Lily and Andrew slept with their backs to each other the whole night. She had been unable to really convince him that Scorpius meant nothing. Mostly because she wasn't quite able to convince herself. She wasn't sure if it was him or if it was the idea of him that excited her. She was leaning towards it being the idea of him. And that was not a good enough reason to destroy a good working relationship. She was getting married on Sunday. And she loved Andrew. Didn't she?
She woke up the next morning in a foul mood. Which wasn't helped by Rose spinning around the house looking entirely too pleased with herself.
"Why are you so happy?" she growled at her cousin.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Rose said cheerily.
The truth was that Rose had been put in charge of procuring the alcohol for the party tonight as Sorenson's Spirits had proven to be woefully inept and she was attacking her task with enthusiasm.
Her parents watched the vast quantities of alcohol moving into the kitchen with a mixture of awe and horror. How on earth had their daughter gotten her hands on so much booze?
"See I do have my uses," Rose said, triumphantly, brandishing a bottle of tequila.
"What is that?" her father asked, suspiciously poking a bottle of vodka with his wand. "Are you sure whoever you're sourcing this from isn't ripping you off? It looks like water."
"It's Muggle alcohol dad," she said patiently. "It's designed that way so Muggles can put it into water bottles and pretend they aren't in fact alcoholics."
"That explanation's a little bit off the mark," her mother began. "It's actually made out of potatoes so-"
"Got it Hermione," Ron said, examining it closely. "Not water."
"It's Muggle alcohol Ron," Hermione warned. "You know what happens when you have Muggle alcohol."
He grudgingly put the bottle down. "Didn't want it anyway," he said. "Muggle alcohol tastes like Niffler's piss."
"And when have you had Niffler's piss?" his niece Lucy asked him brightly.
"It's a phrase," he said huffily. "And keep your dog away from my slippers. He's a menace."
"Badger's the best," Lucy said hotly. "He's not a menace."
"You're right," her uncle said. "You are. Why on earth would you leak that story about that twat McLaggen? He thinks I did it."
"Well since I work for you, you must know that you pay me peanuts," Lucy said candidly. "It's a way to supplement my income."
"Well I'd rather you didn't supplement your income by destroying my career," Ron said.
Lucy just snorted. "Like that could happen. And don't even act upset. You were thrilled. You loathe McLaggen."
"That's true," Ron admitted. "But I'd rather you didn't reveal department secrets."
"Please," Lucy said. "McLaggen accidentally blowing up a Muggle outhouse and apparating into the Ministry covered in poo is hardly a department secret."
"Lucy," her uncle groaned. "Don't be annoying."
Just then Badger started barking excitedly. The fire became green and two wizards stepped out. Often called Beauty and the Beast at school Xavier Black and Daniel Wood had been joined at the hip. Xavier Black had inherited his Welsh mother's pale skin and raven black hair. Almost six foot four, with a long aquiline nose and the most enchanting lilting cadence in his voice he was undoubtedly the Beauty.
Daniel Wood on the other hand was rather less glamourous looking. Only about five foot seven and rather stocky he had gone through an exceedingly awkward phase that started when he was thirteen and only ended when he had been out of Hogwarts for two years, the unfortunate moniker of Beast belonged to him. A thatch of brownish hair and a sprinkling of freckles did nothing to improve his looks but despite his slightly unappealing visage he had a sort of sweetness that shone through his face and made him irresistible to most people. He had stubbornly clung to his Australian accent, having lived there from the ages six to eleven. His parents had decided to move back to put him at Hogwarts. His father had declared that it was the best school in the world and he would be damned if he let his child be ruined by the Australian idiots who couldn't play Quidditch to save their lives. He had briefly been involved with Rose during his last year and he was one of the few ex-flings that she didn't really mind having around.
"What are you here for?" Lily asked Daniel rudely. "I didn't invite you."
"How ya' doing little Potter?" he asked wrapping his arms around her. She smiled into his shoulder. "It's great to see you all grown up and getting married."
"I would've invited you if I knew where the fuck you were," she said accusingly.
"Sorry little Potter," he said. "Owls don't like the outback much."
"I don't like you much," she mumbled. "Arse."
He just grinned and went in search of James, Fred and Dom, who he missed terribly.
"Hey," Xavier grinned sweeping Lily up in his embrace.
"You don't know how happy I am to see you," she said.
"Thrilled to see you too love," he said.
"You need a haircut," she said fondly brushing his messy hair off his forehead.
"Who are you my mother?" he asked, amused.
"Your mother doesn't care about your hair," she said. And that was true. Xavier Black's mother was a renowned Welsh beauty who was now on her fourth husband. She had had Xavier when she was barely out of her teens and he had had a fairly unpredictable life till the age of eleven. This odd upbringing had given him a rather different outlook on life and he could often see good in situations where, frankly there wasn't any.
"Oh go find James," Lily said, seeing him looking over her shoulder for her brother. "We can talk later. Rose wants to make my rehearsal dinner into some kind of rave and I need to sort it out."
"Good luck with that," Xavier said. He had never been Rose's biggest fan.
"I'll need it," Lily said fervently.
Rose had in the meantime produce numerous shot glasses from Merlin knows where. Lily hoped she hadn't just used a replication charm because the replicas tended to be flimsy and she had enough to worry about as it was.
"Relax," Rose said, as if reading Lily's mind. "It isn't a replication charm."
"Why are you so excited about this?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"I'm going to get your brother laid," Rose said, with a gleam in her eye.
"So you've made up then?" Lily asked. She felt slightly annoyed. When she was younger it had always been Albus and Rose versus the rest of the world and the rest of the world invariably included her.
"Why?" Lily asked.
"Because he needs it," Rose said cryptically.
Lily sighed. They were back to keeping secrets.
"Well who's the lucky girl then?" she asked.
Excitement at seeing Malfoy again and happiness at having her best friend back made Rose less guarded.
"Donna Moss," she said. "She seems appropriate."
Appropriate? What the fuck was Rose on about Lily wondered.
"Please don't fuck her up," Lily said. "She actually is very nice and is going to be my sister-in-law."
"Don't worry about it," Rose said. "We're always extremely good with this sort of thing."
"Are you really?" Lily said skeptically.
"Exceptionally good at this," Rose said confidently.
"Just make sure no one gets alcohol poisoning," Lily sighed, giving up.
a/n: So this was a slight filler. and introducing new characters! Yay :) We aren't at the rehearsal dinner quite yet and I hope you like it. Sorry for the lack of updates but I did say I was going to be a little bit busy. Anyway please tell me what you think :)