Guests trickled in until the courtyard held roughly thirty. They settled into chairs, voices low, the air warm with anticipation.
Ted's parents sat in the front row. His mother was still fussing with her skirt. His father held her hand and murmured something meant to calm her nerves.
A cluster of Ted's Muggle friends occupied the back rows, trading jokes under their breath. The young witches and wizards sat off to the side, in the corners.
Regulus watched their faces.
They were smiling, clapping and offering every outward sign of celebration. But underneath, in the quiet of their eyes, there was something heavier. A kind of solemn courage.
Their presence here was itself a declaration.
Every one of them knew what the House of Black was. Knew what Andromeda had walked away from. Knew how much uncertainty hid behind this happiness.
They'd come anyway. They smiled anyway.
Regulus looked away.
A gramophone began to play. Something slow and gentle.
The melody tugged at him. He'd heard it somewhere before, but the memory wouldn't surface.
Everyone rose and turned toward the house. Andromeda appeared at the top of the staircase.
Sunlight poured through the window behind her and lit the gown until it glowed. White silk, lace veil, a bouquet of white flowers cradled in her hands.
She stood there and looked down at all of them.
Ted's parents, nervous and hopeful. Ted's friends, waving and grinning. The young witches and wizards with reddened eyes. Every familiar face turned upward, watching her.
Her gaze swept the crowd and came to rest on Regulus, standing in the spot where her father should have been.
Instead, there was a twelve-year-old boy. Her cousin.
Andromeda smiled. She descended, and Regulus moved to the foot of the stairs, offering his arm.
She took it. Her hand trembled, and her grip was fierce, as though he might vanish if she loosened it.
He felt that strength and said nothing. He walked her forward. A dozen steps, no more, but they stretched like miles.
The music had stopped. No one spoke. Every eye followed them.
Regulus caught glimpses in his periphery. Ted's mother pressing a hand to her face. The young wizards with tight, bright expressions. The Muggles smiling with unguarded sincerity.
No one questioned the boy escorting the bride. No one wondered who he was. They simply watched her pass.
At the end of the aisle, Ted stood waiting. His eyes shone.
Regulus placed Andromeda's hand into his.
He looked at Ted. His voice was quiet but clear. "She's yours now."
Ted nodded hard. "Thank you."
Andromeda looked between the two of them, eyes brimming.
The officiant was one of Ted's Muggle relatives. A heavyset middle-aged man in a white suit, a book open in his hands.
He cleared his throat and began.
Regulus stood to the side, listening, face impassive.
Then the vows.
Ted looked at Andromeda and drew a long breath.
"Andromeda, I don't care what anyone else says. The woman I know is the woman I'm marrying. Whatever comes next, we face it together."
Andromeda looked back at him, eyes red-rimmed.
"Ted, I gave up my family. I gave up my name. I gave up everything I was. But I never gave up you. Whatever happens from here, I'll be there."
Ted reached for her hand and held it. They looked at each other without speaking, and the air around them seemed to go still.
Regulus watched from the side.
Giving up family. Giving up a name. Was it worth it?
He looked at Andromeda's face, at that happiness she couldn't have contained if she'd wanted to.
Then at Ted's eyes. The certainty in them. The resolve.
Worth it or not, he thought. That's not mine to judge.
Another thought surfaced, unbidden.
Andromeda and Sirius were more alike than people realized.
Both rebels of the House of Black. Both had chosen paths that ran counter to everything the family stood for.
But the way they'd done it couldn't have been more different.
Sirius's rebellion was loud and defiant. He wanted the whole world to hear it. When he left home, he slammed the door behind him and shouted that he was never coming back.
Andromeda had slipped away in silence. No arguments. No dramatic rupture. She simply vanished, like a drop of water falling into the ocean, leaving no trace at all.
One thunderous, one quiet. But the choice was the same. Both had followed what mattered to them. Both had let go of what didn't deserve to be kept.
Maybe that was what the Blacks truly were. Not the portraits mounted on walls. Not the names etched into a family tree.
It was the ones who dared to leave. The ones who chose without flinching. The ones who, once decided, never looked back.
Regulus pulled himself from his thoughts. The ceremony had moved on. Rings.
Ted produced a pair of simple silver bands. No ornamentation.
He slipped one onto Andromeda's finger. His hand shook.
Andromeda slid the other onto his, steady as stone, smiling wide and sweet.
Applause broke across the courtyard.
Tradition called for well-wishes next. One by one, friends and family stepped forward, said a few words, and returned to their seats.
When it was Regulus's turn, he stood and walked to the couple.
Every eye found him. Ted's parents. The Muggle friends. The young wizards. None of them knew who he was, but all of them waited.
Regulus looked at Andromeda, then at Ted. "The House of Black has a motto. Toujours Pur."
Andromeda's expression shifted.
The young witches and wizards went rigid for a heartbeat, then recovered, faces smooth, as though they'd heard nothing at all.
"But that's not why I'm here today," Regulus said.
He looked at Andromeda. "Nothing is right, and nothing is wrong. You get to decide for yourself."
Her eyes went red. She sniffed hard.
Regulus turned to Ted. "The path you chose, I won't judge. But the man you chose..."
He glanced at Ted. "Seems alright to me."
Ted broke into a grin so wide it bordered on stupid.
Andromeda's tears were threatening to spill.
Regulus reached into his pocket and produced a small box. He held it out to Andromeda. "A wedding gift."
She took it and opened the lid. Inside lay a key. A Gringotts Paris vault key.
Identical to the one from last Christmas.
Andromeda froze. "Regulus..."
He met her eyes, tone easy. "Couldn't think of anything better. So, this."
A flicker of warmth in his gaze. "Married life goes smoother when the coffers aren't tight."
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.
He added, quieter, "Last time was for emergencies. This time is so you know someone remembers you."
Andromeda's fingers closed around the key. Her lips pressed together, words locked behind them.
Ted had seen the key too. He didn't know what it was. Muggle-borns didn't have vaults at Gringotts.
But Andromeda's reaction told him everything he needed to know. Something precious. Something significant.
He looked at her. Looked at Regulus. Said nothing.
The young wizards noticed the key, but the Confundus Charm did its work. They saw it and let it pass, incurious, unbothered.
Andromeda finally spoke, her voice unsteady. "Regulus, if you keep doing this... the family will find out."
He shook his head. "No one will know."
She looked at him, but he didn't elaborate.
Orion knew. But so what?
His father wouldn't care. Wouldn't intervene. The money wasn't being wasted.
The ceremony ended. No religious rites. No magical binding contract. Just two people standing before the people they loved, making promises.
Ted leaned down and kissed Andromeda. The crowd erupted. Clapping, cheering, someone whistling through their fingers.
Regulus stepped back and watched.
The gramophone switched tracks. Something bright and quick.
Next came the cake. Three tiers, white frosting, two tiny figures on top: one in a gown, one in a suit.
Ted and Andromeda cut it together, and another cheer went up.
The music changed again. A wedding march. Ted took Andromeda's hand and drew her onto the flagstones for their first dance.
Sunlight spilled across them. Her skirt swirled. His shoes tapped crisp against the stone.
The guests formed a loose circle, clapping, humming along, grinning at one another.
Regulus stood outside the ring, watching.
Halfway through, a cluster of girls pulled Andromeda away. Ted's Muggle friends, chattering about something indecipherable.
Ted stood alone for a moment, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked toward Regulus.
He offered a glass. Something orange, fizzy, unidentified.
Regulus took it. Didn't drink.
Ted stood beside him, looking out at the crowd. "Thank you for coming."
Regulus said nothing. He gazed in the same direction.
The warmth from his earlier blessing had faded. What remained was stillness. Something composed and faintly imposing.
He was twelve. He wasn't tall enough to loom over anyone. And yet there was a weight to his presence that had no business belonging to a boy his age.
Ted felt it. He hesitated, then pressed on. "I know what Andromeda gave up for me. I'll probably never be able to repay it."
He swallowed. "But I can promise I'll be good to her."
Regulus turned his head and looked at him. Nothing readable in his eyes. "You already said that. And it's between you and her. You don't need to say it to me."
Ted reached out, as if to clap him on the shoulder.
He met Regulus's gaze, and the hand paused midair, then dropped.
He gave Regulus a small smile, turned, and walked back toward the crowd.
Andromeda was already looking their way. When Ted reached her, they leaned together and exchanged a few words.
She glanced toward Regulus and smiled, bright and free.
Evening crept in. The wedding wound down. Andromeda found him.
He stood at the courtyard gate, looking out at the Luberon mountains in the distance.
She walked over and stood beside him.
Neither spoke. After a while, she asked, "When are you leaving?"
Regulus checked the sky. "Before dark."
A pause. "When you get back... the family..."
He knew what she was asking. "Don't worry about it."
She looked at him, eyes reddening again. "Regulus, take care of yourself over there."
He looked at her and smiled, just barely. "You too."
She reached out and ruffled his hair. He didn't dodge. He let her.
"You've grown," she said. "Faster than I thought."
The corner of his mouth twitched. "Growing up isn't optional."
Andromeda laughed, and the tears came with it.
Regulus pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it out.
She took it and dabbed her eyes.
She examined it, then looked at him. "Since when do you carry a handkerchief?"
He smiled. "Transfigured a leaf."
His gaze drifted to the sky. The sunset had turned the whole valley to gold.
"I should go."
Andromeda nodded.
Regulus looked at her. "Sister."
She looked back.
He thought for a moment. In the end, all he said was, "Be well."
Then he was gone.
Andromeda stood where he'd left her, staring at the empty space, for a very long time.
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