"I- I can't... I c-can't do this!" Narcissa whimpered as she ran back into the dressing room in a wedding dress she had been trying on.
"Mum wait!" Draco called after her but Andy put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a nod to signal she'd handle this.
She ran after Narcissa, finding her hyperventilating in the small room, trying to calm her sobs.
"Cissy?"
"A-Andy... I can't. I- I- I can't."
Andy moved forward to embrace cissy but she backed away and flinched, shaking her head wildly in protest. Narcissa hated being touched during a panic attack. The only person she allowed and wanted to touch her was Eda. She needed her fiance.
"P-please. Get... get Eda. I- I- n-need E-da." She gasped out, trying to control her breathing. Andy nodded and rushed out of the room, past the bridal party, to the other side of the store where Eda had just walked out in a beautiful gown, trying not to punch her great aunt in the face for her snarky comments. Eda's sister Liv was verbally round housing Eda's judgmental family with Juliet, Eda's best friend, who wasn't afraid to call people out when it came to someone she loved.
"Eda! Eda come with me!" Andy said seriously.
No one except Marie noticed as Eda stepped down and to approach Andy.
"Its Cissy. She's having a panic attack. I can't calm her down. She wants you."
Eda took off at a hurried pace without another word to find her distressed dove.
And the sight that awaited her in the changing room broke her heart.
"Cissy? Oh baby." Eda whispered, rushing forward to take her lover in her arms.
"E-Eda! I- so s-sorry." She sobbed.
"Shh." Eda cooed, lowering them down to a sitting position on the ground.
"Ok Cissa breathe with me. In for six, out for eight. Ready?"
Narcissa nodded as she heaved heavy breaths.
"In."
Narcissa breathed in for six with Eda.
"Out."
They exhaled together.
"Ok. In for eight, out for ten. Ready? In."
They inhaled.
"And out."
They exhaled.
Eda held Narcissa tight through the breathing exercises, constantly pressing kisses to her head and face.
"Good girl. Can you tell me three things you see?" Eda whispered, noticing her breathing slowly returning to normal.
"T-the mirror, the dress, and you." She said shakily.
"Awesome job baby. Two things you feel."
"T-the fabric... your arms."
Eda pecked her head.
"Ok baby last one. Name one thing you smell."
"Your perfume."
She whispered.
"Good girl Cissy. You did so well. I'm so proud of you." Eda praised, running her fingers through Narcissa's hair.
"I'm so sorry. I've completely spoiled this!" She whimpered.
"No baby. You haven't spoiled a thing. If anything you're giving me a much needed break from the "constructive criticism of my dress choices" from my family." Eda promised.
"Please don't leave. Can we just sit for a while?" Narcissa whispered.
Eda tilted her head up and pecked her lips.
"We can sit here for as long as you need my love."
"I l-love you."
"I love you too Cissa."
They sat quietly for about five minutes before Eda broke the silence.
"What brought this on baby?"
"It started with your family being adamant on us not seeing each others dresses. That was heavily enforced on me when I was essentially a child bride all things considered. My mum told me if Lucius saw me in the dress before the ceremony, he would change his mind. B-because I was ugly." She recalled, a wounded tone overtaking her.
"Cissa... you know thats not true right? You know that you could walk down the aisle in a paper bag and I would still be blown away and completely enraptured by your beauty right?" Eda asked, trying to keep heartbreak from her tone.
"I know... its just, I want this time to be different. My mum isn't here to ruin it this time. I'm not a child bride in an arranged marriage this time. I'm marrying the person I love. The person who loves me too. And I want to share every experience with you because for the first time in my life, I'm letting myself be happy. And trying on dresses together is what we wanted to do in the first place until your nasty goblin of an aunt demanded otherwise. But thats not all that brought this on."
"What else happened my sweet?" Eda asked softly, running her fingers through Cissy's hair with delicacy and care, the way Cissy loved so much.
"The dress. The one I'm wearing right now. I didn't pick it, the consultant did. And It looks just like the one I wore when I married Lucius... it... Lucius wasn't bad to me on our wedding day. Pureblood families envoke rituals directly after the ceremony. I mean like as soon as you say I do. But the rituals... I endured something awful that night. And I endured it in the dress... seeing myself in a dress like the one I was forced to wear killed me a little." She explained. "Its stupid. I'm sorry for getting so-"
"It is not stupid. I'm so sorry I wasn't here. I promise that I will never let anything happen to you ever again. I will keep you safe. I will never let anything like that happen again. And we will find a dress for you that doesn't bring back the horrors from that day."
Cissy, wrapped her arms around Eda's neck and tucked her head into her chest.
"Just promise me one thing ok?"
"Anything." Eda swore.
"Never let me go. Hold me and never let me go."
"I will never ever let you go. And I will always be here with my arms wide open to hold you tight. I love you so much. You are my everything Narcissa Black. My whole world."
"You're the greatest thing thats ever happened to me." Narcissa whispered.
"Likewise baby girl."
Eda pulled Narcissa up with her and scooped her up, carrying her to her bridal party who was still arguing and sat her down next to Juliet.
"What are you-"
"Making an announcement before we carry on, the way we want to. Because this is about us and our love." Eda said, planting a kiss on her cheek before she glided back to the "runway like place" so she was standing in front of everyone.
Marie moved to sit on Narcissa's other side and put an arm around her, as Edaline waited for Narcissa's entourage to gather.
"You ok?" She asked.
"Yeah... Just had a nasty memory thats all."
"We're here for you." Juliet said, taking Narcissa's hand and giving it a squeeze.
"Thank you. Both of you."
"Anytime." Marie said, flashing Juliet a smile.
Eda melted at the sight of her future wife being sandwiched between her two best friends.
"Alright thats enough! You're all going to shut up and listen to me for the next minute!" Eda bellowed loud enough to break up the fighting.
Everyones eyes were on her now, waiting for her to continue.
"Today is about Narcissa and I. We are doing what we wanted to in the first place, and we are trying on our dresses together. And in the end, we will be picking the dresses that we want to wear. So none of your snide comments and straight up rude and disgusting insults will matter. It is our day. Our wedding is our celebration of love. Our promise to devote our lives to each other. That being said, if anyone has a problem with that, leave right now, because there will be no more fighting today. At. All. Understood?"
"You need to learn how to respect your elders Edaline." Her aunt shot nastily.
"Out!"
"You can't just-"
"I said. Get. Out."
Her aunt glared at her, scoffed, threw out a few slurs resulting in a sea of yells and offended gasps, and left, her daughter margot and granddaughter Lola following suit, along with Eda's nana and her sister.
Eda didn't even know why they were there. She didnt invite or tell any of them, but she shrugged it off, stepped down and pulled Narcissa up with her.
"Right. We each have three more dresses, then its onto the bridesmaids, then we're going to lunch!" Eda said happily.
Narcissa and Eda had let their guests each pick one dress for them to try on and they picked one for themselves.
And seeing Edaline tear up and beam at her every time she saw her in a white gown made Cissy feel safe again. Loved again. Wanted, and cared for again. And that was enough for her.
--
Eda's POV:
Narcissa and I both found our dresses, equally fitting each other. Narcissa's had a bird sewn in discretely into the top, fitting with my nickname for her; Cissa dove.
My dress was simple with flowers sewn into the fabric everywhere. I'm not a dress person but this dress was perfect.
But after dress shopping and early dinner, Juliet and Andy joined us at the apartment for a while. We decided to have a girls night which ended up being wine and movies on the couch. Narcissa, who hadn't been keen on letting me go from her grasp all day, was currently perched in my lap, cuddling me appropriately in front of my best friend and her sister, which I had no qualms with whatsoever.
I adore moments like this whenever they happen about. Narcissa and I love the intimacy of our relationship and its been a staple since day one of our friendship, i taught Narcissa how to accept the intimacy she so desperately craved for so long while she in turn, gave me all the touch I ever needed. Two touch starved women? You can do the math, we're always taking advantage of moments where we can hold each other.
So here we are with our friends on the couch, and my wife is curled up in my arms, trying her very best to stay awake so she can watch the movie, but she's failing miserably.
"Its ok darling, you can close your eyes. I'll be here when you wake up." I cooed, pressing a kiss to her cheek as I continued to run my fingers through her hair.
"don't want to be a bad hostess." She murmured sleepily.
I let out a light chuckle and looked down to find Narcissa dead asleep.
"Aww bless her wee heart." Andy said softly, smiling at her sister, conked out in my arms.
"She's had a long day." I said softly, continuing to run my fingers through her hair.
"You treat her like a princess. And thats all I've ever wanted for my sister. To be loved by someone who deserves her." Andy said.
"I don't know if I deserve her Andy... Narcissa deserves the best. And I am certainly not the best... but I try to be worthy of her everyday. I love her so much. She's my whole world."
Andy moved closer and pecked my forehead.
"You deserve her Eda. And she deserves you. As fun as this has been, I must get back to London. Teddy is with Molly Weasley at the moment and if I don't go, I might not get him back." She said with a wink.
"Ah good luck. Thanks for coming Andy."
"Always. It was wonderful meeting you Juliet. See you at the wedding?"
Juliet nodded and gave Andy one of her Mediterranean hugs.
"Oh! Tell Teddy we love him and I've already started a new blueprint for fort day."
"For the love of-"
I raised a brow and she backed down.
"Fine. You and your forts Eda. Goodbye." She grabbed the port key and left, leaving just me, Juliet and a sleeping Narcissa.
"I should get going too. Narcissa needs to sleep. We can talk soon though." She said.
"Juliet, you're welcome to stay. And if you want to talk, we absolutely can. I casted a silencing charm around my baby sloth here so she can sleep peacefully without hearing a word." I reasoned.
"Oh alright. But not for too much longer." Juliet smiled.
Not too much longer turned into two hours of conversation.
"You finally seem happy Eda. Genuinely happy. Its so nice to see you like that." She said with a smile.
I smiled down at my future wife, looking like an angel as she slumbered on.
"I'm so happy Jules. But I'm terrified." I confessed.
"Why?" She asked, that look of motherly concern plastered on her face.
"I knew, five years ago. The moment I first laid eyes on Narcissa. I knew that she was it for me. She's my soul mate. Love at first sight I suppose."
Juliet nodded.
"I treasure moments like these with her. When she falls asleep on top of me. The days when we can't get enough of each other so we simply hold each other all day long. I love her Juliet. Narcissa has had my heart wrapped around her finger since the first moment I saw her. Everything is perfect. Its been perfect for the four years we've been together. And the six months of just friendship before that. Every time I look at her, I forget how to breathe. When I look in her eyes, I see a world of possibilities. A world of realities where we could live and love. She sets my soul on fire."
"Eda... that's beautiful. I'm so happy you've found that but I'm confused as to why you're so scared."
"Well... I'm terrified of losing her. Narcissa knows everything about me. She knows my fear of abandonment. She knows about my issues. She knows everything. And she's not going to leave. But I'm so scared something will happen to her. And if I'm not there to protect her..." I sniffled and wiped a tear from my cheek. "She's been through so much Juliet. Its my job to protect her now. I teach at hogwarts but every morning I leave for work, it kills me to say goodbye to her. Because I love having her with me. She keeps me together. And I know deep down, she won't leave me. She loves me. But what if she realizes she deserves better than me. What if I'm not enough?" I was crying now.
"Eda that-"
"You're so stupid"
I about near jumped sky high at the sound of my wife.
"Jesus Christ Cissy!" I yelped as she smirked, eyes still closed, and tightened her grip on me.
"I'm never leaving you. I don't deserve better. I don't want better. How could I when I have the best?"
"O-oh." I choked.
She sat up and pecked my lips before pulling me into a bear hug.
"I love you more than anything in the world Edaline. Get out of your head. Its not helping you right now. Right Jules?"
"Couldnt have said it better myself." She agreed, moving to hug me too.
"Wait how did you hear me? I casted a silencing charm so you could sleep."
"Mmm I removed it when I started waking up. I thought it was odd that Juliet was still here and I couldn't hear anything." She said.
"Ah. Makes sense."
Narcissa squeezed me tighter for a moment and pecked my cheek again.
"I love you Eda. I love you so much. You don't give yourself enough credit. You held me in the bridal store, on the floor in a gown while I had a panic attack. You stayed with me, helping me calm down, constantly telling me how much you love me, asking what I needed, promising you'd never let me go, you'd never let anything happen to me again. You did all of that. And thats just an incident from today. I've had five years of this love and support. I'd be the biggest fool in the universe to ever let that go. Nothing is going to happen to me. I'm not going anywhere ok? I'm staying right here with you forever."
"Promise?" I whispered.
"I promise."
"Its getting late. Do you wanna crash here? We can make this into a bed really quick." I offered to my friend.
"Thats sweet but you don't have to-"
She was cut off as Narcissa transformed the recliner couch into a queen sized bed that you would find in a castle.
"I casted a silencing charm and I have a pair of pajamas that will fit you." Narcissa said kindly.
"You guys are too sweet. But I have to head back to the dog."
"Ok. Be safe and text us when you get home." I said, moving with Narcissa to give her a goodbye hug.
When Juliet left, I shut the door and was immediately met with Narcissa jumping into my arms.
"Oomf! Ok Cissy. Hello to you too."
"I love you. I love you so much. I hope you know I will never ever leave you. I love you so much." She said shakily.
"I know baby. I love you too. So so much. Now lets get to bed yeah?"
"Mkay." She muttered into my neck as I carried her to the bedroom.
When we finally made it into bed, Narcissa had curled into me full baby sloth mode peppering my collarbones with kisses as that was the closest thing she could get her lips to.
"Darling... I'm sorry for letting my fears and insecurities get the best of me earlier. I know you're not gonna leave me." I whispered, stroking her hair.
"Its alright. I can't say I haven't done the same." Narcissa reassured me.
"I love you very much Cissabug."
"And I you."