Tourjours pur

Part 8- Christmas ball preparations

"WHERE IS MY HAIRBRUSH?" Bellatrix screams. She slams the door to Sirius's bedroom open, and storms over to me. I hold mine out, halfway through brushing my hair, and she snatches it from me. She storms out the room, but it isn't long before the next person has stormed to me. Mother hands me a long, puffy ballroom dress, not giving me any more instructions. I drag the dress to Cissa, who helps me into it and zips it up. The sleeves drape down, so it's technically sleeveless. There's no sleeves really holding it up, and they're more for decoration. I shuffle back to Sirius's room, and he laughs at me, trying not to crease his suit. He looks completely fine. My sisters and I look like we've been shoved into a black marshmallow. Sirius's laughter trails off, and I turn round to see my mother. I sigh, "Can I not have the other dress?"
"No," My mother hands me a lipstick, "Put this on. Your father doesn't want be late like last year."
"We've got an hour before it starts," I mutter as Mother walks out. She clicks the door shut, and I look at Sirius. He's trying really hard not to laugh, but I just shrug. He bursts into laughter, wiping his eyes. I notice his eye's look a little darker, and I ask, "Is that eyeliner?"
"No," Sirius scoffs, "Maybe... yes. It just makes me look nicer."
I nod, gasping as the door opens. It's Reggie, in a tiny suit. I smile at him, adjusting his bow tie. He furrows his brows, and I say, "Right, here's an idea. For every person who says you look so grown up, I'll spend one day by the river with you and Sirius. We can go to proper measures to make sure none of us end up sopping wet."
"Fine," Reggie smiles slightly. The door swings open once again, and I raise my eyebrows as my father walks in. He explains, "We've got to go early. An update just came through, and turns out the meal starts in an hour. Socialising begins in minutes. We have to go!"
Father grabs my wrist, and I groan as we apparate to a huge Manor House. The Malfoy Manor house. Narcissa reels forwards with Mother, falling into a blonde boy's arms. Father is sceptical as Narcissa and the boy laugh together. We walk into the manor, and I roll my eyes as Cissa calls me over. She laughs, "Cassi! This is Lucius, my future husband!"
"Lucius Malfoy," Lucius holds out his hand. I shake it, and he says, "And hopefully future husband. The chance of us getting married depends on your father."
Cissa smiles, "You're a pureblood. I'm sure mother and father will be more than happy for you to marry me. Come meet Father!"

Cissa drags Lucius off, leaving me alone again. I catch the eye of a young boy, and he slips from his family to talk to me. He says, "Hi! I'm Xavier Klein. German pureblood, so not part of your English sacred twenty eight, but pureblood none the less. You?"
"Cassiopeia Black," I smile, "I know who you are. Mother told me to hunt you down, find you and speak to you. I think our parents want us married."
Xavier laughs, before pointing over at our parents. They clearly are arranging our marriage, but potentially messing around? No, they want us married. I sigh, "I'm being honest, but I don't want to get married."
"Neither do I," Xavier grimaces, "But in the worst case scenario, we could pretend to be married. I mean, we'd have to have a wedding, but we could just be friends."
I look at Xavier. He's got short, black hair, which is slicked back neatly. I sigh, "That doesn't seem like the worst idea. So, if our parents want us married at seventeen, we can pretend to be in love, but just be friends?"
"I don't mind that," Xavier shrugs.
"Sure," I smile, "It's nice knowing my future husband doesn't actually particularly want to marry me either. What school do you go to?"
"Durmstrang," Xavier sighs, "How about you?"
I look round, and mutter, "Shocked you haven't heard. Hogwarts. I got sorted into Gryffindor, so I've got to try get in everyone's good book. Quick, pretend we love each other."
"How?"
I hesitate. My mothers looking over, and so is Xavier's. They're both mouthing something at us, and probably don't know they want the same thing. Kiss.

Xavier looks at me, and sighs, "We've got to do it if you want your mother to like you again, don't we? My mother's not very happy with me either. Quickly, on the count of three?"
"One," I whisper.
"Two," Xavier mutters.
"Three."
We kiss for a second or two, before pulling back. Both sets of parents beam at us, and turn back to each other. I sigh, "That seals our fate then."
I catch Sirius gawping at me from a distance. Slowly, I beckon him over, and he fist bumps Xavier. They know each other. Not only do they know each other, but I now realise why Xavier is so uncomfortably familiar. Sirius used to be best friends with him for a while. I gasp, "Sirius, this is not what it looks like. We don't want to be kissing."
"Yeah, she's not a great kisser," Xavier smirks. I scoff, "Joy to the world then, Xavier. I can't believe I didn't recognise you. You idiot!"
I push him gently, and Xavier says, "Didn't expect you to recognise me, don't worry. It is good to see you both though. I've heard about your little sorting mishap, Sirius."
"Little mishap," Sirius snorts, "Ruining our family name is hardly a little mishap."
Xavier turns to me, "You and I don't want to get married, correct?"
"Correct."
"But we're going to have to," Xavier smirks, "Unless our families fall out. That'd never work though. Oh, Sirius, we should have told you as soon as you walked over. I think your cousin and I have been paired up together to get married."
"I want a big, flashy ring," I laugh.
"I could probably get that for you."