Unions and Surprises

"It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages."
― Friedrich Nietzsche

The Brotherhood took most of her time and Heather used that to work around her grief. By the time Winter was over and Spring had officially started, Heather could finally look at her son without feeling the sharp pang in her chest.

She totally forgot several pertinent details, including the fact that her son had a lover. So she was completely shocked when her office door suddenly banged open and Guiomer raced forward, his cheeks flushed, eyes shining and hair going every which way.

It reminded her of when Guiomer was still twelve, when he used to run in her office in the same manner and then proceed to pester her on some sword moves he could try out.

Heather blinked several times to clear the image and looked at her impatient son. "Yes?" she asked.

"Mater," he panted. "I asked, and she said yes!"

It took Heather several moments to register his words, and then she realized what they meant and her jaw dropped.

"Wait," she spluttered. "Just to clear any misunderstandings. You proposed and Cailyn said yes?" At his fervent and slightly hysterical nod, Heather grinned. "What, you haven't planned beyond asking her?"

His entire face blanked and Heather laughed outright. She decided to postpone her paperwork for midnight since she had a son to spoil.

"You nutter," she remarked. "Now is not the time to panic. That comes later. Besides, you have two aunts, one mother and a future wife. I don't think you'll ever get to do much of anything."

"Really?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

Heather shook her head at him, completely bemused. But she couldn't help but understand his helplessness. It's not every day you asked the woman you love for her hand in marriage.

She took him to Draco's office, which was in the Research and Development Facility. He looked completely annoyed at the intrusion, but he straightened up once he caught sight of the smirk on her lips.

"Yeah?" Draco asked.

"I know you're busy," she started. "But this is something else. Can you take him out for a drink? We need to gather everyone and have a celebration. I need you to distract him." She jerked her thumb at her fidgeting son. "He just popped the question."

Guiomer's eyes looked glazed. Draco took a good look at him and understood Heathers amusement. He probably hadn't planned to ask and just blurted it out, and after an initial celebration with Cailyn, he probably realized what he'd done and went to his mother's office in a panic.

Draco's smile was shark-like. "I can't get him roaring drunk?" he asked with obvious regret in his voice.

She rolled her eyes. "No. Even if you have hangover cures, which I know you invented, you don't want to see him drunk. Guiomer is a cuddly drunk."

He blanched and she laughed at him.

Once heather had left Guiomer in Draco's capable hands, she headed straight to Hermione's office. It was perfectly adjacent to Draco's office. She didn't even have to leave the building, which she appreciated.

"What?" Hermione asked crossly. Her hair seemed to be seething in her annoyance. It always made Heather wonder if Hermione's hair had a mind of its own. Draco called it the 'warning bells'.

"Let's go find Luna, your assistant and Meiran," Heather answered with a grin. "My son just proposed."

Hermione's eyes turned wide and she hastily scrambled after Heather, annoyance forgotten. Her eyes sparkled as she pestered Heather for details.

Nobody really found it to be news. They had, after all, watched and waited as Guiomer and Cailyn dated for a year and a month. Plenty of money changed hands though since a number of people betted on the wedding date. Heather had been banned from betting by virtue of her gift of foresight. She pouted at the injustice of it while her friends had laughed at her.

Cailyn found herself surrounded by Hermione, Luna, Meiran and Felicia. They chattered excitedly like magpies, laughing at her slightly flushed face. If Hermione wasn't included, it would have degenerated into feminine gossip. But since Hermione was there, the five women immediately started planning the outline of the wedding.

Because it was a party, no parchment or quills were produced, but they had narrowed it down to a Summer wedding with Gandalf the Grey presiding.

Initially, it was supposed to be a Winter Wedding, but Draco's practicality interrupted. Hermione's logical mind had to concede to the argument.

"We can't afford a Winter banquet," he said. "it's the time when we start using the stored food."

"Not Autumn either," Hermione added absently. "Since that's when we organize our hunting parties. So it's a Summer wedding."

A Summer wedding, because if they made it a Spring one, there would be a minor revolt among the womenfolk. And nobody wanted to see how Guiomer and Cailyn would fare if they waited for next Spring.

Draco grunted in agreement. Heather chortled at how mollified Draco was that his suggestion was actually taken into account.

"Merlin," he remarked. "I just set the date for the wedding. Nobody should hear about that. They're going to be magic-blessed pissed at me for making them lose their bets."

Heather gave up on trying to control her amusement and just laughed at him.

The matter of Gandalf presiding over the wedding was another thing. Once the suggestion was given, everyone turned to look at Heather since she was the only one with the means to contact him. She was tempted to make most of them loose their patience by acting stupid, but she realized that the Terrible Two (Phobos and Deimos), were actually behaving themselves so she stamped down on her mischief.

"Hafny?" she said instead. "Ask her. But personally, I think this'll be hard since she has a crush on Maethor."

Aragorn's black eagle-owl had taken to showing up once every other day. Initially, Heather had been worried if it meant Aragorn's safety had been compromised, but after asking Hafny, she had been relieved when she received the impression of Heather being silly and Maethor being a mate-mate-mate.

It totally made her wonder how that happened since Maethor was technically Hafny's cousin. But they were birds, so…never mind.

But going back to the point, it was going to be difficult asking Hafny to deliver a letter since she tended to be a moody owl if Maethor wasn't there.

"Don't be ridiculous, feather," Luna sighed. "Really. They may be courting buy Hafny still has a covenant with you."

It was Meiran who answered for Heather. "Covenant and what-not, that owl is still the veriest bitch when that black one isn't around."

Draco was overtaken by a sudden and violent coughing. Heather, who was the closest to him could barely just hear the words, "pot, kettle!"

Heather managed to swallow her grin before any of the others could see the quirk of her lips.

It was a city-wide celebration, really. Heather was all but an inch from declaring it a holiday. Honestly, there were even drunks sprawled on the cobblestones.

With all her colleagues suddenly turning wedding-mad, it was up to Heather to commence clean-up. So she rolled up her sleeves, took out her coin pouch and whistled for some children.

It didn't surprise her to find a dozen children arriving. They were probably watching to see what she would do.

"My lady," the bowed clumsily.

"Any of you lot know where to find pails?" she asked immediately.

They nodded and she pushed them in the direction of the city well. The last child was nearing adulthood and she instead pushed him in the direction of a wheelbarrow. It was to cart off those that wouldn't wake up when splashed with water.

It was a hilarious way to spend her morning. There were several people who she saw in compromising positions and several more people who were completely naked. Upon questioning, they found that they had no memory of how it happened.

It wasn't the first time she had done 'city clean-up' but it was the first time she had done it alone.

By the time noon came, Heather's muscles were pleasantly sore from carting around drunkards. She was in a pleasant mood from torturing the ones having hangovers.

That's why it was quite a surprise for her to find a twitchy Cailyn in the dining room. It didn't match the pleasant atmosphere of the city.

Come to think of it, heather didn't get to talk to Cailyn in the pre-wedding party since Cailyn go mobbed by the other women.

"Cailyn, my dear!" Heather said with honest surprise. "You certainly look nervous."

Cailyn went even worse. "Oh, no. I'm fine, my lady," she answered. "I'm just waiting for Lord Guiomer."

Warning bells rang in Heather's mind. Since when did Cailyn call Guiomer by his title?

She didn't tend to interfere in these kinds of relationships, but if she could help…

"Cailyn, are you alright?" Heather asked. "The pre-wedding jitters are supposed to happen a couple of hours before the wedding, not months before – "

Cailyn suddenly jumped up, scraping her chair backwards and startling Heather. There was a groan of pain from someone by the sofa. That partly distracted Heather since that groan of pain meant that someone was hung-over in her house. That only lasted until Cailyn started talking.

"Why me?" she started. "I mean, I love Lord Guiomer and he surprised me yesterday and so I agreed. But now that I think about it, why me? There are half-a-dozen other women in Haven who want him."

Heather opened her mouth to interrupt, but Cailyn steamrolled right over her. Normally, that wouldn't happen since Cailyn was the courteous and polite sort. That it happened meant that Cailyn was truly distraught.

"I can't help thinking that he's selling himself short!" she continued. "He's kind, so maybe he thought I expected him to ask and did it just not to break my heart, but really – "

The mother in Heather couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Excuse me?" Heather cut in sharply. "Are you telling me that you think my son only asked you out of pity?"

There was a squeak from Cailyn that Heather took for a yes. Since her temper had broken, Heather was fairly frightening. Really, a reason why she became the Lady of Haven.

"I raised my son to respect women," Heather continued irritably. "And that aspect includes not stringing women along for his entertainment. I won't have you questioning that just because you have a low self-esteem."

Cailyn visibly calmed down and Heather pinched the bridge of her nose to hold back her sigh.

Another groan form the sofa and Heather's simmering temper cooled when she finally turned around and saw who it was.

"Hodur?" she asked incredulously. "What happened to your bed?"

His forearm was covering his eyes and he gave a pathetic whimper at the sound of her voice. He flapped a hand weakly in her direction.

"Shut up, will you?" he pleaded. "My head feels like the wrong end of a training stick."

Being a kind sister, she ignored him and pushed down the urge to bang pots and pans. It was a surprisingly difficult urge to push down. She felt saint-like in doing so.

"Are you fine now? Really?" she asked Cailyn instead.

She nodded. "Thank you, my lady."

Heather rolled her eyes and went up the stairs. She wondered why people thought she was good with feelings. That was Hermione and Luna's area of expertise.

And then Guiomer nearly ran over her.

"For Godric's sake!" she exclaimed. Then she noticed what her son was wearing and her eyes went wide. "Take that off! Guiomer, you look ridiculous!"

"Mater, what?" he asked in a puzzled way.

The realization hit her when she sniffed his breath. "Are you hung-over, or did you return to drinking when you woke up this morning?"

His cringe answered her.

Feelings be damned. She knew what to do with panicky males. Heather grabbed his hand and wrestled off the ridiculous shirt he was wearing. Then she proceeded to drag him to the training court with a half-hearted wave to a startled Cailyn.

The wedding day dawned bright and clear. The sky was blue with only the occasional hint of clouds. The birds were singing and the flowers were cheerfully arranged.

It was the sort of thing that happened in fairy tales.

It was the sort of thing that made Heather slightly appalled since she felt like she'd wandered in a book, or used a Patented Daydream Charm and forgot about it. So she turned to the only one who understood her feelings.

"Pinch me," she begged Draco.

He gave her a disgusted look – how did he do that so effectively if he was blindfolded? – and said, "It's so…sweet." It was one of his politer adjectives.

She agreed with him, if only mildly. Heather had, to her horror, discovered that she had a feminine side that liked the decorations and the festive air. She hadn't known that about herself and she liked to think that she knew herself pretty well.

By the front of the aisle, as though he knew her thoughts, Gandalf smirked at her. Hypothetically of course. She wasn't sure, what with his beard.

"Are you ready?" Hermione asked as she swept in cheerfully. "By golly, I think everyone is here."

Heather and Draco exchanged long-suffering glances while Luna smiled serenely at them. Hurricane Hermione had at least settled down to a mild storm.

"Think of it this way, feather," Luna said. "Everybody will remember nothing with the amount of drinking that will happen."

"If you ever think about getting married, don't tell Hermione," Draco said. "I can't do this again. That woman is a menace."

Heather rolled her eyes at him. "You wuss. You're lucky to have tried her now that she's in her thirties. When we were younger, she was even worse."

S.P.E.W. was foremost in her mind as Draco shot her a disbelieving look.

"Quiet down, you two. It's starting," Hermione said.

The ceremony was beautiful. Halfway through it, Heather found herself crying. Even Draco cracked a smile. In essence, they had all forgotten the true meaning of marriage in the hustle and bustle of the preparations. They were reminded when they saw Cailyn's serene smile and Guiomer's breathtakingly happy expression.

It was a union between two people. That was the big and small of it. The gowns didn't matter. The flowers were just a small part of it. Heather smiled as she cried over that.

"You big sap," Draco said, but there was no sting in his words. He too had been reminded of the why.

The ceremony ended in a big cheer as Guiomer kissed Cailyn tenderly.

"There's the dancing to look forward to," a guest behind her said.

"And the drinking," a familiar voice agreed.

Heather turned and saw Aragorn's smiling face. She gaped at him for a moment before laughing. "You crazy fellow!" she gasped. "You didn't say anything!"

He laughed with her. "I thought you might know," he gestured to his temples, indicating her gift. "And my men and the Brotherhood would have given me grief if we didn't attend."

When Heather looked around, she realized that the badge of the Brotherhood was prominently displayed by the city walls.

"The hospitality of Haven is hard to replicate," she conceded. "And you know I don't like to rely on my gifts."

Aragorn nodded. "True." He gestured to the ones behind him. "These are my brothers."

Heather blinked several times as her brain tried to catch up with her eyes. "Is that Elladan and Elrohir?"

"They usually go with us on patrols and they were with me when your letter came," he expounded.

"I've already met them," Heather said. She glanced around and saw the arrangement of everything. "This is the best part, you know."

"What is?" Elladan asked.

"Dragging unsuspecting males to the dance floor," she answered as she grabbed one of the twins to join in the dancing.

Hermione had met elves before when she had visited Heather in Rivendell, when she was ill and unconscious so she knew what she was looking at when she saw Elladan of Rivendell.

"Why!" she exclaimed. "What brings you to Haven?"

He gave her a small smile. "My brother received a letter – an invitation to this wedding and we decided to accompany him." He gestured to the dance floor where another elf was gracefully dancing with Heather.

Several synapses connected in Hermione's mind and she nodded. "You must be Lord Elrond's twin sons. Gryffon told me about you. Is it true that you rode on a mountain troll and drove him off a cliff?"

Elladan was surprised for a moment, before he laughed. "Yes, I did. A highly entertaining things to do. And you must be Lady Enid. The smart one."

A pang of pleasure rushed through Hermione. "Yes, I am."

He offered her a hand. "Can I have this dance, my lady?"

There was a moment of alarm before Hermione forced herself to relax and accept his invitation. She didn't regret it one bit.

He danced like he ate the music. He was graceful and strong. Hermione's new height complimented his so it wasn't awkward. It was a perfect fit. She could feel her very bones and her magic trying to bend themselves around him.

When the music ended, she was breathless and he was wide-eyed.

"Did you…?" she whispered because speaking would have destroyed the magic of it.

"Yes," he answered very softly. "That rarely happens."

Hermione could tell he was close to panicking so she allowed him to find his twin despite the numerous questions she wanted to ask.

Even if all of them wanted to join the drinking, they remained sober for Cailyn's sake. Because it was on the following morning that all of them went to the Sanctuary and showed Cailyn the truth of their world.

Guiomer had to be dosed with a small bit of calming draught while Draco complained of Mother and Son being rather alike.

Cailyn did panic for a moment before she saw Guiomer's fearful expression and she realized that nothing really changed. Only that she knew the truth.

"Oh," she finally managed to say. "That certainly answers some questions."

They all completely relaxed when Cailyn laughed and it did not sound hysterical.

Omake:

How Heather's actions saved a Prince's life

It was sheer accident, really. But the Dunlendings eventually found out that the one they worshiped as a goddess had taught him and they suddenly focused all of their attention on him.

It was unnerving.

"The disciple of the Lady," one of the tribe leaders muttered. "He be great too."

They all nodded solemnly.

"We shall place a guard with the princeling!" another one declared. "He cannot come to harm!"

They all yelled in agreement and banged their spears on the floor.

Theodred resisted the urge to concuss himself on the wall behind him. It would be as difficult as anything to explain to his father why he had a guard of Dunlendings following his every move.

Guys, sorry for the delay. I honestly have no idea why this took so long. And I think I'm slipping on my standards of writing so hurry up and reassure me.

Questions that cropped up:

Are the Omake's part of the story?

Yup, they are. I know they're part of it, I just don't know where to put them, so I make them Omake's.

Will Heather get another sword?

Uhm, I seriously don't know. I think so. Heather is still completely deadly with just her knives, so it's not like she needs a sword.

How come they've been around for a while and not found someone of interest?

Think about it. They're in a new world and they don't have any clue on what to do. They get busy and they're suddenly happy. And then, they find out that they're immortal. Kinda puts you off the whole dating thing, don't you think? Just my personal opinion.

I think that's it. This is probably the last of the Theodred Omake's. Anything that might crop up regarding him will be added later.

Please R&R.

~Hallen