Chapter 7: July, 2014

Melony awoke early the next morning, but it wasn't early enough to beat Mrs. Potter and Lily into her own kitchen. She could hear them talking and banging pots as soon as she opened her eyes. She laid in bed for a few minutes, listening to the commotion downstairs as a flood of anxiety swept over her. Once she had taken a few deep breaths, she decided to take a long shower before heading downstairs. Partly because she knew it would relax her, but mostly because she didn't particularly want to be there for the arrival of her own mother and sister. She knew that her mother would be put out that the Potters had made it to the apartment before her.

Sure enough, when she made it down to the kitchen an hour later, her mother was sitting at the table watching the chaos caused by Mrs. Potter and Melony's bridesmaids. All of Melony's bridesmaids were standing around and talking loudly with Mrs. Potter while drinking coffee or shoving bacon in their mouths which seemed to never be running out. As soon as Melony entered she was surrounded by squealing, fluttering bridesmaids who started poking, prodding, groping and shoving food into her mouth.

Melony spent the next three hours getting poked and prodded, first by her bridesmaids, then by her hairdresser, and finally by the lady doing her makeup. By the time the group had arrived at the church she was feeling like a rag doll.

Thankfully, they still had two full hours until the ceremony, so everyone settled down to talk and relax once they had made it into the back rooms of the church. After about half an hour of this, Melony decided that she had had enough and sent her bridesmaids out to get some food. Since her mother had left a while ago to lie down and Mrs. Potter had scurried off to check up on all of the last minute details, this only left Lily. Even though she had spent most of the summer with her, Melony still felt a little awkward around Lily, which was why she was more than happy when Lily approached her.

"Melony?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind?" she asked, pointing to the chair next to Melony.

"No, take a seat."

For a moment the two sat quietly sipping their drinks, Melony her coffee and Lily her tea.

Finally, Lily spoke up.

"So, I don't want to stress you out…"

Great, Melony thought, trying to keep a pleasant look on her face, what now?

"There's someone coming to the wedding who might say something to my parents who might make a big deal out of it," Lily said quickly. "Or they might not. I just wanted to give you a heads up."

Melony watched Lily stare intensely at her tea, the steam rising and enveloping her face, making her eyes bright.

"What's going on, Lily?" Melony asked softly.

Lily sighed deeply. "It's complicated,"

Melony waited. She had a feeling that Lily didn't alway have the chance to speak on her own terms in her family. The Potters were great, but they could steamroll a conversation. Melony knew that if she waited, Lily would tell her what was going on on her own, and, after what seemed like an agonizingly long, uncomfortable silence, she did.

"I've been seeing this guy for a while, and we've gotten pretty serious, but I haven't told my family yet."

"Why not?"

"I didn't want it to turn into a big deal before I knew what we were. He is sort-of a family friend and I knew that if I told them we were dating it would become...too much."

"I could see that," Melony said sighing, "but I'm sure it would only be bad for a little while. It would have calmed down quickly."

"Well, it wasn't just that," Lily said. "I knew that if we told people it might get to the press. I saw what that did to Al and Amelia and I didn't want to take the chance."

"Why would the press be interested? Just because you are a Potter?"

"Partly, but mostly because his family is very well-known. Actually, the story would probably be even bigger than Al and Amelia's because it would be international," Lily paused and took a sip of her tea before continuing. "I like to be behind the headlines, not in them."

"So why do you think something will happen at the wedding?"

"He's getting pretty antsy. He does a lot of interviews and he says he's tired of saying he's single and people trying to set him up. And now he's coming to the wedding where everyone will be, and...well I just wanted to tell you in case we end up telling my parents and it causes a scene."

"A good scene?"

"Probably. But a spotlight stealing scene."

"It is very sweet of you to be concerned about stealing the spotlight, but trust me when I say I don't care. Nothing about this wedding is the way I planned it, and I'm okay with that."

Lily nodded, looking down at her tea, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Lily," Melony said placing her hand on Lily's, "you should tell them. "You should be able to enjoy this wedding with your boyfriend and without the fear of your secret being revealed."

"Thanks," Lily said, looking slightly relieved and a little more confident. "I'll do it...I think. I think we're strong enough to handle it by now."

"And if you're not, then it's not meant to be. Look at me and Al. I could have bailed on him a hundred different times these past couple of months, but I didn't because I love him. I love him so much I can't imagine being without him, no matter how much crazy stress he brings into my life."

Lily smiled. "I'm glad," she said. "I've always wanted a sister."

Melony squeezed her hand before letting go and grabbing hold of her coffee with both hands. The warm cup soothed her and she closed her eyes relinquishing in the silence for a full minute before her brain caught up and she realized she had not asked the most important question of all.

"By the way," she said. "Who is this guy you're dating?"

"He's great," Lily said, her eyes brightening. "He's a professional quidditch player. A seeker. But he's not super cocky like most quidditch players. he's really sweet and low-key."

"He sounds perfect for you."

"He is," she said, blushing slightly.

"And you said he's a family friend?"

"Sort-of. His dad and my mum know each other fairly well from the quidditch circuit, and he had a thing back in the day for my Aunt Hermione. They've all kept in touch over the years and I had met Krasimir a couple of times growing up but it wasn't until I did a piece on him last summer that we really started talking."

"Is that his name? Krasimir?"

"Yes. Krasimir Krum."

"Krum?" Melony said thinking hard and fast. "As in Viktor Krum!"

"That's his dad," Lily said, slightly shrinking from Melony's raised, excited voice.

"You're dating Viktor Krum's son," Melony said sitting back in her chair and trying to seem casual. "Wow, small world."

Lily sighed deeply and also sat back. "Yeah, that tends to happen in our world."

Just then, Melony's bridesmaids burst in, carrying boxes of food and talking loudly. Lily stood up and rushed over to help them set it up only to be immediately replaced by Amy.

"How are you holding up, sis?" Amy asked plopping down.

"Pretty good," Melony said. "Did you talk to Al's mom?"

"Yep. We went over the whole day. She was pretty vague on some of the details though. there were some things she was describing which seemed pretty much impossible, but when I asked her about it, she just waved me off and assured me that she had it under control."

Amy shot Melony a sideways glance which Melony pretended not to see by taking a sip of her coffee.

"I'm sure she does," Melony said.

Amy continued to stare at Melony which Melony ignored by becoming overly interested in the food that was being laid out.

"Melony."

"Yes?" Melony said, finally turning to her sister.

"Is there something you want to tell me? About Al's family?"

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know," Amy said. "Perhaps the reason why they are so odd, or why they don't know about things that are common, everyday occurrences, or the fact that they have a whole vocabulary of nonsense words, or that they tend to accomplish things that seem impossible, or, better yet, why they have the exact same names as certain beloved literary characters."

Melony took a moment to look deeply into her sister's eyes.

"Nope," she said.

"Okay," her sister said, "but when you are ready just let me know and I will pretend to be shocked."

Melony smiled, chuckling slightly. "Thanks, Amy," she said softly.

"Of course," Amy said kindly. "After all you only get one day, right?"

"Right."

Amy stood and stretched before turning back toward Melony. "By the way," she said casually, "there are a whole bunch of people standing outside with cameras shouting things that seem to make no sense. You might want to ask one of Al's completely normal-blooded relatives to go talk to them before guests start showing up and asking questions."