Two weeks. That was all the time I was going to get between the nightmare of my engagement party and the wedding to the man I wanted to murder. It meant that there was a lot of gossip- and people were looking at my dramatic drinking at the party in an entirely new and even less charitable light.
I had woken up the next morning feeling like death had stomped on my head, crawled down my throat and settled heavy in my bones, leaving me feeling pasted to the bed. I managed to peel myself off of the blanket- taking a look around the room, it wa a mess- more than my normal mess. It all flooded back, last night, Theodore and his stupid ring. I would get my revenge on the man. He thought I wasn't good enough for him? Fine.
I headed into my mother's room, walking right past her and directly into her bathroom, yanking open the medicine cabinet, looking for a hangover potion before I did something drastic, like give up drinking.
My mother looked fresh as a daisy which was shocking, as I figured she'd have indulged more than I had the night before. But she informed me that she hadn't had anything last night as she reached past me to grab the correct vial.
That was when she dropped the bomb that I had two weeks before the wedding would be happening- also that I was taking her last hangover potion, so I would need to run to the apothecary to get the stuff to make another batch of it.
That was no big deal, I actually really liked potion-making. I had hated doing it in school because Professor Snape was a sniveling shit show who preferred sneering at Potter and his friends over actually teaching us anything useful, but when I was home for vacations and during the summer I enjoyed making potions
After I downed the potion and gave it time to work so that I no longer felt like death, I headed out to the apothecary. There were two around Diagon Alley, there was the official one actually on the main street the one that students went to to get their first cauldrons as well as any supplies that the school required them to provide. Then there was the other apothecary, the fun apothecary. The one down Knockturn Alley that had the ingredients that the other wouldn't carry.
I think we all know which one I went to.
I quickly found everything I needed for the new batch of hangover potions and decided to have a little fun looking at the more nefarious ingredients. A plan forming in my mind.
"Excuse me, can I get just a couple of ounces of that one?" I pointed to the plant I wanted. I had to show ID to prove that I was of age and the apothecary worker put on gloves. A moment later I was handed a small vial with the correct amount in it.
"Perfect, thank you-"
"Calvin, I think the Honeysuckle Stigma is over here." My shoulders tensed at the name.
"No, nope no-" I muttered undermy breath, my heart rate ratcheting up.
"Coming, darling."
"Shit." I turned, I just needed to get to the checkout and then I could slip away without being seen. However, the checkout was on the other side of the store. I reached up and took my hair down from the clip that held it twisted up, letting the dark curtain fall on either side of my face and I adjusted the basket on my arm, hopefully hiding me a little more.
"Oops, sorry." My body was jarred while the woman who bumped into me laughed airily. "I'm pretty clumsy."
"It's fine-" I didn't look up.
"Oh! You're Genevieve's daughter, aren't you?" That got my attention, His too.
"What?"
"Genevieve Selwyn, such a lovely woman, she was friends with my sister, you know. Before…" The woman's comment trailed off, I glanced up at Calvin Danworth who had a thin layer of sweat shining on his forehead.
"Yes, that is my mother, thank you." I nodded. "Wh-What is your sister's name?"
"Beatrice McLaggen. I'll have to tell her I ran into you." I forced on a sweet smile and nodded.
"I'll let my mother know-"
"Oh! Silly me! I'm Delilah Danworth- Well your mother would have known me as Delilah McLaggen." She waved a dismissive hand. "Let her know too, that you saw me, Oh! And this is my husband, Calvin. Your mother actually came to our wedding- it was one of the last events I think that your father made it to."
"I'll let her know, thank you, Mrs. Danworth. I do need to get going though, lot's to do."
"Of course, well, Congratulations on the wedding. We were invited to the party but Calvin came down with something last minute, poor dear. It must have been something he ate." Delilah sighed.
"Must have been." I finally let my eyes fully settle on Calvin who looked appropriately uncomfortable. Something about that bolstered my courage "It was lovely meeting you both. I'll tell my mother you said Hi." I purposely bumped into Calvin before making it to the checkout. I paid for everything and headed out the door, I glanced over my shoulder to see Calvin staring at me over his wife's head as she talked about the different kinds of honey that she wanted to get. My heel caught on the door jamb and I stumbled, falling into a pair of steady arms.
"You are a disaster, aren't you?"
Theodore Fucking Nott.
"Fuck you." I pushed him away, sending him back a couple of steps so he bumped into his companion, Draco Malfoy.
"You bumped into me, Princess." Theodore pointed out, holding my apothecary bag out to me, I snatched it, I didn't even realize he'd taken it.
"Don't call me Princess, Nott." I ordered.
"Touchy." Draco drawled.
"Choke." I snapped at Draco before pushing past them to head home. I heard laughter behind me but I refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing me look back at them. No, instead I was going to reward myself with ice cream from the new ice cream shop on Diagon and I was going to mull over my new plan.
—-
I headed home, ready to spend the rest of my day making potions and plotting but instead, I was ambushed by my mother.
"Oh good, you're home, come on, we are going out."
"You and I? By choice?" She gave me a look, one that screamed 'I am not impressed with the attitude' as if I didn't inherit that directly from her.
"You are getting married soon, Cordelia, you do need a dress."
Oh shit.
"I can't, not today, I need to make- your potions. I took the last one It would be incredibly rude to not-"
"You can do it when we get back, or maybe even tomorrow, I don't think I will need them before then." My mind raced trying to come up with a way to get out of it but I had nothing.
"I- fine." I sighed and left the bags on the table. If I was going to be forced to marry at least I could do it in a dress I liked. Genevieve brightened when I gave up arguing.
"Fantastic, Let's go. I have so many ideas." Of course, she did. I simply pasted on a smile and let her lead me off to the dress shop.
Obviously, it was a high-end dress shop- there was no way we were going to do anything less than the best. The saleswoman happily flitted about to help us, making sure we each had champagne- I'd never had so much champagne in my life as I had thus far into the wedding process.
"Okay, let's start with what color you want the dress."
"Black."
"White." My mother corrected. The Saleswoman- whose name tag declared her name was Deborah, didn't so much as blink at the exchange, simply writing down white.
"What sort of style are we going for?" Deborah's eyes trailed over my body- but unlike most people, it wasn't with interest or disgust. She simply seemed to be taking in my shape so she could help us choose the best option.
"Something- sultry without being trashy. That's my daughter's usual style." Genevieve sat up ramrod straight, actually sipping from the glass instead of chugging it. Deborah nodded and wrote a few more notes.
"And do you have any requests?" She asked me. I hesitated, glancing around the shop. Mannequins stood all over, each of them in a different style of dress. From Mermaid skirts to the big puffy cupcake style.
"No long sleeves," I answered. "And- I don't want a tight skirt, something more flowy." I was already going to feel constricted at this wedding, I didn't need to make it worse by voluntarily tying up my legs. Deborah nodded and continued to write.
"Anything else?" She asked. I thought about it a moment longer and shook my head. "Alright, we can do all of that, you two stay here, the dresses will come to you, you simply say yes or no, the ones you say no to will go back to the rack the ones you say yes to will go to the fitting room." Deborah walked out of the room and a dress came floating in.
It was pretty, with a plunging neckline, the straps were thin and the skirt was long- with a train that seemed to never end.
"Ooh." Genevieve cooed, interested.
"No," I shook my head. The dress flew out and another one floated in to replace it. This one was similar but the train was much shorter. I didn't look at my mother but I saw her look at me. "Yes."
"I like that one," Genevieve informed me.
"It looks like yours."
"It does." My mother had wedding photos still up around her room. It was the only place in the house where we could see any images of our father. Most of them had been put into storage after his death, as was tradition when someone had died in humiliation. "But mine had the sleeves." She added.
I remembered as a kid, looking at those photos and thinking my mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. She seemed so happy that day, reveling in her wedding, holding onto my father's arm. We all pretended like we didn't see that he wasn't nearly as happy, that his eyes were straying off to the crowd of people there to congratulate them. Baz and I would never tell our mother that we snuck into the storage rooms and found the wedding guest book and found the signatures of Octavius and Contessa Lestrange in the book, Contessa's followed with a tiny heart.
Another dress floated in that I denied and it left.
"You know- Cordelia, I'm doing this for you." My mother's voice was soft. I scoffed, letting my head lol to the side to look at her. "I am. The world is- it's cruel, you and your brother know that to a degree but, I don't want you to ever deal with what I had to."
"No," I said to the next dress.
"I know Rochester Nott is- well, Rochester, but I knew Theodore's mother. And if that boy has any touch of Ophelia Nott in him then-"
"Theodore Nott is his father's son."
"I don't believe that," Genevieve argued.
"Of course, you don't." I rolled my eyes. "Yes." the next dress headed for the dressing room.
"I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. You and your brother have been my entire life for the past ten years and I will do anything to make sure you are taken care of for the rest of your life by a man who might not be the most emotionally available but will protect you."
I finally turned to actually look at her and she quickly reached up to dab at the tears that formed at the corner of her eyes.
"I might not be the best mother in the world- but I want the best for you and Bastian." Her voice was low, but not at all wobbly.
"Yes," I said to the next dress, watching it float into the dressing room.
The next part of the process was trying on the dresses that I had said yes to. Luckily I had opted to be kind of picky- so there weren't that many for me to try on. I started with the first one I had said yes to, the one that looked like my mother's dress. Deborah helped me get into it and with her wand she made a few changes to make sure it would fit me properly.
Then she sent me out into the waiting room where my mother sat, the room that was now surrounded by mirrors.
Genevieve gasped when I walked out of the dressing room, her hands flying up to cover her mouth, once again, tears dotted the corners of her eyes.
"Oh, Coco." She stood up and walked over, I looked to the mirror and did a little turn. "Hmm." She slipped her finger under the strap and adjusted it.
"I don't think this is the one," I commented as she was shaking her head.
"I agree, this dress is very me, not at all you." There was no malice in her voice, she was simply stating a fact. I agreed and went back into the dressing room. The next two dresses also weren't it, they were lovely, but they weren't what I wanted. We only had two left and I was staring at the first one.
"I don't think this is it." I ran my hands over the silk. "It doesn't feel right."
"That's fine, honey, we have one more left." Deborah sent that one off and then we were left with the final dress. Deborah helped me and-
"This is it, this is the one."
"Yeah?" Deborah's face broke into a wide grin.
"Yeah. Hang on." I opened the curtain and stepped out, Genevieve gasped- just as she had with the first one but this time it was a true gasp- one of admiration. Not just the shock of seeing me in a wedding dress.
"Coco-"
"This is my dress." I informed her, now I could fully see myself from all angles and- this was the dress.
It was a lace corseted bodice with thin drop sleeves, the skirt was flowy, several layers of sheer fabric with no train. The ghost of my silhouette could be seen through giving me that sultry but classic look I wanted. It was a touch long but once I had heels on it would be perfect. I did a little spin- it was perfect. My dress.
"It is, absolutely." My mother agreed.
"I'll need a necklace." I ran my hand over my bare collar.
"I have the perfect one for you. Oh that reminds me, we should stop and get some things for your wedding night." That stopped me in my tracks. "And have you started packing at all?"
"What?" I turned to face her, confused.
"Your wedding night, Cordelia, I know you already are drawn to nicer undergarments but you should have something special for the wedding night."
"Ew. And no I meant packing?"
"Well yes, you'll be moving to the Nott's after the wedding."
"The hell I will."
"Coco, you're getting married, you'll be living with your husband."
"Great he can move in with us, I can find him a nice room in an unused corridor, on the other side of the estate. Perhaps we could build him a treehouse out in the woods"
"Not how that works. Rochester and I already worked it out."
"Well, I'm so glad the two of you, once again, figured it out without me." I snapped, turning to go back into the dressing room. Deborah helped me out of the dress, promising that it would be ready in plenty of time for the wedding. I wasn't concerned about that anymore I hadn't even thought about what happens after the wedding, about actually being married to Theodore, about having to sleep in his house, in his bed. I re-dressed and stormed out of the dressing room, grabbing my bag, leaving my mother to basically chase me down.
"You're acting ridiculous." We stopped long enough to pay for the dress before I left the establishment altogether.
"I'm acting ridiculous? I'm being dragged kicking and screaming out of the only home I've ever known to the hell hole that is Nott Manor."
"That's dramatic, Coco."
"And on top of that- my mother wants to go with me, shopping for wedding night lingerie. Not happening."
"Fine, we don't have to do that, but the wedding is happening, meaning there will be a wedding night and you will be moving into the Nott's home. End of discussion."
"As if there was a discussion."
"There was."
"Between you and Theodore's father."
"Yes, exactly because like it or not, you are still my child."
"I don't."
"That's fine."
"Great." I snapped, the two of us headed home, and I sat in my room- the knowledge that I'd be moving out soon sitting like a rock in the pit of my stomach.
—-
The rest of the weekend zoomed by in an awkward haze as I didn't want to deal with my mother and she seemed content to not deal with me. I made the hangover potions and I left them on the dining table, when I went back an hour later they were gone. Finally, the weekend ended, and it was Monday, and back to work like normal.
Well- almost normal. I walked in and nearly ran head-on into Calvin Danworth and his assistant.
"Oh- Miss Selwyn, I'm sorry." His hand gripped my elbow as if I was still at risk of falling. I yanked my arm out of his grasp.
"I'm sure." I rolled my eyes and went to walk by him.
"Coco- Wait."
"What?"
"I just wanted to say thank you, for your discretion yesterday. Can I buy you lunch?"
I stared at him, hoping more than anything that he could read the 'what the fuck' in my expression. I looked to the assistant for help but she was looking directly at the floor. Seeing I wasn't going to get any help there, I shook my head.
"No, Calvin. You can't. You can't do anything for me anymore except deliver your statement to my office which you still haven't done." Calvin's face fell.
"Coco, please? Just one lunch." He lowered his voice, stepping closer. "Let me properly apologize."
"No." I tossed my hair over my shoulder and pushed between the man and the woman, walking towards The Prophet offices.
"This isn't over," Calvin called. I opted to go the adult route and held my middle finger high in the air behind me.
The morning went by quickly, and much like the day I was avoiding Theodore, I opted to eat lunch in my office. I stepped away for just a moment to throw away the trash, getting caught up in talking to some coworkers.
Everyone was talking about how the Great Harry Potter was in Auror training and how he shouldn't have to train because he saved the wizarding world. I disagree- I spent six years learning alongside the man, and he needed that training. Expelliarmus could only do so much.
Then finally I headed back to my desk. It seemed- messier than it had been when I walked away but I assumed someone had just left something on my desk for Helene. I picked it up and realized immediately that it wasn't related to the paper. No this was personal.
"What the hell?!"