Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena's POV - January 2, 1977 - Malfoy Manor
I opened my eyes slowly and could feel the pleasure of getting up completely satisfied. I could immediately feel all the warm bodies around me. I couldn't identify whose arm or leg it was among the tangle of limbs entangled around me. I only knew that Enid or Ravel was behind me, but I could feel Lucy and Rebecca somewhere.
I could even feel Cia lying on top of my head; ever since I'd brought her back, she'd practically glued herself to me, and I didn't blame her, so I let her do whatever she wanted.
Bella was standing in front of me, practically curled up with her back to me as I hugged her waist tightly. My arms tightened around her waist and easily encircled her stomach. I snuggled even closer to her and sighed against her neck.
"You're awake," Bella said mentally, and I hummed.
"And you too." I stated the obvious. Bella sighed. Very carefully, she began to turn over. I could hear several of the girls groaning, but they continued sleeping peacefully. Now Bella was staring intently into my eyes, her hair completely disheveled, and some marks on her body that hadn't yet healed from the night before.
"Hello," Bella said with a small smile.
"Hello." I returned the greeting playfully.
"We're back," Bella said simply, almost as if it seemed unbelievable. And I could understand. We were back in the Wizarding World, in Great Britain; it really was a strange feeling.
We had spent 6 months in the DxD world, along with another two months in the Cyberpunk world for me, and Danmachi for Bella, so it had been 8 long months since we had set foot in Great Britain, specifically, the Great Britain of this world.
It was… comforting, almost nostalgic to be back here, but now I could say it with certainty, the Wizarding World, this Great Britain, was not my home, perhaps it never was.
Spinner's End never felt much like home to old Serena because it was all she knew, but I'd never lived there for more than a couple of days, had spent more time at the Leaky Cauldron than at Spinner's End, and definitely more time at Hogwarts than anywhere else.
For the great Severus, Hogwarts had felt more like home than anything else, but for me, no, Hogwarts gave me some comfort, but it was definitely not a home.
But despite all that, I felt homesick and had mixed feelings while back in Britain.
But for Bella, it was different; Bella's family was alive—her parents, grandparents, cousins, and especially her sister, Andromeda—so her feelings were stronger upon returning to Great Britain, and that was all that mattered.
I may no longer have felt that Great Britain was my home, but Bella did, and that was enough for me to be here once again.
"Yes... We're back." I said with a soft hum. Bella just stared into my eyes. I kept looking at her, letting my Six Eyes focus on her and begin to memorize them.
"I want to get married according to the Old Ways," Bella said without looking away. I froze completely; if I hadn't been awake before, I was now.
"The Old Ways... really... do you want that? Isn't it too early to talk about this? " I asked tensely, almost pouting. Bella snorted mentally.
"After this, I'll go see Grandfather so he can move up our wedding date; we have to sort this out," Bella said, as if it were obvious. I sighed slowly.
"Okay... so... could you explain to me... why the Old Ways? Nobody gets married according to the Old Ways anymore, I think the last one was more than 5 or 6 centuries ago, before the ICW disapproved of many of the Old Ways." I said while trying to remember quickly.
"I know, that's why I want to do it," Bella said, as if it were obvious.
"More explanations, darling, please?" I sighed as I tried to understand. Bella stared at me before closing her eyes slightly, moving even closer, and resting her head under my chin.
"You know, I'm supposed to be a perfect pure-blood lady, and you know what that really means." Bella hummed. I frowned. I didn't really know, but Severus did. He'd been a Death Eater for over 20 years, and more specifically, he'd been the head of Slytherin House for over 15 years, so yes, he knew what she meant.
The breeding of a pure bloodline was pure indoctrination, but there was a reason behind it, like any indoctrination, whether they were right or wrong was debatable.
"They teach us about the beauty of magic, about venerating and respecting it, about traditions and stories, about tales of magic and how special and blessed we wizards, and witches are to feel the touch of Mother Magic; all pureblood children believe this, and so do I."
"Muggle-borns don't honor magic; they don't respect it. To them, it's just another tool. They destroy what we venerate like a plague of locusts ravages a field of spring flowers. It's not their fault, it's their nature. They're so short-sighted and selfish. They think the world revolves around them. And more and more of them are coming from a world of mud and metal to treat magic like just another tool or toy and destroy everything we cherish," Bella said mentally, almost with palpable devotion.
"That's not all," I said with a grimace. Yes, everything Bella had said was true; I'd heard that speech countless times in Severus's head. And in fact, put that way, I could sympathize with the Purebloods, but unfortunately, that wasn't the whole story.
"It isn't." Bellatrix agreed. "The message changes. We needed someone to blame. The script is adapted to portray Muggles and Muggle-borns, or any creature in general, as the culprits, as beings inferior to us, and as the ones responsible for all the problems. At the same time, we are considered superior simply because Mother Magic has favored us for centuries." Bella said this almost as a confession. I just nodded.
"Yes, exactly that," I said with a grimace. "But I still don't understand the point you're making." I said honestly. Bella snorted against my chest before moving her head and biting my neck, her fangs piercing my skin and sending a slight tingle of pleasure through me as I felt a vampire's bite.
"You ruined me, you ruined my world, you ruined everything I knew," Bella said as she drank my blood. "It all made sense, you know. Hating Muggles and Muggle-borns made perfect sense. We pure-bloods were superior, we knew better, we were more in tune with our traditions, with our origins. We should purge our world of Muggles or lead those who knew their place beneath us."
"But you turned all that upside down by showing me and drawing me into The Company. Tell me, how could I feel superior when there are beings that defy anything I've ever known or could even imagine? When I know that there really are beings of pure magic, gods, and supernatural beings that go beyond any imagination."
"Especially when you are The Traveler, when you will grow to a level that will be on par with or even above Mother Magic herself, and I will do the same; I will accept nothing less than that."
"So yes, you shattered my worldview, everything I believed in, and you have to take responsibility." Bella said as she stopped drinking my blood and began licking the marks left by her fangs.
"I'm marrying you, what more responsibility do I have to take on?" I asked playfully. Although I understood where I came from, I still couldn't understand where marriage came from, according to the Old Ways.
"Pure-blood marriages today are only done for personal gain or to continue the magic, but the Rite of Union of the Old Ways is... more intimate; it's a bond between us, a rite of union for life. I may no longer believe in that pure-blood nonsense, and I may not be able to truly honor magic as it should be honored in the future."
"But this... is a way to properly honor it one last time." Bella said, leaning back slightly to look me in the eyes and smiling gently. "Besides, it's a much better bond than simply being your queen or the stupid seal of The Company." Bella added dryly, and I raised an eyebrow.
"That almost sounded romantic," I said to Bella playfully. Bella just blushed slightly, and I smiled even wider. "It sounds perfect," I said honestly, and I could hear Bella's pent-up sigh escape. " I'll have to... prepare a few things for the Rite of Union. Were you thinking of handfasting, or something else?" I asked gently. Bella shook her head.
"No, handfasting is more than enough," Bella said in agreement, and I nodded.
Handfasting, or the hand-tying ceremony, as Muggles call it, was a pagan ceremony born around the Middle Ages as a socially recognized form of union without formal religious intervention. The couple would stand side by side, holding hands, and the officiant/Priestess/Priest would take a blessed ribbon and tie their hands together with a blessing.
There are several versions of how to do that, from what ribbons to use, the type of knot, the number of ribbons, who placed them around the couple, and other variations. There was really no 'correct' way to do it for Muggles, because it was all symbolic to represent the union.
In the Muggle world, handfasting is currently a very minor practice; it hasn't disappeared, but it's not really widespread. It was simply used more in neo-pagan, alternative, or culturally significant weddings, or even in modern weddings, where handfasting was included to make it more symbolic or special.
If I remember correctly, it became popular in the modern era due to Wicca around the 1960s, and that was… less than two decades ago… right, 1977. I'd have to get used to that.
Putting that aside, Muggle Handfasting had been one of the few things that had reached the non-magical world from the magical world, whether it was a Muggle-born or a Muggle who had witnessed an old magical real wedding due to the lack of the statute of secrecy, and had transferred and imitated it in the non-magical world.
But real Handfisting, from the wizarding world, was older, more meaningful, simply... much more. It was a bonding ritual, as its name suggests, with all that entails.
There was a simplified version, a derivative of the real Handfisting that was better known: the unbreakable vow, a much-reduced version of the real Rite of Union.
But they shared similarities, and the most important was that they bound both parties together through vows. The only difference was the outcome: an unbreakable vow only bound lives to vows that had to be fulfilled by both parties, but handfisting bound life, magic, and it was said, even the soul, to the vows and the other person.
The depth of the ritual was not something that many people did; normally, equal vows were used, where neither party could take advantage of the union in a way that was dangerous to either party, but obviously, exceptions arose where that was not the case; if the vows were unequal, one person could exert an amount of authority over the other that bordered on slavery.
There was a reason why the ICW disapproved of many of the Old Ways, and in fact, they were banned in much of the world. Every country had its own similar traditions, but only in Magical Britain were the laws much more lax regarding the Old Ways. So yes, they were disapproved of, but not illegal.
And really… it didn't bother me. Being connected to Bella in such an intimate way didn't bother me at all; in fact, a warm feeling comforted me as it spread through my body. I just smiled at the thought and the anticipation.
"I love you." I said it directly, without using the link, and Bella's eyes shone brightly as she smiled.
"I love you too." She turned around, I leaned down and began to kiss her gently, and she returned the kiss.
" Aww." Enid squealed with tenderness. I sighed into Bella's lips, who huffed and pulled away.
"I'll make you suffer, Sinclair," Bella complained. Enid just laughed merrily. I turned slightly and saw her sitting there, watching us intently. In fact, I glanced at the others' minds to confirm that they were all awake as well. I sighed once more.
"Do you have anything planned for the day?" I asked, changing the subject.
"I'll go to the Black mansion, convince Grandfather to hold the wedding in less than a month, then I'll go to Orario. I can't disappear for days without explanation, so I'll pretend to take some kind of excursion deep into the dungeon to get a few days off." Bellatrix said immediately, and I nodded.
"I want to see Diagon Alley!" Enid squealed happily.
"Anything is fine," Lucy said, yawning.
"Your world, your plans," Rebecca said casually.
"I want to see where you grew up, and the places you normally visit," Ravel said shyly. "Hogwarts isn't open for visitors, is it?" she asked with a hum.
"I want to go to Hogwarts too!" Enid said frantically. "Anyone who likes Harry Potter has dreamed of visiting Hogwarts at least once in their life," she added quickly. I sighed.
"First, the house in Spinner's End hardly counts as a place where I grew up, but we can go. I doubt Tobias will be there, and it's nothing special, but I don't mind. Then we can go on a field trip to Diagon Alley. It's not fancy compared to Pentagram City or Night City, really, but it has its charm."
"And Hogwarts... I don't think so, but I'll find a way. Actually, I should look into their backstories first." I said distractedly, shifting slightly, I took some papers from the inventory and began to read them.
"What does it say?" Enid asked anxiously.
"To sum it up, Lucy and Rebecca were homeschooled, both became bounty hunters and currently work as one, Ravel is an early graduate student at Beauxbatons, and Enid, you're actually part of the Quileute tribe in Washington." I said absentmindedly.
"I'm from Forks!? Are there other shapeshifters? " Enid asked in surprise. I kept reading before wrinkling my nose.
"Not really, you're a werewolf, and you've been a pen pal of mine for several years, and you came to visit, especially because of the whole Wolfbane thing." I said quickly, Enid pouted.
"How boring," Enid complained. I just sighed as I put the papers away again.
"Riveria was also included, a witch from a small, secluded enclave in Iceland; we met by chance. The only one who wouldn't have any backstory is Freya, but we have time to think of one."
"We can always pass her off as a Veela or something similar," I said casually.
"Great! That means we don't have much to do!" " That means we have time to plan a wedding! " Enid squealed happily.
"I'll start making a list of everything needed. It will take me some time to get used to it and find places to hire the right services, but Lucius should have the necessary contacts," Ravel said without hesitation.
"Don't mention Malfoy while we're naked." Bella grumbled in annoyance. I snorted.
"Are we having a bachelorette party? Tell me there's going to be a bachelorette party," Rebecca pleaded. "We could have another party at a nightclub," she said excitedly. I stopped.
"Actually, we could. I had mentioned the need to open one on a grand scale in Pentagram City. If we can complete it in less than a month, we can disguise it as the club's grand opening party," I said absentmindedly. "It's not like I have anyone to invite around here," I said simply, glancing at Bella. She just shrugged.
"Only Andromeda, but we can have a meeting with her and Cissy. Pure-bloods don't have bachelorette parties like Muggles, but there are meetings with the inner circle," Bella said simply. I just nodded.
"Very well, if you can pull it off, Rebecca, then we'll do it." I said absentmindedly. "Just look for designs or design it yourself. Enid wanted to participate as well, and Ravel, you should participate as well, at least to design the more 'exclusive' part of the venue. I'll mainly take care of the wedding, mainly because some... things need to be prepared by hand, and Lucius can handle the rest." I said absentmindedly.
"Oh, you won't regret it. It'll be amazing!" Rebecca said with a frantic smile.
"Me too!" Enid squealed, bouncing on the bed and making us all bounce.
"I will, Serena, although I'd also... like to help plan the wedding, as... preparation, after all, you still need to get married at least half a dozen more times," Ravel said shyly. I grimaced.
"Okay, but no more weddings for a couple of months." I said with a grimace; I didn't mean for it to sound the way it did, but planning a wedding was too cumbersome, and I wanted each of them to enjoy their own wedding entirely instead of marrying them all at the same time.
"Don't worry!" "It's okay!" "I'm fine like this, I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that." "Same here." They all said at the same time, and I sighed with relief.
"Okay, I guess everything's planned. Now... could you get off me so I can go make breakfast?" I asked curtly. The girls just laughed, and I felt their hands start wandering over my body again. I shuddered slightly. Fuck it. I grabbed Bella and pulled her toward me once more.
Breakfast could wait.
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