After a few minutes, Sirius decided to take his chances and returned outside. He was a little surprised not to have run into Malfoy, but he couldn't have cared less. Malfoy was not difficult to handle if Sirius felt like playing dirty. However, he hated to fight in front of girls. It must've been his upbringing. Yeah… that had to be it, he chuckled to himself. By the time he located James, the sun had entered the sky behind the eastern mountains. James was livid with Black for leaving him all alone with Remus all night. Taking care of a werewolf was hard work for two animagi, but for one it was nearly impossible.
"Where were you all night?" James accused. Sirius explained how he had to get the Slytherins out of the Forest before they caused any problems, and how things had escalated, and James nodded through it all. When Sirius had finished his story, however, James looked perplexed. "Damn. That must've sucked, Padfoot. I can't wait until I get my hands on Malfoy. He'll pay for this!" James muttered protectively. "I'll deal with it, Prongs. Don't worry." Sirius placed a restraining hand on his friend's shoulder. "Yeah, I guess you should get the glory, right? That bird of his seems to always cause trouble for you, doesn't she? What a pain." James added. "Yeah. Total pain in the arse." Sirius answered, halfheartedly.
Reid was definitely not a pain to Black. In fact, he actually respected her. Fancy that, a Gryffindor actually liking a Slytherin! Sirius remembered how she healed his back for him. Her touch was so gentle; it was unexpected coming from anyone from that house.
Lucius never returned to the common room that night. Instead, he took a trip off-castle grounds. Malfoy visited Voldemort. The Dark Lord wasn't surprised to see him, and welcomed him in, offering him tea. "She said she'd think about it." Lucius said guardedly, waiting for the backlash. "That wasn't the answer you were supposed to get." Voldemort seemed relatively calm, which made Lucius even more nervous. "It looks to me like you are confused. You work for me. No one else, Malfoy. Not her, and certainly not yourself. I don't care what measures you have to take, you are going to make her a Death Eater. That doesn't necessarily require being a good boyfriend, do you understand?" Voldemort glared down at Lucius, silently communicating that this was his final shot.
Reid didn't fall asleep easily once she got back to the dormitory. Thinking about everything that had happened that day kept her up for hours. She had a pretty good idea about what, or more 'who,' attacked her in the Forest, but she thought it would be better if she just kept it to herself. Reid also worried about Lucius. Sometimes he could be so horrible… but then again, you don't have to like someone all the time to love them. She wondered how tightly Voldemort had him wrapped around his finger. Would she be safe with him, now that he knew she wasn't enthusiastic about being a Death Eater? Reid's mind kept bringing her in circles, and before she knew it, the sun was coming through the drapes of her four poster.
At breakfast the next morning, Lucius apologized, offering no details about his disappearing act the night before. Reid didn't mention her walk back to the castle with Sirius either, hoping things could get back to normal between them. And they did. Reid immersed herself in preparation for the upcoming N.E.W.T.s. Lucius was afraid to bring up the Death Eaters; he knew that he could always use N.E.W.T.s as an excuse for Voldemort. The weeks passed by quickly, and soon enough, Reid was packing for semester break. She stood in front of her trunk, trying to remember what else she might need to bring home. She frowned and concluded that she had everything, and ambled down to the common room. "Did you get an invitation to Lestrange's wedding?" Lucius asked, brandishing a piece of gold parchment enchanted with gold confetti and classical music. Reid laughed at his disgusted face as he crumpled it up and kicked it under the table. "Yessssss..." she sighed. Bellatrix Black was one of her least favorite people in the world. When she was still at Hogwarts, Bella would constantly tease Reid. She knew she was probably only invited out of politeness, and wasn't exactly thrilled about the wedding. "You know, I could really use a date." Lucius winked. "I wonder who I'll ask…" he looked around the common room to emphasize, and Reid folded her arms. "Good luck with that, then!" she huffed sarcastically. Lucius smiled at her and took her into his arms. "I wouldn't think of going with anyone else. But, Rudolphus asked me to be in the bridal party, so I might not get to sit with you."
"That's fine. I'll probably be with my parents anyway. You know how they can be. They want to hear my life story every time I see them." Lucius kissed Reid and she went back up to her dorm to pack a few beauty essentials for the wedding. It would, after all, take place over semester break, and she didn't want to have to use her mom's makeup.
Reid and Lucius boarded the Hogwarts Express together, and Lucius went ahead to find a compartment for them while Reid said goodbye to some Slytherin girls who envied her for going to the wedding. The only ones leaving on the train were those invited to Bellatrix and Rudolphus' nuptials, and they were from the richest of the pureblood families. As she moved on to find Lucius, she had an eerie feeling that there was someone else in the narrow compartment with her. She stopped walking and looked around, squinting, knowing that there was no one there that she could see. "I know I'm not crazy," she murmured, waiting for whoever it was to reveal themselves. "Come on, Avers. You know they'd kick my ass if they knew I was on the train. This just makes it easier for everyone." Came a whisper from behind her. She wheeled around, still not facing anything, but if she looked really hard, she could distinguish the outline of an invisibility cloak. "Smooth, Black. But don't tell me you're going to try to get into the wedding." She looked skeptically at the fuzzy transparent shape in front of her. "Course not. I need to pick up a few things from the house, and I figured everyone would be tied up with Bellatrix's latest cry for attention." "Suit yourself," Reid replied and left Sirius to find Lucius' compartment.
The actual ceremony was vomit-worthy, Reid decided. Rudolphus' best man had been taken into Azkaban the previous day, so Lucius was promoted on short notice. Reid thought he filled the role perfectly, and nearly swooned when he mouthed 'I love you' to her from the altar. Bellatrix was nauseating to watch as she wept through her vows, dabbing at her eyes with her wand to dry the tears every couple of seconds.
Once the reception came, Reid couldn't have been happier for an excuse to get away for a few minutes. She went to the women's loo and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Engrossed in making faces at herself, Reid didn't notice when Regulus Black, of all people, walked in and started laughing.
"What the hell? This is the WOMEN'S lavatory, Reg!" she cried, embarrassed that he saw her making those ridiculous faces. "I know. But, it was worth it if I get to see this!" he replied, imitating her faces. She couldn't help laughing at him, and she walked out of the room with Regulus behind her. "Wait!" he said, and she turned around. "You talk to Sirius at school, don't you?" he asked, lowering his voice to a whisper. She nodded, and he handed her a small box, barely the size of an inkpot. "Give it to him, will you?" Regulus pleaded. Again, Reid nodded, and put the box in her purse.
When she returned to the reception hall, she looked around for Lucius. A very drunk Rudolphus pointed her in the direction of the patio, and she walked out, searching for Malfoy.
Reid's expectant smile immediately turned to slack-jawed horror as she took in the scene before her. No, no, no. She thought she must have gotten it wrong. But she hadn't. Lucius was leaning across a candlelit table, kissing Narcissa Black. When they finally noticed her presence, Narcissa was the first one to push away. Blushing profusely, she began to offer an explanation. Her words fell on deaf ears as Reid couldn't take her eyes off of Lucius. What infuriated her was that he looked as calm and detached as ever. Not even guilty. He stared back into her eyes, offering not so much as an apology.
He broke his stare and turned to the door from which Reid had come. There was a loud commotion coming from inside, and the three ran to the door to see what had happened.
Lucius was the first to react, grabbing his wand and quickly jumping into the crowd. The scene was almost too much to take for Reid.
The whole room was a mass of screaming confusion and explosions. Aurors had broken into the private reception with the hopes of catching a few Death Eaters. Of course, the accused had fought back, and now there was chaos. Reid knew she had to get out of there, so she took her first instinct and returned outside to the patio. She ran across the manicured lawn in her tight fitting formal robe and lost her shoes somewhere along the way. Looking back, she saw fireballs smashing through the windows, and more people running outside. The Black home wasn't too far, and she knew everyone would be too caught up to look for her there. All this, and she still had no idea what she was going to do about Lucius and Narcissa!