mostly open RP (to invitees and wedding-crashers): Henry and Camilla tie the knot.

[c_macaulay]

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[charlesmacaulay]

Better to get this overwith, Charles thought, straightening his shoulders as he crossed the room. He smiled at his sister, then turned to Henry and silently held out his hand.

This was no truce, however, but a declaration of war - and the better man would win. Charles intended to be that better man. He even managed a small smile for Henry, mostly by imagining his outstretched hand held a gun.

[h_m_winter]

Yes, this had to be gotten through somehow, didn't it? Henry could do it, for Camilla's sake, however personally distasteful he found it.

He shook Charles's hand, managing a smile in return (a cordial one, even, not the dry and infinitely ironic one that came by instinct). There wasn't much he could say that wouldn't be screamingly hypocritical, but he gave Charles a nod, both to acknowlede that silent declaration and to prepare himself for whatever might happen if Charles did decide to cause trouble here today. Charles could be as unpredictable as Camilla, and on this of all days that had the potential to be particularly unfortunate.

[c_macaulay]

As well as she'd known her brother, and as much as she ought to have known better, Camilla saw the handshake as the truce it appeared to be, not the declaration it actually was. She knew Charles wasn't drunk and he obviously didn't seem to be under an Imperius curse or anything, so she had to accept the gesture at face value; more, she wanted to accept it at face value.

How many times had she seen violence erupt between these men, verbal or physical? Yet here they were, quite cordially shaking hands. They weren't acting like friends, precisely, much less the close friends they'd once been; but they were being civil, and that was enough for Camilla, for now.

She rewarded them both for their good behavior with a sudden glowing joyous smile. "We're all back together again," she said. "You don't know how happy this makes me." And once the handshake had quite ended, she let go of Henry's arm to step forward and give her brother a quick impulsive squeeze. Then she went back to Henry's side, where she belonged now.

[metahemeralism]

Over by the door to the Room of Requirement, Bunny scanned the crowd, edging closer to his quarries without attracting any particular attention. In his pocket he fingered the Howler he’d received, from an anonymous source - although Bunny had his ideas about the sender in light of a particular item that had lately gone missing from his room. In any case the information had been welcome, and quite useful. “If you DARE attend the wedding of Henry Winter and Camilla Macaulay on Tuesday at four in the Room of Requirement, you will pay!” Dramatic, but specific, and very helpful

[c_macaulay]

Camilla didn't know what to say. After lying low for what seemed like aeons, here Bunny had popped up like some macabre jack-in-the-box on a time-delayed circuit. Not only that, it seemed death hadn't improved his wit, which had been poor enough to begin with ...

And he and Henry had been such good friends, once upon a time, when the twins had first met them both. (It had been from Bunny that Henry had found out the true nature of the twins' relationship, for that matter, though Camilla never knew that.) Camilla couldn't even find it in her heart to be angry. She'd be angry when the shock wore off. For right now, all she could think was what a terrible shame, and simultaneously, good God, is he going to try obliviating anyone again?

Wide-eyed, panicking, she looked around for her bouquet with the wand concealed in it -- she'd laid it down, somewhere or other, so she could smoke a cigarette, and now she couldn't remember where on earth it was, and she wasn't sure if she could do wandless magic to accio it properly. Her eyes

[ghostorangel]

Henry froze. His first instinct was to punch Bunny's lights out, which of course would be just what Bunny wanted; a scene was a scene, after all.

As it turned out, he didn't have to do a thing. Bunny might be bigger than Charles, but he was certainly smaller than Silas. The monk detached himself from Catelyn and Ned, appearing at Charles's side like a giant albino ninja.

"Do you need some help?" he asked quietly. Henry would have blessed his presence, were it not for the distinctly unbalanced look in the man's red eyes. This...could get bad. Unfortunately, his options were relatively limited, since any covert signaling would almost certainly be lost on Silas.

[charlesmacaulay]

Charles gave a small nod, grunting as Bunny struggled. He had the upper hand for now, but Bunny was larger. "Just help me get him out of here," he said, softly as he could, through gritted teeth. "Quietly, if we can."

Bunny's eyes widened at the sight of the enormous albino. "What the hell are you supposed to be?"

[ghostorangel]

...Oh God.

Henry winced, not wanting to know just how Silas was going to react to that one. He liked the monk, but Silas's sanity really was...fragile...and Henry had never seen anyone insult him before.

Silas went very still. He eyed Bunny as though he were some sort of small rodent, his red eyes truly disturbing. "That was not a good thing to be asking," he said, and with a questioning glance at Charles he grabbed Bunny, literally lifted him off his feet, and started dragging him toward the door.

Hey. Nobody fucked with his angel's wedding day, dammit.

Henry watched, somehow sitting on the sheer, almost blinding fury at Bunny's gall. He didn't know how Bunny had found out about the wedding in the first place (though later, he would have suspicions), but that he had dared show up here--

He looked at Camilla, hoping even Bunny's presence hadn't just soured the whole day for her. At least Bunny was going away, and knowing Silas would stay away. Possibly in pieces

[c_macaulay]

Oblivious of Susan's presence, Camilla stood in shock watching as Bunny was dragged away. She'd let go of Henry's arm at some point -- maybe expecting him to spring at Bunny, who knew -- and her hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists.

"He has to die," she said, very softly. "Again."

[charlesmacaulay]

Charles picked up Bunny's wand, which had clattered to the floor, and followed Silas as he dragged Bunny from the room. Bunny, for his part, was strangely silent, staring up at Silas with huge eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses, like a mouse stares at a cobra

[h_m_winter]

Henry put his arm around Camilla, pulling her close. There was no response he could make, save a small nod--it wasn't something that should be said aloud. Bunny did need to die--again--but these were not thoughts for their wedding day.

He glanced at Susan, and saw by her face that she had heard. He didn't know what she'd do with that, but after a moment she gave him a brief nod, as if in recognition that now was not the time and place. She left the two of them to themselves, realizing with unusual tact that they were best off alone for the moment. "Don't let him get to you," he said. "That's exactly what he wants. This is our day." Even as he tried to soothe Camilla, though he wondered at Charles, and what the man's motivations might be. He would wonder more on that later

[charlesmacaulay]

As soon as he realized Silas wasn't going to throttle him, Bunny ran out of there like a bat out of hell, leaving behind only the faint stench of old cigarette smoke and lime candy. He hollered something over his shoulder, but it was completely unintelligible.

Charles watched him go, a frown creasing his forehead; a frown which cleared up considerably at Susan's question. "Yes," he said definitively. "There's nothing more to be done about him," Charles jerked his head in Bunny's direction. "At least not right now. First I need to make sure Milly's okay, and then I think the best thing we can do is to mingle and try to see that everyone has some fun. It's a celebration, isn't it?" Sadness glinted in his gray eyes for a moment and was banished. "Shall we?" He offered Susan his arm with a rather rakish smile.

[usethepoker]

Susan watched the mystery man flee, her curiosity piqued, but she didn't ask about him. That was a subject for a better time, i.e., not now. She raised an eyebrow, stifling a laugh at his offered arm and smile, and glanced back inside.

"Probably a good idea," she said, taking his arm. Much like Camilla, she found, Charles's smile was infectious. "I have an unfortunate feeling Silas will hunt the man down, sooner or later." Susan didn't know about the monk's belief in Camilla's supposed divinity, but she did know the man was quite a good bodyguard.

[charlesmacaulay]

"Good luck to him, then." How incredibly convenient that would be, though Charles as he led Susan through the room - to have someone else dispose of Bunny. It couldn't be done, of course, not here at Hogwarts; but the very thought cheered him considerably.

There was Camilla, across the room with Henry. Deftly he piloted Susan toward his sister, changing threads with dexterity.

((Reposted TWICE because I are HTML. Durr.))

[fabernathy]

Francis had been hovering around in general, mostly intending to keep an eye on Charles. For the twins' sake, of course. He was being a considerate friend.

Therefore, he'd seen Bunny's arrival, but he hadn't been particularly induced to go over there while the man was still around. It wasn't like he was afraid of that overgrown, bigoted, mindless, faux-riche bastard, but the simple truth was that Francis blamed Bunny for a good part of the miseries that he'd faced after Bunny's death, and he wanted no part of the man now. It wasn't as if there was much he could do, anyway, so there was no part in going over there and getting into it with him, was there? He wasn't exactly in the mood to listen to that lockjaw Long Island voice yawning itself around the word fag or queer or whatever other dime-store word he was on this week.

That didn't mean he wasn't concerned, of course. Or that he didn't desperately want to know what Bunny had actually said. As soon as the horrible man had been dragged out and the spectators were gone, he rushed

[c_macaulay]

Tight-lipped, as white-faced as her friend, Camilla stared off in the direction Silas and Charles had dragged Bunny. "I don't know. Nothing really happened. He just had to remind us he exists, I guess. To try to spoil things."

She still had one arm linked in Henry's, and the other hand still held a cigarette. She was letting ash fall unheeded onto the floor. It was a mercy it didn't hit her skirt instead.

"I don't know," she repeated blankly.