Closed Celebrating a Union

[Odette Madison]

Odette found it hard to believe where life had taken her. Here she was, at the wedding of an older half-brother she hadn't known existed for the first thirteen years of her life, where he was marrying the older brother of her old enemy/friend/girlfriend. Her adopted mum and siblings were here too, celebrating together. Matthew wasn't officially part of Maria's family, but Odette had always appreciated how the woman had taken him in regardless. Matthew regularly joined them for family dinners at the Madison's, usually taking Jason with him too. So Odette knew her new brother-in-law fairly well. She was happy for Matthew, he deserved something nice like this.

The ceremony had been beautiful and the reception had been fun. It was now slowly winding down, a few people still in the dance floor but more and more going off to the sides to chat or rest. Odette had found a seat at one of the many small tables, grabbing herself a second piece of wedding cake. Even now, at twenty-six, she could hear her biological mother's disapproving voice in her head at the treat. She ignored it stabbing her fork into the cake extra hard before taking a bite. She leaned back in her chair and smiled at the sight of her brother and his new husband, dancing slowly in the middle of the dance floor. The exact thing they had been doing for at least an hour.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

As much as she had resented her brother's relationship in the beginning, Harley had to begrudgingly admit she was happy for Jason. There was no denying he and Matthew were made for each other, as weird as it was, and of the three of them Harley was glad he had found a reason to ditch the Tsuji name first. As far as Harley was concerned, he more than deserved it. Despite their parents neglect he had built a life for himself, and he was happy. Matthew was good for him in all the best ways, and so despite herself, Harley was happy for them. Jason and Matthew Harper.

The wedding itself had been nice, if soppier than she liked, and Harley hadn't anticipated how much she would enjoy having so much of the family together for the wedding. She had spent most of the reception with her nieces, inventing a new game with Nessie where they tried to see how much sauce they could "accidentally" get on the back of Theodore's robes without him noticing. Once Zoe had rumbled them Harley had been quick to return the toddler to her parents and vamoose, heading to get herself another glass of wine before Zoe told Theodore and he hit her with that awful Westwick Stare. Gross. Glancing across the room at her brother dancing with his husband, Harley was quietly glad that at least one of her siblings had good taste in men.

Unfortunately, that taste was a slightly unhelpful reminder of her own. The downside of her brother marrying a Harper was the Odette of it all. Of course her enemy - turned girlfriend - turned enemy again - turned maybe friend? was here, and with all their history it would feel wrong not to say something. But... what? If she were a more thoughtful person Harley would have lingered at the bar while thinking of the right thing to say, but tact had never been her style and she was hardly going to start now. "Long time no see." She said with a false-casual air as she slid into the seat next to Odette without asking. "Imagine telling twelve year old us we'd be hanging out at our brothers' wedding one day."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette reached over to grab a flute of champagne, deciding she might as well celebrate properly when Harley arrived. Odette hadn't been avoiding her exactly, but she had kind of stayed out of her way. She should have known Harley would eventually approach her anyway. Odette took a drink from the glass before putting it down again, sighing softly. "Yeah, been a while." She said, looking at Matthew and Jason again. She snorted. "At twelve I was an only child, as far as I knew, anyway."

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley chuckled softly at Odette's comment, glancing at the former Slytherin. "Oh man yeah, I remember that whole drama." She said, thinking back to Matthew's unexpected arrival at Hogwarts. "Times change huh, you've got... like twelve siblings now, right?" She teased, grinning as she lightly elbowed Odette. "Gotta catch 'em all."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette sighed softly and smiled ruefully. "I remember too." She said, feeling a little sad for the confused and angry girl she had been back then. She laughed softly at Harley's comment, shaking her head. "Five, technically." She said, though she felt weird counting Charlotte as she clearly wanted nothing to do with her. "Finn just graduated this year." She commented, nodding to her brother, who was coaxing a tall awkward looking boy onto the dance floor. "I believe that's another Westwick." She commented, frowning a bit. "Right?"

 

[Harley Tsuji]

It felt good to hear Odette laugh again, and Harley filed away the information about how many siblings she had, though she privately thought that sounded like way too many. She looked across the room at the boy Odette had pointed out, laughing slightly at his struggles with the definite Westwick he was trying to make enjoy the party. "Looks like one." She agreed, nodding towards her sister and Theodore trying to wrangle the twins. "My sister's engaged to one of those creepy twins, they've got kids." She pulled a face. "Theodore's a little weirdo, but he's lucky my nieces are the best kids ever invented. Otherwise I'd be doing worse than ruining his dress robes." She said with a cheeky grin.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette looked at Finn, wondering idly if the boy was his boyfriend or something. She didn't think their family tree needed to be any more entwined than it already was, but thankfully he was only eighteen and probably not getting married anytime soon. Hopefully, at least. "I saw them earlier, they look adorable. Twins, right?" She said, though she smirked a bit. "I really want to make fun of you for being related to him, though." She added, taking another bite of cake. "It's weird how that goes, my sibling is probably going to marry Phoebe Holland any moment now. Which makes me related to Rose Holland. I have no idea how that happened."

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley beamed when Odette said she had seen the twins, nodding. "Arachne, like the greek myth about the chick who got turned into a spider. And Nessie, like the Loch Ness Monster. Tell your brother to be careful if he's dating a Westwick." She added with a small smile. "The twins are perfect though. They're gonna grow up total monsters with my help." Harley took another sip of wine, eyes widening in surprise at the mention of Phoebe getting married. "Really?!" She said, looking around the room for a moment before spotting Phoebe and her partner. "That's your sibling right, the quiet kid from Zoe's year?" Harley didn't think Zoe had been friends with any of the Madisons in school, but she had kind of gotten the impression that Charlie's partner was the sort of person who didn't really want all that many friends.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette let out a surprised laugh as Harley mentioned the twin's names, her eyes widening. "Really? What a combination." She said, letting out another laugh. "Merlin." She said, shaking her head. "I have no idea if Finn is dating him, he's not really open about that stuff to his older sister." She said, shaking her head fondly. She nodded at Harley's question. "They haven't said anything, but I have a feeling." She said, glancing their way. "Yeah, Charlie." She said. "We're supposed to meet the Holland family for a joint family dinner soon. So I can say hi to Rose from you, I guess." She said, draining her glass.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley snorted in laughter and nodded. "I know, right? Nessie was definitely my sister's pick." She said with a small smile, taking another sip of her wine. She nodded with interest when Odette explained her siblings' love lives, eyebrows raising slightly at the mention of a joint dinner with the Hollands. "Rose will probably have some questions about that coming from you." She said with a small laugh. "Joint family dinner sounds pretty serious though. Reckon Phoebe mad-scienced up a baby too?"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette smiled and shook her head. "They're nice names, it's just the combination that throws me off a bit." She said, laughing softly. She nodded at Harley's words about Rose. "I imagine so." She said, wondering how much Harley kept in touch with her. She shrugged. "Could just be a dinner, we have those sometimes. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to it." She said, glancing at Charlie. Then she looked at Harley and smiled a bit. "If anyone could, it's probably her. But I doubt it." She paused. "When did we get this old that our younger siblings are marrying and having kids?"

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley couldn't help a small snort of laughter. "Oh, we just have dinner with the Minister sometimes, so casual." She teased, ignoring both that Claudia was no longer the Minister, and that she had known her best friend's mother since long before she was Minister. She gave a low groan at Odette's next comment, slumping in her seat. "I know, right?! I'm basically a grandmother, it's disgusting." She whined, looking over at Zoe trying and failing to wrangle an over-hyper and over-tired Nessie. "You know, it's more than ten years since we broke up?"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette rolled her eyes. "It's not like I ever spoke to her. And she's no longer minister." She said. "I think you've seen her more than me." She added in an undertone. Odette snorted as Harley said she was basically a grandmother, she always took things to extremes. "Okay, now you're exaggerating." She said with a roll of her eyes. "No one would look at you and say grandmother." She winced at Harley's next words, thinking back. "Since you broke up with me, you mean." She said. "Has it really been that long?"

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley snorted at Odette's comment. "Whatever. Claudia's nice, I'm sure you've seen her loads." She said with a light handwave. She couldn't help a small giggle at Odette's comments, adjusting her dress pointedly. "Foxy grandma maybe." She said with a wink. "A bit more, yeah. We broke up in fifth year." She said with a small snort. "I was stupid at sixteen. I mean, we all were, but like, I was up there. Sorry about that."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette made a point of not looking down at Harley's chest as she adjusted her dress, rolling her eyes at her words. "Right." She said, looking away for a moment. She glanced back as Harley said she was stupid at sixteen. For some reason, she had expected her to argue about who broke up with who. It was a bit of a blur, honestly. "I was also very stupid at that age." She said softly. "And just... kind of a mess."

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley couldn't help the grin that split her face as Odette averted her eyes, enjoying the fact that she could still get a reaction. She was a little surprised that Odette conceded she had also been stupid, having expected a bit more of a fight. Still, she nodded in agreement. "I mean, fair." She hesitated. "I don't think I really got what you were going through. Kind of focused on being pissed off at the world about my own stuff, more than actually thinking about you."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette sighed, wondering how they had gotten on this heavy subject. She glanced at Harley and shrugged. "I mean, you were a kid. And I didn't really grasp what I was going through until I was like, twenty. So I can't blame you." She said, turning the empty champagne flute around in her hands. Should she go get another one?

 

[Harley Tsuji]

When she had approached Odette Harley hadn't planned on getting onto such a heavy topic, but now that they were talking about it she realised there were things bubbling below the surface that she had needed to say for years. "Still, I was pretty sucky to you." She said bluntly. "And the apology's waaay overdue. So, sorry." She glanced at how Odette was fidgeting with her glass, smiling slightly as she finished off the last of her own wine. "Can I get you another?"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette's lip twitched up in a slight smile. "I think we both know I was sucky to you first. Though I did apologize for that in front of the whole school, if you recall." She said, shaking her head. "But thank you." She nodded gratefully at Harley's words. "Please, and maybe... we can get some more cake and share it?"

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley laughed lightly, face brightening at the memory of Odette's public apology. "You did, and it was maybe the funniest thing that happened in our whole time in school up to seventh year." She smirked. "I think Vivian and Jerara both made pretty substantial grabs for the crown then." She smiled when Odette accepted the offer, taking the other woman's glass. "My answer to cake is always yes." She grinned. "I'll get the drinks, you get the cake?" She asked, getting up as she spoke.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette tilted her head slightly and raised her eyebrows at Harley. "I don't know, I seem to remember a certain prank involving lots and lots of frogs. That I'm sure you had nothing to do with." She said lightly. She laughed softly at the memory of Vivian's drama and Jerara's speech. She grinned as Harley agreed to the cake. "Good idea." She said, getting up. "Just a second." She said, moving off to where the cake was. She saw Matthew looking at her and gave him a quick smile as she passed him.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley burst out laughing at the mention of the frogs, though she quickly silenced herself, still grinning like a maniac. "No idea what you mean, I don't remember any frogs." She said, far too pleased with herself. When Odette got up to go Harley headed back to the bar to refresh their drinks, flicking the old school counsellor a salute in greeting as she passed. Odette's mum now, she supposed. A weird thought for sure. Glasses refilled, Harley returned to the table and settled in, smiling slightly as she watched Odette getting food.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette grabbed a big slice of cake and two small forks. Then after a moment of consideration, stole a strawberry from another piece of cake so theirs had two. It felt only fair. She returned to their table with a smile on her face, dropping down into the chair with a sigh. "You bringing up the whole Vivian thing reminded me of something." She said, offering her a fork. "I saw that guy, Tristan? With a baby carriage the other day." She said. "In case you didn't feel old enough yet."

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley's grin brightened slightly when she saw the second strawberry on the plate Odette brought back, giving the former Slytherin a mischevious grin. She was quickly distracted by the school gossip though, eyes widening in shock as Odette spoke. "No..." She breathed, covering her grin with one hand. "Oh my god, that poor kid! I wonder who he knocked up..." She added, considering who she knew who might have been spending time with Tristan these days. He'd been a bit of a pariah for most of seventh year, and she couldn't come up with any answers.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette laughed, covering her mouth with her hand for a moment too. "I don't know, I imagine he did the whole proper thing and got married and stuff, for image." She said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, I was pretty sure I saw him in the paper with the new minister." She said, popping one of the strawberries into her mouth. "I bet he'll be running next time."