The Brightest Sun

Chapter 25

Elia was keenly aware of the fact that Harry’s eyes had barely left her. Something she knew the others at the wedding were increasingly becoming aware of.

Oh, he played his role perfectly, stood beside Neville in pressed grey dress robes, handing over the rings he held as a witness to their handfasting. Yet, every so often, his eyes would flick to where she sat next to Griselda.

“Well,” the woman muttered, hands tightening on her cane. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a Potter stare after a woman like that.”

Admirably, Elia managed not to flush at the insinuations the old crone was making. “We’re at a wedding,” Elia hissed lowly, smile fixed on her face.

“Not the right one, I should think. How you managed to hold him off for so long is nothing short of miraculous, but I fear that dress will have ruined all your efforts.”

Swallowing her retort, she ignored the satisfied smirk Griselda sent her. This was the last time she listened to Dorea’s portrait. Wear yellow, she had said. The colour looks so lovely during the summer.

Madam Twilfitt had been delighted at making another gown for Elia – even more so when she realized it would be worn to the Longbottom-Abbot wedding – and she had designed it to mimic the styles that had been popular in Dorne before her marriage. A loose skirt with a small slit, a deep neckline that was stitched close together, the arms left bare.

The only jewellery Elia wore were the ones Dorea had gifted her and gold arm bangles, the only thing she had with her of home. It had been her mother’s, thin with the visage of a snake wrapped around a curling spear.

Grudgingly, she acknowledged that the older Potter knew good fashion, but Elia knew of the other outcome the woman had been angling for.

She certainly will be delighted to hear it worked so well, she thought.

The ceremony had gone off without a hitch; even the normally stern Augusta Longbottom had softened at the sight of her grandson marrying the woman he loved.

Neville and Hannah were beaming, lost in each other’s gaze as the attendants stood to begin the reception.

Feeling the eyes turning to her, she knew Harry was weaving his way closer. ”Don’t you have duties to attend to?” she lightly asked.

“And leave my date unattended?” he questioned, a husky note in his tone.

Glancing at his face, Elia swallowed at the sight of darkening green eyes. Cursing Griselda in her head – and Dorea for good measure – she ignored the slight flutter in her stomach.

“A terrible position to be put in,” she stated.

“Utterly unacceptable,” he agreed, steering them away from the chattering women to a table close to the front. Thankfully, Hannah and Neville had a small head table for the two of them, and the rest of the bridal party sat with their respective families. That Narcissa had offered to watch the children meant they did not have to worry about potential disaster from those three.

They sat next to Griselda, Elia pointedly ignoring the looks the woman sent the pair of them, and were surrounded by a few of Neville’s relatives.

“Stop glowering at them,” she told him, a plate of seared chicken popping into place before her.

“I’m not glowering,” Harry muttered. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Elia saw his old dorm mate flush as she caught him sending a wink at Harry.

“You’re the best man, and you have a speech to give soon,” she reminded him.

At her words, she saw the flash of delight in his eyes. Poor Neville was going to regret picking Harry to give that particular speech, she knew.