A/N: I'm taking next week off for Holy Week and Easter, but I'll be back with two chapters on April 18th.
Al was actually taken aback by the response.
Craig and many of his mates were incredibly disappointed that he was getting married so far away. They'd had ideas of a grand stag do and of so many other things that Al was partly relieved he wouldn't be subjected too. But their chapfallen faces left him feeling just a bit guilty.
Al pushed open the door to his flat and smiled when he found El typing away on her laptop.
"Hey love," she smiled up at him. "How was class?"
"Weird," Al set his bag down before kissing her.
"How so?"
"My mates, specifically Craig, are pretty put out with me about the wedding being away from here. Which I don't get, it's not their wedding, but whatever."
Ellie chuckled as Al moved to the fridge. "They love you and they're sad they'll be missing this part of your life. Probably a lot like my friends."
Al let her words run through his head a couple of times.
"So our Muggle England friends feel left out?"
"Exactly." Ellie sighed. "Aunt Susan actually cried when she told me they couldn't make it out to St. John's for the wedding."
Al groaned. "I swear, every time I feel like I've got a handle on this I get knocked back."
"A handle on what?"
"On knowing what to expect from people," Al plopped down next to Ellie on the small sofa.
Ellie laughed, "I don't think anyone actually figures that out, love. People do follow patterns sometimes, but they often throw those patterns away for new ones. Look at you."
"You just threw me in my own face." Al chuckled and kissed her.
"But do we do something?" Al asked after a moment. "Both my mates and yours are put out. Your aunt cried. I thought people were supposed to be happy when they found out you were getting married."
Ellie sighed, "I think we both weren't doing as well as we thought we were at living in both worlds. We actually have two lives. We have our Muggle lives with our Muggle friends and my aunt and uncle. Then we have our Wizarding lives with each other and our families."
"It's not our fault, the Statute of Secrecy keeps us from letting Muggles know what we are. I mean, you couldn't Apparate in Muggle areas until 10 years ago if you weren't an Auror. We're doing the best we can."
Ellie pushed her laptop to the coffee table and curled into him.
"You're right. But I think maybe we need to think about how we really have two lives that we need to include somehow."
"A party? It would cut our honeymoon shorter but we could do something small. This flat isn't huge but it could work."
Ellie grinned. "Al you're a genius!"
"I've never actually been tested for that one," Al laughed.
Ellie shook her head and laughed with him. "A party would be exactly the thing, though! And I'm sure Aunt Susan and Uncle Charlie would let us use their diner. We'd have our wedding in St. John's and then have our honeymoon and then have a party here for everyone in our Muggle lives and then no one feels like they're cut out."
"Those two weeks before summer courses start are going to be a whirlwind." Al chuckled, "But I think it's a great idea."
El wrapped her arms around Al's neck and kissed him. "Is that alright? Are you going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine," Al nuzzled her neck.
"So I should go talk to Aunt Susan, then?"
"What's the rush?" Al pulled back a bit confused.
Ellie laughed. "Darling, we only have four and a half months to put this together. If we're going to do it, we need to get the ball rolling."
Al chuckled, "See all I heard was I have four and a half months before your mine for good."
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Your selective hearing is going to get us in trouble."
Al kissed her. "Go do the wedding things and let me know what I can do to help, alright?"
Ellie kissed him again before standing and grabbing her bag. "I'll see you tomorrow at the diner?"
"Wouldn't miss it," Al stood with her but grabbed her hand when a thought occurred to him.
"Hey, before you go, I want you to think about if working for your aunt and uncle is something you want to keep doing. Because the line is bringing in enough money that you don't have to do that if you don't want to."
Ellie paused a moment before her smile hit him full force. "You mean, I could paint? All day?"
Al chuckled and pulled her into him again. "That has been my goal these last few months."
And then there were tears in her eyes and she threw herself at him, kissing him with a force that had Al leading them back down to the sofa they'd just vacated.
"Thank you!" She murmured against his lips. "Thank you so much!"
Al wiped one of her happy tears from her cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too," she kissed him again, her hands sliding under his shirt.
"What happened to you needing to get to wedding stuff?" He teased as his hands followed her lead.
"That was before I knew I would also be giving Aunt Susan and Uncle Charlie my notice." She kissed along his jaw and Al gripped her waist.
"Ah, getting yourself prepared for the fallout then." Al pulled her down over him as he lay back.
"Nope," El smiled against him, "I'm celebrating."
Al was happy to oblige her celebration for sometime before Ellie finally did manage to make it back to her aunt and uncle's home.
He grinned when she called later that evening. "We're all set for the party. Uncle Charlie's even going to cater it for us."
"That's great, love." Al leaned back against the sofa. "What are you up to?"
"I'm getting ready for bed. Some of us have to be awake before the sun, you know."
"Four more months and you can sleep as late as you want to."
"You're making me want to throw it all away and elope with you."
"Your dad would kill me."
"He would," Ellie laughed. "And mum would make Nmi' bring you back to life so she could kill you next."
"You know, before I met your grandma I would have thought you were joking, but if anyone can bring the dead back it's Naomi." Al looked down at the textbook in his lap and sighed.
"You're studying, aren't you?"
"How could you tell?"
"You gave that, 'I don't want to be studying, I want to be kissing' sigh."
Al laughed, "Is that what it was? And here I thought it was just me feeling drained."
"Nope, you always kiss me after that sigh."
Al grinned at the smug tone she used.
"Too bad you're not here." Ellie teased. "Then you could kiss me all you want."
"That bed of yours isn't big enough for you, let alone the two of us." Al laughed. "So what you really mean to say is too bad you aren't here."
"Touché," Ellie laughed, "Guess you'll just have to think about when I won't need to get up so early."
"I won't get anything done with that thought process," Al smiled as his brain replayed the last few days of Ellie being in what he was starting to think of as their flat.
Ellie chuckled. "What a shame."
"I'll live," Al smiled and indulged his brain in what their future held.
