I won't just buy you a rose

It had been a long day. Davies had managed to lose an entire file concerning the registry of enchanted muggle items in the region of Liverpool. The information it had contained was not exactly vital to the Wizarding World's ability to keep running but it's loss did mean a long series of house calls, looking back in records, and hoping that someone in the department had a very good memory. Currently, Max was bent over his desk, flipping through a report on dice and cards in a muggle casino that had a habit of favoring one player over another. His glasses slipped down towards the tip of his nose as he became more and more invested in the work, unconsciously getting closer to the paper.

"It's your lucky day." Max turned around suddenly at the voice, shocked out of his work tunnel vision. How long had Gabby been standing there? When Max was at work he tended to get deeply involved, unwilling to draw himself out of his small office even for lunches and breaks. "What?" Max asked, confusion filling his voice. It wasn't unusual for his best friend to randomly show up at the Ministry - that was how they had met after all - but it never managed to surprise him when he did. The last time Gabby had been standing in his office Max had ended up sitting in his kitchen wearing nothing but a sheet and gobbling down cake. Understandably, he wasn't sure the word 'lucky' was going to be exactly accurate.

After a brief struggle (both verbal and physical), Max had been wrangled into the lift and the pair started soaring down towards the ground level. At some point during the scramble Gabby had blindfolded Max and was successfully stopping all attempts the younger man made to remove his humiliation. He was led by the arm, stumbling across the atrium, bumping into who-know-what coworker that he would have to answer to later. But the force that was Gabriel Short could not be stopped once he had some sort of punishment treat for Max and as he ran into the fountain, he was able to trust his friend enough to pull him back before he fell into the pool of water and coins.

The world suddenly went very hot around Max and Gabby called out a destination which Max entirely missed under his yell of "HEY!" Hell, he had been hoping he was just being taken to the food court or maybe the secretaries on the forth floor that Gabby liked visiting so much. But alas, it appeared that Max was going to be getting out of work early today. Rigged gambling would have to wait until tomorrow.

Max's blindfold was removed, revealing a small room with a formal atmosphere and very distinctive papers on the walls. Oh no. Oh no. Today, really? He may have asked her to do this as a favor but that didn't mean he was ready today. There had to be some time for.. preparation? Apparently no one else shared his concerns and he stood there, mouth hanging agape as he attempted to process what was about to happen. Since they had agreed to marry each other (against the threat of a stranger) there had been close to no discussion about a wedding or their agreement. Only the smallest acknowledgements reminded Max that their conversation in the lift hadn't been a dream. He really hadn't imagined it would happen this soon.

"Gabby, what? -" Max looked to his friend in questioning, before searching about the room in search of anyone else. Especially in search of her.

Jack had no reason to feel nervous, so she refused to look nervous. She had been told to go into a separate room to get ready. Now that she was secluded in the room, she felt absolutely ridiculous. She had nothing to do to get ready. She wasn’t putting on a dress. She had barely convinced herself to change out of her Quidditch pads. Gabby was in charge of bringing Max. She would have conferred with him beforehand, but she had received notice that she was expected to bear proof of her marriage to Nemo within two days. Naturally, she had panicked and quickly called up a church, before plucking Sunny from daycare.

”You know all about this new marriage law thing, right Sunny?”

“Yeah. Max is getting married to Blondeship.”

“What’d I tell you about calling her that?”

“Not to say it in front of Max?”

Jack fought off a blush, holding Sunny’s hands tighter and refusing to look at Max. “Not to say it,” she corrected, though both Dyllan women knew otherwise. “Yes, well, Max and I discussed it, and rather than having Bl- Ms Bishop move in with us or have Max move out, we’re just going to comply with the law and get married. Now, this isn’t usually how grown ups get married, okay? Don’t get married until you want to, alright, Sunny? We’re getting married now so that we can make sure we fix this law so other people don’t have to do it too. Nothing’s going to change, and when the law is over, nothing will be different either. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“What do you understand?”

“You’re in love.”

“No, Sunny, that’s not what I said.” Jack looked helplessly up at Max, though she knew he would hardly have anything better to say. The little Dyllan girl was rarely talked out of her own logic.

“I have one question though.”

“What is it, Sunny?”

“Is your baby going to be my cousin like Charlie, or my aunt like you?”

It had been an odd adjustment. Telling people had been the hardest thing, simply because everyone liked to romanticize these sorts of things. And because it was her. The could see Max settling down because of the law, but everyone had expected jail or death before Jack Dyllan settled down with anyone. And it seemed that people simply did not buy the excuse that this was buying her time, or it was saving her so she could continue to take care of her family. Apparently, everyone thought she chose being stubborn over being logical. It was her own fault – she had set a pattern after all.

The woman who had told her to get ready popped her head back in, informing her that the groom was here. Eugh. Jack had not even begun thinking in terms of bride or groom. The words sounded weird. Still, she felt her heartbeat quicken and she hurried out of the room, intent on meeting with Max to explain what was going on. The woman said something about seeing each other before the wedding and Jack scoffed. “Please. We’re in court. This is a document signing.”

Then why did she feel so freaking nervous?

Jack hurried down one of the hallways, when a yellow arm caught her. Jack turned and looked straight at Sunny. “Sunny, please, go with Charlie and take off your raincoat.”

“Pick one – I’ll do one.”

Jack sighed. “Keep the coat.”

“Good luck, Aunt Jack.”

Jack sighed and kissed the top of Sunny’s head, before continuing to jog down the hallway, before it opened up into the main room of the courthouse. She turned and there were the two men she had been anticipating. Gabby was dressed dapper because he was the sort of jerk to do that to her – dress nice at her wedding, what an arse. And there was Max, looking as though he had been dragged out of the office which, as she thought about it, he probably had. He looked more than a bit confused, and his glasses were slipping down his nose. Funny. Jack liked him in glasses.

She quickly approached, and as she did, Gabby called out, “Here comes the groom!” She sneered at him and stopped right in front of Max.

“I’m sorry – I really am. I got a letter from the Ministry today and they’re not happy with me, so it has to be today.” She reached up and gripped his shoulders, looking right at him and determinedly keeping her eyes from Gabby who was now licking his lips in an attempt to piss her off. “I know this is a lot to just throw on a person, so if you want to change your mind or something, I totally understand. I just… I need it to be today. If that’s okay with you.”

Out of the back Jack emerged looking just as normal as Max did. She approached and received a comment from Gabby, earning him a slight frown of disapproval from Max. It was weird to think that his flatmate and his best friend had any sort of working relationship before he had met them and he couldn't quite pinpoint what had happened due to the strange why they treated each other. Before he could theorize too deeply, Jack had grabbed his shoulders and was explaining herself in a way that the startled Max found very frightening.

He told himself that it wasn't the fact that Jack stood an arm's length away, that it was simply the wedding that was being sprung upon him. But not knowing what else to do he simply nodded at her words. Of course it was fine. Would it really be that different to marry now than in a week or month? And besides, that was the whole point of this wedding. Not for ceremony or tradition - simply protection. And if Jack needed to be protected now than Maximus Morrison would be getting married now.

"Yes, of course." he managed, nodding again. "I just wish I'd known. I would have called -" The door opened again, this time thrown into the wall with a bang. A young girl stood there, about Charlie's age and decked out in full Hufflepuff robes. She pranced forward with a call of "Maxxie!" and met her brother in the center of the room where the two hugged. "How'd you-?" Max started, abruptly cut off by Melly as she jumped into explanation. "Charlie wrote me as soon as Jack got hold of her. It wasn't too much trouble to get out of Hogwarts when I said it was for a wedding. They didn't seem too keen on making this marriage business any more unpleasant than it already is. People would revolt!"

Melly's chatter filled the small courthouse chamber and Max suddenly wondered about having her there. It felt wrong to have one sister when the other two siblings were blatantly absent from the proceedings and the presence of family suddenly made the whole ordeal feel much more official. Though it was contrary to everything he had always said, Max wouldn't have minded the smallest and least formal wedding possible in this case. The Morrison Family and the Layabout Family were two separate worlds and it seemed terrible strange to the young man that they were going to bring them together.

He had visited Melly in Hogsmede a week ago to tell her the news. The young girl had taken it much better than Max would have in her place and had seemed genuinely unconcerned about her big brother's marriage plans.

"So I get another sister then?"

"Um, I don't think it works like that."

"It does. You're getting married, she's going to be Mrs. Flatmate Morrison, and I'm going to get a sister to go shopping with on holidays."

"She doesn't really like.." people "shopping."

"Ten bucks I can change that."

Melly released Max and turned to Jack. "Thanks for getting me out of Herbology. It's freezing out there." She glanced around before asking, "Where's Charlie? I need her help on my homework." The two girls had shared at room in Hogwarts. Well, they had, before the new decrees regarding half-breeds had came out. When she had moved down the hall after Charlie and Sunny, Max turned once again to Jack.

"Apparently they found out without me. Sorry."

She stared at him a moment, briefly wishing she could see inside of his head, something she often desired, as she was certain it would make living together much easier. She knew, however, that the idea of being in someone's head was a lot better than actually being in someone's head. Jack had developed an odd connection to the emotions of people near her when she had been dealing with Vito, and a lot of issues had come out of it. In the end, it was much easier to find out only what people wanted you to know.

Her apology was beginning to bubble out of her throat, when the door slammed open. Jack turned and recognized the face of Max's younger sister, who seemed only pleased to be there. Jack had briefly feared for the disapproval of Max's family, but all seemed glad that he was not being forced to move any farther, and that he did not seem to dislike his partner. Jack smiled, but released Max to step away so he could greet his sister.

Jack smiled, a note of sadness at the creases of her lips. Her brother would not have such a scene with her. Before she could be too sad about it, though, Melly was turning to her. Jack laughed and said, "If there's anything I encourage in the youth, it's delinquency." Jack smiled and pointed down the hall. "Second meeting room on the left. Sunny might not let you two work." Melly quickly scampered off and Jack looked back at Max.

"Don't be. I told Gabby and Charlie to contact them - is that okay? I didn't know. It's not a ceremony, or whatever, but I thought your family might want to be apart of it. And if it's just family, it's not really a crowd. Just... necessary participants."

((If someone doesn't show up, we can blame it on Gabby not sending letters in time. XD ))

"Thank you." It seemed like the only appropriate thing to say. It really had been quite thoughtful of Jack to remember his family when she had so many other things. The Dyllan girls embodied Layabout and Max had been taken into their world, not the other way around. Max had made very little effort to introduce the Dyllans to his family and his family made no moves towards starting a relationship with those at Layabout. But now wouldn't they all be a giant family, as strange as it was? It was time to start blending his worlds because Jack was officially becoming a part of his life. Becoming his wife.

"So when are we doing.. this?" Max gestured around them, not quite able to say the words 'marriage' or 'wedding' out loud to Jack. Ever since his sorta-proposal in the Ministry lift he had been feeling more and more awkward about the whole situation and had gradually realized that he had never anticipated she would say yes. Being married made perfect sense and he genuinely did want to help her in every way he could but he also found himself nervous. They had agreed nothing would change between them - friends, nothing more, nothing less - but just the label of husband and wife was a bit of a shock to think about.

"Anyone else supposed to be coming?"

They had both discussed that this wedding wasn't really a wedding - it was the signing of documents so they could go along with this ridiculous law. That said, Jack just didn't feel right excluding Max's family. They had a right to know what Max was getting into. "Hopefully Maisie and Aaron, if they're not busy. I didn't know whether or not you wanted your parents here, so I left that to your sisters to decide. Besides that, it's just Charlie, Sunny, and that dufus." She jerked a thumb towards Gabby, who was leaning on the stand at the front of the church, flirting shamelessly with the woman who had been running about, ordering Jack around.

This was feeling very surreal. Jack did not have a normal social life, but she supposed at a real wedding of hers, she would have at least a few people there to support her. If she wasn't wrong, she remembered Chase, at one point, going on and on about what a wedding for Jack would look like. She had claimed the role of maid of honor, and had been so excited to hypothetically draw up a guest list, especially considering that Jack had been hoping to go into Quidditch or the Ministry, where there would be a 'sophisticated' brand of people to invite.

But mostly it was feeling surreal because one of the last things Jack had suspected for her life was this sort of event, and so early in life. Sure, she knew many of her peers were already hitched of their own accord, but she had never put enough stock into this whole romance thing to even count it into her plans. She had always been too busy to have time to think about security. And, if she was being brutally honest, she had never suspected she would live long enough to get married to someone.

She sighed, addressing his earlier question. "Dunno. They're getting the paperwork ready, and then we're just waiting on Maisie and Aaron. I'm ready to go."

(OOC: Bizarre stream of consciousness post. Forgive me.)

Nothing said: ‘congratulations, big brother!’ like turning up unfashionably late – perhaps, sort of – to said big brother’s wedding.

Not that it was a wedding of course.

Oh no.

Arrangement was too cold but wedding it was not.

What vaguely irked Maisie was the fact that neither Jack nor Max were willing to admit that, first of all:

1. They were bananas about each other.

And, second of all:

2. The whole marriage law bollocks was actually really helpful in pushing along what would’ve otherwise been a rather painful rest-of-our-lives scenario.

Plus, a new name was always fun.

She loved her brother, though. So she’d forgive him eventually for his silliness.

Maisie arrived with an audible crack that announced her appearance.

Caked head to toe in mud, brandishing flowers that weren’t hers, was a classic, almost.

She was sure it had been done in a soppy rom-com somewhere along the line.

Possibly a Hugh Grant film.

Not Notting Hill, though.

“Bam! Happy wedding or whatever, dude!”

Still the little sister. As ever.

Big brothers getting married was still gross.

Because it wasn’t a wedding.

Arrangement was still too cold.

The wallpaper was ugly, too.

Maisie clicked her heels together and grinned.

Ultimately she was proud of him.

It was still gross, though.

Jack had barely mentioned her when Maisie appeared on the heels of the his other sister. Much like Charlie, she looked as if she had just emerged from the deep woods and Max vaguely wondered if they would be responsible for cleaning up the mud and dirt that had been dragged into the church. "Thanks for coming, May." he greeted her with a smile. "Do you know if Aaron's on his way?"

"He's at work!" Melly responded, coming back through the door she had entered into barely minutes before. The youngest Morrison had been called by the loud crack of her sister's arrival and had returned with the other two Dyllans in tow, successfully wrangling the entire group into the same room. "Something about some meeting or something." she shrugged, moving to stand by her older sister. Max nodded, not too surprised or hurt by their brothers absence. Beyond his name, Aaron had always been the most un-Morrison of the Morrisons.

As the three stood together it became slightly clearer that they were related. Appearance wise, they had gotten a mishmash of traits from the Morrison and Brown blood and each held a distinctive look from the others. It was only when they interacted that their relation really emerged. The lighthearted disposition, kind heart, and happy-go-lucky attitude had become a grotesque of the Morrison siblings, not always the truth, but almost constantly perceived that way. The three held themselves similarly, laughed almost identically, and were more than capable of finishing eachothers sentences.

And while they all loved Aaron, he had always been a little different from the rest. Slightly less cheerful, more irritable, and above all, the most driven towards greatness. Though it was not necessarily bad, Aaron had been the only Morrison not sorted into Hufflepuff and had been sent to live with the lions. Since graduation he had been working tirelessly for the business that he and a friend had started up in Muggle London. Dad and Naomi were deeply proud of him, especially when compared to their older son who had refused a promotion at work on two separate occasions because he 'enjoyed the office work'.

Charlie clapped her hands together lightly. "Where did that official run away to?" The Dyllans coming for Christmas had been awkward enough for the her and they were her blood relatives. Witnessing another family until interacting so normally was more than a little strange for the werewolf girl, especially now that her 'family' consisted of her cousin, child cousin, and some guy who (as far as Charlie could figure out) Jack had randomly picked off the street to live with them. It didn't escape her that she had never lived with a married couple before and Charlie knew this wouldn't be the wedding/marriage that would be considered the most traditional model.

With a look around Charlie frowned and added, "I'll go get him." She trudged out of the room, her work boots leaving a trail of dirt and plant matter like a breadcrumb trail wherever she went. The official/priest/something was found in the back room and Charlie stopped directly in front of him, forcing the man to lower his up of coffee with the sheer power of her glare. "They're ready for you." she informed him, eying the poor man with a hint of accusation for an unknown crime. She dropped the look and added "Well, as ready as they'll ever be." with a slight roll of her eyes.

The pair returned to the main room and Charlie took a seat on one of the provided benches, which Melly mirrored a few seconds later. "Sunny!" Charlie called, patting the section of bench next to her in both invitation and instruction (though she had learned better than anyone that there was no telling the six-year-old what to do.)

Jack supposed she understood how Max had felt on Christmas - it was a lot to take in, several people who looked and spoke the same Family really was one of the most mind boggling concepts Jack could think of. These semi-strangers who looked like you and smelled like you become the furniture of your adolescence and when you leave, they still claim a right to you. In most cases - Jack's family had never had much of a claim on her. Either way, family seemed to either be absolutely horrific, or comfortably wonderful. The Morrison family struck her as the latter, even though it was a lot to take in so quickly.

Maisie came in, devoting enough time to make her entrance and address the occasion, before Max asked after Aaron, the one Morrison sibling Jack had not met face to face. Jack had spoken to him once when he had called on the phone to ask Max something, but he had seemed wholly uninterested in small talking with her. His irritation could have had more to do with the fact that it had been Sunny who had initially answered the phone, and she had been quizzing him on his knowledge of sea life.

He wouldn't be coming. Jack gave Max a small smile, for her brother would not be coming either, and they would both be fine. Her eyes swept around he room, taking stock, when she noticed Gabby staring at Charlie a bit oddly, as though she were a stranger he recognized. Charlie clapped, which jolted Gabby out of his gaze, and he felt Jack's eyes on him. He heaved a shrug. "What? I'm trying to figure out why the pretty gene seemed to have skipped your branch of the family." Jack rolled her eyes, and dropped it, missing the brief look of concern on Gabby's face.

Charlie scampered off and Jack glanced at Max. This was when she would be getting married, then. This was the Who, the What, the When, the Where, and, of course, the Why was under no dispute. They were doing this so she could stay out of jail long enough to fix the law. She would be a pretty terrible Unspeakable if she went to jail for breaking the law she was supposed to overturn. And this was better for everyone, too. No one had to move, or reroute their life. It just continued on.

But his siblings were here, and his best friend, and Jack's closest family was present too. They were in a tangible courtroom, one with impressive wooden fixtures and long benches, and official looking seals everywhere. The person before her was a real person that she had been getting to know, slowly at first and now more and more every day, for the past several months. Somehow, this fake marriage was feeling very real to Jack. Jack looked at Max, gathering her resolve, before she repeated, "I'm ready."

Suddenly, an official entered the room and everyone else hurried to sit. Gabby took a spot on Maisie's other side, placing him opposite of Charlie, because it was getting hard not to smell her natural scent, which was recalling memories he had not thought of in recent times. Jack turned and the man approached. She held out her hand, "I'm Jack Dyllan. This is Max Morrison. We're-"

"The lovely couple?" the official drawled, his voice dry and uninterested.

Jack paused, looking at him. "This is going to be loads of fun, isn't it?"

((Warning, I will be sort of shooting the dark for court proceedings because I don't know how courtroom marriages go and I only have so much time for research. Just a head's up. XD))

While Jack scowled at the official, Max adopted a deer in the headlights look, only intensified by the glasses the still sat on his nose. Remembering they were there, he pulled them off and slid them into his pocket - if he didn't have to read any small print during the ceremony he wouldn't be needing them. Somehow the drawling, dry voice off the official was both fitting and terrifying, bringing Max even closer to truly processing what was about to happen. How long had it been since Gabby had pulled him out of work. Certainly less than an hour. Probably less than a half-hour. His life had never changed quite so suddenly before.

So instead of correcting the official or responding to Jack, Max just nodded. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous about this wedding. It barely qualified as one but the arrival of his sisters made the fake ceremony just a little bit too real. He wanted to be done and back at the house, continuing on with their lives as if nothing had happened. He wasn't nervous about Jack - he stood by his word that he had known what he was doing when he proposed - he was just having a harder time getting over the other's expectations.

Gabby sitting there across from them in that infuriatingly formal suit was enough of an example.

- - -

It was odd, this whole wedding business.

Oh one hand, they already acted like an old married couple, but on the other, Charlie wasn't sure the bickering would improve if they added a ring to the equation. The relationship between the two adults seemed highly childish to her, especially when compared the the majority of classmates who had been pressed into adulthood before their time with the passing of the same law. Looking back, even she had handled the news of her match better than her cousin, attending the meeting in her normal clothes.

As the official began talking to the 'lovely couple', Charlie glanced around at the small gathering of family and friends who had ended showing up. The Dyllans, who she had so abruptly been made acquainted with on Christmas, were no where to be found and she could not fake her disappointment in this matter. Blood or no blood, Jack was the only one who had shown any true kindness or loyalty. She respected her cousin enough not to make any fuss within the rest of the family but at the same time she was not eager to be attending reunions or Sunday brunches together.

It hurt slightly to have Melly sitting beside her in full Hogwarts garb. Locked away in the greenhouse at Layabout, Charlie had effectively been able to pretend that she was on an extended Holiday break rather than acknowledging the decrees regarding half-breeds. Her last two years at Hogwarts were being stolen right out from under her nose, leaving her to rot at home with the sole purpose in life of keeping her plants from rotting.

For probably the third or forth time, Charlie's eye caught on Gabby. She had met the man briefly on Christmas but had been so overwhelmed by finally meeting every blood relative that she had hoped never to know that she had retreated to Max's greenhouse not long after his arrival. Every once in awhile she had caught him giving her a fleeting look, though it did not feel quite so pitiful or lustful as she had so often glanced at Baird. It was a weird sensation that prickled on the back of her neck and eventually she forced herself to focus on the 'bride' and 'groom', chalking it all up to paranoia and imagination.