The Marriage Decree

Chapter 100: A Pretty Birdy

Richard spent the afternoon tea retelling the story of how he fell off his bike and down the side of the path.

"I must have fallen ten metres," He explains.

Draco whispered, "It was more like three," into Hermione's ear.

"And then Draco comes rushing down the side of the hill, skidding to a stop beside me. He doesn't ask if I'm alright, or anything, but starts like scanning my body with his hand, and I feel this wave of calming warmth coming from inside my body until he reaches my leg and it's excruciating, I almost pass out. Anyway, this guy just says "It's broken", and squeezes my leg. I was ready to start throwing punches, but he starts whispering something, and that calming warmth starts the spread down my leg too. At first, I thought I'd peed myself, but then Draco tells me to stand up 'cause it's fixed." Richard says in awe. "Honestly, it was the craziest experience of my life. This one was yelling at him to stop," He gestures to Neville, who looks sheepishly down at his cake, "but Ryan and Al were holding him back. Good thing too, I don't know how we would have gotten back to the house with my broken leg." He finishes his story.

"I told you not to injure yourself, Richie," Arania tells him, her head resting against his shoulder.

That afternoon, Hyperion and Sarah agreed to babysit the children and babies whilst the adults went canoeing in Buttermere lake. They were given a quick tutorial on how to paddle and then each couple was given a two-person canoe and set off. Alarte wasn't too excited to have to share his canoe with his eldest sister, Avis, but once in the lake, they were by far the fastest and were gone behind a line of trees before Draco and Hermione could figure out a rhythm. Of course, the rest of the family did this every year and had the experience, whereas neither Hermione nor Draco had ever canoed before.

Still, they enjoyed themselves at a leisurely pace, taking in the views of the surrounding mountains and trees. They chatted about their upcoming weeks, mainly practice exam season, which was steadily approaching. They had a month to get their students as prepared as possible, so they knew what to focus on for the actual exams for the six weeks after. They broached the topic of the next Ministry Dinner they would have to attend, the first-anniversary dinner, but didn't linger too long. Hermione, at one point, asked what Draco would like to do for his upcoming birthday since he would be turning twenty, but with it being a weekday and they would have work, he didn't want to do anything special. It didn't matter what Draco wanted; she would arrange something special for her husband with their friends. She wanted him to realise just how much they appreciated him, and when better than his birthday.

The canoeing had lasted them three hours, although halfway through, they had stopped paddling and just enjoyed the environment as they floated aimlessly around the lake. Back on dry land, they found Hyperion had ordered them all pizza, which was ready on the table when they arrived back at the house. The large group sat in the living room of the house, surrounding the lit fireplace, chatting about anything and everything, telling jokes and stories about each other in a genuinely familial way. By ten o'clock, they had all gone their separate ways to bed since Hyperion had planned an eight-kilometre walk for the next day.

They all met in the driveway at ten o'clock the next morning, dressed in hiking gear, ready for their long walk. According to Hyperion, the trail was mostly flat, with a few slight inclines, so Sarah would be joining them in her wheelchair, which he would be pushing. Sarah looked content enough, sat in her wheelchair wrapped in a thick coat, hat, scarf and gloves, with a blanket over her legs. Hyperion led the way and Hermione, Draco and Alarte, all being around the same age, followed behind, engaged in conversation. Behind them were Neville, Richard and Abe, all three with their babies in carriers, strapped to their chest. Then, bringing up the back were Carol, Arania, Danielle and Avis with Carol's two daughters.