AN: Written for the Pieces of a Wedding challenge. Pairing: Ted/Marlene. Piece of the wedding: Writing the thank you notes. Prompt: Squirrel.
I don't think I did very well for this one, but oh well. :)
Thanks selenehekate for the extension. :)
"Dear Lily," Marlene muttered as she wrote. "Thank you for making time to come to our wedding. Hope you, James and little Harry are doing alright. Love, Ted and Marlene Tonks."
She felt a thrill of excitement as she wrote her name down. Marlene Tonks. It It sounded new and fresh, unlike the name Marlene McKinnon, that had stuck with her for so long.
She placed the stiff violet card atop the growing stack of handwritten cards. 49 down, 101 more to go...
"Marlene," Ted called from the other room. "Tell me again, why aren't we using magic to write these again?"
"Because," she replied, sighing. "It's more heartfelt and sincere if you write it yourself." How many times did she need to repeat this to him?
Ted's groan echoed through the room. Why oh why did he have to agree to this again? Oh right, because he wanted to please his darling wife.
"Who's Alastor Moody again?" he said, eyeing the familiar name on the list.
"You know, the one who's in the Order?"
"Um... no?"
"The overly paranoid one? The one who forms the weirdest theories and links everything to dark wizards?"
"Wait... Is he the one who turned Sirius into a squirrel because he was flirting around and not being serious enough about fighting You Know Who?"
"The very one."
"Hold on a second," Ted said, walking into the room. His brow was furrowed and he was tapping his chin with the end of his quill. "Wasn't Sirius hitting on you that day?"
Marlene looked up at him, watching his expression change to a mixture of jealousy and anger. She smiled a little, amused at his reaction.
"Mmhm. Why? Are you jealous?" she teased.
"Perhaps."
"I never knew you to be the overprotective type."
Ted looked straight ahead, unsmiling.
"Oh, relax," she said, putting her quill down and standing up to pull him into a hug. "He didn't know that I was taken."
"Mm," was all he said.
"Well you have to admit that Sirius did make a pretty cute squirrel," she said lightly.
Ted chuckled, finally cracking a smile. Marlene sighed in relief, glad he finally stopped moping.
"I bet I would make a cuter squirrel," he whispered into her ear.
"How are you so sure?"
"I just know. Look at me, aren't I already cuter than Sirius even as a human?"
"Mm… No."
Ted faked a hurt look.
"But I bet I would make the cutest squirrel of all," she said, smiling.
"Yes, you would," he said, moving his head closer to hers.
He inclined his head a little to get a better angle, but just before their lips met…
"We should get back to the notes," she interrupted.
"Really?" he said, groaning.
She grinned and pulled away from his arms, walking back to the table with another 101 unwritten cards waiting for her.
Ted shook his head and returned to his own table. The things he did for his darling wife…