Chapter 61: Wedding Preparations
Blackmoor, Essex, England
July 31, 1987
Leonis rubbed tiredly at his eyes in a valiant attempt to force himself to become more alert. He had spent his previous night at Gracewood Hall where he attended the joint birthday party of his cousins, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. The two boys had been born a day apart with Neville born on the thirtieth of July and Harry born on the thirty-first of July. Since Harry and Neville were not only cousins but good friends as well, it was decided that they would have a joint birthday party that year. The reason for this change of birthday tradition was because of the preparations for Sirius Black's Wedding to Alicia Abbott nee Vaisey.
He was still mystified as to why members of the family kept watching him, waiting for him to have some sort of problem with his father marrying the former Mrs. Abbott. Granted, he didn't know Alicia very well yet, but she seemed very nice. He liked Hannah and felt protective of her. He figured that was what a big brother was supposed to feel for a little sister. He was four months older than Hannah, so that made him her older brother. It counted!
He had no problem with Sirius marrying Alicia. He thought that they would be happy together. He hoped so. He wanted his father to be happy. Besides, it wasn't like his father and mother could be together. His mother was happily married to Lord Macmillan. Leonis liked it that way. He loved Malcolm Macmillan. The man was his mother's husband and the father of his beloved little brother Ernest. Leonis wouldn't have Ernie if his mother hadn't married Malcolm. For Ernie alone, Leonis would have happily tolerated Malcolm, but the man was a genuinely kind and loving person whose affection for Olivia was so all-consuming that it had extended to her first-born child, even though Leonis wasn't his. Malcolm had always treated Leonis with love and respect. Leonis might be young, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that to have a person like Malcolm Macmillan in your life, it was rare, and it should be treasured. Aunt Cassiopeia had done a good job in making sure that Leonis would not be a stupid boy. So, he would cherish Malcolm, and likewise should Alicia prove to deserve it then he would cherish Alicia too. He hoped that Alicia would make his father as happy as Malcolm made his mother.
It did help that he got a little sister out of the bargain.
"We shouldn't have stayed awake so late last night," Dudley murmured as he took the seat at the table beside Leonis. They were seated at a great round table in the Conservatoire at Blackmoor where Lady Black had decided the children would have breakfast. Most of the adults had already eaten, and they were hard at work in various rooms, attempting to make the great Mansion ready for the grand wedding.
"You were the one who decided that we should tell each other scary stories," Harry grumbled from his position in the seat beside Dudley.
"I didn't hear you object," Dudley pointed out.
Leonis perked up a little in amusement as he listened to the cousins who were raised as brothers, banter. Many of them had spent the night at Gracewood Hall the previous night. They had been rudely awakened in the early hours of the morning and ordered to bathe and dress because they were needed at Blackmoor. Leonis, Neville, Harry, Dudley, Ernie, Draco, Theo, Blaise, Dane, Scorpius, Stephen, and Michael had been forced by their personal House-Elves to bathe and change into the clothes they presented. Then they used the floo to travel to Blackmoor.
A small groan sounded from his right and he stole a glance at Draco, who was seated beside him. Draco was resting his head on his folded arms. "Not so loud," the future Lord Malfoy moaned. "It's too early," he complained.
Blaise, who was seated across from Leonis, seconded that motion. He was leaning back in his chair, sleep glazed golden brown eyes barely taking in the scene around him. "Dudley's right, we stayed up too late," he said.
"Some breakfast will help wake you up," a voice from the doorway said. Leonis turned his gaze slowly and smiled slightly when he saw their older cousin, Nymphadora Tonks coming toward them. She took up a seat at the table and smiled at them. Following her were Hermione and Eleanor who swiftly took up empty seats at the table. Hermione took the seat next to Harry and Eleanor took the seat on the other side of the table in between Neville and Blaise.
"Good morning Dora, Hermione, Eleanor," Leonis said politely and the others mumbled similar greetings to the ladies who had joined them.
"What is on the agenda for us today?" Ernie directed his question to Nymphadora. "We won't be any help with the decorating," he said with a puzzled frown. "Our mothers and Aunts will just shoo us out of the way," he added.
Leonis nodded along in agreement with his maternal half-brother. From what he had already seen, the ladies of the family seemed to have the decorating well in hand, well minus the parts where they argued over flowers, colors, and so on. He didn't really understand why it was such a big deal. In any case, shouldn't his father and his future step-mother have already made those decisions?
Nymphadora smirked. "Right you are, Heir Macmillan," she said cheerfully. "We won't be part of the decorating committee. Instead, a worse fate lays in wait for us," her voice lamented dramatically.
Beside him, Draco raised himself up to a full seated position and narrowed his gray eyes at Nymphadora. "I think you are having far too much fun dangling our fate before us in cryptic terms," Draco stated.
She laughed and gave Draco a smile full of warm affection. "Aww baby Cos, you didn't get enough sleep last night, did you?" Her question was rhetorical so none of them bothered to answer her.
"Fittings," Hermione said just as breakfast platters began to appear on the table. A moment later plates with napkins and silverware appeared directly before each of them.
Leonis chuckled as Theodore uttered a curse at their appearance since it forced him to sit up straight instead of the half leaning and half laying posture across the table he had previously enjoyed.
Harry groaned. "As in dress-robes?" he asked.
"Yes," Hermione said simply as various cups of milk, juice, and a pot of tea appeared on the table near to Nymphadora.
"But we have dress-robes," Dudley complained.
Nymphadora giggled. "Not the type fit for a wedding you don't," she corrected Dudley. "Aunt 'Cissa says that none of you have dress robes fit for a wedding, particularly one of this magnitude."
This wasn't news to Leonis. His Aunt Cassiopeia had insisted that Kryn take his measurements five days ago because the esteemed ladies of House Black had unilaterally decided to have all their dress robes specially designed. It had been many years since the Black family had enjoyed a Black family wedding and they were determined that the family members would only wear a one of a kind original. To that end, Polaris Black had been commissioned to create their clothing. Polaris was a distant cousin to Leonis. She was four years younger than his father. She was a descendant of Arcturus Black I, the member of House Black who had moved his family to the continent a century ago. His descendants had been thriving there ever since. Polaris was the second of three daughters. Her elder sister, Soleil Black, was a Professor at Beauxbaton's academy. Her younger sister, Ascella Black, worked for his Uncle Remus at his shop in the Coeur de Lion. Polaris was a renowned fashion designer with a long list of high society clientele, both Wixen, and Muggle. Leonis had overheard Aunt Cassiopeia and Cousin Narcissa speak of Polaris. Both women believed that she was perfect for designing their clothing for the joyous event and that she would do them proud despite the short timeline that they were giving Polaris.
"So, that's why Aunt Petunia had Dobby take my measurements? It was for dress-robes for the wedding?" Harry asked.
Nymphadora smiled at Harry. "You got it kiddo," she said before taking a bite of her french toast. As per her usual preference it was practically swimming in maple syrup. Leonis liked Maple syrup but not that much. He didn't like the bread saturated in it.
"Well, it makes sense," he said after he listened to a few more grumbles from his family members. "We wouldn't want to dishonor father by not looking our best," he said.
"But Sirius wouldn't care about that," Harry protested.
"No, but it might offend Alicia," Leonis said after a moment of thought. Harry was right, of course. His father might now adhere to the Old Ways, but he was not a stickler for the rules. He wouldn't really care that Harry, Leonis, and the rest of them were wearing an old set of robes, so long as they looked presentable and were there for him on his big day. He didn't know Alicia well enough to know if it would offend her or not, but it seemed the best way to welcome her into their family was to wear their best on her wedding day.
"I don't understand the problem," Eleanor said then. "Your dress robes are not right for a wedding. So, you need to get robes that are fine for a wedding. Deal with it," she said simply.
"I bet Daphne will think you look very handsome in your new robes," Hermione teased Harry.
Leonis laughed with the others as Harry blushed. They might be too young to have truly romantic feelings for each other yet, but everyone had known for years that Harry was proprietary toward Daphne Greengrass and she likewise always seemed to gravitate toward Harry when they had the pleasure of the Greengrass's company. It had finally been acknowledged between Harry and Daphne that they were soulmates. The two still didn't completely understand all of what that might mean for them, but they knew they'd be devoted to each other for forever. It had become something of a hobby of late for everyone to tease Harry about Daphne.
When the teasing of Harry died down, they slowly began to partake of breakfast. Leonis had chosen pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a breakfast roll.
"We'll be joined by the various Weasley's and by Heir Prewett sometime after breakfast," Nymphadora told them in a conversational tone.
"Yes, and Estelle is supposed to be here later this afternoon," Eleanor supplied.
"Why will they be coming?" Neville asked curiously.
"Polaris decided it would be best to have all of us in one place for our final fittings," Nymphadora informed them. "Since her timeline for final adjustments is so short, she thinks it will be easiest to have us all in the same place," she shrugged.
"Lady Prewett," Hermione began referring to Lucretia Prewett nee Black, the daughter of Lord Black and wife of Lord Ignatius Prewett. "has decided that since she is also helping with the decorating of Blackmoor that she should bring Mafalda for the final fitting and to get to know us better. Then Lady Weasley," she said referring to Cedrella Weasley nee Black the wife of Lord Septimus Weasley. "decided that Lucretia's idea was a good one and that she should bring her grandchildren as well."
"All of them?" Michael asked with a curious tone to his voice.
"Yep," Nymphadora said making sure to emphasize the p. "The whole lot of them."
Leonis's eyes went wide at that last bit of information. Cedrella was the proud grandmother of sixteen grandchildren. He was sure that all sixteen of them would be at the wedding, but he hadn't expected to see them before that day. Though his Aunt Cassiopeia dearly loved and respected Cedrella, Leonis rarely saw the woman's grandchildren. The Weasley side of the family rarely interacted with the rest of them. Now that he thought about it, Leonis thought that was kind of sad. Perhaps he should ask Cassiopeia to arrange a few visits back and forth?
"I guess they decided to have breakfast at their own homes?" Ernie asked.
Nymphadora shrugged. "Probably," she said. "There are a lot of them, so maybe they were afraid of being an imposition."
Leonis supposed he could understand that, even though Blackmoor had plenty of room. Despite it having the appearance of an opulently large manor, Blackmoor was truly built as a giant fortress. Its primary function was to house the whole of House Black and its allies. Again, it brought back to his mind how little he knew the Weasley side of his family. It made him feel resolved to fix that, at least a little bit. A few of them were around his own age. Ronald, Ginevra, Avaon, and Valens were near enough to his age.
"Isn't Orion coming today?" Scorpius asked Leonis.
Leonis looked across the table to the seat directly across from Draco where Scorpius was seated. Cousin Scorpius really did resemble Draco more than he did the Lestrange side of his family. He had heard say it was the Rosier blood because though he was Bellatrix's son, he was pale and blonde like Narcissa and everyone knew she resembled the Rosier's more than the Black's. Blaise looked like a Rosier too for that matter, as he should since his mother was a daughter of House Rosier. Still, Scorpius's eyes were just like his and Draco's, the gray eyes that Grandpa Pollux found such pride in.
"Yes," he answered Scorpius's question. "Uncle Remus is bringing him in time for the luncheon," he informed him. He was looking forward to seeing Orion. He hadn't seen his paternal half-brother in weeks. Orion had been busy spending time with their distant cousins, Perseus and Corvus Black. Perseus and Corvus were twin brothers and descendants of Arcturus Black I. They were nicknamed the "Star-Twins" within the family. Orion had started spending time with them after Uncle Remus had received a commission from their father, Rigel Black, to restore some of his manuscripts. "I think the Star-Twins might be coming with him," he added. "I don't know for sure though."
"It wouldn't surprise me," Draco said beside him. "At least half of that side of the family is coming to the wedding tomorrow."
Again, Leonis wondered who had decided that the wedding should be held on the first of August? He couldn't help but think that his father had been the one to decide the date. Sirius could be terribly impatient at times. He was sure that this was the quickest date that his father could convince the Black's and the Vaisey's to accept. His grandmother, Melania, had liked the idea though. She had insisted that it would be good for the family to have three days in a row that were blessings. First Neville's birthday, then Harry's birthday, and finally Sirius's wedding anniversary. Considering how many people in the family, let alone society, thought that Sirius would never marry, Leonis supposed he could agree that it was a blessing.
He idly listened to the rest of his family chatter as he continued to eat his breakfast. He was happy just to relax in the presence of his loved ones. It was a strange contrast from his dreams. In his dreams, there was so much hurt, so much tension and biting words. Those he loved ended up looking at each other with suspicion and a dangerous edge always tainted their affections. Nothing he did in the dreams made it any better. He tried and tried to make them understand each other, to see each other's point of view, to love and respect each other. Love there was, though a darkness lay over it, there was so little respect. It was almost non-existent. His reality was such a different landscape.
His reality was full of happy adventures with his cousins. It was full of respect and warm affections. Darkness didn't lay like a storm cloud over them. Doom didn't seem to haunt their steps. His heart could soar while with his family. There was love and respect and warmth. He didn't feel like a tool for his family or a thing to be fought over like he did in those dark dreams. He felt whole and happy and so very grateful that his reality was nothing like the other life he lived in his dreams.
They were encouraged to remain in the Conservatoire after the breakfast dishes were cleared away. By encouraged, he meant ordered to remain where they were. The words that Lady Black uttered were gentle and kind, but they all go the message easily enough. They were to stay where they were because the common areas of the mansion were still undergoing decoration and none of the ladies and the house-elves attending them wished for the children to get underfoot. Nymphadora was left in charge of them, and by the wickedly gleeful look in her eyes, Leonis was willing to bet that she would do almost anything to keep them in line.
It was kind of boring to just be confined to one room, but he supposed it wasn't so bad since there was plenty of conversation to be had. Hermione and Eleanor engaged in some speculation as to what the bride would be wearing and what would Hannah wear for the wedding? Hermione was also interested in knowing more about the ceremony itself.
"I've never attended a Wixen Wedding before," Hermione said once her conversation with Eleanor about bridal wear was at an end. "I wonder what the ceremony will be like?"
"I've never attended a wedding either," Leonis said. He was followed by almost all his cousins voicing or nodding agreement.
"I attended the wedding of one of my dad's friends," Nymphadora said. "That was years ago though," she added as an afterthought. "I'm really not sure I'm the one to answer the question, little Sis," she said looking at Hermione. Leonis felt himself smiling as Hermione beamed a bright smile at Nymphadora. Ever since the death of the Granger's, Nymphadora had taken to calling Hermione sis and little sis. It seemed to have a wonderful effect upon Hermione.
"Are there many different types of wedding ceremonies?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," the voice of Stephen Cornfoot answered Hermione. "Though I am not sure which one Mr. Black intends to use to bind himself to Mrs. Abbott," he added.
Leonis blinked in surprise that Stephen had offered up any information at all. The boy was a Great-Grandson of Callidora Longbottom. Like all Callidora's Great-Grandchildren, he was an only child. Though in Stephen's case he seemed to spend far too much time alone except for his personal House-Elf, which was apparently bonded to him against the will of his parents. Leonis didn't really know enough about Stephen. The only time that he had really spent with him was last night at the joint birthday party. Stephen had barely spoken all night, but he hadn't seemed to be ignoring anyone either. He just sort of existed on the periphery. Maybe it just took him a while to feel comfortable with people?
"Sirius is going to pledge himself to both Alicia and to Hannah," Draco spoke up. "I overheard him discussing it with mother," he said when all eyes turned to him with curious looks. "He wants to make sure that Hannah understands that he's welcoming her into his family as his child. He doesn't want her to ever worry that he'll get tired of her and ship her off to live with her grandparents," he added.
Hermione smiled. "That's a very sweet thing to do," she said clearly touched by the idea.
Whatever else they might have said about it was lost in the cacophony of noise from the hallway. Several voices talking at once and coming closer. A few moments later the first of a long line of red-headed people entered the room. William Weasley, better known in the family as Bill, led the group of red-heads into the room.
"Hey Charlie," Nymphadora greeted as one of the red-heads took up the seat available beside her. He had heard Nymphadora talk about Charles Weasley often enough. She considered the boy to be one of her best friends. They were in the same year at Hogwarts together with Charlie being only a few months older than Nymphadora.
"Hey Dora," Charlie greeted with an easy charm that made Leonis decide that Charlie was probably an alright guy. Nymphadora certainly liked him, and Leonis hadn't found a reason to fault her instincts about people yet.
"I thought that the Weasley's didn't have a lot of girls in the family," Blaise said with some confusion, drawing Leonis's attention to the two red-haired girls that had taken up seats together beside Draco. One of them he thought he recognized as Ginevra Weasley, but it had been a few years since they had last seen each other. He hadn't seen any of the Weasley children since Walburga's funeral. He had no idea who the other red-haired girl could be.
"The same can be said for the Malfoy's," the one seated directly beside Draco snarked. Leonis's became intrigued when Draco smiled softly at that. He knew that smile. It was his affectionate smile. Interesting.
"That's accurate, at least for this generation," Draco easily agreed. "Blaise, this is Ginevra Weasley, you remember her I'm sure," he introduced.
'Ah, that is why he smiled like that,' Leonis thought. When Draco had been briefly hospitalized due to an Auror attacking him in his own home, Ginevra Weasley had sent him a get well soon letter along with a book about Dragon's that she hoped Draco would like to read while his family was hovering over him. Draco had revealed to him that Ginny, being the youngest child and only daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley, knew what it was like to deal with annoying but well-meaning older siblings hovering over her trying to protect her and all around aggravating her after she had been hurt. Draco and Ginny had begun their not-so-secret correspondence that day. He wondered what shade of purple Draco's father might turn if he learned that his son's owl was flying out every morning with a new letter to Arthur Weasley's child. Though the Weasley/Malfoy feud was one of those ancient ones that most figured would never end, Arthur and Lucius had a particular disdain for one another that seemed personal rather than due to the age-old feud.
"This is Mafalda Prewett," Ginevra introduced the red-haired girl beside her.
'So, this is Great-Aunt Lucretia's protégé then?' Leonis thought to himself as he glanced over at Mafalda. He really wasn't at a good angle to see much of the girl, but he swiftly took note that she lacked the renowned Weasley freckles. Her skin was a pale alabaster. Her red hair was red-gold, not quite strawberry blonde since there were such deep shades of red to her hair. Her hair reminded him of a sunset. Ginny's skin was pale as well, but the golden shade of her freckles gave a warm effect to her skin that Mafalda didn't possess. Ginny's hair was fiery red and reminded Leonis of candle flames.
Leonis turned his gaze and his thoughts away from Mafalda and Ginny to take in the rest of the Weasley's. Each one of them seemed to have a slightly different shade of red hair. Bill's hair was like Ginny's fire red hair while Charlie's hair was a rich deep auburn red. Percy's hair was a deep dark red. It spoke of long hours spent indoors instead of outdoors in the sunshine. The Weasley Twins, Fred and George, had red hair that reminded him of a sunrise. Red streaked with blonde strands. Ronald's hair was a shade darker than carrot red. Brastias, Caerdin, and Caradoc Weasley all had Strawberry-blonde hair that was more on the side of red than blonde. Lancelot and Elyzabel Weasley had carrot red hair. Ryons and Tantris, Avaon, and Valens Weasley all had various shades of auburn hair.
"We've been outnumbered," Dudley murmured from beside him.
It took Leonis only a second to realize that Dudley was cracking a joke. He chuckled. "Just don't look into their eyes, they'll steal your soul," he teased back. Ever since they had learned in their history lessons that red-haired people were both revered and feared and often singled out, hunted, and even tortured and killed by their communities because it was believed by their hunters that they were soulless beings, Dudley had made jokes about red-heads being soul stealers.
The Star-twins did indeed arrive with Orion. Estelle followed them in a few moments later and then lunch was finally served. It was a lively event and Leonis wasn't sure how to handle being around this many of his cousins. It was almost a blessing when the livelier Weasley boys were gathered together to be escorted to wherever it was that Polaris Black had set up shop. The noise level lowered considerably and Leonis felt some of the tension leave him. He had liked his cousins, but he just wasn't used to such boisterous, jovial, and loud personalities.
Leonis was within the next group of males to be sent to meet with Polaris. Leonis, Ernest, Draco, Dudley, Harry, Theo, Michael, Stephen, Blaise, Orion, Scorpius, Perseus, and Corvus were all escorted to the old servant's quarters and then up the servant's backstairs to the second floor. They were then prodded into what was once the office of Cygnus Black I. To Leonis's knowledge, the room had not been used since the man's death in 1851.
Polaris Black was a force of nature, Leonis decided moments after he entered the room. The beautiful black-haired woman had promptly ordered them to strip down to their undergarments and then to step up onto various stools within the room. "We are running low on time and the wedding is tomorrow," Polaris declared in an authoritative voice that bore a heavy French accent. "Cousin Sirius is an idiot for not giving more time for this. C'est cela l'amour, tout donner, tout sacrificier sans espoir de retour," she rambled the last at them in French. Leonis could only blink and slowly nod. "Now, you shall your put your arms out to the side," Polaris commanded.
Leonis watched fascinated as he slowly stuck out his arms. Polaris gave a little flick of her wand and a shirt lifted in the air and sped over to him. Swift little flicks of her wand forced first dress shirts and then trousers upon each of them. House Elves swiftly set about taking measurements of each of their attire, jotting down their findings. Then one by one they stepped back to Polaris's side and handed her little bits of parchment. Polaris swiftly looked over the findings and seemed to nod in satisfaction. Then she flicked her wand again and the dress jackets were flying toward each of them.
Once he was properly adorned in his jacket, Leonis took a moment to admire the elegant stitchwork embroidery that was worked upon the cuffs of his jacket. He mostly ignored the House-Elf who came again to check the fit of his attire. He was too busy letting his fingers trace over the embroidered pattern. He felt the powerful magic in the threads and realized that each thread had been specially enchanted. "Did you do this work to the threads cousin Polaris?" he asked.
Polaris looked surprised for a moment and then smiled warmly. "Yes, I took special care to enchant each of the embroidery threads," she admitted with ease.
"Thank you," he said with great sincerity. "It was very kind of you to weave protections into our dress robes."
"Let's hope that tomorrow goes smoothly and they are unneeded though," Theodore voiced to Draco's agreement.
"I almost pity the idiot who would try to disrupt tomorrow's festivities. With almost all of the ladies of House Black together in one place to pass judgment upon them," Draco murmured and then gave a dramatic shudder.
"Perish the thought," Dudley joked and he too gave a dramatic shudder earning chuckles from the others boys.
"Alright," Polaris said not bothering to fight her amusement at their words. "You may take these off. Please give them to Costa," she said pointing toward the other House Elf who stood by a table full of garments. "We'll be sure to finish all of the adjustments for you so that you will look your best tomorrow," she promised them.
Leonis was gentle in the removal of his garments. They were lightweight and comfortable for being such formal wear. He wondered what the material was made of, but he didn't bother to ask. Once he removed his formal wear he was swift in putting his other clothes back on. He tied up his sneakers and then he gathered up his formal wear and fell into the line of boys who were giving their garments over to Costa.
Once they were free of Polaris's workshop, they rushed to the grand veranda that was on the second floor. They stepped out onto it and noted that it had already been decorated for the Wedding. Beautiful floral vines were woven around the protective rails of the balcony.
Leonis was careful not to touch anything as he moved to the rail to look out upon the yard below them. It was a hive of activity as Ladies of House Black moved about, wands in hand and spells being uttered. House-Elves trailed along after each lady, helping and following instructions when delivered. It made warmth fill his chest to watch them like this. His family, working together for one of their own. It was a beautiful thing. He wondered if his father realized how hard they were working just for him. He hoped that Sirius did. He really hoped that Sirius would be happy tomorrow. "We'll see tomorrow I guess,' Leonis thought before Narcissa noticed them and swiftly came to them shooing them along back indoors.
French: "C'est cela l'amour, tout donner, tout sacrificier sans espoir de retour."
English: "That is love, to give away everything, to sacrifice everything, without the slightest desire to get anything in return."
I do apologize for this chapter is a bit late getting finished. I have no idea why I thought that spring and summertime would give me more time to write. It seems like I have only gotten busier instead. I am going to be working hard on Renewal Virtue and Vice and Renewal Winterwolf to try to catch their timelines up to that of Renewal. I hope you liked this chapter. Next Chapter: Sirius marries Alicia.
