DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Another snippet from the cancelled fic "Sugar". Takes place a few years after "37mm".
"Lying there with a halo in her hair
She cried
There are feathers everywhere
But it's fine
You do this all the time." -Panic! At The Disco, "From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins"
-- There Are Feathers Everywhere --
Narcissa was helping Bellatrix put the final touches on her hair and makeup.
A group of chattering guests walked passed the open dressing-room door and Bella could have sworn she heard the words "the Dark Lord" among their whispers.
No, what is he doing here?! Why? This is my wedding, he can't be here... he can't ruin this!
She didn't realize her hands were shaking until Narcissa pointed it out to her.
"What are you nervous about?" Narcissa asked, with equal measures of curiousity and concern.
She couldn't tell Narcissa what was really wrong any more than she could have the Dark Lord kicked out of the church. Rodolphus had probably invited him, not knowing... Of course, she'd never said anything to him about it, either. Their relationship had grown distant and forced. They were only getting married now because they were both pushing thirty and they knew they were each other's last chance at a respectable pureblood marriage.
"Tonight's... our wedding night," Bellatrix said quietly.
"Oh, Bella, it won't be much different from any other night," Narcissa said, laughing.
Nonplussed, Bellatrix started, "But tonight we're going to-" And then she realized. "You were sleeping with Lucius before you got married?!"
Now it was Narcissa's turn to be shocked.
"Oh my God, Bella, you mean you're still a virgin?!"
She wasn't, but it was true that she'd never made love with Rodolphus even though they often spent the night in each other's beds. After she'd had her innocence stolen, the fooling around and the snuggling and the kisses and eventually everything physical between them had stopped.
-end-