"Spring wedding or Autumn?" George asks, walking past me with another box of stuff.
"Can't this wait until we've finished moving in?" I ask, propping the door open with an ugly vase.
"I can multi-task," George says, coming back downstairs, "also, you know that your parents have labeled one of the rooms 'nursery', right?"
"Ugh, I know," I sigh, walking down to the car to get another couple of boxes, "subtly is not their strong point."
"Well, I'm not in any rush for babies," George says, "where does this one go?"
"Uh, bathroom," I say, "me either. Definitely not until we're settled."
"And we've finished putting together the new Hogsmeade shop," George adds, "that one is the kitchen."
"Right, I mean, we have a wedding to plan already," I say, "and with work and everything..."
George stops me in the doorway and kisses me.
"No babies yet," he says, "we're in agreement."
"Right," I smile, kissing him, "I'll get the last of the stuff from the car."
"I'm glad we don't have a lot of stuff yet," George says as we organise the kitchen.
"Well, I was still living with my parents, and you left most of your stuff for Fred and Georgiana."
"Who are doing so much better now," George says, "what happened?"
"I think something happened during the Battle of Hogwarts," I say, "Georgiana was vague, but I think it boiled down to neither of them wanting to lose the other."
"I can empathise," George says, wrapping his arms around me. There's a knock on the door and I sigh.
"If this is my parents, I'm going postal," I say, walking towards the door.
"Aurelia! Darling!"
"Mum, Dad," I say, "you're here."
"We bought you a little house warming gift," Mum says, handing me a bottle of wine and walking into the house, "oh, you're still unpacking."
"We only moved in today," I point out.
"Well, we were just wondering if you've made any progress on the wedding planning," Mum says, "hello, George, dear."
"Hello."
"Not yet," I say.
"Well, I know some fantastic planners, if you want," Mum says, "but we were thinking, why not have it at our place?!"
"We'll think about it," I lie. Mum smiles.
"Well, we'll leave you to it," she says with a wink.
"We're not having at their place," I say as soon as they're gone. George laughs.
"So, Spring or Autumn?" he asks.
"Well, if we do it in Autumn, that's a little over a year away," I ponder.
"Ari, it's been Autumn for over two months," George points out, amused.
"Oh," I say, "well, then it's only a few months until Spring. That's not much time. And you and Fred were going to finalise the shop in Spring."
"So, Autumn then," George says.
"Why not Winter?"
"Because the humans will freeze, as you insist on having it outdoors."
"Summer?"
"Too busy at the shop."
"Fine, next Autumn it is," I say, "so, that narrows it down to ninety-one days instead of three hundred and sixty-five. We're doing well."
"We can't do it on Halloween," George says, "so ninety days."
"Okay, hang on," I fish a spare calendar out and rip September, October and November out and lay them on the table. I get a sickle out of our Rainy Day jar and hand it to George.
"Throw it on the table. The Saturday closest to where it lands will be our date," I say, "you have to turn around and throw it over your shoulder, so you can't cheat."
He laughs, but turns his back on the table and throws the sickle.
"The second of October," George says.
"The second of October," I repeat, "okay, that's the date set, what more could there be?"
***
As it turns out, a lot. As it also turns out, both of our mothers are experts in weddings. Although, not so much in listening to their children/future-children-in-law. Amazingly, however, they seem to be bonding over a shared interest: Planning my wedding.
"I don't know why you're having it so soon!" Mum says frantically.
"Mum, it's months away," I say, "we have heaps of time."
"That's what you think," she mutters.
"She's right," Mrs Weasley says, "it'll go so quickly."
"We've got it under control, Mum," George says.
"Well, can I see your guest list?" Mrs Weasley asks, "I want to make sure you haven't forgotten anyone."
I pass the guest list over and she gasps, then shows it to my mother, who also gasps.
"Aurelia! None of your aunts or uncles are on here! None of your cousins!"
"No, we want a small wedding," I say.
"But, but we always-"
"We'll have a celebration after the honeymoon with everyone," George says, "but on the day, we want it to be small."
"Just those close to us," I add in agreement. Our mothers look horrified.
"You'll have the Count, surely," Mum says, "he'll perform the ceremony, yes?"
"No."
"Aurelia!"
"Mum," I say firmly, "my wedding. My rules. He's not coming."
"Why not?" she demands.
"Because he's creepy," I say, "the guest list is not negotiable."
"Well, what about save the dates?" Mrs Weasley asks, "you should have sent them out months ago!"
"We only picked the date a few weeks ago," George says.
"And they're ready to send," I say, "we'll send them out this week."
"The venue, you're not getting married in a church, are you?" Mum asks.
"No," I say and she looks mollified for a moment, "we're getting married outside."
"No!" she exclaims, "you'll burn to a crisp!"
"Not in the hour or two it'll take for the ceremony," I say, "the reception will be in doors."
"Well, I suppose that would be nice," Mrs Weasley says, "we could have a marquee, like Bill and Fleur."
"No, we're not doing a marquee," George says.
"Well, I suppose it won't be too bad at sunset," Mum says.
"We're having a morning wedding," I say, "with a lunch reception, so we can leave after lunch for our honeymoon and we won't get there late at night."
"Well, where are you going?" Mrs Weasley asks.
"That is not up for discussion," George says, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but can we talk about something else?"
"But-"
"George-"
"Good idea," I say, sweeping up the planning book and putting it out of sight. George checks his watch.
"We actually have a dinner reservation," he says, "we'll have to head off soon."
"Well, let me know when you need some help," Mum says, standing up.
"Yes, send me an owl any time," Mrs Weasley agrees. We see them out and lean against the door with a sigh.
"Eloping is looking real tempting," I say. George laughs and kisses my cheek.
"Let's go have dinner," he says, "no wedding talk."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
We arrive at the restaurant and are seated in a private booth. After we've ordered I take a deep breath.
"We should talk about when you're going to be turned," I say. George chokes a little on his water.
"Okay," he says, wiping his shirt off, "before the wedding?"
"Actually, I wasn't thinking so soon," I say, "the thing is, as long as you're human, we have a chance of having a human child. If you turn then any children we have will definitely be vampires."
"Wouldn't it be better to have vampire children?" George asks. I shake my head.
"You remember my boggart," I say quietly, "that's not something I want."
"So, you want me to stay human until we finish having children?" George asks, frowning. I shake my head.
"I just want one try," I say, "after that... Once the pregnancy is two thirds along, I'll change you. Can you live with that?"
"I want a cap on it," he says, "Ten years. If we haven't had a kid by then, you turn me."
"Deal," I agree.
"Wait, five years," George says, "five years."
"Seven?"
"Six."
"Okay."
We shake on it and I laugh.
"I wish our mothers were as easy to negotiate with," I say.
"They're just excited," George says, "we'll just not say the 'w' word around them."
"I had no idea there was so much to plan!" I say, "I haven't even thought about bridesmaids!"
"How many are you having?" George asks, "I only want Fred and Lee."
"Tilly and Georgiana," I say, "two is plenty."
"Well, we have nine months and six days left," he says, raising his glass, "here's to our sanity."