A girl in the world barking up the wrong tree, a creature conditioned to employ matrimony

[motherspider.livejournal.com]

*Let it never be said that Esmerelda Rosier does not know how to throw a wedding. With a month to arrange everything, she swept her schedule clean, let the business languish, and began placing orders almost as soon as Evan and his bride-to-be left the estate. Her wandwork is not quite as deft as it once was, but she refuses to see a healer, and she doesn’t need wandwork to tell the florist that the roses were to be red, true red, not this flaccid pink, and to send a Howler to the baker demanding why the red velvet cake tasted like sweetened ashes, and to harangue the seamstress why the bride had not been even scheduled for her third fitting of the white dress Esmerelda had negotiated her into, as clearly the first two fittings had failed to demonstrate to her that everything needed to be taken in at the waist. Whatever the guests of this affair might think or gossip about, they’ll get no bump in Amrita’s abdomen to prove it.

She can hear Evan pacing outside the dressing room, and has to go out to tell him--repeatedly--that he cannot see her before she walks down the aisle and he should go kill the squirrels outside or something, anything to get him out of the way so she can personally finish buttoning the thousand and one buttons that go up the back of the dress. But the last time she lectures him on this, he catches a glimpse of the bride in the mirror over her shoulder anyway and grins.

“You’re beautiful,” he says over Esmerelda’s shoulder.

“Out, it’s bad luck,” the bride orders, and then, and only then, does he obey.

When she finally takes her seat in the very front of the chapel, Esmerelda’s chin is high but she clutches Dearborn’s hand fiercely. The ceremony begins, and it’s finally all out of her hands.

The door to the chapel opens and the light is blinding even though the forecast predicted rain over the reception, and there she is, shimmering like a vision, painted with the charmed designs of her culture on her hands, wearing enough skirts and petticoats and undergarments that Esmerelda had to resist the urge to catalogue them individually in a spreadsheet. Everyone turns to watch the bride proceed but Esmerelda’s gaze sweeps the crowd and then, finally, lands where she knew it would: on Evan.

He is standing there, hands held before him, frozen in the process of being wrung. His knuckles are white. There’s a tiny bit of hair sticking up at the back of his head, the part she always charmed firmly down when he was as boy, and suddenly her vision goes blurry. She looks up and blinks once, twice, pulls out the bright red handkerchief out of her bright red handbag sitting on her bright red skirts. It is acceptable to cry, she supposes, but she doesn’t want to. Not for this, the thing he manipulated her into doing, this ruinous match. But the look on his face--

When Evan was five, she took him to the hall that holds the Rosier family tree. She pointed to herself and Dearborn on the tree, how other families intertwined, and how he, someday, would marry someone who also had a tree like this one and have children, and when he did, the tapestry would grow further up because it had been enchanted very long ago to do so. All this was his, and he belonged to it as much as it belonged to him. He gave the whole thing a wide, encompassing look, finally resting his little palm next to his own name as if to cover a hole, and then turned to her and asked, “Why isn’t she here already?”

And Esmerelda smiled, and told him that she would come along in due course, that he might meet her on his own or they might introduce her to him, but what was most important was the fact that she would become family, and that he should care for her as well as he cared for her or Dearborn. That is what made her worth putting up on the tree.

Looking at him now, watching this woman come up the aisle, there is so much of that boy in him that, for the first time in all of this, Esmerelda is willing to allow that perhaps it will not all end in calamity. Perhaps they will grow old and happy together as she and Dearborn have, and the grandchildren birthed from surrogates will still be grandchildren. Perhaps they will love each other until they both rot.

The ceremony is beautiful, and Amrita is radiant, and they don’t have eyes for anyone but each other, and when they kiss at the very end, it is a brazen, full kiss, and when he finally pulls away, his mouth is smudged with her lipstick. He ducks his head to murmur something into her ear as the audience rises to its feet, and she laughs and runs her thumb over his bottom lip to try to rub off the lipstick, and they leave the church together, arm in arm, so boldly and arrogantly in love that even Walburga can barely muster a scandalized little sigh.*

Comments

[walburgisnacht.livejournal.com]

*The reception afterwards is just lovely, and Esmerelda has done her hasty work superbly. But in doing so she'd evidently made good use of Walburga's hoard of vendors and swatches and samples, and as she looks over the lawns of the Rosier Estate, at the musicians and flowers and immaculately appointed tables, Walburga can't help smiling in a self-satisfied sort of way over her champagne.*

It's lovely, isn't it, Regulus?

Although I'm not sure if I would've picked that exact tone of marble for the dance floor.

[spindleform.livejournal.com]

*Regulus has played the happy wedding guest rather well tonight - at least, the wedding gust part of that equation. He has shaken hands and clapped when appropriate, replied - albeit a touch too softly for a crowd - when spoken to. He has also managed to not flee from any uncomfortable encounter yet, even when someone's rather round, rather brown baby had stared at him for ten whole minutes over it's mother's shoulder, never blinking, only drooling, parting the sea of faces to reach his and never let him escape. Still, despite his bravery in the face of so much interaction, he now looks from his mother to the marble as though his opinion on the matter is just what is terrifying and cruel about this world.*

...Do I have marble?

[walburgisnacht.livejournal.com]

Of course you do. The very best.

What a lovely waltz they're playing. Where is Victoria?

[spindleform.livejournal.com]

*The combination of Victoria's name and having one's own marble picked out for them brings Regulus' overworked little heart into his throat nearly as much as if Walburga had brought up the subject of her underwear. His handkerchief appears as if from nowhere and he begins to thread it around the fingers of his left hand, as though anticipating some great sneeze of worry.*

I believe she's speaking with an old friend of her grandmother's.

[walburgisnacht.livejournal.com]

That's awfully politic of you, Regulus. And don't fuss.

*But her gaze passes from the handkerchief in her son's fingers back onto the marble dance floor and the couples turning on it, and her face softens--if only marginally.*

Perhaps--perhaps Victoria wouldn't take it amiss if you were to ask her to dance?

[camphorflame.livejournal.com]

*Of Jyoti and Rajiv, she is definitely the one most comfortable being the lone desi. In the sea of white and relatively muted colours, Jyoti's bright green sari cannot be missed. It clashes completely with everything, but she hardly notices - it's all so lovely and tasteful. There is plenty of money for the Bodleian functions, but nothing compared to this.

Padma and Parvarti sit in her lap, playing with each other, while Rajiv goes off to find some appropriate food for them. Looking over the crowd, she looks for the three others with brown skin, hoping at some point to have her first conversation with all her in-laws. She is well aware of her caste, and of the family's history, but she has never been comfortable with their elopement. It's time to meet Rajiv's family, like she should have before their wedding.*

[pricklypatils.livejournal.com]

*The Patils have dutifully dressed in their best clothes, Baldev in crisp Western-style dress robes and Aarshati in shimmering silks of unapologetic, eye-searing pink. They have Apparated to the unsufferable Chembarkars’ estate and borrowed their Cabinet to London, accepting congratulations they didn’t want and mouthing gratitude they didn’t feel. They have smiled politely through that absurd Latin-laced mockery of a ceremony. They have watched what had been their daughter beam and simper and make a spectacle of herself, and with nothing more than a few words neatly take hold of a fortune well beyond even theirs. And now they’re here, staring out over the rolling lawns and opulent surroundings and again rubbing elbows with the very best wizarding families in England--or Aarshati is, anyway, Baldev is sour and mostly silent. More than anything, the two of them are simply wishing to leave.

But the reception is in full swing and far from over, and appearances demand they grin through it to the bitter end. After a more-or-less innocuous conversation with a Black woman, something-or-other-Zabini, they walk together, though not quite arm-in-arm, debating between them whether or not it’s time to scrape together some congratulations for the happy couple. Just precisely when it seems as if things can’t get any more galling, or any more frustrating, they spot a woman who can only be--well, her. And the children. Their grandchildren. It’s a short silence--Baldev is stony-faced, his wife surprised, almost slapped-looking--and then they sweep by without another word, intentionally failing to even acknowledge Jyoti or the twins. This can’t be put off long, but it can at least be put off until their son shows his face.*

[bhaiji.livejournal.com]

*Despite knowing full well that the twins would be coming, the Rosiers have made no effort to provide them appropriate food. Rajiv is stopping every caterer he can find, looking for some strained carrots or even some juice. But most of them look him and his kurta up and down and move away after stiffly telling him to find the seemingly Vanished head caterer.

This wedding is everything Rajiv hates, and he's doing his best to hide it. Stony to begin with, his face has become almost completely impassive. That is, until he sees the Patils.

He's behind them, able to see exactly where their eyes are directed. Jyoti and his girls are talking to some gora, but the Patils don't appear to want to engage either of them. Last night Jyoti had all but begged to for Rajiv to introduce her to them, and if it were not for that, Rajiv would never approach them. But for her, he moves up behind them.

There's an awkward moment as he follows them where Rajiv cannot decide what to call them...sahib and memsahib? Mister and Missus? After a moment's contemplation, Rajiv clears his throat.*

[pricklypatils.livejournal.com]

Rajiv.

Hello.

*It comes out stiff and clipped and formal; and after he speaks the two of them turn they stand there just as stiffly, wearing identical expressions of careful, miserable neutrality. It is a long and grudging moment.*

It's been a long time.

[bhaiji.livejournal.com]

*Nothing feels appropriate for this high gentry occasion. Especially given Baldev's words - it's been six years precisely. Almost down to the date, now Rajiv thinks on it.*

It has.

*Out of formality and not interest, he asks his next question.*

I trust you are well?

[fatalfrenzy.livejournal.com]

*Bellatrix loves weddings. Not what one might expect, considering her own less-than-fairytale marriage, her naked contempt for her husband and most men; in truth there are probably expensive cauldrons that are more romantic than she is. Still, something about the ceremonial pomp of everything, the white dress, the promising to love-and-honor. . . she may have no patience for finer feelings but duty to family and noble tradition resonate with her, deeply. It was that, more than any particular liking for any of the individuals involved, that had her sniffling through the ceremony, weeping, even, and that sentimentality lingered long enough for her to take a turn around the dance floor with Rodolphus after only minimal coaxing.

But now he's off making nice with the Higgses and she knows herself better than to even try, so she's strolling the reception with champagne flute firmly in hand, her tears long since wiped away, looking for someone to bother. And that someone appears, in the green-robed guise of someone on the bride's side, and she quickens her pace. Her walk doesn't betray her intoxication in the slightest--tipsy and in high heels is practically her default state--but her crooked smile does, as she plunks down next to Jyoti.*

Lovely wedding.

I assume you're with the bride.

[camphorflame.livejournal.com]

*Parvati has chosen this moment to squirm out of Jyoti's arms and onto the ground. She toddles over to the new woman, giggling wildly at her new freedom.

Juggling a bored, hungry, and fretful Padma, Jyoti looks the woman over. Her comment doesn't particularly reek of racism, and neither does her demeanor. And after all, there are only seven total brown people present.*

Yes. And you are with the groom?

[fatalfrenzy.livejournal.com]

Cousin. I'm Bellatrix--

*But then the little thing closes the distance and is clutching at her skirts and her smile becomes plastic, brittle. The twin urges to kick it away and to pick it up and caress it are strong, so compelling and utterly at odds with one another that she only sits there, stiffly. The little girl takes fistfuls of black silk and mouths them and Bellatrix only watches as if it's happening to someone else's robes, slack-faced and unmoving as a marble statue.*

Er.

They're lovely.

[camphorflame.livejournal.com]

Parvati.

*It's a sharp but calm warning - Parvati may be the bolder twin, but she listens better than Padma. She stops gumming the skirt, but doesn't let go of Bellatrix.

There's an assumption that people on polar ends of the money spectrum are raised in a house without love - that the extremely poor cannot afford it and that the indulgently rich cannot give it. For the Patils, Jyoti believes it is true, and it is not a stretch for her to imagine that this Bellatrix has not had much love in her home life.

She decides against pulling Parvati back to her, to allow Bellatrix (who is clearly not a mother) a chance to experience something maternal. Besides, Padma is fussing and taking up all her energy.*

Sorry, they're teething. You can hold her, if you like.

[scarletsnatch.livejournal.com]

*Hesper's been to more weddings than she can count on her perfectly manicured fingers, and she's been employed in a number of capacities by the Rosier family enough times to be completely unsurprised by the sumptuous nature of this particular wedding. She had a name, a brief list of interests, and a picture of a sullen, practically unmoving man with long, dark hair. Well, all that and a sizable quantity of galleons. She's expensive, as Dearborn says when he recommends her to his colleagues, but you get your money's worth.

This isn't going to be an easy task, trying to make Severus Snape have any kind of fun at his friend's wedding. Still, she sights the greasy dark head and saunters over, cradling two flutes of champagne, and threads her arm through his before he has a moment to notice her.*

Hello. I'm Hesper. And you're Severus. Champagne?

[fatherfarther.livejournal.com]

*Dearborn is more or less indifferent to the intricacies of dressing according to his station, but Esmerelda’s taken care of that along with so much else, and he’s impeccably if a bit archaically turned out--but he’s already loosened his neckcloth and his cloak has long since disappeared onto some servant or other’s arm, and what remains is just a bit rumpled. Still, he’s beaming. Dearborn loves weddings in general, and his only son’s is cause for redoubled celebration, so he’s been more than liberal on that front. In fact, Dearborn is rip-roaring drunk, more a garrulous force of nature than even precisely a person, roaming around and greeting his friends and relatives and colleagues (both above- and below-board) and making a big to-do of it all, clapping the men on the back and covering the women with kisses and pinching the bride for good luck. Once he’s made the rounds, he returns to their table. Esmerelda is obviously miserable, but he couldn’t care less: she is all in red and there is really nothing like her, nothing like her at all. He extends his hand to her only a little unsteadily.*

Horntail?

[motherspider.livejournal.com]

*Esmerelda's got a number of confused emotions running through her head, and Dearborn isn't helping. On the one hand, she is sulking and angry that some last-minute piece of providence didn't come through and rescue her family from this disaster. On the other, it is a very good wedding, and many have said so, and she's puffed so awfully full of pride on that account that it's making it difficult to sulk. And then there's Dearborn--handsome, ridiculous, hilarious Dearborn leaving a trail of bewildered and delighted people in his wake. Still, she must try to appear as if she's not enjoying herself, if only to make Evan miserable.*

Don't tell me you want me to dance, Dearborn, you know how I hate waltzes.

[fatherfarther.livejournal.com]

None of that. You're the most beautiful thing in the room.

*He takes her by the hand and pulls her to her feet, unable to resist a surreptitious grab on her rear as he tugs her towards the marble dance floor.*

Come on then, time to make all those dried-up biddies cry themselves to sleep tonight.

[motherspider.livejournal.com]

Must you always leave a trail of wreckage behind you?

*But there's a little smile on her face, and the rest be damned, this has been her little consolation prize, and it won't ruin things to enjoy it publicly just a little.*

[fatherfarther.livejournal.com]

I do my level best.

*His arms go around her and they move together effortlessly--hadn't they been doing this for years?--and as he revolves with her on the dance floor, he indicates their surroundings with a little perfunctory jerk of his head.*

Everyone's saying it's very nice.

[purely-better.livejournal.com]

*Bellatrix isn't the only one watching the spat with barely-concealed glee. Lucius is here only by force of social obligation; the Rosiers are Narcissa's mother's people, and like it or not the mongrel is, by marriage, family now. It's a blot that is not going on the Malfoy family tree, but they're still obligated to attend the wedding, and be polite, and smile. And he looks resplendent, his dress robes up-to-the-minute fashionable and perfectly tailored. Their gift to the new couple is likewise impeccably made: a crystal dog bowl, with a note advising that one must always be prepared when bringing new animals into one's home.

Lucius's socially obligated smile right now is rather more amused than is appropriate as he watches the bride squabble with one of her relatives. Lucius hadn't bothered to learn names.

Arm in arm with his wife, he lowers his voice and murmurs to her.*

What a pity. Not married an hour and already there's a dog fight.

[aprettyconceit.livejournal.com]

*Narcissa's smile is pleasant, but those who truly know her will see the falsity in it - though anyone watching will simply assume she and her husband are exchanging sweet nothings as she lifts her face to his and responds equally as quietly.*

How on earth was this sham allowed to reach completion? She's suitable as a mistress, nothing more - and even then, not one you'd claim.

[purely-better.livejournal.com]

I should say not.

*Not that he has experience with mistresses. His father kept several in his younger years, but Lucius has never been all that interested in straying.*

He backed his parents into a corner, I expect; if they'd disowned him they'd have lost the line. I told you how frantic Esmerelda was.

[aprettyconceit.livejournal.com]

*Nor should he be. She's only cold on the surface.*

You did... I still maintain there are ways around it. An accident could have been highly beneficial in this particular instance--

*She winces as voices rise into shrieks.*

--for Merlin's sake.

[purely-better.livejournal.com]

An accident or several.

*He agrees with a sharply disapproving glance toward the bride's family - he couldn't have proven they were the ones shouting, but it's likely enough, if you ask him. Perhaps that's how things are conducted in India, but they really ought to have a care and follow proper manners when in England.*

We should probably talk to his parents.

*The prospect of which, from his tone, is not particularly enticing.*