Epilogue
Vera explained it all to us the day after her wedding was… we'll say canceled, for lack of a better word.
Lycus was gay. The Erik kid, he was his boyfriend. Vera learned all of this the night before her wedding. Lycus came into her room and told her that there wasn't going to be a wedding. At first she thought he was going to kill her, she had her wand all ready to fight him off and everything. Then he explained that he didn't like her (something that was obvious to even the most oblivious observer by the way), he didn't even like her gender.
She was really shocked, but she still didn't get why there wasn't going to be a wedding. Then she put it together. He was going to die. At first she had a hard time believing someone who loved themselves as much as he did was going to die. But then, she told her audience, she looked in his eyes and she just knew he was telling the truth. She told me privately that she thought it was because his dad would kill Erik if he ever found out they loved each other, and apparently Lycus really did love this kid.
She wondered why he told her. I mean, why not just surprise. He knew she wouldn't talk him out of it. But as he walked away he told her that he would be in the guest room by the garden and then asked her to make sure his boyfriend lived through it all. I will never understand why she agreed to his request, but she did. I guess she cares about people more than I've ever given her credit for.
But all of this was a long time ago. It happened years ago.
Now we're at a different wedding, a much, much happier one.
It's my sister's. Little Lily is getting married to Scorpius Malfoy, of all people.
There are so many people here; I wonder how the Malfoys are even taking it. You can see the small knot of blonde somewhere near the front, clustered together. As if they could protect their family from being defiled by the Weasley/Potter family just by huddling together. It's kind of funny.
My family fills the rest of the seats. Well, there are a few for Scorpius' friends, but half of them are my family so… And I guess Lily's got a couple of friends here as well, but I have long since lost track of where they settled.
The music starts to play and we all turn to see my sister, trailed by some cousins, looking happier than I've ever seen her. We all stand up as she walks past. Vera's right by me. She squeezes my arm. "Oh, she looks gorgeous," she hummed.
I turn to her and smile, it's not often she comments on anyone's appearance in a good way. I don't miss a beat as I tell her, "Not as gorgeous as you."
She gives me a playful slap on the arm, "I'm aware of how I look. But shush, this is Lily's day." We sit down with the crowd. We listen to them exchange vows and all the mush and what not. I can't really focus. Vera's leaning on my arm and slowly running her thumb over my hand. It is remarkably distracting. I can't believe that after years, sometimes these little touches still make it hard to focus.
"They're a bit young," I murmur as they continue talking.
"And what were we, wise old sages?" she retorts quietly.
I let out a small laugh. We sit quietly through the rest of the ceremony. Then, all of a sudden, my baby sister is married. It's almost too much to happen. Al getting married was one thing, but I still see her as the little girl who turned me into a slug when we were very little and not in control of our magic. Vera nudged me to get me out of my memories.
We stand and the couple walks down the aisle. My sister catches Vera's eye. Vera points down to her slightly swollen belly and then winks. Lily blushes and passes by with her husband. I roll my eyes. Leave it to her to make a pregnancy a dirty thing.
Slowly the chairs begin to empty as my family goes to congratulate the couple. We sit quietly in our chairs. Well, as quiet as Vera can be. Vera's babbling about how so and so's outfit looks like a train wreck or so and so from school has gained so much weight and how it really doesn't suit him. I just sit and listen. It's nice, being with her like this.
God, I love her.
