7 YEARS LATER

In the direct aftermath of the war that took place in my seventh year, I came to understand just how important family was and I made every conscious effort to spend more time with them. And, since Justin was now essentially tied to me for everything, he was along for the ride. It had taken him by surprise, how close I was to my extended family and of course, we compromised by making sure that in return, I did the same for his family. In some regards, it was harder for me to adapt to the muggle culture than it was for him to fit into my family. As a pureblood I'd had very little exposure to their world whilst Justin had been introduced to wizarding world years ago.

A testament to how seamlessly he fit into the metric of my family was that even today, at my aunt's house, he was easily conversing with everyone. My mother and her sister had vowed not to be the only ones in the kitchen today and so had managed to rope other people into helping. Poor Zacharias was already there, working on making meatballs in the muggle way that was apparently so extremely taxing.

"Hey!" Zacharias protested, coming out into the living room where I was sitting on the sofa. He gestured for me to rise to my feet, and if his hands hadn't been dirty, he certainly would have used them to haul me up from my seat. "Come into the kitchen and help."

"Your mum told me to relax," I said with a smile, knowing that it would annoy him.

"And I'm telling you to come and help me make the meatballs," he snapped his fingers, pointing towards me and gestured in the vague direction of the kitchen.

With a sigh, I rose to my feet when it became obvious that Zacharias wasn't going to leave me alone. He didn't even bat an eyelid at the scowl I shot him, and gestured for me to follow after him. Coming into the kitchen, I looked around at the sheer number of people and mentally prepared to overheat. Zach, likely knowing that I was going to try to duck out, pointed silently towards the sink and I prepared to wash my hands.

Making my way cautiously through the kitchen, I did my best not to bump into anyone and finally made it to the front of the sink. But before I could reach out to turn on the tap, my aunt was there to take my hand in hers. She held them away from the tap, looking at me with disapprovement.

"What are you doing in the kitchen?" she exclaimed gently, linking my arm through hers and moving to escort me out of the room.

"I was coming to help you cook," I protested with a smile that I struggled to hide.

"Why?"

"Because Zacharias wanted some help."

Zacharias, knowing that I had thrown him under the bus, turned towards me with accusatory eyes. And his mother, bless her, was glaring daggers at her son who cowered under her gaze.

"You really don't have to do that," she assured me, brushing a hand over the swell of my stomach. "You need to get off your feet."

With a forced hesitant smile, I let my aunt escort me out of the room but only after sticking my tongue out at my cousin. After helping me into the dining room, my aunt pulled a chair out from under the table and gestured for me to take a seat. She disappeared back into the kitchen and only then did I turn my eyes onto my boyfriend who had also been put to work by being made to set the table.

"Having fun?" I teased, leaning back in my chair and draping my arms over my stomach.

"I'd rather be doing this than standing under your dad's glare," he confessed, moving around the long table and placing plates as he went.

"My dad's glare?" I frowned, my eyes followed him as he moved, "What's happening?"

Putting the final plate down, he sighed and looked exasperatedly towards me, "When exactly do you plan on agreeing to marry me? Your father keeps glaring at me because I had the nerve to get you pregnant without putting a ring on your finger."

I sighed, moving to stand to face him. But when I struggled a little, Justin was there to ease me up. "I thought we decided that we didn't need to marry now?"

"No, you decided that." He frowned as he scoffed, "How am I, the muggleborn, more conservative than you, the pureblood?"

Simply laughing in response, I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "This isn't something you need to be so worried about."

"I disagree." He rolled his eyes before confessing, "Even my father is planning to kill me because he thinks I'm not proposing. He hasn't even considered that you're just not saying yes to me."

"Well what can I say?" I shrugged, moving around him so I could grab the stack of napkins piled in the middle of the table. "Your father loves me."

"He does," he whined, "so please help your boyfriend out a little?"

"I'll talk to him – them. I'll talk to the both of them for you." When Justin turned to roll his eyes at me, I sighed and patted his cheek. "Tell you what, I'll say yes the next time you propose."

His hand moved inconspicuously to his trouser pockets. "Really?"

"But," I hastened to add, pointing a finger warningly towards him, "you can't do it tonight. If you even think of doing it in a public place where there's any more than two people around, I will say no. And depending on whether or not your son is using my bladder as a drum set, I might show you why Zach is scared of my stinging hex."

"Understood," he promised, dropping a kiss to the top of my head and snagging the napkins from my hand.

I watched him place the napkins on the table for a moment longer before making my way back to my chair. Part of me wanted to beat Justin to the punch by proposing to him – even if only to see his reaction. But if I ever did do that, he would no doubt give me the silent treatment for who knows how long.