but it was hard to see anything.
Not to mention... Her husband's arm had started to wrap around her waist. "And I married you because you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen." His voice was sincere that she could feel a light blush start to appear on her cheeks.
"Is that why you kissed Padma at the Christmas reunion?" She retorted innocently.
Sigh
Blaise rested his head on her shoulder. "You two look exactly the same."
"So you could easily fall for my sister?"
"What? No!"
"Uhuh." Parvati untangled herself from his arms. "Go eat some food, dear." She almost left him to go searching for sister until she caught the look on his face and restrained a laugh. "You had some of the sandwiches, didn't you?"
"The only thing normal in this place and they ruined it by putting spicy food inside."
Parvati patted his cheek fondly. "Remind me to cook you some proper food some time. Your tongue is too delicate for strong Indian cuisine. Naive boy."
"If I remember our honey-moon correctly then naive boy was definitely not the term you used."
Could she smack him without drawing too much attention? Probably not.
"I'm referring to food."
"So was I."
Smack.
"Owww."
Parvati gave a small mock-gasp. "Look at the attention you drew to us! People are looking."
"You hit me!"
She ignored that. Like she did with most things that she didn't like.
"Anyway. I'll have to make you some proper food next time I cook. You hardly know any of our wonderful foods."
Blaise raised an eyebrow. "I eat chicken masala just fine."
"Pleeeease." Parvati laughed. "That's a common curry that we made for people who aren't used to our cuisine. But I shall convert you to the right stuff."
"By sticking curry leaves in my mouth?"
"That was my sister, idiot."
"It was?!"
"Oh, Merlin. I'm glad you at least married to the right one."
...
He wasn't replying...
...
"Right?!"
"Never mind that. Where's Padma?" He twisted around to look behind them.
"Don't change the subject! And I don't know. She probably ran off to an early honey-moon." Parvati grumbled. It was very likely. Her sister wasn't well-versed in the socially acceptable behavior. "No matter. You were late to our wedding too."
Blaise tapped a finger against his chin in thought. "I was in the St. Mungos before our wedding."
Parvati grinned despite herself at the memory. She finally gave up on finding her sister in the crowd (her wedding had never been this big! ugh) she settled for collapsing in a nearby chair and staring at the lights above wistfully.
"That was because you tried to see me before the wedding." She shook her head. The pattern on her skirt that glittered every time she moved. Ah. So pretty.
"And your sister hexed me while I was climbing into the window." Blaise finished with pained grimace.
"We had to called off the wedding for a few hours and I almost thought I was going to get married at St Mungos. " Now that had been terrifying to imagine. All those late-nights, giggling with Lav over their future perfect weddings and for it to be in the hospital? She would've never heard the end of it from Lav. "But luckily, you only sprained your wrist."
Pause
"I'm sorry."
Parvati snapped her head around to stare at Blaise, who was silently watching the crowd around them. Blaise never apologized. Much less for things that happened in the past. And they had laughed off the wedding accident ages ago.
It was Padma's fault anyway.
"What for?" She moved to the chair next him. To hear him over the noise or whether it was just because she wanted to be closer, she didn't know.
"Don't think I haven't seen the way you've been greeting your family and looking at this place." He gave her a wry grin. "I'm sorry you weren't able to get the wedding of your dreams."
He added absently, "Because, contrary to my avoidance of the subject, I know my mother is a handful and you don't like her."
Parvati flushed. She hadn't said a word about that!
"You were forced into my family's expectations and left yours for our wedding. And for that, " his dark eyes met hers; almost regretfully. "I'm sorry."
Parvati tried to speak, but strangely enough, her throat seemed rather closed off. With small ahem she reached to grab her husband's hand.
"You know, me and Lav used to stay up and giggling about our future weddings all the time." She let out a small laugh. "I admit, I wanted a proper Indian wedding. I wanted... " She waved her hand around them, "I wanted all of this for me. I'm not going to deny that selfish streak I have."
Parvati stressed heavily on her next words. "But... most importantly, I wanted my family to see me marrying the man I loved."
She leaned up to press her lips against his briefly. "And as far as I am concerned, I married him. My family lost out on that and it's their lost."
Blaise stayed silent and reached up to wipe her cheek. "Stop crying." He ordered softly. "You'll ruin your make-up and I'll never hear the end of it."
"You made it special." Parvati tightened her grip on his hand. "That makes my wedding perfect."
"You are going to make me more arrogant than I already am." Blaise warned her.
She reflected on that for a moment and just shook her head. "Kiss me." Parvati ordered him.
That he did; they both decided not to mention his hands shaking as he did so.
..
...
"Parv!"
"Padma! Finally!"
"Come on! We are taking pictures next and I want you and Blaise to be in the next one."
"What the actu- oww."
"What's wrong with him?"
"He loves your dress."
"Oh! Thanks, Blaise."
"No... problem."
He leant down to whisper to her.
"You know, I might actually claw my eyes out if we ever visit your grandparents."
"Blaise. Not everyone in India makes a habit of rolling in glitter."
"Could've fooled me."
"Shut up and smile."
"Yes, dear."