𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑

lumiere d'opale

“We all meet a person
who makes us calm in
the soul and crazy in
the flesh.”

•

NOBODY WAS OKAY. Molly Weasley was crying in another room, occasionally wailing, "All my children Arthur! All of them are getting married!"

Narcissa Malfoy had the hardest time keeping herself together, occasionally bursting through the door to find if anything was out of place with Draco.

Lucius Malfoy silently sat in the corner of the room where Draco was getting ready, sipping a single glass of firewhiskey from the beginning, eyes staring off into space.

Blaise Zabini was officially losing his mind, running around, fixing Draco's robes, putting blue cufflinks on his sleeves, charming his hair.

Fred and George Weasley were way too silent in the face of chaos, and that wasn't a good sign.

Harry Potter's hair actually looked tamed for the first time in history as he placed around the room, occasionally asking Draco if he was about run away.

And Draco, he himself was losing all his calm. He felt like his hair wasn't perfect, his robes were too big and his eyes really didn't match with the cufflinks. He wondered if he should've taken the Italian dresser seriously.

"We're ready!" Pansy wailed as she burst through the door. "Draco, I'm so proud of you. You've come a long way but honestly if you even as much as think of running your hand through your hair I'm going to hex your arm off."

Draco blinked.

"When I get married," said Fred, tugging at the collar of his own robes, "It's going to be small. You can all wear what you like, and I'll put a full Body-Bind Curse on all the women until it's all over."

"Mum wasn't too bad this morning, considering," said George. "Cried a bit about my engagement. All hell has broken lose now."

Brightly colored figures were appearing, one by one, out of nowhere at the distant boundary of the garden. Within minutes a procession had formed, which began to snake its way up through the garden toward the marquee. Exotic flowers and bewitched birds fluttered on the witches' hats, while precious gems glittered from many of the wizards' cravats; a hum of excited chatter grew louder and louder, drowning the sound of the bees as the crowd approached the tent.

"Excellent, I think I see Angelina," said George, craning his neck for a better look. "She will need help understanding our pattern here, I'll look after her. . . ."

"Who invited Krum?" Draco asked, looking over the window. Pansy was ceremoniously losing her sanity. "Hey, watch it! It's fine silk."

"The wedding literally is in ten minutes Draco!" Pansy wailed. "We have to get down!"

"And for the record," Fred said. "Skylar invited Krum. Cedric too. Triwizard buddies."

Draco was observing the procession now, panic and giddiness riding up his chest together. His mother had already rushed downstairs to greet the guests, to help them find seats. Having misunderstood her directions Hagrid had sat himself, not upon the magically enlarged and reinforced seat set aside for him in the back row, but on five seats that now resembled a large pile of golden matchsticks. While Mr Weasley repaired the damage, Draco turned around, feeling slightly sick.

"Pansy, why don't you go down ahead?" His father spoke for the first time in the evening. "Take Harry and Fred with you. Blaise," he turned to the best man. "Why don't you wait at the base. I'm going to have a talk with my son."