Loverboy

His loss, I suppose.

The Huxleys sat on a couch in the spacious living room, with the Satos perched beside them, and they weren't socializing with the rest of the guests, but Echo was engaged in a conversation with her parents while her husband looked around, disinterested. But then, Ollie strolled into the room, which was full of people chattering in little clumps, with Pierre trailing behind her. They made a beeline for the couch, sitting beside Mrs Sato.

"Hey Mum, Dad, Echo," Ollie said brightly. "I want you guys to meet my boyfriend."

Pierre wrapped an arm around Ollie's shoulder and reached his other hand out to shake her father's. "Pierre Laurent, sir. I met Olivia at Andromeda's wedding, but I don't think I got a chance to meet you two."

"Oh, I think I saw you together," Mrs Sato said, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Don't you remember the boy she was dancing with, dear?"

"I remember," Mr Sato said, finally releasing the firm shake he'd caught Pierre's hand in. "You treat her well?" he asked sternly.

"I certainly try to," Pierre said with a coy smile. "She's an angel."

Ollie caught Echo's eye, and her sister gave an approving nod. Solaris hadn't even turned to face his sister in law.

"You seem like a lovely young man," Mrs Sato said. "I didn't even know Olivia was dating anyone at all."

Ollie smiled. "I didn't want to ruin the surprise," she said. "But I knew you'd like him."

"Ollie," Echo cut in. "Do you know where James put those presents we brought?"

"Oh, erm, I think he put them under the tree in the corner," Ollie replied. "Why?"

"We won't be staying for long after the dinner, so we wanted to give them now," Echo said. "It's such a long drive to London and, well, we're not Apparating right now."

Finally, Solaris's attention was brought to his wife and in-laws. He whispered something in Echo's ear, and she nodded. He rolled his eyes and Echo's kind smile faltered for a moment.

Just then, Mrs Potter shot silver sparks into the sky, and everyone turned to where she was standing in the center of the room. "Come to the dining room, dinner is ready!" she called.

- - -

The table was set with three large roasts, and platters covered with vegetables and potatoes. Ollie's parents managed to sit together, but in the mess of people trying to find seats with their friends, Ollie and Pierre ended up beside Lily on one side and Mr Potter on the other. Echo had somehow gotten sandwiched between Sirius and one of the Potters' rich friends, and her husband was somewhere in the midst of a crowd of women twice his age.

"Hey, you two," Lily said to Ollie and Pierre as she piled food onto her plate. "How's your Christmas been?"

"I've been here with the Potters and the usual troupe," Ollie said.

"It's been alright, staying with my parents," Pierre replied. "Although I have been stuck staying with my parents."

Lily nodded. "Yeah, my sister has been a nightmare. She's spent almost all the time I've been home at her new boyfriend's house."

"Oh? Who's Petunia's boyfriend?" Ollie asked, as if there was even a chance she could know him.

Lily frowned. "He's this completely obnoxious guy, Vernon Dursley. I met him once, when he came by to pick her up. He was so rude, I don't know what she sees in him."

"Maybe he's different with her," Pierre offered. "Or maybe your sister doesn't have good taste in men. You never know."

"What about your boyfriend?" Ollie asked Lily. "Have you seen him since the train ride home?"

Lily let out a heavy sigh and looked down at her plate. "He dumped me at King's Cross, can you believe it? He said that I was too smart for a girl."

"What?" Pierre said. "That's a ridiculous reason."

"Is he completely mad?" Ollie added, aghast. "You're an absolute catch, Lily."

"I mean, we didn't even talk about much, but I really did like him," Lily said. "Oh, well. His loss, I suppose."

- - -

Echo and Sirius always got along quite well. All of Ollie's little friends were like Echo's surrogate siblings. Which was lucky, since she always ended up being responsible for keeping them in line at events she attended with her sister.

"So, how's your loser husband?" Sirius asked her, wiping his mouth.

"Don't call my husband a loser," Echo laughed. "He's alright. He recently got a job in the Ministry, actually. Something to do with banking regulations. I don't know, he seems content with it."

Sirius nodded. "And what about you?"

"Oh, I've been working in a Muggle office for a few months now." Echo took a long sip of her water. "It's temporary, but it's nice to have some cushion to work from, you know."

"Echo." Sirius frowned. "I didn't mean your job."

"Oh," she said. "I'm fine, I guess. We thought about getting a dog, but we're going to wait until-" she paused, as if catching herself revealing a secret, then swallowed and continued- "things settle down."

"Do you regret marrying him when you were so young?" Sirius asked abruptly. "I mean you guys have been married since you were, what, nineteen? Twenty?"

Echo finally turned to face Sirius head on. Her eyes carried a certain sadness that hid behind dark hazel-brown, and they were swollen like she'd cried in the car. She was young, not even 28, but the line between her brows and the tired circles around her eyes suggested she was an old, old woman.

"Marriage is a lot of work," she said. "I love Solaris, really, but it's hard sometimes. I don't regret marrying him at all."

"No, I know that, but I mean..." Sirius looked away from Echo. "Do you wish you'd waited longer? Didn't you guys fall in love when you were still kids?"

"We were fifteen, and sometimes I wonder what life would be like if we had done things differently," Echo said slowly. "But he's all I've ever known. I don't regret anything. About marrying him, I mean."

Sirius could tell she was lying. There was something in her voice shaking as she insisted she was happy, or maybe it was in the way she looked at her plate, barely touched, or maybe it was in her furrowed brow, or her slight frown. But something told Sirius that there was something going on, something Echo wouldn't let on, couldn't tell him.

"But if you love someone, that work is worth it," she added. "You can't run away from hardships like that. If what you have is real, you can't hide from it. You have to fix it, you can't make things worse."

Or maybe it was something in how it seemed like she was trying to convince herself she was happy.

—-

this one was a doozy bro

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