Dolasitas

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When they returned to the manor from the fitting, Lexy feigned sickness and went straight to bed, her mind heavy. It was impossible to reconcile the man Ginny described with the Lucius she had been getting to know. Whilst Lexy recognised that Lucius could easily have been playing an act, it was difficult and even a little hurtful to accept. She knew it was irrational to feel hurt that the Death Eater probably wasn’t falling in love with her; after all, it had never been something she had desired. But it had been so nice to feel wanted… she had been alone for so long…

When Lucius came up to bed, he gently nudged her to see if she was awake. They had settled into a routine of lying awake and talking in bed for at least an hour every night before sleeping, and both of them enjoyed the stimulating conversations they had. Lexy obstinately continued to feign sleep, and Lucius sighed slightly before spooning himself around her and settling into sleep, his arm draped across her stomach.

She barely slept all night. When Lucius awoke, Lexy had already left the bed and was standing on the balcony watching the sunrise. Frowning concernedly, he slipped on a house robe and followed her out there, slipping his arms around her from behind. “Can I get you a pain potion?” he asked her. Lexy shook her head, still staring out into the distance. “Well, what is it then?” he demanded.

“We are to be married in two week’s time, Lucius,” she replied quietly.

“And that is something that is giving you pain?” Lucius asked, angrily swallowing the lump that had risen in his throat.

“That depends on you, Lucius. I do not understand…” she trailed off, and Lucius slowly turned her around, pulling her close to him. Lexy sighed and rested her head on his chest.

“Please, princess, continue,” he asked, tenderly wiping away the tear that was threatening to spill from her eye.

“I do not understand how you can profess to be falling in love with me when you have done the things you have done!” she exclaimed, furiously turning away as more tears began to spill from her eyes.

Lucius had not loosened his grip when Lexy turned, and fought hard to stifle a groan as his cock began to swell, instinctively knowing that it would make the situation worse. He began to formulate a reply. “Lexy, I have been entirely honest with you about the atrocities I have committed in the past. Please believe me that I am being honest with you now when I tell you that the idea of life without you now is unbearable. You are no longer merely a possession or plaything to me.”

Lexy bit her lip, still unable to meet his gaze. “That is what you saw me as initially?” she questioned him, her voice wavering dangerously.

He snapped back an impatient retort. “Of course. Lexy, as you are so aware, I am a Death Eater, and my instructions were to find a wife. I never envisaged that my potential wife would be someone I could be happy with, let alone fall in love with. My only concerns were that she would be a Pureblooded witch that I would enjoy sticking my cock in on a regular basis.”

“Apparently, I fulfil both those requirements,” Lexy replied bitterly.

“Obviously. But you, Lexy, are already so much more to me.” Forcefully, he turned her back around and tipped her head up towards his, determined to say this to her face. “Gods, Lexy, you are divinely beautiful to me, your intelligence knows no bounds, you are talented and caring and most importantly, I have a great deal of respect for you. I defy any man not to fall for your charms!” Lucius affirmed passionately.

“Truly?” Lexy asked him, her eyes brightening.

“How can you be so unsure of your attractiveness?” Lucius marvelled.

She smiled slightly. “When Mémé Marie was alive, she always told me that only the very best man deserved me, but Mama and Papa believed that her words only inflated my ego. They preferred that I should work on my faults rather than emphasising my strengths.”

“Your grandmother sounds a very intelligent woman, princess. Trust me, when one is in possession of such a jewel as you, they should cherish it as much, if not more than she seemed to,” Lucius said persuasively, exhaling in relief as Lexy finally relaxed in his arms. “You have time for a few hours’ sleep if you would like to get some rest now, princess; we have a busy day ahead of us.”

Lexy nodded. “I am a little tired, Lucius. Would you… would you please lie down with me until I fall asleep?” she asked hesitantly.

“If you desire it, so it shall be,” Lucius said smoothly, and lifted her into his arms. By the time he had carefully placed her on the bed, Lexy had already fallen asleep. Lucius still lay down next to her, softly stroking her face until he too drifted back to sleep.


They awoke a few hours later and Flooed straight to Hogwarts where the wedding was due to take place at midday. They parted company immediately and did not see each other again until the entire wedding party reassembled for the start of the ceremony. Lucius, in forest green traditional robes, was left speechless by the vision that was in front of him.

Lexy was wearing a strapless pale gold gown, cream sandals and a solitary white flower in her hair, which was left loose and flowing over her shoulders. Blushing, she met Lucius’ gaze as he slowly shook his head in wonderment. He took her hand, raised it to his lips and kissed it gently. “Alexis Beaumont, you are truly the most divine vision of beauty I have ever had the fortune to behold. I must have been blessed by the gods the day you came into my life,” he said quietly.

She smiled up at him gratefully and moved into his embrace, her eyes closed. Lucius stared at her in wonderment, his entire face softened. Neither of them noticed Ginny Weasley watching them with her lips pursed.

Remus Lupin cleared his throat. “If everyone is ready, the ceremony can commence.” He was to lead the ceremony, having been trained to marry all Death Eaters at Lord Voldemort’s command.

Ginny snapped out of her reverie, frowning slightly. She had recognised the look in Lucius Malfoy’s eyes as he looked at Lexy, and it had been the very last thing she expected to see. For now, though, she could not think on it further. Her marriage to Severus Snape was about to take place. Gritting her teeth and pulling her shoulders back, she walked through the door to where her future husband was waiting for her.


When their guests had returned to their own homes after the ceremony, Severus and Ginny Snape returned to their living chambers in the dungeons of Hogwarts. She regarded him warily as she sat near the fire, and to her intense surprise Severus sighed and placed a silencing charm on the room.

“Ginevra, I am sorry that we have been forced into this arrangement,” he said abruptly.

She stared at him uncomprehendingly. “I don’t understand,” Ginny retorted, confused by his statement.

Severus rolled his eyes. “For Circe’s sake, you are not unintelligent, so do not make this harder than it has to be. Neither of us would have chosen this marriage had our destinies been our own to decide, but as it has been forced upon us, I see no reason why we should not make the best of it.”

“In what way?” she asked, intrigued.

“Obviously, sexually I see no reason for us not to take advantage of our partnership; we are required to mate to produce children, but that is no reason for it not to be an enjoyable experience for us both. I am an accomplished lover, and I can give you pleasure if you will allow me.”

Ginny looked at him coolly. “What else?”

He carried on. “We are both intelligent, and require more than simply sex to gain satisfaction from a relationship. It is my hope that we can provide each other with intellectual companionship. Your only friend amongst Death Eater society will be Lucius’ fiancée, I am sure, and once she has finished Hogwarts I do not doubt that he will monopolise the majority of her time.”

“And what of you?” Ginny asked, curious despite herself. “Who are your friends amongst the Death Eaters? Lucius Malfoy, perhaps?”

Severus shook his head. “I do not regard any of them as friends. The only one that I had any great respect for is Lupin, and even he lost some of my respect when he betrayed the Order.”

Ginny’s head snapped up. “For doing what you did?” she demanded angrily, forcing herself to stop before she revealed Remus’ true allegiances.

Severus looked at her strangely before continuing. “Believe what you will. As for Lucius Malfoy, whilst he is a very intelligent man, is too blinded by his prejudices to recognise that serving the Dark Lord is not necessarily in his best interests.”

“You know Lucius Malfoy well then?” Ginny asked, unable to understand what she had seen earlier.

“Well enough.”

“What do you think of his relationship with Lexy?”

Severus thought a long while before replying. “In Alexis Beaumont, he has everything he could desire in a wife. So long as she is careful not to reveal her association with the Order and does all he asks of her, she will be safe. And that is a lot more than she would be guaranteed with others who could have claimed her. Lucius may be a little deviant sexually, but his main priority has to be delivering the five children required from their relationship, so he cannot do anything to jeopardise that,” he replied finally.

“Do you… do you think he is capable of love?” she asked hesitantly.

Severus shook his head firmly. “I have known him for nearly thirty years, and not once in all those years has Lucius ever indicated that he is anything other than a cold-hearted, self-serving, stereotypical Pureblood. What in Merlin’s name makes you suggest such a thing?”

“Lexy told me that he was treating her far better than she had expected. I did not believe her, but the look in his eyes when he saw her today… it was the same look that my father used to wear whenever my mum dressed up to go somewhere,” Ginny responded in a small voice, painful memories reawakening.

His eyes narrowed. “You must warn Alexis to be on her guard, then. Lucius is determined to force her to fall in love with him as a revenge on her parents for denying the Dark Lord. For him, it would be the ultimate victory. He will use any tactic necessary to achieve his aim.”

Ginny was about to agree when an objection rose in her mind. “But Lexy had her eyes closed. The look on his face couldn’t have been just to fool her,” she argued.

Severus looked confused for little more than a second before his face hardened again. “As I said, Lucius Malfoy is entirely incapable of any kind of emotion. The look you saw must have been one of lust,” he said authoratatively. “Ginevra, I am tired. I am going to the bedroom. Join me when you are ready.”

Ginny remained in the chair, digesting all she had heard from her husband. Was it possible that he was not the bastard he had been painted to be?


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Meanwhile in another part of the castle, Remus Lupin had called an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, where he had been charged with the task of informing Fred and George Weasley of their sister’s marriage. It was testament to how much the events of the past years had changed them that they merely sunk down into their chairs, their heads in their hands. “We would have contacted you sooner,” Remus said regretfully, “but it was impossible to get hold of you, and Ginny was determined to go through with it no matter what we said.”

Fred nodded acceptingly, and a young woman with bushy brown hair stepped forwards. “Where do we go from here, Remus?” she asked tiredly. “Nothing we do seems to make a difference any more.”

“Until we have a firmer idea of Voldemort’s plans, Hermione, there is little we can do,” Remus replied resignedly.

Another woman stepped forward, her long silver blonde hair swishing as she motioned angrily with her hand. “Zis attitude will get us nowhere! I understand why Ginevra ‘as done zis, and if zis Lexy is marrying Malfoy, zey may be able to get us the insight we need into ‘is plans.”

George Weasley raised his head. “But what is the point, Fleur? We all know what the prophecy said – if Harry couldn’t do it, who can?”

Neville Longbottom stepped in to break up the argument. “This isn’t going to help, guys. I suggest we wait until after the Malfoy wedding, and then see what Ginny and Lexy have been able to find out. We’ll take it from there.”

Everyone nodded, and Remus dismissed the meeting, arranging to meet again in a month’s time. As he watched the assorted Order members cast their glamours and disguises before leaving, he sighed deeply. He was resigned to the fact that there was no way to prevent Lucius from marrying Lexy, just as there had been no way to stop Severus marrying Ginny. All he could do was hope that when she returned to Hogwarts in September, she would have information that would mean her life hadn’t been wasted. Merlin knew the Order needed some divine intervention right now.


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A/N So much for a 20 chapter distraction! I promise, this story is barely begun.

Please, please, read and review!