The Squib In The Basement

2. Wedding Woes

Cassiopeia's cousins were a lot older than her and her brothers.
Narcissa, the youngest of her cousins, was about to go into her final year at Hogwarts in September, whereas Sirius was only about to start his first year.
Bellatrix was the eldest of her siblings, with Andromeda being the middle child.
With them being so much older than her, Cassiopeia wasn't that close to her cousins, but she still enjoyed being around them, as she saw them all the time at family events. And she looked up to all of them, for different reasons.
Narcissa was beautiful, Andromeda was defiant, and Bellatrix was powerful.

When Cassiopeia arrived at Bellatrix's wedding, she was immediately abandoned by her parents, who went off to find themselves good seats for the service.
Luckily for her, Narcissa saw her and pulled her into the side room where the girls were getting ready.
Andromeda was adjusting Bellatrix's veil when Cassiopeia walked in.
"Ah, there you are" grinned Andromeda.
"Sorry I'm late. We got held up" lied Cassiopeia, as her thoughts were on Sirius's beating.

Even though Cassiopeia was sure that Cygnus beat his children too, it wasn't something any of them spoke about.
It all happened behind closed doors, and wasn't mentioned aloud.
"You look beautiful, Bella" complimented Cassiopeia.
Bellatrix forced a smile, "Thanks".
"It's not too late you know" started Andromeda.
"For what?" Questioned Bellatrix.
"For us to run away together" finished Andromeda.

Bellatrix sighed and picked up the white gloves from the back of the velvet chair in front of her.
"Yes, it is" she mumbled, as she pulled the gloves up over her arms, covering the snake and skull tattoo on her left forearm.
"It's not. We can still turn and run away before father drags you down the aisle" insisted Andromeda.
"I would get disowned, and blasted off the family tapestry if I did that" reminded Bellatrix.

Each Black house had a large tapestry, with all of the members of the family on it.
Whenever someone was removed from one person's family tree, for behaviour unbecoming of a member of the Black family, their name would be taken off the rest of the tapestry's by magic, as they were all connected.
It was all of the Black children's greatest fear. To be cast out of their family and blasted off the family tree.
There were currently 5 members who had been removed, but Cassiopeia felt that it was only a matter of time before her Uncle Alphard was taken off. As he was beginning to distance himself from the Black family.

"Look, I am not going to run away. Nor will I let father drag me down the asile, kicking and screaming. I will go down of my own accord, with my head held high" announced Bellatrix.
"But you're going to be married to Rodolphus Lestrange. You will no longer be a Black" replied Andromeda.
"I can't be a Black forever. Father would never let me live the rest of my life unmarried. Besides, there are worst men in the world than Rodolphus Lestrange. He is a weak man, who I will easily be able to control" admitted Bellatrix.

"Great Aunt Cassiopeia isn't married" pointed out Cassiopeia, who was glad to be named after one of the only women in her family, who hadn't been forced into a loveless marriage.
"How she managed that, is a miracle. I guess maybe her father Cygnus wasn't as strict as my father, with the same name" sighed Bellatrix.
"I'm suprised she wasn't removed from the tapestry, for not getting married" commented Narcissa.
"Her parents must have loved her so much that they didn't want to remove her from the tapestry. She also wasn't the oldest child, so it wasn't as important for her to get married" replied Andromeda.
"Unlike me" mumbled Bellatrix.

Bellatrix then picked up her bouquet of black and white roses, as the other three girls did the same.
"Let's get this over and done with then" grumbled Andromeda.
"No, let's enjoy this. It is my wedding afterall, and I don't want to look back on this day with bad memories. I want to remember a happy day that I spent with my family, and a vibrant party that I spent with my sisters" informed Bellatrix.
"Well, the reception after the ceremony should be pretty entertaining" grinned Andromeda.

"I hope Uncle Alphard doesn't get too drunk again" chuckled Cassiopeia.
"Well, I hope that everyone gets as drunk as possible, including me" announced Bellatrix.
"That is one way of getting through a painful day. Drowning yourself in alcohol" commented Narcissa.
"And that's what I intend to do" informed Bellatrix.
"Then I will join you" smiled Andromeda.
"I would too. But I wouldn't like Lucius to see me drunk" admitted Narcissa.
"You and that Malfoy boy are like two peas in a fucking pod. You've spent all summer together, like you're bloody conjoined twins or something" groaned Andromeda.

"Andy, Cassie is present" scolded Narcissa, as she gestured her head down to Cassiopeia.
"It's nothing I haven't heard before" giggled Cassiopeia.
"Sorry Cassie, I shouldn't swear in front of you, since you are just a kid. But my point still stands. Cissy has spend all summer with Lucius, and when she's not with him, she's talking about him to us" admitted Andromeda.
"That's because we are in love, and I'm not going to see him when I return to Hogwarts, as he is older than me, so he has already finished school" reminded Narcissa.
"It is still annoying when you talk about him all the time" groaned Andromeda.
"Maybe if you fell in love, you would understand what it is like, to care about someone, other than yourself".

"I wish I had found someone worthy of falling in love with. Then I wouldn't be in this position... But nevermind. Let's do this" announced Bellatrix, as she headed for the door.
The other girls did one last check in the mirror, before following Bellatrix out into the banquet hall of the Black estate, where the wedding was taking place.
The centre of the room had been filled with black chairs, in the middle of which was an aisle for the girls to walk down.

Sirius gave Cassiopeia a thumbs up as she passed him, and she smiled back at him, before catching her mother's disapproving glare. She then kept her face neutral and carried on walking.
The wedding service was long and boring, but eventually the vows were recited, and Bellatrix and Rodolphus were officially bonded in matrimony.
The guests then all flooded into the large room next door, which had been set up with dozens of tables and chairs to sit on. As well as smaller tables covered in food and drinks, which had house-elves and servants waiting on them.
Cassiopeia's family house-elf Kreacher had been left at home, which she was glad about, for she found him to be a rather unpleasant being, who was far too obsessed with her mother for her liking.

Cassiopeia searched through the sea of people in the room, for the one face she was looking for.
"Uncle Alphard!" Exclaimed Cassiopeia when she saw her uncle and began to run towards him.
When Alphard saw her, his face lit up with a grin, and he bent down to pick her up.
"Hiya Cassie. How's my favourite niece doing?" He asked.
"I'm fine. And you shouldn't call me your favourite" answered Cassiopeia.
"But everyone knows it's true" whispered Alphard, before placing Cassiopeia down on the floor.

"I'm suprised you were even allowed to come, given how you behaved at the New Year's Eve party" admitted Cassiopeia.
"I wasn't that drunk at the party. Besides, my brother's eldest daughter is getting married today, so Cygnus couldn't not invite me, as that would look bad. And people would spend the whole day wondering where I was. Anyway, I wouldn't want to miss out on Bella's sham of a wedding" replied Alphard.
"You haven't said anything like that to Uncle Cygnus have you?" Gasped Cassiopeia.
"What am I, daft? No, I haven't said anything to my brother's face. But everyone here knows this marriage was about forming an alliance and not about love".

"Did anyone every try and force you to get married, when you were younger?" Questioned Cassiopeia.
"They tried. But as you can see, they failed, miserably" answered Alphard.
"Sirius hopes he can be as strong as you when he's older, so that mother doesn't try to marry him off to someone he hates" replied Cassiopeia.
"He is very strong willed your brother, but unfortunately my sister Walburga is just as stubborn. I guess we will just have to wait and see who's will ends up breaking first".

"I hope Sirius's will is the strongest" said Cassiopeia.
"So do I... Speaking of your brother, why don't we try and see if we can find him and rescue him from your parents clutches" suggested Alphard.
"Sounds good to me" smiled Cassiopeia.
"Let's go then".