I know, this is wayyy late. But this is the last time I'll ever be late updating on this story again. Because we have reached the end, people. We're through.
I've broken this epilogue into two chapters, but I'm releasing them simultaneously.
Before I start, I just want to thank everyone who has stuck with me from the beginning, everyone who's ever reviewed, and/or favorited or alerted this story. I appreciate all of the feedback and writing this story has been so much fun for me. I'm just glad I could share it with everyone out there. Thanks again, because it really means a lot that people are interested in what I'm writing.
These final two chapters are dedicated to AnotherHPF (for finally pressuring me to post) and also to SunnyDropped.
I now present to you the last two installments of Love and War.
--
I stare out the window of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, simply enjoying the view. It's still amazing to me how less than a year ago, people wouldn't even walk these streets in fear of an attack. Now, it couldn't be more different. People are everywhere! Hogwarts just got out a few days ago for Christmas break and students are bouncing from shop to shop, chattering joyfully about what they're going to do with the rest of their vacation. As the clouds open up and snow begins to fall to the ground, I'm left in awe.
It's only been seven months since You-Know-Who was killed. Seven months since I've worried about anything more than meeting a deadline for The Daily Prophet. Seven months since I lost my best friend.
And in less than a week I am going to be walking down the aisle to become Mrs. Oliver Wood. Me! The girl who swore guys had cooties until I turned twelve. The girl who always made fun of those people who got married straight out of school. And not only am I breaking all of my own rules about marriage, but I really don't care. Because I really am in love.
You know, I never even knew it was possibly to feel this abundantly happy about anything. I really didn't. I've never been as happy as I am with Oliver. But this whole wedding thing…that I could do without.
Have you ever planned a wedding? It's not fun, let me tell you. If for no other reason than it took me two months to find a wedding dress. Two fucking months of Leanne, Angelina, and Alicia all breathing down my neck about how I was going to have to pick one soon or I was going to be walking down the aisle in a garbage bag. And I still haven't completely ruled that option out…
Oliver and I should have just put this off for a few more months, but he is still too scared to face his grandmother. We told her it was in December and she was willing to accept nothing less than a December wedding. Just my luck.
I don't mind though. I like this weather much better than summer. The world just seems so much more alive in the winter—even if technically everything's dead. I just like it.
"Hey, Kates," George says, coming over to me after he kicks the last customer out for the day. "I'm off to Ollie's bachelor party. Can you lock up?"
"Already on it," I say, pulling myself from the window and grabbing the proffered keys from George's hand.
"Thanks. Wait…aren't you supposed to already be at your own party? I can get Ron to close up."
"Ron left twenty minutes ago," I laugh. "Hermione stopped by and he left with her."
"Okay, but you never answered my question. Aren't you supposed to be at your own bachelorette party?"
I look down at my watch and up again at George. "Oh yeah, I guess I am."
"Give me the keys," he sighs and before I can pull them away, he snatches them from me. "Parties may not be your thing, but I'm not letting you miss this. Go meet Mallory!"
I groan, but make my way towards the door nevertheless. "Tell Oliver I'm going to kill him for making me do this."
"No problem."
I wrap my scarf around my neck more tightly and step into the frigid air before Disapparating to Hogsmeade. Oliver gets to use the Leaky Cauldron, I get the Three Broomsticks. But first, I've got to stop by Leanne's.
I Apparate right to her front door but before I can knock, the door opens.
"Oh hello, Katie," Cullen says happily, giving me a quick hug.
"Hey, Cullen," I respond. "Leanne is here, right?"
"Yeah, go on in. I'm off to your fiancé's bachelor party. Have any idea what we're doing?"
"Does the agenda change from bachelor party to bachelor party? Booze and strippers?" I smirk.
"Yeah, not really. So, I'll see you at the rehearsal tomorrow?"
"No, I think I'm going to skip that," I joke.
"Funny. Later, Katie."
"Bye." I enter the house and the first thing that I hear is a baby screaming. A broad smile spreads across my face and I drop my bag onto the floor. Sara has grown to be my favorite person in the entire world. She's been like a breath of fresh air during all of this wedding planning. I make my way into the nursery.
Leanne is bouncing from foot to foot, frantically trying to get her daughter to stop crying. Her back is to me and Sara is on her shoulder. Sara looks at me and her tears stall. I wave at her and she starts laughing.
"Thank God," Leanne mutters and turns around. She jumps slightly when she sees me, but quickly recovers. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry," I say, making my way over to Sara who is holding her arms out for me to hold her. "Hey, honey," I say, taking her from Leanne. "How are you? You good? Are you doing good?"
"I wish you wouldn't talk to her like that," Leanne says, taking a seat in a nearby rocking chair.
"Like what?"
"That baby talk. I read that it's not good for her speech development."
"But she likes my baby talk. Don't you, Sara?" As if to answer my question, Sara brings her hands together and claps.
"I give up," Leanne groans.
"If it really bothers you, I'll stop," I say.
"No, it's fine," she groans. "Why are you here anyway? Isn't your party tonight?"
"Yeah. It's over at the Three Broomsticks, but I wanted to see Sara first. Are you sure you can't come?"
"I couldn't find a babysitter for three days in a row, so I'm just going to have to sit this one out. Unless you'd prefer that I skip either the rehearsal or the wedding…"
"Ha ha. Yeah, not a good idea, thank you very much." Leanne laughs with me and then grabs Sara from my arms.
"Katie, get to the Three Broomsticks and forget about me."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. Now get down there before Mallory kills me."
"Okay. But I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye, Katie."
I make my way back out of the house and head towards the Three Broomsticks. Leanne is my Maid of Honor, but since she wasn't going to be able to make it to the bachelorette party, she gave that task to Mallory. Angelina and Alicia are my other bridesmaids. And all four of them haven't left me alone for months. In fact, I have barely seen Oliver at all over the past week.
Angelina insisted that I stay at her flat before the wedding. I had lunch with him yesterday, but other than that I've barely seen him at all.
I open the door to the bar and am immediately overtaken by a gaggle of my friends. And although I love my friends, I really hate parties. And I'm actually not that fond of drinking, either.
Within seconds I have a firewhiskey pressed into my hand and I'm being ushered to a large private room near the back.
"Katie, my dear!" Mallory calls across the room and I make my way over to her.
"Wow, you really outdid yourself," I say, looking around the room at the myriad of people present.
"I tried," she shrugs. "But this is only the first stop, just so you know."
"Where else are we going?" I ask, immediately alarmed.
"You'll find out later," she coos.
"Where else are we going?" I repeat.
"Well, you can't have a bachelorette party without strippers," Angelina says, coming up behind me.
"Ugh, yes you can!" I say as Angelina begins walking off with a smirk on her face. "Yes you can! Angelina, get back here!" I hear laughter behind me and turn to find Alicia standing with Mallory, a smirk also present on her face. "Alicia, you were in on this too?"
"Sorry, Kates, but you're the first one in our old group to get married—we had to go all out!"
"No, no, no you didn't!"
"Stop complaining and start drinking," Angelina says, coming back from across the room. "Go on; take a sip." In order to shut her up, I take a large gulp of my firewhiskey. I think I'm going to need it.
"Happy?" I ask. She just smiles and makes her way over to where several of my co-workers are dancing.
"Just relax, Katie," Mallory says, also heading over to dance. I roll my eyes and Alicia pats me on the back as she too passes me.
I wish I had friends who were a bit more understanding…
I spend the next few hours bouncing from group to group, talking to all of the various people that Mallory invited to this get-together. After a while, however, I just can't take it anymore and I take a seat at an empty table. I'm left to my own devices for a few minutes, but it isn't long before Mallory spots me and makes her way over.
"Katie, what's wrong? If you really don't want the strippers, I'll call and cancel."
I shake my head. "I'm not upset about that," I argue.
"So we can keep the strippers?" she asks, nudging me in the side with a laugh. I roll my eyes, but can't contain my smile.
"Oliver's going to kill me when he finds out about this."
"It's not like he's not doing the same thing tonight," Mallory argues. "Not if I know Ben—which, I think I do."
"What's it like being married?" I ask suddenly. Mallory looks rather taken aback by the question, but thinks it through before answering.
"I loved Ben before I married him and I love him even more now. And I don't think that's going to change any time soon. You hear people talking about how they fall out of love once they get married, but I don't see it. As long as you wait for the right person. And I have no doubt that Oliver is your right person. Don't worry about it. Plus, the sex is so much better now."
"Oh yeah, that's what I'm worried about," I say sarcastically.
"That's right," Mallory smirks. "You're not getting any, are you?"
"Shut up! That is by no choice of mine and you know it."
"I still don't understand what's going through Oliver's head. You two have dated for about three years—maybe not consecutively, but…"
"Yeah, I know. I thought at first that he just wanted to wait since we were already engaged, but I found out last week that he's actually religious."
"Religious?"
"Yeah, he's Catholic or something. I had to go to some pre-marital counseling with his preacher or bishop or pope or whatever those people are called. It was incredibly awkward."
"I can imagine. So are you sure you're all right?"
"Mal, I'm fine. I swear."
"Then why are you moping around over here?"
"Because you ordered me a stripper," I pout. Mallory smiles, but I can tell she sees right through me.
"Tell me what's really wrong."
"I just miss Oliver," I say. "I feel like I haven't seen him in ages."
"You're seriously sitting at your bachelorette party whining because you want to see your fiancé?"
"Is that bad?" I laugh.
"Yes. We need to get you out of here right now!"
"Mallory!"
"No, we're leaving. It's time for stop number two."
--
Stop number two turns out to be Mallory's place. I assume she told Ben to stay away because if she plans on having strippers here and Ben comes home early, we could have a problem.
I try to call Oliver several times as we make our way across town, but he doesn't answer his phone. It was actually pretty pointless of me to get him a mobile. He still doesn't know how to use it.
Most of the girls that followed us here are pissed beyond belief and I'm beginning to find this whole ordeal rather amusing.
"Angelina, this is ridiculous," I laugh, grabbing her arm as I watch Grace and a few other co-workers break into song while dancing on Mallory's kitchen table. If she hadn't consumed as much alcohol as she had, she'd probably be hysterical right now about people ruining her furniture.
"This is fun," she argues. "My bachelorette party better be this good!"
"You set a date yet?"
"Um…still thinking. Maybe sometime in March?" I just roll my eyes as she takes another swig of her firewhiskey. "C'mon, Katie. Lighten up!"
I try to lighten up, I really do. I'm just uncomfortable in situations like this.
It's not too long afterwards that the doorbell rings. I know immediately that my worst nightmare has just come knocking. Call me a prude, but I'm honestly sickened by the idea of seeing some guy I don't know naked.
Sure enough, when Mallory opens the door a guy stands on the other side in an ostentatiously tight costume. I groan to myself as Mallory points me out. The stripper approaches me, dancing along with the music, and quickly sheds his shirt.
And that's when I start running.
"Sorry, Mallory," I cry as I make my way out of the back door. She just laughs and waves as I escape. I doubt she expected me to stay in the first place.
--
I think about going straight to Angelina's so I can get some sleep, but I just feel too lonely at the moment. I know there's next to no chance that Oliver's through with his party, but there's no harm in making sure. I Apparate to the flat that we share and walk to the door.
I don't see any lights on, but I ring the bell nevertheless.
No response.
I ring it again.
Still nothing.
I groan and take a seat on the front step. I just really want to see Oliver right now. This is completely unfair!
I'm taken aback as suddenly the door behind me opens. I turn in surprise to find a groggy Oliver standing there.
"What happened to your key?" he asks with a smirk as he struggles to open his eyes.
"Have you been asleep?" I ask, standing up from the steps. He shrugs.
"What are you doing back so soon, Kates? I told Mallory to give you a good time."
"Well you shouldn't have done that—she ordered me a stripper!" Oliver starts laughing.
"And how did you like that?"
"I ran out of the house and came straight here. Why are you home so early?"
"It's a long story," he chuckles, ushering me into the living room. We take a seat on the sofa.
"I have time," I say, shrugging out of my coat.
"Well, to make a long story short, Nolan got piss drunk and started hitting on some birds who really didn't want his attention. Now, rejection isn't something Nolan's used to…spells were fired. At him."
"Is he okay?" I ask, wanting desperately to laugh.
"He's fine," Oliver sighs, "but I volunteered to take him home. Ben almost didn't let me go."
"Well he did spend time planning this bachelor party for you…"
"And his wife spent time planning yours," he counters.
"Touché. I'm assuming you at least stayed for the strippers, though," I say. I look over at Oliver questioningly.
"You don't give me enough credit," he smirks.
"Oh really? So you left before they got there?"
"Now, Katie that would just be rude. Ben paid good money for them, after all." I reach across the sofa and slap him on the arm. "They were there," Oliver clarifies, "but I was more worried about Nolan not bleeding on the floor. I wasn't paying much attention. It's not really my thing."
"Girls aren't your thing?" I laugh. "It's a wonder your teammates don't think you're gay."
"Yes well that could have something to do with the fact that I'm getting married in two days." I look at the clock above the television. It's after midnight.
"It's just over a day now," I correct. "Look." Oliver looks up at the clock and then looks down at me.
"You're not getting cold feet are you?"
"Nope, still warm," I say, snuggling closer to him and resting my head on his shoulder. "What about you?"
"I've never wanted anything more than I want to be married to you." I look up at him and smile, taking in his dark brown eyes.
"I love you, Oliver."
"I love you too, Katie." His lips descend on mine and it feels so nice after days away from him. It feels right.
I don't know why people always get panicky before their wedding day. There is no doubt in my mind that Oliver's the right person for me. I know for a fact that I could never love someone as much as I love Oliver. Because it must be impossible for a heart to feel more than I'm feeling now. I feel full. I feel complete.
"Can I stay here tonight?" I ask when we separate.
"You honestly think that I'm going to let you leave?" Oliver asks. "I've wanted to see you all night." Neither of us wants to move, so Oliver lies down on the couch and pulls me to him. We fall asleep in each others arms.
--
A shrill ringing wakes me up several hours later. I grumble and roll over—straight onto the floor.
"Ow," I breathe. I hear Oliver on the couch above me laughing as he steps over me to answer the phone. "Who the hell is using muggle technology this early in the morning?"
"It's probably your dad," Oliver shrugs.
"He thinks I'm at Angelina's," I counter as Oliver picks up the receiver.
"Hello?...Yeah, she's here…Right now? The rehearsal's at noon…Whatever. I'll tell her…Bye."
"Who was that?" I ask.
"George."
"George knows how to use a phone?"
"Oh, sorry. It was Lee calling for George. George wants you to meet him at the shop."
"Right now? The rehearsal's at noon. That's in like three hours."
"Yeah, that's what I said. But I'm not about to argue with a Weasley twin."
I sigh, but pick myself up off of the floor and enter the bedroom I share with Oliver in order to get dressed. Miraculously, the dress I'm supposed to wear to the rehearsal is lying on Oliver's bed. I suppose that's Angelina's doing. I quickly shower and get ready before saying goodbye to Oliver and Apparating to George's shop.
"Morning, Kates," a voice calls as soon as I walk in. I turn to find Lee stocking shelves.
"What are you doing here?" I ask. I haven't seen him working in the shop in a while. He's been busy doing his own things these past few months. He's actually been working pretty closely with the Ministry in order to tie up some loose ends that You-Know-Who left behind.
"George needed someone to cover for him today since he's taking you—"
"You about to spoil the surprise, Lee?" George asks, appearing out of nowhere.
"Sorry, mate. I'm not too good with secrets."
"Obviously. Listen, if you need help with something, Ron's in the back. Hermione's back there too, though, and she just got off of break from Hogwarts so they're fighting like crazy about something or another. They'll be snogging in about ten minutes though so you might want to time your questions just right."
"I'll keep that in mind," Lee laughs.
"You ready to go?" George asks me.
"That depends," I say. "Where are we going?"
"You look nice," he says, changing the subject. "Let's go." I follow him out of the shop and into the icy streets of Diagon Alley. I pull my coat tighter around me. The two of us just stand there, looking at the passersby for several seconds.
"We're going to visit him, aren't we?" I say.
"Yeah," he answers, digging his hands deeper into his pockets. "If you want to, I mean. It's just…he always talked about you getting married one day. How special it would be. He was more excited about this than Ginny getting married. And since he can't be here, I think we should go to him." I just nod and grab his hand. George Apparates us both to Fred.
The two of us have taken a multitude of trips out to this cemetery in the past few months. Together, we've pushed through this. And I've gotten to the point where I'm able to hear Fred's name and not think about how he's dead. I remember him for what he was when he was alive.
It still hurts, especially when I start thinking about how much he's missing. He's missing my wedding, for example. And George's too.
We make our way over to his grave and take a seat on either side.
"Hey, Fred. It's us," George greets, pulling a bag of crisps out of his pocket.
"You seriously brought food?" I laugh.
"Eh, he doesn't care," George shrugs. "Guess what, Freddie? Kates is getting married tomorrow."
"And George is engaged," I counter.
"I was going to tell him that in my own time!" George says, laughing slightly.
"Hm, sure you were," I say doubtfully.
"You know, this would be much more fun if he would talk back."
"And ten times creepier," I say. George smiles.
We sit there for the next hour, just talking. We try to include Fred into the conversation as often as we can. I love these visits—I really do. It's just good that Fred knows we haven't forgotten him.
"You're going to be late for your rehearsal," George finally says, glancing down at his watch.
"I know," I agree, "But they can't really start it without me."
"Very true. Still, you should probably go."
Even though I don't want to admit it, he's right. I pick up my bag and Disapparate.
--