Chapter 14

The days before Nicky's wedding were hectic and busy. Noelle didn't even have time to think about the loss of her mother. She was going to dress fittings and cake tastings almost every day. When she finally did have a moment to herself, all she wanted to do was sleep. She had a feeling that Nicky and her sisters were trying to keep her as occupied as possible, so she wouldn't dwell on the loss of her mother, but she knew that Nicolette had other reasons. She was keeping her busy so she wouldn't go off with Olivier. Noelle was inwardly grateful for this, realizing that she would never get Sirius back if Olivier was still in the picture.

Her bridesmaid's robes were the palest gold that Nicolette could find. They fit her as if the satin had been poured over her body. They were strapless and had a wide band of a slightly darker gold satin across the top. The hem had the same embellishment. Her flowers were bright yellow roses with solidago interspersed. She was wearing a pair of high gold strappy sandals to make her look even with Friedrich's best man.

Dietrich was Friedrich's younger brother, and he was twenty five years old. He was tall and blonde, with bright blue eyes that matched the sky. When Noelle had first met him, she had liked him instantly. He was as vivacious as Friedrich was serious. He also seemed to be a very talented wizard. He had graduated from Durmstrang as Head Boy, and was currently working in the German Ministry of Magic.

At the engagement dinner, he had toasted Friedrich and Nicolette, wishing them a long happy marriage. As Noelle gazed up at him from her seat next to Nicky, she could see that he was just as worried about this arrangement as she was. After the dinner, he had asked her if she would like to take a walk in the gardens. She had accepted and they had left the dining room together.

He was quick to get to the point.

"Does Nicolette love my brother?" he questioned.

Noelle shook her head slowly.

"No, she doesn't."

"Then why is she marrying him?" Dietrich asked.

"Do you think she has a choice?" Noelle replied incredulously. "She's in love with one of my best friends, but he's not good enough for her family. They'd never allow her to marry him."

"Allow her to marry him? She's seventeen, she doesn't need their permission."

Noelle raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that easy. If she defies them, she'll be disowned completely."

Dietrich still looked skeptical.

"You don't know what it's like, having to obey your parents no matter what they decide," Noelle argued.

"I don't see your father forcing you to marry someone that he has chosen," Dietrich replied with a glint in his eyes.

Noelle paused. "It's different for me. My father and I, we are somewhat estranged. He's already disowned me, and now I can do as I please."

"So why can't Nicolette do the same? What makes you so different?"

"Because she's not as strong as me. She would never be able to stare down her parents they way I did with mine."

"What about your mother? Are you still on speaking terms with her?"

Noelle's heart froze.

"No, I am not...she's dead."

Dietrich softened.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Noelle waved her hand as if to brush away cobwebs.

"It doesn't matter anymore. My father and I have begun to reconcile, but he will never force me to marry someone that I don't love."

Dietrich smiled at her.

"Am I to believe you have already found that someone, Noelle?"

Noelle blushed slightly.

"Oui, I have. But I must ask for his forgiveness now, I've hurt him terribly."

"What is it that you've done? Surely, nothing that he won't forgive quickly." Noelle raised her navy eyes and he could see the pain deep within them.

"I've betrayed him and he has every right not to forgive me. There is nothing that I could say or do to make his anger go away."

Dietrich dropped his arm over her small shoulders comfortingly.

"I'm sure that he finds it as unbearable to be away from you as you do to be away from him."

Noelle glanced at him quizzically.

"How do you know that?" she asked him.

"I can see it in your eyes. And I can see it elsewhere, too. I believe we share the same gift, no?"

Stunned, she could only nod.

"But you've just come into your abilities and powers. In time, you will be able to control them."

She nodded again hesitantly.

"They were my mothers. As she grew weaker, I became aware of them. I'm not sure I want this power," she confessed.

"Don't say that. They may be the best thing that's ever happened to you."

Noelle smiled.

"I've already been very lucky in my life. Sirius is more than any one woman could ask for. He's the other half of my soul."

She paused while she thought of Nicolette.

"Does your brother love Nicky?" she asked.

Dietrich was silent for a moment and Noelle could tell he was thinking hard.

"I think he's in love with the idea of her."

Noelle looked slightly confused, so Dietrich explained further.

"I think that he is in love with the fact that he is marrying a beautiful girl who happens to be a talented witch. I don't think the fact that she may not love him has even occured to him yet."

"She loves my friend very much. It's painful to see them being torn apart."

Dietrich raised an eyebrow.

"And it's painful to watch my brother falling in love with a girl who will never love him as much as he loves her," he said wisely.

Noelle smiled ruefully.

"I never really thought of how your brother might feel," she confessed. "I only thought of Nicky and what she must be going through."

"I feel for her, I really do. But will she be good to my brother? Regardless of how much she loves your friend?"

Noelle smiled softly and laid a hand on his arm.

"Nicky is the kindest person I know. She will do nothing that will cause him harm. I can't promise that she will love him, but she won't be cruel. She'll do what is expected of her."

"Why, when you will not?"

Noelle cocked her head and grinned.

"Because I am the troublemaker, she would never have done anything wrong if it wasn't for me."

Dietrich laughed.

"Somehow, I find that very easy to believe."

The night before Nicky's wedding, Noelle was in her bedroom making sure she had everything in order for the next days ceremony. She was in the middle of pressing creases from her silk robes when Etoile soared into her bedroom window. The owl unceremoniously dropped an envelope onto her head as he fluttered about the ceiling of her room.

"Thanks alot, cherie," she said sarcastically as she retrieved the envelope from the floor.

She slid her finger under the flap, not recognizing the handwriting.

Dear Noelle,

I need your help. I have to see Nicky one last time before the wedding. You understand. I can't just let her go like that. Please help me. I'll be at my aunt's house, you can owl me there.

Remus

She blew air out of her lungs slowly. How could she not help him, when he had been her first confidant? She tapped the letter against her chin as she thought. A plan sprung into her mind fully intact. Bending over her desk, she scribbled her plan on a small piece of parchment and sent Etoile back into the night.She hurried to her closet and changed into Muggle going-out clothes. Once she was fully dressed, she raced out of her room.

"Papa!" she called as she ran through the halls of her home.

"In here, Noelle," he answered from his study.

"I'm going to Nicky's. I'm taking her out tonight. You know, one last Girl's Night Out."

Her father raised an eyebrow at her.

"Make sure you two behave yourselves. I don't need to read about your adventures in tomorrow's Prophet, hmm?" he said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes at her father.

"Papa, of course we will. Nicky's getting married tomorrow, do you think she'd do anything to ruin that?" Noelle asked him innocently.

"Have fun and be safe."

Noelle grinned as she headed to the foyer to Apparate to Nicolette's home.

She appeared in the front circular driveway of her friend's house. Climbing the front steps, she rang the chimes.

Nicolette's butler, Garton answered the door. He knew Noelle well and smiled in delight when he saw who it was.

"Noelle, chérie, how are you? Enjoying England?" he asked.

"Hello Garton, it's so good to see you. Oui, I love England and Hogwarts, but I miss France and Beauxbatons. It's nice to be back for a visit."

The elderly gentleman smiled and held the door wider to allow her inside.

"Mademoiselle Nicolette is upstairs in her room," he told her with a dark look in his eyes.

"Merci, Garton. I will show myself upstairs."

Noelle mounted the stairs two at a time. Once she was on the first floor landing, she turned right and went to knock on the first door she saw. Behind the door she could hear angry voices.

"You wouldn't understand, Danielle! You have no idea how I feel!" Nicolette raged at her older sister.

"I don't? Do you think that I loved Armand when we got married? No! But love grows, Nicky. I love him now, and that's all that matters."

Noelle could hear the heart wrenching sobs that were coming from her best friend and she ached for her. Knocking sharply on the door, she turned the handle without waiting for an answer.

Upon opening the door, Noelle could see Nicolette lying in a heap on her bed. Her shoulders were shaking with her desperate sobs. Seeing Noelle enter the room, Danielle rose from where she had been crouched on the corner of the bed.

"See if you can get her to calm down, at least a little," Danielle asked softly before she left the room.

Noelle perched on the edge of the bed and rubbed her friend's heaving back.

"I can't do it, Noelle. I won't marry him," she gasped out between sobs.

"Just because you marry him does not mean he holds your heart, cherie. You will always love Remus, you and I both know that."

Nicolette picked her head up off of her bed. Her brown eyes were swollen and red from crying.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Nicolette asked suspiciously.

"Because you and I are going out for your bachelorette party. No arguments. Get dressed, I'll go talk to your mother." Noelle quickly left the room.

Within minutes she was back.

"All set. Are you ready?" she asked.

Nicolette gaped at her. "You're not serious? You only gave me five minutes!"

Noelle sighed and went to her friend's closet. She pulled a dark brown skirt and turquoise halter from their hangers.

"Here, wear this."

She dropped to her knees and searched the bottom of Nicky's closet, emerging with a pair of brown leather sandals.

While Nicolette dressed, Noelle tugged at her friend's long mane of dark brown hair. She didn't have her mother's talent with hair, but she was satisfied that Nicky looked beautiful.

"Come on!" Noelle grabbed her friend by the hand and tugged her out of the house.

"Where are we going?" Nicolette panted as she tried to keep up with Noelle.

"Don't worry about it," Noelle responded as she reached the center of the driveway.

"Hold on tight." With a quick spin, they disappeared.

Instantly they appeared at a house that seemed familiar to her. Nicolette gasped and her hand went to her throat when she realized where they were. Tears sprung to her eyes and she stared wordlessly at Noelle.

"You can thank me later," Noelle said, giving her friend a quick hug. "Now go. He's waiting for you."

Hesitantly, Nicolette knocked on the door of the guest cottage where the boys had stayed the previous summer. The door was flung open almost instantly. Remus stood before her, his light brown hair falling is his golden eyes as usual. Overcome with emotion, Nicolette fell forward into his arms.

"It wasn't enough, the night before you left. I had to see you again," he whispered into her dark hair.

"We mustn't be caught," she murmured against his neck.

With his knees going weak, he swung her into his arms and brought her into the house. He hurried up the stairs with her arms wrapped around his neck, kicking open the door of his bedroom. As he carefully lowered her onto his bed, she grinned up at him wickedly.

"Do you realize this is the first time that we've made love in a bed?" she asked him.

He laughed as he tugged his shirt over his head. Lying on the bed next to her, he smoothed her hair away from her face.

"I love you Nicolette. I don't care if you're married. He'll never be able to love you the way I do."

"I'll never love him, Remus. I've used up all my love on you. He may have me as his wife, but he'll never have my heart," she said, remembering what Noelle had said to her.

Remus pressed his lips against hers as he reached behind her neck to untie her halter. He quickly pulled the shirt over her head and buried his face in her bare breasts. She moaned in delight as he traced his tongue over her soft flesh. He devoured her with his mouth as his hands slid up her thighs and under her skirt. Finding the tiny lace thong she wore, he pulled it down her legs and tossed it onto the floor. He slowly began to trail kisses down her stomach to the waistband of her skirt. When he reached it, he flipped the material up and ran his tongue along the bottom of the waistband. His thumbs kneaded the smooth skin of her upper thighs and he delved deeper into her. Her cries were echoing in the small room, but it didn't matter. There was no one in the guest house to hear her.

When he was as she was as hungry for him as he was for her, he released the fastener on the back of her skirt and removed it from her body. Turning away from her slightly, he removed the clothes that he had been wearing and slipped under the sheets with her. She pressed her body eagerly against his, already knowing how he would respond.

"I love you so much Remus," she whispered into his ear as he began to enter her.

He was so centered on pleasing her and feeling the same pleasure from her that he could barely hear what she had said. All he knew was how much the woman beneath his body meant to him, and no matter what any priest said, she would be his wife in her heart.