His Slytherin Queen

Ch. 2 A Disastrous Reception

Everyone was laughing and joking around as they made their way to the tent in which the reception would be held. After dinner and a slice of the decadent white cake, memorial speeches went by smoothly and quickly. Soon, night fell upon the tent and the kids started grabbing at the glow sticks Hermione had bought for them, running around and waving the colorful muggle contraptions in the air. The adults laughed for a while, happy to have a carefree night. The Dark Lord was dead and the boy who lived had gotten married. It was a night for celebration in their minds.

Hermione was sitting at a table with her newlywed best friends. They were sharing stories about the many good times they had all shared together. They talked and laughed and had a good time. They thought for sure nothing bad was going to happen that night for all the death eaters whom had willingly and faithfully served He Who Must Not Be Named had been captured and put in Azkaban. Draco Malfoy and his mother, Narcissa Malfoy nee Black had been pardoned, as it seemed they had been threatened by death into joining by none other than Lucius Malfoy. Of course, this whole ordeal had been the farthest thing from the minds of most of those attending the wedding as it was a dark matter meant not for such happy times as now.

Alas, there was one person whose mind couldn't be more attentive on the specific subject of the Death Eaters. He, like Draco Malfoy, had been pardoned for his actions, as he had never believed in following the Dark Lord, nor did he believe in killing. After all, his twin sister had believed she was a muggle born her entire life. Had the Dark Lord not been killed, she may have been dead. She knew not that he was her brother and he knew he would only have one shot at making things right.

Of course, the only way to do so was to ruin the very night taking place at the moment. But he didn't care. He was determined to get his sister back. And of course, if all went well, Potter and Weasley would get a chance to redo the night anyway.

As the night wore on, the young man hid in the shadows, forever watching, his patience never ending. He had to wait for the perfect moment, otherwise, his hard work would be all for not. He needed only the blood moon, which Weasley had insisted she wanted her wedding day on so she could see the beautiful crimson moon.

He glanced up; the cycle was halfway complete. He checked his watch. Two hours until midnight, when the moon would be fully red. He shifted his gaze to his sister, watching as she laughed with her friends, her soft brown curls falling freely down her back. He watched for another hour and fifteen minutes before he left to prepare for his entrance.

All the while, Hermione was laughing with her three best friends. Ron, as usual, was stuffing his face with food as though he would never get to eat anything else in his entire life. Harry and Ginny laughed among Hermione as they talked about nothing in particular, just enjoying one another's company without worrying that there was going to be another attack.

As their laughter subsided, they began to hear a chanting. They ignored it, as it sounded to be nothing more than a child's meaningless chatter, but before long, everyone had gone silent as the chanting grew louder.

Hermione gasped as the dark skinned man stepped into the tent. He spoke once more, chanting a spell she didn't recognize. Then, suddenly, he stopped.

The man, who looked strikingly familiar to the war heroine, looked straight into her eyes. "I'm sorry. Everything will be as it should."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but her words escaped her. He offered her a small smile before golden tendrils began to encircle everyone. Every witch and wizard that had attended the wedding began to panic. No one knew what was going on and they were half convinced it was another attack. None knew the motives of the man before them and it terrified them to think they might be faced with another war.

Of course, war was the farthest thing from the man's mind. He wanted only for his twin to come home.

He walked up to Hermione, her hair blowing wildly in her face as the wind picked up due to the spell.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She demanded.

"You will find out who I am soon. As for what I want, everything will soon be as it should be. Sweet dreams, my dear sister. It may be a while before we all wake up."

Hermione tried desperately to glare at the young man before her, finding only that her hostile expression was growing weaker by the second. She felt her body tire and knew it would not be long before she fell asleep due to whatever this man had done to her.

She fought to keep her eyes open to no avail. Her eyes closed slowly and she fell into a deep sleep.

Blaise Zabini watched as his sister slipped into unconsciousness. He glanced around the tent. The golden tendrils wove around everyone, already passed out asleep.

He smiled. Everything would be as it should have been in the first place. He closed his eyes and let the spell drift him into a deep slumber.

She opened her eyes. And in that instance, everything had changed.