Attending The Wedding (and Matching) With @xantoninxdolohovx

"Obviously. I am not meant to be poor. I am too pretty." She would not want to miss any of the luxuries she grew up with, her quality of life was excellent, never having to work or lift a finger to do anything she didn't want to do. The prospect of struggling disgusted her. "My parents love me. They want to spoil me, I do not see a problem with that."

𝐚𝐬    𝐢𝐟    𝐭𝐨    𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡    𝐡𝐞𝐫,    his    eyes    rolled    as    he    head    shook.    “    and    that’s    the    end    of    the    world    for    you,    is    it    ?    ”    he    teased,    though    he    knew    a    lot    of    children    of    pureblood    families    thrived    in    their    riches,    caellum    however,    though    not    one    to    want    to    lose    his    fathers    money,    still    had    his    own    to    keep    him    afloat.   

Her smile widened when he said that Leta Rosier designed his clothes, clearly excited and not bothering to hide her approval. "Oh! Now I know for sure that you have great taste. Leta has done all my dresses for this wedding season. Her work is exceptional. Don't worry your secret's safe with me." She giggled. A handsome man that understood fashion and went to the same designer she did? And he could dance? Was this fate? Serra might just have to rethink her stance on staying single.

"I do not tend to wear such dresses more than once. I get bored easily and I want to stun in something new at every event. I think going shopping is a great idea. I might even take your opinion into account when I let the next one get commissioned."

He twirled her around the dance floor effortlessly which only highlighted his charm more. "It is because I am so graceful and light on my feet. I have taken ballet lessons for several years." Modesty was not one of her talents, clearly. "You're a good dancer."

"You will have to model them for me some time. I trust most of my outfits to Leta Rosier personally. Capable and I find up and coming designers or anyone really have more to prove and thus provide better work, but you didn't hear it from me if Madame Malkins ever asks." He tapped his nose signifying the gossip that now bonded them. As they approached the dance floor he released her arm standing in front of her and taking a more regular posture. "Let's see how well we can show off this dress of yours. I'm not afraid to wear it out now that I know you have six others, besides dress shopping with you doesn't seem like too harsh a punishment for a lively dance, does it?" He barely let the question sit before pulling her into a quick spin. The dress and Serra both twirled nicely. It was a good test of woman and garment he thought. He smiled as he caught her. "You spin delightfully."

"Well obviously. Yeah." She rolled her eyes, as if that shouldn't come as a surprise to him. Being the center of attention was something she excelled at, she liked having all eyes on her. Serra had never been shy after all. "They said they would cut off my allowance." With no money she'd eventually have to start working and that didn't appeal to her.

“     𝐚𝐫𝐞     𝐲𝐨𝐮     𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞     𝐮𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐭     𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭     you’re     not     the     centre     of     attention     ?     ”     he     can’t     help     but     wonder,     after     all,     he     couldn’t     even     bring     himself     to     actually     care     that     serra     was     back,     all     he’d     been     trying     to     do     was     enjoy     a     early     morning     coffee     before     quidditch     practice,     however     it     seemed     luck     was     certainly     not     on     his     side     as     she     blew     in.     “     you     are     a     person     of     your     own     free     will,     correct     ?     couldn’t     you     have     just     stayed     were     you     were     ?     ”

"That unmemorable?" She fought a smirk, keeping her voice neutral. She didn't like this - at all, but she was trying to find a way to move past this. He had made a stupid mistake and technically that was before he had known they would get married... Serra couldn't help it, a part of her had always been his, no matter how hard she had tried to erase him from her heart he had grown roots in there. Looking at him when he promised that there wouldn't be another that would turn his head she focused on his body language, the tone he was using, the little tells he had. He was being honest. "You will not like your life if you do. I am warning you now, do not make the same mistake twice." Serra would find ways to make his life hell, she had no idea how yet but she was sure that if she needed to make good on it she could come up with something if he were to break her heart again. Despite trying to act tough she did smile at his compliment, clearly enjoying to hear it. "Well obviously I'd look good in green. I look good in all colors. but I'd be wearing white, would I not?" He would look good in green too, undoubtedly. It suited his complexion and his hair color. "You could wear a dark green suit, muted, elegant."

"I don't know, not long," he answered, though fighting to remember any actual dates to prove himself right. Charity and him had their own history and history repeated itself now. Once he found out about the contracts, he was quick to sever any connection between him and Charity. He hoped she would take his silence as a hint. "Of course," he nodded. This was a good sign if anything. It was a good conversation to establish trust between them and Malcolm was adamant about proving himself. "This is going to be new. For both of us. I'm not going to stray from you again. I can't think of someone who could turn my head." And it was true, meaning every word that poured from him. "I think green would make sense. It is a color that means something to both of us. And we both would look good in it. Especially you."

"I do hope your wife is enjoying it as well." While she had messed with witches older than her before, but only those who she deemed inferior to her, someone of equal or higher standing she left alone. Serra was no fool and knew when she went against someone that had the potential to best her. "Oh actually I do love hosting events. Especially when they are in my honor." She thrived off of attention. "But I do plan on going to celebrate with my friends later. Away from the parents." She chuckled. "Paris was lovely. It is a gorgeous city."

"I'm very pleased to be here," he replied with equal good manners. Thirty minutes ago, that statement would have been a lie. But he had now settled into his night of absent relaxation, and was indeed enjoying doing nothing practical. It made a welcome change. "Your parents are family friends. Of course, we were happy to accept their invitation." Studying her for a beat, he smiled slyly. "However, between us, hostess circulating can become rather mind-numbing, can't it? I hope you have something more privately enjoyable planned, as well. How was your time in Paris?"

"Well I shall visit you here more often then." Serra decided. It is not as if she had a job that occupied her time so she knew she had plenty and keeping busy in a dress shop was much more fun than it was in her father's store. People kept asking her about certain items as if she cared or listened to her father explaining what it was when it was brought it. Her eyes lit up when she saw the fabric Leta had brought, glad that the blonde had understood her vision. "I like the sparkling one the best, but I do think it needs to be slightly darker, if it is too light it could wash me out as I am quite fair."

“Oh, hush. There is no need to announce yourself if you intend to come visit me here.” Besides that, Leta wouldn’t have demanded such a thing, especially not outside her own home. There, yes, perhaps there it would have been nice to receive a warning ahead of time. This way it had simply been a pleasant surprise, one that the blonde welcome.

With a flick of her wand the curtain between the front of the shop and the back they were now in vanished. The witch listened, nodding occasionally as she prepared some tea and moved through the rows of fabric before returning with a few different types of fabric, among them a shimmer blue, one charmed to hold constellations, one sparkling bright enough to be mistaken for stars. “What about these? If need be, I will simply create a fabric that matches what you need.” If Serra wished to walk among the stars in a dress, she would make it so. - @serraborgin

"She isn't?" It was said as more of a question rather than a fact, needing the reassurance of hearing him say it again, say that she was the only one that mattered. Words were important to her, especially when they came out of his mouth. She cared about what he thought about her, how he saw her, she always had. The anguish in his eyes as so obvious right now she was wavering in her disbelief for him. Was he actually being honest with her? Was it over? Had it been over? "My birthday. After my parents announcement. He thought I deserved to know." Serra still remembered how angry she had been, how upset. Now he was telling her all the right things, what she had longed to hear from him back then. They were different people now and yet, still the same. She'd never been indifferent towards him, if she had she could have thrown out his many gifts, but she had kept every single one. "Keep talking..."

"She's not special," he corrected lowly, no longer glancing in both directions before he spoke. At least it was the first honest thing he could mean completely. There was no obligations tying him to Charity and not much of a reputation that clung to her name which was probably what made her hold his attention in the first place. She was under the radar enough, but apparently not. Malcolm's head hung for a moment, then blinked back up at her. His problems only ached more as he knew that he was the reason for placing the mistrust in the first place. He had buried it under the many years they had spent apart, but now, it was heavily back in his face. He never liked dealing with his own consequences, but he never thought of Serra as a problem or a consequence. She was more defined by everything that he couldn't understand, couldn't have. "When did he even tell you this?" he asked, brow raised. " This was clearly something he would need to talk to Evan about later. "I have no intentions of making you look like a fool, my love. She's in the past already before we even had this conversation. I will handle it later, alright? But please know that you are the only person of my affection...truly. You know that."

Serra didn't make a habit of helping out at her dad's shop, but when Raf asked her for a favor and promised it would only be a couple of minutes, she relented begrudgingly. The man had asked her all kinds of questions she didn't know and she told him she didn't work there and yet he kept talking to her, insisting that she must know when his delivery would come in. As if she ever spent a minute looking over at the books. Ridiculous. Serra sighed in relief when Raffaella came back and answered his question.

"You know it is. You should tell Jeff to clean the place up a bit. Perhaps roll his sleeves up a bit. I'd like to watch."

“Love, that makes two of us,” Raffaella chuckled as her lifelong friend and stand-in coworker pouted behind the counter. The customer she’d left Serra with was a loyal one who’d been coming there for years; she and her father knew him well, so there was no real harm done. Frankly, she’d only sent her to the front of the shop for her own amusement. “Corvus,” she called to the confused elderly man standing by the cursed silverware. “Your delivery will be in tomorrow,” she reassured him as he lowered his head and took his leave.

At the magical ding signaling the door closing, Raff turned to Serra, her mirth failing not to peek through. “Are you trying to say it’s dusty in here? In our shop?”

"Next time you have to come with me. We can stay at my house, go shopping together, eat french pastries..." It would be a fun thing to do, to show Willa around the town she had enjoyed so much.

"I don't know. Maybe? My parents certainly think it is time. They wanted to invite him to my birthday party, can you believe that?" She scoffed, shaking her head. He had broken her heart, all those years ago. "He did look quite handsome. And I do enjoy the presents..but he embarrassed me terribly back at Hogwarts."

Willa sighed, a slight hint of jealousy as Serra described her experiences in Paris. It was notable to many that while Willa had free reign to avail of the Bulstrode last name, their funds weren't quite as easily accessed. Despite how much Willa would have longed to visit her friend in Paris, it wasn't quite in sight.

At Serra's depiction of her run in with Malcolm, she took a sip of her tea, eyebrows raised ever so slightly. "Are you thinking of forgiving him?" Willa asked, slightly intrigued for Serra's response. "If I were you, I would wait to see him on his knees."

"I don't see how I can believe you." Why should she believe anything he said? He said he wasn't with her again and in the same breath confessed that they had been seeing each other. She didn't understand why he kept going back to that woman. "What's so special about her?" Her curiosity got the better of her, unable to act like she didn't care even though that had been her plan a few minutes ago. "You didn't have to tell him. He saw you two together. He told me what he saw and I'm grateful he did. I don't think you would have said anything to me at all, would you? And then she would've once again thrown it into my face, getting the upper hand because she knew something I didn't. An apology doesn't make me feel better. If she's lying to people about you being together it makes me look like a fool- even if one person believes it. People talk. Gossip spreads quick."

Malcolm knew better than to interrupt her when she was talking so instead, he swallowed his words and let his brows dip lower as she went on. He wasn't having an affair and he wasn't even seeing Charity at the moment. "I'm not with her again," he finally said, shaking his head. "I would never do that to you. I was seeing her casually before I found out about the engagement. I have no intentions of even talking with her, you have my word." Malcolm wanted to reach out but thought better of it as it might do more harm than good. "Why is Evan telling you anything? He has it wrong then, something must've got lost in communication. I didn't tell him anything." He wondered if Charity was telling people lies and his facial expression must've given that thought away. "Even if I was still seeing her, I'm not anymore. She must be the one lying to people. I'm sorry you had to hear such slander."