Jessi's NPCs (jessi_npc) wrote in all_roads, @ 2008-01-06 23:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | *log, daphne greengrass, daphne greengrass malfoy, narcissa black malfoy |
Pre-wedding; Malfoy Manor [DG, NBM]
WHO: Daphne, Narcissa
WHERE: Malfoy Manor
WHEN: 18 December, 1999; 6:20 p.m.
SUMMARY: A bit of mother-daughter-like bonding before the ceremony. LOG.
RATING: PG
Daphne could hardly believe that the time was finally at hand. Well, it wasn't EXACTLY at hand, she wouldn't walk down the aisle for a little while yet, but it was finally the day of her wedding. Sitting at the vanity in the bridal suite, she groaned, frustrated when still was unable to force her hair to behave. It had been put up in an elegant updo, and no one else could have found fault with it, but Daphne, so nervous about her impending wedding and the fear that Draco would not like who he saw walking down the aisle toward him, saw all sorts of flaws in it. She made a small growling noise, leaning closer to the mirror to try to flatten an imaginary fly away hair with her hand. “Merlin, this isn't working out at all!”
Quietly ushering Hannah and Tracey out of the inner room Daphne was using, Narcissa closed the door behind her, a large jade box in one hand. She studied Daphne a moment and then concealed a smile at the comment that reached her ears, recognizing too well the sounds of nervousness in the reoccupation with the admittedly perfect hairstyle. She cleared her throat and walked forward.
"Nonsense, Daphne, you look beautiful with your hair up like that," she said, setting the jade box down on the vanity, one hand resting lightly on the engraved top. "And, as I promised, it will not be simply a bare head you present later today, even were your hair less than perfect, which it is most certainly not."
Daphne flushed slightly at the knowledge that her mother in law had heard her talking in such obvious frustration, then turned her gaze curiously toward the box. It would be rude to demand to see immediately what Narcissa had for her, but waiting had never been Daphne's forte, particularly when it came to something so important as something she was going to be displaying prominently during her wedding. Of course, Narcissa was a woman of impeccable taste, Daphne hardly thought she would be the type to put her in some garishly overdone veil or in something else similarly unsuitable, but she just didn't know what she had planned.
Trying to remain patient, Daphne gave Narcissa a small, nervous smile. “I just want him to be proud when he sees me walking to him.” She said almost shyly. Were she being entirely honest she also wanted to live up to this inexplicable trust that Narcissa had placed in her. She wanted to prove herself worthy of being a Malfoy wife, the mistress of Draco's manor, his partner and equal. She wanted Narcissa's approval as well.
With a look full of sympathy, for she well-remembered what ran through one's mind at a moment like this, Narcissa laid her other hand on Daphne's shoulder briefly. "He will be proud long before he sees you. When he sees you..." her smile widened for a moment, reflecting knowing amusement, "he will be unable to do much of anything. Now, let us see about getting you ready entirely, hmm?"
Turning away, Narcissa lifted the lid of the jade box and slid her fingers into the velvety depths, soft fabric sliding aside as she removed the contents, a tiara of noticeable antiquity, wrought of a still-polished silver with diamonds that sparkled from their place set into intricate sworls of precious metal. She turned back to Daphne with the tiara held carefully in both hands in such a way so Daphne could see it entirely.
"This has been in my mother's family for many generations," she explained softly, caressing a part of the old, but well-kept, heirloom with her thumb, "passed down to a Rosier of every generation for safe keeping, but worn by all females in our family. I wore it on my wedding day, as did my sister Bellatrix, my mother, my aunt and many other women who were born to or married those of Rosier blood. As Draco is my son, you are included in that, but that is not why I place it on your head for today, at least not completely."
She moved behind Daphne, her eyes on the young women in the mirror's reflection as she gently placed the tiara on top of Daphne's carefully style hair, casting wordless charms to hold it in place more securely than any hairpin ever could. "The last many years were not the times they should have been, but my hope all along was that Draco would someday make a fine match with a respectable pureblood girl. Even when I feared never seeing him again, I still held that hope. In loving you, he has surpassed that hope and gained back a life that might otherwise have been lost. There is no one more deserving to wear this, to be certain, but there is also no one else I would have chosen, just as there is no one else Draco would have chosen, would have ever wished to pick, to marry."
Daphne gasped softly, her eyes growing wide with wonder when Narcissa revealed the tiara, and her mouth dropped minutely in a small sense of wonder when she watched Narcissa slip it onto her head in the mirror. “Oh my...” Her eyes grew too bright as she listened, though she refused to cry. It wasn't any foolishness about ruining her appearance that prevented her, but a fear that Narcissa would think her too weak, and regret letting her wear such a priceless heirloom.
“I do love him.” she whispered fiercely, moving on the vanity bench so that she was facing her future mother in law. “As much as I might have done for him, he's done so much more for me. He gave me hope when I could barely stand to think about facing another day. He gave me the dog that saved my life, but, more than that, he gave me all of himself and...” She paused, her words faltering as she tried to decide how much further to go. “A larger family in “Aiden” and Rabastan and the girls...and you. I'm more honored than you know that you want me to wear this today.”
Carefully, Narcissa cupped her hands around Daphne's cheeks, looking down at her daughter-in-law to be. "I know you love him," she said quietly and then her lips quirked in a smile that was as much wry amusement as it was meant to stave off any tears, "after all, I have been told he is rather difficult to deal with, so if you did not love him, you would not have dealt with him even this long. If such rumors are true, I mean."
Her expression softened and she continued to hold Daphne's gaze. "We are honoured to add you to our family, Daphne. And I am pleased, more than I can say, to know soon I will be able to call you my daughter. Someday, when you feel comfortable with doing so, I hope you can call me Mother." It was an offer Narcissa's own mother-in-law had never directly made and it was important to her to banish the unsureness that would likely flare for Daphne in the future over what to call her and when.
Daphne had never had the opportunity to know her own mother, so such an offer was not taken lightly. She knew it would be too soon now, to call her 'Mother' before she was even legally her daughter-in-law, but she knew that her self control wouldn't be able to hold up after the wedding, particularly with an offer like that. Pleasure and excitement still clear on her face, she flashed Narcissa a charming smile.
“I've heard such rumors as well, so I suppose that we must admit there could be truth to them. He is a good man but he is an insufferable prat at times too.” Her teasing grin faded as she cautiously stood, hugging her future mother in law. “I look forward to being your daughter, and I hope to always make you proud.”
Folding her arms around Daphne, Narcissa hugged her gently but heartfeltly, mindful of the time that had already gone in to banishing every last wrinkle even imaginable from all parts of Daphne's elegant, green-accented gown. "I have no doubt in my mind you will," she murmured quietly and then pulled back, pressing the barest of kisses to Daphne's cheek before stepping back entirely. "And now, we hardly want to keep him waiting, do we?"
Daphne gasped softly, somewhat unable to believe that the time had actually come for her to walk down the aisle. “No...” She said quietly, “No, we don't want to keep him waiting.” She smoothed her hands over her gown. Shivering slightly from nerves more than cold, she gave Narcissa a shaky smile. She knew this was the right decision, that she loved this man above all others, that she would walk through hell itself for him, but there was still a lot of emotion that came with making a decision as vital and long lasting as this one. “I'm ready.” She said softly.
"Indeed you are," Narcissa said firmly, summoning the heavy, snow-white cloak Daphne was to wear over her dress to ward off the chill that even warming charms could not entirely banish in the outdoors. Charming the hood inside with a delicate web of spells, she lifted the cloak herself to Daphne's shoulders and then pulled the hood into place, smiling slightly with satisfaction as the charms allowed it to hover just off Daphne's hair beyond the white fur trim that now framed her face.
"Perfect," she assured Daphne, taking her hands briefly before letting go and moving to the door. Letting Daphne's maid-of-honor and bridesmaids back in, straightening the lifted hoods of their silver cloaks over the matching, green-trimmed gowns beneath before she exited the room, Narcissa went off to see to a myriads of last-moment details before organizing the procession.