A month before the wedding I go to visit Mum and Dad. I'm staying there the night before the wedding, so I'd brought my dress, veil, etc. over so that I wouldn't forget anything on the day.
We're sitting in the living room, drinking blood - for a change - and talking about the wedding. For a change.
"I think everything's coming together," I say, "Tilly will arrive the morning before, we'll have the rehearsal and the rehearsal lunch after."
"Well, there's only a month left," Dad says, "isn't about time you changed George?"
"Oh, no, I'm not changing him before the wedding," I say.
"What?" Mum leaps to her feet, "what do you mean?"
"We decided that we're going to wait," I say, "I want there to be a chance for us to have a human child. So after our first baby, in a few years, I'll change him."
"You can't marry a human," Dad says firmly.
"Of course I can," I argue, "I'll turn him one day, when we're ready."
"You cannot marry a human!" Mum repeats, "no one in our family has ever married a human!"
"It's fine-"
"IT IS NOT FINE!" Dad roars, leaning over me, "if you do not change him before the wedding, then I retract my blessing."
"He's not going to be a human forever!" I yell back, "there's no rush in turning him!"
"You'll be disgraced!" Mum shrieks, "we will be disgraced!"
"I knew this would happen!" Dad shouts, pacing back and forth, "you're too immature to be making these decisions!"
"Or maybe it just doesn't matter to me that he's not a vampire," I snap, "I'm not a vampire elitist. I don't think we're better than humans."
"Aurelia, don't be ridiculous," Mum says, "don't you care about tradition?"
"No, not really."
Mum looks like she's going to slap me. Dad's eyes are blazing with fury.
"Aurelia, hear me," Dad says, his voice low, "if he is not turned, if you marry a human, you are dead to us."
I stare at him for a moment, my vision going red.
"I am not turning him before the wedding," I say, "if you don't like that, then I'd rather you weren't there."
"We certainly will not be!" Mum says. She turns and sweeps upstairs.
"I'l see you out," Dad says.
"Don't bother," I reply, picking my bags up again and walking away. I get home and put my bags down. I realise I'm shaking and sink down onto the sofa. I hear George come in, but don't respond to his greeting.
"Aurelia?"
He sits down beside me and takes my hand.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asks.
"My parents..." I blink and feel tears escape my eyes, "my parents aren't coming to the wedding."
"What? Why not?"
"Because you're still human," I say, my voice thick, "they can't live with me marrying a human."
"Do you want me to change before then?" George asks, rubbing my back. I shake my head and lean into him.
"Just when I thought everything was going so well," I sigh.
"Hey, there's still a month left," he says, "maybe they'll come around."
I shake my head.
"Not on this," I say, "vampires don't marry humans. It's not done."
"You know I'm all for breaking rules."
I smile and hug him.
"I love you."
"I love you too, Rey."
"Rey?" I lean back, "that's new."
"Mm, do you like it?"
"Yeah," I nod, "better than Ari anyway."
"Come on, let's go have a drink," George says, "we can sort out details tomorrow."
"Now I won't have anyone to walk me down the aisle," I sigh as we walk into the kitchen.
"I'm sure my dad would do it, if you wanted."
"That would be weird," I say, passing George the firewhiskey, "I can walk down alone."
"There's always a chance that they'll get over it," George says comfortingly, passing me a glass, "once they've cooled down."
We reach the day before the wedding and they still haven't spoken to me. We go to the airport to pick Tilly and Charlie up. Tilly is glowing with excitement. Charlie and George are going to the Burrow, while I'm going to meet Georgiana at our place with Tilly.
"See you for the rehearsal at eleven!" I call to George as we go our separate ways.
"How's everything going?" Tilly asks, "have your parents woken up to themselves yet?"
"Nope," I sigh. Tilly gives me a one-armed hug.
"Their loss," she says sincerely, "they'll regret it for the rest of their long, long lives. Oh my god, you have a car!"
"Yep, I know apparating is quicker, but Arthur modified the car a bit for us," I say, opening the boot so Tilly can put her bags in. We climb into the car and she whistles.
"I'll say, it's huge in here!" Tilly looks around, impressed, "so, the parent thing. How's it all going?"
I sigh and pull out of the parking lot.
"I wish I could say it's improved, but nothing has changed," I say, "I want them to be there, but at the same time I don't."
"Well, yeah, if they can't accept your choices, they don't deserve to be," Tilly says.
"That's the thing, I don't understand why it's such a big thing to them," I say, "I mean, I'll change George eventually. Even his family has accepted that!"
"Parents get weird things into their heads," Tilly says, "I know a lot of people have that attitude like 'they raised you, you owe them, blah, blah, blah' but I never see it that way."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, they decided to have you and to raise you, their choice, you don't owe them for that," she says, "but mutual respect is super important. You're an adult, they're adults. They have to respect your choices, just like you have to respect theirs. They don't get to shit all over you just because they're faaaamily. No one gets a pass to be a dick."
"You might be the smartest person I know, Till," I say. She grins at me and pulls her sunglasses down onto her nose.
"I know," she says, "I also know that even though you're in the right on this, and they're over reacting, that doesn't make it any easier. You're allowed to be upset and hurt and angry. You also don't have to be the first to reach out. In fact, I'd leave it to them, they'll come around eventually."
"That's what George says," I sigh, "what if they don't?"
"Fuck 'em," Tilly shrugs, "not worth it."
"Do you see everything in black and white?" I laugh. Tilly shakes her head.
"Nothing is black and white," she says, "but I personally think boundaries are healthy and important. For example, I have a rule that my mother and future mother-in-law are not allowed to call any of my children 'my baby'."
"Yeah, that's weird," I agree.
"Right?" she says, "super creepy. Ohh, is this it?"
I pull into the driveway and she jumps out, looking up at the house.
"Nice," she says, grabbing her bag out. Georgiana answers the door and greets Tilly happily.
"We've just got enough time for a cup of tea before we leave for the rehearsal," Georgiana says.
"You English and your tea," Tilly laughs, "I just thought it was a stereotype!"
"I have never in my life heard someone who swears as much as you," Georgiana says, "it's unbelievable."
"Fuck, do I swear that much?" Tilly says, "oh, shit, I said fuck. And shit! Oh, bugger."
I can't help laughing at her. I check my watch.
"We should go," I say, putting my tea aside, "Tilly, you can side-along-apparate with me."
"Right-o!"
We apparate to a small hut near the beach and exit it. Fred, George and Lee are standing talking to the officiant a few meters away.
"This is beautiful," Tilly says, looking out over the ocean. There's a small pavilion just near the beach with seating for about twenty, which is more than enough. Tomorrow it will be decked with flowers and a small aisle will be arranged leading up to it.
"Finally," George says, kissing me, "ready to do this?"
"Yep!" I grin at him.
"Right, boys, we're up front," George says, leading Fred and Lee up onto the pavilion.
"Okay, who's going down the aisle first?" Tilly asks.
"It's usually the maid of honor," Georgiana says, "which is..."
"You," Tilly says, "right?"
"I didn't pick," I say honestly.
"Well, I'm taller, so it'll make sense for me to be behind her," Tilly says.
"Fair enough," I start the music and we walk through a few times, getting the timing right.
"Tomorrow there will be a curtain here," I explain, "so they won't see us until we step out."
We do a quick run through of the ceremony, where to say "I do", making sure Fred knows when to pass us the rings.
"And then you'll be husband and wife," Anthony, the officiant, says, "simple!"
"Great," George says, shaking his hand, "we'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Lunch now," Georgiana says, checking her watch.
"I'm glad someone is keeping us on schedule," George says, smiling at her.
"Oh, I forgot," I say, "Tilly, this is Lee. Lee, Tilly."
"Are you also hopelessly single?" Lee asks.
"Nah, sorry," she says, "I'm dating the older brother."
"What, Fred?"
"Nah, Charlie."
"Ah."
"Angelina will be here tomorrow, though," I say slyly. Lee rolls his eyes at me.
We meet the other Weasleys, their partners, Angelina, Alicia, at a restaurant in London.
"How did the rehearsal go?" Mr Weasley asks as we eat.
"Good," George says, "the girls were doing all the hard work."
"You must be excited," Mrs Weasley says.
"I think the nerves will set in later, but at the moment, yes," I nod.
"Have you heard from your parents?"
"No," I shake my head sadly. I can feel a weight in my stomach and my eyes start to tingle. I feel Tilly lay her hand on my arm.
"The beach is beautiful, though," she says enthusiastically, "not as nice as an Aussie beach, but ya know, nice."
"I can't wait to see the reception venue," Georgiana adds, "the decorations you showed me were beautiful."
"The weather report says it'll be sunny," Charlie says, "nice and warm, especially for autumn."
"A toast!" Mr Weasley says, standing up, "to George and Aurelia!"
"To George and Aurelia!"
The weight in my stomach has disappeared and I lean my head on George's shoulder for a moment, smiling.
"Aurelia, we'd better go," Georgiana says, "we have a nail appointment."
"I'll see you tomorrow," I say, kissing George.
"You'd better," he winks.
We say goodbye to everyone and Georgiana, Tilly and I head out.
"I booked us into a nice little boutique down the road here," Georgiana says.
"Wait, all of us?" Tilly asks.
"Yep," Georgiana laughs, "all of us. I promise it won't hurt."
"What about fake tans, is that happening?" Tilly asks anxiously. I roll my eyes.
"Georgiana tried really hard to convince me it was a good idea," I say, "but as the palest person on the planet-"
"Exaggeration," Georgiana interrupts, "but I saw your point. Here it is!"
We walk into the beautiful little boutique and Georgiana speaks to the beautician for a moment, then turns to me.
"I forgot, you're getting waxed," she says.
"What?!"
"Yeah," she shrugs and pushes me towards the lady.
Nearly an hour later I come out of the back room, limping and scowling.
"The worst is over," Georgiana says, "now comes the fun part!"
Despite mine and Tilly's reservations, it actually is nice having our nails done. We go over the plan for tomorrow while they're drying.
"It's important that you eat a proper breakfast," Georgiana says, "the makeup people are coming at seven and the hair people at seven thirty. We need to be in the car at nine, so it'll be a bit of a rush."
"The most important thing is to enjoy it," Tilly says, "it's your day!"
"It'll be fine," I say, although nerves are starting to build in my stomach.
Once we finish Georgiana drops by a supermarket to get something for dinner and breakfast, then we head home. We have a quiet evening and an early night. I lie awake in bed thinking about tomorrow. I roll over onto my side and picture George next to me. Just a few more hours.