In The Fight To Survive (Golden Trio Era) {4}

Privacy Boundaries

Mikayla and Fred lead the guests to the ballroom, gasps of awe and compliments of design echoing through the room as people weave through the tables to their seats. The bridal party would be gone for about thirty minutes while they took hundreds of photographs around the Carra Estate grounds to be cherished for their lifetime together. The Guests made themselves busy, praising how beautiful the ceremony had been and how perfect the newlyweds were for each other. Most of the Order was present, only the school goers would miss out on the day's celebrations, and not one of them brought up the Order in conversation, a silent agreement shared amongst them all that there was to be no talk of the war or their work.

It took some getting used to for Mikayla, as she rarely socialised with the majority of the Order outside of meetings or missions. She found herself getting wrapped up in discussing cooking with Audrey Park, sharing recipes and their biggest baking fails. Fred pitches in for the latter as he tells Audrey how he accidentally caused a small fire when trying to make French toast for Mikayla a couple of months ago. Audrey was genuinely amazed and terrified how he had managed to do so, and told him that he should never enter another kitchen again, especially the beautiful one the Manor had making Mikayla snort out a laugh.

"Fred is quite brilliant making breakfast foods, he just was a little overzealous the day he was making the French toast, he had just moved in." Mikayla came to her boyfriend's defence once she stopped laughing, "I exclusively make breakfast everyday, together we make lunch, although I usually am only tasked with preparation tasks that require very little skill, and then Mikayla makes dinner and I do the dishes." Fred informed the recently turned twenty-two year-old woman. "Well that's ridiculously sweet. Valentine's Day is the worst when you're not seeing anyone, and you two are making me feel so very single now, so I'm going to go catch up with Brian." Audrey huffed before walking away to cross the room to join the Smirnovs who were talking to Bill and Fleur.

"I like her, I feel like we should make more of an effort to befriend the newbies, outside of stuffy meetings." Mikayla said to Fred, who hummed in agreement, making the blonde's eyebrows furrow. Mikayla followed Fred's gaze to Bastien and Timeo, who seemed to be arguing with Valerie and Sergi over something. Whatever they were discussing was making Bastien and Timeo uncomfortable, if their tense shoulders and panicked looks whenever any passed by their table. "C'mon, let's see what's going on, I don't want them fighting when Penelope and Kingsley arrive." Mikayla got to her feet, holding out a hand to Fred, and pulling him up out of his seat.

Fred took the lead as they approached the group of four, clearing his throat to announce their presence. "Oh, Fred, Mikayla, hello. Beautiful house you have here and your grounds are magnificent." Timeo spluttered out as soon as he turned to look at them, "oh, well thank you, Timeo, and as much as we appreciate your compliments, we're more concerned on what has you all so tense right now." Mikayla spoke softly and sweetly, not wanting to inflict panic amongst the group, "if it's personal you can tell us to fuck off, but we wanted to check in nonetheless, considering how uncomfortable you both looked." Fred added, gesturing to Timeo and Bastien, both of which blush at the fact they had picked up on it.

"Oh, yes. We were just discussing the incident at Bishop's Wood last month. I want to make sure my brother is in good enough shape to be here, today." Valerie voiced with a feigned sweetness to her tone, mocking Mikayla as she narrowed her eyes at the blonde mistrustingly. "He was cleared by Andromeda, right?" Fred asked rhetorically, as they all knew that Andromeda had been delighted with his recovery. "But if you aren't up for it, Bastien, don't feel obligated to be here. Kingsley and Penelope would understand if you needed more time before socialising again." Mikayla pitched in, wanting to make sure that Bastien knew that they cared more about every aspect of his health over his attendance.

"No, I am up for it. I'm just not ready to tell everyone what exactly happened." Mikayla frowned at Bastien's words, reminding him that no one required him to share what happened. All the Order wanted from him was that in the future he would show more caution when in the midst of battle, and not break formation again. "You've already told me that what happened was due to undisclosed sensitive personal circumstances. The Order doesn't need what they are just that it won't happen again, and you've agreed to those terms, so in the Order's eyes the matter of what caused what happened to you in Bishop's Wood has been resolved, but if you believe otherwise, perhaps broach the subject with Kingsley after his honeymoon."

It was then that Sergi spoke up, the stench of Firewhisky on his breath, he had been rather cold towards Mikayla and Fred since Bishop's Wood, and it was clear he wasn't ready to move past whatever hang ups he had with them. "But that's the thing, shouldn't those who bore witness to what happened be informed of a flaw in the ranks, no offence Bastien, to know what we need to look out for." Fred shook his head no, "there is no flaw in the ranks, and the only thing we need to look out for in the heat of battle is one another's back. Everyone is entitled to their own personal privacy, and no one is forced to share more than what they are willing to disclose. So, if Bastien doesn't want to share what triggered him to break formation, no one in the Order is to try and force him to."

It looked like Sergi was going to argue again, but Valerie jumped in first. "But how can we trust each other if there's so much secrecy involved?" Mikayla sighed at her words, because what she was about to tell them was easier said than done for most people. "We trust that we all want for the same thing, equality for all magical beings and freedom from the Chief Death Eater's dictatorship. That has to be enough, and if you need more than that perhaps you should reconsider your oath to the Order. No one is to pressure another person to reveal something about themselves that they are not ready to share." Mikayla looked at the conflicted look that crossed Timeo's face when her voice became severe during her final sentence.

"But Bastien is ready to tell everyone, it's Ti-" Valerie tried but Fred shut her down, "don't even think about finishing that sentence. It's Bastien's story to tell, and him choosing not to share it for whatever reason is completely valid, and his decision is to be respected." Mikayla hummed in agreement, noticing the colour leaving Timeo's face as Bastien's eyes lit up with anger, "Either way, this isn't the place to hash out your conflicts. A private matter deserves privacy when being discussed and you will not get it here, so if you can't keep your opinions to yourself for the night then I suggest avoiding each other, or you two leaving because you're the ones with the problem."

Before Valerie or Sergi could argue against Mikayla's suggestions, the room filled with music, chatter dissipated, as they all turned to face the door while the bridal party made their entrance. Everyone clapped along with the beat of Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder, as the bridal party strutted through the room heading for the dance floor, joining the crowd in clapping while waiting for the newlyweds to join them. During the final chorus, Mr and Mrs Shacklebolt appeared in the doorway, where Kingsley dipped Penelope into a kiss, shouts of delight and chuckling cheers sounded from the guests as they watched the loving couple make their way to the dance floor.