Chapter 11
May 29, 1982, it was the day of the wedding for Cassandra and Richard, they were being married in Nova Scotia at one of his father's many properties. This particular estate was chosen due it being on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The ceremony would be held at sunset creating a picture-perfect moment, at least that is what she was being told. Her whole wedding was taken from her, her mother and future-mother-in-law planned everything from the wedding colors to her dress. She felt this day was no longer special to her and Richard, it was becoming an alliance between two pureblooded families.
She stood in her bridal suite looking in the mirror at her dress, it was indeed a beautiful dress almost similar to Princess Diana's dress who had been married two years prior to Prince Charles. She knew that was never the intention to have a similar dress to a muggle princess, but it was just the latest fashion which is what both mothers wanted. Her dress was made of ivory silk taffeta and antique lace, her train was twenty feet long with a cathedral veil lined with lace, her sleeves were long and tightened at the wrist to match the style of the time but she appreciated this due to it covering her dark mark, this was the only detail she actually liked even if she did not mention it to the mothers or the designer. Besides the sleeve length this was not the wedding she wanted she wanted everything to be simple, a small wedding with close friends and Richard's parents but now this was the wedding of the year with every noble blooded family in the wizarding communities from around the world, she was able to convince the parents to add Remus, whoever remained of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Slughorn. Her parents really did not like inviting people outside their circle, but she threatened to not marry Richard if they did not allow it, this was not true she still would have married him anyway but she needed something for herself. His parents just wanted upper-class wizards and witches of noble blood but they never directly mentioned this request she just knew from the constant questions of asking if she was sure she wanted her friends there. She insisted she did and everyone dropped the topic even if they did not approve, she hoped having friends of her own would provide some comfort to her, she could have expressed her disappointment in the wedding plans to Richard, but she did not want to become a problem with her constant issues with something.
She placed a hand on the necklace around her neck as she examined her reflection, it was her family's vault, she was feeling trapped by the pressure her family was placed on her again to make sure this wedding happened. The pressure she was under was making her want to run away, canceling the wedding despite her love for Richard. She had hoped she had broken free from the pureblood supremacy as well as her parents' control specifically her father's, but placing her in the family of the Banks brought everything, especially her parents back to her in a fake manner of them showing their support and love towards her. They acted as if they truly cared for the girls when she knew they did not, her mother did a little but only in private never in front of her father. She ripped the necklace from her neck breaking the clasp throwing it across the room breaking it as it hit the floor. She fell to the floor crying with her dress pooling around her. A knock came from the door, "I would like to be alone," she spoke through tears.
The door opened despite her asking to be alone, "Cas?" a familiar voice asked her.
She looked up from crying in her hands looking at the person at the door through the mirror seeing Remus enter, he was wearing a tan suit that was very worn and wrinkled. A smidge of joy filled her eyes seeing him, "Remus…" she sounded thankful, "You came."
He shut the door and went to her kneeling at her side, "I would not miss the wedding of one of my closest friends…there is still a wedding, yes?" he asked seeing the tears falling slowly down her cheeks.
She sniffled as he handed her a handkerchief, she carefully dried her tears mouthing thank you then placed her hands on her lap, "I do not know," she tried to hold back the tears forming, "I can't do it. This goes against everything I am against. Everything. I tried to develop my life away from all of this, but if I marry Richard, I am just going down the path that has been planned for me since day one. A wealthy pureblood…I love him I do, but…"
"But what? That is your answer. You love him. End of discussion, this wedding may be the wedding everyone else wants for you, but you are getting the man who is right for you. He loves you. He loves those girls and by tomorrow he will be their official guardian to them. He is not your parents, the two of you will raise your children how you both see fit. Not the way you both were raised. Your children will be strong, independent people who will understand to love and support others no matter how different they may be from them."
She had stopped crying listening to him, "But nothing is how I wanted. The color is wrong, the flowers are wrong. Everything is wrong…well the dress is nice, a little bigger than I planned but I guess I get the princess moment Hallie wanted," she giggled softly looking at her reflection again.
He chuckled then an idea came to him, "What colors did you want?"
"Blue…forget-me-knot blue. That is actually the flower I wanted."
He stood up offering her his hand, "That is what you will get," she stood with him after accepting his hand.
Her eyes filled with joy, "Oh, Remus, thank you," she hugged him.
He hugged back and placed a kiss on her cheek, "Anything for you, Cas. Now finish getting ready I will see you when you walk down the aisle."
He left the room, she swiftly moved from the mirror stepping onto the small balcony that overlooked the ceremony location, she watched as everything before her changed from pink roses to blue forget-me-knots. It may not be the exact wedding of her dreams, but someone finally listened to her desires. She remained on the balcony for a moment her turning her head slightly to see the girls playing in the grass laughing as they chased each other, she closed her eyes to enjoy this moment hearing the children laugh and the ocean waves crash with a warm, sea breeze blew around her.
She returned inside to the mirror looking at herself once again, she was not pleased with the look of this dress. It was not her. She grabbed her wand and began to strip the dress of the puffy sleeves and make them straight long sleeves with simple lace around the cuffs. She took away the cathedral veil making it a simple veil still lined with lace and a little bit of sparkle, she examined the actual dress herself with a flick of her wand her dress went from a big ballgown to a trumpet style dress hugging her body. She did a twirl, "This is me," she smiled happily at her new look.
Just before the ceremony, she stood around the corner waiting for her father to walk her down the aisle, "What have you done to the wedding?" he asked her angrily.
She looked at him, "I made it the wedding I wanted."
He eyed her, "You are going to ruin this alliance, you stupid girl!"
"This is not an alliance. This is a wedding between two people who love each other it just so to be the perfect marriage you wanted for me, but this what you see on paper; a wealthy American pureblood wedding the daughter of a wealthy English pureblood. For me, I am marrying the man who supports my values and beliefs. He just so happens to be exactly what you have always wanted."
He raised a hand to strike her when he was thrown magically backward hitting the ground with a loud thud, she turned to see Richard approaching them angrily, "Do not lay hand on her!"
"Richard… I was not going to…" her father stuttered from the ground.
"SILENCE!" he yelled, "You and your wife will leave this wedding now! You have caused Cassie too much pain. I do not know how we allowed you to be apart of this wedding but you will not be welcomed into this family. Any children we will have will not know either of you. I will be sure everyone knows how you treat your own blood, especially the women. If the English pureblood or anyone over in England is similar in one value is that those here in North America or even around the world share is that you do not harm women especially women of your flesh and blood.
Her father stood up, "You will not receive her dowry," he said standing up trying to appear more threatening.
Richard scoffed, "As if I care about your fucking money. I do not need it nor do I care to have it. I want to marry Cassie because I love her."
Cassandra's mother came around the corner with his parents, "What is going on?" she asked since they were already running behind for the ceremony, "Cassandra!" she gasped, "Your dress what has happened? First the flowers and the colors now your dress."
Richard looked at her, "You and your husband are leaving. You are no longer welcome into our lives; I do not want our children to know this type of man. A man who is willing to abuse his own flesh and blood simply for her viewing things differently than he does."
Her mother stood stunned, "You will regret this. Mark my words," her father snapped angrily grabbing his wife roughly and leaving.
Richard's mother spoke softly trying to remove tension from the situation, "This is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding…"
"It is close enough to the wedding ceremony," he reminded looking at his fiancé.
Cassandra smiled at him thankful he saved her once again and hopefully for the final time then it occurred to her, that she did not have anyone to walk her down the aisle, "I do not have anyone to walk me down the aisle."
As if on cue Remus approached them, "I will Cassie."
She let out a sigh of relief, pleased with this idea, "I like this much better."
Remus looked at the sky as it was nearing sunset and then mentioned to the group, "If we are going to have a wedding on time, we better get going."
They all nodded agreeing, his parents going to their seats Richard looked at Cassandra with love in his eyes, "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I cannot wait to call you, my wife."
"I cannot wait to call you, my husband."
"If either of you would like to be husband and wife, we need to get you both married," Remus reminded.
They laughed, "See you soon, my love," he said and went to wait for her at the altar.
Remus offered her his arm, "Ready?" he asked.
She gladly accepted it, "Ready."
They waited for the music to start hearing the girls giggle as they waited to go down the aisle as the flower girls. The music began and the girls proceed down the first, she took Remus' arm and they walked down the aisle together. The guests were confused as to what was going on some exchanging whispers with the person beside them. They reached the altar; Remus placed a kiss on her cheek then put her hand in Richard's before taking his seat with the girls as Richard escorted her to where Dumbledore was, she had asked the original officiant hired by the parents to step down before the wedding to allow Dumbledore to marry them due to her having a closer connection she felt to him than some random noble wizard who she did not know.
Dumbledore looked at the guests, "You be seated, he told them then smiled kindly at the couple as they held each other's hands, he cleared his throat before beginning to look back at the guests, "We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments, and to cherish the words, which shall unite Cassandra Elizabeth Rice and Richard William Banks in marriage," he looked once more at the couple before continuing, "Marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, and who trust in that love, who honor each other as individuals, and who choose to spend the rest of their lives together. This ceremony will be a symbol of the promises that will make you each stronger as individuals and as partners. No matter what challenges you face, you now face them together. No matter how you succeed you will succeed in them together. The Bride and Groom have some words to share."
Cassandra looked at Richard, "I had a set of different vows prepared, but they were not my words they were prepared by another…I have never been the best at describing how I truly felt. I did better to push away than let people in. I built walls around myself to protect myself, but I met you on that September day just outside my apartment in the city and you knocked down my walls. Which those of you who know me is not an easy task. You are the person I never knew I needed, the person who I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with. You love me and my girls, you respect my beliefs and there is nothing more that I could want in a partner. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life growing old beside you."
Richard had tears in his eyes, "Cassie, I may have only known you eight months now but the moment my eyes saw you I knew you would be someone special to me. I did not know how special in that moment you would become; I am glad I found out. I love you and the girls so very much. You are my best friend. I promise to laugh with you, cry with you, and grow with you. I will love you when we are together and when we are apart. I promise to support your dreams and respect our differences and to love you and be by your side through all the days and nights of our lives."
When they finished Dumbledore looked back at the guests, "Before we continue does anyone object to the marriage between Cassandra and Richard," he looked over the crowd.
Severus was there at the wedding in the back, he had been invited due to his name being on the list of people still living from the Order, Cassandra had just simply passed the list onto a servant to address the invitations since she did not suspect there would be a name on there she did not want at her wedding. McGonagall was seated next to him at Remus' request he assumed Severus was invited due to being on the list and if he showed up he wanted to be sure he did not ruin the wedding since he was the birth father of Periwinkle. Severus started to stand, but McGonagall pulled him down, "Do not ruin this wedding, Severus," she hissed at him.
"She does not deserve him."
She gave him a side-eye glance, "That is not your decision to make. She has chosen to love him and marry him, let her go." He remained seated not pleased to watch another woman he cared for deeply marry a man he did not wish for her to marry.
"No objects? Wonderful!" Dumbledore cheered, "Do you Cassandra, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in matrimony, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," she said lovingly looking into Richard's eyes.
"Do you Richard, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?"
He also had a loving tone to his voice looking into her eyes as well, "I do."
Remus stepped forwarded handing them each a ring, "Cassandra and Richard, have chosen rings to exchange with each other as a symbol of their unending love. As you place this ring on Cassandra's finger, please repeat after me."
Richard carefully placed the ring on the tip of her ring finger repeating after Dumbledore as he slid the ring gently onto her finger, "With this ring, I thee wed."
Cassandra did the same motion repeating after Dumbledore, "With this ring, I thee wed."
"By the authority vested in me by the Canadian Ministry of Magic, I pronounce Cassandra and Richard husband and wife. You may now kiss!"
The two kissed with her wrapping her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist, they pulled apart smiling with their eyes full of love and passion then turning to their guests who arose from their seats; they motioned for the girls, they went to them then ran with them down the aisle with the children laughing thinking they were playing a game of chase.
They met with their photographer at the end of the altar who wanted pictures, "Mr. and Mrs. Banks, that was a lovely wedding. Shall we take some pictures of you both together then proceed into pictures with the children seeing as we already have the individual pictures from before the ceremony. Unless you would like to retake your individual pictures, ma'am, with your new dress."
Cassandra looked at their photographer, "Yes, let us start with the pictures involving us and the children I do not know how long we can keep Holly and Peri's attention. Hallie loves getting her picture taken but the other two."
The photographer nodded, "Yes, of course. This way into the gardens we can get some pictures with the flowers and some with the ocean in the background." They followed him into the gardens while the guests entered the house for the cocktail hour, Remus followed the family through into the gardens to help with the children. They had Cassandra take pictures in her new dress with each individual girl followed by a group picture of her and the girls. They added Richard once they had those pictures then his parents to get one 'big' family picture. Before they moved on to just the bride and groom pictures, Cassandra asked that Remus join her for some pictures he did the pictures with her then took the children inside to be with the nanny that was hired for the evening to keep them occupied while the reception occurred. They would leave with Cassandra and Richard for their honeymoon since she did not trust anyone to watch them for the week-long honeymoon they would be on. They started the bride and groom portraits, he leaned into her and whispered into her ear, "Perhaps we can sneak away during the party and begin the honeymoon early."
She gave him her flirtatious eyes, "Oh, Mr. Banks, I would greatly enjoy that."
"Mhmm…is that right?" he spun her into a dip kiss which the photographer loved, Richard kissed her passionately, "Maybe we will add another addition to our family soon?"
That quickly changed her expression as he pulled her back to a standing position, "Um…I do not know if I want a child so soon. We still have very young toddlers…" she saw the disappointment in his eyes and added to her previous statement, "I suppose though we could not prevent it. We get pregnant we get pregnant if not then that is alright the time will happen on its own."
He nodded a little disappointed she was not ready for children of their own, of course, he loved the girls but he was a few years older than Cassandra, he wanted to experience what it was like to have a newborn not just pick up when they are a year and two years old. He realized this was a conversation they should have had before the wedding he still would have married her, but now they were seeing differences, "If you want to wait, we can, but I like the idea of trying but not preventing it."
The photographer gave a cough, "Shall we continue the portraits inside for the cake cutting and other reception activities?"
The two looked at the photographer, "Um…yes," they both said feeling a little awkward from having such a personal and private conversation in front of his parents and the photographer, and headed inside instantly switching from feeling awkward to content.
The photographer got their entrance into the reception with everyone cheering as they entered more her friends than anyone else in attendance, "Mr. and Mrs. Richard Banks!" the lead singer of the band announced, "The couple has chosen a muggle song for their first dance," the band started playing 'I Only Have Eyes for You' by The Flamingos. Photos were taken as they slowly danced around the dance floor together, the song ended and the room had small delicate claps clearly the upper class did not approve of a muggle song being chosen as the couple's first dance song.
Their heads were placed against one another's as they danced together for their first dance, "We have time for children," he whispered to her, "I want our own. But we have time, perhaps in a year or two we can rediscuss children."
"I agree and I do not agree. Yes, I really want to wait for children and enjoy married life to you, but I would love to have the girls close in age. The twins will be two this summer…maybe we should just not prevent it and let nature decide for us. We get pregnant that is great, but if we don't that is alright too. I took a fertility potion to have Peri I don't know if I will be able to have one that easily without one."
He gave her a gentle spin returning her to his arms, "That is our plan then like we agreed upon in the garden. We can have all the spicy fun we want and if it results in a perfect little blessing then that is great if not well, we just keep having fun."
She laughed, "Perfect plan."
He leaned in to kiss her, "Perfect plan," he said as the song ended.
The night continued full of dances between the guests and the couple, she shared her father-daughter dance with Remus which did not last long because he had two left feet, unlike Cassandra who had been classically trained as a young girl in ballroom dancing due to her class status. They went to cut the cake; it was an eight-tiered cake with white buttercream with vanilla cake and strawberry filling, the outside of the cake was decorated with the wedding flowers. They took the cake knife, gently cut the cake together, and placed it onto a floating plate. They each took a smiling piece but instead of eating it they smashed it in the other person's face, they laughed before taking an actual bite and then letting the waiters there serve the cake. He grabbed a napkin wiping the frosting from his face, she cleaned a majority of it from her face but decided she should go freshen up her makeup and make sure she had everything off. She exited the ballroom going upstairs to her bridal suite again, she took a seat in front of the vanity smiling at herself as she touched up her makeup.
The door opened just as she was finishing, "You really want to get that…" she turned in her chair to see Severus, "What are you doing here?"
He just stared at her beauty, "You look beautiful, Cassie."
She stood from her chair, "Thank you, but you did not answer me. What are you doing here?"
"I was invited."
She shook her head, "No…I did not…wait you are a part of the Order," she sighed, "No. You were not supposed to be invited to my wedding. This is a day I am supposed to be celebrating with my now husband not you trying to develop this love triangle."
"Love triangle? I never said I loved you."
"Then you are stalking me? You will not know Peri not that I am saying you are her father."
He groaned approaching her, "Fine I love you. Is that what you want to hear? That I do not want you to be married to a man who does not deserve you. I spent seven years being your friend, we developed stronger feelings once I…"
"Once you lost Lily. I am aware I was there, but I told you when I last saw you that I am not a second option for you. I loved you once but you ignored every form of contact I tried to offer. You ignored my letters saying I had something to tell you or news to share, you ignored it all. Even if Peri is yours, again not saying she is yours, but if she was why would I want a man who ignored her existence for years? I have a man now who loves her like his own."
Severus said not a single word but kissed her roughly. She wanted to push him away, but she found herself wrapping her arms around him unable to break away. He led her towards the bed placed in the room, he turned her from him unzipping her dress then spun her back towards him kissing her once again less roughly but more passionately letting her dress hit the floor leaving her fully unclothed since she was wearing nothing underneath the dress. She still did not push him away as he lowered her onto the bed removing his shirt. He moved down her body, but suddenly stopped hearing footsteps he scrambled off of her without a word he put his shirt back on then apparating out of the room leaving her naked on the bed. The door slowly opened, she quickly stood and grabbed a robe off the bedpost. It was Remus who was entering the room, "Um…" he just looked shocked to see her dress on the floor and her wrapped in just a robe.
"I was…"
He shook his head, "Nope…nope. I do not need to know you were preparing yourself for the wedding night. Nope. I just came to tell you that your children are getting antsy and would like to go to bed, so if you would like to return to your wedding reception, I suggest you come downstairs again to toss the bouquet that way the girls can go to bed."
She nodded, "I will be right there. Give me just a minute."
He shut the door leaving, unable to even look at her. She got redressed quickly and then returned to the party holding her small bouquet of the wedding flowers sprinkled with baby breaths. She went to the stage where the band was, "Ladies and gentlemen it looks like it is time for the bouquet toss. If I could get all single people to the dance floor, please," there were very few single guests who participated, the girls were in the front.
Cassandra turned her back to the guests, she did a couple of fake tosses to get everyone more excited but she ended up turning to face the guests again and got off the stage. She kneeled in front of her daughters splitting the bouquet into three sections handing each girl a piece, little did she know when Periwinkle turned seventeen, she would be engaged and not by her own choosing. For now, though Periwinkle was simply a three-year-old little girl loved by her mother and adopted father. She hugged the girls and then sent them off with the nanny to go to bed.
The rest of the night continued with dancing and drinks before the newlyweds decided to retire for the evening. They never left the estate since it was too late in the evening, but they were showered in rose petals as they exited the ballroom and headed up the stairs. They were to spend their wedding night in the bridal suite, but as they stood outside the door, she changed her mind and wanted the groom's suite. He was confused as to why but took her to the groom's suite anyway. She did not want to spend her wedding night in the bed where she was nearly fully intimate once again with Periwinkle's father.