Chapter Twenty Eight: Signal
Regan hated weddings.
This had been decided when women arrived four days before the wedding to prep Regan. They primped her skin, waxed and plucked every excess hair from her body and, and put large extensions in her hair. They buffed her nails and painted them a blush pink, gluing small jewels on the tips. It was an attribute that Regan greatly detested, fighting the urge to pick them off and fling them away. Two days before the wedding, she was fitted for her dress and got her first chance to catch a glimpse of it. As soon as she put it on, she was glad that Astoria had incredible taste.
The dress was a modified mermaid that fit her body like a glove. It was beautifully embroidered with wide open chrysanthemums and a train that fanned out whenever she walked. The bodice was shaped against her body and showed off the gentle curve of her breast in a deep sweetheart neck. The veil was long and plain and almost completely covered her dress. It made her look like some ethereal ghost.
"I know that you don't want to hear it, you look stunning." Astoria said from behind her as they stared at Regan in the mirror. Regan sighed, gently tilting her head to the side and ran her hands across the intricate lace.
"Maybe they'll pay so much attention to my dress that they won't notice how miserable I look."
A maid stepped into the room, carrying a tray with tea and the morning paper. She set it down only to be quickly dismissed by Astoria so that she and Regan could continue with their private conversation.
"You just have to keep smiling." Astoria insisted as she poured the tea and fixed Regan a cup while she shimmied out of her dress and tossed aside her veil. Astoria picked up the paper, her eyes suddenly widening. "Oh no…"
"What?" Regan asked as she quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and some fancy shirt that Astoria had bought in Paris. Silently, Astoria handed the paper to Regan with a grim frown.
On the front page in large bold letters, Natalie's execution was proclaimed for the entire magical world. The picture, rewinding and playing over and over again, was Natalie's body dropping from the gallows with a sack over her head. Regan shuddered, thrusting the paper back to Astoria and walking away.
"Why did he do that to her?" She finally asked, her stomach churning. She would never be able to get that image out of her head. For a moment, Natalie was silent, her eyes skimming across the crumbled paper.
"Due to the severity of the convicted's crime, Minister Malfoy recommended that her punishment be just as severe. Though it is not typically used, this conviction was deemed worthy of execution by hanging by the neck...my God..." Astoria couldn't look at the paper any longer; the picture was far too disgusting. She glanced over at Regan, who looked positively ill. "Are you all right?" She quietly asked. Regan shook her head, leaning against the wall and slowly sliding down to the floor.
"I don't know why, but for some reason I thought that he wouldn't do it." Astoria frowned, slowly walking to where Regan sat and crouching down next to her.
"Lucius has an image to maintain, if he hadn't done it people would have seen him as weak." Astoria explained, gently touching Regan's knee. Regan looked up at her, letting out a shaky sigh.
"…Natalie didn't do anything wrong…"
"Regan, she tried to poison you." Astoria reminded her. Regan just shook her head.
"If Lucius hadn't started something with her, she wouldn't have been driven to do something." Astoria grimaced, setting down the newspaper and clutching her teacup.
"She's gone; what's done is done." Regan sighed, slowly shutting her eyes.
"I wish that we had sent her away…she would have gotten better if somebody had just helped her." Astoria quirked an eyebrow.
"There was nothing that you could have done." Astoria insisted. "Natalie would have been dismissed or killed; once you get involved with Lucius, life typically doesn't improve." Regan rolled her eyes, deciding not to push the issue. Natalie was dead and there was absolutely nothing that she could do now. She would just have to deal with one more loss in her life; this almost seemed like a drop in a bucket.
A knock sounded against the door, making the two women instantly tense. It was Lucius and he asked if she was decent enough for him to enter. Regan grimaced, but answered him with an eager voice. Astoria quickly gathered Regan's wedding dress and hung it before Lucius was admitted to the room. He instantly went to Regan and embraced her, his lips seeking out hers. She inwardly gagged, but allowed herself to be held.
"Everything for our honeymoon has been arranged, does this make you happy?" She stared up at him, the urge to punch him in the face almost overwhelming. Thankfully, though, Regan held it together and gave her approval.
"I confess, I've never been on such a big trip...I hope that we'll have time to explore the sights." She said, which caused Lucius to present her with a devilish smirk.
"Then I have something to confess as well." He leaned down so that his lips were close to her ear. "You will not be seeing much of anything because I will be keeping you far too busy to even get out of bed."
The way that she prettily blushed made a shudder go down Lucius's spine and for a moment he wished that the wedding was today. Then he could drag her off to bed and finally have what he had been lusting for far too long.
"Lucius, please, not while I'm standing here." Astoria joked, thankfully making him step away. Lucius chuckled, reaching into his pocket to pull out a wide square box.
"There was something I wanted to ask you." He said as he presented her the box. "This belonged to my mother, an ancient family heirloom that's just been gathering dust. I would like it very much if you wore it at the wedding." She opened the lid, actually surprised by how lovely it was. It was a double strand of aging pearls with a silver clasp and a swirling silver broach filled with diamonds. Lucius removed it from the box and fastened it around her right wrist. "Narcissa wouldn't wear this when we got married, she said that it was too old fashioned for her tastes. Maybe…this could be a tradition with our children?"
When possible children entered into the discussion, Regan inwardly gagged.
"I can't accept this," she said as she tried to remove the bracelet. "You should just keep it for now; I might lose it or something."
"What are you talking about?" Lucius asked, laughing as she continued to try and take the bracelet off. "You won't lose it. You shouldn't even worry about something so silly." He stilled her hands, smiling at her. "I want you to wear it because I know how much my mother would have adored you, and she would have forced you to wear it whether you wanted to or not...and even if you lose it, I can buy you another to replace it." Regan awkwardly smiled, figuring that it was best to just accept the gift and wear it.
What did it really matter?
"You're going to be the loveliest bride in all of England." Astoria happily proclaimed in order to change the conversation. "The papers won't be able to stop talking about this wedding for the next year. Every bride is going to want to copy everything you do." The praise that came from Astoria was almost overwhelming, but Regan could only smile and nod.
"Well, I should go and finish my work so that I can devote my time to you completely." He fiercely kissed her one last time before he left the room and gave the women their much desired privacy. As soon as he was gone, Regan began to pull and pick at the bracelet.
"Here, let me do it." Astoria offered, easily unclasping the bracelet and putting it back into the box. "Just think, in two days you'll never have to talk about weddings ever again."
"Yes, and then I'll have to lie back and - ."
"Best not finish that thought, ducky. You'll make us both vomit." Regan scoffed, but smiled slightly.
"I just hope that I don't vomit during." Astoria giggled, slowly shaking her head.
"If all else fails, just close your eyes and think of England."
…
The next day, Regan kept herself completely cut off from all other people in the Manor. She hardly even spoke to any of the servants as they checked in on her and brought her food. She mostly just sat at her window and stared out at the gardens, watching tents being set up and the gardens being groomed to perfection. It was beautiful and it was surely the fantasy of every single woman in the country. Too bad Regan was totally uninterested in all the flowers and the dress and the pictures and the publicity.
She was looking forward to the cake because she knew that it would be delicious. Cake had always been good to her; cake had never tried to molest her. And there would be lots of free alcohol, so that was good. She would just eat a ton of cake and get horribly drunk and pass out. Of course, that probably wouldn't detour Lucius from trying to touch her.
That thought just made Regan sick and she decided that she couldn't watch them set up anymore.
Regan went to bed early, but she quickly found that falling asleep would prove to be difficult. She was anxious and was actually starting to panic. This wedding was going to be televised across the entire country and other witches and wizards would be tuning in to see Lucius Malfoy wed a nobody. Charlie would watch every excruciating moment and would just have to sit and not do anything about this.
She tossed and turned for hours until around two in the morning she finally fell asleep and spent the night submerged in fitful dreams. She was awoken at half past eight by Astoria, who had large rollers in her shiny hair.
"It's time to wake up," Astoria told her brightly. She leaned forward as maids and dressers rushed into the room. "I have something for you…from Charlie." Regan was instantly awake, popping up from her bed.
"How?" She asked in a low whisper.
"Get out of bed and I'll tell you…and after you eat, I'll give you the note."
Regan did exactly as she was told, allowing the prep team to prepare her for the wedding. Her hair was put into rollers and her makeup was carefully done until she looked like some movie star. Her hair was then braided and arranged into a low bun. She was squeezed into her dress, her veil pinned to her head before she was finally left alone with Astoria, who looked lovely in her forest green bridesmaid dress. From the front of her dress, she pulled out a small note and handed it to Regan.
"Draco snuck this in late last night with a delivery of champagne." She told her quietly. Regan ripped open the note, her eyes scanning the page.
Regan,
I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry.
Charlie
Regan pursed her lips together, refolding the note and handing it back to Astoria.
"He cares far too much." She muttered, but Astoria couldn't bring herself to smile.
"Do you like him?" Astoria asked, causing the air in the room to suddenly become very awkward.
"His affections for me far surpass what little affections I have for him." She answered honestly. "But I suppose that I enjoy his company and he is very kind to me." Astoria nodded, fighting the urge to bring up Oskar. "Believe me, I have no interest in being with anybody right now…this plot is far more important to me than anybody else. No matter what, I'm going to make sure that it succeeds…even if it ends up hurting someone." Astoria nodded, pushing the thought from her mind and handing Regan her large bouquet of pristine white peonies. Regan stood perfectly still as her veil was draped around her, her heart pounding as her eyes adjusted to her unique, tulle impaired vision. She felt like she had just been placed in a pretty cage, and the key was dangling around Lucius Malfoy's neck.
Regan walked silently behind Astoria, passing by servants who curtsied and whispered their congratulations to their new mistress of the household. She felt ridiculous and the feeling increased when she saw Draco peering out the window at the dozens of camera crews waiting for them outside. Regan couldn't hide her disgust as Draco turned and gave her a brief once over.
"You look very nice," he said. The compliment was appreciated and meant to make her feel better about the situation.
"So do you," Regan answered. "How many people are out there?"
"Too many," Draco muttered. "But it can't be helped; this is the biggest story since my parents divorced." Regan watched Draco closely, noticing how stiff and awkward he was. She thought for a moment that maybe he didn't want to be here any more than she did.
"We should get started." Astoria said, glancing out the window to see that every guest had taken their seat and was patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin. Lucius was happily chatting with his associates, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his young bride.
Before any of them could really react, music began to play to signal the start of the ceremony. Lucius quickly took his spot at the later with the officient behind him. Astoria walked out first, photographers snapping pictures and cameras following her closely. She had the perfect smile on her face for all the world to see and gently nodded to Lucius before taking her spot to the side. Scorpio then came waddling down the aisle, acting as a crowd pleasing ring bear. Regan clung to Draco, nervously biting her lower lip as she anxiously waited for the door to open. Draco remained calm, holding Regan's hand in the crook of his arm.
"The perfume that you're wearing is very nice," Draco commented. Regan broke down and smiled, feeling tears begin to prick at her eyes.
"Thank you, a very dear friend gave it to me…a friend that is very concerned about my life." Draco nodded, keeping a straight face.
"I'm sure that he's not the only one." He muttered. Regan shrugged her shoulders.
"Well…I'm glad that he's there." Draco gently squeezed her hand, only making the tears come faster. "I can't believe that this is really happening." She said, shifting uncomfortably and trying to keep herself from running away.
"You have no idea how much we will revere you for this…you will never be forgotten for this sacrifice."
"That doesn't matter to me," she insisted, shaking her head. "If I must be honest, I'm doing this for very selfish reasons...I want to find my parents and I want to get my life back to some sort of normalcy."
"If that's the case, then you're dealing with a lot of selfish people." Draco said evenly. "We all want normal…and if that means that my father has to die for that to happen, then that's what needs to happen." He finally looked down at her, offering her a soft smile. "When my father is dead, I guarantee you that I will personally find your parents." Regan smiled despite her tears and finally saw the kind man that Astoria had chosen to remain married to despite the fact that there was no love between them.
"Thank you," she whispered as she gently sniffled.
And then, the doors opened, and there was no going back.
...
A/N: I probably shouldn't had edited this while watching Family Guy, but it happened...next chapter is a doozy; got lots of editing to do before I'm going to be happy with it, so brace yourself.
Dragoon Dave: Yay I like getting reviews from you :)
