Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV – February 4, 1977.
It was raining and very windy. Of course it was raining. It was Glastonbury Tor, in Somerset, in the southwest of England, in February, of course, it would rain.
The day had just begun; the ceremony was a couple of hours away. The rain was light, but it would definitely linger long enough to become annoying. I simply gazed at the night sky, overcast with clouds. The rain paused above my head before parting and falling to the ground.
I moved my hand, and Cia landed on it before transforming into her staff form. I hummed softly. Then I began to move the staff, broad, sweeping motions. The clouds began to drift slowly, following my staff's movements.
I wasn't an expert in weather magic; in fact, there were very few situations that required me to manipulate the weather, but I had enough magic to simply ignore that fact and force the clouds to move as I wished.
The clouds swirled as they began to condense. The rain began to slow; the water stopped before it could rise, as if raining in reverse, and swirled along with the clouds into a huge sphere of condensed water.
Quickly, all the clouds and rain from Somerset condensed above me in the night sky, clearing the entire area of clouds and rain.
I sighed, created a portal, and threw the water into the Bristol Canal. Finally, I hummed as I gazed up at the sky. It almost felt as if the sky itself had blessed us. Full moon, on Imbolc day. It was still a couple of hours before the full moon was complete and would still be visible when the pre-dawn Imbolc ceremony began.
It really was perfect.
I sighed as I gazed at the sky. I hadn't really expected to get married, but… I was truly excited for it to happen. I thought I'd feel anxious, especially after Bella had burned The Company's contracts the day before and the seal disappeared, but after hearing her words… I couldn't wait to marry her. I truly love her.
I chuckled. Now I had to make sure everything was perfect.
I moved my staff around with force while putting up large barriers around Glastonbury Tor. I had obtained permission from the ministry to hold the wedding, but I still had to handle the prep.
My wards covered the entire hill and beyond; Muggles wouldn't be able to approach and wouldn't be able to see what was happening. I also created wards to prevent clouds from forming. For those wards, I had to work harder; I had to cover not only Glastonbury but the whole of Somerset, and a little beyond, if I wanted the sky to be completely clear for the ceremony. I even eliminated the strong wind that was blowing on the hill.
I finally sighed with relief when everything was in place. I moved my staff, and dozens of lights began to illuminate the path and the entire hill, like tiny fairies floating in the night around Glastonbury Tor. The ceremony would begin before dawn so that the light would be necessary during the first part of the ritual.
Then I began creating the rest of the stage set. The ceremony was going to take place behind St. Michael's Tower at the top of the hill, the last roofless tower of the old church.
First, I marked a fairly large circle where most of the ritual would take place. Then, I created a smaller circle right in the center, where Bella and I would be. Finally, I created an altar, not in the middle, but slightly to the side of the inner circle. This is where the various items used during the ceremony would be placed, and Freya would be performing the ritual next to this altar.
Finally, create an opening in the eastern part of both circles, and gently erase part of each circle, leaving them open.
I took dozens of black and white ribbons from my inventory and placed them on the altar. Each one bore ceremonial runes, which were more decorative than functional. Beside them, I placed a long candle, a chalice, and the rest of the things Freya would need.
Then create small altars at each cardinal point, directly above the larger circle. Each altar needed to be filled with different things.
This altar, representing Air and the rising sun, symbolizes dawn, beginnings, and communication. It often includes burning incense and something that symbolizes positive new beginnings for the couple. The incense was easy; I placed it carefully and lit it. It was enchanted enough to burn gently for several hours.
There were some feathers, bells, and something else that symbolized new beginnings. I'd had an idea a couple of weeks ago, but it had been quickly discarded at the last minute. When Bella and Cissy left Andromeda's house, I appeared to ask to borrow an item, which she happily handed over when she learned what I would use it for.
I carefully took the small bag containing the ashes of our contracts. This... this would mark new beginnings for both of us. I sighed as I made my way to the next altar.
The South, the altar of Fire, represents passion, desire, energy, and will. On this altar, place a lit candle, which, like the incense, will burn throughout the ceremony and will be used to light the "unity candle" together at the beginning of the ceremony.
Then I placed several photos of us around the candle, which, I must admit, were mostly thanks to GLaDOS and Enid. Neither Bella nor I were ones to take photographs outside formal events, and only when required. At the same time, GLaDOS recorded everything in her memory banks, and Enid took thousands of photographs with her camera and phone.
And finally, memories of us, of our love. In fact, we didn't have many memories; neither of us was really sentimental enough to keep such little things, mainly because our relationship had begun in a rather unorthodox way.
And after that, we just... went on with our lives, so we didn't keep many of those things, something Enid did easily. Even so, we did have a few things to put away.
I pulled out two Hogwarts ties, both Slytherin. The ties were tied and intertwined; one was mine, and the other was Bella's. Luckily, Aria hadn't completely eaten my old uniform, so both ties were the ones we had both worn at Hogwarts.
And finally, to represent passion and desire, I placed two small chalices beside it, one filled with my blood and the other with Bella's 'essence.' And I wasn't ashamed in the slightest. I was a succubus; I had accepted it long ago, just as Bella had accepted her nature as a vampire.
In the West, the water altar represents emotions, intimacy, deep love, and transformation. I placed a bowl of salt water, seashells, and some pearls there; finally, I needed something to symbolize the couple's ability to blend their lives, just as salt and fresh water mix to form the oceans.
This was also difficult, something to symbolize the ability to blend our lives. I produced a replica of two chess pieces, a king and a queen, both made of prismatic energy, the perfect combination of The Light and The Darkness.
The pieces had a faint, muted, pinkish-purple sheen, almost mauve. Bella was my queen, and I was her king, and we were one. I carefully placed the pieces side by side and nodded contentedly.
And finally, in the North is the Earth altar, which represents home, stability, prosperity, and the Ancestors. Here were some fertile soil, stones, seeds, and bread I recently baked.
On this altar, you had to place photos of the couple's loved ones who had passed the veil, which was something I really couldn't do. I didn't have any relatives or ancestors that I really cared about, so I didn't have anyone to put there, not Bella, particularly either. However, she did put up a family tree of the Black family.
Therefore, we set aside most of the respect for the ancestors and focused on the next thing: home. This altar was also dedicated to the future home, something we could work towards.
In fact, everything on this altar consisted of objects from the underworld: the earth, the stones, the seeds, and the bread. Everything had been taken from our underworld mansion and Pentagram City. I also placed several of the metal rings or bracelets that the demons kept leaving on the statue in the center of the Red Light District.
Finally, we placed several photographs of the girls, of Enid, Ravel, GLaDOS, Lucy, Rebecca, Riveria, and especially of Lucius and Narcissa.
I took a deep breath as I surveyed all the altars around me. I sighed again before placing the strongest defenses I could around the entire ritual circle to ensure no one would disturb it. It almost seemed frozen in time—the place where, in just a few hours, I would get married.
Finally, I turned around and started working on other details. I walked along the path to St. Michael's tower and began working on one of the sides. I didn't bother flattening the hill; I simply placed a wooden platform and secured it firmly, then set a fully ornamented white tent on top of it.
Once I finished that side, I went to the other side of the path, right in front of the other tent. Two tents were set up and facing each other. One was for Bella to get ready in, and the other was mine. Then I kept moving while I put on the finishing touches.
There wasn't much I could do. Glastonbury Tor was large, but the top of the hill wasn't particularly impressive. I arranged everything around it, but it wasn't a place that attracted large crowds.
So I had to create magical screens to broadcast the entire ceremony. We can't hold the reception here under any circumstances. Even if I enchanted a tent and stretched its interior to its maximum size, it still wouldn't be enough.
So I had already taken care of preparing Malfoy Manor for this case. I had to make some major adjustments there as well, but everything was ready, so I focused on finishing up here.
I made small adjustments and finished preparing all the details before I was completely satisfied.
I sighed with pleasure as I looked all around, finally letting The Light surge from my body, letting it seep through my staff and then strike the ground. A pulse of The Light traveled up the entire hill.
The grass revitalized and began to heal, turning from a pale, dull green to a deep, vibrant green, as if it had grown in spring. Then flowers began to bloom all around the hill.
Vines began to grow everywhere: the tower, the tents, and everything else. Even on the altars, plants and flowers bloomed, especially around both ritual circles, the large outer one and the small one in the center.
But the difference is that, on the altars and in the circles, only white and black roses grew, intertwined in pairs, completely stuck to each other as if they were embracing.
Nothing seemed truly intrusive; it looked as if the place hadn't been touched for decades, and nature had been allowed to grow, but not unchecked. It was truly pleasing to the eye. It was still night, so I only had the moonlight and my magic to appreciate my work.
Everything was finally ready, at least at Glastonbury Tor. I stared at the scene for several minutes, almost hypnotized, before feeling someone teleport next to me.
"It's beautiful." Ravel said beside me. I turned to look at her and smiled slightly.
"Thank you, I hope Bella likes it," I said easily.
"She will," Ravel said with complete certainty, a small smile playing on her lips. "Now, go finish getting ready. I'll take care of it. Lucius will be here shortly to start greeting the guests in just a few minutes," she said, gently pushing me.
I looked down at the ground, and to my surprise, the moon was already full. That meant that the ceremony was about to begin. Apparently, it had taken me longer than I expected to finish my tasks, especially since I hadn't bothered to create a time bubble.
"Very well," I told Ravel with a small smile before heading back to Malfoy Manor. Bella was staying with her family; in fact, I'd even heard that Andromeda had been allowed back into Black Manor just to help her get ready.
I stopped in my room, in the Malfoy manor, and gently hit Aria.
"I'm sorry, but I can't use you today." I told the shroud of death. Aria only squirmed slightly, finally nodding as she hunched over sadly. I chuckled and shook my head. "Just for today," I said gently. Then I looked at Cia. " And I need you to stay in your wand form for the rest of the ceremony." I told her, and she simply nodded earnestly.
I took a deep breath. Aria was my clothes, all my clothes, including my underwear and shoes, so when she left, I was stark naked. I headed that way toward the bathroom.
I looked at the prepared bath and didn't hesitate to get in. Then I cleaned myself slowly and thoroughly, making sure to clean everything carefully as part of the cleansing ritual. Finally, I got out of the bath and looked at myself in the mirror, and began to wipe away every accessory.
Every ring, every bracelet and bangle, every piercing, I carefully removed them all and set them aside. I removed the ever-present violet lipstick from my lips and the permanent makeup I always wore.
Finally, I took my transformation star, deactivated my Baiser Magic transformation, and looked at myself in the mirror. I was still really tall, but my face looked… empty and natural. It really had been a long time since I had seen my face, and hands empty.
They were usually covered in metal or tattoos all over, even my face and pupils with four-pointed stars. Seeing me in such a… natural way was almost strange, but it was necessary for the ritual.
With a sigh, I put everything in my inventory and left the bathroom, and to my surprise, I saw the rest of the girls waiting in there.
"We came to celebrate!" Rebecca said, raising a bottle. I just snorted and shook my head. Becca was with Enid, Lucy, and Riveria; everyone else was busy finishing up the preparations.
"I'm sure we don't have time to do anything," I said playfully, not even bothering to get dressed despite seeing Riveria looking away, slightly blushing.
"We came to keep you company until it's time to start," Enid said, laughing slightly.
"What she said," Rebecca said, shrugging before taking long swigs of her drink.
"I appreciate it." I said lightly as I sat on the bed, still completely naked, and started chatting with them. I almost sighed with relief; I could feel the slight anxiety lessening.
No, in fact, it had gotten even worse, but… it was a good kind of anxiety, actually… it was anticipation and excitement. I wasn't insecure, I wasn't nervous, I just… wanted to marry Bella and call her my wife. And I would in a couple of hours.