Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry for the huge delay, but this week has been a rough one, for me... Hope you guys enjoy it!
Wedding Preparations
Being back among her friends was, at the same time, a relief and a pain, because even if she felt happy to be able to play quidditch with the guys, or to lose as many chess games as Ron was willing to play with her, and to have Mrs. Weasley mother her and stuff her with food, there was a definitely bittersweet taste to all of it, because Lucy knew it would all irrevocably change.
And everyone else knew it too, everyone was currently reminded that it was unlikely that they'd be able to enjoy moments like those together again, because in one week Lucy would be the Dark Lady, the wife of Lord Voldemort, and certainly would never be allowed to mingle with blood traitors and muggleborns.
"I wonder why he even let you come this time! Are you sure nothing happened?" – Hermione, who was spending the remain of summer with the Weasleys, would ask Lucy every time the subject came up in conversation.
And every time Lucy would guarantee that nothing unusual had happened, both because she was still unsure about mentioning the attack from Bellatrix and because she didn't think it had been the only reason why Voldemort allowed her to come, because if it was simply a matter of her security he could simply had sent her to the Malfoy's house or assigned guards for her or something… She couldn't really grasp why Voldemort was being nice to her, but allowing her to come and stay with the Weasley's was nothing but him being exactly that, and she certainly wasn't ready to talk about it with her friends just yet.
The other recurrent topic was the bond that would form between her and Voldemort, Dumbledore had sent her a book on the bonding ceremony and its effects, and they would speculate about what it would mean for Lucy's daily life. It wasn't a pleasant subject, especially when it came to sex, that was the worst topic in Lucy's opinion, she felt her stomach churn every time she thought about sleeping with Voldemort, not only because of the humiliation and cheer degradation of the idea, but because of the pain!
Certainly she would die from the sheer agony of having that much of contact with him! She just hoped he had considered this, and maybe he would not force himself on her, risking her death and consequentially the end of the treaty for something like that wasn't something he would do… She hoped. Living in a completely fake marriage should be awful, but living a real marriage with Voldemort as a husband, would certainly be worse.
Even more alarming than the prospect of being forced to have sex with Voldemort through all the pain, was the idea that she wouldn't even be able to fight back, to try and avoid the contact! The bond assured that she would always obey her senior mate and wouldn't be able to deny him on anything, nor to harm him in any possible way, no matter what she thought (and thankfully her thoughts would be mostly unaffected) she wouldn't be able to physically act against him.
"It's so unfair! How come that only Lucy have the boundaries? Shouldn't the bond prevent You-Know-Who from hurting her as well?" – Ron asked exasperatedly, for the hundredth time, when they once again sat brooding over the book.
"That's why it's an unequal marriage Ron! Because it's unfair!" – Hermione answered exasperatedly, while frowning down at the book as if it would suddenly say something different if she just read it once more.
Lucy sighed and looked out of the window at the already darkening sky, the week was up, and the next day was her seventeenth birthday, and her wedding day, the worst day of her life. Funny how the day she had always believed would set her free had become the day when she'd be caged forever.
"Don't be so sad Lucy! Things will turn up well, I don't know how they will yet, but we'll see." – Ginny whispered, posing a hand on her arm.
She looked back at her friends, all of them with sad, sympathetic smiles looking back at her.
"That's right, we might not know how things will be fine, but they will, they always do." – Hermione added trying to sound encouraging.
"That's right mate! We always find a way to get out of trouble! We will again!" – Ron said grinning, and Lucy felt like crying, she wanted to believe them, but couldn't, and yet she was damn happy to know that at least she wasn't completely alone, now that her life was about to go downhill.
"Hey! What are you all doing up here" – Said Fred that just came into the room followed by George, or it was the other way around…
"Mum is calling us downstairs, she's prepared an early birthday cake for Lucy." – Said George.
"And we'll provide the fireworks, come on!" – Said Fred winking at them.
Excited with the promise of food Ron jumped up immediately and started dragging everything downstairs, Lucy followed with a watery smile on her face, maybe things would be okay.
The improvised birthday party went well into the night, as usual there was tons of food, and many amusing fireworks from the twins, along with many gifts Lucy got from Sirius, Remus, Hagrid (she wasn't so sure she'd keep the wooden box he gave her, it had teeth on the lid), the Weasleys themselves (a variety of pranks from the twins, a new sweater from Mrs. Weasley and a new seeker glove from Ron) Hermione, and the most intriguing one from Dumbledore, who sent her a watch that had no pointers and no numbers.
Lucy and everyone else went to bed well after midnight, she was feeling happy and slightly dizzy from the amount of butterbeer she had drunk (Mrs. Weasleys pretended not to notice they drank for the entire night), and also very tired, so tired in fact that she fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, no disturbing thoughts kept her awake this time.
"Lucy dear, wake up!" – She heard a soft voice coming from above her, as someone shook her lightly.
She opened her eyes blearily to see Mrs. Weasley bending over her with a concerned face.
"It's morning already, dear! Malfoy is here to pick you up… You must get ready for... for…" - The matron seemed to choke on her words as her eyes filled with water. – "Well, it's time to get up." – She finished sniffling.
The sleepiness left Lucy instantly, and she sat up on the bed, sending a small smile to Hermione and Ginny, who had awoken as well, she got dressed slowly, and keeping her head down, she could feel the girl's eyes on her, and she didn't want to see the pity on their eyes.
Lucy didn't bother speaking to anyone as she descended the stairs to find Mr. Malfoy waiting for her on the living room, and nobody said anything to her either, even as they all came downstairs to see her go. She didn't say anything to Lucius, either, even as they stepped through the Burrow's fireplace directly to the Malfoy's Manor, the blonde didn't bother to greet her either, he looked almost sympathetic…
"Oh! There you are! There's so much to do and so little time! Come, my lady, come, and Lucius, dear, could you go check if the carriages for the guests are been properly prepared?" – Narcisa started saying, as soon as Lucy stepped into the luxurious room of the Malfoy's Manor, she had a real battalion of house-elves around her, all looking busy and efficient, Lucy could see that a few of them were from the Serpent's Lair, she recoknized Tipsy and Bobby.
After she gave a light peck on Lucius lips Narcisa grabbed Lucy's arms and dragged her down a long corridor, with the elves still following them, while talking nonstop.
"You see Miss. Potter. I'd like to let you sleep for a bit longer, merlin knows what a few hours of sleep can do for the skin, but there's just no time! The ceremony will be at sunset, and there's so much to organize… So first, we'll start with the bathing, and then we'll see for the hair, and everything else."
Lucy wondered how could someone think that there was little time till sunset! It was barely morning!
Soon Narcisa led them into a beautiful bedroom with a huge bed on a corner, a small stool on the middle, a dresser filled with make-up, and jewelry boxes, and a huge mirror, that covered an entire wall, on the back, there was a door that led to the bathroom, and a breakfast table ready, where Narcisa made her sit.
"You should eat something, my lady, and you – she said pointing to two elves, - go prepare a bath for the lady, a simple hot bath for now with scented oils to prepare her skin for shaving later.
"Shaving?" – Lucy asked a little startled.
"Don't worry, it's nothing uncomfortable," - The older woman answered waving her off – "now eat, my lady. I'll be back soon, before the milk bath, I have to check the arrangements for the dinner, and there's still the drinks!" – She added with a tired sigh before walking rapidly out of the room.
Lucy was left gaping at the door while wondering what in heaven's name Mrs. Malfoy meant by a "milk bath". Sighing she turned to the food, deciding that eating was actually a good idea. After she munched down two French toasts with a cup of tea (which was all she managed to swallow) the elves steered her to the bathroom.
Lucy never thought a bath could take so long, there was no place on her body that wasn't washed, scrubbed or rinsed at least four times by the elves, she also never knew there existed so many tipes of oils, soaps and shampoos for her hair and her skin, actually she was starting to worry that they would wash her hair out of her head if they put another shampoo on it.
After about three hours of bath, the elves decided to do the "shaving" Narcisa had mentioned, and she couldn't be more embarrassed, they shaved her in places she didn't even know existed on her body. And finally, they helped her out of the bathtub helping her put on a bath robe and involved her hair on a soft towel.
After it was all done she was dragged back to the bedroom, and was given a pedicure and a manicure, all her nails were properly trimmed and cleaned and painted with a soft and very dignified pearly color. Once that was almost done, Narcisa walked back into the room looking utterly tired.
"Oh good! How are you feeling my lady? Your skin is looking wonderful!" – The woman said caressing her cheek lightly.
"I'm fine… A bit hungry, actually." – Lucy confessed, while stifling a yawn.
"Oh sure you are! It's past lunchtime now. I'll order us something to eat before you get to your milk bath." – The blonde said before ordering an elf to bring them lunch.
"Uhn… Mrs. Malfoy, what exactly you mean by milk bath?" – Lucy asked hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't be actual milk.
"Oh! Of course you wouldn't know… It is tradition that the bride takes a long bath in Unicorn's milk, it's wonderful for the skin, and it's also very auspicious, beyond the fact that it helps fertility." – She explained calmly not noticing the look of mild disgust from Lucy.
"How exactly is the milk acquired?" – The girl asked still dreading the answer.
"Oh! It must be given freely of course, it would be a dreadful sin to steal something like that from a Unicorn, that's why it's so rare." – Narcisa explained again.
Lucy had to admit that the milk bath was actually very relaxing, she was left alone on the bathtub this time, no elves or anything, so she could soak on the soft white substance and relax, and the sweet smell from the milk made it almost impossible not to, so much that Lucy actually fell asleep.
She was awoken by the elves, that helped her out again, dried her, and brought her back to the bedroom to help her make her hair dress and the makeup, they sat her so she was sitting with her back to the mirror so that she wouldn't be able to see their work until it was complete.
Narcisa came back once her makeup and hair were done, and she was simply waiting for her, to put on the dress. The blonde was already ready for the ceremony, wearing a beautiful baby blue dress, that made her look even more pale and blonde than she already was, Lucy kept herself wondering if she'd manage to look prettier than Narcisa.
"Come dear, let's put on the dress, it's almost time." – The woman said with a somewhat sad smile.
Lucy nodded and came to stand on the stool on the middle of the room. As she got dressed, she couldn't help but shiver a little.
"There's no need to be so nervous my dear, everybody feels that way before an arranged wedding, I know it wasn't easy for me to walk down the aisle to Lucius." – Narcisa said with a sympathetic smile. – "But we all manage." – She finished in a murmur as she helped Lucy to put on her shoes. – "Look, you're beautiful."
Narcisa made Lucy turn around to the mirror, and she couldn't help but to gasp at her own reflection, she was indeed beautiful, her hair was perfect, tied on an elaborate braid, the dress looked like liquid light around her body.
"And with this, we're done." – Whispered Narcisa as she put a beautiful diamond diadem on Lucy's head. – "This diadem has been on our lord's family for many centuries, he asked me to give you this as a birthday present."
Once she put the tiara on Lucy's head though, they heard a knock on the door, and soon, Professor Snape, clad on very luxurious velvet black robes came in, holding a vial on his hands.
"Ah! Severus, I feared you wouldn't finish it on time!" – Narcisa exclaimed.
"Good evening Narcisa, Potter, my lord asked me to bring you this potion." – He said while offering the vial to Lucy.
"What's this?" – Lucy asked eying the red liquid suspiciously.
"This, Potter, is what will allow you to touch the Dark Lord without feeling any pain, it's a potion made with his own blood, that will counter the reaction you have to him, it won't fix the pain you feel due to his anger, that's caused by the mind link between the two of you, which should be minimized by the bond itself, but physical contact shouldn't be an issue anymore." – Snape explained calmly.
Lucy stared at the potion, it was, in a sense, the solution for her problems, she would no longer suffer from too much pain, and yet if she drank it, it would be as if she gave permission for him to touch her.
"You should drink it my dear." – Narcisa said, as if understanding Lucy's thoughts, - "Whatever will happen, will happen anyway, you shouldn't suffer more than necessary."
Feeling more trapped than ever before, Lucy drank the potion in one gulp.