alwaysimpure | Wedding March

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Wedding March

"I didn't think you'd break up over it!"

Sirius assured her, again, while holding his hands up in front of himself just in case there might be any more hits or curses in store for him.

"Clearly it wasn't that serious then," he reasoned, glancing at Andromeda trying on a wedding dress, smiling and waving at him.

On the picture on the front page of the Prophet, that is. The actual Andromeda looked a lot less pleased.

"It's not as if most of the family even reads the Prophet anymore!"

Most of them didn't, but he was fairly certain one of them still did, which was the whole point of this exercise.

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Regulus was just as dumbfounded as Andromeda had been, he gaped at the door for a moment after it had closed.

"I hope you are proud of yourself, Sirius," he growled as he jostled roughly past his brother. He opened the door to lean into the hallway and yell, "Andromeda, please come back! I'm not done talking to you yet!" He shot a glare over his shoulder. "I will kick Sirius out for you!"

Ah, well. Bit roundabout, but Sirius would still count it as a win. He got up and sat back down on the table, continuing to slowly sip the tea he had abandoned there, after heating it back up with a flick of his wand.

"Now that I'd like to see."

Regulus whirled around to glower at his brother, eyes narrowed to angry slits. "Keep your dirty hands off Andromeda," he hissed, "you made your choice. You aren't the heir anymore."

He didn't wait for a reply before he stalked away, all angry wet cat, in search of Andromeda. "Andy? Where are you? I'm sorry Sirius was a git, you know him."

"...I don't know that I want to talk to you either. Neither of you have any kind of respect for anyone who doesn't fall in with your ideas." Andromeda wasn't going to cry, not in front of her idiotic cousins.

"I'm quite capable of making my own choices and you're both treating me like I don't have a single brain in my head."

"Andy I don't..." He trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Blood traitor she may be, but she was still his cousin. The nice cousin, even, the one he used to like best before she started spouting all that rubbish about equality.

"Of course you can make your own choices," Regulus sighed, "that's why it's so vexing that you make the wrong ones! I don't see what is so horrible about not wanting to lose you." He approached her slowly, just as slowly reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Wrong choice or not, it's my choice and I'm the one who has to live with the consequences, not either of you. Ted was perfectly nice, whatever his blood status." Andromeda exhaled a slow breath, eyes closing for a moment at the contact.

"He was a good man. That should matter more than whether he has a lineage stretching back centuries or not. At least he's not a mindless sycophant toadying up to others because they have power."

He withdrew his hand and took half a step back. "It's nice to know what you truly think of me, cousin," Regulus sneered, yet he couldn't quite keep the hurt out of his voice. "Maybe I wouldn't have to toady up to anyone if you, Sirius and Alphonse hadn't brought shame on our family! We used to be the royalty of pureblood nobility. Nowadays we are known for our blood traitors!"

"I wasn't referencing you, Reg. I meant..." Andromeda shoved hands through her hair, before just shaking her head. "You're better than any of them, you know that. Most of them don't even seem to have any inkling of what good really is."

"Great load of good that does us," he muttered bitterly. "Did you know I can't even find a wife? The few families who are pure enough for us don't want to waste their daughters on breeding more mudblood lovers. We are a joke to polite society." And it's all your fault, his tone implied.

Edited 2013-04-27 20:54 (UTC)

"...You're not even out of school yet." She pointed out, lifting her head for a moment before she rubbed a hand over her eyes. "Look, Reg, I didn't do this to hurt you, to ruin whatever chances you have, or anything of the sort. I just can't live under those expectations anymore. I wanted a relationship with someone I could actually respect...

And most of the pureblooded men are not the type I'd give a kitten to."

"So you are going to marry that mudblood," he murmured. "I hope you are going to be happy living in filth and poverty with him. I hope he is worth turning your back on your family and your duties to them." It was childish and petty, but, well, it was so entirely unfair.

He had had it all mapped out in his mind, how he would bring Andromeda home and solve their greatest problem all in one fell swoop and well, he had even pictured them being happy in this future. Then there had been the Daily Prophet...

"I'm no fool," he added. "You aren't married yet but you will be soon enough. Ted Tonks would be a fool not to marry you." Yes, Regulus actually knew the man's name, even if he commonly pretended that people like him were beneath his notice.

"Not likely. He broke up with me." The words were quiet, Andromeda glancing past him towards the door before she shook her head. "I don't know who I'm going to marry yet, Reg. We've had a few dates, but I'm not in any hurry to bind myself for life."

"Oh."

Regulus remained quiet, stunned, for the longest time. He stepped closer towards Andromeda again and placed his hand on her upper arm in an awkward attempt to comfort her. "You..." No, no telling her that she has no one but herself to blame. "I'm sorry." And then, because foot-in-mouth syndrome is such a problem for the Black men, he couldn't help blurting out, "you should have married me!"

She appreciated the sympathy, she did but the last bit just made her freeze, lifting her head slowly to look up at her younger cousin.

"...I'm sorry, did you just say I should have married you? You're not even of age yet, Regulus?" Which was probably the least problematic part of that statement but she's still processing.

Regulus tried to smile, but it wavered within moments. "I..." He bit down on his bottom lip, a little bit nervous and well, quite a lot lost. "But I'm going to grow older," he protested weakly. "And with Sirius gone I'm the heir."

Well, maybe he should have thought this through better, actually come up with a plan. But he hadn't expected to have a second chance. He had just come here to rant and rave at Andromeda.

"...And you think that we should marry because you're the heir?" Andromeda glances up at him again before she rubs a hand over her eyes.

Life would be so much easier if her cousins were girls, honestly.

"Well... Yes. I'm going to need a wife, you need a husband and we are both of respectable blood." He paused, frowning at himself.

"What I mean to say is, I care for you, Andromeda. I would like to see you happy." So what if he didn't trust anyone else to get it right...

"You'd like to see me happy inasmuch as it meets the standards of what our family considers appropriate, you mean." Andromeda tilted her head slightly.

"You know I'm never going to be a proper Black, Regulus. I don't think like they do and I certainly don't share their beliefs."

"I wouldn't care!" he blurted out, then immediately wilted for Andromeda knew him far too well to believe that. "I won't care enough that it would hold me back. You are entitled to your own opinions."

He just hoped she wouldn't voice them all too loudly, but Regulus wasn't quite young and foolish enough to say that out loud.

He squeezed Andromeda's hand. "I would treat you well. I would honor you."

"And expect me to keep my mouth shut when people say things I disagree with so I don't come off like a blood traitor?" Andromeda lifted her head, gaze locking on Regulus' face.

"I'm not going to be what they want, Reg. You should decide what kind of man you want to be before you even consider asking me something like this.

His shoulders slumped as he had to admit, for now, defeat. "You're right," he whispered, "I shouldn't have asked you today. I acted like a child instead of like the man I ought to be. But you could help me figure out who I want to be."

He shook his head, walking away from Andromeda. "It isn't easy with... everything... I'm not like you and Sirius."

"You know we'll be here for you." She followed, settling a hand on his shoulder.

"Just forget what everyone expects of you. What do you want, Reg? Not what's 'best for the family' but what's best for you."

He peered at Andromeda's hand on his shoulder, it felt nice being touched by her. Comforting. Too bad he had no proper answer to give. "I've never permitted myself to think about it all that much," he admitted quietly.

"To be someone my family can be proud of, I suppose. But you are family... and so is my mother and I can never make both of you proud."

Andromeda was quiet for a moment before she let her hand drop back to her side. "You're right that your mother and I will never see eye to eye. The reason I left home, why I walked away was because I'm not like my sisters.

I judge people on who they are, not their bloodline."

He watched her for a while, simply regarding her quietly as he tried to figure out how he saw her. "I'm willing to judge you on who you are, Andromeda, not just on whom you associate with like my mother would."

He sighs. "We will never see eye to eye on some matters. But I believe we could find middle ground."

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Wedding March

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