Another Brick in the Wall

[Sakura Gemini]

Sakura Gemini looked down at the letters in her hands and sighed dropping them all to the floor. She had just returned from work and had not even had time to remove her deep green traveling cloak. Hoping that by the time she returned from a grueling days work, her tiny flat would be a peaceful haven welcoming her - she was once again mistaken. With a sigh she slowly removed her cloak and draped it across the sofa after entering the sitting room. Her parents were being relentless, if it was a simple matter of a little advice here and there she could cope but this was exhausting.

The cherry on the cake had arrived that morning before leaving for work. The monstrosity was now folded in its box shoved under her bed hopefully allowing moths to eat their way through it. Her mother had sent her the wedding dress that had belonged to her great-grandmother and it looked every bit as ancient. Every letter they sent wanted the addition of a few more of their friends or relations that were crawling out of the woodwork, to attend the wedding. At this rate there would be more people in attendance than went to Hogwarts.

She rubbed her forehead to ease the tension headache that was building. She didn't even want to open the latest set of letters, they had tried to send them to her at work but that had been stopped as soon as was possible so now every morning when she rose from her bed it was to be greeted by one of their owls hooting its lungs out or to arrive home, to a mountain of memo's. What colors would be best at different times of the year. What type of menu they should set; what kind of table layout they should have and a whole host of other things that quite frankly Sakura had barely had time to think about herself. Gathering the skirt of her red dress about her she walked to the window and looked out. Willing Nicolas to arrive early rather than later, she needed him now like never before!

 

[Nicolas King]

Life at the Ministry of Magic wasn't getting any easier for Nicolas, and that day was absolutely no exception. He had made plans to meet with Sakura after work for some more wedding planning. He used the term "wedding planning" very loosely anymore, he had noticed. That is to say, whenever they got together to plan the wedding it usually ended up being Sakura telling Nicolas what her parents wanted, Nicolas encouraging her to ignore than and do what she wanted, and her insistence that her parents should have say (they were paying for it, after all). Nicolas wouldn't dare try to take that one thing from Sakura's parents, but it seemed to be that thing that was causing the most grief in the situation. In the end, Nicolas got very little say in the 'planning' that he was so very often supposedly aiding in.

Unfortunately, he had to stay to work later than expected that day - and so as he made his way to Sakura's flat he figured a simple apology would do then they could discuss whatever was next up to bat. He was rather ignorant of what the past few days in particular had been like for Sakura, and entirely unaware of the situation he was strolling in to as she approached the main entrance to the house then walked up a flight of stairs and knocked on Sakura's door, anxious to spend time with the woman that he loved.

 

[Sakura Gemini]

The tension headache increased until she had to go to her kitchenette and brew herself a concoction to ease it. There was nothing to be done now but ride the tidal wave of parental angst, she saw no other way out of it but she was adamant that there was no way on earth she would ever wear something as hideous as her great grandmothers wedding dress. Sakura had gone back into the bedroom and pulled the box from under the bed, removed it and had spent a while glaring at it. Glancing at her watch and wondering what was keeping Nicolas.

Eventually she went so far as to try the dress on, thinking that she could at least tell her mother that she had looked awful in it and the dress was all wrong. Something, anything so that she would not have to wear it. Unfortunately the dress was a perfect fit and before she stepped in front of the mirror she was almost afraid to see that the dress might actually look nice on her, so it was with a surmountable relief that she looked at her reflection and smiled at how disgustingly ghastly she looked.

A knock sounded on her door and with a smile knowing it would be Nicolas she gathered the skirts of the garment to her and ran down the small corridor and opened the door to let him in.
"You're late but I forgive you" she wrapped her arms around his neck, relief overwhelming her once again but this time for very good reason. With Nicolas close at hand, she never felt pressured by her parents, never felt like some silly little girl who was being bossed about and into her place. With him she knew her place, right at his side as his equal. She released him and stepped back realising she was still wearing the confounded dress and gave him a feeble smile as she turned back inside and walked towards her room to remove it.
"Priceless isn't it?" she had no fear of him having seen her in the wedding dress, she had seriously no intention of using it.

 

[Nicolas King]

As the door opened Nicolas was greeted by the sight of his betrothed. This, naturally, set a smile to his worn visage. However, he soon noted what it was that he saw his betrothed wearing and his smile faded. Surely this was not the present fashion? Not even in the muggle world? Granted, Nicolas didn't keep with trends in the wizarding world and he was fairly helpless when it came to muggle clothing, but he did like to pretend he knew at least a thing or two - and whatever it was Sakura had on, he refused to think it the trend. Nicolas stepped cautiously in to the room, not wanting to insult Sakura gravely but finding her attire entirely distracting, despite its plainness. His smile soon returned as Sakura informed him of his lateness, but immediately forgave him and embraced him. He returned her embrace, sensing her complete and utter relief to be with him again and hoping he seemed equally happy to her - despite his reaction to her dress.

As Sakura made mention of the dress Nicolas smile widened. 'Good, she doesn't think it any good, either,' he thought to himself as he shrugged his shoulders, "The reason it looks so very silly on you is that you've forgotten the bustle." Nicolas jested as he moved to wait for Sakura in the sitting area. "Now, what in Merlin's name possessed you to even try that on?" He enquired from the seat he had taken as Sakura changed from the gown.

 

[Sakura Gemini]

As she made her way down the corridor to her bedroom, her hands began to unfasten the clasps at the back of the dress. It was only at the door to her bedroom that his words hit her and she stood there speechless for a moment. Deciding to let him stew in the sitting room while she struggled to get the offensive garment off of her, Sakura resorted in the end to the use of her wand to help her undo the fastings. Removing it felt like an occupation for at least a group of people and once she was free of it she could not help but kick it in a bundle towards the foot of her bed.
"Good riddance" she muttered, now needing to freshen up after the last few heated moments in fabric that could have done three family sized tents. 'Bustle' she muttered repeatedly as she changed her clothes into her normal dark slacks and blouse and padding on bare feet back up to the sitting room to Nicolas, she began to tie her hair up loosely as she went and made herself at home by sitting on his lap.

With her hair done, she slid a slender arm around his shoulders as she looked at him. He looked about as tired as she felt but she knew her exhaustion at that moment was because of a silly dress, his own was work related. Gently kissing the top of his forehead she snuggled into him for a moment, wanting to simply enjoy the closeness of him before any mention of the wedding or that infernal dress was mentioned. The time ticked by and eventually she sighed and sat up again to observe him.
"For starters trust me, a bustle would not help that dress in a million years" a smile crossed her features as she turned her gaze in what was the direction of her bedroom, "That ... that dress by the way is what my mother intends for me to wear to our wedding but it doesn't stop there, she sent another one, her own which is not quite as hideous as that one but still just as inclined to render me looking incredibly silly on our day".

She couldn't help the sound of hopelessness that had entered her voice, her parents had taken what should have been a wonderful time and had turned it into a three ringed circus.

 

[Nicolas King]

While Nicolas rested for what was likely the first time during his day, he thought that he perhaps should have offered to help Sakura with the dress. He obviously thought her perfectly capable of doing things herself, whether they be done through mundane or magical means, as she had obviously gotten it on perfectly well by herself, but it still would have been proper for him to have offered. It was obvious, even to him, that sheer exhaustion was likely causing him to behave out of sorts. He hoped dearly that Sakura wouldn't come to add up his late arrival, his missed opportunity to help her, and any other strange behaviours and construe them in some way other than what they were.

As Sakura reemerged in what, at the very least, was more familiar dress Nicolas smiled. A sight for sore eyes was an understatement as Sakura moved to him and sat in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and made no effort to hide his joy. Most all his barriers were down, he felt comfortable and relaxed at long last. Moments of pure loving tenderness passed as the two enjoyed each other's simple presence, each of their temporary exhaustions being relieved in their reuniting from a short, but seemingly prolonged, absence. As his intended nestled herself in to him, his arms seemed to instinctively hold her to him, somewhat protectively, as if in a very simple and physical way to assure her of her security,

Finally, the silence was broken and Nicolas smirked. "I'm fairly sure that dress was made with a bustle in mind." Nicolas retorted before adding, as if it were a known expression "'You never know what a good bustle can do.'" Then, as Sakura explained the situation which had added to her hardship Nicolas moved his arm to take her hand in his own. He held if gently, squeezed it softly, and smiled sadly. It was an unfortunate situation, and one he felt he had little place in. The day was important to him, but the details had been chiefly left to Sakura, who continued to confer with her family, despite other hardships with them on various wedding issues, for the frivolous reasoning of their footing the bill. He abhorred seeing Sakura in the states letters from her family would put her in, but he couldn't change her parent's actions, he could only help her cope with whatever seemed to crop up next.

The truly unfortunate thing, in Nicolas' eyes, was that their wedding day was to be Sakura's day. Something extraordinarily more magical than anything she had ever experienced. Nicolas' mother had drilled this concept in to him as a child, but now, having met Sakura, he was confident he would desire that for her, even without his mother's concern and coaching in younger years. For some reason, Sakura's family seemed to have forgotten that entirely, or missed the message altogether, and were causing her more stress than giving her aid. He wondered, for a moment, if they knew at all that she was becoming so frustrated at times - but figured that they couldn't be quite that dense - even if she hadn't told them.

"And haven't you found the dress you intend to wear?" came Nicolas' simple question.

 

[Sakura Gemini]

She slapped him playfully on the shoulder when he commented once again on the bustle.
"Would you rather I went and got a bustle then for it my dear and actually wear the infernal dress on our big day?" Sakura hoped he would say no, wished he would refrain from mentioning bustles again because she was seconds away from burning the horrible thing that should have long ago been put in to a museum. Content to remain on his lap a while longer, Sakura gazed off into the distance his question left her speechless. She had been so busy with work and heading her parents off at the pass that the few times she had gone to view some dresses she had changed her mind. Isabella had been with her on both occasions and had felt unbelievably sorry for her, which made it worse again.

Sakura didn't like people pitying her, she had wanted a simple wedding. A small affair with close friends and family, nothing outrageous or fancy because that was not who Nicolas or she as individuals or a couple were about. But her parents had increased the guest list to gargantuan proportions, many she had not even heard of. The small ceremony was now sounding more like something that a muggle royal wedding would resemble. Eventually after work only the day before she had passed by a small boutique and had seen a beautiful elegant yet simple dress which she had considered perfect. It was most likely feeling betrayed in her closet at that very moment.
"I did get a dress and I even tried to tell my mother but I think that was the whole reason she sent the other two monstrosities on to me" she rested her head on his shoulder, "Nicolas I would be happy to have us stand in a field and perform the unbreakable vow to one another."

She smiled up at him then.
"To say our wedding vows without any interference" she sighed as she snuggled into him again, now that was a dream worth having when she went to bed later.