One-shot: Lucy and family gen
Title: It Never Does Run Smooth, Does It?
Author: mollywheezy
Prompt:
Pairing: Roxanne or Lucy-- any non-incestuous pairing (canon or OC)
Maximum Rating: any
Prompt: Always a bridesmaid. She's been a bridesmaid in every one of her cousins' weddings. Will it ever be her turn?
Likes: Humor, romance, wry sense of humor, finding love in unexpected places/when you least expect it, ridiculous bridesmaids dresses, family dynamics, snark, banter, happy endings
Dislikes: incest including cousincest, Percy bashing, rape/non-con/dub-con
by katmarajade
Pairing(s): Primarily Lucy, Molly, Roxanne Gen; mentions of Lucy/OMC, Molly/OMC, Roxanne/OMC, Victoire/Teddy, Dominique/OMC, Louis/OMC, James/OFC, Rose/Scorpius, Percy/Audrey, Bill/Fleur, George/Angelina and other assorted Weasleys and Potters
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 14,000
Content/Warnings: [None (click to open)]
Summary: Lucy participates in several of her cousins' weddings, excited for her own. But when her long-time relationship falls apart, will she ever find love again?
Author's Notes: Huge thanks and many hugs to my friend and beta rumpelsnorcack for her encouragement, brainstorming prowess, and fabulous beta skills.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling and associates. No copyright infringement intended.
~*~ Summer 2019 ~*~
Lucy grasped her bouquet of flowers tightly in both hands. She really wanted to scratch her neck, but Aunt Fleur had warned her so many times, she clutched her bouquet instead. The color Victoire chose for the bridesmaids' dresses was very pretty and flattering on all of them-blue since Victoire was the only Ravenclaw in the family-but the style was horrible. Not even eleven-year-old Lily looked good in puffy sleeves, a huge bow in her hair, and an even huger bow on her bum. What designer thought putting huge bows on women's bums would ever be a good idea? Lucy thought her bum was quite big enough and did not need more attention called to it. She blushed thinking Gareth might be staring at her bum. She wasn't sure she even wanted him looking, since Lucy didn't feel her bum was her best feature.
She tried to pay attention to what the ministry official was saying, but she could barely hear him. Victoire thought it would be so romantic to have the ministry official who performed Aunt Fleur's and Unlce Bill's wedding also perform the ceremony for her and Teddy. Lucy thought it was a nice idea, in a way, but the man was ancient, long retired, and had such a wispy voice, she doubted anyone could hear him.
Her mind wandered again, and she wondered if Gareth would propose to her when they finished Hogwarts. They'd been going out since the end of fourth year, and Lucy dreamed of getting engaged when they finished school. They did have two more years, so she was rather putting the hippogriff before the carriage. Besides, she would get to dance with Gareth at the reception which was a first about which she was very excited. She was less excited about dancing with him in front of her entire family, especially since she was the only one of her cousins to have a date for the wedding and all of the attention of the gathered Weasleys would be on her. But maybe they could sneak off to some quiet corner of the Burrow's garden . . .
When the service ended, and the wedding party had recessed until the chairs could be magically rearranged, Molly pulled Lucy aside and whispered, "Want to lose the bows?"
"Definitely!"
Molly removed the bow from Lucy's hair by hand, and Lucy did the same for Molly. Then Molly magically took the bows off the backs of both of their dresses. "I can't do anything about the sleeves."
"At least this is an improvement."
"Not like you have to worry. You're the only one in the family who brought a date today. Go find Gareth, and I'm going to check out Teddy's cute friends." With a quick hug and a smile, Molly hurried off.
~*~ Christmas 2019 ~*~
All of the family had gathered at the Burrow, except for Dominique who had yet to arrive from Paris. Grandma Molly insisted they couldn't eat until Dominique was there.
"I'm starving," Molly whispered. "I wish Dominique would hurry up. Knowing her, she's probably flirting with someone from the portkey office." Molly smiled and rolled her eyes. Lucy chuckled. "I'll have to-" Before Molly finished speaking, the Floo flared up and spat out Dominique along with a very handsome man.
"Happy Christmas, Everyone! May I present Jean-Luc, my husband. We eloped!" Dominique held up her left hand to show off a very large diamond. Everyone screamed and ran to hug her and shake Jean-Luc's hand. Aunt Fleur started crying and exclaiming in rapid French of which Lucy didn't catch a word.
Molly and Lucy shrieked in delight and were cheering for Dominique and waving to her since they couldn't quite reach her through the crowd of their family. When they finally did get to their cousin, both of them hugged her tightly, and hugged Jean-Luc tightly, too, since he was family now, and Lucy whispered, "Thank you for not making us wear ridiculous bridesmaids' dresses!"
~*~ Summer 2020 ~*~
Lucy sipped her champagne and whispered to Molly, "I've always wanted a winter wedding, but Louis really has the right idea of getting married on the beach in summer. This is so wonderful."
Molly nodded. "I've never understood your desire for a New Years' wedding anyway. It's too cold."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'd get married outside. I was thinking I'd have the wedding at Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell's church, and the reception . . . I don't know. Somewhere. Maybe Gareth's parents' house. I haven't seen it, but I hear it's huge, and they have an entire floor that's a ballroom. That could work." Lucy chuckled to herself. "He needs to propose first, though."
Molly hugged her sister. "If he's as smart and wonderful as you keep telling me, then he's not letting you get away."
~*~
"I think Louis will get the award for best wedding among our cousins." Lucy leaned against her sister as they both lazily swirled their toes in the cool, blue water.
"I agree. It helps that his mother-in-law manages the Saint-Tropez Wizarding Resort and his father-in-law is the chef. Victoire said they get a certain number of free guest passes each year, and they've been saving them up for a couple of years, and borrowed from a couple of future years in order to get everyone here."
"It was extremely generous of them to give everyone a vacation."
"And no bridesmaid dress fittings! What a great idea to let everyone wear what they wanted. Uncle George told me when Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill got married, Uncle Fred said when he got married, everyone could go casual-no dress robes allowed. I wonder if Uncle George told Louis and gave him the idea."
"He might have. But then again, Louie's family lives at the resort, so I think they're pretty casual anyway. And extremely nice. We only met Louie a few days ago, but it seems like he's been a part of our family forever. I like that both Louis and Louie had all of their siblings and cousins of both genders stand up with them. It really looked like two families were joining."
"And a picnic on the beach rather than a formal reception was brilliant."
"I'm not sure what Louie's dad made qualifies as picnic food. That had to be the best food I've ever tasted."
"Speaking of food, I'm getting hungry. Want to go find something to eat?"
Lucy nodded, and she and Molly helped each other up to walk back to the resort together.
~*~ Christmas 2020 ~*~
Lucy took the Floo to the Burrow with her parents, surprised Molly was not there yet, or maybe not. This Christmas was the first time all of the Weasley family would meet Molly's boyfriend, Mason. Lucy and her parents liked Mason, and she was certain the rest of the family would, too, but she was nervous for her sister. The prospect of having her boyfriend spend time with her entire family was so daunting it made her glad Gareth and his parents always went skiing over the holidays. Gareth had, of course, met her family at Victoire's wedding, but since they had spent most of their time dancing together or attempting to sneak off together, the Weasley Family Inquisition had not occurred.
Lucy had greeted everyone, and now lurked in the kitchen waiting for Molly and Mason. When the two of them came through the Floo, Lucy hugged her sister tightly before even letting her brush off the ash. She hesitated briefly, but then hugged Mason, too. She liked him, he probably needed a hug when faced with all of the Weasleys, and from what Molly said in her letters, Lucy was pretty sure Mason would be her brother someday.
"Here's the plan, Mason," Molly began. "At dinner, make sure you sit between me and Lucy. We need to protect you from Uncle George."
"I thought you loved your Uncle George?!"
"We do," Lucy said. "But we're used to him. You're fresh meat."
Mason looked confused, so Molly picked up the train of thought. "We all know to expect Uncle George's pranks and know how to avoid them if we want to. He'll try to trick you, so we're just trying to help."
"OK," Mason answered, still sounding uncertain.
Dinner went by without incident to Lucy's surprise. She and Molly kept looking at each other from opposite sides of Mason, wondering when Uncle George would try something, but nothing happened.
Aunt Angelina announced, "I made my grandmum's famous Christmas Biscuits this year. Mum's been trying to teach me forever, but I finally managed to get it right." This announcement was met with appreciative cheers and congratulations from the gathered Weasleys. She brought out the plate, and said, "Everyone help yourself!"
The plate was passed and everyone began taking a biscuit or two and trying them. Uncle Ron was the first to turn into a gigantic butterfly, followed quickly by Hugo, James, and Louis. Aunt Angelina shrieked, "George Fabian Weasley!" and moved to smack the back of Uncle George's head, but he Apparated across the room to avoid it, so Aunt Angelina just smacked air.
Uncle George pulled a small bottle out of his pocket. "Butterfly Beads! One drop turns any regular biscuit or small appetizer into a Wheeze!"
Aunt Angelina shook her head, Grandma Molly rolled her eyes, but was trying too hard to hide her smile, and Mason said, "Brilliant!" and popped his entire biscuit into his mouth turning into a giant butterfly. Everyone else in the family followed. Lucy knew that she and Molly needn't have worried about Mason at all.
~*~ Summer 2021 ~*~
Lucy and Gareth left the prefects in charge of herding the younger students onto the carriages, so they were the first to board the Express. He pulled Lucy into the first empty compartment, locked the door with his wand, and kissed her. Lucy kissed him back enthusiastically, but her sense of duty made her pull away after only a moment.
"I'd love to snog, Gareth, but we still have Head duties until we get off the train at King's Cross. We bought a few minutes by leaving the prefects . . ."
"I know, I know." Gareth sighed dramatically. "The work of the Head Boy and Head Girl is never done. How about we do our duties and meet back in here as soon as possible after the trip?"
"Doesn't the Express leave?"
"No it sits here all summer, and we can both Apparate home, so there really isn't any hurry, is there?" Gareth nuzzled Lucy's neck.
"No, I suppose there isn't," she replied rather breathlessly.
As they reluctantly left their compartment, Gareth made a complicated wand movement at the door and said something Lucy didn't understand.
"What was that?"
"I was speaking Welsh. It's an ancient locking and concealment spell only members of my family can perform. I think it's Blood Magic, so if I weren't part of my family's bloodline, I couldn't perform the spell no matter how good of a wizard I am."
~*~
After all of the students had left the train, Gareth and Lucy completed their inspection to make certain all was in order and returned to their compartment. Gareth performed another Welsh spell to let them in.
"I brought lunch for us." Gareth pulled a large hamper out of the luggage rack.
"That sounds lovely, but isn't the conductor going to lock up the train?"
"When I owled him to ask where the train lived during the summer holiday, I also asked permission for us to have lunch here." Gareth winked at Lucy.
"Brilliant!" Lucy smiled warmly at Gareth, who proceeded to wave his wand causing a small dining table and two chairs, a white linen tablecloth, white linen napkins with intricately designed brass napkin rings, two brass candlesticks with white tapers which lit themselves as they settled on the table, exquisite gold and white patterned china, brass silverware which landed into proper place settings, and crystal goblets with a gold tint Lucy had never seen before.
"Wow!" Lucy wasn't sure how else to respond to such an opulent display.
Gareth pulled out a chair for Lucy and said, "Shall we?"
Lucy smiled and took a seat.
Gareth tapped the table with his wand and oysters on the half shell with some sort of sauce appeared on their plates. Lucy knew what they were, but she had never eaten one before. She picked up her fork.
"You won't need a fork," Gareth said. "Like this." He picked up one of the shells and slurped the entire oyster into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Lucy watched, not really sure her Gryffindor courage applied to eating something raw, but she didn't want to hurt Gareth's feelings so she copied his motions. The taste was fine, since she mostly only tasted the sauce, but the slimy texture made Lucy think of flobberworms, and she wanted to spit the thing out. Since Gareth was watching her expectantly, she swallowed with a huge effort and imagined she could feel the oyster sliming all the way down to her stomach.
"You don't like them, do you?" Gareth asked with a smile.
"Er . . ." Lucy floundered. "The sauce is very good, but I'm not sure I like the oyster's texture."
"That's OK. You don't have to eat any more if you don't want to."
"I appreciate all of the trouble you went to, though! Did you make all of the food yourself?"
"Oh no! Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde made everything and put it all together for me. Do you want the rest of your oysters?"
Lucy shook her head and gestured for Gareth to go ahead. He ate one immediately, and started on a second as Lucy asked, "Who are Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde?"
Gareth swallowed. "House Elves."
"So you and your parents have four House Elves?"
"No, Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde are the House Elves in Charge-they supervise the other house elves and are the liaisons with my family. I don't even know all of the house elves' names."
Gareth ate Lucy's last oyster and asked, "Ready for the second course? I'm afraid it still involves oysters, but they aren't raw. I love oysters." He waved his wand again and bowls made out of the same crystal as the goblets appeared. Champagne magically filled the goblets as the soup filled the bowls. "Oyster Chowder."
Lucy picked up her soup spoon and tasted the chowder. "Oh this is nice, very creamy." Lucy smiled.
Gareth put down his soup spoon and raised his goblet. Lucy did likewise. "To us," Gareth said, tinking Lucy's glass with his own.
"To us," Lucy repeated, and sipped the exquisite champagne. She had drunk champagne before, but never any as good as this.
Their next course was a seafood pie which Lucy thought absolutely delicious. This was followed by a salad, "Oyster Caesar" Gareth said, but it tasted like regular Caesar dressing from what Lucy could tell.
"Ready for dessert?" Gareth asked.
"Does it involve oysters?" Lucy teased.
Gareth laughed. "No, not at all. I've just grown up eating oysters since we have beds at our summer home in Majorca. Blinky is especially skilled at farming them. But even as much as I love them, I have never eaten one with desert." Gareth winked, and waved his wand to bring dessert out of the hamper.
Lucy laughed in delight as a yummy-looking compilation of crème and chocolate appeared before her with a puff of chocolate smoke.
Gareth gestured for Lucy to take a bite, which she did. It was fabulous! The two of them quickly made their way through the delicious dessert, and after Lucy took her last bite, a ring appeared in the air floating over her bowl. Lucy stared at it. It was a golden ring with a diamond, with little pearls surrounding the diamond.
When she looked back at Gareth, he had gotten down on one knee in front of her. "I love you, Lucy. Will you marry me?"
"YES!" Lucy shrieked, throwing hers arms around Gareth's neck and kissing him. They heard a crash and jumped apart.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" In the exuberance of her response, Lucy had knocked her goblet off of the table, and it lay in pieces on the floor of the compartment. Lucy waved her wand and said, "Reparo!" Nothing happened.
"Don't worry about it. My family has plenty of goblets."
"But why won't reparo work?"
"Well, it's blown gold made by Las Personas del Mar. Spanish merpeople," Gareth added, seeing Lucy's confused expression. "The bowls and goblets are blown gold and the candlesticks and silverware are made of gold. My father has quite a few mining interests. Reparo doesn't work but the pieces can be reblown, so no worries." Gareth took a breath. "Since you said yes, you will need this." And he slipped the ring onto her finger.
Lucy admired her hand. "It's really beautiful." She smiled at Gareth.
"I'm glad you like it. When would you like to get married?"
"I've always dreamed of being married on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. It's so symbolic to start a new life together with the New Year."
"That sounds like a plan." And Gareth kissed her.
As their snogging increased in intensity, Gareth pulled Lucy into his lap on the compartment seat. After a very short time, Gareth transfigured the seat into a bed, and they continued snogging. When Gareth's hand moved up her leg under her skirt, and onto her bum, Lucy didn't stop him. When he started to remove her knickers, she did stop him, and sat up.
"Gareth . . . not here."
"Why? We're alone."
"My parents are expecting me home for dinner. I want our first time to be special, not to have a time limit. And . . . well, I've always thought it would be romantic to wait until I was married." Lucy felt the Weasley blush creep up her face, and she hated that. She knew there was nothing wrong with wanting to wait, even if her choice was different than most other people.
"Oh. OK. When you said before that you wanted to wait, I thought you meant until we were out of Hogwarts, and it wasn't against the rules. Head Boy and Girl being a good example and all that."
"Well, that's true, too, but we're going to be married in a few months . . ."
"Six," Gareth interrupted.
Lucy smiled. "What's six months when we have the rest of our lives?"
~*~
"A year and a half?!" Lucy shrieked. "I can't believe the church isn't available this year!"
Lucy's mum shook her head. "Not for the entire week before or after New Years' of 2021. It generally takes a longer planning time for a Muggle wedding than a Wizarding one, so having the location booked up six months in advance isn't really that unusual for a Muggle church. I booked New Year's Eve of 2022 just as an option, but you don't have to get married in Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell's church. You could have your wedding somewhere else, if you and Gareth would like to get married this year."
Lucy shrugged. "I think Gareth wanted to get married sooner, and so would I, but I've always dreamed of a New Year's wedding, and we have our entire lives together. I think it would mean a lot to Grandma and Grandpa if I got married in their church. I'll owl Gareth and ask."
"You can Floo him if you want . . ."
"Thanks, Mum, but I don't know where he is. He started working for his father's company immediately, and it involves a lot of travel."
"I'm glad your dad and I were at least able to have dinner with him before you lost him, then." Lucy's mum laughed and kissed her forehead.
Lucy rolled her eyes.
~*~ December 2021 ~*~
Lucy Apparated to Gareth's flat so they could Floo together to the Burrow. It was too cold to Apparate and walk from the borders of the grounds. They arrived together and Lucy introduced Gareth to her grandparents who warmly welcomed him to their home. This year Gareth's family postponed their annual ski trip, so Gareth could spend Christmas with the Weasleys, and Lucy could accompany Gareth on the ski trip, and they could get to know each other's families better.
"Uncle George, I would like to introduce my fiancé, Gareth."
Uncle George shook Gareth's hand. "It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Gareth. Or may I be less formal and call you Gary?"
"Er . . . It's Gareth, Sir. Never Gary. Nice to meet you, too."
Lucy thought Uncle George had a rather strange look on his face, but she ignored it. Gareth looked exceedingly uncomfortable, so she quickly hugged Uncle George, and took Gareth's hand to lead him to greet her cousins.
Gareth already knew all of Lucy's cousins from Hogwarts except for Louis and his spouse Louis, so she introduced him to both of them after hugging them herself. Gareth greeted Victoire warmly since the two of them had been in the same house and he knew her best. She and Molly whispered to Gareth to watch out for eating anything if he didn't know who had made it. But Gareth scoffed at their warning, so they let him be.
Lucy wondered about the charmed trays of appetizers circulating around the crowd, which was a first, but Grandma Molly shrugged and said they were just trying something new. Lucy thought something might be going on with that, but she kept quiet and took a few appetizers since she was very hungry.
Gareth watched her eat her appetizers, took one from the same plate, ate it, and turned into a giant lizard.
Lucy shrieked, "Uncle George!"
He responded, "What?! It's Lizard Liverwurst. I've been working to create savory variations on a number of my Sweet Wheezes. It'll wear off in a mo'."
Lucy thought Gareth the lizard looked very disgruntled, but he did turn back into himself shortly without any comment.
Gareth continued eating appetizers which he had Lucy taste first. A short while later, after Lucy had bitten into one with no reaction, Gareth ate it and turned into a canary.
"Honestly! Uncle George, how did that even happen? I took a bite of the same one!"
"Ah, but it's an ancient Wheezes secret. If I told you, I would have to kill you."
Lucy rolled her eyes, knowing Gareth made the angriest looking canary ever.
Dinner was uneventful, but for dessert, Grandma Molly had tried something different, and made a French soufflé that was lit on fire. Everyone oohed and aahed, including Gareth as they were served their dessert. This was the first thing Gareth had seemed impressed by all evening. Lucy noticed Gareth's waiting until several other people had eaten before he tried any. He immediately turned into a flamingo, and a moment later so did Uncle Harry, Aunt Fleur, Aunt Angelina, Aunt Hermione, and Mason.
After exclamations of surprise and Grandma Molly smacking Uncle George on the back of the head, everyone turned back. Uncle Harry laughed and said, "What'd you do, George? Tie the Wheeze to blood?"
"I cannot reveal my secrets, but basically, yes. Targeted Wheezes, a new product line I'm working on."
Uncle Harry nodded, and said, "Brilliant!" and there were many other murmurs of agreement, and some eye rolling by those who did not fancy being flamingos. Gareth sighed quietly, and Lucy took his hand under the table.
After dessert, which was delicious, in spite of the flamingo incident, everyone began helping clear the table and preparing chocolates, coffee, and port to enjoy during the Celestina Warbeck concert. Gareth stood in the kitchen awkwardly as if unsure what to do, and asked Lucy to show him where the loo was. She did, and as she returned to the kitchen she heard Uncle George.
" ... and if he can't take a bloody joke then he's not right for our family!"
Lucy barged into the kitchen, temper blazing, and before anyone else could respond, said, "Not everyone enjoys Wheezes, and you were purposely picking on Gareth! He's the only person not of Weasley blood who turned into multiple animals!" Lucy hissed, not wanting Gareth to come back from the loo and hear her. "And you don't get to decide whether or not Gareth is 'right for our family!'"
"I'm sorry, Luce . . ."
"Sorry for thinking it or sorry I heard you?"
"Both?" Uncle George answered meekly.
Lucy was only slightly mollified. "Gareth is an only child and was basically raised by house elves since his parents' work involves a lot of travel. He's not used to us! Give him time!"
"I'm sorry, Lucy. Really. I shouldn't have said anything. I just wonder why the two of you got engaged in June, and this is his first time at a family gathering?"
Lucy glared at Uncle George. "He just began working for his father's company when we finished school, and he wants to do a good job!" Lucy, turned on her heel and went back out of the kitchen. She saw Gareth just coming down the stairs and took a deep breath to try to compose herself.
In spite of the cold, Gareth and Lucy decided to leave by Apparation and walked across the garden together.
Gareth asked, "Do multiple people always turn into animals at your family's dinners?"
"Pretty much, yes," Lucy chuckled. "Uncle George can't resist."
Gareth rolled his eyes and sighed. "At least he always does it. I thought maybe it was because he doesn't like me."
"He just doesn't know you yet. He'll love you when he gets to know you. This is only the second time he's ever seen you. Come to family dinners at the Burrow more often. Uncle George usually saves the Wheezes for holidays."
"Oh joy. And he actually earns money making those bloody things?"
"Hey!" Lucy smacked Gareth's arm. "I like Wheezes! And I love Uncle George! I can't believe you haven't ever even been to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes! I need to take you there as soon as we get back from the ski trip with your parents."
"I can hardly wait," Gareth muttered. He grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her into a kiss before she could smack him again.
~*~
Lucy and Gareth went together to the International Portkey office in order to catch their early portkey to Switzerland for the ski trip. They planned to meet Gareth's parents at the resort.
Lucy had never met Gareth's parents before since a house elf had always collected him from Kings Cross before he was old enough to Apparate on his own. She was rather nervous about meeting them and really hoped they liked her.
The portkey was unpleasant as always (Lucy had never really fancied them) but she arrived standing up in a cozy but beautiful cabin. She could see snow falling outside the large windows.
"Mum? Dad? We're here!" Gareth called.
An extremely well-dressed couple came out of one of the rooms and appeared before Lucy and Gareth. Gareth had told Lucy that his family was "casual" but Gareth's mom wore an elegant pantsuit which probably cost more than Lucy earned in a month, and his father was in khakis, a button down shirt with a silk tie and a sweater. Lucy felt extremely underdressed in her jeans and favorite jumper.
"Mother, Father, may I present my fiancé, Miss Lucy Weasley?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr and Mrs Uchafgramen." Lucy stepped forward and offered her hand to each of Gareth's parents.
"Likewise, Lucy," Mr Uchafgramen smiled at her. Lucy wondered if they would let her call them by their first names, like her parents had for Gareth, but neither of them said anything, and she certainly would not bring up the issue.
"We'll let the two of you get settled and freshen up and then we can go have dinner. You'll certainly both want to change. We have the downstairs bedroom, and the two of you will have the upstairs bedroom. We brought Inky along to help out." Mrs Uchafgramen clapped her hands and a house elf appeared with a crack. "Inky, please take Gareth's and Lucy's luggage to the upstairs bedroom."
Before Lucy could say anything the house elf had disappeared with their luggage. She felt the Weasley blush begin to creep up her face. She knew she was in the minority by abstaining from sex before marriage-even her sister and several cousins had made different choices, but she had never shared a bed with Gareth, and couldn't see how she could be expected to now. They had snogged while lying down a couple of times, but that was very different. Lucy was starting to sweat.
Gareth said something in Welsh to his parents.
They whispered to each other in Welsh, and then responded to Gareth in Welsh.
Gareth took Lucy's hand and side-along Apparated her upstairs. She landed with a little shriek of surprise.
"It's OK," Gareth said. "There's a sitting room and a bedroom up here, so I'll sleep on the sofa and you can have the bed. We will need to share the bathroom, though."
Lucy looked around and saw that Gareth was right. "OK," she answered. "You do realize I don't speak Welsh. What did you say to your parents about me?"
"Oh, my parents and I almost always speak in Welsh. Don't worry about it. Let's get changed for dinner, yeah?"
Lucy nodded and went into "her" room to change. She locked both doors, even though she was probably being paranoid. Thankfully, she had some better Muggle clothes she borrowed from Grandma Mitchell, since Mrs Uchafgramen was so dressed up. Lucy sighed. She didn't feel meeting Gareth's parents had gone well, and she was very aware he had not answered her question about what he had said to his parents.
~*~
Lucy kissed Gareth goodnight and closed the door to her room behind her with a sigh. The food had been delicious, but the conversation was very awkward and uncomfortable. Gareth and Mr Uchafgramen excitedly spoke about the family business, which Lucy didn't really understand. They travelled extensively and seemed to be involved in about a million different things, but Lucy wasn't really sure what the company did. Mrs Uchafgramen seemed to glare at Lucy with disapproval no matter what she said, even insinuating (well more than insinuating, she stated it quite bluntly actually) that if Lucy were to be a good wife she would need to quit her job and devote herself to helping Gareth succeed in his. Mrs Uchafgramen did invite her to participate in the numerous charities and society events with which she helped, but Lucy didn't have much interest in most of them, especially The Spider Society which encouraged protection of and education about all of the species of spiders in the world. Lucy had a hard time avoiding visibly shuddering while Mrs Uchafgramen discussed her love of spiders. Lucy hated spiders. She had even covered her ears as a child when she first heard about Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron facing acromantulas to save Aunt Hermione. She didn't think she could have done it, and now she was going to have a mother-in-law who played with spiders for fun.
~*~
Lucy had never been skiing before, nobody in her family had been, but Grandma Mitchell had helped her to find the proper "ski gear" Gareth said she needed. Grandma Mitchell had friends who skied, at least. The resort had Muggle and Wizard guests, and while there were a few areas designated for one or the other, both were mixed. Mrs Uchafgramen was muggle-born, and although Mr Uchafgramen was a pureblood, he had learned to adapt to looking like a Muggle, and loved skiing as his wife did. Lucy took a deep breath and left her bedroom finding Gareth waiting for her.
"Ready?" Gareth asked.
"I guess," Lucy replied trying to smile.
Gareth kissed her quickly, grabbed her hand and Apparated her downstairs to meet his parents for their first day of skiing. "Don't be nervous. You'll love skiing! It's brilliant!"
~*~
Skiing was not at all brilliant, Lucy decided as she waited for the Healer in the resort's Wizarding infirmary. Gareth sat with her, holding her hand. His parents were going to arrange for food to be brought in for them, since Lucy might be there for a while. At least they had already given her some pain relief potion, so she wasn't in the agony she was in when she first fell.
"Miss Weasley?" The Healer asked as he came thought the curtain.
"Yes."
"Is this young man family?"
"He's my fiancé."
"Do you want him to stay?"
Lucy nodded, as Gareth exclaimed "Of course she wants me to stay!"
The Healer didn't comment, but waved is wand over Lucy to examine her. "Two broken ankles . . . and not clean breaks either, as the bones twisted before breaking. We will give you skelegro, and need to keep you here with no weight on your ankles at all for at least several days to make sure there is complete healing. I wouldn't want you to re-injure yourself or to have any problems later on."
Lucy sighed and nodded. "Would it be possible for you to portkey me to St. Mungo's, or to my parents' house so I wouldn't have to stay here? I mean, I'll stay off my ankles and do what I'm told to get better."
"You don't have to leave! I'll stay with you," Gareth volunteered.
"I can send you home to rest once the skelegro has finished working. I wouldn't want to move you right now. I'll give you a few minutes, while I prepare the skelegro." The Healer left.
"I appreciate it, Gareth, but I know how much you've been looking forward to this trip with your parents. It won't be any fun for you or your parents to have to sit with me and miss your ski trip, and I'd be more comfortable at home to rest up anyway, with multiple family members to distract me."
Gareth nodded. "I'll stay with you while you're here at least, and my parents should be bringing food soon."
"OK."
~*~
The second dinner with Gareth's parents was far better than the first even if it did occur in the infirmary. Gareth had told them some of Lucy's favorite foods, and the Uchafgramens really did their best to bring things she liked, be kind to her and show her sympathy.
The Healer allowed Gareth to stay with her, and they gave Lucy another pain potion so she would be able to sleep. When Lucy awoke the next morning, Gareth was asleep with his head on the bed next to her. His parents paid the Healer to accompany her home the next morning and came along with Gareth to make sure she settled in well. They left Gareth with Lucy and took her parents out to breakfast. When they returned to Switzerland with Gareth, Lucy enjoyed several days of recuperation happily ensconced on her parents' sofa, surrounded by her cousins who were all doing their best to entertain her.
Author: mollywheezy
Prompt:
Pairing: Roxanne or Lucy-- any non-incestuous pairing (canon or OC)
Maximum Rating: any
Prompt: Always a bridesmaid. She's been a bridesmaid in every one of her cousins' weddings. Will it ever be her turn?
Likes: Humor, romance, wry sense of humor, finding love in unexpected places/when you least expect it, ridiculous bridesmaids dresses, family dynamics, snark, banter, happy endings
Dislikes: incest including cousincest, Percy bashing, rape/non-con/dub-con
by katmarajade
Pairing(s): Primarily Lucy, Molly, Roxanne Gen; mentions of Lucy/OMC, Molly/OMC, Roxanne/OMC, Victoire/Teddy, Dominique/OMC, Louis/OMC, James/OFC, Rose/Scorpius, Percy/Audrey, Bill/Fleur, George/Angelina and other assorted Weasleys and Potters
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 14,000
Content/Warnings: [None (click to open)]
Summary: Lucy participates in several of her cousins' weddings, excited for her own. But when her long-time relationship falls apart, will she ever find love again?
Author's Notes: Huge thanks and many hugs to my friend and beta rumpelsnorcack for her encouragement, brainstorming prowess, and fabulous beta skills.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling and associates. No copyright infringement intended.
~*~ Summer 2019 ~*~
Lucy grasped her bouquet of flowers tightly in both hands. She really wanted to scratch her neck, but Aunt Fleur had warned her so many times, she clutched her bouquet instead. The color Victoire chose for the bridesmaids' dresses was very pretty and flattering on all of them-blue since Victoire was the only Ravenclaw in the family-but the style was horrible. Not even eleven-year-old Lily looked good in puffy sleeves, a huge bow in her hair, and an even huger bow on her bum. What designer thought putting huge bows on women's bums would ever be a good idea? Lucy thought her bum was quite big enough and did not need more attention called to it. She blushed thinking Gareth might be staring at her bum. She wasn't sure she even wanted him looking, since Lucy didn't feel her bum was her best feature.
She tried to pay attention to what the ministry official was saying, but she could barely hear him. Victoire thought it would be so romantic to have the ministry official who performed Aunt Fleur's and Unlce Bill's wedding also perform the ceremony for her and Teddy. Lucy thought it was a nice idea, in a way, but the man was ancient, long retired, and had such a wispy voice, she doubted anyone could hear him.
Her mind wandered again, and she wondered if Gareth would propose to her when they finished Hogwarts. They'd been going out since the end of fourth year, and Lucy dreamed of getting engaged when they finished school. They did have two more years, so she was rather putting the hippogriff before the carriage. Besides, she would get to dance with Gareth at the reception which was a first about which she was very excited. She was less excited about dancing with him in front of her entire family, especially since she was the only one of her cousins to have a date for the wedding and all of the attention of the gathered Weasleys would be on her. But maybe they could sneak off to some quiet corner of the Burrow's garden . . .
When the service ended, and the wedding party had recessed until the chairs could be magically rearranged, Molly pulled Lucy aside and whispered, "Want to lose the bows?"
"Definitely!"
Molly removed the bow from Lucy's hair by hand, and Lucy did the same for Molly. Then Molly magically took the bows off the backs of both of their dresses. "I can't do anything about the sleeves."
"At least this is an improvement."
"Not like you have to worry. You're the only one in the family who brought a date today. Go find Gareth, and I'm going to check out Teddy's cute friends." With a quick hug and a smile, Molly hurried off.
~*~ Christmas 2019 ~*~
All of the family had gathered at the Burrow, except for Dominique who had yet to arrive from Paris. Grandma Molly insisted they couldn't eat until Dominique was there.
"I'm starving," Molly whispered. "I wish Dominique would hurry up. Knowing her, she's probably flirting with someone from the portkey office." Molly smiled and rolled her eyes. Lucy chuckled. "I'll have to-" Before Molly finished speaking, the Floo flared up and spat out Dominique along with a very handsome man.
"Happy Christmas, Everyone! May I present Jean-Luc, my husband. We eloped!" Dominique held up her left hand to show off a very large diamond. Everyone screamed and ran to hug her and shake Jean-Luc's hand. Aunt Fleur started crying and exclaiming in rapid French of which Lucy didn't catch a word.
Molly and Lucy shrieked in delight and were cheering for Dominique and waving to her since they couldn't quite reach her through the crowd of their family. When they finally did get to their cousin, both of them hugged her tightly, and hugged Jean-Luc tightly, too, since he was family now, and Lucy whispered, "Thank you for not making us wear ridiculous bridesmaids' dresses!"
~*~ Summer 2020 ~*~
Lucy sipped her champagne and whispered to Molly, "I've always wanted a winter wedding, but Louis really has the right idea of getting married on the beach in summer. This is so wonderful."
Molly nodded. "I've never understood your desire for a New Years' wedding anyway. It's too cold."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'd get married outside. I was thinking I'd have the wedding at Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell's church, and the reception . . . I don't know. Somewhere. Maybe Gareth's parents' house. I haven't seen it, but I hear it's huge, and they have an entire floor that's a ballroom. That could work." Lucy chuckled to herself. "He needs to propose first, though."
Molly hugged her sister. "If he's as smart and wonderful as you keep telling me, then he's not letting you get away."
~*~
"I think Louis will get the award for best wedding among our cousins." Lucy leaned against her sister as they both lazily swirled their toes in the cool, blue water.
"I agree. It helps that his mother-in-law manages the Saint-Tropez Wizarding Resort and his father-in-law is the chef. Victoire said they get a certain number of free guest passes each year, and they've been saving them up for a couple of years, and borrowed from a couple of future years in order to get everyone here."
"It was extremely generous of them to give everyone a vacation."
"And no bridesmaid dress fittings! What a great idea to let everyone wear what they wanted. Uncle George told me when Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill got married, Uncle Fred said when he got married, everyone could go casual-no dress robes allowed. I wonder if Uncle George told Louis and gave him the idea."
"He might have. But then again, Louie's family lives at the resort, so I think they're pretty casual anyway. And extremely nice. We only met Louie a few days ago, but it seems like he's been a part of our family forever. I like that both Louis and Louie had all of their siblings and cousins of both genders stand up with them. It really looked like two families were joining."
"And a picnic on the beach rather than a formal reception was brilliant."
"I'm not sure what Louie's dad made qualifies as picnic food. That had to be the best food I've ever tasted."
"Speaking of food, I'm getting hungry. Want to go find something to eat?"
Lucy nodded, and she and Molly helped each other up to walk back to the resort together.
~*~ Christmas 2020 ~*~
Lucy took the Floo to the Burrow with her parents, surprised Molly was not there yet, or maybe not. This Christmas was the first time all of the Weasley family would meet Molly's boyfriend, Mason. Lucy and her parents liked Mason, and she was certain the rest of the family would, too, but she was nervous for her sister. The prospect of having her boyfriend spend time with her entire family was so daunting it made her glad Gareth and his parents always went skiing over the holidays. Gareth had, of course, met her family at Victoire's wedding, but since they had spent most of their time dancing together or attempting to sneak off together, the Weasley Family Inquisition had not occurred.
Lucy had greeted everyone, and now lurked in the kitchen waiting for Molly and Mason. When the two of them came through the Floo, Lucy hugged her sister tightly before even letting her brush off the ash. She hesitated briefly, but then hugged Mason, too. She liked him, he probably needed a hug when faced with all of the Weasleys, and from what Molly said in her letters, Lucy was pretty sure Mason would be her brother someday.
"Here's the plan, Mason," Molly began. "At dinner, make sure you sit between me and Lucy. We need to protect you from Uncle George."
"I thought you loved your Uncle George?!"
"We do," Lucy said. "But we're used to him. You're fresh meat."
Mason looked confused, so Molly picked up the train of thought. "We all know to expect Uncle George's pranks and know how to avoid them if we want to. He'll try to trick you, so we're just trying to help."
"OK," Mason answered, still sounding uncertain.
Dinner went by without incident to Lucy's surprise. She and Molly kept looking at each other from opposite sides of Mason, wondering when Uncle George would try something, but nothing happened.
Aunt Angelina announced, "I made my grandmum's famous Christmas Biscuits this year. Mum's been trying to teach me forever, but I finally managed to get it right." This announcement was met with appreciative cheers and congratulations from the gathered Weasleys. She brought out the plate, and said, "Everyone help yourself!"
The plate was passed and everyone began taking a biscuit or two and trying them. Uncle Ron was the first to turn into a gigantic butterfly, followed quickly by Hugo, James, and Louis. Aunt Angelina shrieked, "George Fabian Weasley!" and moved to smack the back of Uncle George's head, but he Apparated across the room to avoid it, so Aunt Angelina just smacked air.
Uncle George pulled a small bottle out of his pocket. "Butterfly Beads! One drop turns any regular biscuit or small appetizer into a Wheeze!"
Aunt Angelina shook her head, Grandma Molly rolled her eyes, but was trying too hard to hide her smile, and Mason said, "Brilliant!" and popped his entire biscuit into his mouth turning into a giant butterfly. Everyone else in the family followed. Lucy knew that she and Molly needn't have worried about Mason at all.
~*~ Summer 2021 ~*~
Lucy and Gareth left the prefects in charge of herding the younger students onto the carriages, so they were the first to board the Express. He pulled Lucy into the first empty compartment, locked the door with his wand, and kissed her. Lucy kissed him back enthusiastically, but her sense of duty made her pull away after only a moment.
"I'd love to snog, Gareth, but we still have Head duties until we get off the train at King's Cross. We bought a few minutes by leaving the prefects . . ."
"I know, I know." Gareth sighed dramatically. "The work of the Head Boy and Head Girl is never done. How about we do our duties and meet back in here as soon as possible after the trip?"
"Doesn't the Express leave?"
"No it sits here all summer, and we can both Apparate home, so there really isn't any hurry, is there?" Gareth nuzzled Lucy's neck.
"No, I suppose there isn't," she replied rather breathlessly.
As they reluctantly left their compartment, Gareth made a complicated wand movement at the door and said something Lucy didn't understand.
"What was that?"
"I was speaking Welsh. It's an ancient locking and concealment spell only members of my family can perform. I think it's Blood Magic, so if I weren't part of my family's bloodline, I couldn't perform the spell no matter how good of a wizard I am."
~*~
After all of the students had left the train, Gareth and Lucy completed their inspection to make certain all was in order and returned to their compartment. Gareth performed another Welsh spell to let them in.
"I brought lunch for us." Gareth pulled a large hamper out of the luggage rack.
"That sounds lovely, but isn't the conductor going to lock up the train?"
"When I owled him to ask where the train lived during the summer holiday, I also asked permission for us to have lunch here." Gareth winked at Lucy.
"Brilliant!" Lucy smiled warmly at Gareth, who proceeded to wave his wand causing a small dining table and two chairs, a white linen tablecloth, white linen napkins with intricately designed brass napkin rings, two brass candlesticks with white tapers which lit themselves as they settled on the table, exquisite gold and white patterned china, brass silverware which landed into proper place settings, and crystal goblets with a gold tint Lucy had never seen before.
"Wow!" Lucy wasn't sure how else to respond to such an opulent display.
Gareth pulled out a chair for Lucy and said, "Shall we?"
Lucy smiled and took a seat.
Gareth tapped the table with his wand and oysters on the half shell with some sort of sauce appeared on their plates. Lucy knew what they were, but she had never eaten one before. She picked up her fork.
"You won't need a fork," Gareth said. "Like this." He picked up one of the shells and slurped the entire oyster into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Lucy watched, not really sure her Gryffindor courage applied to eating something raw, but she didn't want to hurt Gareth's feelings so she copied his motions. The taste was fine, since she mostly only tasted the sauce, but the slimy texture made Lucy think of flobberworms, and she wanted to spit the thing out. Since Gareth was watching her expectantly, she swallowed with a huge effort and imagined she could feel the oyster sliming all the way down to her stomach.
"You don't like them, do you?" Gareth asked with a smile.
"Er . . ." Lucy floundered. "The sauce is very good, but I'm not sure I like the oyster's texture."
"That's OK. You don't have to eat any more if you don't want to."
"I appreciate all of the trouble you went to, though! Did you make all of the food yourself?"
"Oh no! Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde made everything and put it all together for me. Do you want the rest of your oysters?"
Lucy shook her head and gestured for Gareth to go ahead. He ate one immediately, and started on a second as Lucy asked, "Who are Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde?"
Gareth swallowed. "House Elves."
"So you and your parents have four House Elves?"
"No, Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde are the House Elves in Charge-they supervise the other house elves and are the liaisons with my family. I don't even know all of the house elves' names."
Gareth ate Lucy's last oyster and asked, "Ready for the second course? I'm afraid it still involves oysters, but they aren't raw. I love oysters." He waved his wand again and bowls made out of the same crystal as the goblets appeared. Champagne magically filled the goblets as the soup filled the bowls. "Oyster Chowder."
Lucy picked up her soup spoon and tasted the chowder. "Oh this is nice, very creamy." Lucy smiled.
Gareth put down his soup spoon and raised his goblet. Lucy did likewise. "To us," Gareth said, tinking Lucy's glass with his own.
"To us," Lucy repeated, and sipped the exquisite champagne. She had drunk champagne before, but never any as good as this.
Their next course was a seafood pie which Lucy thought absolutely delicious. This was followed by a salad, "Oyster Caesar" Gareth said, but it tasted like regular Caesar dressing from what Lucy could tell.
"Ready for dessert?" Gareth asked.
"Does it involve oysters?" Lucy teased.
Gareth laughed. "No, not at all. I've just grown up eating oysters since we have beds at our summer home in Majorca. Blinky is especially skilled at farming them. But even as much as I love them, I have never eaten one with desert." Gareth winked, and waved his wand to bring dessert out of the hamper.
Lucy laughed in delight as a yummy-looking compilation of crème and chocolate appeared before her with a puff of chocolate smoke.
Gareth gestured for Lucy to take a bite, which she did. It was fabulous! The two of them quickly made their way through the delicious dessert, and after Lucy took her last bite, a ring appeared in the air floating over her bowl. Lucy stared at it. It was a golden ring with a diamond, with little pearls surrounding the diamond.
When she looked back at Gareth, he had gotten down on one knee in front of her. "I love you, Lucy. Will you marry me?"
"YES!" Lucy shrieked, throwing hers arms around Gareth's neck and kissing him. They heard a crash and jumped apart.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" In the exuberance of her response, Lucy had knocked her goblet off of the table, and it lay in pieces on the floor of the compartment. Lucy waved her wand and said, "Reparo!" Nothing happened.
"Don't worry about it. My family has plenty of goblets."
"But why won't reparo work?"
"Well, it's blown gold made by Las Personas del Mar. Spanish merpeople," Gareth added, seeing Lucy's confused expression. "The bowls and goblets are blown gold and the candlesticks and silverware are made of gold. My father has quite a few mining interests. Reparo doesn't work but the pieces can be reblown, so no worries." Gareth took a breath. "Since you said yes, you will need this." And he slipped the ring onto her finger.
Lucy admired her hand. "It's really beautiful." She smiled at Gareth.
"I'm glad you like it. When would you like to get married?"
"I've always dreamed of being married on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. It's so symbolic to start a new life together with the New Year."
"That sounds like a plan." And Gareth kissed her.
As their snogging increased in intensity, Gareth pulled Lucy into his lap on the compartment seat. After a very short time, Gareth transfigured the seat into a bed, and they continued snogging. When Gareth's hand moved up her leg under her skirt, and onto her bum, Lucy didn't stop him. When he started to remove her knickers, she did stop him, and sat up.
"Gareth . . . not here."
"Why? We're alone."
"My parents are expecting me home for dinner. I want our first time to be special, not to have a time limit. And . . . well, I've always thought it would be romantic to wait until I was married." Lucy felt the Weasley blush creep up her face, and she hated that. She knew there was nothing wrong with wanting to wait, even if her choice was different than most other people.
"Oh. OK. When you said before that you wanted to wait, I thought you meant until we were out of Hogwarts, and it wasn't against the rules. Head Boy and Girl being a good example and all that."
"Well, that's true, too, but we're going to be married in a few months . . ."
"Six," Gareth interrupted.
Lucy smiled. "What's six months when we have the rest of our lives?"
~*~
"A year and a half?!" Lucy shrieked. "I can't believe the church isn't available this year!"
Lucy's mum shook her head. "Not for the entire week before or after New Years' of 2021. It generally takes a longer planning time for a Muggle wedding than a Wizarding one, so having the location booked up six months in advance isn't really that unusual for a Muggle church. I booked New Year's Eve of 2022 just as an option, but you don't have to get married in Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell's church. You could have your wedding somewhere else, if you and Gareth would like to get married this year."
Lucy shrugged. "I think Gareth wanted to get married sooner, and so would I, but I've always dreamed of a New Year's wedding, and we have our entire lives together. I think it would mean a lot to Grandma and Grandpa if I got married in their church. I'll owl Gareth and ask."
"You can Floo him if you want . . ."
"Thanks, Mum, but I don't know where he is. He started working for his father's company immediately, and it involves a lot of travel."
"I'm glad your dad and I were at least able to have dinner with him before you lost him, then." Lucy's mum laughed and kissed her forehead.
Lucy rolled her eyes.
~*~ December 2021 ~*~
Lucy Apparated to Gareth's flat so they could Floo together to the Burrow. It was too cold to Apparate and walk from the borders of the grounds. They arrived together and Lucy introduced Gareth to her grandparents who warmly welcomed him to their home. This year Gareth's family postponed their annual ski trip, so Gareth could spend Christmas with the Weasleys, and Lucy could accompany Gareth on the ski trip, and they could get to know each other's families better.
"Uncle George, I would like to introduce my fiancé, Gareth."
Uncle George shook Gareth's hand. "It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Gareth. Or may I be less formal and call you Gary?"
"Er . . . It's Gareth, Sir. Never Gary. Nice to meet you, too."
Lucy thought Uncle George had a rather strange look on his face, but she ignored it. Gareth looked exceedingly uncomfortable, so she quickly hugged Uncle George, and took Gareth's hand to lead him to greet her cousins.
Gareth already knew all of Lucy's cousins from Hogwarts except for Louis and his spouse Louis, so she introduced him to both of them after hugging them herself. Gareth greeted Victoire warmly since the two of them had been in the same house and he knew her best. She and Molly whispered to Gareth to watch out for eating anything if he didn't know who had made it. But Gareth scoffed at their warning, so they let him be.
Lucy wondered about the charmed trays of appetizers circulating around the crowd, which was a first, but Grandma Molly shrugged and said they were just trying something new. Lucy thought something might be going on with that, but she kept quiet and took a few appetizers since she was very hungry.
Gareth watched her eat her appetizers, took one from the same plate, ate it, and turned into a giant lizard.
Lucy shrieked, "Uncle George!"
He responded, "What?! It's Lizard Liverwurst. I've been working to create savory variations on a number of my Sweet Wheezes. It'll wear off in a mo'."
Lucy thought Gareth the lizard looked very disgruntled, but he did turn back into himself shortly without any comment.
Gareth continued eating appetizers which he had Lucy taste first. A short while later, after Lucy had bitten into one with no reaction, Gareth ate it and turned into a canary.
"Honestly! Uncle George, how did that even happen? I took a bite of the same one!"
"Ah, but it's an ancient Wheezes secret. If I told you, I would have to kill you."
Lucy rolled her eyes, knowing Gareth made the angriest looking canary ever.
Dinner was uneventful, but for dessert, Grandma Molly had tried something different, and made a French soufflé that was lit on fire. Everyone oohed and aahed, including Gareth as they were served their dessert. This was the first thing Gareth had seemed impressed by all evening. Lucy noticed Gareth's waiting until several other people had eaten before he tried any. He immediately turned into a flamingo, and a moment later so did Uncle Harry, Aunt Fleur, Aunt Angelina, Aunt Hermione, and Mason.
After exclamations of surprise and Grandma Molly smacking Uncle George on the back of the head, everyone turned back. Uncle Harry laughed and said, "What'd you do, George? Tie the Wheeze to blood?"
"I cannot reveal my secrets, but basically, yes. Targeted Wheezes, a new product line I'm working on."
Uncle Harry nodded, and said, "Brilliant!" and there were many other murmurs of agreement, and some eye rolling by those who did not fancy being flamingos. Gareth sighed quietly, and Lucy took his hand under the table.
After dessert, which was delicious, in spite of the flamingo incident, everyone began helping clear the table and preparing chocolates, coffee, and port to enjoy during the Celestina Warbeck concert. Gareth stood in the kitchen awkwardly as if unsure what to do, and asked Lucy to show him where the loo was. She did, and as she returned to the kitchen she heard Uncle George.
" ... and if he can't take a bloody joke then he's not right for our family!"
Lucy barged into the kitchen, temper blazing, and before anyone else could respond, said, "Not everyone enjoys Wheezes, and you were purposely picking on Gareth! He's the only person not of Weasley blood who turned into multiple animals!" Lucy hissed, not wanting Gareth to come back from the loo and hear her. "And you don't get to decide whether or not Gareth is 'right for our family!'"
"I'm sorry, Luce . . ."
"Sorry for thinking it or sorry I heard you?"
"Both?" Uncle George answered meekly.
Lucy was only slightly mollified. "Gareth is an only child and was basically raised by house elves since his parents' work involves a lot of travel. He's not used to us! Give him time!"
"I'm sorry, Lucy. Really. I shouldn't have said anything. I just wonder why the two of you got engaged in June, and this is his first time at a family gathering?"
Lucy glared at Uncle George. "He just began working for his father's company when we finished school, and he wants to do a good job!" Lucy, turned on her heel and went back out of the kitchen. She saw Gareth just coming down the stairs and took a deep breath to try to compose herself.
In spite of the cold, Gareth and Lucy decided to leave by Apparation and walked across the garden together.
Gareth asked, "Do multiple people always turn into animals at your family's dinners?"
"Pretty much, yes," Lucy chuckled. "Uncle George can't resist."
Gareth rolled his eyes and sighed. "At least he always does it. I thought maybe it was because he doesn't like me."
"He just doesn't know you yet. He'll love you when he gets to know you. This is only the second time he's ever seen you. Come to family dinners at the Burrow more often. Uncle George usually saves the Wheezes for holidays."
"Oh joy. And he actually earns money making those bloody things?"
"Hey!" Lucy smacked Gareth's arm. "I like Wheezes! And I love Uncle George! I can't believe you haven't ever even been to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes! I need to take you there as soon as we get back from the ski trip with your parents."
"I can hardly wait," Gareth muttered. He grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her into a kiss before she could smack him again.
~*~
Lucy and Gareth went together to the International Portkey office in order to catch their early portkey to Switzerland for the ski trip. They planned to meet Gareth's parents at the resort.
Lucy had never met Gareth's parents before since a house elf had always collected him from Kings Cross before he was old enough to Apparate on his own. She was rather nervous about meeting them and really hoped they liked her.
The portkey was unpleasant as always (Lucy had never really fancied them) but she arrived standing up in a cozy but beautiful cabin. She could see snow falling outside the large windows.
"Mum? Dad? We're here!" Gareth called.
An extremely well-dressed couple came out of one of the rooms and appeared before Lucy and Gareth. Gareth had told Lucy that his family was "casual" but Gareth's mom wore an elegant pantsuit which probably cost more than Lucy earned in a month, and his father was in khakis, a button down shirt with a silk tie and a sweater. Lucy felt extremely underdressed in her jeans and favorite jumper.
"Mother, Father, may I present my fiancé, Miss Lucy Weasley?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr and Mrs Uchafgramen." Lucy stepped forward and offered her hand to each of Gareth's parents.
"Likewise, Lucy," Mr Uchafgramen smiled at her. Lucy wondered if they would let her call them by their first names, like her parents had for Gareth, but neither of them said anything, and she certainly would not bring up the issue.
"We'll let the two of you get settled and freshen up and then we can go have dinner. You'll certainly both want to change. We have the downstairs bedroom, and the two of you will have the upstairs bedroom. We brought Inky along to help out." Mrs Uchafgramen clapped her hands and a house elf appeared with a crack. "Inky, please take Gareth's and Lucy's luggage to the upstairs bedroom."
Before Lucy could say anything the house elf had disappeared with their luggage. She felt the Weasley blush begin to creep up her face. She knew she was in the minority by abstaining from sex before marriage-even her sister and several cousins had made different choices, but she had never shared a bed with Gareth, and couldn't see how she could be expected to now. They had snogged while lying down a couple of times, but that was very different. Lucy was starting to sweat.
Gareth said something in Welsh to his parents.
They whispered to each other in Welsh, and then responded to Gareth in Welsh.
Gareth took Lucy's hand and side-along Apparated her upstairs. She landed with a little shriek of surprise.
"It's OK," Gareth said. "There's a sitting room and a bedroom up here, so I'll sleep on the sofa and you can have the bed. We will need to share the bathroom, though."
Lucy looked around and saw that Gareth was right. "OK," she answered. "You do realize I don't speak Welsh. What did you say to your parents about me?"
"Oh, my parents and I almost always speak in Welsh. Don't worry about it. Let's get changed for dinner, yeah?"
Lucy nodded and went into "her" room to change. She locked both doors, even though she was probably being paranoid. Thankfully, she had some better Muggle clothes she borrowed from Grandma Mitchell, since Mrs Uchafgramen was so dressed up. Lucy sighed. She didn't feel meeting Gareth's parents had gone well, and she was very aware he had not answered her question about what he had said to his parents.
~*~
Lucy kissed Gareth goodnight and closed the door to her room behind her with a sigh. The food had been delicious, but the conversation was very awkward and uncomfortable. Gareth and Mr Uchafgramen excitedly spoke about the family business, which Lucy didn't really understand. They travelled extensively and seemed to be involved in about a million different things, but Lucy wasn't really sure what the company did. Mrs Uchafgramen seemed to glare at Lucy with disapproval no matter what she said, even insinuating (well more than insinuating, she stated it quite bluntly actually) that if Lucy were to be a good wife she would need to quit her job and devote herself to helping Gareth succeed in his. Mrs Uchafgramen did invite her to participate in the numerous charities and society events with which she helped, but Lucy didn't have much interest in most of them, especially The Spider Society which encouraged protection of and education about all of the species of spiders in the world. Lucy had a hard time avoiding visibly shuddering while Mrs Uchafgramen discussed her love of spiders. Lucy hated spiders. She had even covered her ears as a child when she first heard about Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron facing acromantulas to save Aunt Hermione. She didn't think she could have done it, and now she was going to have a mother-in-law who played with spiders for fun.
~*~
Lucy had never been skiing before, nobody in her family had been, but Grandma Mitchell had helped her to find the proper "ski gear" Gareth said she needed. Grandma Mitchell had friends who skied, at least. The resort had Muggle and Wizard guests, and while there were a few areas designated for one or the other, both were mixed. Mrs Uchafgramen was muggle-born, and although Mr Uchafgramen was a pureblood, he had learned to adapt to looking like a Muggle, and loved skiing as his wife did. Lucy took a deep breath and left her bedroom finding Gareth waiting for her.
"Ready?" Gareth asked.
"I guess," Lucy replied trying to smile.
Gareth kissed her quickly, grabbed her hand and Apparated her downstairs to meet his parents for their first day of skiing. "Don't be nervous. You'll love skiing! It's brilliant!"
~*~
Skiing was not at all brilliant, Lucy decided as she waited for the Healer in the resort's Wizarding infirmary. Gareth sat with her, holding her hand. His parents were going to arrange for food to be brought in for them, since Lucy might be there for a while. At least they had already given her some pain relief potion, so she wasn't in the agony she was in when she first fell.
"Miss Weasley?" The Healer asked as he came thought the curtain.
"Yes."
"Is this young man family?"
"He's my fiancé."
"Do you want him to stay?"
Lucy nodded, as Gareth exclaimed "Of course she wants me to stay!"
The Healer didn't comment, but waved is wand over Lucy to examine her. "Two broken ankles . . . and not clean breaks either, as the bones twisted before breaking. We will give you skelegro, and need to keep you here with no weight on your ankles at all for at least several days to make sure there is complete healing. I wouldn't want you to re-injure yourself or to have any problems later on."
Lucy sighed and nodded. "Would it be possible for you to portkey me to St. Mungo's, or to my parents' house so I wouldn't have to stay here? I mean, I'll stay off my ankles and do what I'm told to get better."
"You don't have to leave! I'll stay with you," Gareth volunteered.
"I can send you home to rest once the skelegro has finished working. I wouldn't want to move you right now. I'll give you a few minutes, while I prepare the skelegro." The Healer left.
"I appreciate it, Gareth, but I know how much you've been looking forward to this trip with your parents. It won't be any fun for you or your parents to have to sit with me and miss your ski trip, and I'd be more comfortable at home to rest up anyway, with multiple family members to distract me."
Gareth nodded. "I'll stay with you while you're here at least, and my parents should be bringing food soon."
"OK."
~*~
The second dinner with Gareth's parents was far better than the first even if it did occur in the infirmary. Gareth had told them some of Lucy's favorite foods, and the Uchafgramens really did their best to bring things she liked, be kind to her and show her sympathy.
The Healer allowed Gareth to stay with her, and they gave Lucy another pain potion so she would be able to sleep. When Lucy awoke the next morning, Gareth was asleep with his head on the bed next to her. His parents paid the Healer to accompany her home the next morning and came along with Gareth to make sure she settled in well. They left Gareth with Lucy and took her parents out to breakfast. When they returned to Switzerland with Gareth, Lucy enjoyed several days of recuperation happily ensconced on her parents' sofa, surrounded by her cousins who were all doing their best to entertain her.