{.45. Narcissa}
Trigger: alcohol, slur, emetephobia
Alcyone Estella-Nova Montague had been very emotional after the Order meeting. She had spoken to Toby and Luke and they too had been asked to join and it made ally excited that her two best friends had been trusted. But she was scared for her friends especially because she knew they had a lot more at stake than she did.
Today however was Hogsmeade, she was going to walk down with Remus and then meet Cissy when she got to the three broomsticks for their lunch. Ally was excited, she liked Narcissa and although Lucius sometimes scared her it didn't mean that Narcissa was bad.
Alcyone had great respect toward Narcissa if she was being honest. She wasn't part of the marriage to Lucius because it was convenient or she was forced to she did actually love him. Ally had to respect that, she had to respect Cissy's courage and her bravery to want to make things with Lucius actually work.
Ally was wearing a slytherin green top and a black skirt and she even attempted some winged eyeliner which her muggle room mate recommended her to try. Ally rarely spoke to her but she said it would suit Ally's look so she thought she'd give it a go and see how it went.
Remus was waiting outside of the Hufflepuff common room with a yellow rose and a nervous grin. His friends, Toby and Luke had headed down to Hogsmeade already with Lily and her friends but he was waiting for Ally because he was excited to spend a small amount of time with her before she had to go meet Narcissa.
In all honesty the boys weren't entirely sure why Ally wanted to meet with Narcissa but they didn't question her because it wasn't their place. Remus knew that Ally was able to make her own decisions and come to her own conclusions about situations and if she believed dinner with Narcissa was ok then he wasn't going to question her on it.
Sirius however was furious at the thought and was ready to send a howler expressing his distaste for the situation but Remus had quickly talked him out of that one. As far as Ally was concerned anyway it was just her and Narcissa so that put Remus at ease. It also put the boys at ease that they'd be in the broomsticks the same time to keep an eye on things incase Narcissa went rogue.
Ally walked out of the common room and smiled widely when she saw Remus greeting him with an excited hug. Remus wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
"You look beautiful my darling," he beamed running a finger down her cheek
"Thank you so much amore," she smiled
"You ready for the best walk to Hogsmeade of your life?" He grinned to which ally nodded with a wide grin
She absolutely adored confident Remus, she had noticed that he had three dominant personalities and it all depended on which phase of the moon cycle it was. He was confident straight after the full moon, ally thought this was the sexiest because he would glow when he was confident.
Sleepy Remus came about in the middle of the cycle and Ally knew that sleepy Remus was also incredibly loving and kind. He was very attentive towards people's feelings which was always extremely adorable.
Self-deprecating and grumpy Remus came out just before the full moon and it made Ally's heart hurt. She didn't understand how someone as loving and kind as Remus could hate himself so much to the point he'd end up physically harming himself during the moon as a punishment.
It broke her heart and it hurt her soul because she adored Remus Lupin and she wanted him to truly realise how marvellous he was. She would try every single day possible to make him realise just how incredible he truly was.
"So how was your lesson with Professor McGonagall?"
"It was good! We learnt the theory behind the patronus which was fun," she explained "how were you yesterday? I didn't want to hover around you because I wasn't too sure if you guys had an after moon ritual or whatever," she said
"Cece you melt my bloody heart, you're always welcome to come and see me. I'm never too busy for you," he grinned pulling his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close into him
She blushed and just put her head down bashfully, she couldn't believe how kind Remus actually was and hearing that honestly made her heart flutter slightly. Remus was fully aware that he had made her blush and he was proud of himself for doing it.
The walk to Hogsmeade has gone quicker than they had wanted it to but the arrived at the three broomsticks quite soon. Remus opened the door for ally and gestured her in. She smiled and kissed his cheek before she looked around the room for Cissy. She found her in the back corner and she grinned with excitement.
"I'll see you later to walk back up to the school?" Ally asked hopefully
"Of course my darling, I'll be over there with everyone else if you need me ok?" He said sincerely running a hand through her hair
"Gotcha, see you later," she reached up and pressed a kiss to his lips before she walked over and sat down opposite Narcissa
Narcissa Black was beautiful, ally would be an idiot not to recognise that. Her blonde hair was curled to perfection and her entire outfit reeked of pureblood grace but Ally loved it. Narcissa Black was everything that Ally wanted to be when she grew older. Maybe not prejudiced or married to a dickhead like Lucius but being a beautiful woman was definitely on Ally's list.
"Cece! You look absolutely gorgeous! How are you? please sit! I took the opportunity while I was waiting to order you a muggle drink called gin. Please don't tell Lucius about my indiscretions," she said with a wink
"Oh of course, this is our secret," ally smiled
"I have asked Reggie to come I hope that you don't mind," Cissy smiled
Ally frowned but shook her head as she took a sip of the gin. She didn't know how regulus would be infront if Cissy but she was hoping that with Cissy there he would be somewhat amicable.
"Oh dear, I know that face. You two have had a falling out haven't you?" She asked
"Just a little it's nothing serious though maybe we'll be friends soon," she shrugged
Narcissa knew that this probably wouldn't be the case because of Regulus' urge to protect Ally. She didn't want the two to not have a friendship full stop though. Narcissa thought what regulus was doing was extremely courageous but she could understand how rubbish it was in Ally's situation too.
Narcissa just frowned but she wanted Ally and Regulus to be friends even if it was under the radar because she knew that they needed each other the most. That regulus needed the good in life not just the negative bad parts.
"So I'm assuming the boy you kissed on your way in was your boyfriend..." Cissy trailed off
"Yes, his name is Remus. He's wonderful," she smiled
"And he's a half-blood?" Narcissa asked
Ally felt protective all of a sudden and she noticed that Cissy had picked up on it because her eyes had widened.
"Oh I didn't mean it in a bad way, I was just curious." She explained hurriedly
"Yes he's a half blood, friends with Sirius," she clarified quickly "congratulations on the wedding date! I'm so honoured to have been invited!" Ally smiled changing the subject as she didn't want Remus to be targeted
"Thank you, there's going to be a lot of planning needed I think," Cissy said with a bashful smile
Ally nodded because to be fair, she could imagine weddings were a lot of hassle. Not that any of her family had ever been married but when she was younger she had gone to a lot of weddings in pureblood families and she knew that there was a lot of fuss and cuffuffle to make it look extremely lavish.
Ally didn't care, she'd get married in the garden of her mansion and be done with it. She didn't want a big fuss, she wasn't even sure if marriage was on her path. She just wanted to be truly happy and that's all she bloody wanted.
The two sat talking for a while as they waited for their bowl of chips and Regulus soon walked in with Arlo. He had seen that ally was next to Cissy and he frowned because Arlo had wanted to come with him and ask about the dark lord but he was going to probably now use this opportunity to be rude to Ally and it didn't sit right with Regulus.
The two boys walked over and Cissy smiled standing up so she could hug her favourite cousin tightly.
"Reg, I've missed you so much!" Cissy cooed
"I've missed you too Cissy, budge up then," regulus smiled at Ally and she nodded
Arlo was stood there like a spare part and it was incredibly awkward but Cissy made a move to talk to Reggie when Arlo cleared his throat. Cissy ignored him but when he went to do it a third time she turned and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Have you got something in your throat Mr. Jones?" She asked fluttering her eyelashes
"Well why are you sitting with a staleblood for starters?" He quizzed
"Arlo enough," regulus growled — he had warned Arlo several times that he was not to say a bad word about Ally but the boy didn't listen and it was wearing him thin
"Why should I? All it takes is one Owl to higher powers and then you're both in trouble!" He hissed
"I'm going to go," ally muttered moving to grab her things but Regulus grabbed her hand under the table and squeezed it so tightly as if to say it was ok and nothing would hurt her
"Mr. Jones, I think you're forgetting who my future husband is. We don't need to get Lucius and Abraxas involved do we? I'm sure they'd love to hear how you've rudely interrupted a private lunch and threatened their family," Cissy spoke
"Fam—?"
"That's right, family. Now if I were you I would leave." She said sternly before placing a sweet smile on her face
Arlo let out a strong of curse words as he left and Reggie was still holding onto Ally's hand and drawing a pattern into it. Ally felt instantly comforted but she was confused at why Regulus was like this. Maybe they knew something that she didn't.
"Are you ok Alcyone? There's no need for being rude," Cissy said
"I'm fine, nothing I'm not used to," she said making Regulus feel incredibly guilty that he had been equally as rude to her in previous weeks but it was to keep her safe
"Reggie, why are you friends with people that are rude to someone you consider a sister? Did Andy and I not teach you any better?" She scolded
"I thought we weren't allowed to talk about Andy," Regulus nervously laughed
"I'm not going to tell if you don't Reg," she smiled cheekily "anyway apologise to Alcyone in your own time because I asked you both here for a reason."
"I almost forgot about that," ally giggled
"I would like you to be one of my bridesmaids Ally, and Reggie I would love it for you to escort ally down the aisle as one of Lucius' groomsmen," she beamed with excitement
Ally was shocked, Narcissa Black wanted Alcyone Montague to be a bridesmaid at her wedding? It was unheard of especially because the Montague's didn't follow their beliefs. Ally was surprised that the brothers would even be willing for her to do that as there would be lots of dangerous people there.
Regulus was excited, he had only met Lucius a handful of times and most of these were at the death eaters meetings. Lucius was in the Dark Lords inner circle so he was powerful and was meant to be feared. However, Lucius had always been somewhat kind to Reggie and he didn't know if it was because Narcissa had told him too or if deep down Regulus was just lucky that Lucius liked him. Either way he thought it was an honour to be asked to do this by Narcissa.
"I'd love too Cissy," Reggie smiled lifting his other hand in the table so that he could hold Narcissa's
"Alcyone? Oh please, imagine you two stars walking down the aisle together. It would be so bloody lovely," Narcissa pleaded while she gushed over the idea
"I'll have to check with my dad and bro—"
"I've already asked and they've agreed as long as they can be there to keep an eye on things," Narcissa said excitedly
"Then I guess I'm going to be a bridesmaid!" She squealed excitedly
"This calls for shots, let me go and order us some," She beamed
Narcissa left the table and just left Ally and Reggie there. It felt incredibly awkward and if ally was being honest she didn't quite like it. She went to speak but it was like Reggie had the same idea because he moved a strand of hair out of her face and smiled softly like he used to do.
"I'm doing this to keep you safe you know that don't you Smelly Estelly?" He asked quietly "you know that I love you forever,"
Ally's heart fluttered at hearing Reggie say her old nickname because it made it seem like he was still there. That he wasn't all bad and Ally needed to know that she needed to have the belief that Reggie Archie was still there deep down and it was like she had her confirmation and this small slither of hope is what she needed.
"It doesn't make it hurt any less but I love you so much and I want us to have each other's backs Reggie," she whispered
"I know, from now on we can keep each other safe yeah?" He asked
She nodded as she saw Cissy coming back to the table with a tray of fire whiskey shots. Ally's eyes widened when she realised that they had to do three each but she was excited either way.
"Right lets do a toast," regulus smiled "to my favourite cousin who will make the most beautiful bride and the best wife that Malfoy will ever dream of having,"
"To Cissy," Ally smiled before the started taking the shots
Ally was a bit of a lightweight so by the time they had done nine shots each, Ally was barely able to stand. Narcissa had said that she had to leave but gave them both lots of kisses and thanked them for such a lovely afternoon but it left Regulus to have to walk Ally to her friends in the other corner of the pub safely and make sure that Arlo didn't take advantage of that. Especially because Reggie himself was half cut himself it wasn't a very good combination.
"Cece, we need to get you to Sirius and Remus ok?" Reggie whispered begrudgingly, he couldn't think of anything worse than asking Sirius for help "can you stand nicely and then you can hold my hand for us to walk?" He cooed
Ally just sort of grinned which indicated to Regulus that she was slightly tired and didn't want to move. He knew it was a bad idea letting Cissy buy the next round but he hadn't stopped it because he was having fun and didn't feel any pressure on him for once other than to have fun with his two favourite girls.
Ally went to stand but flopped back down on the seats. Reggie had witnessed Perseus walking upstairs and he wanted to avoid Perseus seeing the state on his younger sister so Regulus did the next best thing. He wrapped his arm around Ally's waist and threw her hand over his shoulder and headed over to the Lions Den.
It wasn't really the lions den, there was a mixture of houses there with Luke and Dorcas being in Ravenclaw, Toby the Hufflepuff and the rest being Gryffindors but the point is that it was a big deal for Regulus to voluntarily go towards Sirius to ask for help — he'd rather have a dual with the dark Lord for a comparison on how big of a deal this was.
"I love you Reggie," ally giggled
"I know, I love you too Cece but we have to get you across the pub ok?" He said softly
"Okay dad," she giggled
Regulus rolled his eyes but he was happy that they had sort of made up and were in a position where they could have a laugh with one another. It made him feel happy and he couldn't wait to tell Caspian in his next letter.
Over on the gryffindor/Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw group table Remus was nervously tapping his thumb while drinking a hot chocolate. He had decided not to have alcohol because he wanted to ensure that if anything happened with Narcissa he would have been able to help.
"Reggie?" He heard Sirius ask and the conversations come to a close on the table "what's happened is everything alright?" Sirius asked scrambling over the table to lift Ally's head up
"She's a bit drunk Sirius, and to be frank with you so am I. So I have to get back to the school and I can't carry her by myself," regulus whispered so not everyone heard but he was giggling slightly between his words
Sirius let out a chortle of laughter and nodded at his younger brother before ruffling his hair to which Regulus shoved his hand off harshly but it appeared as if they were joking around too.
"You two are adorable, Moony want to help me?" He asked
Remus nodded and grabbed his coat and scarf ready to put around Ally's neck.
"Do you guys want me to come with you?" James asked
"Yeah we can come back?" Toby said — although Toby was enjoying drinking with his friends he was more than happy to go back with them to look after Ally
"She doesn't need an army she just needs a nap and probably some dinner," regulus sarcastically commented because he was worried about people crowding ally and it causing her to feel overwhelmed
"We'll be fine boys. Thankyou," Remus smiled
James sat back slightly deflated because he thought it would be a good opportunity for Ally and him to try and talk but his efforts were in vein. Lily noticed how deflated James looked and felt slightly insecure but she knew that there was nothing more to it, she hoped so anyway. It didn't make sense to her why James was so eager to rekindle the friendship and how Ally was so mad at James for doing what they did with the prefect duties.
Remus lifted Ally's head while she was still holding on tightly to Regulus and placed a scarf around her neck so that she would be warm as she didn't wear a coat for fashion reasons. Sirius did the same and placed his hat and gloves on her before they took Ally from regulus. Reggie followed them out of the broomsticks and smiled down at Ally.
"I love you Cece," he whispered at her pressing a kiss to her forehead before he returned to his hard face
"Reg—"
"I'll see you around Sirius. Make sure she gets back safely," he scolded
The boys didn't say anything but they were extremely confused about what had happened, either way their priority was getting Ally back to the castle. They were dragging her along fine until they had seen Mr. Hagrid who questioned them on what was wrong with Ally, they explained she had gotten into the Christmas spirit and had too much alcohol. Mr. Hagrid just laughed and said he wished he was the same.
They then had to stop so that Ally could be sick on the side of the path. It was completely unpleasant but Sirius tied her hair back as he had a scrunchie and Remus held her up so that she'd not fall into her sick.
By the time they had finally got back to gryffindor tower Ally was extremely talkative and was laughing uncontrollably. They placed her down on Remus' bed and went to take her scarf and ankle boots off so that she could sleep properly in the bed but she kept laughing.
"You guys are tickling stooooop," she droned
"Cece love, we have to do this because you won't sleep comfortable," Remus explained
"I knooooow dad," she chuckled — she didn't know what her obsession was with calling everyone that was trying to help her dad it just kept coming out of her mouth.
"Right well I'm going to leave you to sort this out Moons. Good night my sweet Al, I'll see you in the morning." Sirius smiled kissing her forehead and kissing remus' so he didn't feel left out
She grinned and blew Sirius a kiss before she moved herself further up the bed and tucked herself in. Remus thought she looked adorable and wanted to use his muggle camera to take a picture to show her in the morning but he didn't know if that was appropriate.
"Rem, Cissy helped me and Reggie be friends again," she whispered
"I'm so glad my darling, do you need me to do anything or do you want me to leave you alone?" He asked she grabbed his hand and with as little force as possible she pulled him towards her
"Stay for a cuddle?" She asked softly pressing a kiss to his lips
"Ok sweetie, are you sure?" He asked to which Ally nodded excitedly
Remus took his shoes and socks off and climbed under the quilt laying on his back. Ally moved to her side and wrapped her arm around his waist and placed her head on his chest, Remus wrapped a hand through her hair and smiled softly as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"You have my heart Remmy," she mumbled
"You have mine my sweet girl," he mumbled on her forehead before they both fell asleep.
They were both content and most definitely smitten with one another.
***
Unedited
Posting again early bc I'm busy tomorrow.
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