Chapter 26

Complexity #26: It's not a family function without a little bit of drama.

Time passes by in a blur and I'm not really sure what to do with that. While I know, objectively, that I should be enjoying the wedding planning process, as it's only something I'll get to do once, I can't help but be impatient for James and me to just be married already so that I can stop fretting about things like finding a time where all the bridesmaids can go in for their second fitting.

When I tell James that I almost wish we'd just eloped instead, he expresses concern that I've been body-snatched.

Which, yeah, is fair.

But even so, it takes at least seventeen proposed dates to find a time that works for everyone, and leaves me with the world's biggest headache.

It's too late for it now, but Merlin, I really should've hired a wedding planner to handle all of this for me.

Going to an event that I didn't have to spend hours and hours labouring over is a welcome relief, which is why I'm thrilled the day that Lily and Roxanne's graduation party comes along.

(It also hits me that this will be the first event with James' whole extended family since the two of us made up properly, and I realise that big family events are much more enjoyable when I don't feel like I'm putting on an act the whole time.)

James is in seemingly high spirits as well, relaying the full story of his parents getting the fire pit set up in their backyard as I finish getting ready.

"So technically neither of them was right," he says upon concluding his retelling, which is honestly done in perfect timing considering I'm on my last step.

"Or both of them were right, depending on how you look at it," I reply, pursing my lips together in the mirror to make sure the gloss is evenly distributed.

"I know, but personally, I like the version where they're both wrong. It's funnier that way - oh, are you ready now?"

"Yep - let's go."

The Potter's house is, as Harry promised, the site of a large bonfire, and the space is already pretty crowded, especially given that we're on time for once.

There's a full table lined up with food and drinks, so naturally, that's where we end up going first. The Potters always go all out with their alcohol provisions, and this party is no exception. I end up with whatever colourful cocktail Ginny has mixed up, and James predictably goes straight for the firewhisky.

I'm looking around, trying to figure out who all has and hasn't arrived yet and who James and I should go talk to first, when suddenly, the decision is made for me by the approach of George Weasley.

"James, good to see you!" he exclaims, giving James a hug before turning to me. "And Abby, always a pleasure."

I grin at him. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good," he answers. "The shop's been pretty busy preparing for all the summer traffic, and then, of course, there's the whole 'both my kids have graduated Hogwarts now' thing. What about you, Harry been working you to the ground like usual?"

"Nothing I can't handle," I tell him, and I can almost feel James's eye roll at that white lie. But at least now there's no malice behind it.

"That's good," George replies, clearly missing James' reaction entirely. "And James? How's life now that you know you're getting out of the Ministry in a few months?"

James laughs at that. "Pretty damn good, I've got to say. The office still doesn't know yet, but I'll get to that point eventually."

George opens his mouth to reply, but is completely interrupted by the arrival of his own son.

"You three are blocking the alcohol access," Fred states, in lieu of a proper greeting.

"Also hi, hello, good to see you all," Caroline adds, nudging Freddy with her elbow as she does so.

He nods. "Yes, that too."

James moves over so that he's not blocking Freddy from getting a drink anymore - moving closer to me in the process and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I lean into his touch, which is warm and not at all like the way he'd had his hands all over me for the sake of appearances at events a few months ago. It doesn't feel forced anymore; the shift is nice.

"You could never argue that he's not my son," George comments wistfully, as Freddy pours himself a large drink.

"Grab me one too, love?" Caroline asks.

"Already on it," Freddy answers, holding up a second glass.

At that, George snaps to attention. "Shit, Ang sent me over here to get her a drink. She's probably wondering what the hell is taking me so long."

It's always these moments, when I see Freddy and his dad side-by-side, that it really does sink in just how alike they are. I suppose part of it's due to the fact that they work together - albeit at different stores - and spend a lot of time together because of that, but their similarities are really kind of uncanny sometimes.

It gives me absolutely no hope that Freddy will ever be any less high-energy than he is now. Poor Caroline.

(Although somehow, I don't think she minds all that much.)

"Any progress on the big moving decision?" James asks, and Caroline immediately scowls.

"I'm moving into the flat above the shop," she grumbles. "As soon as my current lease ends."

"Wow, don't sound quite so excited," Freddy replies, handing her the drink he poured for her.

She pouts at him before taking a sip of her drink. "I don't like losing, that's all."

"And the fact that you get to live with your charming, gorgeous boyfriend isn't enough of a consolation prize?"

"I would've got that if I won too though."

"Just take over his space with your decorating style," I tell her. "Make it look so much like your place that you can't even tell it was Freddy's first."

"You sound like you've thought about this," James says, looking down at me, a highly entertained look on his face.

I shrug. "I briefly entertained the idea of us moving into your flat and kicking Freddy out a few years ago. Had to figure out how I'd handle the fact that you two had made it look like a bloody sports pub in there."

"Oi, that place was very well-decorated," Freddy argues. "I've still got most of it in my place now."

I look at Caroline. "My advice stands."

She laughs, and Freddy glares at me.

It's then that I notice Lily - one of the guests of honour at this whole thing - and so I decide to excuse myself from the conversation, removing James's arm from around my shoulder in the process, in pursuit of talking to her.

It's one of the perks of being close with so many members of James's family that I'm not pinned to his side for the entirety of the night at these sorts of events. I can't help but think it's a little funny though, because I wouldn't have left his side a few months ago at an event like this, even if I wanted to. Something about keeping up appearances, whereas now there's no appearance to keep up. We're not hiding anything anymore.

I push the thoughts from my mind as soon as I walk up to Lily, who's wearing a sundress that only shows off a select few of the numerous tattoos I know she's got across her shoulders and chest.

"Went conservative, I see," I comment, looking at the flowers peeking out from her left shirtsleeve, the petals fluttering slightly on her skin.

"And still somehow managed to give Nana Molly a heart attack," she replies, grinning. "Mum told me to start slow with the rest of the family - although I'm not sure what that accomplishes when my answer to all their 'so what are you doing now that you've graduated' questions is 'joining a magical tattoo shop.' "

"Honestly, I don't think anyone in this family is allowed to give you a hard time for that - your uncles run a joke shop of all things."

She smirks. "They'll find a way to give me a hard time no matter what - I'm the rebellious one of the family now."

"You wear the title well," I say, as she takes a large sip of her cocktail. I can tell this is definitely not her first of the night - which, really, is as it should be. James and Al both got completely sloshed at their own parties, so really, it's a family tradition at this point.

"Oh my Merlin, Lily, is that a tattoo?" James questions loudly, appearing by my side. He's grinning to himself, no doubt proud of the fact that he's gotten at least five people to look our way with his outburst.

She fixes him with a glare. "You're the fucking worst, you know that?" she tells him. "This is why I like your fiancée better than you - at least she doesn't try to get me yet another lecture from Uncle Percy about how I've 'permanently altered my body with no regard for the future consequences.' "

"We've all gotta get some dumb lecture from Uncle Percy at least once in our lives," he replies. "It's a right of passage to adulthood in this family - just be glad yours was about tattoos and not what me and Freddy got."

I snicker at that, knowing full well what James is referring to.

"I would say I want to know, but on second thought, I really don't," Lily replies, draining the last of her drink. "I'm off to get a refill and hopefully avoid any more awkward glances, thanks to you."

James gives her a little salute, and I can't help but laugh. "You heard that? That I'm her favourite?"

He shakes his head. "We knew that. You've been Lily's favourite for a while. I could never compete - that's why it's easier to just give her hell."

"Your poor sister."

"Somehow, I think she's handling it just fine," James replies, looking over to where Lily's laughing with Angelina about something.

I take a moment to look around the whole backyard, which is now teeming with people - most of whom I recognise, but a number of whom I don't. Presumably Lily and Roxanne's friends. Across the way, I notice Molly talking with her mum and dad - and, unexpectedly, Zara standing beside her.

"Oh, wow," is what I manage to say aloud.

"What?"

"Molly brought Zara," I tell him, gesturing to where the two of them are standing. "They're extended family serious now, apparently."

There are levels in James' family, being the size that it is, when it comes to bringing home a significant other. Being serious enough to meet the parents is one step, but introducing them to the entire grand parade that is the entire Potter/Weasley clan is a separate one entirely. And given just how much this whole family can be at times, it's a pretty big one.

And given that Molly only just introduced Zara to her parents a week ago, it's a huge jump to make all at once.

"Oh, wow," James answers, echoing my initial response. "That happened fast."

"Really."

I suppose every relationship moves at its own strange pace - I'm pretty sure Louis hasn't even introduced Markus to his parents, and they've been together, in some shape or form, for almost six months now. And I'm not really in a place to judge pacing on a relationship anyways, based on how convoluted James and I's own start was.

The evening passes by in a flurry of conversations and food and drinks, until the sun has set and the only light in the yard comes from the large fire in the middle of it.

I've only just accepted that the night is going to go down relatively uneventfully, and then an owl suddenly swoops into the yard out of nowhere, depositing a letter right on top of Dom. As soon as she recovers from the shock of a bird coming out of nowhere, she takes to examining the envelope in the dim light of the fire, and her eyes go wide.

"Fucking hell, you've got to be fucking kidding me!" she says loudly, before taking off in an all-out sprint towards the Potter's house.

"Language, Dominique!" Bill protests faintly, but it's doubtful that his daughter even heard.

A few of us exchange looks, and I'm not sure how we silently come to the conclusion that I'm the one who needs to go after her, but it's what's established. And so I set off towards the house, although nowhere near as fast as she did.

It is, frustratingly, not easy to track down Dom. She's managed to make her way all the way around to the front of the house and is sitting on the doorstep when I finally find her, and she's got the envelope torn open in her lap and a letter in her hands.

I walk up to her, gingerly sitting on the steps beside her.

"I'm on the national team," she states blankly, like she's commenting on the weather rather than talking about the biggest step up in her professional career yet. "I'm on the fucking English National Team. They're announcing it officially in tomorrow's Evening Prophet."

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to react - because normally, this would require screaming and a hug and at least three shots, but Dom's behaviour right now is kind of puzzling.

"That's great," I say gently, trying to feel out my response based on her reaction. "You're… happy about this, right?"

She laughs at that, and her face splits into a bright grin. "I'm fucking ecstatic. I'm in a bit of shock, but yeah, this is definitely good news. I'm just fucking pissed that they sent out these notices in the middle of Lily and Roxanne's graduation party, because now I'm the dickhead cousin overshadowing their big day with shit of my own."

"Somehow, I don't think you're the dickhead cousin. There are plenty of other people who make a far more convincing case for that title than you."

"Who would you offer up in my stead?"

I think about that for a minute. "Honestly… none of your cousins are all that bad. The fact that there's so many of you and none of you suck is… really kind of impressive, and like, practically unheard of in most normal families," I tell her with a laugh. "But if I'm going to pick one? Probably Hugo - although in fairness, that's probably because he's fifteen and all fifteen-year-olds are inherently prats."

"That's fair."

"But seriously, if it means that much to you," I say, "don't tell anyone yet. Make up some stupid excuse for running off, say you got a notice about an extra training session or something, then actually tell people tomorrow."

She nods. "Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to do. But also… thanks for chasing after me - I needed to tell at least one person about this, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd actually explode."

Her face splits into a grin once again. "Fuck, Abby, I'm on the English National Team."

And this time, I do hug her, and give her the proper congratulations that I'd been afraid to give before. Because really, this is huge.

"We should get back before they send a full search party after the both of us," she tells me after a few minutes, nodding towards the back of the house meaningfully.

Truly, I wouldn't put it past her family. "That's probably a good idea."

"Oh, and Abby?" she says, getting up from her spot on the steps and tucking the letter into her pocket.

"Yes?"

There's a grin on her face that I can tell she's trying to fight but is failing to. "Rajhi made it too."

Of course he did. They were always destined to make it as a pair, and it's just so fitting for the both of them that they make their national team debut at the same time.

I want to ask her what that means for them in a non-Quidditch sense as well, but I know that now isn't the time. That's a whole, drawn-out conversation involving a bottle of wine, not something we can quickly discuss on the way back to a party.

So I settle for a milder response. "The English team is going to be a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure."

She beams at me.

"Abby? Dom? Everything okay?" It's James this time, apparently the next person in line to chase after runaway partygoers.

"Golden," Dom replies easily. "Reynolds just thought it would be fun to send out a notice of a change to this week's practice schedule and label it 'urgent.' "

"Oh, okay," James says, and his eyes fall to me. I give him a silent look meant to communicate that I'll give him the full story later, when we're not at the party, and to not ask too many more questions.

Luckily, he seems to pick up on that cue.

"Well, in that case, we should probably get back - Uncle Ron and Uncle George were waiting on the both of you to start setting off the fireworks."

Dom laughs at that. "We wouldn't have missed them - I'm pretty sure we would've seen them no matter what side of the house we were on."

"Yeah, but after your dramatic exit, I don't think anyone wanted to set off fireworks until, you know, we confirmed you weren't experiencing some sort of major trauma - like dying or getting kicked off the Wasps or something."

It's the exact opposite of getting kicked off of a team, and Dom and I both snicker almost simultaneously at the irony. And James, suddenly the third wheel in the situation, gives me a very confused look.

I grab his hand and give it a squeeze, silently mouthing an 'I'll tell you later' before saying out loud, "Alright. Let's get back before they send a fourth person after us. The whole party will be in the front yard soon enough if we keep standing here talking."

"Don't you think it's odd?" Markus says, a few days later, as I'm sitting on the floor of his office looking through papers.

"What?"

"The radio silence," he answers. "The Prophet article comes out and causes this massive fuss, and then… nothing. Not a single new attack or peep out of anyone for weeks."

I consider that for a moment. "Do you think they know that we found their source? Like, they're aware that we're getting closer to tracking them down and are trying to lay low for a while as a result?"

"Perhaps." He twirls his quill between his fingers. "But the longer we go without any sort of movement from them, the more I'm convinced that when they do do something, it's going to be big."

Sneak peek of chapter 27…

"Some guy is definitely going to try to take you home in that."

I shrug. "I mean, maybe, yeah, but I'm not going to let him. The whole point of a hen party is getting drunk with the girls, not picking up some random dude. I'm not even the one having strippers at my party."

He gives me a half-hearted glare. "That was Freddy's doing, not mine, you know that. And he already paid the deposit so I couldn't say no."

I laugh at that, letting my hair down out of the towel it's wrapped up in. "Yes, I know. But if I'm not freaking out about that, you have no right to be freaking out about my dress."