Mrs. Black

Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see

Wednesday, August 30, 1978, Potter Manor

"Why is your gown blue?" Lily asked curiously.

The redhead looked ethereal in a beautiful white gown that had belonged to her mother. They'd transfigured it just a bit, making a few changes so that it would be Lily's gown, too. She had looked up with a warm smile when Hermione had entered the room, followed by Dorea Potter, but the smile had faltered just slightly when she saw that her best friend was wearing intricate dress robes that were made of a deep shade of blue that flattered Hermione's coloring. She could see tiny crystal beads that picked out some sort of ornate pattern, but the way the dress moved around Hermione made it impossible to determine what the pattern was, specifically.

"Married in blue, your love will be true," Hermione recited with a slight blush and a smile for her friend. "And I see you've gone with 'married in white, you've chosen right'."

"Among muggles, white is the preferred color of wedding gown," Mrs. Evans explained to Hermione with a slight smile. "It became popular in the nineteenth century and implies that the bride is a virgin."

"How fascinating," Dorea Potter said softly, with a slight smile. She waved her wand in a complex display, which made a delicate silvery nimbus around both girls' heads. Her smile became slightly wider and her look was positively smug. "Unfortunately, our girls have no such luck. Your father owes me a hundred galleons, Hermione."

"Mother!" Hermione blushed furiously, and Lily's face pinkened as well. "How could you!"

"I didn't do anything. Your father opened his mouth, and I decided it was an excellent opportunity to make a few galleons," Dorea said with a self-righteous air. Lily was looking at her reflection in the mirror.

"Um, Mrs. Potter? Can you take away the nimbus things?" She asked faintly, an embarrassed flush high on her cheekbones. Dorea patted her comfortingly.

"Unfortunately not, dear. This is a pureblood custom. It has fallen to the wayside because so few girls are able to stand up at their weddings this way, but you both will bring honor and credit to your respective Houses today. Believe me, Lily, this is an important custom…one that Charlus and I think may very well be necessary today," Dorea said firmly, her hazel eyes turning hard and cold. Hermione's eyes narrowed on her mother.

"Are they trying to imply something untoward about Lily?" She asked in a soft voice. Dorea's eyes flicked to her daughter's face and her lips tightened just slightly. Hermione turned to Lily and smiled encouragingly. "You look beautiful, and the silvery halo is like a tiara or—oh! I almost forgot!"

The Potter family had a wealth of jewels that were under the purview of the ladies of the family. After today, Hermione would no longer have the right or the privilege to wear any of them, but Alphard and Sirius had both made passing references to coffers full of jewelry that would be hers. Hermione didn't particularly care one way or the other, but it was expected at events like these and she would need to represent the House of Black well. Regardless, today she was still a Potter, and a flick of her wand brought two velvet boxes into the room. Dorea opened one of the boxes and showed the tiara to Lily. It was goblin-wrought white-gold and diamond with teardrop pearls that moved when Lily turned her head to look at her mother. Dorea and Mrs. Evans carefully attached the veil to the tiara.

"This particular tiara is very, very old and comes to us through the Peverell line," Dorea said quietly as she arranged the veil just so.

"It was made for Sapientia Peverell," Hermione said softly as she watched the two mothers help Lily. Dorea turned to her daughter.

"Really?" She asked in surprise. Hermione nodded.

"It was hers for her wedding day," Hermione said mildly, opening her own velvet box to reveal her tiara. Nestled in the velvet box was another white gold tiara resplendent with diamonds, but this one had fairly substantial sapphires as accents. Her mother moved to help her, and as they both looked in the mirror, Hermione realized that her mother was crying. "Mum?"

"I'm fine," Dorea sniffed delicately and conjured a handkerchief.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Dorea moved to open it. Andromeda Tonks moved into the room wearing beautiful dress robes, her hair pulled back into a sophisticated upswept hairstyle. Her five year-old daughter followed her into the room, wearing a much smaller version of her mother's gown. Hermione had kept this as a surprise for Sirius. She knew that he and James had asked Remus to be the best man for the both of them, and she was happy that he was being included in the wedding party. Hermione had immediately asked Andromeda to be her matron of honor, and young Nymphadora to be her flower girl. Pureblood weddings didn't normally have a flower girl, but she had lied wildly and insisted that they were incorporating muggle elements into the wedding to make Lily feel more comfortable. She knew that Sirius liked and respected his cousin for her courageous choices, and she knew that when he'd been younger they had been friends; having her at his wedding would be special to him.

"Now, Andromeda," Hermione said with a smile and a positively wicked twinkle in her eye. "How do you feel about betrothal contracts for Miss Tonks?"

"You haven't even gotten married yet, Hermione," Andromeda said with a laugh and a shake of her head. "Why don't we wait and see what happens?"

"Dear, is there a reason you're bringing this up?" Dorea asked with a slight frown. Hermione smiled slightly wider and nodded.

"Yes, Mum, but it has nothing to do with any of my children. Meda, how do you feel about betrothing your daughter to an older man?" Hermione asked curiously. Andromeda blinked.

"I would be a bit leery of it," Andromeda said honestly, her brow crinkling slightly. "Why?"

"I would pay careful attention to your daughter today," Hermione said with a smile. "The answer may come to you when you least expect it to."

"Any other words of wisdom before we go out there and show everyone that all their nasty gossip was a steaming pile of manure?" Andromeda asked archly. Lily and Hermione looked at Dorea with stern expressions, but Mrs. Potter just shrugged innocently.

"It seemed like the easiest way to dispel all the rumors," Dorea said defensively. Andromeda looked at Hermione and smirked.

"I'm not sure whether to be proud or disappointed in Sirius," Andromeda said after a moment. Hermione blushed. "Proud, I think. Definitely proud."

Little Nymphadora moved uncertainly down the aisle, stopping at irregular intervals and flinging rose petals at unsuspecting guests. The purebloods were unsure how to respond to this, as flower girls were a new thing to them. The muggleborns and the few muggles in the audience smiled indulgently so the purebloods tried to emulate them and they smiled carefully at the small witch as she made her way down the aisle. Sirius smiled indulgently at his small cousin, who looked very cute in her dress robes. He glanced at James who looked nervous and then at Remus who was staring at the little girl and frowning slightly. Next, Andromeda, his favorite cousin, swept regally down the aisle, looking every inch a daughter of the House of Black. It was a tricky sort of move on Hermione's part, and it showed a sort of solidarity among the Blacks who were déclassé amongst their own family. He smirked at her as she moved closer and the minx winked at him.

When Lily and Hermione appeared together, their fathers flanking them, a soft, but audible gasp swept through the assembly. The silvery nimbus around each girl's head proclaimed to one and all that each young woman came to her marriage as virgo intacta. Sirius felt his heart swell in his chest as soon as he saw Hermione. She looked radiantly beautiful, she seemed to glow from within. He had known that she was untouched, but he felt a certain vindication to have it proclaimed before everyone that they knew, including Hermione's father. The smile she bestowed on him was filled with happiness, and he felt an answering smile spread across his own face. A brief glance at Lily and James showed that they were in a similar boat. The look on Charlus' face when he placed Hermione's hand in his was one of grudging respect.

"Take care of her. She's the most precious thing I have," Charlus muttered gruffly. Sirius nodded.

"I will, sir. I swear it," Sirius said softly, his eyes on Hermione. Charlus stepped away and went to sit with his wife.

The oaths sworn in a wizarding wedding were a surprise to Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and to a lesser extent, Lily. They were swearing oaths on their magic, and the magical bond forming between each couple was easy to see. Sirius and Hermione's bond brought more audible gasps from the crowd because it was obviously a natural bond. Their magic was already pretty well meshed, and the officiant merely blessed their bond rather than invoking it as he did with James and Lily. When James slipped the rather ostentatious wedding ring on her finger, Lily felt tears of happiness well in her eyes and blinked them away rapidly. She looked up at James and saw that he, too, seemed to have some suspicious moisture in his eyes. He grinned at her, and his lips brushed hers to seal the bond. They both felt the tingle of the marriage bond settling over them, binding them for life.

Sirius was holding Hermione's hands tightly so that no one could see that his were shaking. The ring that Alphard had helped him choose for Hermione was very old, and his uncle wasn't sure where it had come from. They had carefully checked the ring to make sure that it didn't have any curses or dark magic; with a Black family heirloom, it paid to be cautious. Two tiny gold lions appeared to be holding up a large ruby surrounded by diamonds. Remus silently handed it to Sirius who took it and carefully slid it onto the first finger of her wand hand. Hermione had suspected that he might continue the theme of all of her betrothal gifts, and the ring that she'd found for him in the Potter vaults was masculine, in the style of a signet ring, with a lion worked into a gold bezel and rubies for eyes. Her small hand steadied his as she slid the ring onto the first finger of his wand hand. Sirius Black was still an intensely private person, but it wasn't hard to see that his eyes were darkened to almost black with the strength of his emotions. When his lips touched hers, she felt their bond respond to their heightened emotions with a light caress along the skin that caused both to shiver slightly.

The large ballroom had been decorated for the celebratory dinner because it was the only room large enough to accommodate all of their guests and even then it had had to be resized. Hermione was passed around for hugs and kisses from a variety of friends and family and was grateful to Sirius when he pulled her into his arms and led her into the ballroom. Hermione had spoken to her mother previously, and Nymphadora, as a member of the wedding party, was seated next to Remus. He was her partner for the meal, and it was his duty to see to her needs. Hermione hid a smile behind her hand as she watched Remus interact with the small girl, a confused frown on his face the entire time.

"I believe I see what you meant," Andromeda commented later, when the Marauders had disappeared for a small amount of time. "He's a werewolf, isn't he? And she's his mate?"

"He's one of the nicest, most honorable men I've ever known," Hermione said firmly, a steely glint in her eye. "However, he tends to doubt his own worth. I think if you and I spoke to his parents, we might be able to arrange a betrothal contract. I'd like to see him wriggle out of that."

Wriggle out of…you think that he would abandon my daughter?" Andromeda asked coolly, her eyes turning hard and cold. Hermione shrugged and turned to her friend.

"I plan on making sure that he won't think any such thing. He'll have fifteen years to get used to the idea of marrying her. Hopefully that will be long enough," Hermione said dryly. "Uncle Alphard and Sirius will make sure that she has a suitable dowry, and I can't see any reason why the Lupins would object. An alliance with our family would be advantageous."

"It's your wedding day and you're already plotting?" Dorea commented slyly, sitting in Sirius' empty seat. She smirked at her daughter and patted her hand. "I'm so proud of you, love."

"I'm just trying to fit in with the rest of the family, Mum," Hermione said with a smirk of her own.

"Hermione?" Sirius' voice came from behind her chair and she looked up at him. He smiled at her, but she noted that it was a slightly nervous smile. "It's time, kitten."

The subject of honeymoons had come up fairly early on. Sirius had been approached by his uncle with the opportunity to use a Black family property that none of his cousins or their husbands knew about or had access to. It was a tropical island, and Old Hermione had the sneaking suspicion that it was the same island that her Sirius had hidden on for Harry's third and fourth years of school. Needless to say, both Hermiones were fascinated at the prospect and could hardly wait to see the place that the other Sirius had called home for a brief period. Hermione stood gracefully, and hugged her mother and father. Uncle Alphard came over for a quick hug, which Hermione suspected was just an excuse to tease Sirius because afterwards she was pulled up against his side and held there with a dark glare at his uncle. Everything had already been packed and sent ahead, so Hermione and Sirius waved good-bye to everyone and went to the family's apparition point.

"What do you want to do first, kitten?" Sirius asked her in a husky voice. She glanced up at him, watching his eyes turning almost black and she smiled.

"Are we alone here?" she asked curiously. He nodded, his eyes watching her. She blushed, her cheeks turning pink. He cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips against hers, which made her skin tingle and her eyes flutter closed.