The War left many grieving, those who would never get the chance to tell their loved ones that they loved them one last time. Iris Brown was one of them, her twin sister ripped away from her at just 18, she never got the chance to do the things with...
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If there was one thing that Iris almost seemed to forget but would always be harshly reminded about was the time limit on the law of which was forcing many of her peers into marriage. Sure she had been one of the lucky ones who had managed to work through any problems that had occurred and come out successful, yet there were many who were at the other end of the spectrum. But there was one thing they all had in common, and that was that by the end of October they would be wed, whether it was a happy marriage or not. That was if they did not desire to spend the next, however many years the ministry felt apt, sitting in prison surrounded by actual criminals who had committed heinous crimes.
Today would be one of those days of which reminded Iris just how little time they had to get around to the actual marriage. For today would be the day that Iris, Padma and Lisa would be going shopping for Bridesmaids dresses. It was a strange thought, Iris never saw Lisa to marry at all yet alone to be the first out of their close friendship group to do so. But her and Hector seemed to be much more planned regarding their wedding than any of the others. Padma had started Iris knew that, she was unsure how far into the planning Padma was but she had started. That could not be said for Iris herself.
After the rather impromptu proposal, Iris and George had yet to make any grounds to planning their own wedding. It was a lot of work, Iris had seen just how much work her friends were having to put in and she was not looking forward to it. She was avoiding it, despite knowing how tight the timing was in terms of how long they had. The pair had not really discussed much either. George had been adamant that he would be happy with whatever Iris wanted, he wanted her to be happy as the main priority. But Iris had no clue what she wanted. She had never seen herself getting married so young. She was yet to turn 20, and in her own mind when she was younger her brain had informed her she would marry in her mid twenties.
Whereas, Lavender had always dreamt of getting married. She had even told her older sister that she wanted to marry young, that she saw some beauty in marrying slightly younger. And Iris had supported her sister's wishes. And she knew if things had been different and Lavender had survived the battle that her sister would have probably been one of the few people truly happy that the law had come into place. After all, she would have gotten her wishes.
And it was not like Iris did not want to marry George. The thought of being his wife, was more than something that sounded good to her. It sounded right to be called his wife. After all she had said yes to his unconventional but probably most natural proposal. She liked the idea of having the wedding, she was just clueless as to what she wanted. And she was certain that she did not have enough time to plan everything out before they would both be whisked away to prison.
But she decided it would be best to put those thoughts aside, focus on the now. The now; which consisted of the three women, Lisa's mother and sister and Hector's sister were currently stood outside the second shop which specialised in bridesmaid dresses they had been to that morning. The group had met at 9am, much to Iris' surprise, and the first shop had been a bit of a blow. Lisa seemed to have an idea of the kind of style she wanted for her bridesmaids, the four of them and her sister who was maid of honour. And the first shop did not have what Lisa was picturing in her head, but that had not stopped them trying on different dresses for a good three hours before calling it quits and heading to the next stop. The only real concept they had been told by Lisa they would be getting would be long, floor length or maxi styled, and in a deep tone of purple the chosen colour for the wedding. Well the colours were purple and silver which were a pretty combination Iris would give her that.
But as the day dragged on and Iris continued to try on more and more long purple dresses she started to realise just how much work she was going to have to put into her own wedding. And just how much she was not going to enjoy it. Lisa seemed to be having a really good time as she watched her small group of close friends and family try on dress after dress after dress. And Iris had to admit it was not completely terrible, she was having a semi-decent time. She had after all, not been completely against dress shopping, she had quite enjoyed it the last few times she had gone. But as the day drew on and they were no closer to finding anything, Iris had really started to see for herself that the whole wedding thing all the preparation, all the intense planning beforehand. Was not something she wanted to particularly do for herself. She would want to avoid it as much as she can.
So as Lisa was once again back out looking through the rails of dresses for something she thought could work for her group of bridesmaids Iris turned to Padma who was stood beside her. The two also 'looking' through the rails though both girls had at this point given up on finding anything that would essentially be even close enough to what their friend had imagined in her own head. And therefore, they were doing everything they could to appear interested but not at the same time.
"Do you think for the law to be upheld we have to do the big wedding with all the guests?" Iris finally mentioned the thing that had been on her mind the entire day of which she had been forced to try on dress after dress.
"I assume that as long as they can see a marriage certificate and the proper wizarding ceremony is complete that it's not essential. After all they are not forcing you to invite a member of the ministry to attend. Why?" Padma thought on her answer before giving it.
"Time feels tight. I mean what happens if we can't find a dress today for Lisa's wedding? And with the shop, the pub and trying to get to everyone else's short last minute weddings there feels like there's no time." Iris mused.
"Perhaps you need to seek some clarification but I'm sure as long as you have the correct certificate handed in that it will not be wrong. Do you not want the big wedding?" Padma tried to not sound judgemental, but she did just a little bit. She was sure there was one part of her that had always thought that was the way they would all end up eventually.
"I don't know what I want. I want to spend the rest of my life with George that I do know. But the big wedding, that I'm not sure on. Plus there would be all the dealings with his family and I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for all of that." Iris paused before she continued "But then there's a part of me that knows that the big wedding needs to be done for them, for both of them. After all both of us have to really pull of a wedding for not two but four people."
"Get some advice on what you need to show the ministry. Have something small and tiny for now if you can and then plan the big ceremony. You don't need to overly pressure yourselves for this Iris. I know, we all know, that she is there watching you so proud of how far you've come and how you've always kept her at the forefront." And with tears in both of their eyes the pair returned to looking through the racks hoping and praying that they would leave the shop today with the correct dress.
