𝕿o say we were all buzzing with excitement was a complete understatement, Remus and I because we finally shared the news with our parents and he was able to give me a ring, and Lyall, Hope and Newt, because they were extremely delighted with the news.
All of us were currently taking a few moments to calm down, knowing we were going to the Potter manor for dinner soon, and no one else knew yet because we wanted to tell our parents first in hopes they would be supportive.
I sighed softly when I felt arms wrap around me from behind in the bathroom as I fixed myself up, the both of us locking eyes in the mirror as he rested his chin on the top of my head, his cheeks adorably flushed as he displayed a lazy grin, his amber eyes shining brightly with his pupils growing wider each moment.
"Happy?" He whispered, leaning his head around to press a lingering kiss to my cheek, lightly rocking us side to side when I spun around to face him in the embrace, my smile never fading as I wrapped my arms around his neck once rolling up on my tiptoes, murmuring,
"Always the most with you"
He hums contentedly, leaning in with a swelled heart and butterflies dancing in his stomach as he connects their lips together in a doting kiss, no longer having to hold back as they were in the privacy of the bathroom, not in front of their parents. He groans quietly into her mouth when she traced the curve of his lips with her tongue, scraping with her teeth, compelling him to pull her closer into his body, deepening the kiss as she whispers,
"We probably need to go, we don't want to be late"
"I know" He mumbles, pushing his nose further into mine to kiss me desperately, grumbling lowly when I tried to pull away, laughter bubbling in my throat against his lips, uttering,
"Re....you can snog me later if that's your wish, but James will be so dramatic if we turn up late"
He reluctantly pulled away, a pout settling on his lips, muttering indignantly, "Prongs is such a cockblocker, they all are"
I chuckled, pecking his lips once more then detangling myself from his arms, opening the bathroom door, feeling him latch hand on to mine as we met the other three in the living room, giddy grins on their faces as they looked between the two of us.
"You're going to have to control yourselves or they'll know something is up, you realise that, right?" Remus asked, their heads nodding in unison still eager, causing me to snort, knowing we would probably end up sharing the news tonight, I have a special, elegant ring now, it won't be as discreet as Remus and I have been at Hogwarts, especially with the three elated adults already discussing the wedding.
"Let's go before Mia has our heads" I declared, running my hand through my pearly hair as we all made our way towards the floo station set up, aware it would be easier for Hope to use so she doesn't feel sick when we arrive from apparation— especially as she's already done so twice today.
Remus held me back when they flooed off with powder in their hands, an uncertain expression on his face, searching my ears as he asks,
"You're okay if it all comes out tonight, aren't you? Because my mum and dad are the worst at being secretive and they'll probably give it away and—"
"Remus, it's perfectly okay, they'll know eventually, if tonight's the night, then that's what it is. I'd like to share the news with our friends, I'm looking forward to marrying you" I cut him off calmly, pressing my finger to his lips, his face softening considerably, relaxing the furrow in his brow bone as he kisses the pad of my finger, murmuring,
"Me too. I'm looking forward to marrying you too"
I retracted my finger when my heart skipped a few beats, stepping into the fireplace after taking a handful of floo powder, speaking as he stood beside me, "That's good. I'd be disappointed if you weren't"
He snickered, snaking his arm around my waist as I spoke the destination clearly, dropping the handful of powder as green flames erupted around us, transporting us straight inside the Potter's living room. Familiar laughter and natter sounded in my ears as we stepped out together, the werewolf brushing me down with a wink as a voice suddenly exclaimed,
"Moontree's here! It's about bloody time, we've been waiting hours! Hours, I tell you, I was about to come over myself and drag you here"
"It's been less than an hour and a half since we were at the station, Prongs" Remus deadpanned, glancing towards the hands on the clock nearby, reading half past seven at night, my lips twitching as James folded his arms over his chest, insisting,
"Far too long, what are we supposed to do without you?"
"Did I hear Mon lune et mon soleil?" Sirius inquired, popping his head into the living room and catching sight of us with a wide grin, claiming, "It's about time, we've been waiting ages!"
"They definitely rehearsed this..." Remus muttered to me, taking my hand and beginning to lead me towards the dining room we gathered everyone else was joined in, Sirius and James scoffing when we brushed straight past them towards the room, Scarlette leaving Newt's side when she caught a glimpse of me, snatching me from Remus and picking me up, my arms and legs wrapping around her like a koala as she spun us around.
"Go on, Willow, kiss her" Peter encouraged, the parents' eyebrows shooting to their hairlines as I hummed nonchalantly,
"Okay but I don't think Sirius and Remus were impressed last time"
"On the contrary, I thoroughly enj— loathed. I loathed it, no kissing" Sirius coughed, changing his words when Remus shot him a flat glare, James biting back his laughter and scooting closer to Regulus as though my werewolf was about to lash out at him.
"You're all acting so dramatic, they all probably think we snogged, it was just the corner of my mouth for a joke" Scarlette clarified, placing me down and kissing my cheek, Regulus piping,
"I have reason to believe you have—"
"Ah, Reg, i've missed you in this small amount of time" I chirped, wrapping the boy in a hug as he sealed his lips, melting into the embrace, kissing the top of my head as Mia announced,
"Dinner's ready!"
All of us took our seats at the extended table, the parents all on one side and our group on the other, Remus and Scarlette either side of me whilst Regulus and James were across from us, Peter on the end and Sirius on Scarlette's other side. I smiled to myself, the thought of near enough all the people I love being under the same rough together once again only adding to the happiness that's been bubbling inside of me.
Remus rested his hand comfortably on my thigh, giving a small squeeze to tell me he's happy to, probably noticing my expression as I eyed the busy table, Mia placing down the delicious, full dishes of the planned meal in the middle of the table, taking a seat besides Monty as he clears his throat, holding up his glass of wine,
"A toast to all of our odd children finally graduating Hogwarts, we're extremely proud of you...you included, Regulus"
The tousled haired boy's cheeks tinted pink from his mention, his head nodding in gratitude, glancing briefly to James when he sent him a goofy grin, all of us raising our glasses up to clink against each other's, repeating the toast before all taking a sip.
"This looks absolutely lovely, Mia" Hope compliments, our heads all nodding in agreement as the older witch waved us off,
"It's nothing, hopefully it will taste just as..."
"Always does, Mia. Amazing" Peter declares, eagerly tucking into his mashed potatoes sloppily, Carol rolling her eyes at her son, causing us all to laugh before beginning to plate up ourselves, and divulging into the goodness of Euphemia Potter's cooking.
"So, how did the final prank go?" Monty quizzed with a crooked grin, the same mischievous glint in his aging eyes that James displays daily, all of our heads whipping up when Mia sent him a scolding look, yet fairly interested herself,
"Oh it was brilliant, really brilliant. We flew on thestrals around the great hall with fireworks, glitter and confetti...then..Minnie pranked us and changed the colour of our robes! Can you believe that? We let her off with detention because she let us off, and obviously we were leaving today anyway..overall, a good end" James explained excitedly, nearly throwing his roast potato towards me again when he twirled his fork around, Remus snorting when I ducked just in case, already remembering what happened last time.
"Thestrals? You rode thestrals?" Newt repeated for confirmation, his interest peaking at the mention of the invisible creatures to those who haven't viewed death first hand.
"Yeah, Hagrid's breeding them so let us borrow them, a bit of Wills' charm and dazzling smiles, we managed to round them up, those four of course, absolutely clueless when they couldn't see them and thought we had messed it all up" Scarlette cackled, Sirius smirking behind his glass in pride of his girlfriend, proclaiming,
"Isn't she fantastic? You should have seen all their confused faces, they thought we were flying ourselves"
"Unless they could see them and we traumatised the children" Regulus points out in a blasè tone, cutting up a slice of chicken and placing it into his mouth neatly, the etiquette he learned growing up still highlighted in his mannerisms.
"What are...thestrals?" Hope inquired with furrowed eyebrows, Newt clearing his throat and informing her quietly,
"Magnificent skeleton like creatures, almost winged like horses....they're invisible to most, unless you've watched someone pass on"
"A lovely topic for dinner" Remus retorts when the table grew quiet and Hope swallowed thickly, looking nervously to Scarlette as she carried on obliviously until Sirius nudged her and she looked up to see the saddened looks she was receiving, her eyebrow arching, shrugging it off,
"Don't feel for me. My great aunt was a slimy cunt, she wasn't pleasant at all"
"Nice choice of language, you're as bad as Moony" James chortled, Remus snapping his head to him and narrowing his eyes warningly, the bespectacled boy insisting, "Oh come on, we all know you're the biggest swearwolf around, I learned them mostly from you, some I didn't know existed"
"Way to out him Prongs" Peter mumbled around his food, Remus sighing exasperatedly when everyone looked to him, Hope and Lyall with a scolding expression, only increasing when he grunted irritably and forced his middle fingers up to James.
"No, I knew that one from dad"
"I have never done that, you take that right back, James Fleamont Potter" Monty orders, pointing his finger accusingly to his son, Regulus leaning back in his chair with a smirk, whispering the full name to himself with a wicked snicker, just loud enough for James to hear.
"Every time we used to practice quidditch you would curse at the hoops out on the garden—"
"Ooh, it's all coming out tonight" Sirius grinned mischievously, shuffling in his seat to prepare himself for the entertainment, Mia rubbing her temples with his fingers causing me to bite down on my lip to stifle the desperate laughter wanting to tear from my throat.
"Let's end that conversation, i'll deal with the both of you later" She decides, my hand reaching for my water, hoping that would help, my eyes flickering down to my lap momentarily, spying the way the sandy haired boy was absently doodling hearts and flowers onto the fabric of my jeans, my heart fluttering in my chest, unable to hold back the sappy smile playing on my lips.
Remus glances sideways to his veela when she looks downwards to his hand, everyone's mouths clamping shut from the previous conversation, busying themselves with their dinner as he loses himself studying her. Undeniably beautiful. His fiancée was undeniably beautiful.
"I hope the next generation of you all aren't as oblivious" Mia voices again, both Remus and I glancing up towards her when she flashed a knowing smile, sending us a wink as Sirius mumbled,
"It's a Potter thing, I never used to be oblivious until I started coming here, it's the effect you've all had on me, so blame yourselves"
"We are not oblivious" Monty argued, wriggling his nose to push up his glasses when they dropped down his nose, a mannerism James must have inherited from him, the older wizard pointing out, "We're blind, but we're not oblivious"
"Willow-tree's the least oblivious, the all knowing being, you've got your Weird Witchcraft, so we can be oblivious as long as we have Willow-tree" James gestures to me, a gentle laugh escaping my lips, nodding my head to him,
"Don't worry, Jamesie-deer, i've got you"
"What number am I thinking of?" Sirius inquired with narrowed eyes at me, Scarlette rolling her eyes at him when I looked over, raising my eyebrows and answering nonchalantly,
"Fourteen"
"Every time!" He grunts irritably, folding his arms over his chest in a sulk when I smirked in success, leaning into Remus' side when he scooted our chairs closer together, Newt chiming in,
"She's always been like that, I actually had Dumbledore check she wasn't a born legilimens"
"Some sort of mind reading?" Hope quizzed, guessing the Wizarding terminology and nodding her head in understanding when we nodded, the woman glancing to me with an impressed expression, my cheeks warming as she asked, "Colour?"
"Purple" I murmured, fiddling with my hands when she sucked an a breath, cocking her head to the side, breathing,
"I understand why you had to get tested, that is extraordinary. Wow"
"You're making me blush, Hope" I chuckled, spying the glasses of champagne that appeared in front of all of us, my teeth chewing on my lip, glancing around when James and Sirius giddily reached for it, until Mia paused them,
"Don't drink it too fast or it will go to your head"
"You underestimate my capabilities, mum, I handle my alcohol very well" Sirius grinned, holding his champagne glass to his lips, stilling and voicing, "I feel like we need a toast, anyone got anything?"
Remus' breath hitched when we felt four pairs of eyes burning on the pair of him and Willow, his hand squeezing her thigh as his heart began to pound nervously in his chest. He glances around the table as they all thought to themselves, his eyes landing on Willow when she glanced up to him, so calmly and angelically he nearly melted in a puddle.
He doesn't take his eyes off her, too captivated to look away when she passes his champagne to his hand, holding her own as she gives him an upturned smile, nodding her head in encouragement. The anticipation and nervousness sparking like a wildfire in his stomach as he leans to press a kiss to her nose before the words come tumbling uncontrollably out of his mouth,
"I have one"
Everyone's heads snapped towards him as I hummed gently, feeling my cheeks warm under his tender gaze, Sirius' voice muffled in my ears as he urged,
"Go on then, Moony, the fizz is tingling at my lips in anticipation"
He smiles warmly, keeping his eyes on her because she's his safe haven, his celestial city, his life line. He breaths out a deep breath after burying deep for some bravery, his glass raising up as he sends her a wink, proclaiming,
"You can toast to my fiancée and I, and all the fucking wedding plans you'll need to help us with"
I bit my lip, feeling butterflies flooding my stomach hearing the words sounding from his los, gruff voice, yet he sounds so serene and soothing it could easily win over rain for my favourite sound. The silence was deafening as our entire group of friends froze, processing their words with slacked jaws and round eyes.
"Fiancée? Wedding plans? W-what?" James breathed out, stunned, Scarlette blinking rapidly she she eagerly looks to my left hand holding my glass, cursing under her breath when she spies my engagement band on my ring finger, Sirius at a loss for words just gawking at us.
Regulus was the first to break, relaxing his shoulders from their frozen position, lifting his glass higher and sending us a fond smile, Peter following closely by cracking a broad grin, reaching with his free hand to squeeze Remus' shoulder, his glass raising further in the air.
"There's a ring. Stupid put a ring on your finger, Stupid proposed—"
"Can we wear off Stupid for a name now?" Remus questions sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck when his parents furrowed their eyebrows at the nickname, Scarlette paying no attention to them as she tilts my chin towards her, staring deeply into her eyes as she speaks unsurely, "You're engaged?"
"Yes, we're engaged" I clarified easily, Hope's sniffs sounding again, joined this time with Mia's, Lyall passing out tissues, also handing one to Monty knowingly as he leans back in his chair, stroking his chin.
"Right on, Moons, not the toast I imagined...but I love it nevertheless. I take it you've already celebrated yourselves?" Sirius finally voices, waggling his eyebrows at us suggestively despite the Lupins and Newt being in the room, our cheeks flushing as Mia calls sternly,
"Sirius Orion Black don't force me to sit you next to me, because I will!"
"What do you mean you're engaged?!" James exclaimed, my nose wrinkling up from the level of noise, him noticing the and sending me an apologetic look before continuing quieter, "You proposed and you didn't tell any of us?"
"I'm going to put my glass down for the time being..." Regulus decides, rubbing his arm he undoubtedly had an ache in, Remus running a hand through his mousy locks, nodding,
"I proposed, and I didn't tell you because I didn't plan it. I had my blessing and I just asked...I honestly don't think Willow would have wanted the grand gesture you would put forward....and you're a blabber mouth"
"He's right, you are" Sirius agreed, snickering when James' jaw drops further, returning exasperatedly,
"Fine! But atleast tell me it was romantic....and you liked it, Willow-tree?"
"Which one, the first one or the second one?" I asked cheekily, the younger Potter's eyebrows shooting to his hairline, crying,
"Two?!"
"Oh, did she say no the first time, Moons? Oh i'm so sorry—"
"Wha— no?! She said yes the first time, yes, the second...we're engaged. We're getting married soon" Remus cuts Sirius off his sympathetic words with an offended frown, Scarlette muffling her laughter behind her hand, Peter not so lucky as he bursts into howling laughter, soon followed by Sirius, James and Regulus.
I laughed quietly at my Gryffindor's expression, his face scrunching up as he eyes all of our friends nearly falling out of their chair in fits of chortles, my hand reaching to cup his cheeks as he frowned, whispering to me,
"What's so funny about me wanting to marry you?"
"Re, they're not laughing at you, they're laughing because they're happy with the news. They weren't expecting it, we've gotten them good here" I assured him, catching his lips into a quick kiss to soothe him, a soft sigh falling from his lips as he turns back to the table, taking my left hand into his tightly as James manages to speak with a red face,
"I can't believe it! You're engaged, there's going to be a wedding!"
"Yes, yes, we've established that, James. Let's toast to them now, this is fantastic news!" Monty grinned enthusiastically, holding his glass up in the air as everyone else did the same, eyeing Remus and I with matching smiles as Monty declared, "To our engaged couple, to Remus and Willow!"
"Remus and Willow!"
They all took sips of their champagne, whereas I placed mine down afterwards knowing drinking probably wasn't the best idea, Newt catching my eye from down the table when everyone got busy chatting about the news, gesturing to my drink with a nod. I gave him an uncertain look, tilting my head when Remus leaned down to whisper in my ear,
"You can have one if you want, no one's likely to be too affected here. But if you don't want to, that's perfectly okay, I won't either"
"How about we share one and see?" I suggested quietly, biting down on my lip as he hummed, squeezing my hand three times as he agreed,
"We can share one if that's what you want"
"Sorry not sorry to interrupt this moment, i'm sure is incredibly beautiful, but I have questions as I have some kind words I would like to say to Rem" Scarlette voiced, leaning her head into ours, an amused laugh sounding from my lips when Remus muttered,
"Cue the lecture"
My cheeks began aching once more and warmth blossomed in my chest as Sirius, James and Peter began arguing for their role in the wedding whilst Scarlette began questioning and lecturing Remus in detail, Regulus joining in with his own opinions every couple of moments whilst the parents all chatted ecstatically for the news.
We're engaged. Engaged to marry and all those we love and are close to now know. It didn't matter to me the proposal wasn't a cheesy grand gesture James would have done, or a structured and intimate one Sirius might have done. I liked how it was just mine and Remus', in the Hospital wing whilst painting buttercups...and again with our parents. It was us, wholly us, real and true.
I snuggled into the side of my fiancé, resting my head down on his shoulder, my eyelids fluttering with joy when he swaps our hands over, allowing him to wind his arm around my waist to pull me closer, inattentively pressing his lips to my head affectionately as he reassures Scarlette three times that there will be no breaking ups or divorces in the future.
Simply perfect.
•3742 words•