Dolasitas

******************

Lexy shook her head in stunned astonishment. “Remus, don’t do this to me now, please,” she said brokenly.

Ginny pulled her away from Remus and grabbed his arm, taking him out of Lexy’s earshot. “What do you mean by coming in and saying such a thing now?” she demanded furiously. “The ceremony is only thirty minutes away!”

Remus began to shake uncontrollably. “I do not know what came over me, Ginny. Seeing her standing there, looking like that; I just could not bear the thought of Malfoy having her to do as he wished with,” he said bitterly.

Ginny laid a comforting hand on his arm. “It is too late for this, Remus. How did you think we could possibly get Lexy and Will out of Malfoy Manor now? And even if we manage that, there is no way that we would be able to keep them away from Lucius for long. Lexy is wearing his engagement ring after all, and I have no doubt that there is some kind of permanent tracking charm built into it.”

“I know,” he replied brokenly.

“And what even makes you think that Lexy would agree to leave?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.

Remus frowned. “Why wouldn’t she?”

Ginny bit her lip. “Remus, I am sure that Lucius is falling in love with her. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lexy falls for him.”

He shook his head. “She is a sensible girl, Gin. Lexy knows not to fall for someone like him.”

She tutted impatiently. “As if logic has anything to do with love! Remus, Lexy recognises that she is lucky that Lucius chose her. She owes him a huge debt for rescuing her brother from Avery, and Lucius has promised to give her everything she has ever desired. Not only that, but he will be her only lover. She would have to be a heartless bitch not to feel anything for him, and Lexy is far from that.”


As she finished speaking, Lexy walked back over to them, her face set resolutely. “Remus, I understand why you said what you did, but I cannot leave now,” she said soberly.

To her great relief, Remus nodded understandingly. “I should never have even put the idea in your mind, Lexy, and I apologise for it. Here, Lucius wanted you to wear these today,” he said, handing over the box in his hand before turning around and walking out of the room, his head down.

Lexy looked at Ginny anxiously. “Have I upset him?”

Ginny could not answer for a few moments. It was obvious to her that Remus was upset, and she was determined to find out the true reason. She could not lie to Lexy. “A little, Lexy,” she said regretfully. “But it is not your fault in the slightest.”

“How can it not be? He is disappointed in me,” Lexy said sorrowfully.

The older teenager shook her head. “Not in you, Lexy. I think he blames himself for a lot that has happened, and our marriages have been just another load upon him.”

“Why does he blame himself?” Lexy asked curiously, carefully sitting down on the bed.

Ginny sat next to her and sighed. “Remus has been in the Order since he left school, so he’s seen the majority of his friends die in the war. His three best friends were Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. James, of course, was Harry’s father. When they found out that Voldemort was after Harry, James and his wife Lily decided to go into hiding. They knew that someone in the Order had been passing information to Voldemort, so they decided to use the Fidelius charm to hide themselves more safely.”

“Who did they choose as Secret Keeper?” Lexy asked quietly.

“Everybody in the Order was told they had chosen Sirius Black. But on Halloween night, 1981, the Secret Keeper betrayed them and Voldemort attacked the Potters. I’m sure you don’t need me to rehash all the details,” Ginny said heavily. Lexy shook her head, and she continued. “Pettigrew and Black had a confrontation. It seemed that Black had murdered Pettigrew, and he was sent to Azkaban.”

“Merlin,” whispered Lexy. “So Remus lost all three of his best friends just like that.”

Ginny nodded. “For the next twelve years, Remus shut himself away, until Sirius broke out of Azkaban and Professor Dumbledore asked him to come to Hogwarts to teach. At the end of the school year, Sirius managed to get hold of Harry and his friends. Remus found out, and went to rescue Harry. But it turned out that everyone had been wrong the past twelve years. The Potters secretly switched Secret Keeper at the last minute, using Pettigrew instead.”

Lexy gasped. “But Black killed Pettigrew. How did they know he was telling the truth?”

“Pettigrew faked his death, and lived in his Animagus form as a rat. Fortunately, he had chosen to live with my family, and my brother Ron had him in his pocket when Sirius took them. They forced Pettigrew to tell the truth, and went back up to the castle to hand him over to the Ministry.”

Lexy frowned. “But surely something like that would have been big news?”

“If they had made it to the castle, it would have been,” Ginny replied grimly. “In his hurry to get to Harry, Ron and Hermione, Remus forgot to take his Wolfsbane potion. He transformed and Pettigrew escaped, transforming back into a rat. He returned to Voldemort and helped him to rise again.”

“What happened to Black?”

“The Order kept him safe, but he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange two years later in a battle at the Ministry. Things went from bad to worse for the Order after that night. Dumbledore was killed a year later, and that was when Remus was forced to begin spying upon Voldemort. Then, of course, came the Final Battle.” Ginny stopped there, and tears began to course down her face. Lexy silently passed her a handkerchief, and Ginny brought her grief under control. “Remus feels guiltier about that night than anything else, I think.”

“What did he do?”

“It was what he didn’t do, Lexy. Voldemort planned the Final Battle to fall on the night of the full moon. Remus was locked in the Shrieking Shack, having been deprived of his Wolfsbane by Voldemort. He was unable to help. Not only did Harry die that night, but his fiancée, Nymphadora Tonks, was murdered.”

“By Lucius,” Lexy said quietly.

“By Lucius,” Ginny confirmed. “Add to that the number of casualties the Order suffered, and Remus detests himself for not being there.”

“But it wasn’t his fault!” Lexy said passionately.

“If you can convince him of that, you’ve got something that none of the rest of us have, Lexy. Remus has an awful lot of weight on his shoulders, and I suppose it’s only understandable that sometimes it becomes too much.” Ginny looked up at the clock. “Merlin’s beard!” she exclaimed. “Quickly, open the box and put the jewellery on, we have to get downstairs.”

Lexy’s heart began to pound as she realised her wedding to Lucius Malfoy was only minutes away. With trembling hands she opened the box and unfolded the parchment within. Silently she read it and then passed the box to Ginny. “Lucius says this is a thousand years old,” she said in an odd voice.

Ginny gasped as she lifted the emerald pendant out of the box. “I don’t doubt it, Lexy. It is a Malfoy heirloom, is it?”

Lexy nodded. “With charms to increase fertility on it.”

Ginny fixed the pendant around her neck and looked at Lexy sympathetically. “You do know we will do all we can to keep you safe, don’t you Lexy? In two months time you will be back in Hogwarts for the days at least. I know that you’re strong enough to make it here until then.”

The young women embraced one last time before they left the bedroom to make their way down to the grounds where the ceremony was to take place.

**************

Lucius paced the aisle waiting for Lexy. He had dressed with a strange absence of thought that his best man, Rodolphus Lestrange, had laughingly informed him was due to nerves as he dropped the emerald silk ribbon that he used to tie his hair back. A ridiculous premise, he thought haughtily. Malfoys did not suffer from nerves, and he had absolutely nothing to be nervous about. Still, he did not relax until he saw Lexy take her place at the end of the aisle. Lucius was thankful that his dress robes were loose, because Lexy looked even more beautiful today than he had ever seen her. He would not have believed it possible were it not for the vision in front of him, and Lucius knew from the stunned faces in the assembled congregation that he had indeed secured the most desirable Pureblood witch in the land.

The string quartet began playing as Lexy walked down the aisle, unable to take in any of her surroundings, unable to notice anything other than the pounding of her heart and the intensity in Lucius’ eyes as he watched her come towards him. All too soon, the silence had resumed and she was stood at Lucius’ side waiting for the ceremony to commence.

Remus cleared his throat nervously. “Er… who gives this woman to this man?” he asked doubtfully, fully aware that Lexy had no family.

Lexy turned, bemused, as she heard someone rise behind her. Lucius had to reach out a hand to steady her as she turned to see Lord Voldemort stand in the front row. “I do,” he declared imperiously. “As ruler of this country, from this moment I declare that I have ownership over all those without family to claim them. Thus, Alexis Beaumont is my property. I choose to give her to this man, Lucius Malfoy, for marriage.” Loud whispers amongst the congregation were instantly quelled when Lord Voldemort turned around menacingly before moving forward and taking Lexy’s hand in his bony, cold white one. She shuddered involuntarily as he placed her hand into Lucius’, who bowed deeply.

“My deepest thanks, master, for the honour and prize you have bestowed upon me,” Lucius said to him. Voldemort nodded and retook his seat, and Remus continued the service, his voice shaking slightly.

“Lucius and Alexis have expressed a wish to use the ancient Pureblood vows of the Castimonia ceremony,” Remus continued, “so I will continue with that version of the ceremony.” An interested murmur again spread through the crowd. “Lucius and Alexis, will you please join your wands tip to tip and say together ‘Castimonia Precor’?”

Lucius gave Lexy a small smile as they did as Remus requested. “I solemnly declare, in front of these witnesses here today, my intention to be bound to you and only to you until death do tear us asunder.” As they repeated his words, a golden strand of light flew out of the point where their wands were joined and hovered around their heads. “As part of this bond, I swear to never take another man or woman to me, and to remain faithful to you alone.” Again, a long strand of golden light emerged and joined the first.

As Remus moved through the vows and they continued to repeat them in unison, more strands of light joined the first two until Lucius and Lexy were surrounded by an impenetrable cage of golden light. Remus moved to the last part of the ceremony. “Marriage, of course, is a union with the aim of producing children. Lucius and Alexis, do you swear to commit to each other now that you will do all you can to share with each other the gift of procreation?” They assented, and the light tightened around them, bringing them together before dissolving into their bodies.

They trembled with the force of the magic moving within them as Remus hastily motioned to Rodolphus and Ginny to bring forward the rings. “Lucius Octavius Malfoy and Alexis Hope Beaumont, I ask you to give these rings to each other to seal the vows you have made here today whilst saying ‘Castimonia Adstringo’.” They took the rings and placed them on each other’s finger whilst saying the binding phrase, exhaling as the pressure inside them eased. Remus nodded solemnly. “I now have the honour of declaring you to be bound together eternally in marriage.” He turned towards the congregation. “I ask you to greet Lord Lucius and Lady Alexis Malfoy.”

Spontaneous applause broke out as Lucius took Lexy in his arms, bringing her to his chest and kissing her passionately. To her surprise, she responded to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing his probing tongue entrance to her mouth. The kiss was only broken by a large crash as Remus dropped the ceremonial book. Lucius chuckled at the dazed look in Lexy’s eyes as she pulled away, startled. “Not hiding your desire for me so well now, are you Lady Malfoy?” he whispered in her ear throatily.

“I have decided that there is no point in depriving myself of the one pleasure I am guaranteed to get from you, husband,” she replied, a small sparkle twinkling in her eyes.

Lucius raised his eyebrows, shocked to recognise the gentle tease in her words. “I do not deny that the greatest of your pleasures with me will be in the bedroom, but I promised that I would give you everything you need, princess. You are my wife, and I WILL satisfy you entirely,” he replied, a hungry growl erupting from the back of his throat.

Lexy shivered slightly, a feeling that was compounded when Lord Voldemort approached them. She looked at him cautiously out of the corner of her eye; today was the first time that she had seen him in the flesh, and he was very different to how he was portrayed in the media and in propaganda. His thin frame was not disguised by the loose robes he wore, but Lexy’s eyes were irresistibly drawn to his face. Unnaturally pale, his red eyes stood out imposingly, and the small slits on his flattened nose reminded Lexy of a serpent. “My congratulations, Lucius,” he said, his voice high and thin.

Lucius turned to face him, his arm around Lexy’s waist, pulling her towards him possessively. “Thank you, master. I am glad to know that my choice meets with your approval.”

Voldemort nodded. “I understand why you were so eager to have this one, my slippery friend. As we discussed previously, her heritage is more than satisfactory, and now that I have seen her in person I am even more satisfied with your selection. Lady Malfoy, I am certain that the children you bear will be of a more than adequate quality to take their place in this new wizarding world,” he said, turning his attention to Lexy.

She curtseyed, her eyes not meeting his faces. “It is my greatest hope that all our children will be worthy of you, master. I am proud to have been given this honour.” Lucius nodded approvingly.

Voldemort took her hand and kissed it with his cold lips. “I look forward to hearing more from you, Lady Malfoy. Lucius, I shall be in touch shortly.” He stalked away, his robes billowing.

Lexy exhaled and unconsciously moved closer into Lucius’ embrace. “Well done, Lexy, that was superlative,” he murmured, clearly pleased. “I told you that you would be perfectly adept at moving in Death Eater society, did I not?”

She nodded as Rodolphus Lestrange approached them. “My, Lucius,” he said appreciatively, “I certainly understand why you’ve kept this one away from us until you had secured her!”

“Yes, I have done rather well, I believe,” Lucius replied smugly, kissing Lexy tenderly on the lips.

Rodolphus stared unabashedly at Lexy’s breasts before his eyes wandered back up to her lips. “I must say, though, old chap, I was rather disappointed that you didn’t at least share her with your oldest friends before the wedding,” he said jovially, his eyes lustfully moving back to her breasts.

Lexy reddened and Lucius’ smirk disappeared. “My wife,” he emphasised angrily, “is not a toy to be passed around between you bastards for your amusement.”

Rodolphus was clearly surprised by his changed tone. “I meant no offence, Lucius. After all, you did not care which of us stuck our cocks into Narcissa. Merlin, you can have Bellatrix any time you want if you just let me have one night with this delectable little darling…” he said persuasively.

“Consider this your final warning, Rodolphus,” Lucius said dangerously. “Surely you were paying attention to the ceremony?”

Rodolphus’ face dropped. “Is there nothing else I can offer you instead of Bellatrix then? Come on, friend, I’ll stupefy her first so she doesn’t feel the pain if you prefer; though personally, I would prefer it if she were suffering,” he drawled.

Lexy felt Lucius begin to shake with fury and she stepped forward, laying a calming hand on his arm. “Mr. Lestrange,” she said coolly, “my husband has made his thoughts on this matter perfectly plain. Surely you have no desire to continue to insult him further by pursuing this on our wedding day?”

“Intelligent as well as beautiful,” Rodolphus replied with a dazzling smile.

Lexy shook her head dismissively. “I hope that your intellect matches mine, sir, and that you will see that it will be useless for you to attempt to contact me privately on this matter. Even if I were not bound by the Castimonia vows, I would have no desire to disobey my husband and sleep with another man.”

Rodolphus nodded, and took her hand. “I apologise for any offence I have caused, Lady Malfoy,” he said with a deep bow as he kissed her hand. “Lucius, you understand I meant no harm?”

Lucius nodded grudgingly and pulled Lexy back towards him. “Rodolphus, please lead the guests to the ballroom. My wife and I will join you there shortly.” He pulled Lexy after him, leading them away from the crowd and behind the pavilion that the ceremony had taken place on. Neither of them noticed Remus Lupin watching them as they passed him, a solitary tear leaking down his pale face.

“Every time I think that you cannot surprise me further, you achieve it, Lexy,” Lucius said tenderly, wonderment in his voice. “When I saw you today, you literally took my breath away, and then you dismiss one of our master’s most powerful lieutenants with a few simple words. I know that you do not want to hear this, but please allow me to tell you this today, Lexy,” Lucius asked, knowing that Lexy would be more susceptible to emotional manipulation today than any other.

Lexy somehow knew what he was going to say. Though it was mere weeks ago that the same words had caused her to flee his presence, for some reason she found herself giving him permission to say them.

Lucius cupped her face in his hands, tilting it up towards his own. “Alexis Hope Malfoy,” he began with a small smile, “I have fallen inescapably in love with you, my princess. Even if you never return my feelings, you have made my life better simply by being with me. And tonight, I will show you just how strong my feelings for you are,” he finished with a glint in his eyes as he lowered his head and kissed her softly. “Come, wife, let us attend our wedding celebration.”

**************

The rest of the day passed in something of a blur for Lexy. She lost count of the number of Death Eaters she had to be introduced to, men she had to dance with, and compliments she smilingly received. She was relieved when they retired to the dining hall for dinner, but even that seemed to last for hours, with sixteen different people making speeches afterwards.

Finally, Lucius led them back to the ballroom where a full orchestra had taken position in their absence. All eyes were upon him as he led Lexy to the centre of the dance floor. He touched his wand to his neck and muttered, “Sonorus!” His voice was magically amplified to address the crowd. “My sincerest thanks to you all for attending this joyful event today,” he said. Lexy shivered as his deep voice reverberated around the room. “My new wife and I will be sharing one final dance by ourselves, and then I will be leaving the celebration in the very capable hands of Rodolphus whilst we retire to our quarters. Should any of you desire to stay tonight, simply ask him and he will show you to the guest suites. Once again, my sincerest thanks.” He touched his wand to his throat again, muttering “Quietus!” to end the spell.

Lucius bent down towards Lexy’s ear. “I trust that your French mémé taught you how to dance, princess?” he whispered.

She nodded. “Of course. As far as Mémé Marie was concerned, no lady of French blood should be lacking in accomplishments. I have been dancing since I was able to walk.”

“Can you dance the Argentine Tango?” he murmured seductively. Her eyes widened, but she nodded wordlessly. “The most erotic and intimate of all dances, in my opinion. An excellent precursor to what is shortly to come, princess.” Lucius gestured to the orchestra to begin playing as he moved them into position to start the dance.

The music began, and Lexy melted into Lucius’ arms as the dance demanded of her, her chest pressed up against his. Lucius leaned forward, bending her backwards over his arm, his chest still moulded to hers, then sharply pulled her up and began the dance. Lucius was a superb dancer, and they combined well, Lexy allowing Lucius to lead her around the floor, adhering perfectly to the rules of the dance. She was unsurprised to feel his growing erection, and when the dance ended to thunderous applause Lucius swept her off her feet and into his arms. He strode across the dance floor, through the manor and into their bedroom.

Lucius gently lowered her onto the bed. “Now, my beautiful, wonderful wife, you can deny me the pleasure of your body no longer,” he said huskily, a raging fire in his eyes as he climbed on top of her.

******************

For more information on the Argentine Tango, have a look at these links; http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing/learning/argentinetango.shtml and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys0DVZASBkM

A truly beautiful dance, and one most definitely suited to Lucius, I think!

Next chapter... the wedding night.