A/N: Meow, meow, standard disclaimer, meow. I'd like to thank Lucky-mun for contributing this one to the pile. Again, this series of vignettes is being written by at least four people. Thanks for reading! –Sev-mun.

October 11th, 1979

He stood with Cissa at his side, waiting at the edge of the area they'd set up for the wedding. It was truly a miracle, that they'd managed to get Roddy in shape to even stand up, much less be married. After the previous night, he was going to ensure nothing went wrong, especially on his own land. The guests had been trickling in, and he'd been polite to them all. He was well dressed, as befit his position as host, but truth be told, he was acting as much as a bouncer as he was his part as host. Bella knew nothing, and he intended it stay that way.

Having greeted the Goyles, and seen that they found their way where they were seated, he returned to watching the arrivals. Suddenly, his posture stiffened a bit, at the sight of the latest arrivals. Cissa looked over at him questioningly, and he shook his head. She'd tried to convince him to wear the dress boots he'd had comissioned for the occasion, but under his dress robes, he had on his knee-height steel-toed favorites. It should have been a festive occasion, but... he sighed. It was, it was them. The pure unmitigated gall. As the three men approached the gates, he stood in front of them, glaring at them inpassively.

Rookwood, Avery, and MacNair. The three swaggered up to the gates, invitations in hand. As he refused to move, they tried to present him with those invitations. "I'm afraid your invitations have been revoked. That you dare show up, after last night," he said in a cold voice, his rage tightly coiled within. His eyes had an icy glint to them.

Rookwood spoke smoothly, "We're here as guests of the bride, Malfoy. Step aside."

"Not on my land, you aren't. You've given Bella all the gift I'll allow, Rookwood. And that goes for your two friends as well. Get off of my land, and don't ever come back," he said, his voice sharp enough to cut.

Narcissa looked at him. "But Lucius, if my sister invited them?"

He cut her off quickly, in a far colder tone than he usually took with her. "No, Narcissa. They are no longer welcome. I don't care if Bella invited them or not. They will not be attending a wedding here today," he said, his tone flat and even colder than before.

Cissa looked hurt and confused, but she stopped arguing.

He noticed that a group was approaching the gate, behind the three unwelcome individuals. "I suggest you three leave, now. I'm trying to be polite, and not start anything at the wedding. However, I know other people who will happily remove you for me," he said, a truly vicious smile creeping across his features.

Avery began to argue. "Lucius, I don't know what you're talking about, but I won't have dear Bella distressed by our absences. She did invite us, personally, and we've come to pay our respects.

"Avery, if I thought you were capable of the slightest quantity of respect, I'd have changed my mind after last night. Get off of my land, and take you friends with you." His tone changed from bitter to welcoming, as he spoke to the new arrivals. "I wasn't sure you all were going to make it. Welcome," he said, smiling at the members of the Morgan family who lived at the Freehold with the Lestranges.

"These wastes of flesh seem unable to understand that their invitation has been revoked. I give them 5 minutes to be off of my land, before I declare my hospitatlity fully revoked. They're guilty of things that would violate even your family's codes of honor."

Maitiu raised an eyebrow at him "Really, Englishman? Our codes, even."

"I give them to you and your siblings, for sport, if they don't leave of their own free will," he said coldly, his grin getting wider.

Macnair opened his mouth to speak "We're not afraid of a bunch of pretty queers," he said, taking note of their wardrobes, and the way a couple of them seemed to twine about each other.

Rookwood looked over at the new arrivals, and blanched. While he couldn't say precisely what the new arrivals were, once thing was certain, they weren't wizards. "Yes, yes we are. Shut your face, Macnair. We're leaving," he said definitively, although not before giving Lucius a dirty look. "Don't think I'll forget this, Malfoy. Can't even stand up for yourself. You have to get other people to do your dirty work."

"No more than I'll forget what you've done, you and your little groupies. And I'd gladly dirty my hands with the likes of you. But I'm not going to spoil the wedding. Get out, before I misplace my manners further."

With one hand on the shoulders of both Macnair and Avery, Rookwood turned and stalked off. A couple of the Morgan family followed them a ways, before returning to speak with Lucius.

"They gone?" he asked quietly.

"Apparated off in a right hurry, lad," one of them said, a man that Lucius had never met. "What did they do to have you so incensed with them, if you don't mind my asking?" he said, and several of the others looked over with interest.

"We've got a history, that much I'll admit. Let's just say that their latest insult was more than I'm willing to take. They've never been very fond of Roddy, and I won't have them spoiling his wedding, especially not now." He paused a moment, clearly composing himself, before speaking again. "Well, I ought not stand between you all, and the celebrations. Welcome, and to you I offer my hospitality," he said in a formal and friendly fashion, stepping away from the gate. "You'll find the Lestranges sitting on the left," he said with a smile.

Ceofine gave him a penetrating look as it walked past, but said nothing. A few of the others stopped to hug him, or give him a kiss on the cheek on their way through, and introduced him, briefly to the ones he'd not met. He introduced Cissa around, since she'd only been to the Freehold a couple of times, and had only met a few of the Morgan family. The chatter of friends took the tension from his shoulders, and though he still wanted to kill the men he'd just told to leave, at least now there would be more than he and Sev to deal with them if they were foolish enough to return.

He turned to Cissa. "Sorry, love, but those three are never welcome here again. Not for any reason short of the Dark Lord's orders." His eyes held a new heaviness, aging him by a number of years, if one looked closely.

"Ok, Lucky," she said, still looking puzzled. "Bella will likely just think they snubbed her anyways," she said quietly. "And thank you, for handling it in a civilised fashion. I could tell you wanted to break some heads, but it would hardly have been politic at my sister's wedding. Not to mention that if she noticed, she would likely have felt the need to get involved. And the last thing we need on my sister's wedding day is a display of her temper."

He nodded. "I know. And it's for Roddy, and Bella, that I let them leave." He took a deep breath, running his hand across his face, before turning and offering his arm to her. With his other hand, he pulled the flask from his robes, and took a deep drink. Flash The photographer they'd hired took their picture then, and he steeled himself to ignore the man.

"Isn't it a bit early, Lucky?" she asked him

"Not today," he said flatly, before replacing the flask, and taking Cissa over to their seats. "Not today."