Several days later, England, Malfoy Manor.
Lucius stood before the fireplace, welcoming guests arriving for his son's wedding.
Impeccably dressed with smooth, lustrous hair, his cane remained luxurious though its materials were less ostentatious than before.
Lys stood behind Lucius in a tailored suit, constantly repeating something that irritated him beyond measure, yet he dared not lose his temper.
He turned back, his expression complex as he regarded his junior who remained so youthfully striking. Her left arm bore gleaming silver armor, requiring specially shortened sleeves to accommodate it, lending her a unique oppressive presence no one else at the gathering possessed.
Well, Lucius admitted, the oppressive aura was Starlys's natural trait, but still...
"That's Hogwarts armor. I'm merely a school governor—just one of them, and you know I've had no governor privileges since '93. Wouldn't approaching Minerva McGonagall be better?"
Lys pursed her lips. "If Professor McGonagall had agreed, would I be bothering you? Coward."
Lucius smoothed back his hair, voice lowered in defense: "That's because you can't take a hint! At such a tense moment..."
Lys: "Coward."
"Today is my son's wedding—don't force me to draw my wand!"
"Draw your wand then! Think you can beat me?!"
Narcissa turned her face slightly, watching the two bickering childishly with a headache. After taking a breath, she chose to ignore them and greet guests herself.
Finally, Draco and Frey separated them—one worried about his sister's mood, the other concerned his father might be cursed on his wedding day and lose face.
Midway through, Frey collaborated with the Weasley twins' fireworks instructions, enthusiastically setting off fireworks for Draco's wedding for half an hour, his eyes reddening from whatever substances the fireworks contained.
Severus Snape also attended the ceremony. He coldly greeted familiar faces, then left after the ceremony, offering his blessings and gifts.
"Someday he'll become one of those eccentric old men—I'll bet on it!"
Lys complained to Frey about Snape's coldness while eating a small cake: "I just greeted him and he completely ignored me."
"Tonight I'm smashing his windows." Handing Frey a cup of milk, Lys spoke seriously.
Frey's expression immediately twitched as he rubbed his eyes, knowing his sister was capable of it. As his sister put it:
"The fact I'm not going mad and killing several people shows I'm being generous!!"
Others took Lys's words as jokes or threats, but Frey knew—Lys wasn't joking. During the Dark Lord's era, his sister had done such things...
"Maybe, Sis, you should take some medicine. Acting like this, you'll have no friends eventually..."
More importantly, he still wanted to study potions and magic with Professor Snape.
This comment made Lys laugh heartily twice.
After laughing, Lys spoke confidently and seriously:
"Friends, eh..."
"As long as I don't touch the Malfoy family or Snape's lily... hmm... cauldron, whatever I do, they'll remain my friends."
As for why?
You tell me why!
Four years later...
Lys sat atop her enormous "Silver Star Trading" shop sign, chatting with the one-armed armor sunbathing beside her.
The large crater the Dark Lord had blasted in the armor's breastplate still hadn't been completely repaired.
But the armor didn't mind much, because Professor McGonagall—no, Headmistress McGonagall—had placed it in the headmaster's office.
It finally held the sword it once knew so well.
During holidays, it could be brought out by Lys to see the wizarding society, now completely different from the era of inter-species conflicts.
They talked past each other completely.
One tried expressing "I've witnessed that era" through "I am goblin craftsmanship."
The other confirmed whether her payment to the armor was adequate by saying "Yes, your visor is exquisite."
Looking up, she spotted a young wizard at the entrance, standing timidly opposite Lulu.
Lulu maintained a stern expression, silently pointing her wand at the price list while he remained bashfully quiet.
Lys took a sip of butterbeer, looking down carefully: "Ho! Remarkable resemblance!"
Jumping down from the sign, Lys raised her hand to attract the wizard's attention, sizing him up. "You're from the Abbott family, right?"
Then she continued: "Is Ernie Abbott your father?"
The young wizard replied timidly: "No, that's my uncle. Let me introduce myself—I'm Steven Abbott. My mother is Lorelei Abbott. I'm here hoping to purchase some Muggle materials."
Steven seemed nervous, glancing outside. "Some Muggle materials."
Lys smiled. This lad lacked Ernie Abbott and his mother's boldness—even buying things made him seem timid.
Currently, British magical society's policies increasingly favored Muggle-born and half-blood wizards. Muggle goods flowing from Britain to wizarding communities worldwide were increasing.
Purchasing Muggle products was no longer particularly sensitive.
After nodding with a smile, indicating she'd once had dealings with his mother, Lys returned to the sign to continue her cross-purpose conversation with the armor.
Lys didn't know that after learning this was a child from a family that had helped her, Lulu spoke several extra words, making the young wizard's face flush red as he couldn't help stealing glances at her.
Learning Lulu was management for the recently prominent Silver Star Trading seemed to surprise him, but he couldn't resist another look when leaving.
Caught by Lulu, his face turned crimson. Walking awkwardly, he bid Lulu farewell and hurried away.
Afterward, Lys kept seeing that young wizard—nearly identical to Ernie Abbott—appearing in her German shop.
For a while, Lys felt Frey was acting strangely, until...
Sitting shocked behind the counter, Lys heard Frey say he liked Lulu, but Lulu treated him like a child...
Lys's eyes, shocked and hesitant, avoided Frey, trembling as she glimpsed the ceiling's reflection rather than look at him.
She'd always thought Frey liked Dra...
Before Lys could finish being shocked, Frey grabbed her sleeve: "Sis! Help me! I can wait and I'm trying, but that Abbott boy keeps hovering around Lulu daily—this won't do!"
Lys's voice filled with hesitation: "This... I can't help..."
"Sis, why? Why? You all know I wouldn't joke about something this important! Only Lulu doesn't think so—yesterday she actually bought me ice cream just to stop me following her!!"
"Sis! Ice cream!! That's supposed to be for coaxing you!"
Setting down the half-carved amber plate, Lys refocused on Frey:
"I can't help. You know Lulu listens to me completely—if I speak up, I'll influence her judgment and choices... I swear on my arm I absolutely won't help..."
"I can't make Lulu marry you just because you're my brother."
Lys turned to Noah, who sat checking accounts, seeking help:
"Dad... say something."
Noah swallowed, remembering Lulu raising her wand—one flash, one enemy down...
"Maybe ask your mother?"
Getting no help from family, Frey could only persistently stay by Lulu's side until her gaze began viewing him as an equal rather than a child needing care.
Even so, Lulu still refused Frey's proposal.
"Precisely because I considered it seriously, I'm refusing you."
Lulu spoke rarely with such fluency and naturalness, showing how often she'd pondered these words:
"I don't love you. If I accepted your proposal, it would only be because I want to stay beside Miss Lam. That wouldn't be fair to you."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨patreon.com/DarkGolds]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━