AN: hahaha, threw you guys off with that last chapter, didn't I? Weird. Everyone's like ohemgee, Hugo's gay? When I wrote it, I was like, "Shit, Sadie and Freddie are engaged, Albus is enlisting, Freddie's enlisting, what can I do to take away from the seriousness?" So I added that last bit right before I updated. Wow.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing that you recognize.
The entire table was silent as they stared at Hugo.
"Oh. Um. Really? Are you... really?" Ron asked awkwardly. Hermione was staring open-mouthed at Hugo and Rose was staring straight ahead, trying to find the hints and clues to this admission.
"Because, well, we love you son, no matter what. We, uh, we love you for...uh, who you are." Ron was twisting his napkin fiercely in his hands, avoiding Hugo's eyes.
"Not gay, Dad," Hugo said, smirking in the weird way the entire family had long gotten used to. "Just trying to diffuse the tension."
Ron was visibly relieved, leaning back in his chair. Hermione relaxed and several other family members chuckled quietly. But Lily was the one to burst into her obnoxious guffaws.
"You should've seen your faces!" she cried, tears of laughter beginning to flow. Hugo was smiling and laughing quietly.
Light chatter began to start between the groups around the table, just as if it was another Weasley dinner. As everyone else distracted themselves, Bill leaned toward the two people closest to him, Albus and Fleur, and whispered, "Was it just me, or were either of you... unsurprised?"
Fleur and Albus nodded slowly, glancing at Hugo to see if he heard. Thankfully, he was too busy talking with Lily to have noticed them.
"Oh, good. I would've felt bad if it was just me," Bill whispered.
"It worked though, I mean, no one is crying over your and Freddie's...news," Fleur said delicately to her nephew. Albus just shrugged, pushing some peas around his plate.
"The flood gates will open when we all go home. I'll be questioned and cried at and Fred will be screamed and then cried over, too."
"Do you honestly believe you're making the right choice?" Bill asked him. Albus looked up at the Uncle he'd always kind of liked the most.
"I do. I really do."
Bill nodded and shrugged. "Then no one can tell you what you can and can't do."
"So, Hugo just blurts out he's gay, but he isn't really, and then it got quiet and Albus is enlisting and now you're getting married," Rose sighed, falling back onto the bed in Freddie and Sadie's new flat. Freddie snorted, tossing a shirt at Rose.
"Yeah, what was that?" Freddie asked, chuckling. "I mean, Hugo says nothing at all, ever and then just suddenly blurts out the single most awkward statement, like, ever. I mean, if he was, cool, but he isn't. And... I don't know. Your brother is strange, Posie." Freddie shook his head, tossing a shirt into a drawer.
"Fred, you've got to fold those, you dork," Sadie rolled her eyes.
"Sadie!" he whined, stomping. Sadie turned away from the closet, her hands on her hips.
"Freddie." She pierced him with a look.
"Fine." He grumbled, grabbing the shirt and folding it into a misshapen lump before dropping it into the drawer. Rose cracked up before she was pelted by a pair of jeans and a summer dress.
Rose tossed the clothes back to their respective throwers and sat up. She crossed her legs on the bed and looked around. The master bedroom in the flat was painted a pleasant ivory. All the furniture was made of a dark cherry wood. On the walls were pictures of their friends and families. She saw Sadie's favorite picture, the one of her and her brothers. Sadie had been eight, her oldest brother, Chase, was thirteen, and her youngest brother Jake had been five. They were jumping around and laughing hysterically in the picture.
"How did your family take it?" Rose asked, looking away from the photo. Sadie paused in her act if putting a winter coat in the closet before turning around to grab another.
"They weren't exactly thrilled. But I explained the situation and they know how much I love Freddie, so they understand, I guess. I mean, Dad's walking me down the aisle, Mum's gonna be crying happily in the front row of my side, Chase'll get drunk and hit on your half-veela cousins and Dylan will be sneaking drinks along side him. It'll all be good fun," Sadie shrugged. Freddie and Rose looked at each other.
"Don't sound too thrilled, Sadie, or Rose'll think your excited."
Rose laughed lightly.
"When's the wedding?" Rose asked, twisting the threads hanging from one of the rips in her jeans. Sadie and Freddie glanced at each other.
"That's the thing... It's, well, it's on... Sunday."
Rose froze and looked up at them.
"Sunday? As in this upcoming Sunday? As in seven days from now?" Rose asked, looking from Sadie to Freddie in bewilderment. Freddie just rubbed the back of his neck nervously as Sadie slid a large cream-colored garment bag from the back of their closet.
"Fred, go make us lunch, please." Sadie said, gently laying the bag on the bed.
"But, why?" Freddie asked indignantly.
Sadie huffed and threw up her hands.
"It's bad luck to see the bride in her dress," Sadie cried. Freddie stuck his tongue out at her before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Rose looked back at Sadie as she unzipped the bag. Rose couldn't exactly make out every detail of the dress, but judging by the floaty, silky material that seemed to move like liquid and float like air as Sadie removed the dress. Rose could tell it was expensive.
"It's got a lot of buttons," Sadie said almost apologetically as she turned so her back faced Rose once she put the dress on. Rose was speechless, but got up to help Sadie with the long line of pure pearl buttons along the back. After a few minutes of Rose gently sliding the buttons in their assigned silk loop, as she was terrified of hurting the dress somehow, Sadie turned to face Rose.
"The shoes are pretty simple, but I think the dress is gorgeous enough to pull them off," she said, sliding her feet into a pair of rather plain black pumps.
Rose was sitting speechless on the bed, just staring at her best friend. The dress was made of cream silk and lace, with a tight strapless bodice. The skirt, Sadie said, was a "split petal trumpet" or it was tight up until her thigh are before flaring out. Around the waist of the dress was a single black silk ribbon that was tied in a perfect bow in the middle of her back. The dress itself was lace over silk. The silk underneath was fitted up against the lace until the "split" part of the "trumpet". The dress had a short bit of a train, enough to billow prettily when she walked, but not enough for anyone to get caught on. Even though it was much more couture than Rose would ever choose for herself, the effect with Sadie's elegant golden blonde hair and navy blue eyes was beautiful.
"Wow, Sadie." Rose whispered. Sadie rolled her teary eyes.
"No one will even glance at me when you're standing next to me," Sadie joked. Rose laughed tearfully until she assessed Sadie's words.
"Next to you...?" She trailed off. Sadie sat down next to her on the foot of the bed.
"Maid of Honor? Promise?" Sadie asked, holding up her hand, pinky extended in their old "promise me, sister" thing they'd started in fourth year. Rose interlocked their pinkies.
"Promise," Rose said, hugging her closest friend.
As Sadie took of the dress, Rose couldn't help but think about the other two people they'd used to do "promise me" with. She suddenly felt extremely sad. She'd barely spoken to Daphne since summer began and she hadn't spoken to Masen at all since their fight.
"Hey, are Daph and Masen invited?" she asked Sadie.
"Well, yeah. I was just going to owl the invites, though, just like everyone else's."
"Can I do it?" Rose asked, looking up at Sadie pleadingly. Sadie seemed to understand. She walked over to the edge of her bed and crouched down, getting extracting a designer shoe box out from under her bed.
Lifting the lid, she sorted through a row of sealed enveloped briefly before pulling two out.
"Here," she sighed, handing them to Rose. "Be polite, though, please. I actually want them there," she teased.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Please. I am nothing if not polite," she said before she was hit by a pillow that Sadie had chucked at her.
"Go tell my fiancée," Sadie rolled her eyes with exaggerated flair, "to get his butt back in here. I am not putting all these clothes away by myself."
"So," Draco said, leaning against the counter. Scorpius stared at his shoes.
"Look, I know we haven't exactly got along, son, but," Draco began. Scorpius looked up.
"Dad, I'm so sorry. I honestly didn't mean what I said," he whispered. Draco sighed.
"I know, Scorpius. I really do. I mean, it doesn't make it hurt any less, but I know you don't mean it now." Draco ran a hand over his tired face.
"I wish it was me. Every day." Scorpius stared at his dad.
"I miss Mum, but there's nothing we can do to bring her back. All we can do is grieve and live the rest of our lives the way she'd want us to: happy and remembering the fun we had while she was here. But Dad, I know she would be so disappointed in me. In us. Let's face it, we've both messed up. But we should try and do better from now on. For her and for us."
Draco just stared at Scorpius with his piercing gray eyes. A small smile slowly spread across his face. "When did you get so smart?"
Scorpius scoffed weakly. "Dad, I've always been smart."
Draco laughed and rolled his eyes. "Ravenclaw ingenuity?"
"You know it."
They both laughed softly. Then, their laughter slowly began to escalate until they were both laughing so hard, they were clutching rib cages and wiping eyes.
The laughter slowly died, leaving a breathless Draco sitting on the kitchen floor, back against the oven and Scorpius practically laying in the stiff wooden chair at the table, staring up at the ceiling.
"Lunch?" Draco asked suddenly. Scorpius rolled his head around to look at his Dad.
"Are you offering to make some or buy some?" he asked. Draco considered for a second, staring at the box on the table labeled 'new kitchen stuff'.
"Buying."
Scorpius looked back up at the ceiling.
"Yeah, alright," he said, getting up and offering a hand to his dad. Draco stood up with a groan, letting go of his son's hand. Scorpius grinned.
"Getting old there?"
Draco jokingly smacked Scorpius on the back of the head.
"No. The floor was just hard."
Scorpius laughed. "Alright, Dad. Keep telling yourself that."
"So, how did Victrola take the news?" Rose asked Albus as she flicked through racks of dresses with Sadie. It was originally just going to be the two girls, but as they'd left Rose's house, they'd run into a forlorn and abused looking Albus. They'd taken pity on him and dragged him along with them to go bridesmaids dress shopping. With a quick owl to Scorpius, they'd invited him along, too, and we expecting him to arrive soon.
"She was pissed," Albus said, leaning against a rack of dresses.
"Al, you wince in pain every few seconds. Clearly there's something you're not telling us," Sadie walked up to him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Does she hit you, sweetie?"
Albus laughed and pushed her hand away. "Only this once."
Rose extracted an olive green dress from the rack. "Well how did you tell her?" she asked, holding the dress up to her before deciding it was too mermaid-y.
"I just went to her house, sat her down, and told her."
"I hope you didn't tell her in the kitchen. Freddie did, and he was lucky he'd had the sense to hide the knives."
Rose laughed, "Did she just punch you, then?"
"'Nah," Sadie shook her head. "Slater's the type that would be afraid of bruising her knuckles. I bet she threw stuff at you."
Albus avoided their knowing gazes by grabbing a dress off the rack and pretending to look at it.
"She threw things at you! What was it?" Sadie asked, bemused.
"A shoe," he mumbled. Rose and Sadie snorted and tried to hide their laughter unsuccessfully.
"Okay, let's get serious. We need to find a dress for Rose," Sadie said, turning back to the rack closest to her. They looked in silence, the sounds of other customers and the salespeople's talking with the click of dresses on hangers the only sounds. Occasionally, Rose or Albus would hold up a dress, only to be shot down by Sadie.
There was a soft tinkle of the bell over the door, alerting the arrival of new customers. The three paid no mind until two people walked up to them.
"Scorpius!" Rose called happily, dropping the dress she was holding on the plush pink silk armchair before running and throwing her arms around his neck.
"Hey," he smiled at her. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
"Love you," he whispered against her lips.
"I love you," she whispered back.
"Okay, enough. My eggs Benedict is threatening to reappear," Victrola's snide voice broke through to them. Scorpius turned to look at her, still keeping a hold of Rose.
"Oh, shut up, Vic and kiss your boyfriend."
"C'mon, guys, we need to find a dress for Rose," Sadie said, holding up several dresses.
"You shoot down every one we pick," Albus said from his rack, waving around a garish orange and pink ball gown. Sadie rolled her eyes.
"That's because every dress you choose looks like that," she responded, waving her hands in the direction of the eye sore he was holding.
"What are you looking for, exactly?" Scorpius asked, looking at the veils and picking up a huge one made of pure white tulle.
Sadie paused, thinking.
"I'm thinking a simple black cocktail dress."
Scorpius and Albus both stopped playing with the veils and looked at her.
"Black? Isn't that a bit... I dunno, morbid for a wedding?"
"No," Victrola answered from another rack near Rose's. "It's actually very popular."
Sadie nodded. "Black is slimming, goes with anything, looks good on every one... Why not?"
"Well, according to Mrs. Weasley, you're having it in their garden this Sunday..." he trailed off, hoping one of the girls would see his point. The three just stared back before turning back to their dress search.
Scorpius pushed his veil out of his face. "Isn't it, like, eighty degrees outside?" he muttered to Albus.
Albus shrugged under his lace veil. "Just don't question it."
After a few more minutes of the girls squealing over dresses and the boys seeing who could find the worst veil and dress combination, Sadie called a saleswoman over.
"We're ready to have my Maid of Honor here try these on," she smiled politely, indicating the rolling clothes rack with at least twenty dresses on it.
"Of course!" the salesclerk, who's tag read "Millie" said brightly. She led the group over to one of the private dressing rooms.
"This is the waiting room," Millie said indicating the couch that faced the small square platform directly in front of three multi-view mirrors.
The other four sat down and waited as Millie led Rose to the "dressing antechamber". After Rose and the dresses were safely situated, Millie came back out.
"I'll be right out there if you need anything."
"Thank you," Sadie trilled brightly. As Millie exited, several house elves in pure white sheaths entered, carrying trays of dainty little cookies, sandwiches, and flutes of what looked like champagne. They deposited the trays on the mirrored coffee table before curtsying and leaving.
"Are there... flowers in the champagne?" Albus asked, lifting the lace veil obscuring his face to take a closer look.
"Yes, it's called a 'Wild Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail'. I'm having these at the wedding," Sadie said, sipping hers.
Scorpius stared at the vibrant red flower, watching as the bubbles rolled off the pointy leaves and up into the light red champagne.
"You eat the flower. They taste kind of like raspberries," Victrola told him. Scorpius looked at Albus.
"And here goes my manhood," he muttered before taking a gulp. Scorpius fought the urge to laugh.
"Not bad," Albus winced, the bubbles burning his nose from the overlarge sip.
They were interrupted by Rose, who twirled in wearing a sparkly black dress. She marched up onto the platform and struck an obnoxious pose.
"No," Sadie shook her head rapidly, crinkling her nose. Rose looked instantly relieved.
"Good. It's too complicated to put on and the sequins itch," she said before walking back into the dressing room. They sat through fifteen more dresses, some that were pretty decent in terms of what Sadie was looking for, and then there were the ones that were obviously snuck in by Scorpius and Albus. There was a bright red minidress that barely reached past Rose's butt (Scorpius fully claimed sneaking the dress on the rack), a dress entirely made of peacock feathers with a floaty blue train, a zebra striped dress, a shapeless sack dress in brown, a bright yellow one-shouldered dress with rhinestones, and a pink ball gown with puffy shoulders, for which Victrola laughingly claimed.
"I really like this one, Sadie," Rose said as she walked out. It was a black cocktail dress that just grazed her knees. It was strapless, and made of black satin. It had a full skirt that billowed out, and a shimmery gold lace-like pattern that covered the left breast of the top and faded diagonally to just above the right knee. The effect was pleasant and eye catching.
"I'm not sure it's right for your wedding, though. I mean, the gold, it's just so...visible," Rose continued. She looked up and saw Sadie smiling.
"That's it."
Rose looked to the others. Scorpius was eating a sugar cookie and staring at the floor and Albus was laying halfway in Scorpius' lap, watching the bubbles in his champagne pop. Rose rolled her eyes and looked at the girls. They were both smiling.
"I'll go get the saleslady," Victrola said, getting up. Rose looked back at Sadie.
"It's perfect," she said. Rose nodded and turned to go change.
Sadie looked at the two boys next to her.
"You both look lovely in your veils," she giggled.
"Thanks," Scorpius mumbled, still eating his cookie. Albus sat up slowly, looking at her.
"Thank you," he whispered, looking at her oddly.
"Are you two drunk?" she laughed, staring at the coffee table. There was only the single bottle of champagne, but Sadie guessed it was charmed to refill continuously.
"No," Scorpius said defensively.
"It's posssssiblllllllee," Albus slurred. Judging by their actions, Sadie guessed that Albus had far more to drink than Scorpius.
"How many glasses of champagne did you both have?" she asked. Scorpius thought for a minute, holding out his hand to count.
"Four," he said.
Sadie nodded and looked at Albus, who flopped back on the couch, still half on Scorpius' lap and closed his eyes.
"I losssshhht count affer twooo."
Rose happened to walk in at that moment, her dress on its hanger.
"Okay, done," she sighed, picking up a sandwich. She glanced at her boyfriend to her cousin. Taking in their appearance, she tugged Albus' glass from his hand, against his wishes, and took a sip.
"Champagne?" she giggled, finishing the little bit left in the glass. She nearly spit it up when she caught sight of Albus' heartbroken look.
"Here, eat your flower," she said, handing him the flute. Albus upturned the glass, devouring the flower in one go.
Victrola walked in just then.
"So Millie said to just-"
"Lola!" Albus shouted, sitting up fast and then clutching his head.
Victrola just looked at him before shaking her head in exasperation.
"Millie said to leave the other dresses and the cookies and stuff in here, but to bring the dress up to the check out counter."
Sadie sighed. "Alright, I'll go pay for the dress and you two sneak these two out."
Rose looked at her. "I'll pay for the dress, Sayd, really."
Sadie rolled her eyes and snatched the dress from Rose's grip.
"My wedding, my expenses. You just get Tipsy and Smashed out of here."
Sadie turned to leave but not before she walked back over to the couch. Taking the tags off the veils, she grinned.
"Let's let them keep them as a souvenir. They're on sale, anyway," she laughed before leaving to go pay. Victrola and Rose looked at each other.
"C'mon, Smashed," Victrola giggled, using Sadie's new nickname for Albus. She threw one of his arms around her shoulder and tried to heave him up.
Rose took Scorpius' hands and pulled him up, Albus' legs sliding off his lap and on to the floor along with the rest of him.
"Oops," Scorpius giggled tipsily. Rose smirked and left him swaying before she leaned down to help Victrola with Albus. The girls managed to heave him up into a standing position.
"Scorpius, can you walk on your own?" Rose muttered, straining under Albus' weight with Victrola. To the girls relief, he nodded and only stumbled slightly to the door, his fluffy veil swaying.
"I reallly looove you, Lola," Albus slurred loudly as they started to the door. Victrola shushed him.
"Love you, too. But let's play a game. It's called the Quiet Game. The rules are, we all have to be as quiet as possible," she hissed, "Until we get out of the store."
"Ok," Albus murmured. The four of them managed to get out of the store with minimal stares. They stood there and waited until Sadie came out carrying a light pink garment bag with the store's logo on it.
"Alright, let's go," she said happily. Victrola and Rose looked at her.
"Go where?" Rose asked, throwing her hands up. "My parents are home, Al's parents are home, my grandparents are home. We can't take him to any of my relatives now."
"Cheers," Albus said feebly from his spot on the ground.
"My dad's home, too, and he'll definitely tell your mom," Victrola said to Rose.
Sadie looked on and huffed.
"We can't take them to mine," Sadie said. "I'm going out to dinner with Freddie in an hour. Drunk and Drunker will pass out long before then."
"Just drop us off at my Dad's place," Scorpius said, slowly trying to walk in a straight line.
The three girls looked at each other.
"You want us to just drop you two off at your apartment and go?" Sadie asked skeptically.
Scorpius nodded, his veil bouncing. "My dad's used to it."
"That's true," Victrola conceded. Sadie looked to Rose who shrugged.
"Alright, let's go," Sadie said, hitching the dress bag back over her shoulder. Rose and Victrola both groaned before lifting a slow, semi-conscious Albus back between them, an arm across each shoulder.
"Lola, you're reeeaaally pretty. Like, suuuper beutfool," Albus slurred. Victrola snorted and said to Rose, "You know how some people are talkative drunks, and others are, like, paranoid or slutty drunks? Al, here, is what Scorp and I like to call a "complementative" drunk. He complements people all the time. It's funny."
Rose chuckled. "I can tell."
They walked for two blocks, Albus spewing his complements and Scorpius stumbling along happily. They got quite a few chuckles at the boy's veils and drunken state. Finally they reached Scorpius' building.
"To the elevator!" Scorpius shouted in the empty lobby, pointing straight ahead. They all climbed in and Scorpius pushed the 'Five' button.
As they started to rise, Albus jerked up.
"Oh Shiit!" he slurred in alarm.
"You've been on the Ministry lifts, Al!" Scorpius said. Albus just looked at him.
"Yeah, but thesssse were made by Mugglesss!" he hissed. The girls all stifled their laughs in their palms.
The elevator dinged open and they walked out, with the exception of Albus, who stumbled out. Albus forced the girls to let him take the short walk from the elevator to Scorpius' front door. When he reached the door, he threw it open and called, "Mr. Malfoy! I'm home!"
It was too much for the girls. Rose was leaning on the wall for support and Victrola and Sadie were leaning against each other as they laughed at the look on Draco Malfoy's face.
"Dad!" Scorpius stumbled forward to his awestruck father and hugged him.
Sadie was the first to regain her composure.
"We're sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but Scorpius and Albus came with us today when we went shopping for a dress for Rose for my wedding, and they took advantage of the complementary champagne,"she told him apologetically. "Scorpius told us to bring them here."
Mr. Malfoy nodded.
"I see," he said, pushing Scorpius' veil out of his face.
"I'll, uh, I'll take it from here," he said, extracting himself from his son's grip and leading him to the couch where Albus was already laying.
"Pleash don't tell my parentssss," Albus slurred. Mr. Malfoy chuckled.
"I most definitely will not," he said.
"Bye, Mr. Malfoy," the girls called, exiting the apartment. They walked in silence and got into the elevator. It wasn't until the doors closed did any of them speak.
"So, are you having a bachelorette party?" Victrola asked. Sadie shrugged.
"Not sure. I mean, the wedding's only four days away," Sadie said.
"Who's Freddie's best man?" Rose asked. She was amazed that she didn't know.
"His best friend, Max," Sadie said.
"Max Saunders?" Victrola asked. Sadie nodded.
"Oh, man. That speech will entertaining," Victrola chuckled. Sadie nodded and laughed too.
"Speech?" Rose asked. Sadie and Victrola looked at her.
"The Best Man and Maid of Honor give speeches at the reception," Sadie told her. Rose looked away.
"Oh, crap," she whispered.
Victrola laughed. "Sounds like your speech will be, too."
"Oh, please. I'll write an excellent speech. Don't you worry."
The elevator doors opened and the three got out.
"So, I forgot to ask, how did it go with Daphne and Masen?" Sadie asked as they walked out of the building and onto the sidewalk.
"Bye, guys. My house is that way," Victrola said, pointing in the opposite direction. The other two waved and called their goodbyes as she walked away.
"Well, it was awkward at first, of course. But it mellowed out after a bit," Rose shrugged. Sadie laughed.
"Yeah, well, I never got why Masen was so pissed at you." Rose looked up at her.
"What do you mean?"
Sadie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I get you two were, like, twins, but that kind of doesn't explain why he was that angry. I mean, you two didn't speak for months."
Rose stared ahead. "What are you getting at?"
Sadie stopped, looking down as she turned before looking up at Rose.
"I'm saying... That... I kind of... Thought that maybe he was..." Sadie stopped, taking a breath and looking away. Rose didn't take her eyes off a sign directly behind Sadie's head.
"He was what, Sayd...What?" she said, but her voice barely came out as more that a whisper.
"That he was in love with you." Sadie said gently. Rose looked her in the eye.
"He's with Daphne now. And besides, I'd always thought of him as my twin brother."
Sadie looked at Rose with sad eyes. "Yeah, you did. But it's possible that he thought of you as more than a twin sister."
AN: Next chapter, the wedding :)
and just for reference:
Sadie's Dress: A combo of a dress from Monique Lhuillier's Fall 2011 collection and a bit of Vera Wang's Fall 2010 thrown in.
Rose's Dress: From Monique Lhuillier's Spring 2010 collection, with a slight change.
Oh! And that flower-and-champagne stuff; it's real. I saw it in my friend's bridal magazine once and reaallllly want it at my own wedding. It's so pretty. They're actual hibiscus flowers soaked in syrup from Australia. They turn the champagne (or Sprite or whatever) red-ish pink, like a Shirley Temple.
Anyway, review, darlings!
