Caleb and Marta Keel have been reunited. Officially, I have completed this missing person's case. Unoffically, I still have a few loose ends to tie up.
First I have to get through tonight's toasts and roasts, as well as getting the whole 'tumbling down the aisle' thing out of my system. I leave work early and head over to my future in-laws's, Fleur and Bill Weasley, home. Victorie is already there, changing out of her work clothes and into a flowery sun dress. I go over to a hallway mirror and turn my hair into a bright shade of purple after changing my own clothes into a sleek, stylish pair of robes from our friend Evie's not yet released collection.
"I still don't know why you need an espresso bar for ze reception," Victoire's mother complained.
"It'll be cool, mum," Victoire retorts. "Everyone loves lattes, except Teddy, and he's weird."
"What's this?" I hear Bill Weasey yell from the attic. He's looking for the cuff links from when he got married. Since I gave Victoire my mother's necklace, she wanted to give me something from her family.
Bill slides down the latter and hands me a small blue box, while he studies an envelope. "Do Not Open until July 28, 2022?" He reads, ripping open the letter. His eyes widen a bit and he stuffs the letter in his pocket.
"What is it dad?" Victoire asks.
"Something Remus gave to me when Teddy was born. Not important."
Victoire takes the letter out of his pocket and reads it. "Well, this would have been useful a while go," Victoire tells me, handing me the letter written in the now-familiar script.
Bill,
Teddy is at Andromeda's house on September 19, 1997.
Remus.
"Um..Sorry?" Bill says, taking back the letter.
"Hey, no harm, no foul."
Ten minutes later we're standing in the chapel. Victoire is chatting away with her bridesmaids, Chelsea, Evie and her French second cousin, Juliette. Her sister Dominique is busy trying to keep their two littlest cousins, Cosette and Pierre, the flower girl and ring bearer, in line.
"Do I have to wear a tux?" Lily asks me. I turn to her and roll my eyes.
"Didn't you already get bridesmaid's dress?"
"Yeah, but I'm a groomswomen. Don't I get a tuxedo?"
"I thought you were a bridesmaid?"
"Yeah, well, Vic and I are cousins and all, but she only asked me to be a bridesmaid to because she knows you and I are so close. Louis and I thought we'd drop the pretense and call each other groomswomen and bridesmen. Aren't we genius?"
"Well, do you see Louis wearing a dress?"
"No."
"Then no."
Lily rolls her eyes and sits on the bench next to me. Al, James, Robert, Louis and Carter arrive. Victoire notices everyone is here and gathers everyone up.
"Alright," She says. "Teddy's going to come down the aisle first with the minister. Then we'll have the bridesmaids-"
"And bridesmen!" Louis interrupts.
"What? What's that? Stop interrupting me," Victoire says, angrily. "So we'll have Dominique and Robert, the Maid of Honor and Best Man, walk down together. Then Chelsea and James, Al and Evie and Juliette and Carter. Finally, we will have Louis and Lily."
"Since we're different. Special." Lily interrupted.
"Yes. Special. Finally, I'll walk down the aisle, looking more beautiful then any of you all. Ready to start?"
We all nod. I stand at the back of the chapel while the wedding planner sets up the record with the practice music in it.
"Hey, Teddy," Lily whispers as she gets into position.
"What?"
"If my soul inhabited your body, I would not let your magical augmentation, Metamorphmagusism, anti-equilibrium lower limb motor disorder interfere with your holy matrimony."
"Did you just say that to make me figure out what the hell you just said while I'm supposed to be worried about not tripping?"
She does not answer. The wedding planner is ushering me forward.
Okay, you can do this. Just don't walk too fast or too slow, and don't try to translate what Lily just said.
The music starts as I start to make my way down the aisle. Wait a moment, this isn't the wedding march! Oh wait, I don't walk to that: Victoire does.
"Ted, you're not the bride. You can walk faster," The wedding planner commands, gesturing at me to move faster. I speed up and make it to the alter without slipping. Cosette and Pierre walk down the aisle thoroughly confused without their basket of flower petals and ring cushion. The bridesmaids and groomsmen make it to the front, no problem. Then it's Victoire's turn.
"Dun dun duh dun," Victorie sings quietly with the record.
"Victorie, you're walking too fast," The wedding planner tells her. "This isn't a shotgun wedding!"
"That's what you think," Victorie says quietly as she makes her way to the front.
"What?" I exclaim. "You're pregnant?!" I yell, stumbling backwards into the candle, knocking over the cross and banging my head onto the alter. Lily descends into a fit of giggles.
"I was joking, Teddy," Victoire says as she kneels down to lift me up. "Is your head okay?" she asks as she conjures up an ice pack.
"Great, now we have to start over," The wedding planner says. "Everyone back to the beginning!"
"My head hurts!" I moan. "Can we have dinner now?"
"Do you want your wedding to be a disaster?" She asks.
"Let's just get to the vows," Vic complains.
"Fine!" She exclaims. "But don't blame me when the wedding goes wrong!"
The rest of the wedding rehearsal does not go off without a hitch. The wedding planner pretends to be the minister when asking me if I actually want to go through with this "Do you, Edward Remus Lupin, take this woman, Victorie Isabelle Weasley, -"
"Who the hell is Edward?"
"That's your name, Teddy," Victoire whispers.
"Oh. Oh right, I forgot."
"Teddy, I think it would be best if just say 'I do' and repeat after me without thinking about what's being said," The wedding planner tells me.
"When do we get to the part where we make out?" Victoire asks.
"Just kiss; don't make out. That's gross."
We eventually get through this disaster and head off to The Leaky Caldron for dinner.
"-And then Teddy knocks over all the candles and knocks his head on the alter!" Victoire tells our family animatedly. I laugh along the rest of them, nestled between Victoire and Lily at the cramped table. Between all of the Weaslys (and I do mean all of them), Vic's maternal grandparents, her aunt and uncle Gabrielle and Philipe, and the wedding party, I'm not sure why any sane person let us in.
"I still don't know what a shotgun wedding is!" Cosette moans.
"Oh, it's simple" James explains "it's just when the the bride and groom have to get married quickly because the bride is knock-"
"Kids!" Gabrielle exclaims, quickly covering her children's ears. "Zey can know when zey're older!"
"Hi!" Hannah Longbottom, owner of The Leaky Caldron, exclaims to the table. "How you all doing tonight? Has Tammy brought the menus? She's new, you know, but the waitstaff seems to haze the newbies by giving them the party tables," She explains.
"Tammy's been doing great," Victoire assures her.
"Glad everyones doing alright," Hannah's husband, Professor Longbottom, says upon entering the room.
"Ah! School!" Al exclaims, ducking under the table.
"Albus, get up!" Ginny commands. "Are you in trouble again?"
"Hi, Professor!" Victoire and I say in unison.
"You can call me Neville now, you know," He tells us.
"No can do, Professor," I assure him. "That's weird."
"I know what you mean. Your dad told me to call him Remus back at the Department of Mysteries. Couldn't do it. I heard you guys are trying to clean that mess up," He adds to Victoire.
"Heard? Who told you!" James exclaims. "Vic, we have to report them!"
"Relax, James. If we had to call in every time someone let slip that Uncle Harry and those Death Eaters broke, like, everything, we'd never get any work done."
The rest of the dinner continues in good spirits. The food is good, and it seems like everyone has a sarcastic comment or two to tell Vic and I.
Partway through dinner, I turn to Lily and grab one of her chips. "I have a job for you on Saturday," I tell her.
"What is it?" She asks, grabbing my drink and taking a swig. She nearly spits it out. "What is that?"
"That is Firewiskey and soda water. You should stick with Butterbeer," I tell her as she grabs a sugar cube and places it on her tongue. "Pay special attention to Russell Baker, alright?"
She salutes. "Can do, Captain."
The next morning I make my way over to Healer Ray's house for the third time this week. This morning, he's tending to his herb garden, pulling up weeds and examining plants for bug and animal bites.
"Healer Ray!" I yell, getting his attention.
"Mister Grey. Come over here and help."
I knell beside him, thankful I had opted for muggle jeans this morning. He handed me a pair of gloves and instructed me to put them on.
"These are the weeds. Pull them up, but don't touch the herbs," He commands, showing me a small tuff of grass. I reach into the soil and pull one out, showing it to him as if to ask if I did it right. He nods.
"Did you read the Sport's section yesterday?" I ask.
"If you're here to talk quidditch,I don't have the time."
"Time? What? Aren't you unemployed? How do you get money anyway?"
"I grow herbs for the apothecary, thank you very much. I'm one of their best suppliers. Mine are very fresh."
"Whatever. Russell Baker was featured in Wesnday's section in an article written by Ginny Potter. We found out he was born as Caleb Keel, and was renamed Russell by Greyback's people because of his red hair."
"You found him?" Healer ray asks, dropping the weed he had in his hand.
"Yeah," I say, pulling a piece of parchment from my pocket. "Here's his address. Now, I invited him to my wedding tomorrow, and he wouldn't miss a chance to see my friend Chelsea, so you better get there either today or tomorrow before eleven."
"Has Marta told him about me?"
"No idea. But remember, you promised me you'd talk to him."
"I don't want to just go to his house and bother him like that."
"Fine," I stand up and throw the gloves on the ground beside him. "Noon tomorrow. Seaside Chapel in Southern England. He'll be there. I expect you to be there too. If you don't talk to him there, I'll know."
"You remind me of Remus," He tells me, seemingly out of nowhere.
"What?" I ask.
"He would have had this same conversation with me. Damn hypocrite," He says. "You know, I told him your father was a werewolf next time I saw him. I asked him how you were, and he told me you'd gone home and you were fine. He never mentioned you and Lainey were time travelers. Didn't even know until the damn Boy Who Lived and his kid showed up at my doorstep."
"He already knew," I tell Healer Ray. "I told him I was his son."
"You told him!?" Healer Ray asks in shock. "Why the hell did you do that?"
"So he wouldn't kill himself, obviously. And he had already just about figured it out."
"Oh. Well, he told me he already knew your father was a werewolf and got really mad that I broke our agreement. The two of you are just that kind of people, you know? Both very honest."
I stare at him for a few seconds, wondering if perhaps he's trying to divert my attention. "Do you have any Wiggenweld?"
"Wiggenweld? Why?"
"I promised a friend of mine I'd get her some fresh herbs. They're in season, right?"
Healer Ray reaches over to another part of the garden and gives me a bunch of Wiggenweld "How much do I owe you?" I ask.
"They're on the house."
"I want to see you at noon tomorrow. Come to the reception. Victoire got an espresso bar."
Author's Note: I gave Victoire the same middle name as her mother because I have the same the same middle name as my mother and variations on that name stretch back a few generations. Also, I tend to forget my "fancy" name because literally everyone calls me a nickname, like Teddy. When I read Teddy's name was really Edward, I was like wWhHaAtT? Now I have three characters with Twilight names in this story! And two named Edward (Teddy and Eddie Sinclair)! Dammit. Also, last chapter when the names "Richard, Jason, Caleb, Tim" are listed off, the non-Caleb names have something in common. Virtual cookie if you guess it! Hint: I 3 Damien and Stephanie, their names just didn't work in the list.