Chapter 156 - Ch. 156 Summer meetings pt.1: Getting some blessings

The rest of my summer was more eventful than I had anticipated, with a few key occurrences happening in the month.

The first of which really threw me for a loop.

-Flashback to a week after forming an alliance with the Order of the Phoenix.

'Aedan,

This missive is to inform you that we have successfully found the safe houses and no issues occurred in the process of syncing ourselves into the wards.

Also, I would like to schedule a meeting next in a week and a half to discuss a rather stressful matter.

Do burn this after you have read it.

A thankful ally,

Albus Dumbledore'

"Guess the headmaster likes to make extra sure the message reaches me huh Fawkes?" I said to the bird currently eating one of the treats I give Sol, getting a happy chirp as a reply.

I wrote a quick response agreeing to another meeting and gave it to the Phoenix, which flame traveled as soon as it finished its treat.

Just as I was about to sit down to resume my daily portion of work, I was called for by mother.

"Aedan, could you come down dear? I have something I wish to talk to you about." She said as she stood by the now open door to the office.

"Of course. I've always got time for the ladies in my life." I replied with a smile as I stepped away from my desk.

"It shouldn't take too long, but we will have a guest." She informed me as we made our way downstairs.

It certainly seemed like a guest was coming since three cups of tea had been set in the common room, with an excited Tilly standing by.

"So who's coming and how come you need me here?" I decide to ask due to it being kind weird for my presence to be required when mother is here.

"It's because this requires the Head of the family to be here. And the guest is someone you know quite well." She answered, avoiding my question slightly and making me raise an eyebrow.

She then gestured for me to sit behind the single cup, which tells me that I will be on the receiving side of something like a proposition or request from whoever is going to visit, and that they are fairest close to mother since she is bringing them in and subtly siding with them.

A moment after I had sat down, a knock could be heard, making Tilly excitedly pop over to the door to let whomever in.

I calmly poured myself some tea as I waited for our guest, only looking up after I was done to see a fidgety mother and Sirius sitting in front of me.

"Now this is certainly a surprise. I did not expect Lord Sirius Black to show up to our home without being told about it. I doubt this has anything to do with what we've discussed last week, so this begs the question: why are you here with my aunt as your inviter?" I asked with no small amount of curiosity as I calmly look at the two of them.

"Ah, well, you see, it's a funny story really, ack!" He stammered before mother elbowed him to get it together.

"We have something to tell you dear, and it would be wonderful if you could listen until the end." Amelia then said after helping the nervous man out of his stammering.

"I am all ears." I replied as I gestured for them to go on, while mother gives a commanding glare to Sirius.

"Well, um, I'm here to ask permission to reestablish the marriage contract between myself and Amelia." The man squeezed out as mother nodded, leaving me a bit dazed for a moment.

"Excuse me?" Was all that came out of my malfunctioning brain.

"A marriage contract Aedan." Mother repeated as if she was making sure I'd heard correctly.

"Yeah I heard him, but what do you mean one between you two? And since when did you have one in the first place if you want to reestablish it?" I replied as I questioned the two a.d.u.l.ts.

"You see, when we were younger, we were both Aurors. We teamed up a lot, worked together on cases and watched each other's backs. We got closer and I proposed since no one else could reel me in like she could. To make it official, the Bones wrote up a contract and we hashed out all the details. Then the war came and well..." Sirius explained as he was trying to deal with a serious topic which was obviously still s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e for the both of them.

"You then went off and started fighting outside of the department and got yourself locked up." Amelia finished, still looking a bit peeved at the memory.

"Mel, I'm sorry. I thought you forgave me for that." The man said as he tried to placate mother.

"Ahem, sorry to stop the show. As much as I love to see you make the man sweat, I still have to clarify a few things." I interrupt before they can do a weird 'not married but acting like a married couple' bit.

"Like?" Mother simply asks as she ignored Sirius' pleading looks for forgiveness.

"So both of you want to get together?" I asked straightforwardly.

"Yes. We've been talking and seeing each other for a few months now actually. I wasn't sure what would happen, so I didn't tell you or Susan." She answered after a small sigh.

"And you're going to give this guy a second chance." I asked with a questioning glance to one of the marauders.

"Hey!" Sirius responded, probably feeling my thoughts about how irresponsible he is.

"Yes, as childish as he can be at times, he is still fiercely loyal and protective of those he cares about." She answered as we both ignored his responses.

"Even when he's going to be acting as part of the Order again?" I questioned again since I knew just how much of a sore point that is in our family.

"We've had long discussions about that little decision of his he took it without talking with me first again,"she said as she gave him a quick glare to cow the man," and he did bring up good points about his possible actions being limited this time."

'Him being a Dumbledore and Harry supporter is well known, so if he helps us as lord Black it will give Fudge ammunition to restrict mother for sure.' I quickly thought as I continued listening.

"And as much as loath to have people I care in that man's group, I also know he would never stand by and let Voldemort do as he wished. If he did, he wouldn't be the only man I love." Mother concluded with certainty as she looked at Sirius.

"I promise you that I'll do right by you this time Mel." Black said seriously as he looked into her eyes.

"You better, or I'm putting you in Azkaban myself." She responded with a decisive nod, making the man shiver at the prospect.

"At least I'm sure mother won't be soft on you." I chuckled as I watched the two.

"Hmph, he already owes me ten years. If he screws up I'm not forgiving him again." She harrumphed decisively.

"Then I don't really see any issues as long as mother is happy with this. I know what kind of man Sirius is. At times reckless and irresponsible, but he is also kind, caring and loyal. I don't really see him cheating, even if he was wild in his youth, and if he does I know it won't end well for him." I said as I give the two my approval.

"Thank you dear." Mother happily said with a really warm smile.

"Yeah, thank kid." Sirius followed in with a relieved one.

"But," I said then interrupted before they could get too excited." The announcement and wedding will most likely have to wait until next year due to the political situation. You two marrying at the moment would turn Fudge's paranoia and stupidity up to eleven, and I don't want that to happen on your special day. So it's either wait until Voldemort is revealed or hold a secret wedding."

"Unfortunately, he is right Padfoot." Mother said looking a bit deflated.

"Hey, hey! Listen Mel. I don't need any kind of extravagant wedding as long as it's happening with you." Sirius said with determination as he looked into her eyes.

"You now what? I don't need any of that either. F.u.c.k that sorry excuse for a flobberworm. I've waited ten years and I'm not letting his pathetic ego and intelligence stop me from marrying you." She declared in response as mother got very fired up.

"If that's what you two want, I can get everything organized in secret relatively easily. I just need to know who you'd want to be there and camouflage a few things. Honestly wouldn't even be that hard to be ready by the end of the month." I chimed in before the two could go off the rail completely.

"Oh Aedan! What did I do to get such son?" The now very emotional Amelia said as she hugged me.

"Haha! With the kid taking charge, I doubt anything will go wrong!" A happy Sirius proclaimed with a hearty laugh.

So with a laughing Sirius, the huggiest mother I've ever seen and a house elf who apparently had her own camera, I added wedding planning to my list of duties that day.

-End of Flashback

After that, I started preparing for two weddings, mother's and my own.

We agreed to have Amelia and Sirius marry on the 30th, then they can both take a week or two to one of my private islands or villas for a honeymoon after the kids all go back to Hogwarts. Mother taking a week off will probably surprise a few people, but an excuse of her wanting to get away from all the politics for a short time isn't really shocking, especially with the woman not taking many vacations since she took office.

As for my own wedding to my lovely fiancé, I am just waiting on her mother fully recovering to have it happen. So i thought 'since I already have all the people who make the best stuff for a ceremony coming, why not have it made for us as well?' It not like our bodies will go through significant changes between when we get everything made and when we hold the wedding. The only thing that can do that is Tory getting pregnant, which we both know she isn't. So with her approval, of course, I began the prep work.

I was trying really hard to get both weddings done before the start of the second war. I want to break that death flag which pops up when someone says they're going to marry after the wars done. Not letting that have any chances of happening.

Fortunately, I now for a fact that Victoria's mother is recovering very well.

-another flashback, this time it's two days after the Amelia/Sirius bomb. (It's like a Naruto episode during this chapter.)

"Master! Master! The mistress sent you message!" Tilly yelled as she ran towards me holding my personal vanishing box.

Her excited voice broke my focus away from my training, forcing me to return to the ground. I was in the middle of understanding how wind and the sky interacts with magic and being close to both helped a lot during the process.

"Thanks Tilly. Can you check and see if you'll have enough time to whip up all the food well need? I just want to make sure we won't need to call the Black family elf since he isn't nearly as great as you." I asked the little elf as I received the vanishing box.

"Tilly can make everything! Who needs crusty Black family elf when Tilly shows him that all he can really make is an idiot sandwich." She declared as I once again wondered if she's met Gordon Ramsey at one point.

She then popped away as I chuckled at her enthusiasm and read the message Tory sent me.

'I need you at the hospital. She wants to meet you.' It simply said, but it was enough for me to know how important this was.

I quickly ran inside to get ready.

A quick cleaning spell, a nice black bespoke suit with a white shirt, and I'm ready to go.

I then head to the fireplace and wave my hand to change it to the Floo setting, grab some powder and yell "St Mungo".

Not telling anyone since mother is with Sirius today and Susan is hanging out at Neville's place today. The two really hit it off when talking about herbology and she's been helping him pass potions. He's a good kid, so I trust him to take care of her.

What i forgot in the heat of the moment was that my sudden appearance caused quite a stir. I had momentarily forgotten about my rapidly growing fame, something which skyrocketed after I formally received my masteries.

Still didn't care as I snapped the receptionist awake and signed myself in without wasting anytime.

Approaching my destination, I spotted my fiancé as she stood outside of it.

And I wasn't sure if my love for her makes me bias, but even in a matron outfit she looked damn fine.

So as soon as I reached her, I picked her up with one arm and gave her a deep kiss.

After a few seconds of enjoying that, I let her down, leaving her a bit out of breath at the sudden show of affection and red faced as she tried to maintain her calm demeanor.

"So do I look presentable?" I asked with a grin as I received a light glare.

"Yes yes. Hard not to look good when it's you." She answered with a slight smile as she got over the kiss.

"Feelings mutual. How do you make that frumpy outfit look so s.e.xy?" I respond with an appreciative look.

"Stop it. Don't want to get excited right now." She scolded as she slapped my arm. "But thanks."

"My p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. But yeah, I should probably calm down too. Kinda nerve wracking meeting the in-laws you know?" I say to her with a small grin.

"At least you didn't meet yours when you were barely a teenager." She shot back.

"Oh please, that worked out great for you. Mother loved you before we even got together." I responded as I gave he a little nudge.

"Well look on the bright side, at least you'll never have to deal with actually meeting an overprotective father-in-law." She joked a bit.

"Yes, and the closest on my side is Tilly, so I think you're good. You might still have to pry her off of me when we move into our place." I added as we both chuckled a bit at the thought before Tory got back to the matter at hand.

"Alright, well, she's up and pretty much recovered. What she needs is time to rehabilitate her body and magic, as well as counseling to work through some psychological trauma. Apart from that she's looking great. Just don't talk about the shit stain and you should be good." She explained as she broke down her own mother's condition.

"Alright, easy enough. The only thing I would even bring up about him is the contract." I said with an understanding nod.

"Yeah, I already explained that part so you're good. I would be with you, but she asked to see you alone." Victoria said as she looked a bit worried.

"No need for that look. It'll all be fine." I say with a quick peck on her forehead. "Now wish me luck." I added as I opened the door.

When I saw the woman, I could immediately tell she was truly Tory's mother.

They had the same raven black hair, only hers resting onto of her right shoulder with an elastic holding it all together near the bottom. (Classic dead anime mom hair.) The same emerald green eyes, proud and Noble features, and they apparently shared the same look when they were assessing others.

I just calmly closed the door behind me, walked up to her bed and sat on one of the chairs beside it as I looked into her eyes.

"It is a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to finally meet you ma'am. I am Aedan Bones, your daughter's fiancé." I politely introduce myself to my future mother-in-law.

"Just Aedan Bones? Why not use your titles? Surely you have plenty." She questioned with curiosity.

"I am talking to my future mother-in-law, status means nothing in front of that. I could be the Minister of Magic and I would still be scrutinized." I answered with a bit of a chuckle.

"At least you understand that much." She said with a slight nod of approval. "So let's get to main question and get this over with. Why should I approve of you marrying my child?"

"Why wouldn't you?" I asked back with a bit of an amused smirk.

"Excuse me?" She responded with a surprised look on her face.

"I mean, I'm sure you've thoroughly questioned Victoria about me already, so I am certain you already picked wether or not you approve of me." I clarified since there's no way a mother and her daughter didn't talk about their love lives.

"Certainly wasn't expecting that response. No matter, I want your answer." She said before basically demanding an answer from what her eyes told me.

"Well then, I only have one answer to that question." I said as a smile on my face grew.

"And that is?" She said as she wanted to coax the answer out.

"Because I love her." I simply said with a bright smile on my face.

"Because you love her? That's it? That's your answer?" She asked for clarification.

"Yup." I affirmatively nodded.

That caused the room to be quiet for a few seconds as it computed.

And then she just started laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHA! That's right! That's the only reason that matters isn't it! HAHAHAHAHA!" She said between laughter so loud Tory decided to come in.

"Why is mom laughing so hard? What did you do?" She immediately questioned.

"I answered her question." I answered with a proud smile on my face.

"That he did! And a proper answer he gave me!" Mrs. Travers said with a happy smile on her face.

"What do you mean mom?" Questioned Victoria in her confusion.

"You found yourself a keeper princess." Her mother answered at the same time as she avoided really answering like I did.

"Does that mean we have your blessing ma'am?" I then asked as I moved on from Tory's question.

"Just call me Selene. And yes, you two have my blessing." She answered, making Victoria forget her questions as she just went and hugged her mother fiercely.

"I'll do just that Selene. Now all we have to do is get you out of this place and we can have our wedding." I said with a great big smile on my face due to the happiness.

"Then I guess my genius princess will need to get to work so that she can marry her Prince Charming." She followed up with a teasing smile as she patted her daughters head.

"I said I wanted to marry a prince one time after you read that story and you still hold it against me." Murmured Victoria in embarrassment.

"Of course I will, I am your mother." Selene smugly answered with a little chuckle, making me feel happiness for Victoria getting such moments back at long last.

-end of second flashback.

'Yeah, I can see why Tory loved her mother after meeting her. I woman who loves her family and wants the best for them.

Good thing I left when they started planing her "husbands" downfall, cause those two can be quite scary. I think the man would prefer my hit squad over what his own wife and daughter have planned.' I thought as I finished signing a few papers for mother's wedding.

The signature making me think of another rather surprising meeting I had during the month.