𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜𝗜 ━━ 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗗𝗟𝗘
087. till death do us part

( songs for the chapter:
sawn lake — tchaikovsky
back to black — amy winehouse )

          𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞. 𝗔 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗚𝗢𝗪𝗡 with lace, long sleeves, and a deep v-neck. Bridesmaids could be distinguished by the very thin belt around their waists with tiny carved gold roses on it. 

      Seeing Bellatrix Lestrange from far away when the bridesmaids gathered for their portraits to be taken brought some memories to the surface. All those missions she unknowingly went to back in sixth year, only Merlin knows how many times Bellatrix managed to catch her eye and recognise her.

"It is such a shame your mother could not join us," a voice said behind her when she was fixing a vase of white roses on one of the tables. She whirled around and charmingly smiled instantly.

"Uncle Abraxas, I have not seen you for so long," said the girl. Abraxas minded the glass of white wine in his hand and leaned down to hug her. 

"You look stunning, dear," Abraxas grinned. "I am so disappointed in my sister, truly."

Scarlet chuckled. "It was a last-minute task, and she promised she would visit Lucius and Narcissa tomorrow, just to congratulate the two."

"She better, yes, she better," Abraxas sternly pointed.

In Scarlet's mind, Celeste not attending her only nephew's wedding was a little bit peculiar. Her mother hastily mentioned an emergency at the Ministry and exited the House very early in the morning; when Scarlet eavesdropped conversations happening at Malfoy Manor, nothing seemed out of the ordinary or concerning. 

"Why don't you go ahead and give Narcissa a hand?" Abraxas advised. "I hear girls have all sorts of matters to talk about before the wedding."

"You've heard right," Scarlet raised a brow, smiling, "I will see you later, Uncle Abraxas," she waved her hand a little and made her way from the gardens into the Manor.

      When she took a sharp turn around the corner where the door to Narcissa's room lay, she heard a second, familiar, and very loud voice. Again, she did not want to meet Bellatrix Lestrange knowing her intense unpredictability.

      Scarlet barely remembered attending Bellatrix's wedding many years ago. She remembered being in a deep violet dress. She remembered the extravagant gown the soon-to-be Lestrange wore and little Scarlet thinking the bride looked like a fairy descending from heaven. Scarlet could not remember anything else—her memory was never as great. Bellatrix may never have always been completely sane but she was not mature either. She was naive.

      Before the cackling, loud woman, there was an 18-year-old young girl who arranged to marry against her will to maintain her duties. She never loved Rodolphus Lestrange—yet their agreement to marry was quite mutual to please their families.

      It was when Bellatrix noticed the large smile on Narcissa Black that she realised what she had missed in life. Scarlet saw her stiffened posture, the wild grin was replaced by a melancholic one; it was as though for a mere second, she received a flash of what her life could've been. She looked proud of her younger sister, yet, a part of her smile spelled out jealousy.

      Scarlet heard stories from Regulus. Rodolphus convinced her to take the Dark Mark together. Lord Voldemort personally acquired Bellatrix to train her in the Dark Arts, coerced her into obeying him to a large extent until she was stripped of her identity. Then came a time when he drenched up the last tendrils of her sanity and transformed her into a mad-woman.

      As the final thread of her sanity snipped away, she was nothing but a shell of a woman left. Perhaps the last straw was having Narcissa look into her hooded, dead eyes and no longer idolise her.

    Scarlet never agreed with Death Eaters. She may have despised Lord Voldemort and a lot of his followers, but Bellatrix was one of the few that she could not bring herself to hate. Not after all she had been through. Scarlet just couldn't hate Bellatrix and she wondered if it made her a bad person.

    Then, like a porcelain doll, the older girl's soft smile turned to a large grin, watching her sister in absolute awe.

"You're the most beautiful bride I've seen!" Bellatrix cheered, slapping her hands together repeatedly as she walked over to Narcissa, standing behind her and placing hands on her shoulders. "You've grown up so fast, Cissy, my gorgeous sister."

      It was true—Narcissa looked like she was made of angel dust, caressed by the heavens itself. Her hair fell into place like dominos, not a single strand out of place. It must have been a gift from the universe itself to be able to grow up so utterly charming. Just by looking at her, Scarlet reminded herself to drive a dagger through Lucius' throat if he ever dared to hurt her.

      Out of every motion and every darkness in this community, it was Lucius' love for Narcissa that still gave threads of hope to the rest of them. She remembered, last summer, Narcissa told Lucius how terrified she was that she might have to take the Dark Mark—after witnessing Bellatrix's fate. Lucius had promised her that she would never be destined for such a destiny, to hell with whatever the Blacks say; that the cruel mark would never see the light of her beautiful skin. It was cheesy and Scarlet pretended to gag as he said it but it was a beautiful notion nonetheless.

      Scarlet moved away quickly from the door as Bellatrix was leaving and hid from her eye line from around the corner. And then after her departure, she moved into the room and greeted the older blonde cheerfully.

"What if I mess up my vows?" The bride asked instantly. Narcissa did not look pleased, she was terrified.

"You've been talking to yourself in the mirror for the past four months, Cissa, you'll be fine," Scarlet told her calmly. "I have taken care of everything. The flowers, veil, altar, not a single feather are out of place. The air reeks of lavender, your favourite."

"I won't. What if I—I don't know, something terrible happens. What if someone passes away and it all ends? Or... or, even worse! What if one of Lucius' peacocks dies? What will I do then—"

Scarlet moved closer. "You're just getting cold feet, all brides get those." She confidently assured her, placing her hands on her shoulders from the back and staring at her in the mirror. "This is a gorgeous day, and I will not let anything wrong happen. Death can wait."

"I really hope so," Narcissa turned away from the mirror. "I hope everything goes perfect."

"It will," she smiled back. "I mean, it is Lucius and he is a bit of a git so I might object—"

"Careful there, Blondie, it's my fiance you're speaking of," Narcissa playfully raised a brow and Scarlet chuckled at her words. Blondie, it felt odd coming from anybody but Sirius. For a single moment, she imagined herself panicking similarly, sitting in front of a mirror in a white gown and marrying Sirius on their way to happily ever after.

"Bellatrix was correct, you look absolutely beautiful," Scarlet stated quickly.

"Thank you, Scarlet," she softly whispered. "And you too, black suits you." Then suddenly, Narcissa grinned largely, a teasing hint in her eyes, "Black suits you," she repeated with raised brows and a suggestive tone.

Scarlet rolled her eyes, "Never speak like that, or say that ever again," ever since they started to think Scarlet was not dating Sirius anymore, both Lucius and Narcissa have been trying to get her with Regulus. Regulus! She was going to ignore it all, "I've never been a bridesmaid before, it really does feel awesome." Scarlet smiled.

        During the bridesmaid and groomsmen's entrance, a soft melody hung in the background as Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange (Lucius's best man and the bride's maid of honour, respectively) walked down the aisle, a bouquet of flowers in the woman's hands.

      Scarlet was standing at the entrance with her back straight and arm locked with Evan Rosier. Scarlet realised she was next to step down and turned to a rosy-cheeked Evan who looked as though he was struggling to breathe. "Inhale. Exhale. It's not hard, Evan,"

      In fact, Narcissa insisted Scarlet pairs with Regulus for their walk and Scarlet did everything possible in her will to make sure it was not Regulus. She was not speaking to him properly at the moment and nothing would make it more awkward than the pair walking down the aisle with a bunch of old people shooting them adoring eyes.

"Easy for you to say without a tie strangling you," Evan strained out, and Scarlet turned to him, placed a finger near his collar, and tugged at his tie, loosening it.

"I don't know why you and Regulus make a fuss about ties." She stated, putting on a charming smile as the two of them walked down the aisle. Lucius asked Evan to be one of his groom's men—Scarlet assumed it was because Lucius didn't have any other friends due to his stupidity but she only later found out that the two were apparently quite close. 

      When they entered and walked down, people turned to look at the pair. After all, they looked magnificent. 

      They walked down quite fast before Evan dropped dead out of anxiety, and, when they reached the end of the path, the two unlocked their arms and Evan let out a sigh of relief, the two of them parting ways and standing opposite each other.

      Druella was shedding tears of joy when Narcissa walked down the aisle, and Lucius looked as though he had been sent to another world to live with unknown creatures, he was amazed.  

      Narcissa wore a long, white gown that curved her figures perfectly, it was slim and thin with glistening silver and diamonds carved on every part of the fabric. Her sleeves were long, and became flowy from her wrists where the lace fabric reached all the way down to her feet to create a blown-out cape-like effect. 

       With her pale hair, silver glitters over her eyelids, and the whitest white dress, the crimson lip she wore stood out beautifully. A drop of blood in a body of snow.

      Lucius was so zoned-out that Rodolphus had to lean forward and poke his shoulder to snap it out of it. "You look exquisite, love," whispered Malfoy.

"I always do," Black replied with her red lips pulled into a grin, charming look in her eyes. This caused the three bridesmaids and the four groomsmen to let out a laugh.

      The entire ceremony went by with Scarlet trying to fight her intrusive thoughts of objecting to the wedding the moment 'speak now or forever hold your peace' was uttered by the officiant. Beautiful vows were exchanged, and Lucius dipped Narcissa when he kissed her. 

      Elegant claps chorused through, and everyone started to congratulate the newly-married couple one by one. 

      Evan had his arm locked with Scarlet's as the two glided down the group of standing people who held champagne and wine in their hands. Mingling has never been a harsh duty of hers, especially within the pureblood community—she was raised to carry on such small, irrelevant conversations. Some of the elders ruffled Evan's hair affectionately as he passed them, and ladies placed their dainty hands on Scarlet's shoulder and traced their fingers down her long hair to greet her.

"This sure is better than the other two Black weddings," Evan muttered when they finally stood a few feet away from the conversing crowd of people.

"Rosier, must you start this now?" Regulus shot, rolling his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Asked the blonde girl, "Come, sit," Scarlet noticed two seats beside Regulus, and Evan helped her to sit down by pulling out a chair and holding her gown from behind her right before sitting on her other side. 

Regulus ignored both of them, an absolute cold look on his face to indicate he found nothing more tedious than this ceremony.

"Don't you know? Of course, you know," he spoke of it as though it was on Daily Prophet or something, and that she should know all the details, "Bellatrix showed up at the altar with puffy, red eyes, the word is: she had some sort of anxiety attack before it, she was a mess."

"Merlin, that's terrible," Scarlet frowned, "did no one help, or whatever?"

Evan let out a strangled laugh, sounding like she found her words ridiculous. "Are you kidding? They could not put a stop to the wedding—Mr and Mrs Black were holding their breaths the entire ceremony, thankfully, Bella didn't run away as Andromeda did. Andromeda's decision was the second terrible incident when it came to this family's weddings."

"I think I heard rumours that Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange was in a loveless marriage, or something," Scarlet nodded lightly, Regulus once spoke about it with small hints. "I did not realise it was that forced."

"It's strange, this entire generation is bound to end with tragic weddings and twists and turns, with Sirius Black running off, and with Bella and then Andromeda's notorious incidents—thankfully, Narcissa knows her duties all too well." 

      Evan talked a lot, and Scarlet did not mind it at most times because she didn't exactly have anything to converse about; or else, this would be awkward. 

"Salazar, do you ever shut up, Evan—?" Regulus rolled his eyes for the thousandth time. 

"Scarlet, right?" A quirky voice made her turn over her shoulder. Bellatrix Lestrange shot her an elegant smile, taking a seat beside her.

"Bellatrix," she bows her head lightly, a fake smile on her lips.

"I'm going to leave you ladies all alone," Evan smirked. Scarlet turned away from Bellatrix to shoot Evan a nasty glare, and his smirk only widened teasingly. 

Bellatrix looked at Regulus who was stuck by Scarlet's side. "Regulus, Aunt Walburga was seeking you,"

"Oh," his face dropped. He did not want to leave or look like a lost puppy as he looked for his mother. Slowly, he stood and started to move away.

Scarlet looked at Bellatrix with a calculated gaze. "Mrs Black was not looking for him, was she?"

"No, she was not," the Lestrange girl almost looked impressed at her ability to study situations. "Narcissa was right, you do possess an awfully exquisite quality," she studied her closely, grey eyes roaming all over the blonde. "I don't believe we have spoken officially, we only see each other when... you know." She raised a brow.

Scarlet remembered being in one of those horrid trances when she last met Bellatrix. Of course, the woman did not know Scarlet was not there by choice, she only thought the younger girl was there to fight on their side. 

Scarlet politely nodded, "Yes, I know what you're referring to."

      Bellatrix was eyeing her again, starting with her perfectly styled hair and straight posture, her mannerism; Scarlet realised she was not even trying to hide the fact that she was examining her so carefully.

"The House of Black could use somebody like you after this scandalous generation," Bellatrix said, and the blonde whipped her head towards her.

"Excuse me?" Scarlet suspected she did not hear Bellatrix correctly.

"I mean... just because you and Sirius are over does not mean your path into this family is closed," Bellatrix slowly told her with intent, face still facing Scarlet although her cobalt eyes quickly glanced at Regulus running around the crowd, looking for his mother. "You would fit right in as a Black, Scarlet..."

Scarlet was careful about not to reject her proposal too quickly so it did not look suspicious. "Bellatrix, I understand what you're asking of me but..."

"If you're worried about the current reputation of this house, don't be," she quickly said, looking rather hopeful despite the neutral expression on her face.

After a pause, Scarlet blurted out, "Regulus is not into blondes," then she mentally slapped herself in the face, and again, and again. It was the same thing she had told Narcissa years ago but this was different. This was not a young, doe-eyed Narcissa, this was Bellatrix Lestrange. Scarlet cursed herself.

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. "I can't tell if you're being serious or not,"

Scarlet acted like the duality was a part of her personality, as though it was a game. "I'll let you figure it out on your own, for mystery's sake," Scarlet grinned lightly. Thankfully, Bellatrix let out a loud cackle that almost blew her ears off and gathered a lot of attention, however, at least she did not pick up on the blonde's nervousness.

      Regulus was like a little brother to her, granted, a little brother she despised quite a lot at the moment but the thought of marrying him was peculiar and unimaginable. 

"Oh! Look at that!" Scarlet exclaimed, catching Bellatrix off-guard. "There is our person of the season," she smiled brightly when Narcissa and Lucius approached, looking more relaxed than before with their arms wrapped around each other.

"Person of the season?" Lucius raised a brow. "You mean, pair of the season—?"

"No, I mean person of the season," Scarlet bluntly snapped, "You're not important," she then turned to Narcissa and kissed her cheek in a way women do by pouting and not touching skin to avoid lipstick smudges. "You are so gorgeous, Cissa, congratulations and many, many good luck wishes from me."

Bellatrix turned away and let out a loud laugh, and Narcissa sighed exhaustingly. 

"Am I going to have to witness you two's childish bickering for the rest of my life?" Narcissa asked. 

"For as long as Scarlet shall live," Lucius smiled down at his wife and then turned to his cousin. "Since Scarlet will remain a child for the rest of her life."

"I'm not the one stealing my mother's hair-ribbons all the time—" Scarlet snapped.

"I might have to put you two on time out." The woman in white sternly glared, shaking her head. 

Bellatrix stopped talking to whichever poor soul she was tormenting, and turned to Lucius, "You shall never, and I mean, ever hurt my little sister in your life or else I will have your head on a platter and feed it to worms."

Lucius froze. He stood in his place whilst the other two women in the scene grinned out of amusement. The groom gulped a lump, and awkwardly cleared his throat, "Understood, Bella."

Bellatrix's lips were soon pulled to a thin, fake smile, "Congratulations, you two."

      Evan was drunk by the end of it all and Scarlet was ordered by a furious Narcissa to keep an eye on him so he does not make a scene. His lazy arm was hung over Scarlet's shoulder as he babbled nonsense and made strange baby-like noises, and the girl was stuck with supporting his stupid, heavyweight.

      People were gathering around the entrance of Malfoy Manor, ready to leave. Scarlet stood between a bored Regulus Black whom she was still not speaking to and a cackling Bellatrix Lestrange who could not be happier about the choices her sister had made—being betrothed to a respectable and one of the most luxurious families in England.

      The guests chattered, and suddenly, Scarlet's eyes caught sight of an unfamiliar owl flying through the sky, coming down and dropping a letter into her hand smoothly.

      Softly, she looked around and noticed quite a few eyes on her due to such an unusual act recorded at a wedding ceremony. Without giving the matter much thought, she opened up the letter and attempted to hide it from Regulus who tried to glance over her shoulders to see what it said.

Regulus furrowed his brows. "What on Earth is my father doing writing you letters?" Asked the boy. "Is everything good at home? What did he write?" Whilst Walburga was present at the ceremony, Orion was too ill to attend and stayed back at the Grimmauld Place.

      Regulus' words got the attention of Bellatrix too who stood tall, and glanced over the piece of paper from over Scarlet's shoulder. 

"Scarlet? Scarlet?" Bellatrix's calls to get the young blonde's attention were getting louder and louder by the second, catching others' attention. Abraxas was running towards her with a panicked look.

      No, no. Soon, people were nearing and surrounding her, the families close to her asking her about what happened. However, Scarlet was not paying attention to her surroundings, at all. All of their voices rang and echoed in the back of her brain and faded into nothingness. 

      Her heart battered against her chest so hard, it caused her to nearly fall over.

      The girl found it hard to breathe. No, no. Suddenly, the place was too bright and it blinded her blurry eyes. Fumes exploded in her chest. Her hands trembled, and it was a moment when the entire world had stopped spinning. Dark dots encapsulated her vision and her throat felt like it was being punched by a thousand knives.

      No, no.

      The world felt hollow, and everything fell apart.

𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑨 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑲𝑺

christmas present everybody!!
act 3 will be released on new years.

until then, 
farewell.