Narcissa Malfoy
My cousin was getting married that summer, Narcissa Black or Malfoy as she'd become. I didn't know her as well as I'd like to say I did but she was nice in every interaction we had and so I was happy she had found someone.
My brother helped me with my suit in the morning and my parents spent all day talking about how lucky Narcissa was and how good their childrens' branches of the family tree will be. I was excited based on how great they were talking of this union being, Lucius Malfoy sounded like a god.
The church was beautiful and the whole thing looked straight out of a fairytale. Pureblood weddings really were incredible. Everything was black with green accents, everyone was dressed in black and the groom stood at the altar in a while suit with a green pocket square and a green stitched vine running up his jacket, short almost white hair combed up and over to one side looking like it was glowing in the lighting, it looked like a halo apon his head, he looked surreal.
Then came the bride, her dress was beautiful, white body that extended up all the way to her neck, in towords the middle of her collarbone and didn't cover her shoulders, a long, slim skirt with forest green at the bottom blending into the white and the same green tracing a vine shape up her torso. Her blonde hair tied and platted to reveal the loose black hair underneath, blonde wisps framing her face. Her green and black makeup was fairly heavy but still elegant looking. She had a white and green hydrangea flower in her hair and a whole bouquet of white ones in her hands.
The two looked like angels at the altar, they were mesmerising and I wonder if that was the only reason I was able to get through the ceremony, or spending the whole time scanning every little detail of them, the tensing in Lucius's hand every time Narcissa spoke and how she'd blink slightly longer every time he spoke, the silver bracelet with a green bead on Narcissa's wrist, the black peaking out from the bottom of Lucius's sleeve.
~
The actual wedding bit went smoothly and so did the rest of it apart from a few judging comments about Narcissa not wearing pure white, Lucius not wearing black and the whole thing "looking like a funeral" etc, there were lots and these are just the ones I could understand.
It was my cousin's wedding, nothing life changing for me, it's not like I was the person legally joining with someone, but I did meet someone memorable.
My brother spent the reception talking to Regulus, Narcissa was his cousin too after all, and I spent it sitting next to him holding his sleeve. At some point a boy around my age approached, he seemed confident and unapologetic as he marched towards me, not caring if he bumped into people or got in their way.
When he reached me he put out his hand. "Hi! I'm Caius Burke." He had an accent I didn't recognise, light brown hair and hazel eyes.
I wasn't keen on talking to this boy but I needed to make a friend and I had learnt some basic English so this was the perfect time to practice it. "Hello... I am Felix Rosier."
Caius Burke asked me something but I couldn't understand what, it was something about me, I knew that much but not really anything else. I looked to my brother who was looking at me pleased but sympathetically and said something about my English.
"Oh..." Caius looked down confused and I wondered if he'd never met someone who couldn't speak English before. He looked back up at my brother and asked something. My brother sighed and said something back at which made Caius look down again but this time looking more frustrated. Caius looked up again and once again asked my brother something, this time my brother looked at him weirdly sympathetically.
The cycle repeated again, this time Caius looking even more frustrated and my brother looking down at me with raised eyebrows. "Voulez-vous jouer à Morpion?" (Do you want to play Noughts and crosses?)
Apparently Caius apon finding out I couldn't speak English had asked if I wanted to play tag but my brother said it was too disruptive, then asked about hide and seek but my brother didn't want us getting lost or still being disruptive.
I stared at my brother blankly for a second. "Tu peux dire non" (you can say no) my brother reassured me "ou oui, dis-le simplement." (or yes, just say so.) I thought for a minute then nodded my head.
Caius said something then ran off and I looked at my brother disappointed and confused but he told me that Caius was coming back. He ran back with some parchment, a quill and some ink. "Pourquoi avait-il tout ça sur lui?" (Why did he have all of that on him?) I asked my brother.
Evan looked as confused as I felt. "Je ne sais pas, gamin..." (I don't know, kid...)
I had forgotten Regulus was there until he spoke. "Vous devez être préparé." (You have to be prepared.)
My brother cracked a smile. "Eh bien, vous l'avez entendu." (Well, you heard it.)
~
We played a couple rounds of noughts and crosses before we got bored and Caius started asking me questions I couldn't understand, I'm not sure he cared that much.
I took the quill, dipped it into the ink and drew a little globe on the parchment before pointing to him and writing a question mark. He looked at it for a second looking extremely concentrated before going "Oh!" grinning and answering "Ireland!" He really was expressive.
I watched him fascinated by how much expression he put into everything and he clearly noticed my focus. His ears turned red and he started rambling, I think it would've been hard to understand even if you could speak English. "Quoi?" I asked.
He stopped rambling and let himself calm a little. "Oh, yeah, no English." He pointed to my drawing then to me.
"France." He seemed intrigued by everything I said, like I was speaking some ancient tongue that hadn't been spoken in thousands of years. He asked me something about France and English and I just looked at him blankly.
"France English." He said and I didn't get any less confused. "France French?" I continued to stare. "It is France in English." He looked at me for some kind of approval that I understood what he said, I nodded. "Is it France in French?"
It seemed like an awfully stupid question to me and I gave him a look that said that was what I was thinking. His ears turned red again but it really wasn't that stupid a question as it normally does change.
He changed the subject by drawing what I was fairly certain was a cat, a dog, a snake, a fish and... Something else. He wrote the hashtag symbol, the number one and a question mark underneath. My favourite animal? Or pet? I thought of every animal I knew, the only one that stood out was the paper dragons my brother made, dragons, they were awful cool right? "Dragons." He seemed to think it a valid answer.
He pointed to himself. "Werewolves." I knew what he ment, loups-garous, I'd been warned/told all about them. He seemed terribly confident in his answer but he seemed confident in everything so it wasn't much of a surprise. I wondered if they counted as an animal but there was no point in verbalising my doubts, it wasn't like he'd understand.
He started ranting about them and I didn't understand what he was saying but it was nice to listen to him talk, to watch his expressions, it was like watching a play.
~
Caius left a while before me and Evan did, Regulus left even later.
"Êtes-vous d'accord?" (Are you okay?) My brother asked me as we got up to leave, I was more than okay. No wonder why people make friends, it makes you feel alive.
"Je vais bien." (I'm good.) My brother seemed genuinely really pleased and that made everything even better, made the awkwardness and how scary it all is all worth it.
Narcissa came over to thank my family for coming, she spoke a little to my parents then to my brother and myself. "Tu es vraiment jolie." (You look really pretty.) I couldn't help myself, it was true, she looked amazing.
She smiled and got down to my level. "Merci, tu es très beau toi aussi." (Thanks you, you look very handsome yourself.)
Her eyes were red, she'd been crying for sure. She put her hand on my shoulder and I noticed the 'A' on the bead on her bracelet. I didn't ask who A was but I was very close to doing so, I might've if she didn't start speaking again.
"Tu n'essayais pas de m'éclipser, n'est-ce pas?" (You weren't trying to outshine me were you?) She had the kind of smile that made you feel safe but she looked the kind of tired that made you feel like the luckiest person alive even with all the makeup.
"Non madame." (No Mrs) I said politely and she laughed a pained laugh, I wondered if no one else could hear/see her or if they simply didn't care or was this the way brides were supposed to be? With the way they spoke of it I would've thought she would've looked more joyous.
"Bien, si tu l'étais, nous aurions peut-être eu des problèmes." (Good, if you were, we might've had problems.) She spoke with a kind of lightheartedness that made everything feel okay.
I wanted to stay there listening to her laugh and watching her smile, she looked like she needed a good laugh, could use a break, I wished she could get a break.
My parents said goodbye and offered final congratulations and my brother gave her a knowing, sympathetic smile which made her look away and drop her smile for a second before plastering a fake one, the other one wasn't pure but you could tell she was trying to keep positive, I don't think she had anything positive left in her anymore.