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

[c_macaulay]

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[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.

He turned away from the presumably happy couple and popped a lime-green Dum-Dum in his mouth, crunching away while he thought. What to do, what to do? There were so many spells he could choose from, so many ways he could ruin this for them, just as they’d ruined his life and then taken it away. Should he leap out like vengeance personified and fling spells high and wide? Turn the cake into cheese and the groom into a dumb animal? Rip away Camilla’s gown? He grinned at that last one. At least she was dressing like a girl now, and not half bad, if one wasn’t too particular about other men’s leavings, and one of them her brother.

Yes, that would do, for a start. He moved closer, wand out and ready, in the Bunny version of stealth; and then he heard what Camilla said and could no more resist that opening than he could a pile of hundred-dollar-bills. He stepped into the center of the small knot of people around the bride and groom.

“Yes, Milly, we are all here, aren’t we? I suppose Fag-cis and Whinge-ard are about somewhere.” Bunny looked triumphantly at the couple, a broad grin on his face.

Before he could say anything more, Charles had his own wand in hand. “Expelliarmus!” he murmured, and Bunny was disarmed with a yelp. Another quick but low-key flourish placed a Protego spell around Camilla and Henry, and then Charles neatly grabbed Bunny’s arm, twisting it around and up behind his back. “You should leave, Bunny,” he said quietly.

[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 landed on Silas, looming over near the Starks. She could hear Charles saying something, a spell, and then something else, and then he'd cast something on her, what was it? -- oh, Protego, that wasn't bad, that wasn't bad at all, and then Bunny was subdued but Bunny was bigger than Charles.

"Shit," she hissed, and clutched at Henry's arm.

[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.

Susan, on Camilla's other side, caught his eye. She gave him a questioning look, wondering if they ought to relocate while Charles and Silas...did whatever they were going to do. At least Camilla had Silas and Charles to take care of...whoever the hell this was. Silas might be half out of his mind, but Charles seemed to know what he was doing.

"Camilla?" Henry said quietly.

[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.

"Thanks," Charles said to the tall monk, pocketing both his own wand and Bunny's. He looked at Bunny in disgust. Couldn't even get the fool to break up a wedding in time. The Howler Charles had anonymously sent him had been fairly specific, but idiotic Bunny'd be late to his own funeral. Come to think of it, he had been, hadn't he? Maybe he should be again.

Charles folded his arms. Bunny'd fouled up obliviating Henry, and now this. "Bad idea, Bunny," he growled.

"Wasn't my idea," Bunny squeaked. "I rather thought it was yours," he added, with a sudden excess of bravado, subsiding again as he caught sight of Silas' crimson gaze.

Charles produced an expression that mingled pity, disgust, and outrage, all of which were completely genuine. "My God, Bunny." He turned to Silas, shaking his head. "Again, my thanks, and I know Camilla and Henry would say the same. I should get back in there. Don't waste any more time on him than you have to - have the house elves take him off somewhere, maybe." He flicked a last, scathing look over Bunny. "You're a fool, Bunny. Don't come back."

[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.

"He will," Henry promised, once Susan was (he thought) out of earshot. "I promise." Henry always, always kept his promises, and he hoped Camilla remembered that. "Come with me," he added, leading her away from the crowd--he was sure she'd want a little time to herself, away from the guests.

Out in the hallway, Silas nodded silently, and with a last quelling look at Bunny he left as quietly as he had come. He passed Susan on his way in, and gave her a quelling look, too, though it was utterly lost on her. Susan didn't know who this man was, that he had so upset Camilla and made her wish he was dead (again, apparently), but he had to be dealt with.

"Need any help?" she asked Charles. It did not occur to her that anyone would find anything odd about a five-foot-tall woman offering to help wrangle someone Bunny's size, but the look on her face boded no good for the object of her anger. And she wasangry; she knew well how much had gone into bringing this day about, and she'd be damned if she'd let anyone wreck it for Camilla or Henry.

[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 over to the couple's side. "Oh my God," he hissed, white-faced. "Bunny. I can't believe it. What happened? Are you all right?" And where had Charles gone off to? Francis had seen his little act of bravery. He had to give Charles his due admiration for it.

[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.

[h_m_winter]

Henry took her hand and squeezed it lightly. "I think Silas will take care of him," he said, hoping the monk wouldn't be too...messy...about it. "Don't worry about him. It's what he'd want."

It was what Bunny would want, and if Henry had anything to say about it, that want would get him killed. Yet again.

[fabernathy]

Francis wanted to ask more, but then Henry spoke, and his curiousity over that outweighed everything else momentarily. "What do you mean by that, Henry? What he'd want?" Did he mean Bunny? Silas? "Why, what is that big fellow going to do to him? He can't kill him, not here."

Not that Francis was sure that would be a very good idea, anyway. Bunny's death had seemed necessary at the time, but it had wound up making everyone's life a living hell. As much as he wanted Bunny out of the picture, and for good, Francis had the creeping, superstitious notion that trying to get rid of him again would simply result in more terribleness.

He bit his lip and fished for his cigarettes (his poor, naked cigarettes -- the vandals had even taken his case), offering them around needlessly before lighting one for himself. "You don't mean that, do you?" he asked tightly. "You know."

[c_macaulay]

Camilla wasn't quite sure what Henry's words meant, either -- he could be so opaque sometimes. She hardly cared. What mattered was that Bunny had just tried to ruin her wedding.

"Whatever Silas does to Bunny, he deserves it. I'm sure Silas won't let him hurt Charles, either," this observation meant to reassure Francis. Camilla was not completely thoughtless, not all the time anyway.

"God only knows how he even found out there was a wedding to spoil. We certainly didn't invite him. Obviously." Francis's offer had reminded her of the forgotten cigarette she'd been holding, and she raised it now to her lips, taking a long drag before she continued. "You'd think he'd have learned already that making a nuisance of himself doesn't pay."

Her face was absolutely blank.