Closed Best Laid Plans

[Sia Tofilau]

If Sia thought grad school had been difficult it was nothing compared to wedding planning. Neither of them had really voiced it, but the mounting pressure to pull off the perfect wedding still seemed to be looming over the both of them, especially considering how careful they had to be with the guestlist. She'd never been a big fan of the whole statute of secrecy thing but Sia liked it even less now that it was practically forcing her to have two weddings just so she could invite her mates from high school without having to get everyone's memories wiped because someone had enchanted a chocolate fountain as a wedding gift or something.

It was the guestlist they were working on now and Sia sighed, falling dramatically against October's shoulder as she scrolled through the list of names they managed to finalize on her tablet. "So we've got your parents- all of them, sisters, my parents, brothers... You have anyone you want to invite from school?" She said, peaking up hopefully at October through her fringe. October didn't talk about Hogwarts much, and Sia knew it was for a reason, but surely there had to be a witch or two she wanted to invite; despite all the trouble Sia couldn't deny there was a thrill at her getting to still have a magical wedding, assuming October didn't mind the extra flourishes.

 

[October Alcott]

If you had asked October ten years ago whether she ever thought she would get married, the answer likely would have been no. Even if it weren't for her terrible romantic history, she had never really been around happily married adults in her life. Her dads getting married had gone a long way to change her mind, as had having Matt as a more active parent. And then she had met Sia and known for sure. This was someone she could so easily spend the rest of her life with.

There was a peace that came with knowing the other woman felt the same way, a peace she hadn't expected. Here she was, with someone who loved her unconditionally, making plans for the rest of their lives together. She listened as Sia went through the invitation list, alert and excited by the planning. This was the kind of work she loved - organising and schedules. The kind of thing she didn't get to do much of anymore, working in the arts. Her heart skipped a beat as Sia mentioned all of her parents. Getting to know Bijoux was surreal, but she hadn't actually met her birth mother yet. October had barely thought about the woman before, the family she had had always been so normal to her. But now that she knew, it would have felt wrong to get married without the woman there. It was a whole new element of the wedding to be nervous about. She put it out of her head quickly, focusing on the question Sia had asked. "Not really." She paused, mentally running through a list of her former classmates. "Amber Wilson, I suppose." Amber was the only school friend she had maintained any semblance of contact with, though they didn't speak much anymore. "And her girlfriend." She paused. "Fianceé?" October added, trying to remember. "Not wife, I probably would have been invited to the wedding. But I... think they're engaged. Ainsley Lynch." She added, realising she hadn't actually given a name. October had never really understood what Amber saw in her gangly, awkward partner, but whatever it was they were clearly happy.

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Sia couldn't deny a moment of disappointment at October's lack of magical friends. It wasn't a fair feeling, she knew October had mostly cut ties with the magical community, and if she hadn't they never would have met in the first place, but if Sia couldn't be magical herself she would have liked to live a bit more vicariously through her if she could. Not to mention she was always curious about the type of person October had been back then. And the type of people she would have hung out with. It was a tricky subject for her, Sia knew, but it was hard not to get a little nosy about a complete other side of her soon to be wife.

"Okay, Amber and Ainsley," Sia said lightly, adding the names to the list with a small flourish before tapping her stylus on the edge of the tablet for a moment. "Really no one else? No one you want to rub your happiness in their faces a little bit? I'm fully in favour of spite invites, just so we're clear." There were definitely a few girls from high school Sia wanted to send invitations to, just to show off, even if she knew they'd never bother to show.

 

[October Alcott]

As sure as she was that she wanted her friend there, inviting Amber to her wedding felt strange. They had been close during school, but October hadn't stayed close with anyone from her magical life other than her family. Amber felt like part of a life she didn't live anymore, and that life meeting her muggle life would be... uncomfortable. Especially with Amber's strange girlfriend there. It would have been wrong not to invite them though, so she let it hang. She shook her head with a snort when Sia mentioned spite invites. "Hmm, the ex who cheated on me, or the Head Boy who ruined my graduation insulting all the teachers in his final speech? So hard to decide who I want around me on my special day." She said sarcastically, giving Sia a smirk and a pointed look. It was a cowardly way of ducking out of her feelings, but it was easier than actually getting into things. "Do you have people from high school you want to spite-invite?"

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Sia clucked her tongue as October went through her list of school acquaintances, sparing a moment to coil an arm around October's shoulders so she could reel her in and smack an obnoxious kiss to her forehead. It was so hard to believe people had been that awful to her in school. She would have expected it from normal people, but somehow Sia had always imagined magical school would be different, more elevated somehow. "I hate that you only have awful memories of that place, there's really nothing good that happened there? Nothing at all?" Sia was fishing, she knew she was, but she couldn't help it; she needed to corroborate the ridiculous imagine Sully had built in her head of the magical world with someone a little more grounded, even if she suspected October's version of magic was tarnished in its own way. "Oh of course, I need to show off my ridiculously beautiful wife to everyone who ever doubted me," she said, aiming for joking but landing somewhere much closer to sickeningly fond as she brushed a finger over October's cheekbone.

 

[October Alcott]

October couldn't help a giggle as Sia pulled her in, feeling the tension drain from her muscles. Even after all this time her school experience stung to think about, but somehow Sia had a magic all her own that made the bad things melt away. She sighed and cuddled closer to Sia as she spoke, shrugging quietly. "I mean, it wasn't all bad. I liked the classes, even if they wore me out. And Quidditch was fun. I just... most of it was awful. There isn't much I want to hold on to." As clean as her break had been after school, October was starting to tiptoe back into the magical world, ironically inspired by Sia. She didn't have much in the way of positive memories, but with enough distance it was convenient, picking up a potion for when she got headaches or getting her clothes magically tailored. She had even considered getting back into flying, the thought of taking Sia up on a broom for the first time an exciting one. She giggled lightly at Sia's comment, turning to meet her eyes. "You're too sappy." She said fondly, pressing a soft kiss to her fiancé's lips.

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Sia resettled contentedly when she felt October relax more against her. Poking her about school or magic was always a delicate situation and she was glad they’d managed to avoid any major landmines in the conversation. This wedding planning was hard enough despite how many jokes Sia was willing to make of it, and really she shouldn’t be pressing more than she already was. “Somehow I envision your classes being a lot more fun than my high school chemistry was,” she said lightly, trying to imagine school age October in the chemistry lab. It didn’t seem as far fetched, October was so grounded in reality sometimes it was harder to imagine her casting spells or flying on a broom. “Quidditch is the crazy like, flying cricket thing, right? I can’t believe my brothers are just out there doing that,” she said, shaking her head and ignoring the pang of jealousy at the thought of being able to fly. Maybe she should ask sometime if October still had her broom, she’d seen Sully’s around before, they could probably fit two people on one.

“You know, I bet we would have been mates in school,” she said, frowning at October’s admission. Sia was all for leaving the past in the past, she’d certainly had friends in uni who’d had a rubbish time in high school, but she hated how October spoke about magic too. Sia had only just come around to not hating everything to do with magic and it was hard to see October so willingly discard something she’d kill for to have had. At the very least she could live a little vicariously through her fiancee right? “Well, no I’d probably follow you around as a little love sick year nine, but I can dream,” she said with an elaborate sigh, leaning into October’s kiss with a smile before dropping her cheek to the top of October’s head. “God, you guys don’t even have year nine’s do you, you start school so early. Doesn’t that drive you nuts? I’d go crazy living with 11 year olds,” she said with a snort, raising the guest list back to eye level to squint at it again.

 

[October Alcott]

October giggled at the comment about chemistry, strangely refreshed to be able to talk about school without the weight of her past sitting quite so heavy. "Potions is pretty much just Chemistry, actually." She said with a small smile. "The ingredients just smell worse." She added, unable to help giggling at Sia's description of Quidditch. "That's pretty much it, yep. It's..." She paused. "I was going to say it's not as bad as it sounds, but... I did spend more time in hospital than I probably should have." She couldn't help a small giggle. Playing Quidditch had been October's rebellion, the first thing in her life she ever did purely for her own sake. Despite all the injuries, she did still miss it now.

Sia's comment about them being friends made her laugh, and she nodded. "We probably would have. You would have played Beater, I think. Definitely in Gryffindor." She laughed lightly. "Oh, hardly. We would have been bitter Quidditch rivals before it turned into a passionate forbidden love." October teased. "In the cup finals you would have been torn about whether or not to aim for me because you didn't want to hurt your love, but we would both know the integrity of the game comes first. You would have hit me, but I'd catch the snitch, because I was just that good." She grinned. "And then we make out in mid air." She added with a decisive nod. "I can't believe you missed my jock years entirely." The comment about year nines made her laugh and she nodded. "Firsties can be... annoying, definitely, but it's not too bad if you just ignore them. I had to look after them a bit when I was Prefect and Head Girl, it was... not always terrible."