A/N: Submission for the Houses Competition

House: Ravenclaw

Year: 7

Category: Drabble

Prompt: [Event] Being late for their own wedding.

Word Count: 789

Also part of the quotey pairing competition and challenge on HPFC:

Pairing #6: Remus Lupin / Narcissa Malfoy

Quote #26: "I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun." - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

I do not own any of JKR wonderful wizarding world, I am just borrowing it for a time.

Narcissa looked at herself in the mirror. What was she thinking? She had turned down an arranged marriage with a very respectable wizard to elope with the man she loved. They had met in Hogwarts, she was some years older than him but it did not matter to them. They met in secret, as friends at first because he was so young. The same age as her cousin Sirius. They had to keep it a secret at school as her fiance's spies were everywhere. Lucius had made sure that she was 'protected' after he graduated from Hogwarts; she was rarely alone but no one suspected a simple study group in the library was actually a lot more than that.

She smoothed down the crisp white dress she wore. They had agreed to marry the Muggle way to escape her family's attention. She did not feel simply pretty or beautiful in this dress, she felt radiant. It was a shame that only he would see her in it, only Remus, but it was how it should be.

He was not Muggleborn, but he too faced persecution, and knew his friends would not understand, especially her cousin Sirius. The Dark Lord had just been defeated and despite his grief, Remus had insisted that they wed right away. They only lived once after all.

The door opened and Narcissa gasped as she saw in the mirror who stood in the doorway.

"Cousin," she said, her voice restrained, "what are you doing here?" She started to edge over to her bag where her wand lay hidden.

"I can't allow you to do this," Sirius said, closing and locking the door before pointing his wand at Narcissa.

"What would Lucius say?" he continued. She could see the rage in his eyes, and her hands grew cold. "Surely he would not want his darling future wife to be married to someone else, in a Muggle ceremony to a werewolf no less," Sirius said firmly.

"I love Remus, Sirius," she said softly, "I want to marry him."

"Lies," he said, eyes squared in on her, "You are just trying to hurt him. You marry him, Lucius finds out… bam, one less werewolf in the world." The air around them seemed to still; she wondered whether this outburst came from a desire to protect his friend or a desire to prevent someone he hated marrying his friend.

"I would never let that happen," she said, turning to face him, "I left Lucius, I broke off our engagement."

"You think that will make a difference?" Sirius continued, voice laced with venom. "Even if you do love him, which I don't believe…do you honestly think that Lucius would let you be? He loses a lot by not marrying you."

"Sirius, I know we have had our differences but we both love Remus, and I would rather die than let anyone hurt him, please… let me marry him," she said, edging closer and pulled the wand away as Sirius crumpled before her.

"I just lost James and Lily, I won't lose Remus too, I have to protect him."

Narcissa hugged her cousin for the first time ever. "I promise to help protect him." She looked at him directly in the eye as she said it, a look of determination crossing her face. Sirius simply nodded tearfully.

"Now, you have made me late to my own wedding, it is only right if you give me away!" she smiled, offering him back his wand and her arm. He tucked the wand away in his jacket and wiped the tears away with his sleeve.

"I would be honoured," he said, leading her to the aisle of the muggle chapel where Remus stood at the altar. A look of surprise crossed his face for a moment as he saw Sirius but was soon knocked speechless at the sight of his bride. He never knew that he would be so lucky.

The wedding march began, and Narcissa strolled arm-in-arm with her cousin. It was a poignant affair, and Remus was devastated that James and Lily were gone, but he was grateful at the chance for their own happiness.

They reached the altar and Sirius took her hand and kissed it. "You do look radiant Narcissa," he said, with a gentleness she did not know she had as he gave her hand over to Remus, who smiled shyly and kissed her cheek.

"I think the wait was worth it," he said as they turned towards the priest. Sirius stood proudly watching his remaining best friend and cousin, he was glad that he got to be there for them as they needed to live every day to the fullest and hold onto happiness when they found it.