Chapter 17: Still Life

It was very early in the morning, much earlier than normal for Gin, as she stood in front of the door at George and Angelina's giant country house. She'd promised George that she would bring the portrait over to him as soon as it was ready, and as the large canvas bobbed up and down in the air behind her she hoped her suspensory charm would last long enough for someone to answer the door. The mid-December snow blanketed the ground as she stamped her feet to warm them; even a few minutes of waiting was enough to turn her toes into small, unfeeling little sticks. For some reason the damn snow just wouldn't completely fall off her boots.

The door flew open to reveal George, hair askew, in a purple and green plaid dressing robe. "You couldn't wait until later?"

"Good morning to you too, George, I'm fine, thank you. Of course I'd like to come in."

He rolled his eyes and stepped back, holding the door open wide. It took a bit of maneuvering with her wand but eventually the portrait turned on its side and Gin managed to get it into the house. After George closed the door Gin took off her gloves and hat.

"You said to bring it over as soon as I was finished, so here I am. Want to take a look?"

George shut the door and shook his head. "Tea. Need tea."

Gin levitated the portrait until it rested on the floor against a wall and followed George through the house. It was obvious that while George had rather outlandish ideas of personal style that Angelina had decided on the house decorations; tasteful accents were everywhere, the colors were all complementary and everything was spotless. When they finally arrived in the kitchen, a room the size of her biggest room in the London gallery, George put on the kettle and sat down on a stool that sat next to the granite island. Without being asked Gin put her coat and woolens on a spare stool and sat next to George.

"You said…"

He waved her off. "Yes, yes, I know, early. Sorry, just got back from Peru. New Instant Darkness Powder, this batch lasts longer than before."

"Where was it before that?"

"Brazil. New shop opening up in San Paulo." He glanced over to the tea and closed his eyes in relief. "Thank Merlin, tea." Instead of using his wand to prepare the tea he got up from the kitchen stool and did things manually. After setting a cup down in front of Gin and pushing the milk and sugar containers next to her he took his cup and sat down with an audible groan.

"No milk or sugar?"

"I'm naturally sweet." He took a sip of tea and sighed. "Much better. So, I hear from everybody that you're doing well now. What's the latest in the soap opera? I think I could sell a show called 'My Slytherin Sweetie.' Not based on you, of course, Hugo would go spare."

Gin gave him a sarcastic smile. "Nice, George, nice." She took a sip of tea. "Well, Minnie's getting married on Christmas Eve, Mione is already a cranky pregnant woman and Mum and Dad are Mum and Dad. Nothing big there."

"How's your mum taking Mione's pregnancy? Has she started putting cozies on everything? Oh, how about those plastic things on the furniture?"

"No, I don't think she'll ever do that. She didn't do it for Artie so I don't think she'll do it for Mione's baby. She's fine, actually. I think Dad's having a harder time of it."

"Just remember, he is old." George took another sip of tea. "What about your galleries?"

"Good, had a couple of sales. You would have thought the publicity about the trial would scare people off but we saw an increase in traffic after the story was in The Prophet. Mary Caroline said the same thing happened in Richmond as well."

"Of course, there's no such thing as bad publicity. And how about your partner Mary Caroline? The last I heard she was quite the hot commodity, one of the Scamander boys and one of HR's old roommates."

"Lysander's just a friend. She's still seeing Finn, though." Gin took a sip of tea and brushed her hair out of her face; when she sat her arm back on the island her bracelets jingled slightly. "Last letter I got from her was about the house. Did Dad tell you we've rented a house?"

George shook his head. "He didn't but HR did. We had lunch the other day. I might have accidentally stepped on my wand and needed his help, but you didn't hear that from me and for Merlin's sake don't tell Ang. Sounds like it's quite the place, you've got the smaller upstairs and she's got the entire downstairs."

"Still don't know exactly what she's going to do over here, though. Mione said she could stay as long as she wants but as cranky as little Mrs. Malfoy is now I think I'd avoid that at all costs." She looked at her watch and then back to George. "Don't you want to take a look?"

"Oh no, we'll do the big unveiling later. Part of the Christmas rush, big promotion, original items from our first shop five percent off, all that sort of thing."

Footsteps could be heard from down the hall and George raised an eyebrow at Gin. Angelina's voice could be heard loud and clear through the house. "George Weasley what the bloody hell is this thing in my entrance hall? And why is there water all over the floor!"

Gin looked down at her boots. "Sorry."

Once again George waved her off. "I'll give her a cup of tea and then you can deflect all the rest. Just start talking about how we need new window treatments in a different color."

-ooo-

Gin and Hugo fell into a nice, easy rhythm; Gin would go to the gallery and work, painting when it was slow, and Hugo would return home from his Auror shift and they would fix dinner together. Hugo still wasn't a great cook, he was much more of an eater, but he was picking up some things. During the evenings they would stay home and watch WeasleyVision, occasionally they would join Hermione and Ron, but more often than not they ended up over at HR and Lily's place. Gin would hang out with Artie and Lily when Lily wasn't working at her restaurant and Hugo and HR would play cards. On Friday or Saturday night HR would have some of his friends over to join in a card game, and it was on a Saturday like that when two surprise guests showed up at the house.

Lily had just forced Artie to put on his pajamas when Minnie and Alan arrived by Floo. After introducing Alan to Albus, Hugo and HR's old roommates Jimmy Phillips and Parker Campbell, the women left the men alone to do their thing. Once Lily had poured the wine Gin sat on the sofa with Minnie. It was obvious to Gin that not only had Alan enjoyed her little sister's cooking but Minnie had as well; Mione may have been expanding due to the pregnancy but happiness seemed to have the same effect on Minnie.

"So, ready to join the club?" Delyth sat with her legs crossed in HR's favorite chair. "At least he won't forget your anniversary. You know, Minnie, that was a rather good idea. Presents on Christmas Eve for your anniversary and proper Christmas presents the next day. And then there's Boxing Day…I should have thought of that."

Minnie shook her head. "It's not like that, really. Alan and I knew it would be holiday and we wouldn't have to ask off for our honeymoon." She bent her head towards the card game, listened for a bit and then turned to Delyth. "I was a bit worried coming here, to be quite honest. Alan knows that when Mione and I were younger, well, Albus…"

Gin sat back and smiled. "You two used to drool over him. It was pathetic, really."

"Tell me about it." Lily reached over and touched Gin on the arm. "Remember when he did that play? Something and Juliet?"

"Romeo and Juliet." Gin nodded. "Merlin's socks, pants and underwear, you should have heard them."

Minnie cleared her throat. "Yes, well I told Alan all about it. I showed him one of my scrapbooks and he kept wondering why there were so many pictures of Albus. Quite a shock knowing your girl had a thing for one of the biggest WeasleyVision stars before he was even famous."

"Well, fame has its privileges, but for once I'd like to just go out for a nice breakfast without being mobbed by screaming girls." Delyth rubbed her pregnant belly. "I've had enough of being in the papers."

"Tell me about it." Gin took a sip of wine. "Thankfully it's all died down now."

"Mione kept me informed. Letters, clippings…" Minnie shook her head. "I would bet a Galleon she has evidence of every mention of anyone remotely related to the Boyd side of the family…Bramble too, for that matter…I would literally bet she has everything in organized, alphabetized scrapbooks. How in the world does she write so many letters? I would swear she has six arms."

A small, boyish laugh was heard behind the sofa. Everyone turned to Lily who closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Arthur, you are supposed to be in bed."

The reddish curly head poked up above the back of the sofa, nose resting on the back. The four-year old took in the room and then popped down again, returning to view as he went over and crawled in Minnie's lap.

"Auntie Min!"

"Arthur…" Lily's voice was sterner. "You can see Aunt Minnie tomorrow. It's past your bed time, young man."

Undeterred Artie looked up to Minnie. "Didja bring me a present?"

"Arthur Thomas Ollivander Boyd! That is quite enough!" Lily was out of the chair, picked him up off of Minnie's lap and began walking upstairs. "It is your bedtime. I'm going to put you back in bed, and if I so much as see one hair of you downstairs…"

"My son will never do that. He'll be a perfectly behaved little angel." Delyth looked at them with a straight face before making a rude noise and laughing. "Between Al an' me I'm sure the little sprog will get into enough trouble."

"Girl or boy?" Minnie looked over to her and then held out her thumb and lined it up with Delyth's pregnant stomach. "Mmm, hard to say."

Hugo came into the room and knelt down next to Gin. "Oh Virginia, love of my life, woman of my dreams…"

Gin rolled her eyes. "How much this time?"

"A Galleon, five Sickles and three Gnuts." He looked over to Minnie. "Your man's quite the card player. Al almost owes him as much as I do."

Gin handed Hugo some money and waved him off. "Don't come back until you're rich."

He leaned forward, kissed Gin and stood up. "I'll be bunking with Artie, then."

Once he'd left the room Gin saw Lily come down the stairs. "Minnie's fiancée is winning all the money. Good thing you have the restaurant."

Lily shook her head negatively causing some of her hair to come out of the clip in the back. "I'm not worried about HR, he's so tight he squeaks when he walks." She sat back down in her chair. "So who's the big loser so far?"

"Hugo." Gin, Minnie and Delyth said it at the same time.

"Figures. He's a bad loser, too." Lily looked embarrassed. "Well, he was with Quidditch."

The night wore on with only one more appearance by young Artie Boyd which resulted in his father taking him upstairs and putting him to bed. By that time the card game was over; Hugo was cleaned out, HR had lost a bit leaving Albus and Alan the big winners. When the men had joined them Al and Alan were in the middle of a discussion that caused Hugo to shake his head. He leaned over to Gin and whispered loud enough so everyone could hear. "It's a good thing your Dad isn't here or it'd never stop."

Gin looked at him oddly but turned her head towards Albus and Alan, who stood near the doorway, butterbeers in hand.

Al pointed a beer at Alan. "Is't possible?"

Alan nodded. "O, there has been much throwing about of brains."

Delyth groaned. "Would you quit it with the bloody Hamlet already?"

"Bloody?" Alan looked to Albus. "Wouldn't that be Polonius?"

"Or the ghost." Albus smiled at his wife. "All right, fine. I'll stop. Are you ready to go home?"

"If you can blast my massive arse out of the chair, then yes." Delyth held out her hands for Al to help her up. Once she was on her feet the goodbyes began and soon it was only the Boyd children and their significant others left in the house. Minnie and Gin went into the kitchen to help Lily clean up, and while putting away HR's card things Minnie leaned over to her sister.

"Do you mind if I stay at your place? Alan's going to his parents' house for a few days, and I know Mum and Mione want me to stay with them…"

"Not a problem, Min. We'd be glad to have you."

"What about Hugo?"

"He's starting the late shift tonight, it's why he didn't drink anything. He'll be out of the house at eleven, I'd be glad of the company."

-ooo-

The sisters sat on opposite ends of the sofa in front of the roaring fire; the light from the flames flickered over the room, as only a single lamp burned in the corner on a table. After going through the subject of weddings quickly, as both of the sisters were tired of the subject, Minnie paused and looked over to her sister.

"I'm very proud of you, you know. And a little jealous."

"Jealous?' Gin gave her an odd look. "So you want to have to be a witness at a trial about a bloke who drugged you and had his way with you while you were incapacitated? Have you hit your head recently?"

"No, not that. Everything else. You had the guts to pack everything up and go to Italy, to open your own business…and you fought for you and Hugo to be together. And then there's your sense of style and your figure…"

Gin rolled her eyes. "Come on, Min. I didn't have guts, I ran away from everything. Merlin, I even took a different name. Hugo did most of the fighting, to be honest. Sometimes I wonder what I've done to deserve him."

"You're you. I've always envied you, you know. You could have had any of the boys at Hogwarts…"

"I had a few." Gin gave her a thin smile. "And I don't do anything for my figure. You should see the food that Hugo and I make, it's like Grandmum Karen and Dad just come out when I'm in the kitchen. Butter, full cream, fried chicken…"

"Oh, trust me; I understand that all too well." Minnie patted her hips. "I know I'll hear about it from Mione later. Give me a few years and I'll look just like Grandmum Karen and Mum. Ten years from now nobody will even guess that Mione and I are twins."

"I've never really thought of you as twins, more like sisters who have the same birthday."

"That would be obvious by the way things have turned out, wouldn't it?" Minnie smiled. "We always knew Mione was Quidditch mad, but playing professionally? And then there's Forthingsgate. Could you see either of us living there? Or HR?"

"Merlin, no!" Gin stood up. "I think this is an ice cream night, don't you?"

"We'll have to expand the dress. Oh, why not?"

As the two sisters made their way in to the kitchen Gin looked over to Minnie. "Forthingsgate would never have worked for you, all the way over in Wales. HR and Lily would never leave their place, not after HR inherited it from Mr. Ollivander, and me an' Hugo? Satterbourne just fits, oddly enough." She took a carton of ice cream out and handed it to Minnie. "Double chocolate with caramel swirls. Bits of cookie in there, too."

"What's the other?"

Gin reached in and pulled out the second container. "What if I only had one?"

"With Hugo?"

"Fair play. It's a vanilla with chocolate toffee bits."

"I'll take the first one. To start." Minnie took the offered spoon. "Mione just fits Forthingsgate. You know, with all of the Quidditch, being married to Scorpius, all the time with the Malfoys…can you imagine her in a little flat? She's more like Grandmum Lane than any of us. You know, in that slightly scary way."

"Oh yeah, tell me about it." Gin opened the lid of her container and took a big spoonful of ice cream. "Mmmm…damn, I love this. You might not get any."

"Right. Sure."

The sisters took their places once again on the sofa. After a few bites Minnie looked over to Gin. "You think you would've had a big wedding the first time? You know, before…oh bollocks. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Min. I'm fully aware of how I mucked things up. To answer your question, though, I'm not sure. That might have been part of the reason, subconsciously, why I did what I did. Can you imagine me in a big production like HR or Mione?"

"Merlin, no." Minnie shook her head. "And if Alan's parents weren't Muggles, could you imagine me doing it?"

"Nope." Gin took a bite of ice cream. "You would've hated it. It does make things easier, with Alan's parents, though. At least you won't have the typical witch-marrying-a-Muggle problems. You won't freak out if you have to drive or work a microwave."

Minnie sighed. "Yes, I'm the picture perfect witch for marrying a Muggle. I like nothing better than to sit at home and read, teach, play cards with Alan…let's face it, Gin. I'm boring."

"You are not boring!" Gin shook her head. "You're one of the smartest people I know, magical or Muggle. If you wanted to you could've worked for George. He wanted you to come work for him, you know."

"So I've heard. My guess is mum put the brakes on that one. I am boring, Gin. Let's take a look, shall we? HR runs Ollivanders and is married to Lily, who besides being the only daughter of Harry Potter has her own restaurant. Mione's a professional Quidditch player and besides being the daughter-in-law of the infamous Draco Malfoy there's Scorpius and the whole international travel for the Ministry. And then there's you…you and your business partner own art galleries on two different continents, you're an artist and you're marrying Hugo bloody Weasley, only son of Ron and Hermione. What about me? I teach at a small little school in Wales hardly anyone's ever heard of and I'm marrying a Muggleborn professor. Hardly measures up."

Gin pointed her spoon at Minnie. "It's not a fucking contest. Answer me one question, and I want the first thing that pops in to your head out of your mouth; are you happy?"

"Yes."

"Then everything else can fuck off. Put it this way, before all of my shit happened I was the one who was worried that being married was a death sentence for anything interesting. All I thought I would be was Hugo's wife, Auror arm candy. Show up at events looking pretty, smile, don't be rude to the important people and rot like that. I thought getting married was the end, but after everything it isn't like that. Marrying Hugo is the beginning. Took me a long time to realize, but you probably figured that out already, hadn't you?" Gin took Minnie's ice cream and handed her the other carton. "I'd sell every painting and close the galleries if I couldn't be with Hugo. I'd rather be Mrs. Hugo Weasley than have everything else in the world."

Minnie looked at her thoughtfully and then took a bite of ice cream. "You couldn't give up painting. The galleries, yes, but not the painting."

"Shut up, you."

-ooo-

Gin stood in the little reception hall and held Hugo's hand. The guests at Minnie and Alan's wedding were evenly divided between Muggles and magical people, but thankfully so far everyone there from the bride's side had behaved wonderfully. It was comforting for Gin to see Minnie so happy, and she had slightly nestled into Hugo's side in the church pews when her sister and Alan had said their vows. Now, in the reception hall, in her tasteful Muggle dress and heels she did the same thing, leaning against her fiancée. After feeling Hugo move she looked up to see him adjusting his tie. "Not much longer, you big baby."

"How does your Dad wear this stuff all the time? At least I convinced him that I didn't need to wear a bowtie."

"You know Dad. Did he give you the 'every man needs to know how to tie a bowtie' speech earlier?"

Hugo rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah. I told him that I can just cast…" He stopped suddenly and looked around. "You know, I've been around, um, crowds like this before, but this is different. A lot smaller, I mean, what are there, fifty people here? And I'm not working so I don't have the usual kit and tricks."

"Not much longer, don't worry. As soon as Alan's grandparents leave we're moving to Forthingsgate. Mione insisted."

"Poor Mr. Malfoy, I bet she does a lot of 'insisting' about things."

Gin elbowed him. "Honestly, Hugo, my sister…" Her eyes grew wide and she clapped her free hand to her mouth.

Luckily for Gin she was saved from Hugo's comments by her brother and Lily. HR held Artie, dressed up in his Muggle best, and handed him to Gin.

"Take him for a minute, would you? Actually, the way he's been lately you can keep him."

"Hieronymus!" Lily shook her head. "It's your fault that he got into the Christmas sweets before we left. If you'd put them away properly…"

Gin moved Artie over to her hip. "He's fine, guys. Go get some cake."

"Cake?" Artie looked up to Gin. "I like cake!"

Hugo reached over and put Artie on his shoulders. "I bet you do, you little gnome."

Shortly after HR and Lily walked off there was a camera flash that half-blinded Gin; when she regained her sight she saw one of Alan's aunties with her camera. That made Artie pretend that he was woozy, so Hugo complied and made him teeter from side to side, resulting in a laughing little boy. Artie's happiness only increased when Nate Boyd came by and handed the boy a very large piece of cake that contained an inordinate amount of frosting.

Gin looked over to her uncle and shook her head. "He's going to be bouncing off the walls later tonight."

Nate winked at her. "I'm counting on it." He looked up and winced. "I'll get you a napkin for that, Hugo. Let me take him off your hands."

As her uncle took Artie off of Hugo's shoulder Gin saw exactly what he was talking about; a rather large quantity of icing resided on the top of Hugo's head. She took a handkerchief out of her small clutch and wiped it off of Hugo. "Lily's going to kill him."

"I wouldn't worry about Lily. HR told me he's staying with Harry and Ginny tonight." He grinned down at Gin. "Well, until Lils and HR pick him up. It's them I'd be worried about if I was Nate. Besides, he's going to have a hard time going to sleep anyway. Father Christmas arrives tonight, you know."

"Now I know Lily's going to kill him." Gin watched Alan and Minnie talk to his grandparents at a small table, surrounded by several of the ladies of the church who had helped prepare the meal. "Look at Min, Hugo. She's the only one of us who could pull that off."

"What, marriage? HR and Lily are fine, and then there's Mione and, um, what're we calling him?"

Gin stifled a laugh. "Sean. Mione didn't think his name would go over well for this occasion. I'm going to call him that every chance I get. Sean Malfoy."

She kept looking at Minnie, though. There was her little sister, in her conservative Muggle finest, happily chatting with the older women and Alan's grandparents. Happy. That was the main thought, though. Minnie is happy. The ice cream conversation she'd had with Minnie had lingered in her mind, popping back in during the oddest moments; picking up Hugo's socks, apologizing for eating all of the ice cream, watching him get ready for work. It was as if each of those moments was a painting; she could clearly see the details, the lighting, the colors…all pieces in a series that if she was to paint it she would call Confirmation. She was surer of things now than in any other point in her life. She knew that it wouldn't all be bonbons and butterbeer, of course, as both her and Hugo's parents had shown many times. But they were still together. She looked over to her parents, father in his suit and bowtie, her mum in a dress that she'd chosen to try and minimize her hips, and watched as her dad rested his arm on the back of her mum's chair.

Gin turned her engagement ring slightly back and forth on her hand and found herself focusing on the table. Next to the mostly eaten wedding cake was Minnie's small bouquet of flowers, one of Artie's red little robots peeking out from beneath the blooms. A perfect little still life setting for a painting. She excused herself and made her way over to the punch bowl, as despite being Christmas Eve the temperature was rather high in the hall. One of Alan's sisters, she couldn't remember her name, had said they were forced to crank up the heat or his grandparents wouldn't stop complaining about the cold. Whoever was in charge of the heat should have been commended, as Gin lifted up her hand to wipe away a small film of sweat from her face, bangle bracelets jingling along as always.

She'd just taken a small sip of punch when one of Alan's aunts joined her at the punchbowl. "Very nice ceremony, don't you think?"

Gin nodded. "I do. I think it fit them perfectly."

"Yes, Alan's never been much for the big to-do, very level-headed young lad. They seem a good match, but I hope your sister won't mind me saying this, and it must be the heat going to my head, because I never talk about such things, but he's not the most interesting sort. Very quiet, nothing unusual ever happens to him, except for a scholarship to that private school he's just a normal boy. Don't get me wrong, now, I love him dearly and he's so good to my sister..."

"I think he's wonderful. He's made my sister very happy." Gin turned and gave the woman a sharp glance which did not go unnoticed.

Trying to recover her lost tact the aunt adjusted her hat. "That's a very pretty necklace you have. Is that a swan?"

As Gin reached up with her left hand and touched the pendant the metal of her engagement ring clicked slightly on the disc. "Yes, yes it is."

"Beautiful bird, swans. They mate for life, you know."

Gin glanced over to see Hugo talking to her mum, eating cake. "Yes, yes they do."