AN: Enjoy my dearies...
Chapter 11
Best Friends Gone Mad
Curled up on a large leather armchair, Narcissa sat reading the latest issue of Witch Weekly. The current article featured Elena van Batwing's latest collection of dress robes. Narcissa was just thinking how nicely the silver ones would go with her newest shoes, when the fireplace flared up and a pink-faced Maddy jumped out. She squealed when she spotted a rather startled Narcissa, clutching a glossy magazine. "Cissy! Just the person I was looking for! Oh. My. Freaking. Merlin! I totally have to tell you something! You will like, totally not believe me, Cis!" Madison dragged her friend up off the armchair and started spinning them around in a circle, hands clasped and grinning. The two girls giggled madly as they danced there in the library of Malfoy Manor.
"Wait!" Narcissa gasped for breath, a little giggle escaping her, "What are we so happy about again?"
Madison grinned, bobbing on the balls of her feet.
"Yes?" Narcissa urged.
"Eeeeek!" Maddy squealed, "I'm getting married!"
"Look, lady, I need to see him. Now! It's a matter of the gravest importance!" the young man slammed his hands down on the secretary's desk.
"I'm sorry, sir, but he's very busy and requested that nobody disturb him." She gave a meek shake of her head.
Finn gave a frustrated sigh. "Believe me. He'll really want to see me and hear what I've got to say. Now let me through!"
The young secretary picked up a quill and a piece of parchment. "Would you like me to deliver a message?" she asked, dipping the quill in the inkwell.
"Merlin's pants! No, I do NOT want you to deliver a message! I want to talk to him face to face. Now! Look," Finn dug around in his pocket and pulled out a handful of galleons, "how much do you want?"
"I would like you to leave now sir, or I'll have to call for building security."
"You know what? Forget it. I'm sick of this." Finn barged passed her desk and flung open the door to his friend's office.
Lucius was leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk, throwing a glowing ball up into the air and catching it again before it hit his face. "Oh hey, Finn." He greeted with a small wave.
"WHAT!" Narcissa shrieked. "What did you just say!"
"I know! I can't believe it either!"
"Have you gone absolutely mental?"
"...What?" the smile fell from Madison's features, as she looked back at the horrified expression on her best friend's face. "I thought you'd be pleased...you're going to be the maid of honour and all..."
"We've barely been out of school for a year! You can't just go off and get married like that!"
"Bellatrix got married the same week she graduated..." Maddy couldn't help but point out.
"It was an arranged marriage. Bella is insane. And apparently so now are you."
"Well, we've still got two weeks to go."
"Two weeks, great!" Narcissa laughed sarcastically, "Have you figured anything out yet at all? Sent out invites? Got your dress? Ordered the cake?."
"Um, no. But I'll see to it."
"You're getting married in two weeks." Narcissa stated again, feeling the need to reinforce her point.
Just as Madison opened her mouth to reply, the fireplace burst into bright green flames and out stormed Lucius hauling a stumbling Finn in behind him.
"Have you heard what genius plan these clot-poles have come up with? Marriage!" Lucius stated ranting immediately. "Completely insane! Absolutely ridiculous and horrendously reckless!"
"But it's not like we're ever going to be with anyone else," Finn shrugged himself free, smiling slightly at his fiancée.
"Merlin, you're acting like a pair of drippy, star-crossed lovers from some sappy romance novel! This. Is. Not. Normal!" Narcissa howled, bracing herself on the back of the armchair, boring judging eyes into her friends.
"Thank you!" Lucius exclaimed, arms thrusting out, "Somebody with some common sense!"
"You guys are supposed to be our best friends! You're supposed to be supportive!" Finn cried.
Lucius snorted at the blonde man next to him, "That, my friend, is not what best friends are there for. We're there to tell you when you're being complete imbeciles. And that's a fact."
"Getting married does not equal imbecility, Luce." Said Finn.
There was a long, tense pause in the library, the only sound the merry crackling of the fire which seemed ridiculously out of place. None of them noticed the French doors opening behind them and a dark haired figure entering.
"Sup?" Regulus asked, noticing everyone's pissed expressions as she bit into his bright green apple.
Lucius spun around, staring at his girlfriend's cousin, "How the hell did you get in?"
"Good question," Regulus waved his apple around, flopping casually down on the antique sofa, feet dangling over the edge, "You've got this place sealed up better than Azkaban, mate: took me half the afternoon to find a way in. By the way, you might want to lock your back door in the future...it's a bit of a security hazard if you ask me."
"You came in through the back door?" Lucius asked disbelievingly.
"Yeah...that's why it took me so long – didn't actually think it'd be unlocked, it's a bit of an obvious choice. Suppose it's all in the concept of 'the closer you are to danger, the further you are from harm', eh? Didn't bother locking it did you, cause you never thought anybody would be stupid enough to try it."
"You tried it." Madison pointed out.
"Exactly my point, m'dear."
"They're getting married." Lucius said, changing the subject. "In two weeks."
"Awh, brilliant! Am I invited?"
Narcissa gave her cousin the look, "Reg! Don't encourage them!"
"Why not? Maddy's parties are always a blast!"
"Thanks, Reg." Madison smiled at the young man, giving her best friend at pointed look. "At least someone in here is supportive of our decision."
"Is there going to be cake?" Regulus asked, taking another bite out of his apple, feet bobbing.
The next two weeks passed in a blur of frills, ribbons and whipped cream. It had taken more than a few arguments and heated debates to convince Lucius and Narcissa that their friends weren't under the influence of something and still had all their marbles together. Regulus just kept asking if he could test-eat the cake. Everyone ignored him.
"Can't I just go now?" Madison asked, bobbing on the balls of her feet.
"Maddy, if you're getting married, you're going to do it properly. Now stand still, you're going to get your dress all creased up before Finn gets to see it." Narcissa replied, fussing with Madison's bright orange outer skirt. Why her best friend, who had always been so fashionable, had chosen a wedding dress that looked like a unicorn had thrown up on it, she'd never know. The corset and underskirt were an electric pink, the outer skirt a blinding orange and the ribbon an acidic lime green. Unicorn puke.
"But it's my wedding! And I want to get married now!"
"You have to wait for the music to start, remember, we rehearsed this a million times?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever...Cissy?"
"Uh-hu?"
"I'm getting married...me! Strange isn't it? One minute it's our first flying lesson where we became friends, and the next we're here at my wedding. Fussing over my dress and, oh I don't know...I feel like my life is flying past me. I feel like, if I'm not careful, I'll be an old granny tomorrow."
"Time flies when you're having fun, Maddy. And when you are a granny, you will have a lifetime of memories and you and Finn can sit outside on your rocking chairs watching your grandchildren whizzing around on little brooms and playing exploding snap. Being a granny might not be as bad as you think now..."
"That's coming from the girl who cringes at the word birthday." Madison grinned, fixing the position of the bright purple orchid sitting behind Narcissa's ear.
Narcissa laughed as the music started behind the doors they'd have to walk through in the next moments. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"No matter how old and batty we get, whatever happens, I'll always be there, you know that right? Always."
Madison nodded, holding back the tears starting to build in her eyes, "Always, Cissy, always..."
The doors opened and Narcissa nudged her friend out onto the isle, taking care not to step on the orange back of the dress or trip over her own ridiculously long pink dress. Lucius winked at her from his position next to Finn. The best man somehow managed to look dashing as ever, even sporting a bright green bow tie. The groom had, on the other hand, somehow managed to mess up his curly hair in the past twenty minutes, but his bright eyes shone though the falling strands nonetheless. A brilliant smile lit up his entire face as Madison stopped in front of him. "Hi." He whispered, almost shyly.
"Hey." She whispered back.
Narcissa smiled broadly down at the two colourful bouquets she was holding. That's how their story started, with a shy 'Hi' and a tentative 'Hey' in the Slythering common room all those years ago. The gossip girl and the charismatic Quidditch jock. Nobody had thought it would last the week...they proved everyone wrong.
The ceremony was short: Maddy had never been one for formalities, but the reception party was a full out Slytherin bash. Everyone had come, even Maddy's one-year old niece, Pansy could be seen clapping her chubby little hands together as she watched the adults dance from her mother's lap. An extraordinarily large group of blonde, blue eyed Swedes, (Finn's cousins) were fist pumping quite violently to less violent beats. Andromeda spent the majority of her time swaying to the music by the bar, rejecting every poor soul that tried to chat her up. Even young Sirius had been allowed to come and was rocking the room with his full-blown air guitar in the middle of the dance floor. And finally, to Narcissa's alarm, she spotted the weedy old jeweller who had given her the creeps at Christmas, standing suspiciously close to the never-emptying punch bowl, grinning at everyone and anyone. She was even more alarmed when she found out that he was, in fact, related to Finn.
Regulus, on the other hand, went around stealing pieces of cake from unsuspecting people's plates when they weren't watching, because, in his opinion it was the best thing since, well, apples.
AN: Yeah, once again, sorry for the late update. You know me – I'm a bit slow. But I've been busy with school. It's only the fourth week, but I'm already sick of Year 11..the AMOUNT of homework they give us; it puts McGonagall to shame. No joke. AND I'm writing the script for the school play. Stress. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, peeps! See you again sometime in the (probably distant) future, for the next one.
By the way, I'm now also to be found wandering around Pottermore Beta, so if you're on it too, feel free to add me: MirrorStone85 IMMA SLYTHERIN! WOOP! (Sorry for that random outburst of Slytherin Pride right there...)