A haunted melody rushed through my ears and ran around inside my head. I was caught between feeling lulled with romance and realizing a charm was imbedded into the notes causing me to lull. I took a heavy sigh, and told myself to just let go and enjoy the moment. I eagerly watched Carina walk down the aisle through the trimmed rose arches. Her long, white bell-shaped wedding gown swished along the floor, dragging the red rose petals that had fallen from the rose vines wrapped around the white terraces above the seating and altar. The red butterflies, who were delicately humming their wings, stood still as the bride took one step at a time towards her future husband.
Carina looked exceptionally beautiful, with her silky chocolate-colored hair flowing around her face and her dark defining eyes glimmering with happiness. The bride’s red lips matched the bouquet of roses in her hands. Her dress was a strapless, form fitting gown. There was a little girl dressed in blood red satin holding her train, which was longer than the girl herself. All in all, Carina was a sight to behold.
I turned my gaze towards Arthur Macnair. He had cleaned up extremely well. Back in Hogwarts, he was famous for his five o’clock shadow at eight o’clock in the morning. Today, however, his face was clean and replaced with a glowing smile. His once messy hair was tamed and combed down. His black robes were trimmed with a red thread. I watched as his chest rose and fell: his nervousness was apparent. Carina finally made her way to his side, and he looked relived.
Perhaps it was possible to marry for love in a world where it seemed to hide at every corner. They looked so happy, I couldn’t help myself when I let a tear fall down my cheek. I huffed to myself for becoming a sapless wimp, crying at weddings of all things! I brought a finger to my eye and acted like I simply had an itch. Sniffing, I looked across the aisle and saw that Norma was clinging to Romule, bringing his hankie to her eyes. My lips pursed into a smile: good, I’m not the only wreck here.
Oddly, I couldn’t seem to will myself to look at Tom. I knew him well enough. He would probably be gazing around for fellow Death Eaters or in utter boredom stare off at the roses. Deep in my heart, I imagined that Tom would be watching the wedding, and, later turn to me, declaring how romantic is. Then he’d say, “Maybe love is worth it.” But that was imagination. However, if I didn’t look at him, my imagination could be real.
At the altar, an older gentleman performed the ceremony. He must have been from the Ministry but was not familiar to me. Carina and Arthur had each written long notes of affection and vows that they proceeded to give. The first five minutes of vows had been touching, even heartfelt. But after ten minutes, and Arthur was still talking, I was becoming tired – fast.
It gave me time, however, to glance around the crowd of people. Tom and I had sat near the back, with a few rows to spare behind us. From here, I could see almoste every guest. There were about two hundred seats and most were filled. I could pinpoint the heads of the Blacks without having to even see their faces. The family held themselves up with a higher attitude than anyone else here. Despite their pride in their pureblood, all of the Blacks refused Tom's offer to join the Death Eaters. They supported us, but I think they were afraid of the impacts their name would carry if they were caught. Their reputation was of uptmost importance.
Walburga Black sat near in the second or third row along with the rest of the Blacks. The whole family took up two rows on the bride’s side. I didn't know the names of any of the older Blacks, but I could recognize those I went to school with. Walburga sat on the right of Orion, who had been the idiot of my year. I supposed that she had a thing for cute guys, despite the apparent relations between them and that she was his elder by four years. I shrugged: their family life was not my problem. Orion’s older sister, Lucretia, was sitting on the other side of Walburga; Lucretia’s black hair was a striking difference to the blond curls of Walburga. I assumed that Ignatias Prewett was sitting next to Lucretia, since they had been married right out of Hogwarts. Tom had tried to recruit him for his Death Eaters, but told me privately that it was a waste of time since Ignatias was Ravenclaw. And he did just that – refuse Tom’s offer. It made no difference. Next to Orion were Walburga’s younger brothers, Alphard and Cyngus. Alphard seemed to be the only Black lounging in his chair, while Cyngus had his arm wrapped around Druella.
Surprisingly, Callidora, who was the second cousin of Walburga and also in my year, sat away from the Black clan, a couple rows in front of Tom and me. I felt a little suprised at the fact she wasn't with her old friends Druella or Norma. They must have offically fallen out since Hogwarts. I couldn’t make out exactly who she was with, but assumed she still was going out with Harfang Longbottom. Even Callidora’s two younger sisters were sitting up by Walburga. Charis, the youngest, was still in Hogwarts, but Cedrella just graduated, since she was a year behind me. Norma had told me rumors about Cedrella fancying a Weasley. That was no good since the Weasleys were blood traitors, despite their pureblood status. Today, however, she was sitting behind Walburga, next to her sister and another girl. I could always tell Cedrella from the others since she had a beautiful strawberry-blond color to her hair. Callidora and Charis had hair like maple trees. However, all three sisters were so different; it was easy to tell just by their mannerisms.
I noted other fellow Death Eaters on Macnair’s side: Peter Avery, Zilya Dolohov, Pavo Yaxley, Helio and Ardin Travers, and Rookwood. Most all of them had dates of some sort. Apollo Rosier, the only Death Eater on the bride’s side and Carina’s older brother, sat near the girl by Cedrella Black. Apollo, like the Blacks, held himself with the statue of peacock. He had always acted that way, even before he was Head Boy in my third year. A few other Death Eaters I had recruited after Tom left were scattered through the aisles. Shepard Carrow was in Cedrella’s year. He was a quiet boy, the kind who leaves you nervous with their long stares and little speech. Abraxas Malfoy and his cronies, Alfred Mulciber and Alexander Nott, were also there on the groom’s side. That Malfoy had grown more arrogant since I had met him in Hogwarts. He must have been in seventh year by now.
Thankfully Carina had started on her vows, and they, unlike Arthur’s, seemed to be mildly short. I looked at the groom’s face, and he seemed flushed after his extremely long speech and by Carina’s touching words.
“I will love you for the times of laugher and of tears. Never will I part by your side, until Death’s untimely hand tears us away,” Carina finished. She laughed giddily and wiped unseen tears from her eyes. Although it was not necessary, some of the audience, myself included, clapped softly. It was a beautiful moment, despite the fact that it might be all show.
“And now,” the ministry attendant began, “I now pronounce you husband,” he pointed his wand to Arthur, “and wife,” and then to Carina. Blood red and black satin ribbons shot from his wand wrapping the two of them together. Fireworks and the ringing of bells erupted from the majestic scene. Quite a few of the attendee’s stood up to get a better view. I was one of them, knowing that Tom was probably embarrassed of me and rolling his eyes.
The married couple floated in the air for a while, embracing and giving each other their first kiss at a new life. I held my hands to my chest, praying a new life like that would come true for me as well. Right then, I couldn’t help but glance at Tom, if only for a split second. To my amazement, he was not staring off as I believed he was. His intense gaze, though hidden by his snake mask, was firmly on the couple. The thoughts in his mind were oblivious to me, as they always were. I glanced back to the alter, and the two were gently led down while the ribbons and fireworks faded away. A quiet moment passed over the room, then a rush of cheering and clapping erupted throughout the countryside. Everyone stood up as the two gaily leaped down the aisle, butterflies coming at all directions and red roses falling.
Out behind the seating area, near the labyrinth, four huge buffet tables appeared with magic, ordering themselves into a diamond shape. Suddenly our empty chairs moved around tables that sprung from the ground as well, each having their own placards dictating where each guest would sit. The newlywed couple had their own high table, near where they had exited from, closest to the food. Two lower tables on each side, rose up for their immediate family. In the middle of the buffet tables, a grandeur wedding cake appeared, with red roses, of course, and black and white swirls. Everyone happily went to grab food and congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Macnair.
I found my placard with Tom on my left and Norma at my right. Perfect, I thought sarcastically. Norma was sure to find out who my “current employer” was. I glanced around and saw that the table was filled with Death Eaters. There were ten of us all together. To my disgust, Rookwood was placed also at my table, but thankfully his chair was on the other side. I desperately hoped that Lord Voldemort was not going to talk about his plans at dinner, for fear of Norma finding out about Romule. I wasn’t quite sure if she knew, but I didn’t want to jeopardize anything.
And then I thought the whole idea of me being worried about Norma was hilarious. In Hogwarts, I wouldn’t have cared about anyone else’s feelings, except for Tom. It seems my year with him had created some sort of depth in my life. He was so careless about others’ feelings; I suppose I had taken his and my own duty to care for everyone instead. Then I had to question myself again: what was I doing here with Tom, my total opposite? A quick thought entered my head, asking if I really still loved him. There was a whole world out there, with innumerable people and millions of different paths for me to take. Was this the one I was destined to travel? With Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort?
I suddenly felt a presence next to me, and I gripped the back of the chair in front of me. I turned to find myself staring at Tom. I let out a sigh of relief. The corner of his mouth barely crinkled, “Did I startle you?”
“No, My Lord,” I lied. There was a pause, and we locked eyes with each other. Although the mask made his face horrible twisted, I still saw Tom’s soul shine out through the ruby snake eyes. He looked quizzically at me, as if I posed an unnamable question that has no answer. I always translated it as his looks of love, and my heart soared.
He broke the awkward silence, “Your mask turned out really well, considering.” I knew he was giving a compliment to himself, but I deciphered it as his way of calling me beautiful. My heart rattled again, and I reached for his arm unconsciously to let him know I understood.
“My Lord…” My eyes were pleading with him, wanting him to just admit the truth that I so desperately wanted to hear. My hand fell onto nothing as Tom moved at just the right moment.
“Dolohov.” Tom looked straight behind me to Zilya, who was walking towards him. Tom held his head up higher and kept his body stiff. My heart fluttered down to my stomach. I wasn’t going to hear Tom’s admittance to love, but my thoughts of leaving him disappeared. If not today, perhaps tomorrow; and then, I would spend the rest of my life with my true love.
The two men walked away, and I decided to go and grab some of the food. I made a detour towards the newly married couple before going straight towards the tables, consisting of glazed ham, roasted turkey, prime rib, French cuisine, and much more. There was a slight line of attendees giving their blessings to the newlyweds.
On lower tables than the couple of honor, two elder couples sat on either side of them. On Carina’s right were her parents, the aging Rosiers. Her mother was grey haired but looked as sharp as she ever was. Her husband had salt-and-pepper hair with an apparent smirk, satisfied in his daughter’s marriage. Next to the parents sat Carina’s sister Druella and her husband Cygnus Black. Next to Cygnus was Druella’s brother, Apollo, with a recent Hogwarts’ graduate Meredith Flint, a skinny white girl with long black hair and a hooked nose. On Arthur’s side sat his parents, who looked relatively young compared to the Rosiers. The Macnairs had kept their dark black hair, and the father looked like a striking image of Arthur. The only difference was that the elder Macnair had his fair share of wrinkles. Mrs. Macnair had long, black curly hair, whose beauty balanced her plain square face. Arthur had one younger sister, of whom I did not know her name. She was the young girl holding Carina’s train, dressed in blood red. She looked very much like her mother.
I got in line with about ten other people to greet the newlyweds. When I approached the couple, I bowed and curtsied, quickly raising my head. “May you have our blessing.”
The two of them looked at me curiously, as well as the couples’ two parents. I had forgotten I was wearing the mask. Carina spoke up first, “And who, may I ask, is giving us the blessing?” I noticed there was no suspicious tone in her voice; it was solely of curiosity.
I wasn’t sure how to answer. Should I represent myself or should I make a lie? Perhaps I should represent Tom? He could do that himself, but I was his servant, which would make it my job. The words sputtered out of my mouth before I could make up my mind. “My lord and lady, it is the Dark Lord that gives you his blessing.”
A collective murmur went around the members in line as well as the table. Druella’s attention was on me immediately, dropping the fork from her hand. Apollo had taken up interest as well as Cygnus. Arthur looked at me with intensity. I stared back, as hard as I could, hoping he remembered who I was, and also hoping that Carina was not to frightened by my apparent association with the Dark Lord. I glanced at Carina, and her tilted head gave off the impression that she was examining me over. She might not remember me, since I did not communicate with her much in Hogwarts. I could not bear to look at Druella, since I felt I betrayed her in some way by lying about who I was with. As I gave a last curtsy to Arthur, I saw that his eyes were focused directly behind me. Carina was also looking nervously where Arthur was.
I turned my head and saw Tom bowing slightly, giving more flair with his arms rather than stooping lower. Arthur stiffened in his seat. “I am much honored and flattered that the Dark Lord has come to my wedding and given me and my wife his blessing,” he spilled out, more nervous than grateful. Arthur seemed to have unconsciously grabbed Carina’s hand, as if to protect her from some unseen foe. Tom’s eerie looking mask glared out at the couple. His mouth smiled, but not in a happy way; his look almost frightened me. Then he slowly grabbed my waist and walked away. It felt strange for him to be holding and guiding me like that. I peeked up to see Tom’s expression, but he was looking towards the buffet tables. He pushed me off lightly and whispered in my ear, “Don’t get too much food. We’re leaving soon.”
My mouth was dry and appetite gone. I couldn’t tell if Tom was mad with me or not. My confused state led me to putting close to nothing on my plate. I walked over to the table, my head full of questions. Should I have announced he was here? Was that his job? Was he mad at me? Did Druella tell them who I was? Is Tom mad at me?
I sat down and stared at my food, ignoring the people at the table. Zilya was across from me, chatting away with Pavo. My mind drifted in and out of their conversation. They were discussing what Tom had asked of them, which was to recruit more people for his movement. Zilya was unsure if new members would be better, since they would only be following on a notion, and never actually meeting Lord Voldemort. Pavo thought it was a good strategy, since the upcoming war that Tom was promising was going to be brutal. I tried to ignore the rest of their bloody war talk. The last thing I wanted to focus on was the future deaths of my companions.
“So, you’re Ms. High and Mighty; you can just give out the blessing of Our Lord, huh?” My mind turned red as I realized whose voice it was: Rockwood. I glared at him. He sat on my right, which was reserved for Norma. I had no idea where she was, but I knew where I didn’t want to be.
“Go and take it somewhere else, Rockwood,” I gritted through my teeth as calmly as I could.
“No, I won’t, Eva,” he whispered back, grabbing my wrist painfully. That was the last straw. I stood up, knocking my chair backwards, and he stood up with me. I tried to shake his grip off of me, but it was no luck. I thought back to when Tom would hold me down, and I was always able to get rid of him. I couldn’t believe how foolish I was, believing I really had more strength than him. “Let go of me, you bastard!” He ignored my complaints, and held onto my other wrist with the same amount of force. I didn’t want to scream and make a big scene, since I had already embarrassed myself enough.
“You think you are the most important person at this party,” Augustus started, “But you’re not. I know what you are: a weak, little worm, trying to gain fame through the Dark Lord.”
“I wish,” I spat out, “you would stop describing yourself.” That threw him into a frenzy. He pulled his hand back, ready to slap me, but his head fell forward instead. His unconscious body slumped forwards on me, letting go of my wrists. I jumped away from his crumpled frame, shuddering from his touch. I can’t believe I ever slept with this creep. A chair was on top of his back, and I realized that I had unconsciously thrown his chair in the back of his head with my telekinesis. Suddenly, a light grasp on my arm caught my attention. I turned my head to face Tom Riddle.
“We should go,” he said quietly, with an eyebrow raised, almost as if it was a question.
“Okay,” I replied just as quiet. I was like a small animal under the spell of a big dangerous snake, about to eat dinner. But his eyes were just so penetrating. As we Disapparated back to Albania, I didn’t notice that everyone had watched the whole scene. Later, Norma mailed me a letter explaining we were the buzz of the whole afternoon, and everyone had seemed to have forgotten that they were there for Arthur and Carina. Once Druella explained to her who I was, Carina was upset to say the least. Norma wrote, “She couldn’t believe that, you, of all people Eva, had stolen her thunder.”
When we arrived back to Albania, Tom immediately walked past me into the shack. The ocean breeze was blowing and the Albanian sun heated my back. Tom threw his mask on the floor and stormed upstairs, with his green velvet robes waving behind him. I bent down to pick up his discarded mask and took mine off as well. My face felt surprisingly hot, not realizing how constricting the mask really was. I placed them on the table and went into the bathroom to wash my face, and clear my head from what had just happened.
As I walked out into the living room, I found Tom downstairs, fondling the masks on the table. His wand was lying next to them. He looked up at me as I exited the bathroom. He was quiet, but his stare sill held my attention, as if he really was going to eat me. He motioned me to come towards him with his hand. I obeyed and stood at his side as he fiddled with the masks. To my surprise, he put his hand up to my cheek and slowly caressed it. Our faces were so close, I could feel his light breath on my lips. His other hand grabbed one of mine, and stroked it with his fingers. His eyes looked hungry and uneasy, making me scared and exhilarated all at once. I thought we were going to kiss again, but instead he whispered to me, “You don’t understand, do you Eva?”
Understand what? My eyes gave away my confusion. His eyes frowned, and his hand left my face. His hand was still entwined in mine, but he backed away from me. He took a breath and let go of my hand. “Go away Eva.”
I was utterly lost. What was he doing? “But, My Lord-”
“Eva! I said, go.” A fire raged in his eyes, one of sadness and utmost contempt towards me, the same I had seen when I had insulted him in front of the vampires. Tears welled up in my eyes. Why was I so stupid, and how did I get myself in this much trouble with him? “Will you just go!” Tom yelled.
I turned around and ran out of the house, all the way down to the beach where I sat and questioned my motives once again.
A/N Oh no! What happened! Well, you'll have to wait until I upload more! Okay, sorry. Anyways, undoubtedly, your probably questioning some stuff (I am, and I wrote it), so I'll do some explaining. One reviewer asked me whether or not I was making Walburga a Black or not. Well, for my research in this story, I used the Black Family Tree (off of Wikipedia) to base some characters; from that, I found out that Walburga Black was born a Black and married her cousin Orion and they had Sirius and Regulus. I made Orion a couple years younger since, from Siruis' account, it seems that Walburga wore the pants, and I wanted to keep that in this story (I love the Black family! They're freaking awesome!) But get this: so I was perusing around the Harry Potter Wiki, and I found out that they actually WERE four years apart with Walburga being older. That was so random. Also, it makes sense that they got married because Walburga (the painting) always bragged that she was a Black, thus born into it. Also, the Blacks didn't mind intermixing, as noted in the books (Order of Pheonix I believe). So there's one question I hope I answered.
Okay, there are a lot of characters in this chapter, so if you guys are like me and love your visual aids, since I couldn't give every character justice without leaving the plot of the chapter behind, go to my photobucket account under puppyfire27 and then there's a HP folder. Yeah, there should be a little "yearbook" so that will hopefully help. There's two pages.
Third - yes, Malfoy's cronies are not Goyle and Crabbe. Sigh, that is just weird if even their grandfather's worked for the Malfoys. I decided to give him new cronies, stating in this imaginary world that Crabbe Sr. and Golye Sr. are a couple of years below Malfoy so they just never met. They are just boring people to work with! Forgive me.
So, I tried to base this wedding off of Bill's wedding from Deathly Halloww -- that was easier said than done simply because I let my cousin borrow it... a couple months ago. Bottom line, I don't have it with me, so I pretty made it up as I went, giving it a dark, yet romantic flair. Who knows if they were really in love! They're purebloods-- doesn't matter!
Lastly, I'm not even sure if I should mention this, because, I mean, I expect you, as readers, to assume Tom's motives as whatever you see them. But, yeah I'll say it, I just want you guys to know that Tom wasn't mad at Eva for announcing him - he kinda liked it because he was getting bored of the wedding. But where he goes a little...random at the end, well if you guys want I could give you what he thinks, but I'm going to let you guys figure that one out ;)
lotsa hugs y kisses
mrs.kapranos. :D
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