The parchment in Hugh's hand looked like one of Professor Kazan's Defense Against Dark Arts assignments: It was already 24 inches long, and the list just kept growing as Hugh continued to plan for the wedding. The time frame was going to be shorter now, since Aurelia's condition would only sap her strength and energy more if they delayed, so he had sought out the help and advice of friends for this event, and he knew he'd have to rely on his Best Man and groomsmen to make sure his checklist was in order. Aurelia would be well taken care of with Chase helping her, so he wasn't as worried for her. His own list was shorter, so he could also lend her a hand if they needed extra hands.

Right now, Hugh sat in a small Indian restaurant that he and Aurelia sometimes frequented when they didn't want to cook at home. The messenger bat had returned with the acknowledgement from Jake some hours before, but he needed to update his friend on some things since they'd met last in Hogsmeade a few weeks ago. The lunch crowd had thinned out, and he still had a couple of hours before Aurelia and her coterie would be heading back to Stanhope, where they were hosting a dinner in place of Chase's usual Friday dinner at her house. He glanced out the window, scanning the crowd for the tall, lanky figure of Jake Darney.

Though correspondence had been brief between the two men over the past few weeks, Jake was always sure to stay posted. When he received the messenger bat (after his Dalmatian, Roger, had chased it through the house), the response was immediate. And came with an apology for any drool that still remained on it. He would have gotten to London sooner from his house in Surrey if yet another argument had not broken out between Tamora and he over the woman being stuck in the house. Normally it was not a problem, but her point was the weather was wonderful and Maggie had not been to London since they saw his parents two months prior. He always felt that with the nagging, headaches caused, and arguments that Tammy had become his honorary not-girlfriend. And it disturbed him.

He had parked near the restaurant and gave Tammy his spare phone. After a brief instructional period on how to properly answer, call and hang up, the man hugged his daughter and told the older woman to be careful with the five-year old. He watched the two leave before turning around and walking through the doors.

His eyes were accustomed to spotting his old mate, Hugh, with ease by now. He gave the younger man a small wave before heading for the table. Indian restaurants were not his scene, but it was a nice change of pace from his cooking.

“Hey, man, sorry it took so long,” Jake said as he took his seat and absentmindedly picked up the menu. “How is everything?”

His question had two meanings. On one hand he meant the planning, which he imagined to be a grueling process without any mix-ups with the people involved. Secondly, he meant everyone’s favorite redhead since he had not heard from her in a few weeks.

Hugh greeted Jake with a hug and a regular handshake and quickly transitioned into the old Badger handshake to top it off, (remarkable how those old conventions became second nature). He'd warned Jake about Aurelia's condition in prior correspondence, and that he was going to have to lean on his groomsmen for a few checklist items. Once Jake was seated, a waitress handed them another menu. Hugh quickly ordered the Masala, and asked the waitress to give Jake a few minutes. Hugh however, dove right into business.

"Things are rolling along, Jake, thanks. Since we discovered that Aurelia was pregnant, we've had to move up the schedule a bit. So I will need my Best Man's help to get some things done. I know you have a busy schedule, but whatever time you can give me would be great."

Originally the date had been set for Hugh's birthday in August, which seemed appropriate since the pair had always celebrated birthdays together since their school days. Now, however, they'd switched the date to Aurelia's birthday, in keeping with convention, but a whole lot sooner. As Hugh also explained while he sipped some water, they'd managed to give his parents the tipoff over the holidays.

Jake smirked as the waitress was told to give him some time to decide, it was scary how well Hugh could read the older man’s mind at times. His eyes scanned the listing of food, carefully reading the descriptions to make sure he was not missing anything good. Or picking anything that would have an unpleasant surprise for him. He finally chose an interesting noodle combination, and then turned his attention to Hugh. At his friend’s comment, the man huffed with a smirk.

“Moving it ahead a bit?” he teased before putting on a serious face. “But yeah. I have time after the practices. Tam is no longer completely incompetent when watching Maggie, plus I still have Jamiel and Liam around. What do you need help on?”

He could honestly say he had no idea about the inner workings of planning a marriage. At one point in time, he had been three days from proposing, but that ended rather sour. Now, the only women in his life were his daughter and an ex-girlfriend who was living at the house and undergoing Human Lessons. Not to say that marriage was not an option when he was not living with the slightly domesticated of Satan’s mistress, of course.

Hugh watched as Jake tackled the menu, and knowing his friend well, suggested a couple of Tandoori dishes that wouldn’t taste too far from his palate of Brazilian and English cooking that he was used to. It also brought the dinner and rehearsal dinner to mind as he did so, for they would probably have a lot of guests from different parts of the country – and possibly the world – with varying tastes in food. But Aurelia would need to weigh in on that topic.

“Since you’re a big traveler with the Quidditch Circuit, you come in contact with a lot of businesses that we might need to supply the reception or are important to it,” said Hugh. “So mostly I’ll need your advice on a few things, and there may be a trip or two in the offing when I can’t get there myself.”

He brought out a small parchment for Jake with his name on it.

“This is for you, and it’s got the main plan on it. Where we’re getting married, time, date, etc. It also has the key dates for picking up formals, rehearsal dinner, and so forth.”

After letting Jake look over the scroll, he continued. The waitress brought Hugh a tall drink of iced tea.

“Were you drinking anything? They have beers and wines,” mentioned Hugh. "It's on me, so whatever you like."

The flow of conversation was temporarily interrupted when two teenage witches sitting in another booth got up enough courage to ask Jake for his autograph. They were both wearing team jerseys, of course.

As Hugh talked, Jake listened, nodding every once in a while. The man had a good point with his reasoning. Jake spent a lot of time in various cities across the UK, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. He was well versed with where to go and who had the better products. And he did not mind spending an afternoon elsewhere, even when he did not have a reason.

He took the parchment and opened it. The man briefly eyed what was written on it before folding it up and putting it in his jacket pocket with his keys. He reminded himself to mark down the dates on his calendar at home. That was the only way he remembered things, even with his mother reminding him a week before. Jake knew full well that he had a horrible memory.

“This works, just tell me when you need something and I’ll pop on over,” Jake told him.

The waitress came with Hugh’s iced tea. When asked, the Quidditch player ordered water and explained he had driven with Maggie in the car and Tamora would not touch the steering wheel as long as he could help it. He opened his mouth to ask a question when two girls came over sporting Wasps jerseys with a shy smiles. No matter how many fans came around for autographs, Jake always felt awkward knowing that they wanted proof of meeting him.

Not that it stopped him, of course. He asked for their names and informed the taller of the two that she shared the name Monica with his mother. The fact seemed to make the girl’s day and she blushed. Two minutes later, the girls were heading back to their table with their jerseys signed with personalized messages in Jake’s chicken scratch. The man looked over at Hugh with an expression begging his friend not to comment.

“So how is our favorite firecracker handling everything? I need to visit her sometime when I’m not working with Maggie. She’s grown a whole head since we last saw Auri.”

Jake's question was a natural one, and being old friends, Hugh endeavored to give Jake a clear picture of things.

"Aurelia's great on the marriage, and she's having fun planning things. The pregnancy is her main concern. You know her family history, so it's no surprise she's worried about it. I'm concerned as well, but so far, everything is going fine, and she's a Healer herself, so you know how that is," he smiled. "They're always their own worst patients."

Hugh told Jake a little about the church in France, and some of its interesting history, and since Aurelia had some roots in France it felt like it was right for them. The village nearby was also charming, and would serve for a good base to get things that were needed for the reception. Hugh explained that they still had yet to decide where to hold the reception. The village of Eragny sur Oise had the ability to support the reception at a couple of local establishments, or they might do it in England also. However, first thought for for the guests accomodations.

"That's where you come in, Jake. The rehearsal dinner for the wedding party and immediate family we'll do here, in London. We'll have Damian cater it, so that's easy. The harder part is that I'll need someone to make arrangements for guests that are coming to the wedding. We'd want the accomodations to be in Eragny sur Oise, to spare a lot of jumping around for everybody. So, since you've stayed at some nice places around the world, I'll give you a list of people that will need to stay near the village, and make sure they're comfortable, if that's okay?"

Jake listened quietly, thinking over whether he should bring Maggie by for company some days to pass time. He understood why she would be nervous, but at the same time he was sure that the redhead would be very critical about anything that seemed out of the ordinary. She was like that for anything never mind health.

The idea of a small French village setting was nice. He always had a good time in small towns when he traveled to foreign countries. One of the most fond was a trip to Portugal as translator for Jen during his final years at school. He still owed the woman a vespa ride along the countryside, now that he thought about it.

“I haven’t been to France in a good while,” Jake reminded Hugh. His last trip was while he was still dating Angelina almost five years prior. He knew that Sisson and Jamiel went there a lot. “Some of the guys on the team head out often. I know Wolfe heads there once a year so I can see if he can give me some ideas. Worse comes to worse I can hook up with Liam’s mate, Cal. He’s from France.”

Jake’s water arrived and he took a sip. He had not sat in a quiet setting in a while and he was enjoying it. There was nothing better than peace with an old friend- even if they were planning for the future of him and his girl. Some found it odd that Auri and Hugh’s relationship had little affect on the Brazilian since she had dated him at school. For the most part, Jake had a hard time holding grudges- that and it was Hugh. It was impossible for Jake to stay slightly agitated with the man for more than 10 minutes.

“Do we want little places for the guests or do we want one big place? I think I know a lakeside bed and breakfast place. It was nice, but only had like… twenty rooms?”

The appetizers (a sort of grilled chicken with peanut sauce) arrived while Jake was thinking about some of his brothers and team-mates he could ask for further ideas, and that was just what Hugh had hoped for. He and Aurelia had spent a little time in Eragny sur Oise, but not enough to scope out all the local hotels and inns. There had been one: The Gilded Rooster, where they had stayed. A small five bedroom inn. He nodded at Jake's ideas.

"Let's see, we'll make a list. Aurelia and I stayed at the Gilded Rooster, which isn't far from the center of the village. But it's small, but when you go to the town, book the whole place. The lakeside place sounds good, too. Explain that we'd need all the rooms. My guess is that with friends, relatives, and significant others, we could be looking at over a hundred people coming to the wedding and staying for the reception. Rough guess. School chums are probably more forgiving if the rooms aren't large, but I have a fair number of relatives that will probably come."

He produced a parchment and a quill from somewhere with a wand wave and a finger snap and wrote down the Gilded Rooster and the name of the other bed and breakfast on the paper.

"If we have to look in a neighboring town, we can. Neuville is close by, and so is Cergy, a larger sort of place, just a couple of klicks from the village. Most will be witches and wizards, so a short distance won't be a big deal. We'll have carriages for the short distances. That ought to be fun, eh?"

As Hugh spoke, Jake could not help but be entertained by his old mate. No matter how old the pair got, it seemed some topics made them return to a youthful excitement, and it was always the little things. To most, looking for open hotels for over a hundred people would not be brushed to the side with the mention of a carriage ride, But for these two…

“I haven’t been on one of those since school,” the Quidditch player replied with a grin. “Come to think of it, I need to get hold of Jenn for something. But that’s neither here nor there. So, about a hundred, shortest distance possible, your insanely large family, and local carriages. Got it.”

Jake smirked and tasted his food. It was a little spicier than he had expected, causing his ears to tint pink. He looked up at his friend with an expression thanking him for the heads-up on the flavoring. Other than that, it was not bad. He knew it was an acquired taste and he did not go out to eat often. Something he’d try again, that’s for sure.

“I’ll be leaving Maggie with mum and dad so we won’t have to worry about a child running amuck. Now, is there any word on a bachelor’s party yet? You can’t get married without one, my dad explained that to you already.”

The check boxes on a couple of the things on the list were filling in as they discussed the accomodations, and then Jake zeroed in on something that was traditionally the Best Man's domain: The Bachelor Party. There were three other groomsmen to be considered as well. On the list that Hugh had given Jake were the names and addresses of the other members of the wedding party: Groomsmen, Hugh's parents, and key relatives. Three of the young men represented Jake probably knew, as they'd been Hugh's roommates for seven years. The fourth, Thom Brune was a cousin who lived and studied magic in the United States. He was a little older than Hugh.

Jake Darney
Cabot Forbes
James Higgby
Esmond C. Berkeley
Thomas Brune (cousin)


"Ah yes, the Bachelor Party. As I've yet to call a meeting of all the groomsmen, I'll leave it to your good judgment. One of the other groomsmen -- Cabot Forbes -- is already married. I was thinking to keep it on the side of sane, and perhaps do a weekend marathon poker party. That way, if anyone wants to drink they can do so safely. But I'm open to suggestions. I'd like to keep it close to home, just in case there's any health emergencies for Aurelia."

Jake’s eyes followed the list of names as Hugh spoke about what he was thinking for a bachelor party. It was not exactly what he was thinking, but it made sense. With Auri being pregnant, there was no real reason to get Hugh as pissed as possible. He’d have to save that for Liam’s wedding whenever that happened. As sad as it was, he had a feeling people were going to get hitched before him, even those who were younger and had a hard time finding people to stay with them for more than a one-night stand.

“Forbes is married? I am behind on this thing, then,” Jake replied with a smirk.

He pushed out the conversation he and Hugh had the night before Angelina left. He was still trying to think of how to propose and his best mate was enjoying the Jake-to-mirror stories. The Brazilian kept telling himself he was over that whole ordeal, but his daughter having lived with him for four years and him not having a steady girlfriend since spoke otherwise.

“Well, I’d say my place, but Jamiel can’t just go to Cape Verde without notifying the league. I can leave Maggie at the house, I trust Liam enough to watch her and Aiden usually stops by to help out with Ike. If you remember that little redhead from Gryffindor, she was two years behind you, Lanive. He has a big place in Chelsea. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind loaning it to me for a weekend. I watch her dogs at my place whenever she goes off for the Ministry.”

Hugh laughed about Jake being behind the times as far as some of their old Hufflepuff comrades, but then he felt badly that he'd laughed.

"Yes, Cabot got hitched almost a year and a half ago. He married Kristy McKenzie. You know, the curly blonde kid a couple of years behind you in Hufflepuff. My one and only matchmaking foray -- purely by accident of course. Sorry for laughing, I forget how much you travel sometimes."

He further explained that since Kristy worked in IMC, it was easier to keep up with the news since Hugh had formerly been out of town a lot. That, and it had been the one social event he'd gone to before he'd gotten back together with Aurelia.

"As for the location of such a party, that brings me to something else that might help. Will you have time next Tuesday for a short trip north?"

“It’s cool,” Jake said with a smirk. His comment was meant to be laughed at. Mainly because it was true. He was not the type of person to get bent out of shape at simple things like that. The idea of Hugh playing matchmaker used to make the man chuckle, so it was all fair. He commented on how he was happy for his school friend. It was good to hear positive things happening with them instead of negative.

“Next Tuesday, huh? Yeah, that should be fine. I don’t think I have anything planned yet. I know my mom’s birthday later that week so I have to get her gift sometime. What did you have in mind so I can tell the rest of the circus tent.”

Jake ate more of his food, eyes jumping throughout the restaurant. It seemed like ages since he had been able to sit down for a quiet meal with someone.

"If you remember a couple of months back, you ran into me in Hogsmeade? I was visiting a realtor there to look at some properties. There was one that my family formerly owned that would make a great, er, home for us once we're more settled. I just wanted to take you along for an opinion on it. If its true, and we're expecting more than one child, Stanhope is going to get very small very fast for us."

Hugh also explained that he and Aurelia were looking into an old family mystery, and that was one of the main reasons why he needed Jake to help out on the wedding planning.

Jake nodded, listening to what Hugh was saying. He vaguely remembered the house in question and how it looked. The house that they currently used was a bit small, especially since he figured they wanted a family- a nice sized family seemed a very Auri and Hugh thing. Not that they were going to end up like rabbits or anything. Just the thought of an army of lurking, young versions of his friends was slightly alarming, but entertaining at the same time.

“You and Auri just can’t stay away from these mystery things, can you?” He teased with a smirk. “It’s no problem, Mag can handle her own now, she’s a big girl. Just give me at least a day’s notice so I can warn the house and my mum. She panics if I don’t answer right away.”

Jake thought about it for a moment before taking a sip from his drink.

“How far north? I know some places up that way we can stay for like… nothing.”

"Ha! no, but this is a secret from her for a little while anyway. It's not far, and we won't need to stay anywhere, plus we can always pop over to Hogsmeade or Fenton Falls again if we need to."

Hugh described that he planned to 'kidnap' Aurelia from the wedding reception and whisk her off to one of two places in Scotland. Either Cameron House, which was very beautiful, or if the property was suitable, that property he had looked at before. It was also on the Loch, a little higher on a hillside, and it had some land, and a pretty view of an inflow stream.

"It's called Fallingwater. It once belonged to my family, many years ago. Now, maybe I can get it back. It's good sized, but not ridiculous. I don't know if Aurelia will like it, it's not what she's used to, but since we're expecting, well, there aren't many wizard properties that are nice and large. Three Chimneys is nice, but my parents and baby sister can have it. I want a new place."

Hugh looked at Jake thoughtfully.

"We also need to think about entertainment."

Jake nodded as he finished his water off. The location seemed great. Someplace peaceful where they can enjoy each other without a whole lot of distractions, like people breaking into houses three blocks down. That is not the way to have an infant wake up. They never go back to sleep. And as lovely as the imagery was, Hugh brought up a golden point- it was not something Auri was used to. It was very different, but a change could also be a good thing for them both. They traveled and explored so much, that a retreat would probably be beneficial.

“My lips are sealed,” he told Hugh with a nod.

With the mention of entertainment, Jake was shocked that the two men actually spent time thinking about who to try and get. Something similar to a DJ would be interesting, but they had a well-known group of performers that tended to inhabit the spare bedrooms in Jake’s Surrey home when Aunt Gwen was getting impatient.

“Just ask Ike,” Jake commented with a shrug. “He’s a puff and used to play for us all the time and he and Aiden are back in town from their small tour in Wales with Dakota and Cal. I’m sure they’d love to do it.”

"Thanks, but we'll need to take a look around the place. It's in good condition, but I just want a second opinion, and Chase isn't available right now, and time is of the essence."

The clock was racing now, with the need to have things done prior to February 14th.

"Yes, I definitely had Ike in mind, but I wasn't following his and Aiden's schedule at all, so if you can contact them, and arrange for them to meet us at Loch Lomond, that would be even better. I already have a string quartet tagged to be at the wedding itself; and Ike's band can play the reception. There's also a small orchestra for the background music and special dances. They have a singer I'm borrowing from the Golden Parrot. She has a great voice."

Talking about all these things made Hugh apprehensive, but very happy at the same time. Just having Jake around was going to be a good steadying influence, although Hugh was pretty calm himself -- most of the time.

"As for what we'll wear, that's easy," said Hugh. He flipped out a magical cataog with a couple of very dashing French-designer label tuxedos. "The fitting will be when we get all the groomsmen together.

Jake chuckled at the comment of following Andronicus and their tours. He did not have much of a choice with the lead singer’s twin brother living in the same house. Not that the man minded, he enjoyed the company- his family loved having people over when he was growing up. Naturally, it rubbed off onto their son. That explained why his circus tent of a house had so many tenants.

When Hugh showed him the tuxedos that the men would be wearing, there was a mental pause. Jake never felt comfortable in monkey suits because he felt so out of place in them. But, per usual, Hugh had a fine taste in what would look good.

“Oh boy, you’re getting an interesting group of people together after some time. Will the poor people at the tux place be able to handle us?”

"I think they're professionals," said Hugh, chuckling. "They've probably seen it all. You shouldn't worry, Jake, remember I've seen you in your awkward phase in a suit like these, and you didn't look half-bad then."

Hugh knew full well that his friend was a casual sort, and that they would have this discussion -- again. However, Hugh hastened to reassure his friend that he was very grateful to have him there.

"I know it takes a lot for some to wear this, and I appreciate you doing it for Aurelia and I. These are really comfortable -- not like the ones we had to wear at Hogwarts. If you don't come away with a few female admirers from this event, then call me Hughbert!"

Hugh took a few more bites, and looked around at the other diners for a moment. It was nice to be able to share the load with someone else that wasn't his intended. Lord knew, she'd heard his hopes and fears about the whole affair a few times.

"You know, Aurelia and I have this sort of in-joke about running off together. So, at the reception, that's somewhat that we're going to do, so we'll need you help to pull it off. You'll need to do some kind of minor distraction near the end -- maybe an ill-timed speech, because I'll need time to slip away and get the big finale ready. Chase will be in on the secret, too, so maybe you guys together can come up with something. We're leaving in a balloon. Actually I'm going to kidnap my bride in a balloon, and you might have to fight off some pirates. All in fun, really."

Jake scratched the back of his head. It was awkward knowing that Hugh could still read him like a book. It was not that he was against suits- some people looked so natural in them. He thought he looked foolish in them. He had no issue wearing them. It wasn’t like he was about to show his hairy legs off in a kilt.

What got his attention was the idea of the epic balloon escape. He was not quite sure what was with Hugh and balloons, but the man had a love for zeppelins. That and epic exits and entrances. The idea somehow did not surprise him, as much as it should. All he did was chuckle.

“Pirates, eh? That’s a new one. As long as Chase has my back I think we can pull it off,” Jake told him, scratching the back of his head once again. “I’ll keep that one quiet too.”

As Jake finished his meal, he put the napkin and utensils on the plate and sat back in his chair to relax his stomach. He was glad that this get-together worked out so well. He missed days like this.

“When will I be told the details so I can plan ahead of time?”

"Details will be literally every day, as things get checked off the list. As far as the pirate attack, by the time we go to look at the house, I'll show you a simulation of the whole spell that goes along with the pirate zeppelin."

Hugh asked to look at the dessert menu and then passed it over to Jake.

"Oh, yes, one other important detail. We need a flower girl, and you're the only one with a kid old enough. One of Auri's friends, you remember Gretta? She has a boy that can serve as well. Would Maggie be up to doing this?"

Jake shook his head with a grin. Hugh never ceased to amaze him with his creativity… or his craziness. Whichever it was at this moment. When the topic shifted to Maggie being the flower girl, the man’s smile widened. He loved getting his daughter all girly in a dress, and Mag enjoyed it too. Whenever there was a chance to get herself in a dress, the girl was the first to jump at it.

“Maggie would love to do it. And she knows everyone so she won’t be doing that strange ‘I suddenly only speak Portuguese’ thing like she used to.”

Hugh had seen Maggie grow up from the time she was brought over to England when she was nearing two-years-old. He knew every stage, including the ‘I like to throw pudding at daddy’ stage.

“When will she need to get her dress?”

"Wouldn't matter if she did speak Portuguese, Auri's distant cousins from Portugal are coming to the wedding."

But he was glad to hear that Maggie was game for it. One more item to check off the list. Hugh pulled out a leather organizer that Aurelia had given him in school long ago. it was a nifty little magical book that kept track of appointments, addresses and the like, and with the touch of a wand, each day would literally leap from the page. For example, 'Lunch with Jake' showed Jake sitting down at the Indian restaurant, and the glowing letters 'In Progress'. 'Bubble Bath with Aurelia' showed, well, nothing but little heart bubbles on the Fridays checked off. That reminded him that they needed to be back at the house by Friday, as Chase would be by for dinner and planning of the wedding. He flipped forward a few pages, and he touched the page with his wand.

"Let's see. The girls are doing a dress fitting this week," he said as the pictures of Chase, Aurelia Gretta and Abbigale spun and smiled on the page, hands waving queen-like. "Let's do this: You and I will go up to the house on Loch Lomond and take our look on Thursday, and after we get back, you grab Maggie and bring her over. All the girls will be there, and you can take the rest of the day off since you'll have five pretty babysitters."