Growing up Pureblooded

Wedding Preperations

     The Black wedding was universally expected to be the grandest high-society event of 1993. Narcissa and Sirius had both originally anticipated a modest, intimate affair with just a few family and friends, but the family wouldn't hear of it. There hadn't been a Black wedding since Narcissa had married Lucius, and the Black witches in particular were adamant that the time had come to remind the upper echelons of wizarding society just who exactly held the reins.

     Preparations had to be made quickly, of course, since Sirius and Narcissa wanted to tie the knot before the boys returned to school in the autumn, but such things are not too difficult when one has magic – not to mention mountains of gold and silver in one's vaults.

     The wedding would take place at St Wulfstan-within-the-Walls, where Blacks had been married and buried for centuries. The vicar had received strict instructions that the ceremony was to be traditional, with none of the new-fangled nonsense that lesser families might put up with. Some couples even wanted to write their own vows! Sirius thought that made about as much sense as trying to use "Come here!" as a Summoning Charm. He had gone through quite a long phase where he didn't really believe in marriage – picking one girl seemed so unfair to all the rest! – but he had always been adamant that if he ever was going to get married he would do it properly. Otherwise, what was the point of the whole exercise?

     Clytemnestra, always the professional musician, took charge of the music. She selected a majestic repertoire and hired a boys' choir to sing it. She put them through a gruelling round of rehearsals, and refused all of her brother's offers to enhance the effect with a Sound Editing Charm. She maintained the belief that the natural sound was ever so much lovelier.

     As for instrumentation, the Squib had thought a string quartet might be nice, but decided in the end that it was safer to go with a full orchestra. In addition, the church was equipped with a magnificent organ, which naturally, she would entrust to no one but herself. Druella suggested that Harry and Draco ought to perform a piano-violin duet during the ceremony, but Clytemnestra rejected the suggestion as soon as it left her mouth. The boys were certainly capable enough, but a duet during the ceremony would destroy the whole theme of the repertoire she had prepared. Music and Art must not be sacrificed to maudlin sentimentality. Both boys gratefully agreed with their aunt's opinion.

     Druella, however, was given permission to organise the flowers, a task to which even Cassiopeia agreed that she was perfectly adequate. The flowers were carefully raised in the greenhouses at Malfoy Manor, with a good bit of magical assistance. Unlike her late husband's Squib aunt, the witch had no silly qualms about "naturalness" or "authenticity", and she felt certain that the flowers would be all the more spectacular for it.

     She planned to decorate the church with daffodils and dogwoods. Violets and roses would predominate at the ball in number twelve, Grimmauld Place. (Sirius had the cheek to suggest that the roses be red and yellow, but Druella much preferred pink and white.) Narcissa's bouquet would be a magnificent selection of Transylvanian wildflowers, picked from the grounds of the family hunting lodge and enhanced with a good bit of deft wandwork.

     About a fortnight before the wedding, Sirius announced that he, Remus and Abraxas were taking the boys to the hunting lodge in Transylvania for a week. Harry and Draco were delighted, of course, neither one ever having had the chance to visit the lodge before, and both having been rather overwhelmed by the wedding fever that seemed to have overtaken the family.
     They took a Portkey from Grimmauld Place, and soon found themselves standing at the gate of a small, weather-beaten stone castle built high on a sheer cliff, surrounded by miles and miles of unspoilt forest. Gargoyles stood watch from every corner. The boys started to walk towards the gate, but Sirius pulled them back roughly.

"Watch out," he said. "Those gargoyles aren't just for decoration." Sure enough, the monstrous statues had narrowed their eyes and raised their wings, then turned threateningly to face the boys. Sirius raised his wand and intoned several lengthy phrases in Latin. Harry could feel the wards drop, and the gargoyles returned to their normal positions. The drawbridge lowered and the portcullis was raised.

     "Gentlemen," Sirius announced. "Welcome to Castle Negrul."  Aries and Draco spent much of the first day just exploring the castle. It wasn't as large or obviously magical as Hogwarts, but it had its fair share of hidden passageways and secret chambers, not to mention a magical armoury filled with all manner of enchanted weaponry and instruments of torture. Most of all, this castle was theirs. The castle recognised them and responded to their commands, and the house elves obeyed them without question. Aries and Draco thought it was absolutely brilliant.

No visit to a hunting lodge is complete without a hunting expedition, and Sirius took them out into the woods every day. Muggle-hunting, of course, was out of the question, much to Abraxas's disappointment, and Sirius had also forbidden them to hunt deer or wolves, but there were plenty of bears and rabbits. There were fish in the streams and birds in the trees, and the hunting party had a good deal of success.

In the evening, the five wizards dined in the castle, enjoying the fruits of their triumphs. The house elves were quite adept at preparing game, and Harry and Draco were more than satisfied. After dinner, they all sat up late together, chatting or gazing at the stars whilst the adults sipped firewhisky and the boys drank butterbeer. The stars were more clearly visible from the castle than they were even from the Astronomy tower at Hogwarts, and Sirius enjoyed pointing out obscure examples and telling nasty stories about the family members who had borne their names. Remus teased him for recounting family lore, but Sirius said that it was the responsibility of every Black man to be able to dish the dirt on all his relations, and he'd be damned if he failed to prepare his sons to fulfil this essential duty.

By the time they returned to England, the boys' muscles were sore from running through the forest, and they were exhausted from staying up late every night. Narcissa fussed over the circles under their eyes and Clytemnestra packed them off to bed. But something had changed. Aries and Draco felt almost as though they had been through some sort of initiation. They were Black men now.