Time has a very strange way of behaving when you know your life is about to change forever. The weeks of preparations, floral arrangements, dress rehearsals, and rigorous security checks flew by at a dizzying pace.
Suddenly, the day had arrived. Today was his wedding day.
To the young man's own surprise—he who had faced everything life had thrown at him without batting an eye—Aurelian Gaunt was very nervous this morning. Very, very nervous.
As he opened his eyes and stretched an arm out over the sheets, he realized the bed was unusually cold. Hestia and Flora were no longer by his side. He sat up abruptly, frowning, until he noticed an elegantly folded scroll resting on the pillow next to him.
Aurelian picked it up and unfolded it. In Flora's impeccable handwriting, a short and direct message read:
"It's bad luck to see your brides before the ceremony, my love. Today, you'll only be able to see us when we meet at the altar. Don't be late. We love you."
Aurelian let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. He smiled tenderly at the note, got out of bed, and changed into casual clothes. If he wasn't going to be able to see his future wives all morning, he'd need something to calm his nerves. He decided it was an excellent time to go out for a drink and celebrate his last hours of "bachelorhood."
Two hours later, the bell at the Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade rang out loudly.
As he entered the noisy but cozy pub, Aurelian quickly spotted his target. At one of the larger tables in the corner, his friends—Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Cedric Diggory, and Neville Longbottom—were already waiting for him.
No sooner had Aurelian taken a seat than Fred and George slipped up behind him and quickly gave him a couple of hard slaps on the back that nearly knocked the wind out of him.
"Here's to a happy and sweet married life, future family man!" exclaimed Fred with a teasing smile.
"Our condolences on the loss of what little freedom you had left!" added George, laughing heartily.
Across from them, Cedric Diggory raised his glass enthusiastically, laughing at the twins' jokes, while Neville gave him a calm smile, taking a sip of his drink before also congratulating him on the big step he was about to take.
When the waitress approached the table, Aurelian didn't hesitate. He ordered the strongest drink they could serve him.
Cedric paused with his glass in the air and raised an eyebrow, looking at him with obvious surprise.
"Are you sure about that, Aurelian? You're getting married in a few hours."
Aurelian settled back in his chair and gave him a broad smile.
"You only get married once, Mr. Diggory. You've got to seize the moment."
And that's exactly what they did. Amid anecdotes, Weasley jokes, and memories of their days at Hogwarts, the four young people downed round after round, getting slightly tipsy. The atmosphere was comfortable and relaxed. Neville, who had remained the voice of reason in the group, watched them with amusement. On a couple of occasions, the Gryffindor boy tried to reach for a sip from the bottle of hard liquor they'd ordered, but immediately one of the twins or Cedric would gently push his hand away, forcing him to settle for drinking only his harmless butterbeer.
After a while of laughter, Aurelian's vision began to grow slightly blurry. The alcohol was already starting to wreak havoc on his system, and a red warning light flashed in his mind.
He stopped right there. He set his glass upside down on the table.
He'd just wanted to have a few drinks with his friends to calm his wedding jitters—he didn't want to stumble down the aisle, slurring his words or not knowing who he was. Hestia and Flora would never forgive him; in fact, if they saw him arrive in that state, their minds would start overthinking the situation, reaching the fateful conclusion that he'd gotten drunk to drown his sorrows because he didn't want to get married—or worse yet, that he'd been partying with other women. He definitely didn't want to deal with that on his wedding day.
Seeing the state the group was in, Neville let out a long sigh, realizing that it was up to him to be the hero of the day.
The loyal friend and fellow Gryffindor took it upon himself to help the bride and groom and the guests get home safe and sound. The first stop was Cedric's house; the former Hufflepuff captain could barely stand, so Neville carefully propped him up with his face against the front door and rang the doorbell so his father or mother would come out to pick him up.
Then they headed to The Burrow. Fred and George had a surprisingly high tolerance for alcohol, so they arrived in relatively good shape, saying their goodbyes amid laughter.
Finally, only Neville and Aurelian remained.
"I really appreciate this, Neville," Aurelian said, his speech slightly slurred, leaning against a stone wall near the spot where they had appeared.
Neville looked him up and down skeptically.
"Are you sure you can make it back to your mansion on your own, Aurelian? You look a little... dizzy."
Aurelian nodded with the dignity and pride befitting a lord, straightening his back to demonstrate his perfect control of the situation.
"Of course I am. I'm in perfect condi—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Aurelian took a step forward and then backward, tripping over his own feet and falling face-first directly into a huge puddle of muddy water.
There was a silence.
Neville watched the embarrassing scene of Hogwarts' most feared wizard lying face-down in the mud. Not wanting to make any comments that might further hurt his pride, Neville simply took a step back.
"Well… See you at the wedding, Aurelian," Neville said nervously, and vanished with a soft pop.
Aurelian remained lying there, cursing in Parseltongue. Fortunately, a second later, a click was heard. His house-elf, Stinky, appeared beside the puddle, letting out a scream of horror at the sight of his master in that state.
With great difficulty, Stinky was the one who helped him return to the safety of Gaunt Manor. After being forced to drink a sobering potion that tasted like troll bile and liters of water, Aurelian's mind began to slowly return to normal.
Shaking the fog of alcohol from his brain, he looked at himself in the large mirror in his room. The prank was over. Now, it was time to get ready for the most important day of his life.
Hestia and Flora were staring intently at a full-length mirror, scrutinizing every tiny detail of their reflections as they finished getting ready. Their dresses were exactly as they had planned.
Behind them, sitting somewhat awkwardly in the room's armchairs, were three girls from some of Britain's oldest and most pure-blooded families: Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode, and Pansy Parkinson.
To be honest, Hestia and Flora didn't want them there at all. In their ideal world, the room would have been empty so they could think solely and exclusively of Aurelian. But both their father and mother had insisted—or rather, forced—them to have bridesmaids to keep up appearances among the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Without giving it much thought, they had chosen those three girls, since they were the ones they spent the most time with in the Slytherin common room.
Pansy watched them for a moment through the mirror's reflection, a sincere smile playing on her lips.
"You all look truly beautiful today," Pansy told them.
Hestia and Flora, without taking their eyes off the mirror as they adjusted their hair, thanked her for the compliment with a cool but polite courtesy.
Daphne, who was nervously fiddling with a fold in her own dress, tilted her head.
"Hey… no offense, but… doesn't it seem a little weird to you? You know, the fact that you're both getting married to the same man."
The twins turned slowly. They didn't look offended, but rather as if Daphne had just asked the stupidest question in the world.
"Not at all," Hestia replied matter-of-factly. "From the very first moment we saw him, he completely stole our hearts."
"Besides," Flora added with a shrug, "we're twins. We've always shared everything and liked exactly the same things. Aurelian is no exception; he's ours. Both of us."
From her corner, Millicent Bulstrode let out a sigh.
"You're incredibly lucky," Millicent murmured, looking down at her hands. "To have someone who loves you like that—just as Aurelian loves you both… it's a wonderful thing. Something like that will probably never happen to me."
Hearing the defeated tone in their friend's voice, Pansy and Daphne immediately stood up and went to hug Millicent, trying to lift her spirits.
Hestia and Flora exchanged a glance. They stepped away from the mirror and approached the three girls.
"Why do you think that?" the twins asked her at the same time.
Millicent shrugged listlessly, letting Daphne and Pansy embrace her.
"Look at me..." she said softly. "What boy would want to be with someone like me? I'm not elegant, I'm not beautiful... I'm not like you."
To the surprise of the three girls, Hestia and Flora sat down beside her on the sofa. They gave them a strangely gentle smile.
"You know, we weren't always the way we are now," Hestia began, staring into space as memories surfaced. "As children, long before we entered Hogwarts, our own family detested us."
"They didn't love us," Flora continued, her voice taking on a colder tone. "We were constantly pushed aside at family gatherings. To the noble Carrow family, our connection and our way of being were seen as an abomination, as a flaw."
Daphne, Pansy, and Millicent fell silent, listening intently. They had never heard the Carrow sisters talk about their past.
"If I remember correctly, we were about ten years old," Flora recounted, closing her eyes for a second. "We were walking down Diagon Alley. Our Aunt Alecto flew into a rage over some trifle and started yelling at us right in the middle of the street in front of everyone. We were so scared that we ran off without looking where we were going… and ended up lost deep inside Knockturn Alley."
Hestia took her sister's hand and squeezed it.
"It was dark, and we were terrified. Suddenly, some horrible men cornered us. They were about to kidnap us. Then… a boy appeared. All by himself—and barely a child—he defeated those despicable creatures and saved our lives."
Millicent's eyes widened, her curiosity getting the better of her sadness.
"Was that person… Aurelian?" she asked in a whisper.
The two nodded, broad smiles lighting up their faces.
"Yes. He was the first person—besides our mother and, sometimes, our father—who truly smiled at us," explained Hestia, her voice trembling slightly. "He didn't look at us with disgust or fear. He helped us to our feet, cleaned us up, and gave us some candy before a Portkey our father had given us took us back to Carrow Manor."
"When we entered Hogwarts a year later, we recognized him instantly at the Sorting Ceremony," Flora concluded, sighing dreamily. "We found out his name. And from that day on, we both decided that he would be the man we would love and follow forever."
The atmosphere in the room grew warm. Daphne and Pansy smiled, moved by the story, and Millicent seemed to be processing the words, feeling that perhaps fate had a magical encounter in store for her as well.
Just then, three soft knocks sounded at the door.
"My girls, it's time to go," Selene Carrow's voice announced from the other side. "The ceremony will begin soon; everyone is waiting."
At the sound of their mother's voice, the warm atmosphere vanished instantly. Hestia and Flora jumped to their feet, smoothed out their dresses, and immediately regained their composure.
Pansy watched them blink a couple of times, a little confused by the sudden change in attitude.
"Hey… that was a beautiful story, really, but…" Pansy frowned, looking at her friend. "Exactly how is that supposed to help Millicent feel better about herself?"
Hestia and Flora paused with their hands on the doorknob. They turned their heads over their shoulders and looked at her in bewilderment.
"Help Millicent?" asked Hestia, raising an eyebrow.
"Probably not at all," Flora replied matter-of-factly. "We just wanted to talk about how we met our beloved Aurelian. We like to reminisce about him."
And without saying another word, they both opened the door and stepped out into the hallway to go get married, leaving Daphne, Pansy, and Millicent sitting on the sofa, speechless and gaping at the self-centered and ruthless honesty of the Carrow sisters.
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